Sin and Sacrifice (35 page)

What the bloody hell was
going on?

“
Come on. Let's get you
cleaned up,” Evelyn said to her siblings. There was nothing she
could do but wait for Rhett to find her with some
answers.

Evelyn stared at her
sisters from her perch on the edge of the chair in Alexandra's
bedroom. The events of the evening had left them all in varying
stages of shock, disbelief and anger. Learning how her sisters had
been snatched out of the office right under their very noses, she'd
explained her own turn of events.

How Christian had
surprised her in the sand pit, turning the sword first on her and
eventually on Rhett. She had no answers over the
why
of it, or even who
Christian worked for. Evelyn's gut instinct, after everything she'd
overheard, led her to believe he wasn't involved with the other
Templars.

The men were sequestered
even now, trying to figure it out.

Four hours later, the rain
still fell. Not the vicious lashing of earlier, but an almost
delicate patter on the windows and roof. Silence had descended upon
the girls, finally, and each had taken up comfortable positions to
wait.

A knock on the door
interrupted the contemplative mood.

“
Come in,” Evelyn called,
standing up from the chair.

Rhett entered first
followed by Dracht and Dragar. Evelyn noticed the patriarch looked
weary, as if a great weight had settled on his shoulders. All three
of them were stony faced. Hard to read. Instead of inviting them
out into the larger living area, they stood near one of the walls
and faced the unfortunate incident head on.

“
Christian and his
partners insist there was only the three of them involved. We
interrogated them separately without them having a chance to talk
first, and they gave us very similar stories. The other two say
they work for the US government,” Rhett said.

Evelyn wrung her hands
before her, glancing from face to face. Gauging reaction to the
news.

“
Do you believe them?” she
asked.

“
They coulda got their
'stories' straight before they ever came here,” Alex
said.

“
That's the sticking
point, Alex,” Dracht replied.

The deep baritone had an
edge to it Evelyn hadn't heard before.

“
It seems unlikely that
there would only be three with how organized they are, and with
what connections they seem to have. So far, the background checks
have turned up exactly nothing on either of them. They refused to
give us their names, so we ran their fingerprints. There isn't a
match, no names attached. Christian isn't giving up much
information himself, we're having to get most of it from the other
two,” Dragar added. A muscle flexed in his angular, whiskered
jaw.

Evelyn found Rhett staring
at her when she looked at him next. She read regret, frustration,
remorse and more in the long few seconds of eye contact they
had.

“
From the confusing,
bumbling account the 'partners' gave, they, meaning the government
agents, stumbled across knowledge of you by accident. We didn't
have enough time to drag out exactly how, or what they'd planned to
do with you when they caught up to you. We're not sure how the
connections were made or who initiated contact between them and
Christian. One admitted that they'd hired other people to work for
them, but he insists none of them were ever told the specific
details about your existence. He swears they were all three in it
for themselves, that they weren't working for or with any other
government,” Dracht said. “The men only used their positions to
gain access to needed resources.”

“
So what'll happen now? I
mean, no offense to anyone, but I'm not really sure who I trust and
who I don't.” Alex laid it out plain and blunt. She slapped her
palms on her thighs and pushed up from the edge of the
bed.

“
I spoke at length with
Father Valanzano before we came here. They found your box, and your
scroll, and verified all the names on the list. He is much more
willing to do what needs to be done to see you and your sisters
safe, and agrees with the plan I've come up with,” Dragar said,
taking the lead.

“
What plan is that?” Minna
asked.

“
I think we should split
you girls up until we know for sure that there's no one else
involved. I give them a few days at most to make some kind of
contact with Christian or to make a move on you. They will expose
themselves, in one way or another, if there are more, and we'll
propagate disinformation to try and draw them out of their
holes.”

Evelyn felt a sliver of
alarm at the thought of splitting off from her sisters after just
being reunited again. She could see the wisdom in the idea though,
and chewed the inside of her lip while studying Minna and
Alexandra's reactions.

Minna looked perplexed and
Alex was frowning.

“
Each of you will come
with one of us to a different location. We won't decide where we're
going until we leave here and none of us will know where the other
is. New phones connected to no one but us are available, giving us
the ability to communicate without fear of being traced. We can
stay mobile while other Knights follow instructions to lure any
other members of this—group—or whatever it is, into the open. Even
if nothing happens in three or four days though, I recommend
keeping your distance from one another for a short while longer,
just in case,” Rhett added.

“
How do we know you won't
do what Christian did? What if all this is part of an even more
elaborate plot to get us to trust you so that we lead you straight
to the Garden of Eden? Because I'd bet my favorite pair of knickers
that's what they wanted us for,” Alex retorted. She paced a small
spot on the floor with her hands propped on her hips.

“
Your answer's standing
right in front of you. If we wanted it that bad, we would have
attempted to get the information from you already.” Dracht rubbed
two fingertips over the edge of his goatee.

Evelyn thought his
reasoning was sound. Rhett already knew he'd earned her trust, if
not an answer about whether or not she would let her guard down to
get involved seriously with him. When she glanced away from Rhett
to Alex and Minna, she saw both of them giving her a look that was
not difficult to interpret.

“
Will you give us a few
minutes?” she asked the men.

Dragar cut a brisk nod and
turned to the door. Dracht followed with Rhett trailing. He stared
a lingering moment more, gaze locked with hers, before they exited
the room.

