He watched a while longer as Gaze moved from student to student, trying to fix up as many as she could with the limited tools she had. It bored him. He smiled sardonically, stretching his shadowed mouth across starry teeth as he tried to force an insincere pang of sorrow for the students—they had simply jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Stretching languidly, he slipped down the empty, scorched corridors and passed curiously over the library. Unmoving figures lay curled up on the floor and sprawled among the stacks, glassy eyes staring upward into nothingness. Energy tickled at the edges of his shadowy form as his sensitivity felt the low, pulsating thrum of the coiled-up mass of wasted essence, trickling from the dead students, gathering together in one sad pool before it faded into the ground, with nowhere else to go but be reabsorbed by the earth beneath. Unusable. Elias smirked, even amid such vile tragedy.
At least this way, Elias thought smugly, the Head can’t have it.
Thinking bitterly of the Head, his wounds still smarting, he swept effortlessly back through the hallways and paused for a moment in the Head’s office. He laughed as he saw that the door had been blown off entirely and the Head was still inside, launching things around the room in a fit of fury, his voice rising to a howling scream of rage. It felt delicious to Elias, to watch the Head so riled up.
The Head turned, as if sensing Elias’s mocking presence.
“This is all your fault, Elias! You let him get away! I needed him, Elias! I would not have killed him, and yet you stood in my way! You are responsible for what is going to come, you—”
Elias didn’t stay to hear the rest, making a swift exit as a train of expletives followed him. The words made their mark on Elias, however, as he glided over the desolate grounds.
Night had drawn in, giving him the freedom of the manor as a whole, not batted back by petty rays of sunlight. He manifested himself as a man on the hillside overlooking the Fields of Sorrow, watching over the vast expanse with its smoking heart and still-scorched earth. He grinned coldly, teeth flashing, as he convinced himself he could already feel the tremors of something beneath the earth, rising up.
What will happen now? he wondered gleefully.
“You can’t keep the evil at bay forever. A void must be filled,” he whispered to the emptiness, closing his eyes in delight at the prospect of its coming.
The only wrench in Elias’s plan was that the Head was still alive. He had been relying on Alex to surprise him, but had been left disappointed. Elias was certain the notebook he had given to Alex contained some mention about death magic, and yet Alex hadn’t delivered the goods. All that talk of silver light and shining heroes, and Alex still hadn’t called on a little death magic.
Elias felt dissatisfied, but blamed himself; he knew he had not given Alex the chance to play the martyr. He knew he had let the echo of his human feelings get the better of him. He had felt anger and gotten carried away, and now he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. With the stolen part of his essence back within his possession, he supposed he could go after the escapees if he wanted, since he was no longer tied entirely to the manor. He could see what else he could get them to do. But they had already done so much.
Alex had proven an excellent pawn, if a bit slower than Elias had hoped. He would think about it—after all, he had plenty of time. Where they had gone, they wouldn’t find much joy, Elias thought smugly as he stretched out his shadowy limbs. The magical world frowned upon fugitives.
In the meantime, he decided, he would revel in the Head’s misery and the glimmer of hope for what he wished to come crashing down around the manor.
No, not just the manor. His plans were far bigger than that.
A comeuppance was long overdue, and Elias had been so patient.
Ready for the next part of the story?
Dear Reader,
Thank you for continuing Alex’s journey with me.
If you enjoyed The Breaker, I’d be very grateful if you could leave a review on Amazon, because every review, however short, makes a difference to an author.
I’m also excited to let you know that Book 3 of the series, The Chain, releases June 3rd, 2017.
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I look forward to seeing you on the other side…
Love,
Bella x
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Read more by Bella Forrest
THE SECRET OF SPELLSHADOW MANOR
The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Book 1)
The Breaker (Book 2)
The Chain (Book 3)
THE GENDER GAME
The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7) > Final book in series, release date TBC.
A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES
Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story
A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)
A Shade of Blood (Book 2)
A Castle of Sand (Book 3)
A Shadow of Light (Book 4)
A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)
A Gate of Night (Book 6)
A Break of Day (Book 7)
Series 2: Rose & Caleb’s story
A Shade of Novak (Book 8)
A Bond of Blood (Book 9)
A Spell of Time (Book 10)
A Chase of Prey (Book 11)
A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)
A Turn of Tides (Book 13)
A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)
A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)
An End of Night (Book 16)
Series 3: The Shade continues with a new hero…
A Wind of Change (Book 17)
A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)
A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)
A Hero of Realms (Book 20)
A Vial of Life (Book 21)
A Fork of Paths (Book 22)
A Flight of Souls (Book 23)
A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)
Series 4: A Clan of Novaks
A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)
A World of New (Book 26)
A Web of Lies (Book 27)
A Touch of Truth (Book 28)
An Hour of Need (Book 29)
A Game of Risk (Book 30)
A Twist of Fates (Book 31)
A Day of Glory (Book 32)
Series 5: A Dawn of Guardians
A Dawn of Guardians (Book 33)
A Sword of Chance (Book 34)
A Race of Trials (Book 35)
A King of Shadow (Book 36)
An Empire of Stones (Book 37)
A Power of Old (Book 38)
A Rip of Realms (Book 39)
A Throne of Fire (Book 40)
A Tide of War (Book 41)
Series 6: A Gift of Three
A Gift of Three (Book 42)
A House of Mysteries (Book 43)
A Tangle of Hearts (Book 44)
A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY
A Shade of Dragon 1
A Shade of Dragon 2
A Shade of Dragon 3
A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY
A Shade of Kiev 1
A Shade of Kiev 2
A Shade of Kiev 3
DETECTIVE ERIN BOND (Adult thriller/mystery)
Lights, Camera, Gone
Write, Edit, Kill
BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
Beautiful Monster 1
Beautiful Monster 2
For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net
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The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 2: The Breaker Page 28