Page 113 of Arcane Entanglement
He’d nearly exhausted his reserves of magic trying to stop the runaway train.
Barges and boats moved sluggishly in the currents below them as they pounded the walkway after Renwick. The dark mage reached the south embankment, jumped down, and vanished in the warren of alleyways connecting the factories and mills crowding the riverfront.
Evander wondered briefly if they were being led into another ambush.
Trap or not, we have no choice but to go after him!
From Viggo’s tight face, the Brute had had the same thought.
Letting Renwick escape wasn’t an option.
“Don’t slow down!” Evander yelled.
Viggo nodded grimly.
Magic surged through Evander as he manipulated the wind and brought them safely to the ground when they leapt. They took off in the direction Renwick had vanished, boots striking packed dirt and cobblestones.
Buildings pressed in on either side of them as they navigated a labyrinth of passages, the walls shutting out most of the late afternoon sunlight and casting them in ominous twilight.
“Can you sense him?!” Viggo shouted as startled figures cursed and jumped out of their way.
Evander narrowed his eyes. “I can!”
He accelerated and took the lead, following the scent of dark magic Renwick had left in his wake. It brought them to a section of the embankment lined with wharves and warehouses.
Evander slowed as they neared a deserted junction. The wisps of sinister power he’d been tracking had faded on a breeze blowing from the south. He stopped, his heart racing and his chest heaving with his breaths as he spun on himself and scrutinised the alleyways.
“Did you lose his trail?” Viggo asked guardedly.
“Yes.” Frustration knotted Evander’s belly. “Let me try something!”
Viggo watched tensely as he called on his fire magic and sent sparks dancing through the air. Evander stiffened when one of the streams of elemental power he’d cast out reacted to dark magic a moment later.
“This way!”
He twisted and bolted down the passage on his left, Viggo on his heels.
Their footsteps echoed against grimy walls as they approached a warehouse on the edge of the water. The building soared before them, cast iron windows catching the setting sun and smokestacks etched against an orange sky.
The oppressive weight of corruption hanging in the air pressed in on Evander like a suffocating shroud.
“Be careful,” he warned Viggo as they reached the entrance. “This place reeks of dark magic.”
A muscle jumped in the Brute’s jawline.
They slipped through a gap in the heavy doors.
It took a moment for Evander’s eyes to adjust to the gloom inside the warehouse. The interior was a maze of towering shelves packed with boxes and crates arranged over three floors, all connected by a central staircase and two goods lifts. Dim light filtered through the grimy windows beneath the roofline, the rays barely piercing the shadows in the eaves and between the murky aisles.
The air was thick with dust and the cloying scent of dark magic.
Evander’s scalp prickled as they moved deeper into the building. They cleared the ground floor before proceeding to the south-facing stairs, Viggo in the lead.
Every creak of the wooden steps they climbed set Evander’s teeth on edge. Renwick had to know they were in the building by now.
There were no signs of their foe on the first floor.
A pulse of malevolent energy washed across Evander’s skin when he and Viggo reached the landing to the second floor. His heart thumped painfully as he brought forth a barrier of defensive wind magic, ready to repel whatever attack Renwick might send their way.
