The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

“I’m sorry to do this to you,” she began, giving Alex palpitations that someone was going to barge through the door and arrest them that very moment, “but I am going to have to move you once everyone in the House is asleep.”

It was not quite as worrying as Alex had imagined, but there was still fear to be taken from the girl’s words.

“Why?” asked Jari, looking crestfallen.

“I don’t think it’s safe for you here, in the tower, anymore,” she explained. “It was fine when nobody suspected anything, but the school has tightened security after Alex’s nighttime excursion, and I’m just not sure this is the right place to keep you hidden anymore.”

Alex felt discomfited by the blame, but he knew it truly did fall on him.

“I think you’re right,” he said sheepishly. “I’m sorry to put you all through this again.”

Around the room, the others passed him expressions of sympathy, but there was no anger in the faces he saw. They didn’t seem to bear a grudge, and Alex was grateful for that.

“When must we leave?” asked Natalie.

“We should set off in a couple of hours,” suggested Helena. “Let’s eat something now, pack all your things up, and then get ready to go.”

The group nodded, and Jari handed out food. An anxious silence sat heavily in the air, peppered only by the sound of nervous chewing and the glug of water being drunk. With the knowledge of Helena’s fears, a couple of hours seemed like a long time.



With everything packed up, they stole out of the tower and followed Helena across to the thicket of trees, where they had hidden the boat. They heaved the vessel out from the densely packed branches and pushed it across the shore and into the water as swiftly as possible.

Alex felt the shiver of the lake running icily up his legs as he waded through the shallows. He tried to ignore the feeling as he hopped up into the boat and shuffled over to the middle bench where he took up an oar. Once everyone was aboard, they rowed swiftly over to the island with the lighthouse, where Helena assured them they would be safe. She promised to continue bringing supplies, though they would not be as frequent—every other day, rather than every day. It seemed to surprise her to hear they had already been on the island, but she said little more about it as they made their way over.

Rowing deftly into the narrow inlet, the group watched anxiously as Helena moved onto the central bench and took up the oars. She was taking away their only means of escape, and Alex wasn’t sure how happy he was with that fact. He thought about saying something, but the others were already positioned to wave her off, cheerful smiles on their faces. It didn’t seem to bother them at all that she was going to row away with the boat, leaving them alone on a very small island with no way off it, except to swim. Alex didn’t want to say it smelled like a trap, but he felt a sense of uncertainty regardless.

As she disappeared into the darkness, the quintet made their way into the familiar lighthouse. It was deathly quiet as they marched up the winding staircase, into the rooms above, and laid out their beds.

A short while after everyone had settled, Alex could hear the soft sound of oars, slicing through the water, rising up through one of the windows. Presuming it to be Helena, he moved to the ledge to peer out, only to see a very different sight before him on the black water of the lake.

A boatful of figures, dressed in glinting armor, rowed across the lake toward the opposite shore. Alex ducked back from the window’s edge, guessing they must be the guards Alypia had promised to send to Spellshadow, to regain control at the request of the Head.

“What is it?” hissed Jari, seeing Alex crouched beneath the sill.

Jari’s voice drew Natalie and Ellabell, though Aamir remained below.

“Peer out as carefully as you can,” said Alex.

They did as he asked, their faces pale with terror as they drew back from the opening.

“Are they coming for us?” asked Jari.

Alex shook his head. “They’re headed for Spellshadow.”

“How do you know this?” Natalie asked skeptically.

Alex sighed. “I meant to tell you this morning, but, obviously, I got held up,” he began. “I saw the Head the other night—”

A collective gasp cut him off.

He glanced at Ellabell, realizing she hadn’t told them what he’d seen. Flashing a look at her, she shrugged in response—it was apparent she’d had other things on her mind, and her bashful expression kept him silent on the subject of her not telling the others.

“Where?” whispered Natalie.

“I saw them from the tower—the Head and Alypia. They were out in the courtyard for a while, then they moved inside. I followed them and overheard some things,” he continued.

“They were outside?” hissed Jari, his eyes wide with shock.

Alex nodded. “They were, but they didn’t see us. As far as either of them knew, we were still nowhere to be found.” He grimaced, knowing he might have thrown a wrench in the works with his library visit. “Anyway, they got to talking about Spellshadow, and how the Head had lost control—she promised to send a team to help him. I presume that is the team.” He pointed toward the window, the sound of oars fading.

“What can we do?” asked Natalie.

“There is nothing we can do for them,” he breathed.

The words hung in the air. It had remained unspoken for so long, but the realization was no less crushing. The people of Stillwater were far stronger. Even if they wanted to fight back, what hope did they have? Listening to the last whispers of the boat moving across the lake, toward their old school and the unsuspecting classmates within, Alex could not help feeling the vile hands of sorrow and grief clawing at his insides. He could only imagine what was about to happen to their former classmates and teacher, as he prayed their punishment would not be too severe.

It was an optimism he clung to, remaining quietly confident that, at the very least, their former classmates would not be killed. Alypia had said as much. Those students would be needed when they were stronger, for the harvesting of their essence. It was a very poor consolation, but enough to give Alex some hope of still being able to rescue them at some point in the future, once he had discovered a way out of this whole mess. He was more certain now than ever that the stolen essence could play a major role in the mission ahead, if only he could get ahold of it. Not only could he use it as a bargaining chip—one bottle in return for something he wanted—but it would also be a way to exact revenge on the people who had done this to his friends, and to those innocents in Spellshadow and on the field of the arena at Stillwater, and those who were still to be stolen from the outside world.

Alex desperately wanted to find those bottles and either confiscate or destroy them all, leaving those who had created these prisons with nothing. They couldn’t very well use the essence of under-matured students; it would be as fruitless as having no essence at all.

If you want to keep the evil at bay, he thought coldly, you’ll have to resort to your own ranks.

If he had his way, there would be no more innocent blood spilled. Not as long as he still drew breath.





Chapter 18