I reached a corner and stopped, using my divination to peer around the edge. The room beyond had a circular door in the far end that looked like a vault, made of metal and massively thick. The lock had been melted by some kind of intense heat, and the door was swung half open. Bodies lay scattered across the floor. A chair had been knocked over, but apart from that there were no signs of battle, and no bullet holes in the walls. The walls in this section were thicker, blocking out the sounds of the fighting behind, and all of a sudden the corridor was eerily quiet.

Caldera frowned at the bodies. “Any of our guys make it this far?”

“No.” Slate came around the corner and saw what Caldera was looking at. “Blue on blue?”

“I don’t think this was an accident,” I said. I nodded at the vault door. “Get ready. Vihaela’s coming out.”

“I don’t see her.”

“Trust me.”

Slate and Caldera looked at each other, then walked forward, stepping over the bodies to take up positions flanking the door. The anteroom had two corridors leading off it, one to Caldera’s right, the other where we’d come from. I stayed close to the corner.

Footsteps sounded from inside the vault, and Vihaela appeared. She looked much the same as she had when I’d seen her out in the grounds, with one change: she had a light satchel slung over one shoulder. She looked unsurprised to see us. “Oh,” she said. “You.”

“Mage Vihaela,” Slate began. “Under the—”

Vihaela waved a hand. “Can we skip this part?”

“Suits me,” Slate said. He was standing in a ready stance, feet spread wide. “You coming quietly?”

Vihaela looked between us for a second before answering. “Three of you.” She frowned slightly. “I’m actually a little insulted.”

“Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble,” Slate said. “We got better things to do than go after freaks like you.”

“I mean, three Keepers would be one thing,” Vihaela said. “But two Keepers and an auxiliary? You aren’t even taking me seriously.”

“We’re crying,” Caldera said.

“Just out of curiosity, what are you charging me with? It’s not as though I hurt your boss.”

“Bullshit,” Slate said.

“Sorry,” Vihaela said. “Didn’t lay a finger on him. You can check with him when he wakes up.”

“If you didn’t,” Caldera said, “then who are you saying did?”

“Now you want me to solve your case too?” Vihaela shook her head. “Come on. If I really wanted Haken dead, you think I couldn’t have done it already? There’s no point offing Keepers. Sometimes we have to hurt you a little, just to teach you to stay out of our business, but killing you? Why bother?”

“Keep talking,” Slate said. “Your men are losing out there.”

I still couldn’t hear or sense any people moving in our direction, but the longer this went on, the better the chance that Council reinforcements would arrive. Caldera stayed quiet, and I knew she had to be thinking the same thing. If Vihaela stuck around, sooner or later she’d be overwhelmed.