The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

“You lost?”


“Do not tease me right now, Alex,” Natalie snapped, her brown eyes bright with irritation. “I have had it up to here with this place! Why do they not simply put up signs?”

“Like this one?” he smirked, gesturing to a sign that read “Library” with an arrow pointing the right direction.

She huffed in exasperation, then looked suddenly triumphant. He glanced at the sign again, watching as the arrow slowly turned to point the opposite direction.

“You were saying?” she asked, looking smug.

“Right,” he said, shouldering off the wall and leading the way. “Well, I think they make it confusing on purpose, anyway. They want students feeling lost and trapped in here.” They rounded the corner. “Hey, thanks for saving me in class, by the way. That was some really impressive stuff.”

Natalie smiled at him, but her face quickly fell.

“It was not so hard. And not so impressive, either. I still cannot give form to my magic. I tried to make a lovely bouquet, but…” She sighed. “All I could manage was golden petals.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s something, and you’ve improved really fast.”

“Mirian—she is across the hallway from me—she says I need to read more. She tells me crafting things is the essence of magic.”

“Okay, we can work on that. I’m sure I’ve seen books on that in the library.”

Natalie turned, staring out a nearby window where a blizzard had just begun, sending splashes of icy snow over the glass. In the distance, Alex could just make out jagged, stony mountain peaks beneath gray clouds.

He thought he could guess what she was thinking.

“We’ll get home,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re more than capable. Let’s go find some books.”

“Yes,” she replied, sounding distracted. “We might as well.”



At the base of the great iron staircase that wove around the library’s central pillar was a little sign, listing a variety of subjects. Alex glanced at it to remind himself where the Spellshadow Manor history books were located. He hadn’t found anything useful there yet, but he held out hope.

“If you’re going to keep covering for me in class,” he said, his voice muffled by the quietening charm, “we might need to find some new techniques to practice. You’ll have to do twice as many projects as a normal student. Think you’re up for it?”

“I suppose so,” she said listlessly.

“Okay…what type of spell do you feel like practicing today?”

“I do not care very much. Whatever you think is best.” She trailed her finger along the plaque, looking absently at the categories. “No, wait—what about destruction?” Her eyes gleamed dangerously. “Yes,” she said with more certainty. “I will be back.”

Alex was dubious about the safety of studying destruction, but figured it might come in handy, perhaps as defensive magic.

Natalie pushed off lightly from the handrail, levitating into the air with her arms and legs held close to her body. On the ground, Alex watched as she twirled, rising and falling with a dancer’s ease before starting to look for the section on destruction. Apparently not all new students could master the ability to fly easily, which was why they still had ladders climbing the three columns. He couldn’t help but feel jealous—how awesome would it be to fly? He hoped it would cheer her up somewhat—she loved floating to retrieve books.



By the time they left the library, laden with books, Natalie was indeed flushed and excited again. She had quickly found a book called Pyromancy and You, and had spent the rest of their time happily floating up and down to find all the books Alex listed. It was her favorite part of studying, and Alex was pleased she seemed back to normal. Though he had his doubts about her escape plan, it was necessary to keep her hopes high. Natalie was prone to bouts of despair, and he didn’t want her to give up, to succumb to the numbing energy of Spellshadow. He just needed more time to come up with something, and the key might be figuring out what else was going on at this so-called school.

The tables in the study hall where they headed next were a small sea of mostly abandoned rounds that sat before the great window overlooking the gates. Beyond them, Alex could just make out the great, snake-like building that rose up over the walls, backlit by the sparkling lights of a faraway city. As they settled down, Alex unloading his armful of books onto the table, Natalie seemed unable to take her eyes off the horizon.

“Is that your home?” she asked eventually.

Alex looked over. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Hard to tell at this distance, isn’t it?”

Natalie bit her lip, her fingers running over the embossed letters on the cover of Pyromancy and You. “It looks so close. Why can’t we just…?” She trailed off.

“I don’t know,” said Alex. “There’s something going on here.” He tapped the pile of books in front of them. “That’s why we have these.”

Natalie rallied, flipping open her book. “Yes,” she murmured.

It took maybe ten minutes for her enthusiasm to flicker, sputter, then go out like a candle in a hurricane. She sprawled, her arms splayed out on the table, her hair forming a dark halo around her head.

“It is impossible,” she moaned. “I cannot read any more English.”

Alex looked up from where he had been reading about the mental process of making inner fire into proper fire. “Let’s move on to practical magic, then. Sound good?”

“Very well,” she sighed, raising her face to look at him.

“All right, then,” said Alex. He looked over the page he’d been reading, then stuck a bookmark in it and turned to Natalie, who sat up a little straighter.

“Conjure some magic, please,” he said.

She nodded, cupping her hands in front of her. A little whirl gathered there, and she released a ball of light into the space between them.