The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

What would, however, was life magic.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about using it, but there wasn’t time to balance the morality as he picked up two of the bottles from his satchel, apologizing softly to the unknown people they had belonged to. Plucking out the stoppers, he poured the shivering vines of pulsing red light into his hands. The essences burned his palms as they met with the coiling silver twist of his anti-magic. He wasn’t certain how to manipulate life magic that belonged to someone else, but he figured he had come this far by making it up as he went along. Trusting his instincts, he fed his own anti-magic into the glowing bands of red, watching in wide-eyed awe as they crackled into life, pooling liquidly from his hands toward the flagstones below.

Before they could reach the floor, Alex exploded the blazing pools into two gargantuan beasts of golden and scarlet-tinged magic. They charged in a surge of raw energy toward Alypia’s trembling figure, their monstrous eyes glowing black like the clockwork mice he had so adored. As they crashed into the white-haired mage’s body, a red miasma snaked from within the jaws of one and wrapped around her, squeezing tighter with every breath she took. The life magic retaliated against her, trying to claw and scrape at her inner essence, drawn in a frenzy toward it.

Golden jaws snapped and red-tipped talons tore within the confined room. There was nowhere for Alypia to run. Tentatively, Alex withdrew his anti-magic from the roaring, snarling beasts, pleased to see that the monsters remained as he took his influence away. It was almost as if they had a mind of their own now, urged on by whomever they had once belonged to. They attacked Alypia with ferocious vehemence, and the shiver of the spilt, nearby life essence seemed to join with the monsters, fueling them, making them more powerful and more autonomous than Alex could ever have imagined.

Almost fearful for his own life, Alex scampered from the room, worried they might turn on him if he stayed too long. As he ran, the horrifying screams of Alypia followed him, echoing through the hallways. Had it been anyone else, he might have felt worse about how he had left her, but he was in no doubt that she would fend off the glowing golden creatures eventually.

Just not until we’re long gone, he hoped.

The bottles clinked in his satchel as he sprinted toward the prison cells, his lungs burning with the exertion. On his way toward his friends, he almost took out Helena, who was running in the opposite direction, careening into her at full force.

“Whoa!” he yelled, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from going flying.

“Alex?” She seemed stunned.

“No time,” he gasped.

“Who’s screaming?” she asked, pointing the way Alex had come.

“Your mother.” He shrugged apologetically, his chest heaving from the sprint. “I’m… keeping her… busy. We’re leaving.”

Understanding flashed in Helena’s eyes. “The others?”

“Cells.”

Drawing on his last stores of strength, he tore off down the hallways with Helena running beside him, not stopping until they reached the prison cells. Leaving Alex to regain his breath, Helena hurried along the passageway, removing the key from around her neck and unlocking the doors that contained Jari, Aamir, Natalie, and Ellabell. Alex saw that her hands were shaking, but whether from fear or excitement, he wasn’t sure.

Alex ushered everyone out, yanking the doors open and helping them to their feet, assisted by Helena. It was a rushed affair with no time for explanations, and there was panic in the atmosphere as Helena led them all back through the labyrinthine school toward the door with the portal. With a gut-wrenching smack of dread, Alex realized, as they neared the room midway down the dingy corridor, that the portal itself could well have been removed, just as Natalie had removed the one that brought them to this place.

“Please still be there,” he muttered, pushing open the door.

To his overwhelming joy, it was still there. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been more thrilled about anything in his life. Whooping loudly, he scooped Ellabell into his arms, spinning her wildly around, and though her expression was one of total bemusement, she laughed as he set her down.

His delight was short lived as he heard the piercing sound of Alypia’s screams, echoing into the room. The howling, animalistic sound could be heard from where they were, making Alex worry about the rapidly closing window of time they still had.

“What’s going on?” Jari asked.

“I used magic to keep Alypia at bay, but it’s going to wear off soon, so we need to get going!” explained Alex as quickly as he could. He would fill them all in on the minutiae later.

His ears pricked up as he heard the percussive beat of footsteps on flagstones, pounding beneath the shrill pitch of Alypia’s pained cries, signaling that others were coming to her aid, drawn by the haunting sound. They didn’t have long at all.

Kicking the door shut behind them, Alex grasped Ellabell’s hand and dragged her toward the portal, squeezing it tightly as he pushed her through to the castle courtyard on the other side. It was as easy as stepping through a doorway, with no troubling drop to worry about. He urged the others through, watching anxiously as they all made the short leap, but Helena was hanging back.

“Come on,” he insisted, trying to maneuver her toward the portal. “It’s easy.”

She pushed him away firmly, shaking her head. “I can’t go with you,” she whispered sadly, her eyes filling with bitter, frustrated tears.

Jari, hearing this, moved to the edge of the portal on the other side, sticking his head back through. “Please, Helena—come on. You have to come with us!” he begged. “I’ll take you dancing! You can paint with my mom and listen to all my dad’s terrible jokes!”

Helena smiled miserably. “I can’t come with you,” she repeated.

“Of course you can,” encouraged Alex, wondering what had caused this sudden change of mind. He wanted her to be free, and the sight of her holding back was a sad one to behold.

“I can’t—don’t you see?” She brushed away a hot, angry tear. “Now that she knows about the plan, Alypia will move heaven and earth if I go missing. If I come with you now, I am dooming you all. You’ve got more chance without me.”

Jari was beside himself, trying to get through the portal as the others dragged him back. “Alypia will kill you if you don’t come with us—you have to come with us! You have to!” he pleaded. “Please, Helena… please come with us.”

Helena smiled, with the look of a bittersweet farewell upon her pretty face. Of all the perfect creatures within Stillwater, Alex imagined that if the magic were completely removed, she would be the only one who still looked beautiful. He watched as she moved slowly toward the edge of the portal, leaning in for the briefest of moments to kiss Jari swiftly on the lips.