The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

“I know I told you I fell into a bookcase… and I know you didn’t believe me,” she said, her voice trembling slightly.

“I believed you,” he lied.

She raised her eyebrow at him, flashing a wry smile. “You didn’t believe me. I know you didn’t.”

“Is that not what happened?” asked Alex as an understanding passed between them. She was ready to tell him what had really gone on in that room—the piercing sound of her scream still haunted him, the knowledge he hadn’t gotten there in time. He felt a flutter of anxiety in the pit of his stomach, as if bad news were coming. Of course, he had known she was lying when she told him she had fallen into a bookcase, and even when she sidestepped his question of her being attacked, but he had never expected her to tell him the full truth.

She shook her head. “You were right, when you asked if somebody attacked me in the Head’s library… Somebody did attack me, and I think that somebody was Elias,” she admitted quietly.

“What?” Alex breathed, hardly able to believe it. “I can’t imagine him doing that.”

“I didn’t see my attacker properly, but I am fairly sure it was your shadowy advisor.” Ellabell looked at him earnestly, and he could see the honesty written there on her open face. As much as he wanted to defend Elias’s honor, something held his tongue—a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that Elias was capable of doing what Ellabell said he had done. But Elias did everything for a reason.

“What were you doing at the time?” he asked.

Ellabell frowned. “I’m not sure.”

“Think back. What were you doing when he attacked you?”

She paused, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. “I was reaching for a book… It had a bronze spine, dotted with red jewels. I remember because I was drawn to the glitter of it. Yes—I was about to pick it up when something swooped down from the shadows and hit me hard in the side of the head. Everything was dark, and I thought I’d gone blind, but then something tried to claw my tongue from my mouth. I remember the pain of it and feeling very cold… I saw strange, starry black eyes glaring at me from the darkness and could hear whispers all around, warning me to stay away from things that weren’t mine and seeking secrets that weren’t for me to know, but I couldn’t see the person who was speaking—there was only shadow.”

Silence stretched between the two of them as Alex struggled to find the right words to say. Her description couldn’t be of anyone but Elias.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, moving toward her.

“It wasn’t your fault.” She smiled sadly.

Alex longed to reach out and comfort her, but his hands were holding the edges of his jacket, filled with berries for the others. She moved toward him in a similar motion, only to glance down at the spoils in her makeshift apron, seemingly coming to the same conclusion.

“I should have been there with my anti-magic,” he said, his mouth set in a grim line. “I should have stopped him.”

“You got me out, Alex… and I’m the one who told you I didn’t want to leave you on the mission. I meant it.” A small smile played upon her lips, and Alex felt a glimmer of hope flicker once more inside him, though he wasn’t sure what to say in return. All his previous questions evaded him, his tongue uncharacteristically tied.

“I need to get better at protecting my friends,” he said finally. “I will do my best to keep all of you safe here, wherever ‘here’ is.”

A look of disappointment flashed in her sparkling blue eyes, the smile vanishing. “We should be getting back with these,” she announced hastily.

“O-Okay,” he said, wondering if he had said something to offend her.

“They’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.” She turned and led the way back to the clearing, suddenly more surefooted among the undergrowth.

As he followed in Ellabell’s footsteps, listening to the thud of her shoes ahead, his mind was full of Elias and what she had told him. Leander Wyvern’s notebook was still in Alex’s back pocket, seeming to burn against his skin as all ill-gotten gains were wont to do. Repulsion at the shadow-man made his skin crawl, knowing how much trust he had put in Elias, only to find out what vile, reproachable things he was capable of. There had always been an uncertainty about Elias’s moral compass, but Alex had never thought him an evil creature.

He thought back to the disposal of Finder and the retrieval of Elias’s long-sought life essence, held captive by the Head. He thought of the uprising at Spellshadow, causing the Head untold trouble in regaining control, not to mention the anti-magic that had helped in the fight, only learned because of the books Elias had given him. Elias had made them seem like gifts intended to benefit Alex, and yet all of those things had helped Elias achieve selfish goals, in one way or another. The question Alex couldn’t answer, however, was why—why did Elias need Alex to do the dirty work?

Walking back into camp, he wasn’t sure he’d ever have the chance to ask.





Chapter 3





The others were pleased to see the foragers, as they returned with their jackets full of berries. It was a meager, plain meal, but it was better than nothing.

As Alex chewed, he turned his attention to Jari, who had tried to mash up some berries to feed to Aamir. The older boy had become worse during Alex and Ellabell’s absence, and his skin was covered in red blotches that felt boiling hot to the touch. His whole body was on fire, sweat drenching every fiber of his clothes. Every few minutes he would lash out, his muscles shaking uncontrollably as his limbs jerked.

None of them had much of a grasp of healing magic, and nobody had volunteered to try in case they made him worse. It was uncharted territory, but if Aamir didn’t get help soon, there was no telling what could happen to him.

Taken by a sudden impulse, Alex walked over to Aamir and settled down on the grass beside him. Jari looked on nervously as Alex laid his hands on Aamir’s shoulders, sending tendrils of silver and black through the blotchy layers of Aamir’s skin. Eyes squeezed tightly shut, Alex searched through the interior of Aamir’s body until he touched upon the glinting, golden shape of a snake, coiled around the inside of Aamir’s aura. There was no telling how long it had been there, but it was savage, snapping viciously at the intrusion of Alex’s anti-magic. The cutting of the band, Alex realized with a twist of guilt, must have released a potent curse that was gripping onto Aamir like a vice, sapping him of his health and vitality far quicker than Derhin’s curse had done to Natalie.

“What is it?” asked Jari, edging closer.

“He’s cursed. It’s a strong one,” said Alex reluctantly. “It must have been the band.”

“I can try and break it,” Natalie said, but she still looked weak.