The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(67)

“Don’t ever presume to try such things on me, my boy. I am far more powerful than you know, and I would not wish you to find yourself on the receiving end of an accidental retaliation,” he warned, his voice low. “I have been generous to you, have I not?”

“You have… I-I’m sorry.”

“And yet you seek to take from me, even after I have told you the reason I cannot give you the essence you want,” he murmured, a distinctly disheartened note in his throaty voice. “I cannot abide thieves.”

Alex cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean—”

“I despise liars more,” Caius remarked, cutting Alex off. “I told you I would not give you the essence because it could be harmful toward you and your friends, and I ask you to respect that. Do not steal from me, do not lie to me, and we will get along just fine, this misdemeanor forgotten. I am a fair man—I can forgive a first offense. But I won’t forgive a second. Is that clear?”

“I understand. I… did something desperate, and I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Well, I guess it shows you’ve got gumption, and I do admire fighting spirit.” The old man smiled broadly, all animosity vanishing from his wrinkled face. Even so, Alex was under no illusions; he had overstepped a boundary he should not overstep again if he valued his life.

“Do you think there might be another way to build a portal home?” Alex asked, trying to push away the spike of fear. “Could you help us at all?”

Caius frowned thoughtfully. “If you can wait six months, I can build one for you.”

Alex shook his head. “That’s too long.” Alypia would undoubtedly break through before then, and Julius might even come back and discover them. It wasn’t a chance he wanted to take, under any circumstances. There had to be another way.

The answer came to him suddenly, as he realized he had been looking at the problem all wrong. Like the havens set in a ring when viewed from above, Alex saw the bigger picture as he stepped back from it. There was another way, and though it wasn’t going to be easy, it might just give them the opportunity he had been looking for, to gain their freedom and save the other students in the process.

Alex looked up at Caius. “If we were to let Alypia through instead of keeping her out, would you be willing to help us trap her here, and keep control of her and Kingstone while we took over Stillwater House and Spellshadow Manor?” he asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

A wide smile spread across Caius’s face. “I think that’s a fine plan!” he cried gleefully. “Though you must promise me you will build a portal home, at your earliest opportunity.”

“I swear on my life we will, but there are a few things I think we might have to take care of first.” He grinned, suddenly eager to return to his friends to see what they thought of the idea. “I’d like to get back and see how Ellabell’s doing, and propose this plan to the others.”

Caius nodded regally. “The door is open,” he said, his expression growing serious. “Keep tight hold of her, Alex, if you believe it to be more than a passing affection.”

“I will,” Alex replied. “And I will see you again soon, to fill you in on the plan and what part we need you to play.”

“Certainly, though I will endeavor to be around, to keep an eye on things and ensure you don’t set off any more of my traps by accident,” he said sternly, with no room for negotiation. Alex just hoped the warden’s presence would be a help and not a hindrance.

Taking his cue, Alex left the cavernous room and its disconcerting epicenter, hurrying through the tunnels and hallways, hoping he could remember the way back to his friends and the girl he had left asleep on the bench by the window.

As he ran, he was troubled by what he had seen and felt, wondering how dangerous the Great Evil actually was. It wasn’t something he ever wanted to find out, though he couldn’t help his imagination running wild. He envisioned wave upon wave, almost liquid in texture, surging up from the cavernous mouth of the pit like a geyser, spilling out over the edges in search of mages, intent on feeding itself. It would snake through the realms, unperturbed by barriers and walls, seeking out the taste of life essence to sate its hunger. In his mind, he saw the devastation it would wreak upon the land, the lives it would snuff out, neither pausing nor caring as it stole the life from man, woman, and child. Would it care? Would it stop and select its victims? The fact that Alex couldn’t be certain was disturbing enough. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it wasn’t something he ever wanted to see unleashed.

For it to remain below the ground, however, meant the continued theft of essence from many more innocent victims. It was hard to pinpoint which was the worse deal, the ideas that had seemed so black and white becoming grayer by the second. All Alex knew was that the pit and its grumbling evil would haunt him long after he had left it.





Chapter 22





The bench where Alex had left Ellabell was empty.

Rushing toward the tower room, he hoped that was where he’d find her, safely back where nobody could harm her. He burst into the room, and was met by the startled stares of his friends, though Demeter and Lintz were noticeably absent. His gaze settled upon Ellabell, who was propped up on cushions in the corner, looking a little woozy, rubbing her eyes as she glanced toward him with a smile.