Read Secrets Of The Serpent's Heart (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 6) Online
Authors: N. S. Wikarski
The spymaster nodded. “Very good.”
“Sir, look.” His second-in-command directed his attention to someone emerging from a service door at the side of the building.
It was the Diviner. He was wandering aimlessly across the grass like a man who had lost something.
Joshua needed to think quickly. In a low tone, he commanded, “Stay here and say nothing. I’ll handle this.”
The spymaster hastily ran across the field to intercept the Diviner. “Father, what are you doing out of bed at this hour?”
Abraham passed a weary hand across his forehead. “I have had a restless night.” His voice sounded thick, almost as if he were in some kind of stupor. “I rose to take another sleeping draught when I thought I heard a commotion outside.” His face bore a baffled expression. “It sounded like gunshots. Has someone tried to escape?” He squinted hazily in the direction of the sentries.
The spymaster immediately stepped into his sightline. “No, father. Nothing you need to be concerned about. A wild animal was rummaging through the garbage dumpsters, that’s all. My men detected activity around the back fence. It sometimes happens with security equipment as sensitive as ours is. Unfortunately, the guards grew overzealous and began shooting before they’d identified the threat. It was nothing more serious than a raccoon.”
Abraham searched his son’s face.
Joshua tensed. His father could usually tell when a person was lying but the Diviner’s perceptions had been impaired of late. The spymaster didn’t know the reason but he was grateful for these recent vagaries. He smiled blandly and touched Abraham’s shoulder, gently turning him in the opposite direction.
“Father, please go back inside. You need your rest. It was a trivial matter. I’m sorry it disturbed you.”
“A trivial matter,” Abraham echoed dreamily. “Very well. Carry on.” Without protest, he did as he was bidden and tottered back toward the building.
Joshua remained stock-still until he was sure the Diviner was safely inside. Then he motioned his lieutenant forward.
The man registered confusion. “Sir, why didn’t you bring your father to view the body? It would surely have pleased our Diviner to see the prowler we apprehended.”
“Would it?” the spymaster asked coldly. “If you think that, you don’t know my father very well. It’s far more likely that he would berate us for having allowed anyone to infiltrate our property. Given the sums he has spent on security equipment and training, he might feel that his money was wasted. He might even wish to vent his spleen on the men he’d appointed to protect the Nephilim. I don’t know about you but I don’t much care for the idea of being demoted.”
The lieutenant appeared mortified. “I never thought of that.” In a wary tone, he asked, “Is that the reason why the night guards have standing orders to use silencers on their weapons?”
Joshua smiled wryly. “Given tonight’s incident, I would say those measures were justified, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant readily agreed. “I will direct my men to say nothing about what happened.”
He cast a glance toward the body lying on the grass. “Who do you suppose he is?”
Joshua ambled back to examine the remains at close range. “I have no idea. I’m sure my father has made many enemies amongst the Fallen. Have you searched him yet?”
One of the guards bent down to turn out the dead man’s pockets. He looked up helplessly at his superior. “Nothing here, sir. No identification at all.”
Joshua sighed. Once again he turned toward his lieutenant. “You say you caught him on a security camera by the side entrance?”
“Yes sir. We couldn’t identify his face. Only a figure dressed in black but we’re quite sure it was him.”
“I see.” The spymaster silently contemplated the corpse for a while longer. “If I were to posit a theory, I would say this intruder was employed by the Fallen boy that Sister Hannah seduced while living in the outer world. He must have been hired to steal the girl away from her lawful husband. Given our trespasser’s demise, we’ll never know for sure. Since he is one of the godless, a missing person’s report might be filed with the Fallen authorities. That’s just the sort of pretext that would allow the local police to meddle in our affairs. We can’t give them a reason to suspect our involvement.”
In a louder voice, Joshua instructed his men, “Search the perimeter. If you find a vehicle, dispose of it immediately. And remember that all of this must be done with absolute secrecy.”
