The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

As the flurries settled and melted from the shattered barrier, Alex glanced back at the crowd and caught sight of the Headmistress in her throne, smiling smugly, as if Alex had just confirmed what she already knew. He found that, in that instant, he didn’t care. Jari was safe, and if his own secret was the price for that safety, then so be it.

He frowned, however, when he saw the shrouded figure standing beside her. The figure moved as if to step into the light, but the Headmistress lifted her hand quickly, holding her arm out to prevent the shadowed being from doing so. The hood was familiar. Alex knew exactly who it was—the Head come to gloat, no doubt. Seething, Alex flashed a glare of hatred toward them both, casting it across the other students as well. Their altered faces and terrified eyes stared back.

It was only as the tremor of his anti-magic began to subside that their faces returned to normal, the sheen of beauty restored, though the fear in their eyes did not go away. They had seen something in Alex that had scared them, but he had the feeling there was more to it than just his Spellbreaker heritage. The burning sensation in his eyes and the pulse in his veins alarmed even him, not quite knowing where they came from. It wasn’t like any anti-magic he’d ever felt before.

“This is over!” he roared.

Lifting Jari to his feet, Alex carried the boy away toward the tunnels, knocking into Helena as they ducked into the entrance of the one on the left. She looked up in surprise and alarm as she registered the savage expression on Alex’s face.

“Where is the infirmary?” demanded Alex, the rage still thick in his voice.

It appeared that Helena had missed the whole debacle, as she glanced from Alex to Jari, her golden eyes going wide in surprise as she saw the state the latter was in. He was barely able to hold himself up, his body broken.

“I didn’t know, Alex—oh my goodness, I didn’t know!” she cried as she rushed to assist, looping Jari’s arm around her neck.

As they made their way back toward the villa, Alex refused to look back. If he did, he knew he would not be able to control the hatred he felt. If he kept his eyes forward, there was hope. Hope for Jari, hope for all of those who had watched and done nothing.





Chapter 27





Alex sat beside Jari in the infirmary, trying to stay awake as he watched over his friend.

Jari was asleep but alive, though the wizard on duty explained to Alex, with somber warning, that it had been a close call. He was recovering, but it was likely to take a while—the boy had taken a beating, and not just on the battlefield. From the bruises and welts all across Jari’s skin, Alex could tell that he had been suffering long before he ever made it to the arena floor. Whoever had done this to him had wanted to make sure he was weak enough to fail quickly. Jari was a fearsome mage, and even though he had been pitted against a Stillwater student of superior ability, he would never have simply given up as swiftly as he had, without being broken to within an inch of his life. He would have kept fighting, kept taking the hits, until he had nothing left, but Alex knew Jari had walked onto that field already beaten.

Alex had expected the Headmistress to come straight for him, but she did not. If she meant to torture him by stringing out the suspense, Alex no longer cared.

On the other side of the bed, Helena sat in an identical chair to the one Alex sat in, trying equally hard to stay awake. She hadn’t left Jari’s side for a moment, her hands clutching his as he slept.

“I feel so responsible—I should have known this would happen. I should have known they were lying,” she said quietly, brushing tears from her eyes.

Alex turned to her. “What happened? You told me he was fine. You promised me he was fine.”

“I thought he was. It’s what they told me. They said he was fine,” she replied miserably, shaking her head.

“Who are ‘they?’” he asked, frowning.

Suddenly cagey, Helena turned her face away. “Just somebody I know in the villa, who was supposed to be taking care of him,” she explained vaguely.

Alex didn’t get to ask any more questions, as Jari stirred beneath the covers, interrupting their conversation. He awoke slowly, his manner groggy and his eyes swollen. He glanced around in confusion.

“Where—?” he rasped.

“You’re in the infirmary. You’re safe,” said Alex.

“Alex! Thank you,” whispered Jari in a dopey voice. “Hey—your eyes were silver! I’ve never seen you do that before,” he mused deliriously as a grin spread across his face.

Alex looked at his friend with confusion, putting the strange comment down to Jari being tired and disoriented after the suffering he had undergone. The exhaustion was still apparent on his face, but the boy seemed intent on fighting sleep as he gazed around the room, his eyes coming to rest adoringly on the face of Helena.

“Are you an angel?” he asked slowly.

She giggled. “No, Jari—it’s just me, Helena.”

“So, you are an angel.” He grinned like an idiot, lifting his hands with slow surprise as he saw her clutching them. “Well, if I’d known this was how you got the girl, I’d have done it ages ago!” He chuckled to himself, hopped up on whatever spell the medical mage had run through him.

Alex smiled, happy to see his friend hadn’t lost his sense of priorities.

“Jari?” he said, waiting for the boy to make the laborious turn back toward him.

“Alex, my man!” Jari giggled.

“What happened to you?” Alex asked, trying to keep the smirk from his face. As much as he wanted to have a serious conversation with Jari, the boy was being amusing.

“What happened to me? I’ll tell you what happened to me. That woman, you know, the big, tall, pretty one with the evil stare,” he began dramatically. “Well, she made me this offer, and I was like ‘Dude, I’m not taking that—no way, Jose.’ And she got real mad. It was like five years and then a fight to the death or some nonsense—I guess it was more like five minutes and a fight to the death, eh?” he cackled, clearly pleased with himself. “Thank you, by the way, for coming in guns blazing with your weird little eyes!”

Alex smiled. “It was no problem, Jari. Did she say anything else to you?”

Jari paused thoughtfully. “Yeah. She wanted me to spy on you and report back, like some dastardly supervillain. I was like, who do you think I am? The name’s Bond, James Bond.” He grinned, making finger guns as he dove headfirst into a poor Sean Connery impression. “Not sure why—something to do with powers and stuff. She was all like ‘I’ll kill Alex if you don’t do what I say,’ and I was like ‘Yeah, good one.’ I didn’t believe her because you’re too mega special to kill. Everyone’s always like ‘Alex is so special,’ ‘look at his special glowing powers,’ ‘super special Alex.’ Everybody wants you alive, man. I knew she was bluffing—can’t get nothing past me!” He grinned, trying and failing to wink as he turned back toward Helena, who was chuckling away in her chair.