The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

“I suppose I’d better go,” said Helena miserably. “I know you don’t want to, after what has happened, but you should get back to your rooms before the guards do their rounds… Please don’t think too badly of me. I’m still here to help you.”

With that thought playing on their minds, Helena left, disappearing into the darkness. It was the opportunity Alex had been waiting for, as he gathered everyone together in a huddle. If what Gaze said was right, about his actions in the arena meaning they were in graver, more immediate danger then he had believed, then they were running out of time. They no longer had the luxury of ambling happily through life at Stillwater. If they ever wanted to get out, it had to be soon. Still, he wasn’t sure tonight was the night to discuss a plan of action—his mind was foggy with grief, and he suspected the others would be in a similar state. They needed time to decompress and gather their thoughts, with Jari alongside them. He only hoped it could wait until tomorrow.

“We need to work quickly,” whispered Alex. “We should meet tomorrow, once lessons are over, and come up with our plan of action.”

“What about Helena?” asked Natalie. She was obviously still reluctant to leave out her friend, even after what she had admitted.

Alex shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We may need her, but who knows how far we can trust her? Let’s keep her at arm’s length for now, and bring her in if and when we need to.”

The group nodded, satisfied with the idea.

“Shall I tell Jari?” asked Aamir. “I spoke to the medical mage today, who said they were going to discharge him tomorrow morning anyway. He’s supposed to be starting classes with you two.” He nodded toward Ellabell and Natalie.

“Yeah, get him to come along,” agreed Alex. “You should probably fill him in on what happened tonight,” he added with a grimace, knowing Jari wouldn’t take the news too well. At least the rest of them had had a chance to say goodbye.

Aamir sighed. “I’ll tell him.”

“Where should we meet? Is anywhere safe enough?” Ellabell asked.

“We should meet in the library. I’ve no idea if it’s safe, but it has the books we might need. Plus, it’s huge, so we can hopefully find somewhere away from prying eyes,” he replied, though he wasn’t sure such a place existed within the walls of Stillwater House. He’d started to feel the prickle of eyes upon him wherever he went these days.

Parting ways, Alex knew nobody would be sleeping well that night.





Chapter 36





The next day, the quintet assembled in the grand library, with its gold-flecked marble floors and trickling water features, pooling away, down the abyss in the center of the room. Other students eyed them cautiously, but most of the five were too distracted by the beauty of the place to notice. It was only Alex, who was already familiar with the alluring, airy space and its entire universe of books, who noticed the wary observation of those around.

It was nice to see Jari up and about, too, though there was a melancholy to his usually cheerful face that Alex found heartrending. To hear of Gaze’s passing and the truth of Helena was not exactly a pleasant way to start the day. Still, the distraction of finding a way out soon brought some life back to his eyes, as they made their way up to a large reading alcove, similar to the one Alex had almost been discovered in. It was high enough that Alex could keep an eye on anyone trying to approach them, but tucked away enough that it gave the illusion of privacy. Whether it would provide any such security, they had yet to find out.

They paused on the walkway, and Alex pulled out a list of research topics. As he read them aloud, the others put their hands up at the subjects they liked and took that as their responsibility, wandering over to the Index to check out any entries before braving the stacks.

The group went their separate ways among the many floors. Alex clambered up to the very top platform and rooted through several shelves until he found some books he thought might be useful. He had brought his Royals book and Leander Wyvern book along too, realizing it had been a while since he had delved within their pages. So much had happened, he had almost forgotten about the two books. As he returned to the reading area, he wondered if there’d be anything juicy inside the tomes that they could use.

Regrouping, he chuckled to see that both Natalie and Ellabell were teetering along with enormous stacks of books, while the two other boys only had a few in each hand. Nevertheless, the tables became a mess of literature as everyone spread their books out on the surface, picking up ones that caught their eyes, before they all settled back in their armchairs to read what lay within.

As they read, talk turned to what could be gained from the lessons they had been attending.

“We could see what Master Montego knows of cloaking spells,” Natalie said, flipping through some pages of a book entitled Cloaks and Their Many Uses.

“I’ve just started learning explosion spells,” Jari chimed in. “It’d be cool to blow stuff up. You know, if we need to create any diversions,” he quipped, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

“What about your classes, Alex? Anything interesting we could use?” Ellabell asked, turning to him.

Alex pondered the question. Master Demeter’s classes were mainly focused on the theoretical, which didn’t seem very useful in this case. “I could see what I can find out about the history of Stillwater, I guess. He might know more about the portals between havens or something.”

He wished he had more to offer from his classes. He had still only been taught by the clownish Master Demeter, even though he was supposed to be having lessons with Alypia. On the occasions she had been listed on his schedule, he had shown up at the correct room, only to find Master Demeter again, who would cry out, without fail, “Is this a devil I see before me?” with something held aloft in his hand, mixing his Shakespeares as badly as he mixed his proverbs.

“I wonder if Alypia is up to something,” he said, after he had explained her continued absences to the others.

Natalie frowned. “The Headmistress is always up to something, as far as I can tell.”

There was residual bitterness, in the wake of what had happened to Gaze. Alex could sense it in the air, mirroring the resentment he felt pulsing inside his own heart.

From the table, Alex picked up his research list and looked over it. Portals, Great Evils, uses for life essence, powerful spells, magical travel—the Stillwater library had a lot of books that skirted around many of these subjects, but none that explicitly detailed any of what they needed. It was frustrating to watch his friends discard book after book, finding nothing of much use at all.

“Any good?” asked Alex as Natalie threw down a large, yellow-covered book on How to Get from Point A to B: A Mage’s Journey by Frederik Scott.

“No, it is some autobiography. Nothing is what it seems in this place!” she cried in exasperation. Alex knew exactly how she felt.