by Lincoln Cole
He shook his head. “No. I think them one and the same.”
***
Dominick coughed. “What?”
“From everything I can gather from this book: the original Seven that formed the Council had operated as leaders from The Ninth Circle first. When the Cult performed a ritual to summon and integrate Surgat with one of their own, the Seven realized they had gone too far. They turned against the cult and helped the Church stop Surgat.”
Dominick just stood in stunned silence, trying to wrap his head around Mitchell’s words.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Completely. For that sole reason, the Catholic Church keeps the document locked in their vaults. I don’t believe that Frieda ever thought I would translate this.”
“Frieda knew?”
“She had to have.”
“Did Arthur?”
“I don’t reckon so. But, maybe. He had a limited understanding of Latin and trusted Frieda implicitly, and so I doubt he would have looked into this. Honestly, though, I don’t know.”
“This … this …”
“I know,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s why the Church has set about hunting all of you down. Us down. One of the conditions of the Church allowing the original seven to continue living depended upon nothing like this ever happening again. The Church wants to tie up loose ends.”
“You said us. You think they’ll come after you, too?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I called you. I have no idea what to do now.”
“And why you didn’t call Frieda?”
Mitchell nodded. “Because she knew. She had to. The book belonged to her, and she could read the Latin. If she could keep something like this from us, what else might she hide?”
A scary thought. He’d never imagined Frieda keeping secrets from him, but this proved something else entirely.
The idea that their legacy came from a cult, and that the Church only allowed them to live because they had turned against their own …
The idea that their war against The Ninth Circle for all these centuries came down, essentially, to nothing more than a long-running civil war …
His phone beeped and startled him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and glanced at it. A message had come from Trent: When will you get back? Something happened. Need to talk.
He texted back that he was on his way, and then glanced up at Mitchell. “I don’t think they’ll come after you. You aren’t one of us.”
“I hope not.”
“But, look, we can’t just avoid Frieda. You’re right; she has a lot to explain from this, but we have bigger fish to fry right now. She’ll get here in about twelve hours and plans to meet up here.”
“Here?” A flash of fear lit Mitchell’s face.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back before she arrives. We can confront her together; but, I’m telling you, she has a good explanation for all of this. You’ll see. I’ll head back to the Reinfer estate but will return soon.”
“Okay. Well, hurry.”
“I will,” Dominick said. “Don’t worry; everything will work out fine.”
Mitchell frowned. “I hope so.”
Dominick headed for the door, unbolted it, and headed outside to his car. Once he got out of earshot and stood alone, he let out a deep sigh.
Things just kept getting worse.
Chapter 13
“Focus, Haatim.”
“I am focusing.” He shook his head in annoyance. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“You need to look at the creature but also see into it.”
“How would you know? You can’t even do this.”
Father Paladina didn’t reply except to purse his lips and stare at Haatim.
“I’m sorry,” Haatim said. “That was uncalled for.”
“I understand your frustration, but you need to use that energy to your advantage. Focus on what lays inside you.”
They stood in the dark basement beneath the old abandoned prison. Or, at least, Haatim assumed it a prison: Father Paladina still hadn’t told him what the building used to be.
Haatim stood only a meter from the demon in front of him. Chained to the wall, it had a leather collar around its neck and stared at him with dead eyes. Haatim had looked into those eyes and the soul of this demon enough for the rest of his life, and yet they still spent six to eight hours a day down here.
Heat marks and scabs, as well as sections of rotten flesh falling off, covered the man’s body, which the demon possessed. The beast panted and clawed at the air to reach Haatim. Though stretched to the end of the chain around its neck, it didn’t seem to notice. Like a chained dog, it tested its boundaries continually.
“Hard to focus with it staring at me like this.”
“You need to push everything else away,” Father Paladina said. “Only you and the creature. Think not of what happens anywhere else in the world, or anything around us. Focus only inward and find the power there.”
“I am focusing, but there’s nothing there.”
“We’ve only been at this for a few days, Haatim. Don’t grow frustrated.”
“It’s kind of hard knowing that we don’t have any more time. I need to get to Abigail and stop her. I shouldn’t be here.”
“You cannot leave here until you grow ready.”
“Why not?”
“What if you get attacked?”
“By Abigail?” Haatim asked, incredulous. She hadn’t told him she remained alive after Switzerland, but that made a far stretch from her wanting to hurt him. “Not a chance.”
“Your sister,” the priest said. “Our agents believe she chases Nida.”
“But Frieda thinks Nida has gone to Pennsylvania. Basically, the opposite side of the world. She can’t occupy two places at the same time.”
“Exactly. We don’t know her whereabouts, which means we have to assume the worst could happen. If she confronts you, you will find yourself wholly unprepared if you cannot control your abilities.”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Haatim said. He stepped back from the creature and turned to face Father Paladina. “You said you could get me a flight to Cambodia to help Abigail. If that’s the case, then why do I remain here?”
