The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(94)

Whatever it was, he began to understand that they had more in common than he had realized.

He, too, just wanted to be normal again.





Chapter 37





Alex sat in his room, anxiously waiting for night to come. The others had gone down for something to eat, but he knew he couldn’t stomach a mouthful. Excitement and nerves made it as impossible as sitting still.

Gazing out the window at the rolling, emerald fields that shone dimly beneath the evening sky, he knew he couldn’t just sit there anymore, twiddling his thumbs. His muscles were tense and in need of stretching; he needed to not be surrounded by the echoing voices of students and people, clamoring through the corridors outside, which were only serving to increase his anxiety. He needed peace, to get the plan clear in his mind, like preparation before a big game. He needed room to go over some spells, to calm his nerves. It made him think about what Helena had said about the abandoned quarter of the school and nobody ever going there—he knew firsthand how quiet it could be out there. It was the perfect spot to get his head clear. Plus, if they made it out, he knew this would be his last chance to explore that part of the school, and he liked the idea of saying a fond farewell to the bell tower that had kept them safe in those early days.

Slipping out of his room, he headed cautiously through the hallways and corridors of the school, moving toward the abandoned courtyard with the bell tower in the corner. From there, he would spread out and explore the derelict section of the villa, going over a few defensive spells as he walked through the halls.

Nobody bothered him as he slunk from shadow to shadow, putting up a shield whenever somebody came too close, the crackle of it prickling the hairs on the back of their neck if they got too near, like an unseen breath in the darkness. Spooked, the intruders quickly moved away, leaving him to advance onward.

Stepping out into the familiar courtyard, piled with rubble and dust and forgotten debris, Alex spun on his heel and turned to face the shaded fa?ade of the villa’s exterior. Ahead of him lay the corridor that the Head and Headmistress had vanished into, that night he had listened to them talking in a windowless study, thinking themselves alone. Seeing it, an impulse tugged at his mind, making Alex want to head toward it. He could see the bookshelves in his mind’s eye, and they made him curious—perhaps there was something in them that might prove a useful addition to his collection.

He gave in to the impulse, following the half-remembered route through the dim hallways, the torches sputtered out and gathering cobwebs in their brackets. Turning this way and that, he hoped he was going the right direction; otherwise, he knew he’d never find his way back out. It was like an old Greek story he’d loved as a kid—Theseus and the Minotaur. He was Theseus, holding one end of an imaginary ball of golden twine as he wandered through the labyrinth in search of a mysterious creature that could well kill him. A real ball of twine would have been nice.

Alex turned down a short corridor that seemed gloriously familiar. It was the same one he had followed Alypia and her brother to, that night—he was almost certain of it, though most of the hallways in this place looked alike. Checking both shadowy ends of the hallway for anyone who might sneak up on him, he stopped in front of the door he had once crouched beside. Drawn by curiosity, he ducked down and peered through the keyhole, seeing the same windowless study beyond. It brought back troublesome memories, but it was definitely the same spot where he had seen Alypia and her brother talk. Wanting to get a closer look, feeling convinced that those bookshelves on the back wall contained something of use, he placed his palm on the lock and let the silvery black of his anti-magic flow through, building a spell around it, trying to break it with force. Nothing happened.

Frustrated, Alex poured layer after layer of strong energy into the mechanism instead, closing his eyes to try to visualize the system within, using it like clockwork to lift and move the bolts with his anti-magic. It was a tough job, taking all his concentration, but the bars slid backward. With a satisfying click, the door unlocked. Alex had never felt such relief, not knowing how much longer he could stay out in the hallway, exposed like that.

Ducking quickly into the room, he did the same trick to lock the door behind him. A broken lock, he knew, was always a telltale sign of trespassers.

Glancing around, letting his heartrate return to normal, he saw the study looked exactly the same. The sleek wooden desk and the high-backed chair. The promising bookshelves running along each wall. One thing that was definitely different, however, was the sight of another door, tucked into the wall at the far right side of the room. It was too far away to have been visible from the keyhole, which would explain why he hadn’t been able to see it until now.

Fear and anticipation gripped his heart in a vice, quickening his heartbeat once more, until he thought it might jump from his ribcage as he approached the narrow wooden door. This had not been what he was expecting. It didn’t seem possible that it had been within his grasp, all this time. It looked much like the one in the chamber at Spellshadow, only not so unpleasant. Here, it was far away from the terror and viscous byproducts of the actual extraction.

Holding the black iron ring that hung to one side, he twisted it and felt his stomach sink as it gave, the door pushing open with relative ease. Beyond it, in the dim glow of torchlight, he saw shelves upon shelves, stacked with smoky black bottles no bigger than pepper shakers, glowing with the familiar red pulse of somebody’s life essence. Acrid bile rose up his throat.