The Dark Temple

by The Dark Temple (retail) (epub)

  ‘You never even met her,’ Chloe said sarcastically.

  Carter gazed at her with his eyelids tightening ‘My family was said to possess the gift, as my mother put it.’

  ‘What, the gift to be a pain in the arse?’ Doggie said with a snigger, looking smug at his clever retort.

  ‘Hilarious; you’re in the wrong profession, Tom,’ replied Carter, flicking the Vs. ‘No, she said I definitely had the sight.’

  Harker himself was trying to not to laugh, because he couldn’t tell if Carter was actually being serious. Beside him, Chloe rested a finger lightly upon her forehead and closed her eyes.

  ‘I also have the sight, David… and I’m getting a message. It says… it says you’re buying the next round.’

  Again the table erupted in laughter again, and they were still chortling when the bartender appeared at the pub door and began to reel off a message.

  ‘Does anyone out here know an Alex Harker?’

  Harker craned his head around to face the doorway and raised his glass. ‘Over here.’

  ‘There’s a phone call for you at the bar.’ The man then disappeared back inside.

  ‘I’ll be right back.’ Harker set his drink on the table and made his way over to the pub door.

  ‘When you get back, I want to hear more about those cannibals,’ Carter called out after him, drawing the attention of customers at the tables, who now all stared at him with great curiosity.

  ‘It’s all right, I’m a teacher,’ Harker announced quickly. ‘We were discussing the ancient tribes of Papua New Guinea.’

  His response quelled the other drinkers’ interest and, after shooting Carter a dirty look, he made his way into the cool interior of the pub and over to the waiting phone. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Look out the window and over to your right,’ a voice said politely Harker did as instructed and saw a man in a charcoal-grey suit holding a mobile to his ear and beckoning him over to a black limousine parked at the side of the road. The line then went dead and, after an initial moment of hesitation, Harker moved to the pub’s front door and made his way warily over to the waiting vehicle.

  ‘Nice to see you, Mr Harker,’ the well-dressed man began as opened the car door and motioned for him to get in. ‘Someone would like to speak with you.’

  The man obviously sensed Harker’s uncertainty and he stepped back a few paces, allowing him to peer into the dark interior, where the face that greeted him allayed any further worries.

  Sebastian Brulet, sitting on the back seat, removed his dark glasses and stared up at him with those strange crossed-shaped pupils of his. ‘Hello, Alex,’ he said with a smile.

  Without hesitation Harker slid onto the seat next to him and shook the Grand Master’s outstretched hand. ‘Am I glad to see you,’ he began as the door closed behind him, creating the dim lighting that suited Brulet best.

  ‘Are you OK?’ were the next words out of Brulet’s mouth, and Harker gave him a tired nod. He’d been expecting a call soon from this man, but should have realised that he might turn up in person. There were many things that needed clarification but, before Harker could utter a word, Brulet put a silencing hand up in the air. ‘Firstly I am so very so sorry that I kept you in the dark but considering what I know… or thought I knew, I was waiting for the right time to sit down with you and explain about your father, and how he came to be a Templar.’

  Harker nodded silently. Even though chomping at the bit to speak, he realised the Grand Master had probably been rehearsing what to say now, and so he waited tight-lipped.

  ‘When I heard your report about what happened, it was as baffling as it was shocking, and let me say that if I had even known for a second the Mithras cult was were still an entity, I would have warned you about them right away.’

  ‘I know you would have, Sebastian, but suffice to say it’s been a real eye-opener.’

  Brulet looked sincerely regretful at the lack of information he had provided and, after a deep breath, he immediately set about rectifying this as best he could. ‘The most important thing you need to know is that your father was a good man, one of the best I have known, and his ties to the Mithras cult were less than solid.’

  He then sat back in his seat and his lips twitched briefly as he decided upon from which angle to approach in giving this much needed explanation. ‘We became aware of the Mithras group for the first time back in the mid-Nineties as, through all those shared centuries of existence, our paths had never crossed. They were an extremely secretive group who, even though they had been around for far longer than us, had survived as nothing more than watchmen – a lone lighthouse, if you will – who continued from one generation to the next in order to keep the torch alive for their bizarre but ancient religion. They had meanwhile accumulated a lot of wealth and by means of this they did exercise some power, but never as forcefully as, say, the Magi did… or so I thought. In truth we might never have known about them if not for your father because, even though we were unaware of them… they knew a lot about us. And with the information you discovered I now realise they were, and are, more of a threat than we ever could have imagined. I don’t mind telling you that we are all still struggling to comprehend their role in not only the Magi’s misfortunes but our own as well and it will be something that preoccupies us for a long time to come. Now, if you wish to know more about their activities in detail, that we know about, I’d be happy to go through it with you at length back at the vault because, as David Carter discovered, we had inherited much information on their cult, spanning centuries.

