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Evander stiffened, his foot on the bottom step.“What is it?”

“There’s something else here,” she murmured, her fingers tracing invisible patterns on the stone.“Another concealment charm.”

They regrouped around her.

“Can you undo it?”Evander asked tensely.

Mrs.Scarborough frowned.“I can.But he’ll do it faster.”She looked pointedly at Leon.

Leon’s face tightened.He nodded.

They moved back and gave the Frenchman room to work.

A wary expression clouded Viggo’s face as Leon’s magic charged the air with static.The charm shimmered into view.

“Fascinating,” Mrs.Scarborough murmured, her eyes gleaming behind her glasses.

“It won’t be if a bunch of shadow creatures come out after he’s finished,” Shaw said tartly.She shrugged at Evander and Rufus’s frowns.“What?It’s the truth.”

Evander’s pulse quickened when Leon nullified the charm.

They waited expectantly.

Nothing happened.

The Frenchman furrowed his brow and ran his hands over the stonework.“There must be some kind of hidden mechanism we need to engage.”

“Here, let me try something,” Viggo said.

He waited until Leon moved away, drew his arm back, and punched the wall with his fist.Stone crumbled under his knuckles, revealing a small compartment hidden inside the wall.

Evander groaned while Leon drew a horrified breath.

“What if you destroyed what was inside there?!”the Frenchman barked, incensed.

“I’m sure there are some clever people in this city who could fix it,” the Brute replied with no sign of compunction.

Something glinted inside the dark cavity.

Evander approached and moved the crystal on his cane close to the opening.

There was some kind of device inside the compartment.

“Be careful,” Viggo warned as Evander reached for it.

His fingers closed on something cold and hard.

The metallic scent he’d detected when he was coming down the stairs filled his nostrils as he removed the object.It was a central glass cylinder connected to smaller vials through intricate copper tubing, all mounted on a brass base etched with runes he didn’t recognise.It fit in the palm of his hand.

Though it bore no resemblance to theBlood Siphon, the device made the hairs rise on Evander’s nape.

Chapter27

It wasearly afternoon when they returned to Scotland Yard.

Evander’s mind was still reeling from their discoveries at the Royal Institute as they navigated the corridors of the Arcane Division.The device they’d found hidden in Whitley’s secret chamber was now safely stowed in a warded container Shaw carried in her tool bag.The forensic mage had gone ahead to deliver the item to Elias McAndrew, the AFD’s chief artificer.

A message was waiting for him and Rufus when they reached the reception.