The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)

The suggestion in the note annoyed him too. He wasn’t quite certain who it was he was supposed to be suspicious of—these non-trustworthy individuals whom he had to keep his secrets from. Natalie and Jari would never breathe a word if he told them. Aamir was a bit of an anomaly, but Alex had been careful not to say too much around the new teacher. Did it mean Ellabell?

Alex scrunched the note up in the palm of his hand. Who did the sender think they were, anyway, telling him whom he could and could not speak to? He knew his own mind, and it had steered him okay so far. Besides, how was he supposed to gather any information on all those glaring gaps in his knowledge if he couldn’t speak to anyone? He tossed the note onto the floor, watching as it skidded away under a chest of drawers.

Slowly, he reached toward the clockwork mouse, feeling the resistance of the golden magic within as he closed his hand around the mechanical creature. He felt the icy anti-magic flow eagerly from his palm, encircling the mouse, working its way into the intricate design and dispelling the warm glow from within until the shiny clockwork lay still in his hand, the current of magic gone from its limbs. The glitter dimmed in its eyes, and the moving parts ceased to twitch. Dead, for all intents and purposes. Alex felt a twinge of remorse as he held the mouse up to his eyes, running his thumb gently across the impeccably constructed mechanics, feeling the smooth metal, cold beneath his fingers. Even with the magic sucked out of it, the mouse was beautifully lifelike—a true work of craftsmanship.

He placed the creature on the smooth wooden surface at the top of his bedpost, as if the mouse were standing guard over him.

The note raced through his thoughts as he lay back, knowing sleep wouldn’t easily come again. The absent spaces in the shelves of the library still bothered him, and the note’s message had only increased his irritation. Who else was he supposed to ask for information? He thought of the still-missing Elias, wondering silently if the shadow-man had sent the clockwork. But it didn’t seem like Elias’s handiwork. He seemed to prefer paying Alex an actual visit whenever he had some vague message to impart. A secret, unsigned message was too subtle for Elias.

The ghost of Malachi Grey plagued Alex’s thoughts. Finder, with all that information tucked away—that fountain of knowledge, now dried up. A low sigh escaped his lips. Jari stirred in his sleep, and Alex froze, not wanting to wake his roommate.

“Who sent you?” Alex asked the mouse, even though he knew it wouldn’t answer. Frustration gripped him, and he wished he’d asked that question before he’d sucked out the magic. Not that the clockwork creature had a voice, necessarily, but Alex wondered if magic itself was traceable. If it was, it was too late to investigate now.

A crawling, creeping sensation prickled beneath his skin as he looked beyond the mouse, up to the shadows gathering across the ceiling and snaking down the walls, hunched in corners with an inky mystery that Alex found suddenly disturbing. The darkness seemed to move like something living, shifting liquidly where it pleased, shrouding unseen eyes from view. The hairs on Alex’s arms stood on end as he became intensely aware of a familiar feeling—the feeling of being watched. He sat bolt upright, straining into the darkness, and tried to peer into the impenetrable mist of shadows.

“Elias?” Alex hissed, willing the shadowy being to waltz from the dark. “Elias, I know you’re there,” Alex spoke a little louder, anxiety constricting his throat as he stared into the shadows, utterly unconvinced that the penetrating eyes belonged to Elias. “Elias?” Alex whispered, one last time, a shiver rippling through him.

If Elias was there, he wasn’t being forthcoming.

Alex shook his head, telling himself quietly that it was all in his mind. He forced himself to settle back down beneath the covers. The shadows were just shadows, the feel of eyes on him merely a figment of his overwrought imagination. It was the note that had spooked him, that was all, conjuring up beasties and ghouls where there were none. Either that, or it was Elias playing tricks on him.

Alex turned from the far wall, where the shadows were deepest, and closed his eyes tightly, willing sleep to come as the tingle of something sinister continued to creep through his veins, chilling him to the very core, as if a nightmare had found its way from the safe confines of sleep and crept into the waking world.





Chapter 6





Hanging from the stone wall of the mess hall, written on a tapestry in great, sprawling black letters, was a message for the first-year students of Spellshadow Manor. Each day at the school was much the same, so any break in the staunch routine was met with a hum of curiosity.

The tapestry informed the students that, over the next week, they would be meeting with their second-year teachers for an introductory session before the next academic year began, which would give them a flavor of what was to come. That day, they were expected to meet with Professor Renmark instead of having their usual first lesson with Professor Nagi, with further instruction to attend an introductory meeting with the elusive Professor Gaze later in the week.

Alex and Jari stared up at the notice, discussing what their new teachers would be like. Natalie didn’t seem too worried.

“So, what’s Renmark like?” Jari asked in an attempt to pry some information from Natalie.

“He is… different,” Natalie replied.

“What do you mean ‘different’?” Alex pressed.

Natalie shrugged. “His methods of teaching are not quite the same as many of the other teachers,” she explained, making nothing clearer.

“Come on, give us a clue!” Jari cried. “Will we hate him?”

Another shrug. “I honestly could not say. You’ll both just have to see for yourselves.” She smiled as Alex and Jari rolled their eyes.

“What use is a spy on the inside if you won’t tell us anything?” Jari exclaimed, nudging Natalie playfully as they moved out of the mess hall and into the hallways, headed for the mysterious Professor Renmark’s office.

“Is he more like Derhin or Lintz?” Alex asked, trying a different tactic.

“He is like neither.” Natalie smiled more widely, not falling for the bait.

“Do you like him?” Alex asked.

Natalie paused. “He is an excellent teacher, if you are willing to put in the work. I think he is firm but fair,” she said thoughtfully.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Alex asked, his tone hushed.

Natalie’s brow furrowed. “I hadn’t exactly thought about that,” she admitted.

“Are the lessons hard?” Alex asked, more worried now.

Natalie nodded. “A little.”

“Am I going to be in trouble?”

“I don’t think so—I will do my very best,” Natalie promised.

“Thanks,” Alex muttered, though a sense of dread fell over him as they neared Professor Renmark’s classroom.