The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)

Alex lifted the mouse to remove his anti-magic before the thing broke entirely. As he drew it closer to his face, he saw the back leg twitch—just for a moment, a tiny movement, but enough. It twitched again, releasing another puff of smoke. Reluctantly, Alex removed the coiling black anti-magic, a sheen of frost licking the metalwork.

It was a small success in Alex’s anti-magical clockwork endeavors, but it was enough to give him hope. He just had to figure out the inverted mechanics; if he could do that, he knew he might be onto something. He sighed heavily, his frustrations returning as he slipped the mouse back into his pocket. Yet again, without a guide, without a teacher, without a textbook, it was up to him to teach himself.





Chapter 8





Beyond the library window, the sky was a muted heather color, the first stars just starting to peek out as night crept slowly in. In the soothing warmth of the cavernous room, Alex and Natalie sat companionably in their favored armchairs by the window, gazing out every so often to see the soft twinkling of the stars in the twilight, growing brighter as the sun receded into night. Beyond the manor’s boundaries, his hometown wasn’t visible now, the landscape showing rolling golden hills instead, their gilded shine dimming in the gathering darkness. But home was still out there, somewhere.

Alex had a spread of mechanical and clockwork manuals out in front of him and a notebook open on his lap, taking up most of the small circular table that lay between the two of them as he jotted things down he thought might be useful. He liked the intricacies of clockwork and the way its practical application calmed him and made him feel useful. Making the mouse’s leg twitch had given him a taste for more. There were countless uses for clockwork, more than he had ever imagined, and reading over the instructions and possibilities made him feel like a kid in a candy store. He was also curious to know if there was any way of figuring out whose magic was inside a clockwork object, but so far he was having no luck with that avenue of enquiry.

Natalie, meanwhile, sat curled up against the deep-set, emerald-green cushion of her armchair, her legs dangling casually over the armrest, focusing solely on one leather-bound book entitled Shielding Techniques for Intermediate Learners. Occasionally, she would let out a small sound of understanding and tap the side of her head, as if something had clicked, and Alex would look across, having almost forgotten his friend was there, in his attempt to cram as much information as possible into his fried brain.

A fire crackled in the grate of the enormous fireplace that ran along most of one side of the library wall. Alex thought it was a strange place to have a fire so big, what with all the paper and potential kindling, but he presumed someone would know a spell to stop a raging blaze if it came to it. Plus, the flames brought him a curious kind of comfort. It reminded him of childhood holidays and summer camps spent around a fire, toasting marshmallows and singing songs, his clothes smelling of it for weeks after, that cinder scent of burning logs and warming smoke. He liked the sound of the fire, too, the erratic crackle and snap of the logs being consumed by the flames, the quiet scuffle as they charred and fell apart, collapsing in on each other, only to be replaced by fresh logs. It made the place feel even grander than it already was, as if they were hidden stowaways in a period drama or tourists in an ancient house, though the latter wasn’t all that far from the truth, Alex supposed.

The cream pages of his notebook were sprawled with the black ink of reams and reams of information he thought he might be able to use in the mechanics lab. If he could invert the clockwork and the mechanisms in order to feed his anti-magic through the system, he might, hopefully, get something to work. There were crude diagrams, hastily drawn at the tops of the pages, and bullet points, alongside numbered, step-by-step instructions. Next to these instructions, Alex had written the inverse direction, knowing that was what he’d have to do with the clockwork under his construction, if he was to have any chance of creating a fully functioning clockwork creature. He thought of the mouse in his pocket, and reminded himself to keep it in the dormitory from now on, until he was sure he was going to be in the mechanics lab again. The last thing he wanted was to be caught with it, knowing full well he wasn’t supposed to take things out of the lab, or anywhere else, for that matter. No teacher would believe the mouse simply ran to him in the night.

Alex jumped, startled, as a ball of paper hit him smack in the forehead. His mouth curved into a relieved smile when he saw Natalie grinning from her spot in the armchair opposite. She laughed softly, and he threw the paper ball back toward her. His own chuckle of amusement turned into a loud yawn as he stretched his arms out above his head, feeling his shoulder pop with a satisfying click.

Natalie looked sleepy too; the warmth of the library had settled like a blanket around them. It was getting late, and they had spent long enough on shields and mechanics. They were just beginning to pack up when Alex became aware of a commotion at the entrance to the library—the sound of feet pounding the floor and the sight of a figure scanning the vast room.

A flustered Jari came sprinting along the reading desks toward them, wearing a look of sheer panic.

“Where have you been? I couldn’t find you,” he said, bending slightly to get his breath back.

“Here. Why? What’s up?” Alex asked, concerned for his friend.

“It’s Aamir,” Jari panted.

“What is it? Is he all right?” Natalie cut in, worry passing over her dark eyes.

“I’m worried—so worried,” he wheezed, patting his chest. He had clearly been running for quite some time, trying to find them.

“What happened?” Alex pressed. Jari sat down slowly on the floor, holding his head in his hands.

“I was with Aamir—speaking to him in his classroom, once he was done for the day. It’s the only time I get these days to just talk with him, you know?” Jari began. The other two nodded. It certainly hadn’t been the same without Aamir around all the time; they had all felt it. Jari continued, speaking rapidly. “Anyway, we were just chatting, about nothing much, really, when some kid bursts in, looking all guilty and shaky. The kid didn’t take the slightest bit of notice of me, but went straight up to Aamir and said that the Head wanted to see him immediately—that he was to go straight to the Head’s office, as he was already waiting.”

“The Head wanted to see him?” Natalie asked, her voice tight with concern.