Page 41

The chamber was vast, its ceiling and the bottomless pit beneath the series of metal walkways, stairs, and platforms that made up the lab shrouded in shadows despite the eerie blue glow emanating from the series of glass tanks arranged in a circle on individual platforms around a machine in the centre.

The air crackled with a corrupt magical energy that made Viggo’s skin crawl and his hair stand on end.

There were people inside the tanks—mages and thralls suspended in a viscous fluid, naked and eyes closed in slumber.

He recognised Whitley and Chevalier from their descriptions, as well as Simmons.

An apparatus that pumped air in and out of their lungs covered their mouths and noses, while tubes and wires snaked out of their arms, legs, and heads, connecting them to the nightmarish device in the middle of the lab.

Viggo’s head tilted as he stared at it, his mouth dry.

It was a towering construct of glass, brass, and copper not dissimilar in appearance to the device they’d found under Whitley’s laboratory.

The main difference, bar its gargantuan size, was the dark crystal floating inside it.

It was the size of a man’s fist and pulsed with a malevolent force that looked to be powering the machinery, making it hum and throb like a living organ.

Viggo clenched his jaw. If he had to guess, he was looking at a core of Midnight Obsidian . It was the heart of the facility—an ode to magical perversion.

From the way Whitley and Chevalier twitched and winced sporadically inside their glass cages, the crystal was drawing magical essence from them.

A convulsion suddenly shook Simmons.

Viggo’s eyes rounded in horror as silver lines began tracing patterns beneath his skin.

“They’re injecting him with magic!” he growled.

Leon stayed his motion with a hand as he prepared to surge forward.

Five robed figures stood around the main machine on an elevated platform, their arms outstretched as they poured their corrupt magic into the device. Professor Musgrave orchestrated the proceedings at their centre, his face illuminated starkly by the glow of dark energy swirling around his hands.

They hadn’t noticed them yet.

“I’m going to try and eliminate their magic,” the Frenchman said in a strained voice. “Use these ice spears and hurl them at that machine.” He manifested the weapons and gave them to Viggo. “I’ve made them strong enough to smash that glass. Aim for the crystal.”

The cold burned Viggo’s palms as he met the Frenchman’s determined stare. He gripped the spears tightly and nodded.

Magic washed across his skin as Leon drew on his powers, the Frenchman’s pupils flaring white.

One of the dark mages finally spotted them.

“We have intruders!” he yelled.

Startled shouts erupted from his companions as they whirled around and looked down upon them, their sinister ritual temporarily abandoned. The shadow creatures hidden in the murky gloom of the ceiling appeared as they called the monsters to them.

Musgrave turned, his expression shifting from shock to fury when he registered their presence. His gaze locked with Viggo’s. A twisted smile spread across his features.

“Ah. The Duke’s pet thrall.”

“ Now! ” Leon barked.

Viggo drew his arms back and cast the spears with an explosive grunt. They flew straight and true one after the other, like deadly arrows.

Confusion clouded Musgrave’s face when the shadow creatures and the corrupt power he and his companions wielded fizzled out under the tremendous wave of Nullification Magic Leon unleashed.

Horror widened his eyes as he finally grasped their intent.

His head snapped up, his frozen gaze following the ice spears’ passage.

“No!” he roared. He reached out with his hand and guided a fading shadow creature into the path of the projectiles.

The first ice spear pierced the monster and smashed into the device, cracking the glass. The second ice spear struck the base of the first one like a hammer and drove it straight through the glass and into the dark crystal.

Musgrave cursed as the humming and throbbing stuttered. The liquid inside the machine began leaking around the edges of the fracture.

“Damn,” Leon muttered, his tone full of admiration as he glanced at Viggo. “I couldn’t have done that better if I’d tried!”

A high-pitched whine made them stiffen.

The dark crystal began pulsing with a crimson light that grew brighter and brighter until it practically seared their vision.

Viggo saw Musgrave dive to the ground through the dark spots swarming his eyes. He gasped when the device imploded with a mighty whooph that made his ears pop.

The negative pressure wave sucked him forward.

A cry of horror left Leon as it lifted him off his feet and pulled him inexorably towards the railing of the platform they stood on, his wind magic overwhelmed by the violent current.

“Leon!” Viggo yelled as he disappeared over it. He lunged forward, heedless of Solomon’s shout.

The world tilted as he pitched over into a maw of darkness. His left hand closed on Leon’s wrist at the same time his right hand found purchase on the edge of the platform base. For a moment, he thought they would be okay.

His fingers slipped.

Horror widened Leon’s eyes below him as they plunged into the abyss.

A violent windstorm boomed around them, buffeting their bodies and freezing their fall.

“ Viggo! Leon! ” someone yelled.

Viggo’s heart pounded violently in his ribs as he met Evander’s frantic gaze across the cavernous chamber.

Darkness ignited the air around Musgrave, the effect of Leon’s Nullification Magic abating. He manifested a veritable horde of shadow creatures and directed them to attack Evander.

Evander scowled and raised a wall of fire around him and the officers and mages in his wake. The shadow creatures recoiled with high-pitched shrieks. They writhed and danced around them, their inky forms trembling under the effect of the flames and the amulet shining brightly against his chest.

