The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(71)

Alex shrugged, putting on a brave face. “Not really. I mean, I’ll do it if I have to. If we can’t save the havens, if we can’t build a portal home or find a way through Spellshadow’s barrier, or if it seems as if too many lives will be at stake if I don’t, I’ll offer myself as a bargaining chip for Julius, so that you all can go free, at least,” he said, though he had no real intention of doing the spell, not if there was another way. The others sat in stunned silence.

“We would never let that happen, Alex,” said Aamir.

Alex shrugged. “Hopefully, it won’t have to come to it.”

Since he had heard about the counter-spell, he had wondered if he could force Virgil to do the spell instead, perhaps using his newfound mind-control skills. But the idea was still a sapling in his mind, and until he had a more solid plan of action, he wasn’t ready to tell the others. More than that, he wasn’t sure what they’d make of its ethicality—even he wasn’t sure of that. Nor did he want them to know about his decided lack of enthusiasm when it came to martyrdom, but he knew he could at least give them a sliver of hope that there was a chance of saving everyone. There was, after all—he just prayed it sat with someone other than him.

“So what do we do now?” asked Natalie.

Alex turned to Lintz. “We take every beetle you have left, Professor, and we let that evil witch come through. When those sirens scream, we ignore them. No more waiting, no more contemplating. This is our chance to strike, and strike hard,” he said. “When she comes for me, we’ll be ready.”

Lintz frowned. “I’m not sure we can overcome her power, Alex.”

“If we can rope Vincent and Agatha in again, we’ll have a fighting chance,” Alex assured him. “She might expect the five of us to try something, but she won’t be expecting another four.”

This seemed to cheer Lintz. “I hadn’t thought of it that way… You know, I think we might just manage this.”

“That’s the spirit, Professor!” Alex cried.

For the first time in a long while, he too thought luck was on their side.





Chapter 23





The group were eating bowls of thin soup when the shrill sound of Alypia’s imminent arrival, emanating from the large pile of beetle beacons that lay on the table, brought their tense meal to an abrupt halt. Alex’s heart pounded, fear and exhilaration surging through his body on a tidal wave of adrenaline.

They were out of time. It was happening now.

“Let’s go!” Alex roared, rallying the troops. In his outstretched hand, he held a beetle beacon, brandishing it before him to seek out the portal’s location. As they grew closer, the beeping intensified, becoming more insistent with every step. They were headed for the courtyard.

As a unit, the group sprinted toward their respective starting positions, parting ways at the long hallway that led to the courtyard. Agatha was the only one who had not joined them, with Vincent apologizing for her absence, citing a relapse. That being the case, Alex had been almost glad she wasn’t with them. As much as he liked her, he didn’t want to have to worry about her attacking him mid-plan.

Everyone but Alex remained in the lobby area at the top of the corridor, moving into vacant cells and pressing back against the wall, so they could not be seen from the courtyard itself.

“Good luck!” Natalie, who was closest, whispered.

“You too,” he whispered back, before making his lonely way toward the courtyard’s entrance.

Whirling vividly in the center of the far stone wall, in the exact spot where Helena had pushed him through on the day of their Kingstone arrival, a portal was beginning to appear. It was no bigger than a hockey puck, but it was getting larger by the minute, expanding with each swirl of sizzling white energy.

The portal swirled wider and wider. Alex’s hands felt hot and sticky. He stood at the entrance of the open courtyard as the bright light of the gateway stretched and gaped.

Eventually, the swirling light faded away, leaving behind the mirror-like surface of a fully forged portal. Alex inhaled sharply, readying himself. He could see a room beyond the gateway. Blood rushed in his ears as a figure emerged from the glimmering light.

It did not surprise him to see that Alypia had brought a retinue, though there were not as many guards as he might have expected. What did surprise him, however, was the state of her appearance. With the time that had passed, he had expected her to be her usual, formidably beautiful self—or mostly back to normal, at any rate—but it seemed she was still in a bad way, the exquisite mask of her face not yet recovered. Parts of her skin were porcelain-smooth, plump and youthful, while other sections were sagging and covered in liver spots, revealing fractions of her true age.

She stepped across the threshold, her feet touching down on the flagstones. Her pale eyes flashed with fury as soon as she saw Alex standing there, her face twisting up into a sour expression. Her mouth opened as if to speak, but Alex never get to hear what she was about to say.

A blast surged from the walls, knocking Alex backward and sending Alypia tumbling to the ground. The same crackling, red haze they had encountered on the first day swelled from the stone, rippling toward them. Alex scrambled to his feet as the sentient fog poured down the throats of Alypia and the two unfortunate guards who had come through behind her, searing through their eyes. Alex glanced around, trying to figure out what had caused the explosion, but he couldn’t see anything nearby that might have sparked the fuse. He guessed it must have been Alypia herself, or the appearance of the portal. It made sense—the barrier reacted because it didn’t like the being coming through, just as Caius did not like her.