Page 34

Leon wandered into Thornfield’s bedchamber while Evander continued examining the rest of the sitting room.The Frenchman emerged moments later, his expression thoughtful.

“Nothing seems disturbed in there either.The bed is made and his clothes are hung properly.If he was abducted, it wasn’t from his rooms.”

“Let us examine Whitley’s laboratory,” Evander suggested.“If Thornfield was assisting with his research, we could find some answers there.”

Shaw and Rufus joined them just as they exited the room.

Evander slowed to a halt and arched an eyebrow.“That was quick.”

Shaw grimaced.“Yes, well, pretty much everyone we interviewed claimed they saw and heard nothing.”

Rufus lowered his brows.“Bar one person.A first-year student.He said he heard glass breaking outside just after midnight last night.It woke him up.He got up to have some water and looked out of the window.He thought he saw two women wearing cloaks running across the quadrangle, although he cannot be certain.”

Evander addressed Shaw.“Do you mind checking the quadrangle before you join us in Whitley’s lab?”

“Not at all, your Grace.”

Cecillia gave the forensic mage directions before escorting the rest of them into the south wing of the Institute, where some of the advanced research laboratories were housed.Few students were visible as they navigated the corridors, the atmosphere there more subdued than in the main building.

Unlike the standard classrooms and lecture halls they passed, Whitley’s laboratory was located in a secluded annex accessible through a heavy oak door reinforced with iron bands and bolts.

“Professor Whitley valued his privacy,” Cecillia explained at their expressions as she produced a key and a magic-enchanted seal.“Only he and a select few students were permitted entry into this lab.”

She used the seal to undo the wards on the bolts and turned the key in the lock.

The chamber they entered was a feat of magical engineering.Tall windows lined one wall, flooding the space with natural light that illuminated workbenches covered with apparatus both familiar and esoteric.Glass tubes and alembics connected by copper pipes formed intricate networks across one table, while another held crystalline structures suspended in various stages of formation.Bookshelves crammed with texts and journals interspersed with cabinets containing specimens and magical ingredients covered the remaining walls.

“Impressive,” Leon murmured, his eyes bright with professional admiration.

Evander felt a similar appreciation as he examined the chamber.It was clear Whitley’s laboratory represented decades of dedicated research.

“This is where James spent most of his time?”Rufus asked.

Cecillia nodded.“According to Hunniford, he was here late the past few nights, before his disappearance.”

Rufus moved to inspect a large slate board covered with complex equations and diagrams while Leon drifted towards a collection of enchanted instruments near the windows.

Evander walked to the centre of the room.He stopped, closed his eyes, and released a pulse of elemental power as he focused all his senses on his surroundings.The familiar scents of alchemical reagents, parchment, and the magical residue of the experiments Whitley and Thornfield had carried out in the laboratory filled his nostrils.

He stiffened after a moment.

Beneath the expected smells he’d detected lurked something else—a faint, oily trace that made his skin crawl.

“Dark magic was performed here.”Evander opened his eyes and frowned.“Recently.”

Leon turned.“Are you certain?”he asked sharply.

“Yes.”Evander followed the unpleasant remnant to the far corner of the laboratory.

The ambient magic in the room rippled against his skin as he approached, like water after a stone has been cast into it.The disturbance led him to a dark stain on the floorboards in front of a bookcase.

The others joined him as he knelt beside the residue.

“What is that?”Cecillia asked nervously.

The substance was viscous and black, with an iridescent sheen that gleamed when light struck it at certain angles.

Evander was reminded of what they’d discovered inside Millbrook’s body a few weeks ago.According to Ambrose Mortimer, the chief medical examiner of the AFD, it was most likely the breakdown product of dark magic.