“Yes sir.” They all saluted.
His lieutenant asked, “How do you want to get rid of the body? The same procedure as the mercenary who tried to kill our Diviner?”
Joshua gave a slight nod. “Yes, that method will do quite nicely.”
Cassie drummed her fingers fretfully on the cushions of her living room sofa. Griffin, no less tense, was seated beside her and making a supreme effort not to tap his foot. Maddie had taken up a position by the front window, peering through the side of the curtains. It was almost five o’clock in the morning. Something had gone terribly wrong. The Pythia could feel it but she didn’t want to alarm the others by saying so out loud. Erik and Zach were supposed to bring Hannah straight to her apartment. After the attack on the farmhouse, Faye’s home was no longer considered safe. Taking Hannah to the Vault was out of the question because it would make her privy to all sorts of information she was better off not knowing. Since the Nephilim hadn’t been able to track Cassie to her new place, this was the best location they could find on short notice.
The Pythia stiffened at the sound of a car pulling up.
“They’re here,” Maddie announced. She immediately swung the door open.
A few minutes later, Zach entered sheepishly.
“Where’s Hannah?” Cassie asked.
“Where’s Erik?” demanded Maddie.
“Can I sit down?” the tyro asked in a weak voice. Without waiting for permission, he sank into an armchair.
Maddie closed the door but remained standing.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” the Pythia asked in a small voice.
The boy nodded, afraid to meet her eyes. “I was waiting on the ladder at the top of the fence. I had night vision binoculars so I could keep tabs on what was happening. I saw Daniel and Hannah come out of a side door. They stood there for a while, waiting for Erik to show up. I could tell Hannah was getting antsy. Then, for some reason she looked in my direction. I don’t know how she knew I was there. It was too far for her to be able to see me in the dark from that distance. Maybe my spy glasses reflected off the yard lights. I don’t know but I swear she looked straight at me. I saw her lips move. It seemed like she was saying ‘Zachary’ and then she took a step toward where I was hiding.”
Zachary raked his hands through his hair distractedly. “One step. That’s all it took. She must have moved out of a blind spot and one of the cameras caught her. Right after she took that step, I could hear a commotion in the guard tower by the front gates. I still had my glasses trained on Hannah and I could see Daniel pulling her back inside the building. He must have realized what happened and I guess he figured they couldn’t make it. If they tried to run for the fence, the guards would have cut them off before they got halfway there. Their best bet was to go back the way they came and get her into her room before anybody noticed she was missing. I sent an alarm call to Erik on the two-way radio but I couldn’t track him. Next thing I knew, his radio came sailing over the fence and almost hit me in the head.”
“In an emergency, ditch anything that can connect you to the Arkana,” the Chatelaine said mechanically.
“Yeah,” Zach agreed feebly. “That’s what he did. Then I heard his gun go off somewhere in the woods at the back of the property. I guess he was trying to draw the sentries away from the spot where I was waiting. Then he was going to double-back. Four guards went charging for the place where they’d heard the shot. They all had assault rifles with silencers and they just started spraying bullets everywhere—not even aiming, just shooting into the trees. Erik didn’t stand a chance. I’m so sorry!” Zach groaned and sank his head into his hands.
“He’s dead?” Maddie sounded baffled, as if the words made no sense.
Cassie and Griffin were too shocked to speak.
“Yeah, he’s dead.” The tyro glanced at the Chatelaine regretfully. “I heard one of the guards yell that they’d got him. Then their security chief showed up. Two of the sentries dragged Erik out of the woods. Another one of the guards called out that he was dead. Then I heard them ask their boss what to do about the body. After that, I had to clear out of there or they might have gotten me too.”
Cassie turned toward Griffin and buried her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and bent his head over hers.
“This can’t be,” he whispered in disbelief.
To her own amazement, Cassie didn’t cry. She was too stunned by the news to feel anything at all.
The four of them remained frozen in place for what seemed like hours. The only sound was the ticking of the wall clock.
