The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)

He bit back bitter tears as he gazed out to the glimmering horizon, wishing he could run through the glass and not stop until he reached home. He missed her, and hated to think she was in pain because he had never come home that day. He hated to think of her worrying and panicking—or worse, thinking he was dead. In her state, all of this was terrible for her health. Alex gritted his teeth against the twist of loss inside him, hoping desperately that his mother was still out there, alive and awaiting the return that he promised would come one day—however long it took.

A mix of emotions rose up in Alex, surging through his veins, overwhelming him. The frustrations of his dead-end heritage; the irritation of knowing his name might be on the page but unrecognizable; his untrained powers coiling inside with nobody to aid their growth; the blurry image of his deadbeat dad and the secrets of what lay, icy and dark, inside of him. And, most frustrating of all, the keenly felt loss of his mother, of being so seemingly far away and unable to comfort her—the helplessness he felt, locked up behind walls of someone else’s design.

The outside called to him, and he knew he had to get out of the stuffy confines of the library before he released an icy fury on the place and everyone in it. Checking the clock, Alex saw it was close to seven. Jari and Natalie would be expecting him soon anyway.

Picking up the books on the table, he hurried to put them back where he had found them until only one remained in his hand. He tucked his Historica Magica away again and set off toward the wine cellar. Sparring would be a prime opportunity to let off some pent-up steam from a lifetime of unanswered questions.





Chapter 4





Natalie and Jari were already waiting in the stagnant warmth of the wine cellar when Alex arrived, breathing heavily from his run. His friends seemed locked in a peculiar standoff, the freckled boy glowering at the onyx-haired girl.

“Did I miss something?” Alex asked as he dropped down the last few rungs of the cellar ladder.

“Jari says we are not permitted to begin until Aamir is also here,” Natalie explained, her voice tight with frustration. Jari’s glower deepened, his eyes narrowed to almost reptilian slits.

“It’s only right that we wait,” Jari said, folding his arms across his chest as he sat down on the ground and leaned against one of the crumbling wine racks, sending spiders skittering in all directions.

“We could wait a few minutes, I guess.” Alex shrugged, though he was eager to get started, his muscles wound tight from his library ordeal.

“We are waiting until Aamir gets here,” Jari said firmly, his tone brooking no wiggle room for negotiations.

“What if he does not come?” Natalie cut in.

Jari whipped his head toward her. “He will come—he promised.”

“No, I believe he said that he promised he would try to come,” Natalie retorted, sighing loudly. “We are wasting time.”

“We aren’t starting until Aamir gets here,” Jari repeated.

Natalie grunted, sinking down onto the floor, against one of the side walls.

Alex followed suit, sitting on the dirt opposite Natalie, so they made up a wonky triangle on the floor. Jari’s gaze settled on the hatch to the cellar, unmoving. Natalie rolled her eyes. Alex tilted his head back, staring up at the earthen ceiling, noting silently where the roots were coming through from the trees and plants above, the pale tendrils creeping through like slender, skeletal fingers.

Half an hour passed, and still Aamir had not come.

Alex was sure he had drifted off for a while. Natalie tapped her foot on the dirt in a vague attempt to amuse herself. Jari stared at the hatch.

“How did your meeting with Renmark go, Natalie?” Alex asked, breaking the silence.

Natalie paused. “It was okay, I suppose. It was nothing so special,” she said finally, though Alex had the uncertain feeling that Natalie was being tight-lipped about it. He couldn’t say why, but there was a shiftiness in her as she spoke, and she was unwilling to meet his gaze.

“Well, what did you do?” Alex pushed, intrigued by Natalie’s coyness.

Natalie shrugged. “Nothing so difficult. It was more of a meeting—I did not learn anything new,” she answered stiffly.

“Do you think you will?”

“It is hard to say. Perhaps,” she replied, picking up an abandoned cork from the floor and flipping it between her fingers in a distinctly antsy display. “How was your trip to the library?” she countered, leveling her gaze at Alex.

“It was fine,” Alex said, trying to push down the bitter feeling that rose up his throat.

“What were you looking for?” she pressed, with a knowing smile.

“Nothing much.”

Now it was Alex’s turn to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t feel as if he could explain the true reason he had gone to the library. He still had not told his friends about the mystery shadow-man Elias and all the secret gifts he had been bestowing upon Alex since his arrival at the manor. There was something about Elias that held Alex back—as if the others might think he was under the influence of some dark magic, like Natalie’s curse. Or that Natalie might regret their attack on Finder, if she knew of Elias’s involvement in the whole thing. Elias was an odd enough phenomenon to Alex’s mind; he had no clue how he would explain him to the others. None of his friends had seen Elias for themselves, and Alex somehow sensed that Elias would not appreciate being talked about or revealed in such a way. A shiver crept up Alex’s spine every time he thought about telling the others of Elias and his gifts, like a silent threat. An invisible warning not to say a word.

And so, Alex didn’t.

“You must have been looking for something, I think?” Natalie frowned.

Alex thought of his literary dead-ends, and the earlier frustrations of the empty gaps in the shelves, wondering why he felt he should be so secretive about them. It was crazy. If anyone could help, they could. Alex looked across at his friends, and felt the urge to tell them both about the havens. He was just about to open his mouth, to begin the tale of these other schools, when there was a creak at the overhead hatch. The words stopped dead on his tongue as Aamir dropped down into the cellar.

He looked flushed and exhausted, but happy to see them, his weariness falling away as he brushed the dirt from his hands. He ran a hand through his luxurious black curls and sighed, the sound whispering around the room, his lips curving easily into a broad smile. Jari jumped up and ran to him, and the older boy pulled him in for a tight hug. Natalie and Alex couldn’t help but smile too at the sight of such pure friendship.

“Right, then, shall we get to it?” Aamir grinned.

They set up the cellar for a sparring session, placing a few ancient bottles in the center and drawing lines in the dust.

“What kept you?” Jari asked lightly as he dragged one of the racks out of the way, searching for more bottles behind it.