The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

“I just need to check something,” he said, turning to her and walking backwards a couple paces. “Why don’t you take a break? I’ll be back in a moment.”


His feet clattered against the metal grate of the steps as he ascended one of the library’s three towers, row after row of books passing him on one side. Looking down through the holes in the steps, he could see the dizzying drop of at least a hundred feet down to the library floor. He watched a student vault the waist-high handrail and sail gracefully through the air, landing lightly with a puff of golden magic. Alex swallowed and gripped the railing more tightly, imagining himself falling heavily through the air and landing with a hideous thud. He did not have the option the magical students did. One misstep could send him to an unfortunate fate up here. He moved on, his steps careful.

The paper lanterns hanging from the web of threads linking the three towers cast a cozy multicolored glow over the spines of the books as Alex perused them. He was in a section of the tower dedicated to the histories of old bloodlines, but he wasn’t sure he would find what he was looking for. He stared at the adjacent tower, wondering if perhaps that would have been the right place to begin. He had seen students jump from one to the other on magically enhanced legs, but for him to get there, it would require going all the way down, then all the way back up. That would be both tiring and time-consuming, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to check that second tower.

Returning to his search, Alex ran a finger over book after book detailing the lives of ancient magical families. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for, as the Spellbreakers did not merit their own category, and the book he remembered had mentioned them only in passing. Did he expect to find “Spellbreakers” just written on the side, plain as day? They weren’t exactly well-known, or even well-regarded.

He thought of the bodies of the people Finder had mentioned, their bones probably still lying there under the ice out in the lake, and swallowed.

On a whim, he changed tact. While he didn’t know the family names required to find a Spellbreaker history directly, he could at least look up the history of those who had slaughtered them. Finder’s true name was Malachi Grey; that was a sensible starting place. He began to hunt, and within a few minutes had victoriously located a series of books, each labeled “Grey”.

It took a few more minutes of searching to find the correct book, and even then he found only a reference. Alex sat on the walkway, ignoring the looks he got from other students who had to turn sideways to edge past him, and read the passage.



Lord Evan Grey was the fifth of his line, and continued his predecessors’ hunt with zeal. He gained recognition and infamy for his enthusiastic continuation of tradition of slaying those with anti-magical blood and disposing of their bodies in his lake. While many viewed the tradition as barbaric, he claimed it to be the only way to protect his people from their natural enemies.

He became increasingly reclusive throughout his rule, and few details remain concerning the events at Spellshadow Manor during his residence there. It is certain, however, that he killed several known Spellbreakers, including Loran Steele and Ellen Forte. He married Loraine Brune of Stillwater House, and she bore him a single son, Malachi.



Alex flipped through the pages, hungry for more, but that was it. There was nothing else on the family; it was like they had simply stopped existing after that. However, he’d learned from Finder that sometime later, young Malachi had taken up his father’s mantle. Later still, the Head had come to Spellshadow, and its lord had apparently offered his body and soul, his eternal servitude, to the man’s twisted designs.

“Why?” Alex muttered to himself, frowning. What could have motivated Malachi to sacrifice himself like that? He was missing something. Something big.

All the same, he had found what he was searching for. Another quick search yielded a tidy stack of books, and he tromped back down the stairs to where Natalie was studying away in her corner. She looked up as he dropped his literary heap on the table, her face breaking into a weary smile.

“You have found many books, I see,” she all but whispered, her voice cracking.

“Yep,” Alex declared with satisfaction. “But hang on, there’s still some reading I have to do.”

He opened the first book. It contained details of the life of Ellen Forte, a woman described as having a wicked demeanor and a savage temper, who had been involved in “anti-magical resistance”. It only took a few pages before he found the word he was looking for.

Spellbreaker.

After that, it was easy to find more. Spellbreaker blood, he learned, was a rare genetic strand that gave a person the inherent ability to resist the negative effects of magic. The body, he learned, somehow transmuted the magic into cold, leaving the user frigid under prolonged exposure.

I bet you’ve been so cold, Finder had said.

He continued to read, his eyes growing wider, his hands toying with the tips of the pages in his haste to dig through what was in front of him. An answer. A real, complete answer.

“Natalie,” Alex said, his voice fairly quivering.

She looked up, her movement slow. “Yes?”

Alex reached out, putting his hand palm up on the table.

“Burn me,” he said.

Natalie gave him a worried, uncertain look. “Alex?”

“Just try it, please? If I’m right, it won’t hurt me. Go on.”

Natalie appeared too tired to argue, though she looked extremely disconcerted. She flexed her power, managing to form a ball of flame. Alex frowned at the deep red veins that lined it—and the way her hand shook at the effort.