“Do you know where any of them are?” Viggo pressed.
Simek hesitated. “I know where two of them were, as of a decade ago. One was held in the Vatican’s secret archive—though whether it remains there, I cannot say. The other…”He paused, something flickering in his eyes. “The other was rumoured to be in Vienna. In the private collection of a family that has built a repository of arcane secrets for generations.”
“Vienna.” Ginny narrowed her eyes at Evander. “That’s on our list of places to investigate.”
Simek stiffened. “Then you must be careful. The family I speak of—they do not welcome outsiders. And they have their own reasons for keeping their secrets hidden.”
“Who are they?” Evander asked tensely.
“The Helnweins,” Simek replied reluctantly. “One of the oldest magical families in the Austrian Empire, descended from royalty. They’ve been collecting forbidden texts for centuries. If anyone possesses a fragment of the Codex or knows where one is, it’s them.”
Evander exchanged a cautious glance with Fairbridge and Rufus. He hoped Winterbourne’s contact in Vienna had a way to connect them with this family.
“There’s something else you should know,” Simek continued, his expression growing more troubled. “The fragments aren’t just pieces of text. They’re connected. Bound together by the magic of their creation. Powerful, arcane magic. If someone were to gather enough of them…” He trailed off.
“What?” Viggo demanded tensely.
“The fragments would resonate. Call to each other.” Simek met Evander’s gaze. “Whoever is behind these attacks, whoever has been hunting researchers and silencing anyone with knowledge of the Codex—they’re not just looking for the information contained within it. They’re collecting the fragments themselves.”
The implications hit Evander like a physical blow.
“They’re trying to reassemble the Codex,” he said numbly. “To make a weapon.”
Shaw sucked in air. Rufus and Fairbridge frowned heavily.
Viggo had grown as still as stone beside Evander.
Simek’s voice shook. “If they succeed, they’ll not only possess knowledge that hasn’t existed in complete form for several centuries, knowledge that could allow them to do things that were never meant to be possible. They would have a weapon at their disposal that could annihilate nations.”
His words echoed in the heavy silence, every one a death knell that squeezed the air from Evander’s lungs.
“The rituals described in those pages…they could reshape the very fabric of magical society,” Simek mumbled, his expression unfocused. “They could be used to create armies of mages and make slaves of thralls. They could bind souls and steal power on a scale that would make the darkest blood magic seem like parlour tricks.”
Evander stared at the floor, his thoughts churning, fear a living thing eating at his insides. They’d come to Prague hoping to find answers. Instead, they’d discovered a threat far greater than any of them could ever have imagined. He inhaled shakily.
“How many fragments do you think they already have?”
Simek shook his head. “I don’t know. But considering how long this conspiracy has been operating, how many researchers have been silenced…” He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.
“Then we need to move faster,” Viggo said, his voice hard. “Get to Vienna before they do. Find this Helnwein family and secure their fragment.”
“It won’t be that simple,” Simek warned. “The Helnweins are powerful and paranoid. They won’t simply hand over their treasures to strangers, no matter what credentials you carry.”
Determination tightened Evander’s chest.
“Then we’ll have to find another way.” He met Simek’s frightened gaze. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that might help us understand what we’re facing?”
Simek swallowed. He reached into his coat and withdrew a small, leather-bound journal.
“My life’s work,” he said quietly. “Everything I’ve learned about the Codex, the fragments, the history behind them. It’s all in here. I do not know how those dark mages didn’t find it.” He held it out to Evander with a shudder. “Take it. Use it. And pray that you’re not already too late.”
CHAPTER 33
Ten daysand four cities after leaving London and Evander was beginning to feel the toll of their travels in his bones.
Vienna rose from the Danube plain like a crown jewel of the Habsburg Empire the next afternoon. The gilded capital should have been a welcome respite with its coffee houses and opera and elegant façades. Instead, as their carriage departed the Südbahnhof train station and rattled along the Ringstrasse toward their hotel, all Evander could think about was how many shadows might be hiding dark mages.
Since Simek didn’t trust the local authorities in Prague to protect him, they’d left the occult researcher under the protection of a couple ofNightshadeagents and Johan Pavel, who had grudgingly agreed to shelter Simek until the danger passed. Whether that protection would hold remained to be seen. The man’s revelations about the Codex fragments had shaken them all and Evander had spent most of the train journey poring over Simek’s journal, searching for any detail that might give them an advantage.
