Chapter 19 · No One Died in the Archives

The archive smelled like old paper and rat poison.

Toria crouched behind a shelf of tax ledgers, counting the seconds between the night guard's footsteps. Three years since she'd been inside the Imperial Records Hall. Three years since they'd burned her name off the registry and branded her left wrist with the traitor's mark.

She flexed her fingers. The scar still itched when it rained.

The footsteps faded toward the east wing. She moved.

The prison blueprints were supposed to be in the restricted section, third floor, locked cabinet behind the military maps. Mark and Ella needed those layouts if they were going to get six summoned kids out of the Cathedral dungeon without walking into every guard station blind.

Toria slipped past the main desk. The clerk's logbook lay open. Last entry: 9:47 PM, Section K returned. The clock above the door read 11:16.

Two hours. Maybe three if the guard was lazy.

She took the spiral stair up. No light. She knew the way by heart anyway. Twelve years she'd worked here.