“Kill them,” Guillaume ordered coldly. “They cannot make it out of this basement alive.”
A barrage of inky projectiles arrowed toward Evander and Viggo from every direction.
Fire magic flooded Evander’s blood and sparked off his body. He retaliated with a circle of flames that obliterated the corrupt bolts and forced the mages to scatter.
Evander didn’t give them time to counterattack.
He ground his teeth and summoned his earth magic. Shackles of dirt and rock exploded into existence at his silent command and bound the cursing mages’ legs in place.
Fear flickered in Guillaume’s eyes for the first time as he struggled vainly to escape the bonds.
Evander crossed the room and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
“Who are you and Brassard working for?!” he hissed in the man’s face. “Is it ‘I’?!”
The ugly laugh that escaped the dark mage made the hairs rise on Evander’s nape.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Guillaume’s lips twisted into a bloody smile. “London will be your grave, Ice Mage.”
He reached inside his pocket before Evander could react, removed a black crystal, and tossed it into his mouth.
Evander’s mouth went dry. He let go of the man and retreated a couple of steps.
Midnight Obsidian!
Viggo cursed as the other dark mages did the same. “Watch out!”
The pressure inside the room plummeted, making Evander’s ears pop. The coldness that descended upon the chamber next was bone-deep and made his breath mist in front of his face.
The mages’ eyes grew black with corruption, just as Musgrave and his associates’ had when they’d swallowed theMidnight Obsidiancrystal under the Institute in London.
“For the new order!” Guillaume snarled.
The darkness that exploded around Evander and Viggo swallowed all light and sound and plunged them into an inky void. Evander’s stomach curdled when the dark mages’s spells caused crimson strands to bloom amidst the shadows, the tendrils merging until they formed gleaming bolts ofBlood Magicintended to skewer them alive.
Evander clenched his jaw and lifted the lid on his magic.
The elements roared to life around him, fire, wind, ice, and earth forming shields that blocked the vicious attack and made the basement tremble. He felt Viggo move and heard a curse somewhere on his left. The sound of scuffling feet reached himnext. It was followed by the grunts of impact and the cracks of what might have been skulls against stone.
Flames surrounded Evander in a bright halo as he burned away the shadows wreathed withBlood Magicinch by stubborn inch.
When light finally returned to the chamber, all their attackers lay unconscious on the floor, Guillaume groaning faintly as he bled profusely from the gash in his temple.
Viggo applied one last kick to the man’s head and wiped blood from a cut on his cheek.
A distant crash echoed from somewhere above them.
Evander’s heart stuttered.
It had come from the direction of the main salon.
“The others!” He bolted toward the exit.
“Wait!” Viggo barked.
The Brute moved quickly to the workbench and gathered the scattered manifests. Some had been damaged by the shadow explosion and the flames, the ink bleeding and paper singed, but enough remained legible.
They took the stairs two at a time and burst back into the servants’ corridor to find it mercifully empty. Evander’s throat constricted as they headed swiftly toward the ballroom.
