The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

Alex glanced over at where the small boy had stuffed his hands into his pockets. Little flecks of snow littered his golden hair, and his cheeks were tinted with pink.

Then, unexpectedly, Jari said, “You never stop missing family, though.” His eyes averted to the ground, and his lips formed a melancholy smile. “My dad was a real goof,” he continued, and Alex got the feeling from his distant expression that he was talking more to remind himself than inform them. “Always liked to pull stupid pranks on me and my brother. And Mom was an artist, always quizzing us on color and form.”

As if Jari’s openness had triggered something in Aamir, the older boy also began to reminisce. “My grandfather used to paint. He wasn’t very good, though my grandmother always encouraged him. He liked to say it was more about the act of appreciating beauty than creating anything worthwhile.”

“My mother is a firefighter,” Natalie cut in. Everyone glanced over at her in surprise—Alex included. Natalie grinned, her face lighting up with pride. “She is the only woman at her station and kicks my dad’s butt in the gym. She loved to take me running when I was younger.”

Three heads turned expectantly toward Alex, and although he was afraid he might choke up again, if Aamir and Jari could say something about their family at Christmas, so could he.

“My mom was an elementary and middle school teacher,” Alex said. “She stays at home now, though, mostly. She’s not well, but…I’m hoping she’ll get better.”

A long silence followed, and was broken only by Natalie giving a loud sneeze. She rubbed at her nose, her cheeks pink, her still-bare arms covered in bumps.

“Better cover up,” Alex said, thinking that he might finally be witnessing Natalie experiencing coldness. He took off one of his coats and offered it to her. “You might get a cold.”

She didn’t respond. She just looked up at the tree, the glittering lights reflected in her too-bright eyes.



By Christmas Day, Aamir had apparently decided he had engaged in enough frivolity, and had retreated to his corner of the study hall. And Natalie was nowhere to be found, which worried Alex. After searching for her for a while, though, he assumed she wanted her privacy, and he didn’t want to be invasive or disrespectful. As a result, Alex and Jari ended up alone in the library, playing chess.

It felt wrong to have Christmas with so little fanfare, with no gifts or holiday food. The only thing marking the day as special was the absence of classes, but even that only served to make the day feel emptier. Alex saw more than one student standing around looking uncertain. He had thought to use the day for more private research, perhaps regarding anti-magic, used only by those long-dead Spellbreakers. But he found he hadn’t the heart.

And then the day was gone, just another thing swallowed up by the empty building. Everyone returned to class, and it was like nothing had happened.





Chapter 24





“Chevalier?”

Professor Derhin stared toward the back of the room, his eyes squinting at Natalie’s empty chair. “Natalie Chevalier,” he repeated, as if he could summon her out of thin air with his voice.

Surprising nobody, she did not appear. Professor Derhin let out a forlorn sigh.

“She’s sick,” another girl said.

“Sick?” Derhin said. “What with?”

The girl—Alex remembered her as Ellabell, Natalie’s roommate—shrugged.

Derhin smirked, an oddly triumphant expression. “One less for me to teach, then,” he said. “We’ll continue as normal—she can join us when she decides she’s ready.”

Alex’s gut did a somersault. Without Natalie, he was as magical as the chair he sat on. While he had never been an impressive student, he had thus far managed to avoid being the abject failure he had begun as. And what did that mean? One less for me to teach. Derhin seemed like he might be pleased that one of his best students had fallen ill. He drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him, frowning.

“Webber, you look unsettled.”

Alex looked up, and was surprised to see Professor Derhin just feet away from him. He gave Alex a knowing smile.

“Worried about the lady?” he said.

There was a titter of laughter, but Alex seized the excuse.

“Yes, sir,” he said, which got a muttered wave of whispers. “Could I go check on her?”

Derhin put a hand over his heart, his eyes fluttering coquettishly. “Ah, young love.” The class tittered again and Alex felt the heat rise in his cheeks. “Well, don’t let me stop you. Off you go, then.”

Alex rose, then hesitated.

“Will I be able to get into the girls’ dormitory?” he asked, remembering Jari’s warning from his first day here.

Derhin looked over at Ellabell, who shrank into her chair. If she was trying to hide, it didn’t work.

“Magri, let Webber into the girls’ dorms. And if you feel the need, stay to chaperone the lovebirds,” he leered.

If Ellabell was upset, she hid it well. She smiled primly. “Yes, sir.”

Wondering if that hadn’t been a little too easy, Alex set off toward the girls’ dorms with Ellabell.

She was a small thing, with a crop of brown curls sitting over a pair of wire-framed spectacles. She walked with a brisk efficiency, her footfalls clacking on the floor.

“Thanks for letting me in,” Alex said, hoping she didn’t really feel the need to stay and supervise.

Ellabell shot him a look. “Just don’t tell Petra where I sleep these days,” she muttered. “His last salvo of affections is only just wearing off.”

Alex chuckled. Aamir had told him during breakfast one morning about Jari’s attempt to woo Ellabell. The girl had been harassed half to death by magic bouquets that exploded into petals over her head in class, violins bursting into song in the dining hall, and even love letters written on the face of the moon. To hear Aamir tell it, she had been driven to some rather extreme measures to get rid of Jari, trying to find information about how to perform anti-magic and eventually mastering invisibility magic.

“I’d never do that to someone,” he assured her.