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Solomon guided them swiftly down the left-hand branch beyond the T-junction.They navigated a maze of passages and passed several deserted rooms.He finally slowed at the entrance of a large antechamber.

Solomon stopped and frowned heavily at the metal doors ahead.

“The main lab is beyond those.It’s vast and round—like a cathedral underground.There are tanks arranged around a central device, with walkways connecting them.The base of the chamber looked like some kind of cave, the bottom of which I couldn’t make out.”His voice faltered.“There were at least six mages working there when I was brought through, including the man in charge.”

Leon’s face tightened.He briefly described Musgrave.

Solomon nodded grimly.“That’s him alright.”

Viggo furrowed his brow.“Whitley and Chevalier are in those tanks too?”

“Yes.”A muscle jumped in Solomon’s cheek.“I spoke to several of the captive mages and thralls.They said the two professors were tortured for days to get information from them.This Musgrave guy then decided they weren’t of any use to him and chose to use them as his lab rats instead.They were dragged out of their cells yesterday.”He paused.“I think he’s extracting their magic.”

A fraught silence fell over the group, the implications of his words sending a chill through them all.

Viggo’s thoughts strayed to Evander as he studied the metal doors.

He’ll be closing in on this place soon, I’m sure of it.

“We end this now,” the Brute said in a steely voice.

“Let me take the lead,” Leon urged.“I can disrupt whatever arcane processes they have running in there.”

Viggo started to object, then reconsidered.Regardless of his personal feelings about the Frenchman, it was a sound tactical decision.

“Very well,” he agreed.“I’ll be right next to you.”

Leon smiled faintly.“I’m counting on you to have my back, Brute, just as you have his.”

Admiration darted through Viggo then.He could vaguely understand why Evander had once loved this man.He turned to the remaining Met officers and mages.

“Are you ready?”

They nodded, determination evident in their faces despite the fear lingering in their eyes.

Leon positioned himself before the doors and gathered his powers around him like a cloak.He stiffened a little when the amulet around his neck began glowing.

“There are shadow creatures in there,” the Frenchman stated grimly.

“Then we’ll just have to deal with them,” Viggo muttered.

Leon squinted at him.“I can see why he likes you.”

Viggo blinked.

“On my mark,” the Frenchman warned.He took a deep breath.“Now!”

Viggo thrust the doors open at the same time Leon unleashed a wall of magic.

The sight that greeted their eyes would haunt the Brute’s nightmares for years to come.

Chapter41

The chamber was vast,its ceiling and the bottomless pit beneath the series of metal walkways, stairs, and platforms that made up the lab shrouded in shadows despite the eerie blue glow emanating from the series of glass tanks arranged in a circle on individual platforms around a machine in the centre.

The air crackled with a corrupt magical energy that made Viggo’s skin crawl and his hair stand on end.

There were people inside the tanks—mages and thralls suspended in a viscous fluid, naked and eyes closed in slumber.He recognised Whitley and Chevalier from their descriptions, as well as Simmons.An apparatus that pumped air in and out of their lungs covered their mouths and noses, while tubes and wires snaked out of their arms, legs, and heads, connecting them to the nightmarish device in the middle of the lab.