The explosion didn't just rattle the stained glass of the private chapel; it shattered the illusion of Vatican sanctuary. Dust, ancient and smelling of incense and pulverized marble, rained down from the vaulted ceiling in a choking gray shroud. Seraphina didn’t flinch. Her active protagonist instincts had already moved past shock and into a cold, mechanical state of survival. She felt the vibration of the blast in her teeth, a rhythmic reminder that the walls of the Holy See were no longer thick enough to keep the world’s monsters at bay.
"The blood oath, Eminence!" Seraphina shouted over the high-pitched ringing in her ears, her hand outstretched toward the Cardinal. Her voice was a whip-crack in the settling dust. "Give me the key. The world is already on fire, and I won't let Dante bu
