The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 6 Bella Forrest (best books to read now txt) 📖

seen this happen before,” the shadow-man elaborated. “I know what that stuff does. I’ve seen it with my own eyes… when I had proper eyes. I have seen havens fall before—you’re the one who has no idea what’s coming.”

“You saw the havens fall?” Aamir asked.

Elias tilted his head in a languorous nod. “Comes with the territory of my chosen career, I’m afraid. But story time can wait. We need to be moving on.” He grinned, returning to his perpetually vague, annoying self.

In any other situation, Alex would have asked to hear more. It was infuriating, being fed such juicy morsels of information, but there were too many innocent souls still within the walls of Spellshadow, and he couldn’t allow himself to think about anything else until they were safe. This was his fault, after all, and their lives were his burden to bear.

The buzz of chatter and the scuff of footsteps echoed down the corridor, and though Alex dreaded what was to come, the sound filled him with a strange sense of relief. His friends, his former classmates, and people he’d never even met were waiting in those halls. Soon, he would have everyone gathered together, where they could begin the evacuation of Spellshadow Manor.

It was time for another haven to fall.

Chapter 2

Alex took Aamir’s place, picking the listless Virgil back up with Elias’s help, before racing toward the sound of people. He turned the corner of a particularly ivy-swamped corridor to see Helena, Ellabell, Natalie, and Jari standing a short way off, at the head of a large congregation of Spellshadow students. There were Stillwater students too, and though Alypia’s magic had faded at the elite school, it was still easy to pick out who was who—there was an otherworldly beauty to the Stillwater youth, even now, that the outside-world folk did not quite possess.

Alex was surprised to see Catherine de Marchmont sitting in the alcove of a shifting hallway window, the landscape behind her showing a dark, dreary moor, a fine spray of rain washing over the gnarled roots of ancient trees. Her eyes were rimmed with red, her pretty face pale and drawn. It was evident she’d been crying, and Alex felt a pang of guilt, seeing her distress. Jun Asano had died at his hand, though his intentions had been honorable. If he hadn’t stepped in, he was certain Jun would have killed Natalie, but that fact didn’t make him feel any better. The memory still haunted him, and he knew the weight of Jun’s life would rest on his shoulders for a long time to come.

Two other black-cloaked professors stood to one side, their heads hung low in shame. They wore the same tired expression that Catherine did, and Alex wondered if it was because Helena had removed their curses, the way she had done with Aamir. Glancing down at the edges of their cloak sleeves, he saw that the golden lines that had once encircled their wrists were gone. Remembering the toll it had taken on Aamir, he found himself feeling even sorrier for the three chosen ones, who had been wrangled into doing the Head’s bidding.

As Alex and the others approached, the three new professors stared at the unconscious Head, a mixture of terror and disgust flashing across their faces. Alex almost breathed a sigh of relief; such a look could only mean one thing—these three, at the very least, were free of the Head’s influence. Old feelings of fear, the kind Alex and his friends had once felt, appeared to have replaced false sentiments of worship. Alex just wished it was in better circumstances that they had been returned to their former selves.

It was Natalie who saw them first.

“Alex! Aamir,” she said, with a hint of surprise. He guessed she hadn’t expected Virgil to be returning. In truth, none of them had. They had been so sure of everything going right… a foolish assumption, in hindsight.

“We have to get out of here. Now,” Alex said.

“What happened?” Helena chimed in, her eyes glancing across the peculiar party of four. Elias, rather than running off in his usual manner, had remained, his vaporous form floating just above the flagstones, the Head’s arm alarmingly visible through the shifting shadows of his neck. Alex caught the silver-haired girl’s suspicious glance, and knew there would be questions later, when they made it out of Spellshadow.

“It all went wrong,” Alex said bluntly. The blood drained from their faces.

“The spell didn’t work?” Ellabell asked, her eyes wide.

“Something was missing,” Alex replied quickly. “It was all going fine, and then… I don’t know what happened, but the ground began to shake, and…” He paused, not quite knowing how to phrase the next part. “The Great Evil… it’s coming for us,” he said, his heart heavy. The hallway had gone so silent that every single word carried with crystal-clear clarity, bouncing off the stone walls. Even though many of the other students had little idea of what he was talking about, the fear that rippled through the congregation was unmistakable.

Alex met the eyes of those in the group. “The mist is rising, and we need to be as far from here as possible.”

“Isn’t it gonna spread to the other havens?” Jari asked.

Elias was the one to answer. “Not if essence is still being poured into the pits at the other havens,” he said grimly. “I know because I’ve seen it. That’ll keep the mist at bay… for now.”

“But there is no more essence at Stillwater,” Helena said, her voice shaking.

“Then we need to go to Falleaf, and hope Hadrian can do something to help us,” Alex said. “Is this everyone?”

The group looked at one another, scanning the faces for anyone who seemed to be missing. A minute passed before a voice spoke up.

“This is everyone,” it confirmed, though Alex couldn’t see who had said the words.

“Good, then I’m going to need you all to come with me,” Alex insisted. He knew Hadrian wouldn’t be too happy at the sight