The heavy doors groaned open, and Silver stepped into the chamber, his eyes sweeping the space with palpable impatience. The frantic, defensive energy that usually masked his movements subsided only when he found Evangeline exactly where he had left her. She was sitting in utter, chilling composure, lazily swirling a fresh glass of blood-red wine, drinking with the unbothered grace of a monarch who hadn't just upended a hornet's nest.
He flung himself onto the velvet seat opposite her, his defensive, cynical smirk returning like a shield. "It seems you and the old lady had quite the heated chat, my dear. The air in the corridors still reeks of her residual malice."
