Cael's blade cut through the guard's throat before the man even registered movement, the strange, borrowed strength making the strike land faster than his own training should have allowed.
"Clear," Cael whispered, easing the body down silently.
Talyn moved up behind him, eyes wide with barely concealed disbelief. "That was fast. Faster than you've ever moved in training."
"I know," Cael said, flexing his hand, still adjusting to the unfamiliar power humming beneath his skin. "Feels like borrowing someone else's body."
"Don't get comfortable with it," Talyn whispered. "Ottilie said the effect could destabilize without warning."
They pressed deeper into the compromised council building, moving through the same service corridors Ottilie and Talyn had mapped during their earlier reconnais
