The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

On the edge of the bed, Aamir’s face crumpled. With that, Alex left the room and returned to his own.

Running a bath and sitting in the tub, Alex went over the things they had discussed. As they had been talking, Aamir’s answers had seemed complete and honest, but thinking about them in retrospect, Alex could see the holes and gaps in the stories he’d been told—all of the “I’m not sures” and “I can’t remembers” and the constant line of “there are gaps in my memory, and there are things I was never told.” He wondered gloomily if he would ever be able to fill in the missing pieces.





Chapter 30





After several failed attempts to get his book, finding himself perpetually halted in the corridor by the stern glare and probing questions of a uniformed guard, Alex drifted toward the infirmary, spending a short while with Jari and the others, until Jari grew too tired for company. He was recovering nicely, but still had a way to go. There was a greater sense of calm among the rest of his friends, after they had received the understanding that they would all be permitted to stay, without further consequences for what Alex had done. Alex himself still felt on edge, unable to trust a word of it, but Alypia had not come to tell him otherwise.

On his way back from the infirmary, he tried to slip out once more toward the villa wall, only to be stopped again by a curious guard who seemed to materialize out of nowhere, forcing him to retreat to his room, where he began trying to figure out the anti-magical equivalent of some of the spells he’d seen at the arena of late, hoping they might be useful in the future. It seemed a better use of his time than moping about, hoping the guards in the hallways would disappear.

A knock at the door disturbed Alex from his spell inversions. He opened it to find a slender young woman with fiery red hair standing in the hallway.

“The Headmistress wishes to see you,” she commanded.

Fear gripped Alex’s stomach as he slipped the sheets of paper he’d been working on into his pocket, hoping they’d be safe there. “Now?”

She nodded. “If you’d be so kind.” There was a note of sarcasm in her voice that got Alex’s guard back up as he followed her.

For a brief moment, he thought about defying the red-haired girl, refusing to go with her to see the Headmistress, but after the trouble he’d caused in the arena, and the already tentative safety of his friends, he didn’t feel like he had any choice but to go willingly. As much as he wanted to fight back, he wasn’t stupid; he knew he was in a sticky spot, with his choices influencing what might happen to his friends. To be taken to Alypia’s office by force, after causing more trouble—he had a feeling Alypia wouldn’t take too kindly to that.

They moved quickly through the hallways and corridors, Alex noting the familiar route as he ran to keep up with the red-haired woman’s swift stride. She didn’t seem willing to talk as she led him toward the Headmistress’s office, her eyes set dead ahead, her mouth unsmiling. It was another glorious day, the sun beating down warmly on his face as they crossed one of the piazzas, the scent of flowers hanging heavily in the air, emanating from the vivid roses that draped the pale stone walls. He drank in the sights and sounds and smells, wondering if it would be his last taste of sunshine and fresh air as they ducked back into the shadow of another walkway.

Arriving at the tall, white double doors, he thought his heart was about to explode, it was racing so fast. He hadn’t seen Alypia since the arena, though he had expected her to summon him, but now that it was happening, he wanted to turn and run as far from that place as possible. Sensing his hesitation, the red-haired girl opened the door and pushed him inside with an unexpectedly brutal shove.

He staggered into the beautiful, glass-ceilinged office, struggling to regain his balance and stop himself from sprawling across the marble. It wasn’t exactly the elegant, confident entrance he had hoped to make.

Sitting at her desk, Alypia beckoned him forward, the friendly smile on her face worrying Alex more than any dour expression might have done. “Fionnula can be a little forceful—my apologies,” she purred, clearly amused.

Regaining his composure, he walked over to her desk and slowly sat down in the high-backed chair with the white fur covering, the fibers tickling his neck as he shuffled backward, trying to get comfortable. He figured he might as well, if she were about to sentence him to some unknown torture.

Looking up, he met her gaze as fearlessly as he was able. “You took your time,” he remarked brazenly, trying to regain the upper hand.

She chuckled softly. “I thought I’d give you the chance to calm down first, before I called you here.”

Her words made Alex feel like a child being scolded at elementary school, needing a timeout for losing his temper. “That was kind of you,” was all he could muster, though he knew how paltry it sounded.

“I trust you are fully recovered after your outburst the other evening?”

“I am. My friend is still in the infirmary, however,” he replied curtly.

Her eyes flashed. “An unfortunate incident,” she said diplomatically. “I have ensured he is getting the best care, to aid in his recovery. The problem is now—what am I supposed to do with you?”

Alex frowned. “I don’t follow.”

“While I abhor disobedience, you certainly gave me food for thought with your show of power. I had my suspicions about you, Alex Webber, as I presume you well know?” She waited for him to respond.

He nodded. “I thought you might.”

“My little brother suspected too, but you slipped out of his fingers before he could get you to break,” Alypia explained. “Now, I knew you didn’t need breaking in order to show yourself. I knew it would simply take something big to get the confirmation I needed, of how powerful you were. You would never have revealed your secret willingly, and so I had to… How shall I put it? Encourage you to show me. I had to see your strength with my own eyes.”