The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Spellshadow Manor #1)

Derhin moved in a blur. His hand spun out, his fingers splaying as he let out a cry of fury. To Alex’s surprise, he did not attack the Head, but turned his anger on Aamir. Jari went rigid with fury at Alex’s side, his hand darting up, the sign of lightning forming upon his fingers, but before the boy could do anything, the Head acted.

The whole world bent. The magic which had been rushing toward Aamir’s shocked face spun up into the sky, then seemed to implode, winking out as if it had never existed. Derhin turned his eyes on the Head, cracking his neck. His voice, when he spoke, had dropped. It sounded wet, a ripping, bloody sound, and Alex cringed inwardly at the danger it held.

“And what about you, sir?” he said. “Do you ever end?”

Red light began spilling out of Derhin like crimson fog, pooling into an angry sea of power around him as his grin turned vicious. The Head did not move, regarding the welling magic, but Jari let out a gasp.

“We need to get out of here,” he urged.

The other students had already begun to back away, the more senior grabbing their fellows by the sleeves and dragging them closer to the manor. Alex watched as Aamir looked at the growing power and began backing away too.

“What is happening?” Natalie asked, raising a hand to shield her eyes against a thrum of scarlet light that whipped around Derhin.

“Life magic,” Alex breathed.

There are two types of magic in a person, Professor Lintz had explained. One comes from your essence, and we call this magic. Life magic, on the other hand, comes from your soul itself. To tap into it, even once, causes irreparable damage to a person’s very existence.

Derhin let out a scream of pain, his hands flying to his head, his mouth falling open. A soft, bronze light began gathering around the Head in response, and where the two magics met, the air sizzled with power.

“Alex.”

Alex turned to see Jari’s frantic eyes.

“We need to go!”

Alex could not help looking back, watching in awe as Derhin unfolded from his kneeling posture, his back straightening, his feet drifting up off the ground as the dirt and stone ruptured under him. He made no gestures of his hands, but his eyes had turned a soft, glowing amber as he stared at the Head.

Dimly, Alex could hear Jari yelling, could see Natalie’s pale face.

Then, the sky vanished in a calamity of bloody light.





Chapter 40





The earth ripped itself to pieces in front of Professor Derhin, and Alex could see something manifesting—the gold and crimson form of a giant beast he could not put a name to moving through the sea of magic. Its claw-like hands savaged the dirt, the walls, the ivy. It seemed bent on destroying the manor, escaping at any cost.

Alex shouted, reaching into the void, not sure what he was searching for. His lost friends. The anguished professor. The safety of the Head’s magic. He felt each there, as if in the chaos they had blended into a single entity. He felt the angry, thrashing coils of Derhin’s panic. He felt Natalie’s fear and determination. He felt Jari and Aamir reaching for one another. And he felt an ancient power, deep as space and full of quiet sadness.

A bolt of amber cleaved through the storm, sending ripples of rusty light crackling over the clouds. Derhin’s magic grew brighter, more fearful, savaging the confines of the manor in a desperate attempt to get away. It reached for the gate with one colossal hand, and the Head’s magic flickered down in a rush.

Alex watched as the Head emerged from within his power, his hood low, his robes flapping, his hands moving in short, languid motions. With a swipe, he pulverized the great beast’s magical arm. With another, he blasted a hole in the sea of red. And with a third, he ended the confrontation.

The world came back in a rush, and Alex gasped. The blue sky, the brisk winter breeze, the students, still standing where they had been moments before. Not one of them was harmed, but Alex stared in awe at where great swaths of the ivy had been torn from the wall, leaving deep, smoking gashes in the masonry. He was still staring at the damage when he heard the weeping begin.

“Please,” Professor Derhin was pleading pathetically, “please, I’m sorry. I can still be useful, you know I can be.”

Alex turned and found the professor crumpled upon the ground. His arms and legs were shaking violently, and his eyes looked dull and glassy. Blood trickled down from one cheek, but the professor made no move to wipe it from his face. He was staring up at where the Head stood over him.

The old man’s face was invisible, and he stood in a stance that was at once authoritative and relaxed. His long-fingered hands hung slack at his sides.

“Your uses are at an end, Avery,” he said.

Derhin winced away from the Head. “Please,” he breathed. “Please, don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.” Alex felt a little sick at the scene, his gut twisting with anticipation. Surely the Head wouldn’t…

The Head shook his head.

“I do.”

He turned, facing the crowd with gleaming eyes. “Renmark. Esmerelda.”

The two professors stepped forward, faces pale, but a third form accompanied them. Lintz’s heavy features shook as he planted his feet, sweat beading upon his brow.

The Head looked at him, then nodded. Alex frowned as what he could see of the Head’s mouth twisted with sorrow.

“I’ll do it,” Lintz said in a husky voice.

Derhin’s eyes widened with shock. “Alexander,” he said.

Lintz looked to Esmerelda, who gave a stiff nod, and the two of them marched forward, each seizing Derhin by an arm. The man seemed too stunned to fight back. He looked between his two captors, his expression blank and uncomprehending.

“Alexander,” he repeated. “What are you doing?”

Lintz didn’t respond. Slowly, he began to drag the once professor toward the manor.

“We did so much together,” Derhin pleaded. “We practiced together. We planned together. We were going to escape together.”

Lintz said nothing, his eyes lowered.

“Alexander!” Derhin cried, one hand finally snapping up to scrabble at the big man’s hand. “You can’t do this!”

“Hush,” Esmerelda said, her voice chiding. “Can’t you see he’s doing this for you?”