“I can,” Father Paladina said, frowning. “You have a flight tomorrow morning. But, you need to focus. I can feel the power, Haatim. You just need to channel it.”
“Last time I did it in Raven’s Peak, it just happened,” Haatim said. “Maybe I can’t do it when it isn’t necessary.”
“That isn’t how this works. You just need to learn how to control it. Once you manage it one time when you intend to, you will change forever.”
Haatim sighed and nodded. He couldn’t complain because Father Paladina had gotten him a flight to Cambodia to try and help Abigail. Moreover, he had agreed not to tell Frieda about it until he’d set on his way. She would feel furious with both of them, but right now, Haatim didn’t care.
Abigail remained alive, and if even the slightest chance of saving her existed, he felt willing to do anything.
Unfortunately, the Church had sent two assassins to kill her in Phnom Penh, which meant he worked on a short timetable. He had to get to Abigail before they did. Haatim prayed that he wouldn’t reach her too late, which meant these little lessons wasted precious time.
However, he wanted to get out there for another reason, and not one he felt willing to admit to the old priest: part of him hoped that he would see Nida out there.
Maybe, now that he expected to see her, he could reach past the demon and communicate with his sister. Perhaps, he could help her break free of the demon’s hold and cast it out. Nida had enough strength to break free of the demon, and it would prove a simple matter of managing to talk to her.
Not that he’d admit that to Father Paladina. Heck, he didn’t believe it would happen anyway. Much more likely that Nida had gone to Pennsylvania than out to Cambodia.
He asked the priest, “Do you k
now why Abigail has gone to Cambodia?”
Father Paladina shook his head. “Still nothing. The agents haven’t located her yet, but they know an area where someone spotted her.”
“Where?”
“One of the smaller districts on the south side of Phnom Penh. Where we first received reports about her and where our agents now look.”
“What’s around there?”
“Nothing major,” the priest said. “Shops, restaurants, a few Buddhist temples, and a church.”
Haatim frowned. “Do you think she went looking for the last bloodline?”
“No clue. Would she even know about the bloodlines? I suppose it remains a possibility. You’ll need to go soon, though, because the agents are on their way.”
“Can’t you call off the assassins? Buy me some time, like you did for Frieda.”
“I have no control over this anymore. I’ve been here for a long time, so I have a lot of friends and contacts but little power. I have little more worth than a messenger.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Haatim said. “I know it isn’t what Frieda wants, so I’m glad that you’ve given me this chance.”
Father Paladina stayed silent for a moment. “My debt lays not to Frieda but Arthur, and the thing he loved more than anything else in this world was his adopted daughter. If you can convince her to turn herself in, I think I can convince the right people that she isn’t worth killing.”
Haatim let out a sigh. “No pressure.”
The old priest smiled. “None at all.”
Haatim turned back to the chained up demon. It shook at the end of its chain, much like a dog might do when tied up in the yard. It even bared its teeth at him.
He could sympathize with it, to an extent. It had lain trapped here for weeks, at least, with no contact to the outside world except for the people manipulating it or, like Haatim, trying to harm it.
He would feel angry, too, in such a situation. How much of that anger stemmed from the demon’s treatment? And how much came inherent to its existence? Did an enormous difference exist between them, or had this mistreatment made it hate to begin with?
Did it even matter?
“I’ll make sure your travel plans are in order. When you finish here, give me a call, and I will send the driver to bring you to your hotel.”
“I won’t be ready in time,” Haatim said. “I won’t be able to channel by the end of the day.”
“You will,” the priest said. “Because you need to.”
Then he left, leaving Haatim alone in the darkness with the demon. Haatim watched the priest go, and then turned back to face the creature.
He could feel the essence of the demon like an energy emanating from the body. Then he realized that it had always had a presence, but his mind just didn’t feel ready to interact with it yet.
He wished he could test this connection to the demonic essence on other beings. Maybe he could use this to sense similar creatures. However, he couldn’t feel sure if it proved unique to this creature or might be something other demons would share, and he didn’t remember feeling anything like this in Raven’s Peak.
“Okay,” he said, talking as much to himself as the creature. “So, I can see the thing inside of you, but how am I supposed to get it out?”
It gave him a puzzle, and he missed a lot of the pieces. This felt like the kind of thing that would take months to learn, maybe even years, but he’d only had a little over a week. A crash course from hell, and the harder he pushed for it to happen, the more difficult it became.
In fact, he’d felt more confident in himself and his abilities when he’d first arrived in Vatican City than right now. This had seemed like a more achievable plan when he first experienced the connection, as if something he could actually do, and his lack of progress left him frustrated and disoriented.
A few hours later, he left the building, thoroughly defeated and depressed about his lack of progress. Father Paladina had it wrong, and no way could he recreate what had happened in Raven’s Peak, let alone do something entirely new. Not in the timeframe he had to work with, at least.
But, he couldn’t tell the old priest that. Even if he couldn’t use this ability, he still needed to get to Phnom Penh and find Abigail. If she stayed alive and needed help, then no way would he sit here and do nothing.
