Chapter 12 · Breaking the Siege

"Get behind me! Now!"

Silas slammed his palm into Viviane’s chest, shoving her hard against the altar. Wood cracked under her shoulders. The chapel doors exploded inward a second later.

"Holy See! Nobody moves!"

A guard roared, boots hammering stone. "By order of Cardinal Julian, you're under arrest for heresy and forbidden arts!"

"Like hell we are," Silas snarled. He didn't look back, his arm locked across her body like a barricade.

"Viviane, tell me you have a plan that isn't praying."

"I have a sword," she hissed, her breath hot against his neck. "And you have a mouth. Which one do you want to use?"

"Both. But first—"

He ducked. A crossbow bolt whistled past his ear and buried itself in the crucifix. "We need to move!"

Callum threw his weight against the side door, bracing it with his shoulder. "This won't hold! There's twenty of them out there! Maybe thirty!"

"Twenty?" Viviane shoved Silas's arm off, but her fingers caught his wrist, gripping tight. She was shaking. Ice cold. "Julian didn't send twenty men to arrest a fugitive. He sent twenty to make sure we don't leave."

"Yeah, no kidding," Silas said.