Franz’s composure crumbled. He pressed a hand to his lower face, his fingers shaking and his breathing growing ragged.
“Then God help us all,” he whispered. “Because if Winchester has returned, it means someone?—”
“Brought him back,” Viggo finished in a hard voice. “Not quite Lazarus rising as you suspect, but rather rescued from certain death by someone with considerable power.”
“All we know of Winchester’s employer is his initial,” Ginny said quietly. “They call him ‘I.’ He is a dark mage of immense resources and influence. If he and his accomplices succeed in their plans, the face of England and possibly even Europe will never be the same again.”
Viggo shot a glance at Ginny. Though her expression remained composed, he heard the trepidation underscoring her voice. Like him and Evander, the gravity of their mission had started to weigh on each and every member of their team.
If they failed to stop “I”, the implications would be catastrophic.
“He spoke of a messiah, during his trial,” Franz confessed, his expression dazed. “A figure who would remake the magical world. We thought it the ravings of a madman.”
Icy fingers danced down Viggo’s spine. The parallels to Renwick and Musgrave were impossible to ignore.
“What else?” the Brute pressed. “What do you know about Winchester that could help us find him?”
Franz hesitated, clearly weighing risks.
“I am not sure if this has anything to do with him, but three days ago, an old friend came to me,” he finally said. “Not a criminal but a businessman. His daughter is a research mage at the University. She went missing a while back and was recently found in London.”
Viggo exchanged a glance with Ginny. It was likely one of the mages he and Evander had rescued from Musgrave’s lair, underneath the Royal Institute.
Franz frowned. “He’d been investigating her disappearance against the wishes of the authorities and began to hear whispers in certain underground circles.” His voice grew strained. “Dark mages are gathering. Not in Vienna, as some initially suspected, but somewhere close. He said they were planning something. Something significant.”
He reached into his coat, withdrew a folded paper, and slid it across the table.
Ginny unfolded the paper. It was a list of names, perhaps a dozen, with addresses and brief notations beside each.
“Who are these people?” she asked with a frown.
“Missing persons. Mages and researchers who’ve vanished over the past few months, not just from Vienna but other cities and countries.” Franz swallowed. “No bodies. No ransom demands. They simply disappeared, as if the earth had swallowed them whole.”
Viggo studied the list over Ginny’s shoulder, his jaw tightening.
“Did he find anything that connects them?”
“No.” Franz faltered. “But he believes dark mages were involved in their disappearances, the same as his daughter.”
Ginny folded the paper and tucked it into her reticule. “Thank you, Franz. I have one more question.” She kept her voice carefully neutral. “Have you heard anything that could connect the Helnweins to these events?”
Though surprise jolted Viggo at the question, he didn’t show it.
Franz’s expression grew shuttered. “The Helnweins are untouchable. They have been for generations. And they would rather destroy their entire dynasty than get involved with dark magic.”
This seemed to satisfy Ginny.
The meeting concluded shortly. Franz departed first, slipping out through a back entrance with the furtive haste of a man who had demons on his heels.
Viggo and Ginny returned to the main room of the coffee house and wove between the marble tables and their newspaper-reading occupants toward the exit.
“Why did you ask him about the Helnweins?” Viggo asked Ginny curiously as they stepped out into the pale afternoon light.
Gumpendorfer Strasse was busy with foot traffic and carriages, Viennese citizens going about their daily business with no awareness of the danger lurking in their city.
“I didn’t want any nasty surprises waiting for us tonight,” she replied in a hard voice. “Evander has been betrayed many a times by people he initially trusted.”
Viggo mulled this over and concluded that Evander was truly lucky to have friends like Ginny and Rufus in his life, just as he did with Solomon, Finn, and Magnus.