Maddie broke the stillness by walking to the dining room to retrieve her purse. Then, without saying a word, she drifted back toward the door in a kind of stupor and let herself out.
“Maddie!” the Pythia called after her.
They all heard the sound of her engine as she drove away.
Zach seemed frightened and confused. Looking from Cassie to Griffin, he asked, “So what do we do now?”
Cassie sat on the top step of the schoolhouse in the glade. Afternoon sunlight was slanting through the canopy of budding trees, forming bright patches on the grass. It had been over a week since Zach had returned from the failed attempt to rescue Hannah—a week since the night Erik had died. The last seven days had passed in a kind of blur as the Pythia and her colleagues mechanically performed their duties.
Shock hadn’t quite dissolved into acceptance yet. They all felt the loss but Maddie had taken it hardest of all. She’d grown very subdued, reminding Cassie of the Chatelaine’s meltdown when she’d tried to quit smoking. The Pythia allowed herself a brief smile of irony. Everybody knew Maddie was alright when she was yelling but during the past week she’d barely spoken a sentence to any of them. For the most part, she’d spent the interval locked in her office. Cassie didn’t need to be a psychic to predict that this behavior didn’t bode well for Maddie or for anybody else.
All further attempts to rescue Hannah had been placed on hold until Maddie showed some inclination to tackle the problem once more. Zach was understandably anxious about his girlfriend’s plight but he knew better than to pester the Chatelaine before she was herself again. Like Cassie and Griffin, Zach kept out of her way. The tyro went back to combat training and filing, the Pythia returned to validating artifacts, and the Scrivener resumed management of the Central Catalog.
Cassie drew in a deep breath of soft spring air. She’d hoped to shake off her lethargic mood outdoors but the strategy didn’t seem to be working.
At that moment, Griffin emerged from the schoolhouse and stood on the platform. Gazing down at the Pythia with a troubled expression, he asked, “How are you today?”
Cassie glanced up at him. “I came out here to clear my head. So far, no luck.”
The Scrivener took a seat beside her on the stairs.
The Pythia scowled pensively. “Griffin, do I strike you as a cold person?”
He stared at her in confusion. “I beg your pardon?”
“I mean do I seem uncaring?”
“That’s ridiculous! Given your sensitivity and your empathy, coldness would be impossible for you. Why would you ask such a question?”
She swiveled to face him directly. “Then why can’t I cry?”
“You mean about Erik?”
She nodded.
“I imagine people have different ways of handling their grief.”
Unconvinced by his theory, she knit her brows. “Maybe it’s because we ended things between us for good last month.”
Griffin seemed taken aback. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t I?” Cassie registered confusion.
He drew himself up. “I’m quite sure if you had, it’s the sort of thing I would have remembered.”
“That’s funny. I could have sworn I told you.” Her voice took on a faraway quality as she recalled the scene. “It was the night of my birthday.”
“Pillock!” Griffin muttered. “Although one shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, I must say Erik couldn’t have chosen a more inappropriate time to terminate your relationship.”
Cassie laid a restraining hand on his arm. “Hey, it wasn’t his fault. He’d just come back from Spain and you and I were about to leave for China. There wasn’t going to be another chance.”
Griffin relented slightly. “Perhaps I overreacted.”
“Ya think?”
“If I’m not being presumptuous, would you mind giving me the details of your conversation?”
“Sure, why not.” Cassie shrugged in resignation. “For starters, he admitted that I’d been right about him in India.”
“Very magnanimous of him, I’m sure.”
“Do you want to hear this or not?”
“You’re quite right. Please proceed.”
The Pythia stared off toward the tree line at the edge of the clearing. “He said that he didn’t think he could be the guy I needed. At least not now anyway.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess. Like most women who have fallen under Erik’s spell, you forgave his weakness and promised to carry a torch for him indefinitely.”
“You’re automatically assuming I cut him some slack because he’s so pretty?” Cassie asked in an annoyed tone.