“
It boils down to trust.
Do we really trust them?” Minna asked.

The conversation had been
raging for fifteen minutes.

Evelyn paced opposite
Alexandra in the small bedroom, trying to work a headache out of
her forehead with her fingertips.

“
I can tell you that I
trust Rhett implicitly. There's something more there between us.
Something largely unexplored but there nevertheless. I honestly
don't think he can be faking those looks he gives me or the
connection I feel between us.” Evelyn finally broke down and
confessed.

“
What surprises me, Ev, is
that you think Minna and I don't know that already. That's part of
the reason why I've decided I'm in favor of this crazy scheme,”
Alex said.

“
How could you have known
that?” Evelyn asked, astonished. She thought she'd hid that from
everyone except for Rhett.

“
Please, Ev. Really? You
might as well have it stamped on your forehead.
I got the hots for Rhett.”

“
Alexandra.”
Evelyn exhaled in exasperation.

“
It's not
that
obvious, Evelyn,
but it's noticeable.” Minna, always the voice of reason, tempered
Alexandra's outlandish declaration.

“
It has to mean somethin',
Ev, because we all know how you like to keep guys at arms
length.”

“
You know the idea appeals
to you, too, little miss innocent,” Evelyn said, stabbing an
accusing look at Alexandra.
I saw you in
the sand pit with Dracht,
her expression
said.

Alex didn't have the grace
to blush; she smiled devilish and unrepentant. “Hey, I make no
secret I like to move around and he's got skill I intend to exploit
at every opportunity. This gives me three or four days or however
long to learn a little something new.”

Leave it to Alex to weasel
every bit of adventure out of the entire thing.

“
You sure changed your
mind in a hurry,” Evelyn said.

“
I believed them when they
answered our questions.” Alex shrugged her eyebrows.

“
I guess that means you
would be going with Dragar, Minna. Are you comfortable with that?”
Even as Evelyn asked, she realized she felt secure with each of her
sisters in the brother's care, despite Christian's betrayal. Her
only hesitation was over the split from her siblings.

“
I'm comfortable with all
of them. It led to misjudgment with Christian, but I think the bad
seed has been culled from the group,” she replied.

Evelyn knew both her
sisters well enough to know when they were telling the truth and
when they were lying. Alex and Minna were being honest.

“
At least we'll be able to
talk whenever we want to without worry someone will be breathing
down our neck,” Evelyn finally said.

“
Don't look at this as an
ending, Ev. Look at it as the start of a new beginning. Sure, we
don't have the others with us anymore, and it sucks, but living
without constantly having to worry about who's out there is almost
within our reach. How long have we all wanted it? Too long.” Alex
crossed the space between them and in an uncharacteristic move,
tugged Evelyn into a tight hug.

Surprised, she hugged Alex
and left a kiss on her cheek when she drew back. “I know, you're
right. It's a lot of gear shifting lately and I'm still trying to
adjust.”

Minna closed in to share
affection with each of them, almost parent-like with the way she
cupped Evelyn's face.

“
Losing two siblings this
close together has been difficult. We'll all still be adjusting a
year from now,” Minna said.

Evelyn knew she was right.
She smiled, though, because for the first time they were getting an
honest shot at what they'd dreamed of for years. Galiana and
Genevieve would never be forgotten. Only missed until they met up
again.

“
I guess it's time to pack
our things and inform them of our decision.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Rain washed the city clean,
scrubbing a damp sheen over the buildings and leaving a layer of
glitter on the asphalt. Even the air smelled raw and fresh, as if
the entire city of Athens had undergone a thorough cleansing. It
was still too dark to tell how many clouds were left in the sky or
whether another storm waited its turn to be unleashed. For now the
night was calm. Quiet.

Evelyn stared out the
windshield of Rhett's sleek car while Alexandra and Minna's
goodbyes rang in her ears. There had been promise and hope and
determination in their hugs, smiles and glances. Over the course of
the next few days they planned to keep in touch and communicate
often.

Dragar and Dracht had been
less physical in their goodbye with Rhett, though she'd detected
the loyalty and affection as easily as she'd sensed the underlying,
solemn acknowledgment that their lives were forever changed.
Christian had much to answer for and as long as he breathed he was
a threat to her and her sister's existence.

“
Penny for your thoughts,”
Rhett asked, breaking the silence.

“
Just thinking about all
this.” Few pedestrians braved the late hour, though Evelyn glimpsed
two hurrying along in front of a row of storefronts as they cruised
by.

“
What part
specifically?”

“
Our homes. Whether or not
your co-workers will turn up anything. My sisters.
Christian.”
You and I.

“
We can go back to
California as soon as we have a better idea if anyone else is
involved. Christian will be detained, unfortunately, for as long as
it takes.”

The bitter edge to his
voice brought Evelyn's attention from the windows across the car to
his face.

“
I still don't understand
how he got involved with those men so quickly,” she
admitted.

“
He's being close mouthed
about it. But one of the others told us that Christian had been
working with them for a while. Before we found you at the
club.”

“
How can that be?” Evelyn
was still shocked that more people knew about them than she
realized.

“
I don't know. Maybe
Christian came across the inner circle of Templars in a meeting or
overheard talk about the daughters of Eve and did some research on
his own. We can't be sure whether he contacted these other men or
the other way around. Christian's conditioned not to talk if he
doesn't want to, so we'll have to rely on the other two for any
solid information.”