The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(92)

“You think we’re going to die?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“That’s not what I meant. I just want you to know, before we leave and things get a bit crazy, that there is one particular person in all of this who centers me, who calms me, who makes it all seem less insane. And that person is you, Ellabell,” he said. “I care about you so much, and I know it’s something stronger than a simple friendship. I… I’m falling for you, Ellabell. I know I’m no Romeo.” He smirked, even as his heart pounded. “And it doesn’t even matter if you don’t feel the same. I just needed to tell you before we have to face whatever’s waiting for us at Falleaf.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Alex looked boldly into her eyes, and she held his gaze. No matter how hard he observed her face, he couldn’t judge her reaction. There was a smile there, but was it a smile of reciprocity? There was a glitter in her eyes, but he couldn’t tell if it meant she felt the same. It was torment, to stand and wait and wonder what she might say.

Finally, she spoke.

“I realized it in the prison cell, when you held me in your arms and it felt like everything was hopeless. I think I knew before then, but that was the moment I understood that the thought of losing you was unbearable,” she began, dropping her gaze to the floor. “I’ve liked you for a long time, I think, and I’ve grown used to you being by my side. I want you to stay there, for as long as we both feel the way we do… I guess I’m falling for you too, Alex, and if we’re both feeling this way, then we may as well fall together.” She grinned widely, her whole face lighting up, making her even prettier. “I should tell you, though—I’m not exactly a roses and chocolates kind of girl.”

“I would never have thought you were,” he replied.

“I don’t need all that. I just want something that’s real—and to be with you, be beside you, and see where this takes us.” She sighed nervously.

She was far more eloquent than he was, yet she didn’t make him feel as if his admission had been any less powerful. There was a unity in both their confessions, a feeling of mutual affection and a place on the same page. It was a nice feeling, though the thundering of Alex’s heart was not quite as pleasant.

He realized he wanted nothing more than to kiss her.

Slowly, he moved closer to her, lifting his hands to her face, brushing his thumb across the smooth skin of her cheek. She was so close to him, and all he could see and feel was her.

Tentatively, their lips met.

As his grazed hers, Alex felt overcome with emotion. Snowflakes began to fall all around them—it was his anti-magic responding to the overflowing of her own magical aura, her skin crackling with the force of it, as it glittered from within her in a flurry of beautiful golden sparks. It was everything he could have hoped for, and could never have anticipated when he walked through that gate at Spellshadow Manor.

After a few breathless moments, Ellabell pulled away, a smile upon her face. Alex grinned back, brushing the snow from Ellabell’s curls.

“I hope that won’t happen every time,” he whispered.

“I don’t mind if it does,” Ellabell chuckled, and he felt like kissing her all over again.

Gazing into her eyes, however, he realized their time was trickling away. He and his friends would be parting ways at any moment, and he wanted to make sure he said goodbye to everyone before they did. He would be seeing some of them again shortly, but others… Well, he didn’t know.

“Shall we get back?” Ellabell asked, as if reading his mind.

Alex nodded.

They walked back toward the tower room hand-in-hand, grinning like the besotted teenagers they were. He wondered what it would be like to have an ordinary relationship with her, out in the real world, with none of the mayhem that had shaped their current world—he hoped he’d get to find out one day.

Returning to the tower, the goodbyes began.

“I swear I’ll make good on the promise I made to your sister,” Alex said, hugging Natalie. “Once all of this is over, I will get you back home.”

“And I will make good on the promise I made to your mother,” she whispered, giving him a tight squeeze. “You will see her again, Alex. I will make sure of it—there will be no heroics that put that at risk, do you hear me?”

“Agreed,” he said, pulling away from her before approaching Jari.

“Dude, you stay safe, okay? I don’t want you getting any bright ideas about that book,” the blond-haired boy scolded.

Alex smiled. “I won’t, and don’t you play the knight in shining armor either. No saving damsels, though I’m not sure you’ll find many damsels around here.”

“Maybe I can be the damsel,” Jari quipped, jiggling his eyebrows.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Alex muttered, pulling his friend into a hug.

“I’ll miss you too, man,” Jari replied, hugging back.

It was truly hard to say goodbye to friends, but the hardest goodbye wasn’t even one Alex was participating in. It was the sight of Aamir parting ways with Jari. All animosity and shock at Aamir’s decision to go to Falleaf forgotten, Jari leapt toward his best friend, wrapping his arms around the older boy in the tightest of bear hugs.

“I’m gonna miss you so much, man!” he cried, clutching Aamir’s shoulders.