The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(89)

“Go on,” she encouraged, her eyes flashing with worry.

“I think Alypia set me up. She put Jari in a fight, but made it so he was so weak he needed my help, and I ended up showing off my Spellbreaker powers in front of everyone,” he elaborated hesitantly, knowing how bad it sounded.

Gaze’s alarm was instant. “Then you must hurry your plans along, my little chickens! Oh goodness, people will be after you now—you aren’t safe anymore, Alex. There will be people seeking your power for their own uses, now that they know you exist. This is bad, very bad. Oh dear.” She shook her head, descending into anxious mumbling.

From Gaze, Alex didn’t mind hearing what he already knew.

Suddenly, her head snapped up, her eyes lucid. “And Elias? Did he make it out?” she asked. “He’s helping you, yes?”

It lasted only a moment before delirium reclaimed her, and she fell back to her mumbling. She spoke in hushed tones, her words wistful, but Alex caught fragments of what she was saying in her weary, broken state.

“So handsome… talented… one of the greatest, maybe the… I adored him once.” She smiled.

“Yes, I believe Elias escaped,” he assured her, though he didn’t know if she could hear him anymore.

Gaze’s words made him curious about how she had come to know about Elias. Searching his mind for a link, he came upon a memory of the mysterious portrait on the wall, with the engraved name torn off, and the strange teacher who had been watching a young Lintz and Derhin in the hallway of the flashback he’d seen, when he had plucked Derhin’s black bottle from the storage shelf. Was that Elias? Alex was suddenly intrigued. Gaze had spoken of Elias as if she knew him. If he had been a teacher, she would have been on the faculty at the same time as him, what with her being so much older than Lintz or Derhin. He found he had so many fresh questions for Gaze, but he knew he’d never get the chance to ask them as he glanced at the crumpled, huddled old woman. She was almost gone.

The memory of Lintz made Alex thoughtful. “Professor Gaze, what happened to Professor Lintz?” he asked.

She looked up at him, her eyes misty. “Oh, goodness… I don’t think he… Did he?” she said dimly, trailing off, her voice weak. “No… I’m not sure he could have.” Her answer was confused, her brow furrowed in uncertainty, though it soon smoothed out in an expression of quiet peace. She was close to the end now, Alex could tell; she had no more words to say.

Gathering around her world-weary frame, Alex let her rest her exhausted head on his shoulder as the two girls held her hands and Aamir sat on the floor in front of her. They stayed with her until the lights went out in her eyes. She fell asleep for the very last time with a smile upon her lips, and Alex felt a small, sad consolation that nobody would be able to tear her essence from her. It would go with her, sinking harmlessly into the earth where nobody could claim it as their own.

She could go peacefully to the place where there were eternal picnics on sun-soaked riverbanks, and all the handsome soldiers asked for her hand.





Chapter 35





“We have to go,” whispered Helena from the hallway, glancing anxiously toward the far end.

Alex looked up, grief-stricken. It didn’t feel right to leave Gaze all alone in the dank, dirty cell, resting up against the slick walls.

“We really have to go!” she insisted.

Forced to retreat, they stood and filed out of the prison cell, each bidding a murmured farewell to their former teacher, who had been strong until the bitter end. Alex felt an overwhelming swell of pride, interwoven with unbearable sadness, as he looked at her still form. A well-earned sleep, that was all; if he thought about it that way, it didn’t feel so desperately sad. She and Lintz had done so much for them, in helping them escape Spellshadow, and they had both ended up dead.

Even though Gaze had put on a brave face, Alex wished it hadn’t had to be that way. His mind rested briefly on the memory of Lintz too, feeling sorrow for the final sacrifice he had made against the Head, wielding his bombs and clockwork trickery. Although he hadn’t seen the body of Lintz with his own eyes, he had heard Gaze’s uncertainty as to the professor’s fate and knew it was unlikely he had made it out of that fight alive. They were both heroes until their final moments.

Helena turned the key quickly in the lock as her golden eyes flitted toward the shadows at the end of the long corridor. Beyond the flickering torches and dripping walls, Alex thought he could hear the scuffle of unseen feet. Brushing a tear from his cheek, he rested his palm against the wooden door, wishing Gaze nothing but sweet dreams, before they left her for the very last time.

As they walked, Alex could feel the tension in the air. Everyone was wary of Helena.

Though she didn’t seem to notice it for the first few minutes, Alex could see her slowly becoming aware of the strange atmosphere. There was no comfortable chatter, no easy humor, no jokes or divulged stories about the professor they had just seen; nobody was forthcoming with any kind of goodwill. Perhaps thinking it was because they were all feeling bereft, she continued to say nothing about it until they were almost at the door with the number forty-three written upon it.

“Have I done something?” she asked finally.

Alex held his tongue, not knowing if it was fair to tar Helena with the same brush as her mother. He needn’t have bothered to try to spare her feelings, however, as Natalie stepped forward, her mouth set in a grim line. It made sense that Natalie should feel betrayed; she had grown close to the girl, closer than any of them, and still Helena had kept her secret.