***
Haatim woke early the next morning to make sure he had all of his stuff packed. He didn’t have a lot of belongings in the hotel, having only brought a few outfits and supplies with him to Rome in the first place. Already anxious, the closer he got to leaving for Cambodia, the worse it grew.
Desperate to see Abigail, he needed to make sure she remained okay. After everything that had happened, he wanted more than anything to talk to her and find out how she had survived the train crash and what she had done in the days since.
Part of him also felt anxious about the possibility of running into his sister. Or, what remained of her. Such an encounter seemed unlikely, though, and he should try to avoid her per Father Paladina, but he might have a slim chance of seeing her. He dreaded that moment but also dreamed about sending the demon home and freeing his sister from its clutches.
When he exited the lobby, Father Paladina waited for him in a black car out front. He looked anxious as well as tired. Haatim tossed his luggage into the trunk, climbed in the back of the car, and expected the old priest to give him a rundown of anything new he’d found out during the previous night.
Instead, he looked away when Haatim climbed into the backseat next to him. The driver looked at Haatim in the mirror, and then shifted the car into gear, pulling slowly away from the hotel.
“Any news?”
Father Paladina shook his head but didn’t reply. They rode in silence for a while, and then Haatim realized that they hadn’t headed for the airport. They’d gone deeper into the city.
“Where are we going?”
Still, Paladina didn’t reply. It didn’t take Haatim long to realize that they headed toward the old building with the demon.
“Why here? I thought we’d done with this?”
“Nearly.”
After a few more minutes of driving, they pulled up in front.
Haatim frowned. “Shouldn’t we be going to the airport?”
“We will.”
“Then, why come here?”
“More training.”
“Do we have enough time?”
“We need to make time,” the priest said, opening the door and stepping out of the car. It had turned out a sunny and beautiful day, with not a cloud in the sky.
“I plan on avoiding Nida, remember? I’ll just go after Abigail. Nida shouldn’t even be there.”
“And what if she is? What happens if you run into her? What happens if she doesn’t spare you like last time?”
Haatim didn’t reply. He didn’t have a good answer to the question.
“I’m still going,” he said, finally. “I can’t control the powers yet, but I’ll not leave Abigail out there alone.”
“I won’t ask you to stay,” Father Paladina said, heading into the building and walking down the hallway. Haatim followed hesitantly. “I only insist that you spend every possible second preparing in case something goes wrong.”
Haatim sighed. “Fine.”
Father Paladina gestured for Haatim to go first. He stepped by the priest and went down the stairs, moving deeper into the old building.
They descended into the darkness of the catacombs beneath. Haatim still felt uncomfortable making the descent, even though he had done it a dozen times in the last few weeks. The hallway seemed too narrow, the ceiling too low.
“Besides,” the priest said. “Up until now, we’ve focused solely on attack, not defense. Your abilities can do both when you can control them. So, now, we will practice a little bit of defense.”
“You mean like in Raven’s Peak when I avoided the demon’s attacks?”
“Exactly so.”
<
br /> “I think that was just a fluke,” Haatim said. The door to the room with the demon chained up stood closed, which seemed odd. Usually, they left it open for airflow so that the demon didn’t suffocate with poor ventilation. “I hadn’t readied for it that time, and it just sort of … happened.”
He gripped the handle and yanked open the door. Heavy, it needed a good application of oil.
“Yes,” Father Paladina said. “We need to recreate that sensation of risk so that you can learn how to harness your abilities.”
Haatim hesitated in the doorway, turning back toward the priest. All at once, he felt wary. “Uh … what?”
A snarling sound came from the room behind him, and then something grabbed hold of the back of his shirt and jerked him backward into the dark depths.
***
He hit his left arm against the doorframe, hard, and then staggered sideways onto his knees. Wholly unprepared, he felt disoriented from the first few seconds of realizing he’d come under attack.
He willed his mind to process the situation: the demon had gotten free, and it felt pissed and stood only a meter away. The chain hung loose on the far wall, removed, and the leather collar lay on the ground, and now they’d opened the door.
This situation had never even crossed his mind as a possibility, and he cursed his trusting nature. Father Paladina stood in the doorway, a gun in his hand, watching everything unfold inside the room with great care. He had a curious expression on his face as he watched the demon throw Haatim to the floor.
And, Haatim realized a second later, the demon hadn’t done. It lashed out, punching him in the face. He tried to roll with the blow, but in the darkness, found it hard to get his bearings. Stars shot across his vision, and a sharp pain lanced the side of his face.
“What the …?”
The demon charged in at him and forced Haatim to roll out of the way. His training kicked in from the months spent with Dominick, and he blocked the next attack from the demon while he found his way to his feet.
He gave ground, backing up deeper into the darkness of the room, away from the door. The demon hissed at him, hitting with heavy punches, but clearly, it didn’t know how to fight.