The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest

Author:Bella Forrest [Forrest, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nightlight
Published: 2017-08-30T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Arriving back at Falleaf, Alex jumped off Storm’s back and ran through the woods, listening for the sound of traps, his eyes darting this way and that. He was still concerned for Ellabell’s welfare, no matter what she’d said about being fine, but he knew he couldn’t think about that now. The beacon was still vibrating weakly in his pocket.

As he reached the tree-line that opened out onto the water garden, at the front of the pagoda, he skidded to a halt. The place was in chaos. There were soldiers running to and fro like headless chickens, panicked looks on their faces, their hands hurriedly fixing parts of their uniforms that had fallen into disarray. Alex realized this could only mean one thing, as his eyes glanced up toward the pagoda itself. It was hard to make out anything from such a distance, but he could see figures rushing around beyond the glass of the windows, too.

Venus must already be there.

It didn’t seem possible, considering he’d only been away a short period of time, and yet the sight before him told a different story. There was only one reason the soldiers would be in such a hurry.

Using the confusion to his advantage, Alex dashed across to the broken door of the cellar, letting himself into the pagoda. He hurried upward, reaching the ground floor where the kitchens were. Bustling about were more servants than he had ever seen, though some of them looked too young to be staff. It appeared some of the Falleaf students had been roped into helping, at such short notice.

Coming face-to-face with a few of them, Alex’s resolve strengthened; they were just like him. Of the ones he came across, none of them could have been older than sixteen or seventeen, and they moved in deference to the older staff. These kids weren’t privileged—they weren’t like the elite at Stillwater. They were ordinary. They could have been any of his classmates back in high school. They didn’t have striking, otherworldly eyes, or extraordinary beauty. They were just plain kids, exactly like him, brought to this place against their will and making the best of it.

“Here, you don’t want to be seen without a uniform!” one of them, a bespectacled boy of around fifteen, shouted from the hallway as he launched a spare uniform at Alex.

Alex caught it. “Thanks, man.”

The boy grinned. “No worries. Definitely wouldn’t want the big dog to catch you in your skivvies! Hurry up, though, it’s all hands on deck!”

Alex frowned, wanting to ask who the “big dog” was, but the boy had already run off. With a sinking feeling, he began to put the scarlet uniform on over his normal clothes, listening to the pound of footsteps on the wooden floors above his head. Everyone was in a rush, it seemed.

Just then, Aamir came careening around the corner, wearing the same scarlet uniform Alex was wearing. His eyes went wide as he saw Alex standing there, buttoning up his shirt.

“Alex! Thank goodness!” he cried.

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