Rick was already putting on his boots when Carmilla knocked. When he opened the door, she was already walking down the hall.
This told him two things.
The first thing was that she had been awake before the news came, which meant that her instincts had been ahead of her.
The second thing was that whatever was going on at the Council building was important enough that she didn't bother to knock twice.
"East wing," she said, walking next to him. "There's some kind of fire... something that's called a magical origin...?"
"The guards say that the ward signature doesn't match anything in the Council's spell library."
Natasha came out of the study with her coat half-buttoned and a small analysis crystal in her hand that was already glowing blue. It seems that she never really stopped working.
"The ward penetration technique is foreign," she stated, and she continued to keep pace with them without any pauses.
