The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(41)

Lintz frowned. “Why didn’t you come and get us?”

“You were busy,” Alex said, nodding toward the cluster of metallic objects the professor cradled in his plump arms. It looked as if Alex and his friends weren’t the only ones who’d had a busy night. He flashed a knowing look toward Demeter too, knowing the cause of the sickness that had kept the ex-teacher at Agatha’s bedside, tending to her tortured mind.

“Still, we’d have come with you if we’d known you were going on such a dangerous errand!” Lintz insisted.

“Honestly, Professor, we’re fine,” Aamir interjected. “A few scratches and bruises, nothing we can’t handle. It needed to be done, and it needed to be done quickly. Now we can move on with today’s tasks.”

“Well, you look in no state to bring down the barriers today,” Lintz remarked sternly.

Alex straightened in his chair. “It can’t wait any longer. Are those the jammers?” he asked, looking at the cluster of devices Lintz had lain on the tabletop. They were small and neat, crafted from solid bronze and shaped like miniature crabs, though the shells had been tempered to shine a brighter red color.

“Yes, these are the jammers,” Lintz replied reluctantly.

“Then let’s blow this thing sky-high!” Jari announced, flashing the professor a grin.

“I suppose there’s no point in trying to dissuade this stubborn lot,” Demeter said.

Lintz sighed, shaking his head. “Give me your beetle beacons, then, please.”

They passed him their devices.

“Ours are out of juice,” Aamir said, gesturing toward himself and Jari.

“I was wondering when they might begin to fail… I’ll do what I can with them. Come, I suppose we must go and fit the jammers, if you will not be dissuaded,” Lintz mumbled, scooping the jammers off the table and tipping them carefully into the front pocket of his satchel.

Alert and nervous for what was to come, the group went down the stairs and followed the familiar route to the first vestibule, where module sixteen lay against the wall, waiting for someone to blow it up.

Alex froze as he saw Agatha coming toward them, heading up the hallway from the opposite direction. Vincent walked beside her, and it was only as she neared that Alex realized he had nothing to fear from her anymore. Her eyes were misty, and she wore a contented smile upon her face as she twirled a long, gray tendril of hair around her fingers in an oddly girlish manner. She paused when she came close to where Alex stood, her eyes narrowing for a moment, as if she were trying to remember something from long ago. Unable to grasp the memory, she waved in greeting instead, no hint of attack in her body language.

“Hello, you beautiful creatures!” she cried, in her melodic voice. “So wonderful to see you all. Goodness, you’re getting quite the shiner,” she remarked, reaching up to touch the bruise on Ellabell’s face. “Excellent day for a rebellion, if I say so myself.” She chuckled warmly.

“Good morning, Agatha,” the group chorused politely.

Alex gave Demeter a questioning look. He wasn’t sure how Demeter had roped the Spellbreaker-hating woman into helping, but it looked as if he had. His mind trailed back to the glowing strands pouring from Demeter’s hands into the skull of the usually mellow mage, and wondered if that was how he’d gotten her to change her mind. Whatever Demeter had done, Alex thought she seemed happy enough. She appeared unharmed by the act, but still, something didn’t sit quite right in his mind. Alex pushed the negative thoughts away, trying to convince himself that mind control couldn’t be all that bad if it could be used for good too, and if nobody was any the wiser, and nobody got hurt, was it really such an immoral thing?

“She’s come around to the idea of you,” whispered Demeter with a knowing smile, half-confirming Alex’s suspicions.

The auburn-haired man volunteered to be the first. He stepped up to the golden cylinder and removed the cover, pulling the two loose screws away.

“I suppose we must have a screw loose too, doing this,” Demeter chuckled, surprising everyone.

Alex smiled tensely. “I think we probably do.”

Lintz stepped up and pointed toward the clockwork, adopting his most teacher-like tone as he instructed the others.

“So, I shall walk along with you and fit the jammers into the system. Once a short period of time has passed, all you will have to do is surge a vast amount of power into the mechanism. The system will already be jammed, but the jammer doesn’t stop the barrier magic completely—it simply halts the flow, preventing more from taking its place. Blowing the mechanism itself will blow the barrier magic, hopefully resulting in a section of it being brought down completely,” he explained, twisting the corners of his moustache with anxious fingers. “You will wait for my signal, which will be the appearance of a golden orb in the space behind you. Okay?”

Everyone nodded, and Alex could feel a tremor of nervous anticipation course through his body. It had all become very real. In the planning of it, there had been a detachment in which they could feel confident of their success, but now, faced with the stark truth of it, Alex didn’t feel quite as gung-ho about the whole thing. The imminent threat of the warden coming for them sent a shiver of fear up his spine; the evasive man was powerful, and Alex just hoped they would be strong enough to take him down, when it came to it. They had plotted as best as they could, but Alex knew there were no assurances of success in this. Glancing at the others, he saw his fear mirrored on their faces. They were about to step into a relative unknown. As soon as they broke the barrier down, there would be no turning back.