The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

The dining room was an intimate place, with a few dozen little round tables spread out over a shag carpet, walls hung with hides of strange creatures that reminded Alex of the griffons in books of mythology, and lizards of improbable sizes.

The alchemy labs, located behind a small door with a crystalline knob, were filled to the brim with blue-green smoke when the group entered, only to be hastily shoved out again by a student with a panicked expression on her face.

Alex was still wiping at his stinging eyes when they reached their next destination. Jari drew up at a door of dark wood, embellished with swirls of golden paint. Alex noticed that Aamir stood up a little taller at this one, his hands fidgeting at his sides.

Before Alex could ask what the new room was, Jari pushed the door open with a flourish, and a wave of musty air poured out over them, washing Alex with the familiar smell of books. Silence came with it, settling like fresh snow into his ears and dampening all sounds.

“This,” Jari said, his voice sounding strangely distant and muted, “is the library.”

The room inside was almost beyond comprehension. Three giant pillars rose up to the ceiling at the room’s center, each lined with shelves and shelves of books. Iron walkways crisscrossed the pillars’ surface in a lattice of stairs and ladders, and paper lanterns hung from above. Alex stared in awe as a student pulled out a book halfway up one of the great pillars, then vaulted the railing, flipping the tome open in his hands as he fell, his feet tapping against the floor as lightly as if he were a feather.

“Marvelous, isn’t it?” Aamir said, reverence in his voice.

It was. Alex filled his eyes with the magnificent room, feeling a buzz of excitement.

There must have been hundreds of thousands of books here, framed by a great wall of glass that overlooked the front gates of the school. And surely one of them would be helpful in his escape.

“Bit stuffy,” said Jari absently. “And the noise-dampening magic is a real killjoy.”

Aamir grimaced. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to permanently apply it to Jari,” he said to Alex. “But so far, no luck.”

While the two descended into bickering, Alex continued to look at the books. Yes, there must be answers to many of his questions here. He could learn what this place was, hopefully what its weaknesses were. He scanned the shelves with wide eyes, thinking ahead to when he and Natalie would return home.

His gut twisted painfully as he thought of his mother. She would know they were missing by now. He imagined her alone in the house. It had been months since her hospitalization, and she could manage on her own, but it killed him to think of the stress his absence would be putting on her heart.

He had to hurry.

Jari broke through his thoughts as he grabbed him by the arm again with a smile.

“We’re out of time,” he said. “Come on. We’ve got class.”

Alex swallowed and strode along, trying to push thoughts about his mother from his head. They wouldn’t help him now; only crush him with worry at a time when his mind needed to be open and sharp.

The richly patterned black door shut, and noise came rushing back. They were standing in a hallway, and the view through this window was a great cave, the roof glittering with glowworms, twinkling like tiny stars.





Chapter 10





They reached a classroom—a plain box of a room with no windows and a large set of desks arranged before a blackboard.

Aamir showed Alex to an empty seat, then settled down next to him. Jari plopped down in front.

“You two aren’t the same age, but you share classes?” asked Alex.

Aamir’s lips tightened. “Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

Jari jumped in to clarify. “The classes are more about strengthening and controlling your magic,” he said with a shrug. “The teachers will show techniques for reining in your power, and ways to draw it out. To hear them talk about it, it takes about four years to cover all the material. During that time, we’re encouraged to study specializations on our own, and are tested on our progress.”

“It’s utter nonsense,” muttered Aamir testily. “It’s like they intentionally teach us as little as possible.”

“Not everybody can have my prodigious levels of control,” Jari said offhandedly.

Alex was about to reply when the door opened and Natalie entered. His eyes widened as he saw her, her hair appearing freshly washed, braided, and tucked over one shoulder. A few other girls were walking with her, and one pointed to a seat, leading her farther toward the back of the room.

He hurried over to her immediately, trying not to make a scene but feeling indescribably relieved. There was no ragged figure near her, and she seemed bright-eyed.

“Alex!” she gasped as he approached. “Alex, you are here? But how?” She embraced him quickly, and the girls she had entered with started to whisper around them.

“I followed you,” he said in a hushed tone, bending to talk closer and putting a hand on her shoulder. She touched it lightly as she listened with bulging eyes. “I had to make sure you were okay. That gray, ragged man that was following you—it didn’t hurt you, did it?”

She looked confused, shaking her head a little and wrinkling her brow. “Gray, ragged man? No, there was no gray man. I’m not hurt. But Alex, I want to get out of this place!” She hissed the last part in a vehement whisper, her nails digging into his hand.

“Me too,” he replied, feeling confused as to why, even now, she was oblivious to the gray man. Maybe he’d cast some sort of spell on her? That still didn’t explain why Alex had been able to see him. “We will get out,” he continued, forcing his focus back to the conversation. “But—we can’t talk now. Later, okay?”

“Yes,” she replied, glancing at the students seated all around them. “Yes, later.” Still clinging to him, she followed him back to Aamir and Jari, who looked extremely surprised. They introduced themselves a little hesitantly, and shot him curious glances.

“You two know each other, I take it?” Aamir asked slowly, evaluating them.