The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(37)

Chapter 11





Feeling utterly disoriented, Alex walked back toward the tower room, his head down, hoping his two mysterious “guardians” wouldn’t think about following him.

Stepping through the door of the tower room, he was met with a wave of tension from his four friends and remembered his and Natalie’s angry exchange. It seemed as if it belonged to another time entirely. A very different Alex had re-entered the tower, though he was determined that they should resolve their differences as best as possible before he began to tell them all about the barrier magic. With everything else going on, he didn’t want to lose a friendship.

Before he could reach Natalie, however, Jari popped up from his makeshift bed and punched Alex hard in the arm.

“You had us worried, man! I’ve nearly worn my eyeballs out searching for you—look at them!” he cried, pulling his lids open in a gruesome fashion and pushing his eye as close to Alex as he dared.

Alex grimaced at the sight, turning his face away. “Just what I needed to see—the inner workings of your eyeballs.”

“Just showing you the damage you’ve done,” Jari retorted. “We’ve been busy filling beetles with magic and pulling down portals. You were supposed to be working on those module things. Where have you been hiding?”

Alex sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Hey, we’ve been given time—we’re in a prison.” Jari chuckled to himself.

“I see Demeter has been rubbing off on you,” Alex remarked.

Jari nodded. “That guy is hilarious! I’m getting some of my best material from him. Seriously.” He paused for dramatic effect. “He’s like a mushroom.”

Alex shook his head. “Don’t do it.”

“What do you mean?” A grin spread across Jari’s face.

“Don’t do it,” Alex repeated, though he was unable to keep the smirk off his face.

“No, seriously, he’s like a mushroom,” the blond-haired boy said, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“Don’t say it, Jari,” Aamir warned.

“Because he’s a fun guy!” Jari cackled.

Alex groaned and flashed a look at Aamir. “He said it.”

Aamir deadpanned. “He went there.”

“Dad joke central, population Jari,” Ellabell quipped.

Alex was surprised to see Natalie breaking a smile too. She walked over to where they stood.

“I am French, and even I know that was terrible,” she announced.

Alex smiled wearily at his friend, and she smiled back, making him realize that much of their former animosity had already been dispelled in the wake of Alex’s disappearance and the group’s shared concern for his welfare.

“Natalie, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

She nodded. “I was about to ask the same thing.”

They walked over to the corner and sat down, conscious of the rest of the group watching them. Jari seemed particularly interested, hanging from one of the windowsills to get a better vantage point for his apparent prying.

“Hey, no eavesdropping!” Alex shouted.

Jari grinned. “I have dropped zero eaves, thank you very much!”

“Jari!” Natalie turned, giving Jari the kind of withering look he seemed to garner from a lot of women.

“Fine—spoilsports,” he muttered, dropping back down off the sill and retreating to fetch a snack.

Alex turned back to Natalie. “I just wanted to—”

“I would like to say sorry, for the things I said,” she said, cutting him off. “We are friends, and I should not have spoken to you like that. It was unfair. You were only looking out for me. In truth, you caught me out and I was defensive.”

“I shouldn’t have attacked you either,” Alex replied. “I was just worried. I should’ve dealt with it in a better way, and I’m sorry if I came off like a jerk.”

“I was the jerk,” insisted Natalie.

“Shall we agree you were both jerks?” Jari’s voice wafted over.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Friends?”

“Friends,” she agreed, as they shook tentative hands.

“You two sorted out your squabble?” Jari asked, grinning.

Alex sighed. “Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“So, where have you been?” Aamir asked.

For a moment, Alex thought about telling them everything, the whole complex tale, but there were much more urgent matters to contend with. If they were going to get Caius to tell them where the essence was, they needed to move fast. There was no more time to waste. He would have to put aside his grief and his confusion for the time being.

“I figured out how to break down the barrier magic,” he said, choosing the simpler route, before diving into a brief explanation of what they would have to do in order to bring it down. As far as he could tell, as soon as he removed each of the protective shields, they would be able to fit the jammers and then overload the mechanisms, forcing the whole structure to explode and bringing down their chosen section of the barrier magic.

“That was the definition of a short story,” Jari said. “Here I was, gearing myself up for an epic tale, and you give me that? Disappointing, Webber. I’ve had burps that lasted longer.”