The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(93)

“I’m going to miss you too, Petra,” said Aamir softly.

“It won’t be the same without you,” Jari said miserably.

“It won’t be for long. We’ll meet again, and we’ll fight to take back our freedom, and then we’ll go home. And you and I will be friends until we’re old and gray, drinking tea, reminiscing about these days,” Aamir whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

“And we’ll cause havoc in the nursing home?” Jari grinned, brushing away defiant tears.

Aamir nodded. “Why, of course.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Nor you.”

“And if you see any nice ladies at Falleaf, you let them know where I am,” the younger boy chuckled, clearly struggling to suppress his sadness.

“You’ll be too busy mooning over Helena,” Aamir replied, “but I’ll make a mental note.”

“Got to keep my options open,” Jari quipped.

They drew apart, both trying to smile, but failing.

“This sucks,” Jari muttered.

Alex sighed.

He was right. It really did.





Chapter 31





With nothing left to say, Alex grabbed the satchel containing the bottles of essence from Stillwater and followed those who were going through Alypia’s portal, walking with them down to the courtyard. The portal gleamed enticingly, and Demeter stood beside it, ready to follow the others. If there were any guards on the other side, Demeter had already taken care of them. All they had to do now was step through, which they did, turning back for one last goodbye as Alex, Ellabell, and Aamir waved them off on their journey.

It would be up to the others to find Helena before too many people were alerted to their presence. If anyone could do it with the required level of stealth, Alex knew it was the three who had volunteered for the task. With Demeter’s mind control, Natalie’s ability to manipulate the magic of others, and Jari’s instinctual aptitude for reading opponents, they would be okay. He hoped it with all his heart.

Now, it was their turn. They had a portal of their own to open.

“With me!” Lintz bellowed.

The others followed him, running back the way they had come until they reached a circular antechamber that sat at the very end of a long hallway Alex was only vaguely familiar with. He knew they were close to the corridor that held Alypia’s new cell, but he tried not to think about that as he focused on the task at hand.

Lintz paused beside the farthest wall of the antechamber. “Here—this is where the old network is. Alex, pass me the bottles,” he instructed.

Wasting no time, Alex brought forth the bulging bag of essence and handed it to Lintz, who slung it over his shoulder. He was balancing a satchel on each hip, clockwork on the right, essence on the left.

“Right, let’s do this. Watch carefully—you might need to know this one day,” Lintz said as he pulled the first black bottle from the bag and set to work.

He poured the contents into his hands, his eyes focused on the pulsing red strand. Golden threads of magic rippled around his fingers, feeding into the glowing essence. Alex prayed the combination didn’t have the same disastrous results that he’d conjured with Alypia. However, no golden monsters surged from Lintz’s palms. Instead, his mouth moved silently as his hands stretched out the strand of essence, the dim red shade stretching wider and turning a silvery white. Soon, Lintz held a long, wide ribbon of portal energy in his palms, the red tinge entirely gone from the glittering energy. He pressed it against the wall, and the thread flashed brightly before settling, the energy within seeming to undulate above the stonework.

The group braced for red fog, but none came.

“How come it hasn’t set the barrier off?” Alex asked, relieved it hadn’t.

Lintz smiled. “We’re opening an old gateway. The barrier magic flows around the echo of the opening, allowing safe passage… Well, unless you’re someone Caius doesn’t like, like Alypia,” he chuckled, returning to his work.

The professor moved quickly for such a stout man, weaving the portal magic in a lustrous tapestry across the wall. It was almost hypnotic, the way the threads emerged from the essence and slotted into one another. Over and under, over and under, creating a familiar oval shape. Alex watched intently, trying to figure out how he might do the same with his anti-magic.

Finally, the professor came to the end of the essence. Lintz pressed his hands into the center of the woven threads and closed his eyes. With a triumphant swell, the threads connected, the energy melding into one solid oval as the portal burst into life, appearing to shatter the very fabric of the wall with a silent explosion of vivid light that surged outwards. The silvery white light swirled from the epicenter, small at first, then growing larger, gradually filling the parameters of its former oval shape, before settling, like dropping a stone into still water.

As the luminescent ripples were subdued, now flat and calm, a world beyond was revealed. Through the mirror-like surface, Alex could see an autumnal forest stretching away toward the horizon, the bronze and scarlet leaves falling slowly to the lush green undergrowth. There were no buildings in sight, but there were no swarms of guards either—yet. It was picturesque, the blue sky crisp and clear above the fall-hued trees as a cool breeze flowed through from the new realm, its caress feeling fresh on Alex’s hot, stressed face.