The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(83)

Touching them was a challenge, however. Even with his anti-magic in full force, he found the bottles hard to handle. Vivid pulses of light forced their way into his head as he picked each one up, the memories within going off like an explosion in his brain, searing his synapses with white-hot light that felt like scorching blades in his skull. He shoved the bottles back onto the shelves—the potent pulse of each one he had touched was starting to give him a headache.

Still only marginally deterred, he picked up another bottle and plucked out the stopper. As soon as the substance within touched his palm, an explosion went off in Alex’s brain. It was unbearable, voices screaming at such a pitch he thought his ears might implode, people howling, a million memories all rushing at once, pin-balling around his head. He couldn’t think, worried his own mind would be lost in the fray. It was hard to extract himself from the onslaught of sound and vision, and worse than that, he could feel the burn of the essence itself against his flesh, searing it.

Forcing his eyes open, he saw that his hand was glowing, and knew it couldn’t be a good thing. Thinking fast, he dove for the four-poster bed and frantically wiped his hand against the comforter. A lot of the essence came off, seeping down into the cloth with a scorching hiss, but the rest remained, as Alex battled the visions in his mind. It took all the concentration he had left to conjure strands of his anti-magic and feed them into the remaining essence, compressing it gradually until the visions began to ebb away. Over and over, he fed layers into the essence, like applying lotion to a sunburn, trying not to summon anything awful in the meantime. Slowly but surely, the last of it dissipated, though it left him feeling as if every cell in his body were on fire.

His hand was bright red, a few livid burns crisscrossing the skin. Bending his fingers, he winced. The wound was tender, to say the least. Caius had been right; this essence was no good. If he couldn’t wield it, being what he was, he dreaded to think what such potent energy could do in the hands of his friends.

“Dude, are you okay?” Jari asked, walking up to Alex, concern etched on his face.

“Looks like Caius was right about the essence,” he admitted grimly, lifting his burned hand.

“You shouldn’t have been so—here, let me help,” said Ellabell, coming forward. Twists of golden magic flowed through her hands, and she touched them to Alex’s damaged palm. Instantly, snow gathered around his hand, the cool flakes soothing the seared skin beneath.

Two figures appeared in the doorway of the room, snatching Alex’s attention away from the pile of snow forming in his palm. It was Lintz and Demeter, returned from their hunt.

“In all my years at Kingstone, I never knew this was here!” Demeter exclaimed, peering in. “I might’ve known there’d be a secret entrance or two hiding away in this place. He’s probably got tons—I imagine it’s how he manages to come and go as he pleases.”

“How did you find us?” Alex asked, dumbfounded.

Lintz smiled. “Fortunately, you left us something of a breadcrumb trail—hallways with the torches blown out, smashed stone, blood spots on the floor. When we came down to the lower levels and saw the door of the empty cell standing open, we thought you were in there, but that’s when we found the hidden stairwell. We were hoping we’d find you all in one piece.”

“Any luck finding Caius?” Alex asked hopefully.

They shook their heads. “Afraid not. Looks like he’s hiding again,” said Demeter.

“I’m not sure what would keep the warden away, though,” mused Lintz.

Alex had a feeling he might know of something important enough to keep Caius away, even with so much going on.

Did the bird flap? he wondered. He felt as if it might have, and it was a horrifying notion.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, darting out the door and up the remainder of the hallway to the pit room at the end.

Turning the handle, he found that the door was locked. No amount of pushing or shoving could get it to budge. He knocked insistently, the sound echoing behind him, but nobody came to answer it. He tried again, in case Caius hadn’t heard. Still, nobody came to the door. If Caius was in there, he wasn’t receiving visitors. Pressing his ear to the thick wood, Alex listened for any sound that might give him a clue as to what was going on in the room beyond, but all he could hear was the drip of water falling from the ceiling.

If Caius was dealing with feeding time, Alex knew recruiting the warden would have to wait. He imagined the feeding of the Great Evil to be a time-consuming, energy-draining act that Caius could not simply walk away from in order to help them, and time was something they were out of; they could not risk waiting for him to finish, if that was what he was up to. Alypia was still at large, and now that he had everyone together, it was time for her takedown.





Chapter 27





“Where do you think she might be?” Aamir asked.

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. We just have to keep looking.”

They had been searching the prison for what seemed like hours, seeking out the elusive Alypia. Vincent and Demeter had gone to deal with the entourage that had come through with her, and Demeter had returned a short while ago to say Vincent was staying in the courtyard to stand guard beside the portal from Stillwater, to make sure she couldn’t get back through, though Alex had a sinking feeling she might have already managed it.