His pulse thrummed as he carefully manoeuvred Viggo and Leon to the safety of the platform they’d fallen off. He focused on Musgrave next.

“You have nowhere to run, Professor,” Evander said coldly.

His gaze swept the machine with the dark crystal and the tanks where Musgrave’s victims floated.

His voice when he spoke again was lifeless, the fury making his body vibrate barely suppressed.

“This facility is surrounded. We will not harm you if you surrender quietly.”

Musgrave laughed, a mad sound. “Surrender?! Are you insane, Ice Mage?” He sneered.

“Or shall I call you Archmage ?” He glanced at the officers and mages slowly inching around the chamber to encircle them.

A deranged smile stretched the professor’s mouth.

“We’re in the midst of a delicate procedure, Duke Ravenwood.

One that will revolutionise our very understanding of magic.

” He gestured to the tanks where Whitley and Chevalier hung suspended.

“They had their chance to be part of something groundbreaking. They chose to be obstacles in my path instead.” He straightened to his full height.

“What you see here is merely the beginning.”

“The beginning of what?!” Evander bit out, blood pounding in his skull. “Torture? Murder?!”

The violent magic churning inside his chest and beneath his skin itched for release. All it would take was lifting the lid a fraction and this entire laboratory would be reduced to rubble. He took a deep breath and fought for control.

“Progress.” Musgrave’s eyes shrank to slits.

“The advancement of magical science beyond arbitrary limitations imposed by nature itself.” His face hardened.

“Surely you of all people can appreciate that. Your own magic is quite remarkable. Imagine if such a power could be replicated, distributed to those deemed worthy.”

Evander gritted his teeth. “There’s nothing worthy about what you’re doing here!”

Musgrave sighed, as if disappointed by his lack of vision.

“I expected more understanding from a member of the nobility.” He shot a sadistic look at Leon.

“And you, Mr. French Investigator. After all, it was your countrymen who pioneered much of this research.” He smiled thinly as Leon paled.

“Oh yes, Les Prophètes Illuminés laid the groundwork for this decades ago. We merely perfected their methods. If Chevalier hadn’t discovered his morals, we would have made more headway by now. ”

Evander stepped forward, fury bubbling in his veins.

“You’ve broken every law of magical ethics, you damn fiend!” he snarled. “In the name of the Metropolitan Police and by the authority of the Crown, I am placing you under arrest!”

A laugh escaped Musgrave then—cold and devoid of humour. “I answer to a higher authority than your petty regulations, Archmage .”

Evander narrowed his eyes. “Does the name of that higher authority begin with the letter ‘ I’ by any chance?”

Musgrave lowered his brows. “I see you know of my master.” He turned to his associates. “Kill them all, except for the Brute, the Duke, and the Frenchman. They will make interesting test subjects.”

Musgrave’s companions removed small black crystals from inside their robes.

Horror widened Evander’s eyes when they swallowed them, Musgrave quickly following suit.

No!

He knew instinctively they’d just ingested a piece of Midnight Obsidian .

“Everyone, stay back!” Evander hollered.

His ears throbbed when the pressure inside the chamber dropped precipitously.

The coldness that descended upon the lab made frost form on his eyelashes and chilled him to his very bones. The air grew foul with a miasma of corrupt magic.

The dark mages’ eyes glowed with an unholy light as they unleashed their powers. Hundreds of shadow creatures coalesced from the darkness and arrowed towards Evander and his companions with near-silent malevolence.

“Protect the officers!” Viggo shouted to Leon as he charged towards Musgrave.

The shadow creatures their enemy had manifested descended upon them, maws gaping and insubstantial limbs reaching for the Met officers and mages.

Leon’s Nullification Magic flared brightly, his magic aided by the power in the amulet around his neck as he created an elemental barrier that the creatures could not penetrate.

The Arcane Division mages rallied behind his protection and launched counterattacks of their own; fire spells, ice and earth spears, and violent storms of wind rapidly swarmed the chamber.

Evander’s magic and those of the mages at his side made the air tremble as they defended themselves against the swarm of shadow creatures attacking them.

Viggo scowled and barrelled through the magical crossfire, relying on his immunity to direct magical attacks to close the distance to Musgrave.

He could see Evander doing the same from the opposite side of the chamber, a barrier of wind and fire magic flickering around him.

Their eyes met briefly through the shimmering wall.

Viggo smiled fiercely. Emotion tightened Evander’s face.

A dark mage stepped into the Brute’s path, hands glowing with a sickly energy. The spell struck Viggo’s chest and dissipated harmlessly. The mage’s eyes widened in surprise a second before Viggo’s fist connected with his jaw, sending him crumpling onto the walkway.

“You can’t stop this!” Musgrave barked. Sinister magic flared around him as he backed towards the central apparatus.

“Even if you kill us all, the process is already underway.” He gestured wildly to Simmons’s tank, where the silvery traces beneath the thrall’s skin had intensified despite the Midnight Obsidian crystal having imploded.

“The transfer is nearly complete even though you broke the machine, you fool!”

Fear squeezed Viggo’s heart when he saw the young man begin to convulse violently, his face contorting in agony despite his unconscious state.

“ No! ” he roared, the walkway rattling beneath his feet as he accelerated.

Evander got there before him, his ice-blue eyes glinting with cold determination.