“Reductive but accurate,” the Scrivener admitted.
“Please! Give me a little credit!” she protested. “Since when have I ever been like most women? I told him that by the time he got around to being the kind of guy I needed, I wouldn’t still be the kind of girl who needed that kind of guy.”
“I see.” The Scrivener pondered her comment. “It sounds as if you made a clean break and parted ways with no further expectations from one another.” He raised a skeptical eyebrow as a new thought struck him. “But then again, people’s words are frequently at odds with their emotions.”
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some feeling left.” Cassie’s voice was regretful.
“Especially now,” Griffin agreed.
She did a double-take. “What do you mean?”
The Scrivener’s mood seemed to darken. “I don’t wish to seem callous but I believe a certain glamor attaches to a demise as tragic as Erik’s. I doubt any fellow of flesh and blood could strive for your affections against a slain hero’s ghost and hope to win.”
“Are you moonlighting as a matchmaker or something?” Cassie asked suspiciously. “Don’t be in such a hurry to hook me up with anybody new. I haven’t even processed what just happened. It’ll be a long, long time before I get emotionally involved again.”
She paused to consider another idea. “Maybe I can’t cry because I feel guilty.”
“About what?” Griffin asked absently, apparently lost in thoughts of his own.
“About the fact that the last memory I have of Erik is an argument.”
The Scrivener chuckled grimly. “I have more reason to feel guilty on that score than you do. I once punched our Paladin in the jaw.”
Cassie sat bolt upright and peered at the Scrivener. “When did this happen?”
He seemed baffled by the question. “I’m sure I told you.”
Mimicking his accent, the Pythia retorted, “I’m quite sure if you had, it’s the sort of thing I would have remembered.”
“Sorry.” He winced sheepishly. “It was the night Erik left us high and dry in India. I had a row with him in the parking lot afterwards. Certain accusations were flung and, suffice it to say, I lost my temper.”
“I can’t see Erik letting you clock him,” she countered.
“I caught him off-guard. He did say that if I ever repeated that action, and I quote, they’d be scraping me off the sidewalk for days.”
“That sure sounds like Erik.” Cassie chuckled. “But why would you pick a fight with him in the first place?”
The Scrivener faltered, casting an apprehensive glance toward the Pythia. “I thought he didn’t know how to value you properly. I’m sure any decent man would have counted himself the luckiest chap alive to be romantically involved with you. Yet Erik treated that immense gift as if it were commonplace. I thought someone should teach him a lesson, that’s all.”
The Pythia studied him with wry amusement. “Look at you, resorting to fisticuffs to defend a lady’s honor. You really are an old-fashioned kind of guy, you know that?”
“I’m feeling positively ancient at the moment,” Griffin murmured under his breath.
Cassie’s face took on an earnest expression. “Given everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks, promise me you won’t get yourself killed or fall into a coma or let the Nephilim kidnap you. I’m not ready to lose somebody as special as you.”
“I’ll always be near, Cassie.” The Scrivener squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave a bleak smile. “Even though I might occasionally wish that my heart had a stronger sense of self-preservation.”
Cassie knit her brows and was on the point of asking what he meant when Zach came bursting through the schoolhouse doors.
“There you are!” the tyro exclaimed. “I’ve been looking all over for you two. Something’s up.”
They both rose and turned to him in puzzlement.
He continued. “I went to Maddie’s office to see if she was ready to talk about Hannah again. When I got to the door, I overheard her on the phone. She’s calling for a blackout. I don’t exactly know what that means but I’m guessing it’s a bad thing.”
“A very bad thing indeed!” Griffin blanched.
“So I’m also guessing you’re gonna want to stop her,” the tyro added. “She’s arranging a meeting of the Circle for tonight.”
Cassie and Griffin traded stricken looks and ran up the stairs.
Trailing after them, Zach asked, “But what does it mean?”
“The end, that’s what!” Cassie exclaimed.