The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(39)

“Are we going to blow them up now?” Jari wondered, excitement in his eyes.

“Not tonight—we need to wait for the jammers,” Alex replied. “Tonight, I’m going to break all the shields and put the covers back on, so nobody suspects they’ve been tampered with. Then, we can return tomorrow with the jammers Lintz has made. Once they’re fitted, it should stop any further flow of barrier magic, so we’ll only have to deal with what is already in the walls. When the time is right and a signal is given, we will each have to overload the modules at the same time, to break the system and hopefully bring down the section we want to bring down,” he explained, as much for his own benefit as the others’.

Natalie nodded. “We should check each number as we go along, to make sure we are exploding them in sequence.”

“Exactly,” Alex replied.

Jari grinned delightedly. “I must say, dude, I’m thrilled you decided we should go with explosions.”

“It wasn’t exactly a choice,” said Alex, a reluctant smile pulling at his own lips.

“And this is the protective shield, to keep out prying hands?” Ellabell asked, pointing toward the golden shield that rippled across the stunning clockwork.

Alex nodded. “I believe so. If you look at the top and bottom of the cylinder, you’ll see why.”

They peered closer as Alex gestured toward the two golden lines that thrummed at either end of the cylinder, holding the shield in place.

“It’s like the Head’s golden lines,” Aamir said solemnly, a visible shudder running through him. Indeed, they were very much like the golden lines at Spellshadow Manor, simply in miniature. Alex didn’t know if it would make the consequences any less perilous, however; smaller didn’t always mean safer.

“Exactly the same, which means there’ll probably be a little kickback when I remove it,” Alex replied grimly. “I suggest we brace ourselves for golden beasts, rushing blockades, and who knows what else,” he warned as he moved his hands closer to the top of the cylinder.

“What if it sets off the red fog?” Natalie asked, her tone anxious.

Alex frowned. “I’ll be here to get rid of it, if it gets into your systems.” He grimaced; it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thought, and he could see the displeasure reflected in the faces of his friends.

“Let’s just keep all our extremities crossed that it doesn’t come to that,” Jari muttered.

The others stepped back a short distance, giving Alex space to work. He conjured twisting strands of black and silver beneath his hands, forging a small, solid blade of rippling anti-magic that he could physically hold. Feeling the cold sturdiness of the handle in his palm, he lifted the blade to the shimmering line and felt the resistance as he tried to slice through the energy. For a brief moment, he thought it wasn’t going to work, but as he pressed harder with the silver blade, the shield shattered with a loud snap. The broken shield flew toward Alex’s eyes in a million tiny shards of light that solidified as they rushed through the air, forcing him to duck quickly out of the way, covering his eyes with his forearm. Some of the splinters bit into his skin, hailing down on his face and bare arms like a thousand drops of pure ice, and he could feel the trickle of something unexpectedly warm running down the side of his head. He didn’t dare remove his arm from over his eyes, for fear of what the shards might do, but without his sight he was helpless to fend off the vicious hail.

Natalie, Aamir, and Jari swiped away the slivers of light, sending the shards crashing against the wall, where they evaporated into puffs of golden dust. Ellabell ran to Alex, sending up a shield around them, keeping out the rest of the hail. She held him tightly, even though his anti-magic was resisting the presence of her magical shield, causing flurries of snow to fall all around them. She didn’t seem to mind, holding him until the worst of it was over.

“You can come out now, lovebirds!” Jari quipped.

Flashing Alex a bashful smile, Ellabell removed the shield and stepped back, giving Alex space to stand. Her expression shifted to one of concern as she moved closer to him again, removing a tissue from her pocket and reaching up to touch the side of Alex’s head. All across his forehead and cheeks, tiny cuts had appeared, thin rivulets of blood meandering down his skin. It stung as she pressed the tissue firmly against his face.

“Is everyone okay?” Natalie asked.

Alex nodded, taking the tissue from Ellabell’s delicate fingers. “A few scratches. I’ll live.” He squeezed Ellabell’s hand tightly. “I think we were lucky—that felt like an old one. I don’t think it’s been tended to in a while,” he said, turning back toward the cylinder. He just hoped the rest were as ancient.

“And hey, no red fog!” Jari whooped.

Alex was more than grateful for its absence. He wondered if the shield’s trickery was supposed to be deterrent enough, a way of keeping out unwanted hands without ruining the flow of the magic through the mechanism. Carefully, Alex replaced the cover and screwed two of the screws loosely back in place, to hold it on. He knew it would give them easier access to the mechanism the following day, when they had the chance to get the jammers from Lintz.

One down, eight to go, he thought wryly as they set off down the corridor.

Glancing at the cover of the next cylinder, he was pleased to see the number seventeen etched onto the back of a frog in mid-hop. It meant they were at least in sequence. Deftly, he unscrewed the cover and placed it on the floor, conjuring his knife again so that he might cut the golden line at the top. As he pressed it to the gleaming energy, he felt the familiar pushback of magical resistance, but the blade cut through it easily, as if it were butter. He frowned, unsure whether that meant this one was even older.