Page 92

“It’s a ward lock.”He frowned.“Not unlike those used in the Ministry of Arcane Affairs for their most sensitive archives.”

Rufus and Shaw exchanged a wary look.

“Go for it, your Grace,” Shaw said in a hard voice.

Evander’s shoulders knotted as he aligned the ring and the engraving with deliberate care.Metal slotted smoothly into wood.

The silver band immediately grew warm in his fingers.

Arcane runes flared to life, the symbols glowing an eerie crimson before fading just as quickly.

The ground beneath them shuddered.

“Move!”Evander barked.He yanked the ring out of the engraving and pulled back just as the lectern began to sink.

Shaw gasped when a section of the floor disappeared beneath her.

“Lyra!” Rufus lunged to grab her.

Evander cursed and raised his hand.A powerful burst of wind magic surged from his fingertips and shot towards the plummeting forensic mage.The vortex wrapped around her, buffeting her body and halting her fall.

Shaw stared at the gaping void beneath her feet as Evander carefully floated her up to safety.

“Blimey, I thought I was a goner there,” she mumbled.

Rufus and Griffiths took hold of her arms and steadied her as she stepped onto solid ground.They gathered cautiously around the previously concealed entrance.

A set of stone steps descended into darkness where the wooden platform and the section of floor had once been.Cool air wafted up from below.It carried the stench of damp stone and something else—something foul and ominous that set Evander’s teeth on edge.

“By God, that’s unholy,” Rufus whispered, his face pale in the dim light.

Griffiths looked similarly troubled beside him.

Evander summoned a sphere of fire to illuminate the passage.It would serve not only to light the way but weaken whatever corrupt magic choked the passages beneath them.The orange flames cast elongated shadows across the stone walls as he took the first step down.

“Stay on your guard,” he warned over his shoulder.

Chapter38

The staircase droppedten feet before turning at a sharp angle, the steps worn smooth by countless passages over what must have been decades.The air grew increasingly stale and thick as they descended and the walls soon transformed from dressed stone to rough-hewn rock.

“Twenty feet down,” Shaw murmured.“We’re well below the Institute’s foundations now.”

The staircase ended abruptly at a narrow passageway lined with ensconced brackets for torches long since extinguished.Evander augmented the fireball and sent it ahead to illuminate their path.

“This architecture predates the Institute.”Rufus frowned and ran his fingers along the ancient stonework.“These are Tudor-era construction techniques, possibly even earlier.”

“It’s probably part of the original arcane academy,” Evander said tightly.“Shaw, do you have the map?”

“Hang on a minute, your Grace.”

To everyone’s consternation, the forensic mage reached discreetly inside her cleavage and slipped out the copy of the facility blueprint Richfield had made for them before they’d left Scotland Yard.

Shaw blinked innocently at their shocked stares.“What?”

“Was there nowhere else you could have kept that?”Rufus asked testily.

“I was afraid it would fall out of my coat,” the forensic mage said with a dismissive shrug.“Besides, there’s nowhere safer than my bosom.Ask the chap who tried to cop a feel the other day.”