The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(72)

Alex looked toward the entrance of the courtyard, willing Caius to appear, but it seemed the old warden had forgone his previous promise to hang around, and wasn’t about to pop up and save the day. Panicked, Alex looked beyond the entrance and saw that his friends were running pell-mell at the top of the corridor, the fog seeking them out. He sprinted toward them, abandoning the dazed guards and Alypia, who seemed to be out cold on the floor, her body jerking violently as the red fog took over her mind and body. He left them to the haze, rushing instead to his friends, trying to stand between them and the fog—but it simply ran through him as if he weren’t even there, dodging his strands of anti-magic.

There was nowhere to run, to escape the fog. The others dashed away from Alex as he tried to reach for them. He called out to them, urging them to fight it off. In running from him, they permitted the fog the time it needed to swallow them up, taking hold… but the screams never came. Instead of nightmares, they were seized by paranoia. Alex could see it on their faces as their eyes flew wide, glancing in all directions, fidgeting with hands and fingers and the fabric of their clothes, muttering about conspiracies.

“They’re going to get us!” Ellabell muttered, biting her lip until it bled.

“No, Ellabell, they’re not—it’s all in your head,” Alex said.

“They’re going to take him,” Jari added, with an anxious nod.

Alex shook his head. “Nobody is going to take anyone.”

“They’re going to steal him away—he isn’t safe.” Aamir chewed the sides of his nails, tearing the skin away with his teeth.

Natalie nodded, the whites of her eyes showing like those of a spooked horse. “We have to protect him—it is the only way. They will come.”

“Nobody is coming!” Alex shouted, though it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“They are already here,” Lintz whispered, picking up a beetle and hurling it against the stone wall, shattering it into a hundred clockwork pieces.

Only Demeter and Vincent struggled against the paranoia, though Alex wasn’t sure either of them was winning this time, as the necromancer let out an inhuman howl and high-tailed it out of the room, disappearing down the nearest hallway. Demeter remained, battling the demons. A muscle spasmed in Demeter’s cheek as he bit down, evidently trying any tactic to try to push the fog’s influence away.

Suddenly, their collective gaze settled upon him.

“He will try to hand himself over to them. He will offer himself on a plate to the royals—he doesn’t realize the sacrifice,” Aamir spoke solemnly.

“And they will sacrifice him!” Jari cried, his voice tense with worry.

“Hide him—don’t let the royals get him,” Ellabell insisted, a trickle of blood meandering down her chin.

“Keep him safe. Lock him away,” Natalie agreed.

As a unit, Lintz and the quartet approached Alex slowly, skirting around him as if he were a wild animal that had escaped from its cage, forcing him to edge backward toward the farthest part of the tower. Demeter joined them, having apparently lost his battle with the mist. Their eyes glowered toward him, both concerned and menacing at once.

Alex raised his hands. “Guys, it’s me! I’m not in any danger. There’s nobody coming to get me,” he fibbed, wanting to calm them down. “I’m already safe, remember? We have a plan—we’re supposed to be getting Alypia. She’s just over there, look. Come on, guys, come back to me. Fight it—it’s just the barrier playing tricks with you. You can fight this, I know you can,” he pleaded, but it made no difference.

He stepped forward, toward Jari, who was the closest to him. The blond-haired boy pulled away from Alex’s hands just in time, preventing Alex from reaching his head and restoring his mental faculties. The action seemed to trigger something, as the group darted toward Alex and seized him roughly, shoving him toward one of the open cell doors. Before he could conjure anything, they had shunted him into the cell and slammed the door behind him. A moment later, Alex heard the jangle of keys as Demeter locked him in for good.

Alex lunged for the handle, but it was no good—it wouldn’t open. Peering through the grate, he watched his friends drag a table in front of the door, and banged hard on the wood as they came near.

“LET ME OUT!” he yelled.

Alex pressed his palms against the door and fed his anti-magic toward the lock, but the barrier seemed as if it was already sensitive to attack, and his attempts at breaking free only served to strengthen the fog, causing a second wave to surge from the walls. He removed his hands as quickly as he could, but it wasn’t quick enough. More red fog rolled from the masonry, pouring straight through him, not affecting him in the same way as his friends, though he felt a familiar spike of anger as it traveled through his body, aggravating his emotions, heightening them. The glistening fog rushed out, through the door, layering more paranoia into his friends’ minds. He could do nothing but watch through the bars as their bodies shook and their eyes glowed, the fog taking over entirely. The spasming ceased, and it was then Alex heard the screams he had been expecting.

“LET ME OUT!” he shouted again.

“It’s for your own good! There are monsters, Alex!” He could hear Ellabell’s muffled voice through the thick wood. She was just on the other side, crouching by the floor. “They want to devour you, they want to put you on an altar and rip out your heart, but we won’t let them—you’ll be safe in there!”