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

“So what are you going to do with it?” Virgil asked, handing it to Alex.

“Put it where it belongs.”

He was going to return it to the vault and lay its curses to rest.

Chapter 30

A small cluster of soldiers had gathered at the far edge of the water gardens outside, chattering anxiously among themselves. It seemed the guards who had come up from the pit had spread the word about Julius’s demise, and no longer knew what to do with themselves without his leadership to guide them.

“Is the king dead?” one asked as Virgil and Alex walked toward them. It was surprising to see that it was still daylight, the sun hurting Alex’s eyes. He’d thought they’d been down in the pit for hours and hours, but only a few had actually passed.

Virgil nodded, propping Alex up. “King Julius has died,” he said, a strange look passing over his face. “As the son of the rightful queen, Queen Venus, I will be aiding her in her duties as ruler of our nation. She will be firm but fair, as you have come to expect, and she will make an announcement when the time is right. In the meantime, you should all return to your families, wherever they are, and await further instruction,” he continued, his voice gathering strength.

Alex glanced at the sunken-faced man, surprised by his quick thinking. It was best to get the idea of Venus ascending to the throne into their heads as soon as possible, to prevent any ideas of a coup d’état on the soldiers’ parts, or on the parts of any other royals who might deem themselves worthy.

The soldiers looked at one another in confusion, but Virgil was still a royal. Given his heritage, they did not dare defy him, even if they thought him the runt of the litter.

“Spread the message as far as you can,” Virgil added, before hauling Alex forward. “And dispense with as many of the traps in the forest as you can, before you leave.”

“We need to go to the vault,” Alex insisted. The hybrid nodded and changed direction. The walk was a longer one than Alex remembered, the sun dappling the ground as it glanced through the canopy. Birds tweeted, seemingly oblivious to the quake that had shaken the earth. The pagoda remained standing, to Alex’s surprise—and was relatively unscathed, with only a few split planks and broken windows to show for the chaos that had ensued in the cavern beneath. For that, Alex was glad. Of all the havens, he’d always liked Falleaf best.

At last, they arrived at the side door of the vault. It was sealed shut, just as it had been the last time. But as Alex neared, clutching the book to his chest, the door sprang open with a rusty creak. Unaided, Alex walked into the warm, cozy light of the library. It was little changed since the last time he had visited, except for one notable difference: a skeleton lay on the ground, curled up by the fireplace, the bony knees tucked up beneath a bony chin.

Alex shuddered, knowing whose skeleton it was. After the promises they had made to return in time, it appeared Alex’s fears, and the immediate loss they had felt, had been right—they would never have reached Lintz before the specters did. Even if they had, the ghoulish creatures would still have devoured him. It was like the professor had said—once a person had looked one in the eye, there was no escape. They would travel to the ends of the earth to take what was owed.

The true loss of Professor Lintz hit Alex hard, adding to the losses that already weighed heavily on his chest. They had all come here together; they had all walked this path together, and he was losing them one by one. Gaze, Lintz, Storm, Elias, Siren Mave, and countless others, falling along the way.

“I’m sorry, Professor,” he whispered, struggling to keep himself together.

Solemnly, he left the skeleton and walked up to the diorama of the solar system that still ticked its steady rhythm. A few of the smaller planets had moved since he was last here, but Jupiter had barely moved at all. Climbing the ladder to reach the largest planet, he wrapped his hand around the orb that represented it, waiting for it to glow. A moment later, it pulsed beneath his palm, the empty drawer popping open beneath.

His limbs felt sluggish, like he was wading through molasses, but he managed to clamber back down the ladder and wander toward the drawer. After taking one last look at the book, smoothing his hand across the leather cover and flicking through to see the glyphs that covered the pages within, he placed it in the compartment and pushed it shut with a quiet click. There was a satisfaction in knowing nobody else could get their hands on it, not without Hadrian’s say-so, anyway, and it was unlikely the nervous royal would ever let anyone run the gauntlet again. Hopefully, with the Great Evil quelled, and no imminent threat upon the magical world, there would be no need for such a book ever again.

“Dear boy, I was wondering if you’d be back.” A voice spoke softly from behind.

Alex whirled around to see the ghost of Lintz hovering before him, though the professor was no less sizeable in his phantom state. He wore a smile upon his face, his moustache twitching at either end, but the glitter in his eyes showed a silent sadness beneath.

“Professor?” Alex choked. There was no mistaking Lintz’s death now. At long last, the professor would get to return to the sister he had sought all these years. Alex just wished they had been able to meet one another again in the real world, with all their futures laid out before them. Julius, and his hold on the magical realm, had robbed so many of that gift, and