August joined them, peeking through the small window at the low glow of dying embers.
“What is it?” he asked, touching the warm metal.
“An incinerator,” Felix answered. After a pause, added grimly, “For the bodies.”
The blood drained from August’s face, and he yanked his hand back. He really needed to stop touching things.
“There’s another door,” Felix said.
The next room was a dark, closet-sized office with a sturdy wooden desk and a line of cabinets. A stack of three wooden crates, each marked with anAand a black rose, sat on the floor.
Felix and Marlow rummaged swiftly and silently through the room. When Marlow shot August a sharp look, he sighed and moved to the nearest cabinet, pulling open the top drawer. It was crammed with papers he had no interest in sorting through. As he pushed it shut, he noticed a leather-bound book on top, its spine worn from use. He grabbed it and flipped listlessly through its pages until an envelope with a broken wax seal slipped free.
August recognized the shape of the seal immediately.
He returned the book, then pulled the letter from the envelope and unfolded it cautiously, as if it might bite him.
Mr. Ashcroft,
It is the aesran’s command that your work in the production and refinement of the Thaumic Elixir remain your foremost priority. Recent field applications have proven promising, but refinement must continue until the elixir reaches full stability and side effects are eliminated.
You will find enclosed an additional stipend to ensure discretion and efficiency, and you and your work will be protected, so long as you remain compliant. Should any interference arise, refer directly to my office.
Remember, this project is essential to our country’s security.
Lord Virgil Fenholt
High Commander of the Ministry of Arcane Compliance
He stared at the creased paper for a long time before he realized Felix was watching him.
“Find something?”
August frowned. His initial instinct was to say no. To hide the letter.
The aesran’s command.His mother knew about the elixir. Not only that, but she was funding it. Why would she do that?
He gave Felix the paper, the silence agonizing as his eyes scanned the words.
What use would she have for something like this?
This project is essential to our country’s security.
How could she justify stealing magic? Killing people?
August jumped as Felix sent the stack of crates crashing down with an angry growl. Glass shattered, the deafening sound slicing through the stillness.
There was no way the Watch outside hadn’t heard it.
Marlow smacked Felix in the stomach. “You’re gonna get us caught!”
But he ignored her, letting the paper fall to the floor as a tremor ran through him.
The crown and the ministry.
Hypocrites. All of them.
He’d assumed this elixir was just some strange fascination by a small portion of the nobility. But it went all the way to the top.
