Page 68 of Arcane Entanglement

Shaw grimaced. “Fifteen to one says you’ll be out on your ear come the end of the week, your Grace.”

Rufus’s face darkened.

Evander pulled up short and blinked. “That’s quite a…decisive stand.”

He stiffened in the next instant.

The air where he stood was thick with the smell of metal, oil, and various alchemical reagents. Underneath it all was a faint scent reminiscent of ozone.

It was the smell of raw magic.

Evander followed it to an easel holding a chalkboard covered in arcane formulae and engineering diagrams.

There were scorch marks on the floor behind it, a short distance from the fireplace. Goosebumps broke out on Evander’s skin when a familiar coppery waft teased his sensitive nostrils.

“Blood was shed here,” he said grimly.

“What?” Rufus hurried over, Shaw in his footsteps.

Evander squatted and focused his magic into his hand.

Coolness flowed through his veins and formed a mist above his palm. The droplets coalesced into a small, spinning whirlpool. He manifested his wind magic and merged the two to create a controlled jet of water with a precision few could manage.

Evander carefully directed the spray at the scorch marks.

It cleared them in seconds.

Shaw gasped. Rufus swore.

Evander clenched his jaw. The stone slabs were covered in a large blood stain.

“Miss Shaw, can you examine the fire irons?” Rufus asked stiffly.

Shaw removed a pair of examining gloves from her coat and pulled them on. She lifted the implements from the stand next to the fireplace and scrutinised them.

“The poker is clean, sir.”

Their gazes swung to the thick layer of ash and soot in the hearth.

“Someone tidied up after themselves,” Evander said thinly. “Mortimer said Millbrook suffered a blow to the head before his death. I guess this was where he was struck.”

The trail of ozone led him from the fireplace to the furnace.

Evander stopped when he reached the area beyond the table. His scalp prickled. There was a lingering chill in that corner of the room that should not be there.

It hinted at the use of dark magic and death.

“I think Millbrook was killed here.”

Rufus and Shaw exchanged a tense look. They knew better than to voice their doubts. This aspect of Evander’s abilities was what had earned him the status of Special Arcane Investigator after all.

“Stay back,” Evander warned in a hard voice. “I’m going to attempt something.”

Rufus and Shaw retreated several steps.

Heat licked through Evander’s bloodstream with his next inhale.

Shaw choked on her breath when sparks ignited the air around him.