The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)

“Stop!” called the figure, in a strict, sharp voice that wasn’t familiar to Alex.

Alex extended his hands and sent the blockade rushing toward the figure. It was densely packed with ice and snow, ripples of black and silver energy twisting and turning within the frosty interior, far stronger and more powerful than the one he had practiced in the cellar. It knocked the figure backward with a loud thud, its body hitting the stone floor hard. Watching the blockade disintegrate, Alex moved his hand in a rapid figure eight, creating a fog of condensation that rose up thickly from the icy remnants, distorting the escape route from view.

Alex didn’t wait for the figure to get up as he raced after Jari, who was a short way ahead with Ellabell’s arm draped around his neck. Taking up Ellabell’s other arm, Alex gripped her waist and ran, holding her up as they raced past the golden line that lay cracked and broken on the floor. Spying the dull, painted red wood of one of the empty chambers in the adjoining corridor, Alex headed for it and burst through the door, dragging them all inside. He gently set Ellabell down and touched his finger to his lips, ensuring she and Jari understood his meaning as he crouched low to the floor and crept back over to the door, placing his eye close to the keyhole to watch the hallway beyond.

He heard the figure before he saw it, the hurried beat of shoes hitting stone sending jolts of panic through Alex’s heart as he waited for the figure to come into view. The dark-clad pursuer passed close by the door without pausing to check it, permitting Alex to get a closer look. The figure looked tall and menacing as he ran past, with a distinct masculinity in the broadness of the shoulders, though his face was shrouded by a hood. Alex frowned as he sat back from the keyhole; he had never seen the figure before, and the notion made him wonder how easy it was to hide a stranger in the manor. Perhaps the Head was hiding an army in this labyrinth of a place.

Looking back at his fellow escapees, he noticed that Ellabell had curled up against the wall with her eyes staring out into space. He felt a wave of protectiveness for the curly-haired girl, wondering what on earth had happened to her.

“Ellabell?” he whispered, his hands reaching out to hold hers as she trembled uncontrollably. “Ellabell, what happened?” he asked, but she only shook her head and lowered her gaze.

Her entire body shivered, the blood drying and flaking from where it had trickled from the corner of her mouth down to the edge of her chin. Tears streamed silently from her big blue eyes as she clutched the broken spectacles in her hand, the splinters of glass pricking her skin until Alex took them carefully from her desperate grasp and placed them on the ground.

“Ellabell, tell me what happened. You can trust me,” Alex reassured her earnestly, squeezing her hands lightly as he spoke.

She shook her head, a choked whimper escaping her throat as she looked up to the darkness that crept across the chamber ceiling, her pupils darting rapidly as if she thought someone was watching her. Alex glanced up, following the direction of her gaze, but could sense nothing in the shadows that might want to hurt them.

Only when the coast seemed clear did Alex give the go-ahead for them to re-emerge, some hours later. Gently, Alex picked up the wilting, terrified form of Ellabell and carried her carefully back to her dormitory like precious cargo. Jari headed back to the boys’ dormitory at Alex’s insistence, leaving Alex to tiptoe through the vacant halls, checking around every corner to make sure he was alone. Nobody stopped him as he made the slow trek back to the girls’ dormitory, and he felt a keen sense of relief when he reached the door with the brass number twenty-eight on the front. He rapped quietly on the wood and waited for Natalie to open it.

She answered it quickly, and Alex realized she must have stayed up all night, anxiously awaiting their return. Natalie gasped when she saw Ellabell and helped Alex carry her to her bed.

“She needs professional help,” said Natalie, pressing her hand to the back of Ellabell’s forehead to check her temperature.

“No,” whimpered Ellabell. “I’m fine,” she insisted, curling up into the fetal position as Natalie pulled the covers over her.

A look passed between Alex and Natalie. He hadn’t heard Ellabell speak properly until that moment, and the strangeness in the curly-haired girl’s voice was deeply concerning; it was thick and distorted, as if her mouth were filled with liquid.

“You should see someone. One of the professors should be on duty,” pressed Alex, but Ellabell looked up at him in horror.

“No. I don’t want to see anyone. I’m fine,” she repeated, her odd voice catching in her throat as she began to cough violently. Natalie handed her a handkerchief from the top drawer of her bedside table, and Alex was certain he saw blood as Ellabell spluttered into it, the deep red staining the pale pink of the fabric as she held it to her mouth, though she tried to hide it with her hands as she smothered the handkerchief with her fists.

“You should go. I will make sure she is okay,” whispered Natalie as Alex tried to get another look at the handkerchief. He was growing more worried about Ellabell with each fact he didn’t know.

“Are you sure?” he asked, frowning.

Natalie nodded. “I will make sure she is okay. I promise.”

“I hope you feel better soon,” Alex murmured, not knowing what to say to Ellabell as he moved toward the door of the dorm. She didn’t respond, turning beneath the covers to face the wall.

“You can tell me everything tomorrow,” Natalie said as she led Alex to the door and ushered him out into the corridor.

Alex nodded, passing her a wave of goodbye as she closed the door on him.

Back at his own dormitory, Alex changed quickly out of his dusty, dirty clothes and into his clean, crisp pajamas, lying wearily back on his mattress as he stared up at the ceiling, his limbs aching a little from the run. Across the room, Jari was a mirror image, staring up into space with his arms folded across his chest.

“What did you find?” asked Alex, propping himself up on his elbows as he looked over toward his friend.

“The Head is gone,” replied Jari with a low sigh, “but I couldn’t get my hands on what I was after.” There was regret in Jari’s voice, and a subtle hint of anger rippling just below the surface.

“The Head is gone?” Alex was curious that Jari didn’t seem more pleased by the revelation. “How can you be sure?”

“He’s definitely gone. It’s a long story, but let’s just say a little bird told me,” he explained with a vagueness that frustrated Alex. “What happened to Ellabell, by the way?”

“No idea. She won’t say, but it was definitely something bad,” said Alex, wishing he knew what had happened so he could help her. He couldn’t get the image of her wide, terrified blue eyes out of his head.