The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

“No, Natalie—you’re still not fully recovered. You shouldn’t be doing any strong magic for a long time.”

Turning back to Aamir, Alex wondered if he should try to break the curse himself. His powers had improved leaps and bounds since Natalie’s curse, but this one was far stronger. Testing the waters, he pushed the very edges of his anti-magic against the burning curse, feeling it repel him forcefully as it attacked the silver and black tendrils that were running through Aamir’s veins. He tried again, pushing the shimmering strands of his anti-magic closer to the glowing core of the curse, but it was no good; the coiled creature only gripped tighter to its host in retaliation.

Removing his anti-magic as swiftly as he could without hurting Aamir, Alex saw that the attempt had only made his friend worse. On the shady patch of grass, he was writhing violently, mumbling in his delirious state as he tossed and turned. Alex could no longer make out any of what Aamir was saying, but there was a note of fear still, within the fevered gibberish, that unnerved him.

Across the clearing, Jari was running like a madman to fetch cold compresses, his panic evident as he dipped strip after strip of torn-off material into the lake. The blond-haired boy’s fear started seeping into the others like an infection, making everyone tense and snappish, until Alex wasn’t sure he could take the anxiety anymore.

Alex rose, feeling the urge to step away from the situation to get some headspace. His throat felt as if he had swallowed thorns, his thirst still unquenched.

“I need to go and find some water I can drink,” he announced.

Nobody objected as he headed through the woodland, keeping the tree-line in sight so he wouldn’t get lost. He listened for the quiet babble of a stream nearby. He was certain he had heard something similar on his earlier trek with Ellabell.

A few minutes later, he found what he was looking for. A clear, inviting spring bubbled up from a cluster of rocks, meandering from the source, down through the undergrowth in a gurgling stream. He almost ran toward it, sliding down into the mossy forest floor on his knees as he reached for the crystalline liquid; he was so thirsty and desperate to feel cold water on his skin. It did not disappoint. Cupping his hands to catch the cool, crisp water, he drank deep, delighted to feel the liquid run down his throat without scalding it. He went back again and again, drinking the pristine water and washing his face in it, sloughing off the dirt and misery of the past day until he felt like himself again, some calm restored.

He stayed there awhile, sitting up against the damp rock, feeling the cool of it against his spine as he rested in the shade of the treetops. The buzz and crackle of the magic in the air seemed less noticeable in the silence of the forest, blending into the background as he grew accustomed to it, causing no disturbance to his quietude. If he closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was at summer camp, in the normal, non-magical world of home, pausing on a trail in the mountains somewhere...

He couldn’t stay for long, or the others would grow worried. But as he rose slowly to his feet, a strange sound in the near distance snatched his attention. It was the soft, padding sound of stealthy feet, creeping close by. Squinting toward the direction of the lake, he caught sight of unknown figures walking just beyond the tree-line, moving with a deliberate slowness to keep their noise to a minimum.

Fear gripped Alex as he tore off through the forest toward the camp, the spongy, mossy undergrowth deadening the sound of his feet as he ran, hoping to beat the figures he had just seen. Bursting out into the clearing with very little time to explain, he ignored the stunned faces of his friends as he charged over and picked up Aamir.

“We need to go! Follow me!” he hissed, beckoning them into the woods as he tried to keep his voice as low as possible.

Staggering back into the forest, Alex headed toward a denser part of it, not too far from the clearing, where the trees were at their thickest. He could hear the footsteps of the others behind him as they moved into the more camouflaged cover of the forest. Desperately, his eyes scanned for a suitable hiding place in the undergrowth. Just off to the left there was a hollow in the ground, mostly hidden by a spiny-looking bush and a stack of fallen branches that had crumbled from the rotting tree above. Seeing the prime spot, Alex stepped down into it and maneuvered Aamir against the far side. Jari, Natalie, and Ellabell jumped in behind, helping Alex to pull the branches over the top of their hiding place, just in time to see a group of four people arrive in the clearing.

As Alex peered through a small gap in the branches, he saw that they were four of the most beautiful people he had ever seen—perfect beyond description. There were two young men and two young women, each of them more stunning than the last. One of the young women had silky, flawless hair down to her waist, the color and texture of spun gold, with porcelain-white skin that didn’t seem natural. The other woman had long, flowing black hair held back behind her ear with a delicate lotus flower and the most exquisite, deep-toned skin Alex had ever seen, seeming impossibly smooth. The men were no different, one with perfect, curly warm brown hair that swept across a face of unnaturally chiseled bone structure, his coloring similar to Aamir’s, the other with a jet black crop and glowing, pale skin. Dressed in a uniform of black well-tailored pants, military boots, and white t-shirts, they did not look real to Alex, more like photoshopped supermodels, but he knew that they were, in fact, very much real and looking for them.

They seemed to be scanning for any signs of habitation, scouring the area and talking in low voices that Alex couldn’t quite make out. Trying to get a better look, Alex saw them check the padlock on the door of the shed. It was still locked. Alex breathed a quiet sigh of relief, glad he hadn’t tried to break the lock on their first evening. The sight of it, still attached to the hut, seemed to reassure them somewhat that nobody had been there.

Just then, Aamir, in his delirium, jerked suddenly, the weight of his body cracking a large twig beneath him. The snap of it rang through the silent forest like a gunshot. Jari’s eyes went wide with panic as he reached across for his friend, smothering his mouth with a hastily conjured silencing spell, in case Aamir cried out. Alex, still peering through the gap in the branches, watched in horror as the four beautiful people turned sharply in his direction, searching for the cause of the loud crack.