Arthur waited until the last group of guards had rushed past before slipping into a shallow recess between two pillars.
The alarm continued to ring through the temple. Boots struck the floor somewhere behind him, and orders overlapped in the distance, distorted by the long corridors.
For the moment, the confusion worked in his favor.
But it would not last.
Arthur drew the identification card from beneath his robe and examined it properly.
A young man stared back at him from the photograph. He appeared to be in his twenties, with neatly arranged brown hair, black eyes, and a face attractive enough to have made the photographer's task easy.
Beneath the photograph was a name.
Albert Valentino.
Arthur tilted the card toward the light. A golden cross occupied one corner.
That symbol required no explanation.
The second emblem did.
A small angel had been stamped beside an ornate letter R.
Arthur studied it for a moment.
'Some division of the Church?'
He had no way to tell.
