The chapter house was quieter than the sanctum, though the distant clash of Evelina's battle still rolled through the stone walls like muffled thunder.
Vivianne pressed herself against the corridor wall, her borrowed spymaster's cloak drawn tight around her shoulders. The fabric was enchanted, or so she'd been told, made for slipping into shadows and swallowing sound.
Useful, really, for someone about to do what the church would no doubt call sacrilege.
A few feet away, Kevin knelt with one hand braced against the floor, violet magic threading through the stone in thin, searching lines.
"No guards," he murmured. "The spell worked. Everyone below the High Council is frozen."
"How can you tell?" Lillian asked from behind them, her voice low and even.
"There's nothing recent. No footsteps. No heartbeats. Just..." He opened his eyes as the violet glow faded from his fingertips. "...silence."
