Page 16 of Arcane Entanglement

Evander nodded grimly.

“Those old coots.” Ginny furrowed her brow. “Do they not realise what kind of godawful misfortunes their actions might engender?”

The carriage approached Hyde Park Corner, the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves and the gentle rattle of the wheels the only sounds in the still night.

“You know as well as I do that they think only of themselves.” Evander’s face tightened. “I won’t let that petition go through. Even if I have to convince Her Majesty?—”

A horrid stench filled his nostrils at the same time a bitter taste danced across his tongue, freezing his words. There was motion out of the corner of his eye.

Shadows bolted from beneath some trees on the left side of the road.

Instinct had Evander reaching for Ginny and yanking her onto his lap. Her shocked gasp was drowned out by the noise of something large smashing violently into her side of the carriage.

The only reason the door didn’t break was because of the wards protecting the vehicle. They could not however stop the carriage from being physically moved.

The alarmed neighs of the horses and the startled shouts of the coachman and footman reached Evander as they were shoved across the street, wheels scraping across granite cobbles in a shower of sparks.

His eyes rounded in horror where he had his arms wrapped tightly around Ginny and a leg braced against the opposite seat.

They were headed straight for a ditch.

Evander’s stomach plummeted when the right wheel dropped into the muddy trench, jolting them violently. He clenched his jaw, pressed a hand to the roof, and channelled wind magic through wood and metal.

A storm detonated at the side of the carriage as it began to tilt precariously, drawing a gargled scream from young Samuel in the box seat.

There was a shocking moment of stillness, as if the whole world was holding its breath. Ginny swore colourfully when the carriage slammed back down on the road with a torturous creak, the bouncing motion jostling them all over again.

Glass exploded next to Evander, peppering him and Ginny in glittering shards. A massive arm reached through the carriage window, snatched him by the front of his shirt, and dragged him out before he could react.

“Evander!” Ginny screamed. She grappled at his clothes in vain.

Evander got a glimpse of a dispassionate face as he was hoisted into the air. He clutched the wrist of his attacker and kicked out viciously when the latter started squeezing his windpipe.

He might as well have struck an iron wall for all the difference it made.

Air rasped through Evander’s throat as he got his first look at his assailant.

The man who’d attacked the carriage was a colossus.

Bar throttling Evander, he stood deathly still, his features devoid of emotion.

What the devil is a Brute doing here?!

Ginny’s shout reached him. “Use your magic, dammit!”

Evander scowled. Coldness flooded his veins.

Frost formed on the giant’s fingers. He flung Evander across the street.

A sky full of stars whirled across Evander’s vision.

He barely had time to cover his head with his arms before he landed hard on his side and rolled, the protective charms built into his cravat pin and cufflinks activating to minimise injury. The impact knocked the breath out of him despite the buffer of wind magic he’d manifested at the penultimate moment to cushion his fall.

“Your Grace!” Graham shouted, alarmed.

Evander looked up from where he’d come to rest on his front, knuckles scraped and heart racing. The coachman was climbing down the box seat, Samuel’s petrified face round and pale behind him.

Evander’s eyes widened.