The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

“Awesome!” Phil slapped Alex on the back, before taking the liberty of giving Natalie’s shoulder a quick squeeze.

“Awesome!” Natalie mimicked with a giggle as Phil left to return to his friends.

Alex smiled faintly as they took a seat on a bench in front of one of the indoor fountains. He watched the four boys retreating from the parlor deeper into the mall.

Digging back into his ice cream, he thought forward to this evening and realized he could barely remember the last time he’d been to a party…

Touché, Mom. Touché.





Chapter 3





So, what was he going to wear for this thing?

He and Natalie had returned from their tour just after 2 p.m. Natalie had been feeling tired by then from her long journey, so she’d decided to take a nap before the party. That was several hours ago—now he could hear her in the shower, getting ready for tonight. His mom, of course, was delighted to hear that he had accepted the invitation and had given him her blessing to stay out late.

He examined the clothes in his wardrobe and ultimately decided to wear a slightly smarter shirt, while keeping his jeans. Then, seeing that he had some downtime, he figured he’d put it to good use and started on his homework—until a knock came at his door.

“It’s Natalie,” came her voice.

“Come in,” he said.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, bringing with her that heady floral scent. She had changed into a red dress that went down to just above her knees, and she had done something to her hair to make it look curly. She looked stunning, Alex couldn’t deny that.

He rose to his feet, realizing that this was the first time she had ventured into his room. She gazed around at his bare walls, her eyes traveling over his single bed, then to his desk, chair, and bookshelf—the only four pieces of furniture he kept in the room.

“Wow. Minimalist.”

Alex smirked. “That’s one way to put it.” The truth was, he just didn’t like any form of clutter. It crowded his brain, and he could think much more clearly without it.

“And your bookshelf”—she walked over to it—“is alphabetized.”

“Yeah.”

“Interesting,” she remarked, pulling down a book on marine biology and flipping through the pages. Alex noticed her eyes glossing over the text completely and focusing on the vibrant pictures.

He let her continue perusing his books for another minute, and then since they were due to leave in only five minutes, he suggested they head down to the car.

His mom came to the door with her walking support and kissed them both goodbye on the cheek.

“Have fun!” she said as they closed the door.

“Will do,” Alex murmured, sucking in a breath as he led his pretty French date to the car.



As Phil had promised, the party was packed. Natalie stuck close to Alex as they milled through the teeming living room toward the back garden. She turned almost every guy’s head they passed, but seemed completely unfazed by it as she chatted away to Alex about how excited she was to be here.

Phil strode over as soon as he spotted them by the pool and, predictably, angled for a dance with Natalie. To Alex’s surprise, she blew him off, albeit very politely—citing jet lag as an excuse.

“He’s not my type,” she informed Alex with a grin as he walked away. Which left Alex to wonder exactly what her type was. From his experience, most girls seemed to fall over themselves for butch guys like Phil.

Alex searched the crowd for Colin, or someone else he was close to at school, but couldn’t spot anyone. So he and Natalie found themselves sitting together by the pool, continuing to snack and talk. He guessed that she would expect him to ask her to dance at some point, but she still seemed to be happy talking, so he decided to delay that thought a little longer. It had been a while since his last dance.

About two hours into the party, Natalie needed the bathroom. She claimed she could find it herself, which left him sitting alone for the first time.

He took a slow sip from his drink, feeling the cool crackle of carbonation trickle down his throat, then lowered the can to his knee again. He focused on the scene around him now that his attention wasn’t consumed by Natalie.

He actually liked parties, in general, even when he found himself alone. There was something intriguing about the ways people let their guard down; he might see some of them every day at school, but at a party he got to see a completely different side of everyone. In the darkened room, with music blasting its throbbing bass through an expensive PA system and colorful lights pulsing rhythmically, dancers dropped their inhibitions and personas, becoming freer, wilder.

Though most likely nobody could tell from his relaxed demeanor, he found the room’s energy engaging, observing the scene with bright, interested eyes.

His eyes fell on a girl named Sarah, who was glowering darkly on the sidelines of the pool. Not unusual for Sarah, but a little out of place amid the revelry surrounding her. He followed her gaze to Josh, who he was pretty sure was Sarah's boyfriend, dancing closely with another girl. Mindy, he thought, from the basketball team. He felt a jolt of sympathy for Sarah, but it quickly dissipated when she seized Terry, a small boy with thin brown curls and bad posture, and pulled his arms around her. Hm. Interesting.

Dull, ghostly light was filtering up from the splashing water, throwing shadows of the swimmers up across the house like contorting dancers. The air was hot with the last embers of summer, and it hung heavy and wet against his skin as the smell of smoke drifted into his nose. Alex closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the earthy nighttime scent.

“Hey, Alex.”

Alex turned to see Phil approaching him again, his face dappled with watery light. Alex raised an eyebrow, wondering what he wanted.

“So,” Phil said, drawing close and putting an arm around Alex, turning him so they were both surveying the party. “Got your eye on anyone, seeing that Natalie is just a friend?”