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Shaw twisted the knob, her expression strangely grim.Evander understood the reason for it when the door swung open, revealing a chamber that stood in stark contrast to the respectable veneer of the rest of the house.

Rufus cursed under his breath.

Where the home around them looked to be a model of Victorian propriety, this room was a veritable shrine to darkness.The walls were covered in notes and diagrams filled with ancient arcane symbols and anatomical structures, some drawn in what appeared disturbingly like dried blood.Display cases housed strange artefacts and animal specimens floating in jars, the glass glinting strangely in the dim illumination from the enchanted light in the ceiling.Books lined shelves that reached from floor to ceiling.

A quick perusal of the titles revealed many of the volumes to be about dark and esoteric magic.

“How long do you think this has been here?”Rufus asked as they trod the bare floorboards, his face tense.

“Decades, I wager.”Evander’s skin crawled at the lingering residue of dark magic that permeated the air.“This collection wasn’t accumulated overnight.”

A large oak desk stood at the centre of the hidden room, its surface crowded with notebooks, arcane instruments, and what appeared to be maps of London with certain areas marked in red ink.Shaw directed them to a leather-bound journal lying open.

“You should read this, your Grace,” she said.“It details Professor Musgrave’s interest in the War of Subjugation.”She furrowed her brow.“Or rather, his admiration for those who led it.”

Evander’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the pages.Musgrave’s handwriting was neat and precise, the words flowing across the paper in an elegant script that belied their disturbing content.

27th May, 1868 - Had I been born twenty years earlier, I might have stood alongside the Great Ones during the War.Their vision for a natural hierarchy with magic at its pinnacle was not wrong—merely premature.Society was not ready to embrace the truth of our superiority.My master understands this.The War was not lost, merely postponed.The seeds we plant now will bear fruit in time.

Rufus leaned over Evander’s shoulder.“The ‘Great Ones’?He’s referring to the Archmages who led the subjugation, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Evander replied tightly.He turned several pages forward, his pulse quickening as he found more recent entries.

15th January, 1870 - I received another letter from my master today.The preparations are progressing as planned.The fools at the Institute suspect nothing, least of all that their precious research funding comes from the coffers of people they consider their enemy.Whitley and Chevalier are making remarkable headway with their research, though they remain blind to its true purpose.When they discover the truth, I fear they will prove problematic.

Evander turned to Shaw, his heart thrumming a rapid beat.“Have you found any correspondence?”

The forensic mage nodded and crossed to a lacquered box on a side table.“Here, your Grace.”

She handed him a stack of letters bound with black ribbon.The paper was expensive and heavy, the red ink script flowing and elegant.But it was the signature that caught Evander’s attention.Each letter was signed simply with the letter “I.”

“This is the same stationery and handwriting as the letter I received after Renwick’s death,” Evander said in a hard voice.

Rufus’s brow furrowed.“So both Renwick and Musgrave had the same master, just as Musgrave revealed before his death.”

“A hierarchy of evil,” Evander stated darkly.He examined one of the letters more closely, his scalp prickling at the cryptic instructions it contained.

The acquisition of the Crimson Codex remains our priority.Without it, our understanding of the transference process will remain incomplete.The subjects continue to expire too quickly, their vessels unable to sustain the power we inject them with.The modifications to the thrall conduits must be improved if they are to serve their purpose in the coming transformation.

“Do you know anything about this Crimson Codex, your Grace?”Shaw asked, peering at the letter.

“I’ve never heard of it.”Evander frowned.“It sounds like it might be some kind of arcane text.”

“We should take these back to headquarters,” Rufus suggested.“Perhaps Inkwell could shed some light on the reference.”

As Shaw and the forensic team began packing up journals, letters, and arcane items, Evander’s gaze was drawn to a map of London pinned to the wall behind the desk.Unlike the others they’d found, this one had lines connecting various locations throughout the city, forming a complex pattern that seemed vaguely familiar.

He frowned and moved closer.A chill ran down his spine as recognition dawned.

“This isn’t just a map,” Evander murmured, his mouth dry.“It’s a ritual diagram.If I’m reading this correctly, Musgrave was planning to use the entire city as a conduit for some kind of massive magical working.”

Rufus glared at the map as if willing it to reveal its secrets.“Could that be what the Crimson Codex is for?”

“I’m not sure.”Evander carefully removed the faded paper from the wall.“Whatever it is, I suspect we’ve only scratched the surface of what‘I’has planned.”

They returned to Scotland Yard ahead of the forensic team.Rufus went to report their findings to Winterbourne while Evander made his way briskly to the infirmary.

The large ward bustled with activity as healers moved between beds occupied by the thralls and mages they’d rescued from the underground facility.The room had been divided into sections, with screens providing privacy for those receiving treatment.