The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

“Yeah,” replied Alex, his voice low.

“We were at the same school,” Natalie added.

Aamir eyed them. “That is quite rare,” he said, and Alex wasn’t sure Natalie should have offered that information.

She stared as Aamir pulled a stack of papers, an inkpot, and three books out of his trim-fitting jacket, where they could not possibly have fit.

“Magic,” she mouthed at Alex, and he gave her a thin smile. Clearly she was still coming to terms with it herself.

At that moment, the door opened once more, and a reedy man with a stooped back and a wiry pair of spectacles shuffled in. He had a stack of papers shoved under one arm, and held a glass jar of fireflies in the other hand. The class quieted instantly. Alex, assuming this man was the instructor, watched with wary interest as he made his way toward the desk.

He felt a little more at ease with Natalie at his side. At least he had accomplished the first two steps of his simple plan from the night before.

Go in. Get Natalie.

Next would be: Get out.

Maybe this teacher would teach him about the powers the manor and its people owned, help him figure out how to thwart or avoid them.

The teacher tripped suddenly, falling forward onto his face. He somehow managed to twist, keeping the jar of fireflies held away from the ground, but the papers flared out into the air around him. He stayed like that for a moment, frozen in place, one leg up in the air and twitching. Then he scrambled to his feet, wiping at a line of blood dribbling from his nose and smiling sheepishly.

Aamir let out an exasperated sigh.

“That,” he explained, “is Professor Derhin. He’s one of the five instructors at Spellshadow.”

At the front of the room, Professor Derhin was waving his arms. The papers all across the floor lurched into the air, then flung themselves into an untidy pile upon the desk. Derhin hurried after them like a nanny chasing unruly children, tidying them into a neat stack before turning to face his class.

He squinted through his glasses, regarding the room. “Are there…more of you than there were?” he asked.

Aamir shot to his feet. “We have two new students, Professor.”

Derhin’s eyes widened, flicking about until they found Natalie. He smiled faintly. “Young lady. Stand and tell the class your name.”

Natalie rose, her chin held high.

“My name is Natalie Chevalier,” she said, her voice soft but clear.

Professor Derhin wet his lips. “And, um, is there anything you’d like us to know about you?”

She paused, shooting Alex a nervous glance, then answered, “No, I think not.”

“Oh,” said Professor Derhin. “All right, then.” He nodded once, then turned to the board, apparently satisfied. “Today, we’ll be learning about—”

“Sir.”

Derhin looked back at Aamir with a weary expression.

“Yes, Nagi?”

“I said there are two new students, sir.”

Derhin’s jaw dropped. He looked about, then finally spotted Alex.

“Oh my,” he said, softly. “Yes. Quite so. Two.”

Alex rose, feeling Natalie’s eyes on him.

“Alex Webber,” he said shortly, looking the man in the eyes. “That’s about it.”

“Very well, then,” replied the instructor. “Thank you, uh…Alex. Now, let’s see…”

Aamir leaned over. “Perhaps you have noticed already, but Derhin is completely inept.” He threw an irritated look at the man’s back as he wrote on the blackboard.

“At least he doesn’t have a drinking problem like Lintz,” Jari whispered with a quiet laugh.

“Lintz is a good enough fellow,” Aamir retorted. At the front of the room, Derhin delicately cleared his throat, staring pointedly at them.

They hushed, and Derhin continued writing on the board. The topic of the day’s lecture was Alaman’s Inner Enlightenment and Fire, a strange process that originated in Papua New Guinea and appeared to involve a lot of gesturing and feeling. Derhin, staring intensely at his notes, seemed to want to copy the entire process, word for word, onto the board.

The man wasn’t even a fast writer, taking his time covering the blackboard in tiny marks and diagrams. Aamir glared at their teacher’s hand as if the intensity of his irritation could speed the man along his way, and Jari slumped lower and lower into his chair.

But to Alex, it was too surreal to be dull, sitting here in this cell of a classroom, learning about magical processes against his will.





Chapter 11





After class, Alex was determined to dash off to the library immediately, to discuss escape plans with Natalie under the protection of the quieting charm. But Aamir, perhaps sensing that Alex was likely to take action he considered foolish, had other ideas.

“There is something I think you need to see,” he said to Alex, stepping in front of him. “Both of you,” he added, observing how close to Alex Natalie was standing. She was just as reluctant to leave Alex as he was to leave her, so Alex was glad Aamir had included her.

“What kind of something?” she asked.

“There are lines you should know not to cross,” was Aamir’s vague reply.

Curious and wary, they followed him.

Aamir led them down a hallway lined with lanterns hung from iron spikes. Alex didn’t recognize his surroundings, but tried to make a mental note. He was doing his best to create an internal map by which he would be able to navigate on his own. Without this, escape would be nearly impossible.

Once they had made it all the way down the hallway, Aamir held out a hand, indicating for Alex and Natalie to stop. They did so, glancing at each other uncertainly, and Aamir pointed to where a sapphire-blue line glimmered against the stone floor. It looped all the way up to the ceiling, forming a complete barrier through which one would have to walk if they wanted to proceed.