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Fitch sighed.“Ollie?”

“Yes, Freddie?”

“Remember how I told you there are times when you’re too cheeky for your own good?”

Bartley’s expression turned sheepish.“Was this one of those times, Freddie?”

“Yes, it was, Ollie.”

Rufus rolled his eyes.“Royal Institute for the Arcane, if you please.”

They climbed aboard.The carriage lurched into motion, wheels clattering on cobblestones as they joined the flow of traffic on Parliament Street.Evander gazed out the window and watched London pass by in a blur of grey stone and bustling humanity as they headed north, his stomach churning despite his outwardly calm appearance.

He hoped there was a simple explanation for Whitley’s disappearance.Maybe he’d run into old friends, had gotten blind drunk in some downtrodden tavern in the slums, and was currently waking up from a terrible hangover.Or maybe he had a lover and had disappeared to a bolthole in the countryside with her.

Alas, he feared his suppositions would prove to be incorrect.

Because his instincts were telling him that this case involved dark mages.And if he was right, the ultimate outcome of this new investigation might turn out as bad or worse than the Millbrook and Renwick affair.

Viggo furrowedhis brow as he reviewed the stack of paperwork on his weathered walnut desk, a cup of tea cooling next to his hand.Though the concoction was nowhere near as delectable as the ones he’d gotten used to having in Evander’s home, it did the job of quenching his thirst and warming his bones.

The reports he was examining had come in overnight from variousNightshadeagents working outside London and across wider England.The ones from his men and women on the main continent were shipbound and would not arrive until tonight.

Bar a few squabbles in the north between crime gangs, there was no news of growing disputes between thralls and magic users or dark magic and dark mages being sighted.A muscle jumped in Viggo’s jawline.

That’s one thing to be grateful for, I guess.Although, this does feel like the calm before the storm, as Evander surmised.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Solomon Barden entered the room Viggo called his office, inside the network of limestone caves that constituted the headquarters ofNightshadeand under an area of Stepney locked in by Limehouse and London Docks.The only way to access the guild was via a nondescript door at the back ofIronclad Shipping, the merchant company belonging to Viggo’s uncle, Jack Stonewall, and the hidden tunnels that led to the Thames, as well as various exit points throughout central and north London.

The hum of activity filtering through from the underground chambers died down as Solomon closed the door behind him.

Viggo’s right-hand man crossed the floor, his quiet footfalls barely audible on the stone.He wordlessly replaced Viggo’s cold cup of tea with a mug of steaming coffee and settled in the chair opposite him.

“Thanks,” Viggo murmured.He took a sip of the hot brew and met his friend’s cool stare.“What’s wrong?”

“Are we really doing this?”Solomon said stiffly.“Continuing to aid the Met?”

Viggo sighed and leaned back in his chair, wood creaking under his weight.“We’ve already had this conversation, Sly.Winterbourne wants us on board until this whole affair is over.Considering what’s at stake, I don’t really see a reason to refuse his offer.”

“There are other ways to protect thralls,” Solomon intoned bullishly.

Viggo lowered his brows.“Not against dark magic there isn’t.However many anti-magic devices we get our hands on, we cannot battle hordes of dark mages.”

“You can.”

Solomon’s quiet statement filled the fraught silence.

Viggo’s face tightened as he recalled what had happened at Charing Cross and inside the warehouse where he’d almost lost Evander.

“I’m not invincible, Sly.It was a miracle I survived that explosion.”

“We can rally the Brutes in England to our cause.”Solomon leaned forward, elbows on knees and face growing animated.“Even the ones on the Continent would be willing to?—”

“Do you really think the War Office would allow that?”Viggo scowled.“That they will look the other way while I gather a force that could bring havoc to the city?!”

He cursed softly under his breath at Solomon’s hurt look.