  Brulet took a deep breath and raised something that had clearly been weighing on him. ‘Of course your latest discovery has turned things on its head regarding the Mithras, but back then and in a nutshell, we believed they had decided that, with times changing, they needed to penetrate the Catholic Church. Their remit – as I suspect you now know already – was not to dominate the Christian faith, as was the Magi’s desire, but instead to undermine and destroy it where possible. It’s for this reason that the Templars got involved, but not until your father brought it to our attention. You see, the Mithras cult was not a single entity but instead made up of two tribes whose lines can be traced back to the cult’s beginnings, and over the generations one side had become far more disillusioned than the other. Whereas your father’s side had come to accept these ancient practices as nothing more than a heritage from times past, the other – let us call them the Mithras – had hardened in their belief that their religion was still like a prince in waiting, and that Mithras was a force that would soon become dominant again and we now know this was an understatement of mammoth proportions.’

  ‘So my father was a member of the Mithras then?’ Harker asked, now unable to hold his tongue.

  ‘Well, yes, but his family had been pulling away from the more “eccentric” side of things, shall we say, with the exception of his… brother.’ Brulet wavered as he watched Harker’s expression begin to dull. ‘But if you’d let me to give you the whole background first, it might help shed light on that which obviously, and understandably, concerns you most.’

  Harker gave a nod and allowed Brulet to explain further.

  ‘There was an internal struggle and it was only then that your father and his clan realised how powerful the Mithras had become and, on behalf of those like-minded, he approached us. Turns out they had been aware of our existence for many years and it was when they realised how serious the Mithras had become in their ambition to destroy the Church that they sought our help.’

  To Harker it seemed strange that Brulet actually looked guilty about this story he was telling, before he quickly realised it wasn’t because of the story itself but that he had not revealed it to him earlier. ‘Sebastian, I admit all this has come as a complete shock to me, but I think I understand why you hadn’t yet told me.’

  This sympathetic remark appeared to reassure Brulet and he patted Harker on the forearm. ‘Let me get all this off my chest and then you’ll see why.
Your father allowed us to have a meeting with the Mithras hierarchy, but that ended in the death of many Templars and amounted to an all-out assault on us. That was because they now saw us as a primary obstacle in their quest to destroy our Church by any means possible. It was a short and brutal exchange and at the end of it your father was the only one left standing. At the time we believed the Mithras cult was vanquished, for lack of a better word, and their vast resources of wealth were seized and distributed to charitable organizations all around the world – overseen by your father, which seemed the only fair way to do it even if we now know it was only a fraction of their assets. Such was his zeal and diligence that your father was offered the position of Jarl within the Order of Templars… and the rest is history. We continued to spar with the Magi, tit for tat, maintaining a balance, so when your father was killed we came to the conclusion it was perpetrated by them. But…’

  Brulet let the sentence hang, whereupon Harker finished the explanation as he saw it. ‘But now that you know the Mithras have survived, you’re not so sure.’

  ‘Precisely,’ Brulet concluded with a look of sorrow. ‘Your father though, I see now, was right, because he never fully believed that the Mithras had been completely dismantled, and it was for that reason he kept you, his only child, complete out of the fray, for fear of retaliation. You were always at the forefront of his mind, Alex. And as you were growing up he considered one day inducting you into the Templars, but he really feared that in doing so he would put your life in danger, and felt he could never allow that to happen. When he died very suddenly, the Templars and I watched over you, though keeping ourselves out of sight, and I chose to honour his wishes. For, as you grew and gained your own sense of purpose, it seemed wrong to drag you back into a world he had never wished for you.’

  Brulet sat upright as a warm smile appeared across his face. ‘Then, as we know, fate brought you back to us and, even though I personally have never been one to believe in the idea of destiny, it’s hard not to suspect that your path back to us had not already been laid out from the day of your birth.’

  Much of what Harker was hearing he already knew, but now having a more complete picture of his identity and his past was immensely fulfilling, and he felt as if the hazy parts of his past had now been filled in. It was indeed a fairly tragic story and to say his connection with the Mithras was unsettling was an understatement, but it was something he needed to hear even if he knew there would be much further reflection on his part in the days and months to come.

  ‘So John Davies really is my uncle, then?’ Harker said with distaste.

  Brulet slowly nodded. ‘I’m afraid that part is at least true, but he split off from your father’s side of the family to join the Mithras faction early on after becoming close with that sick woman Avi Legrundy, who was a small but potent cog in the assemblage of problems that drove your father to approach us in the first place. I assumed they had all died off but given your tales of cannibalism I would dare to say they have since evolved into something unrecognisable. Eating the flesh of other human beings was never in the Mithras mantra as far as we knew because, although being absolute fanatics, even they had boundaries. Of course I realise now that they only allowed us to see what they wanted to, so it is hard to know for sure.’

  ‘I would say that we have only just begun to realise what the Mithras truly are.’ Harker replied, happy to get off the subject of his ‘uncle’.

  ‘Yes, and a highly worrying one at that,’ Brulet agreed, gritting his teeth, ‘for a wounded animal is always at its most dangerous.’

  This remark had Harker frowning. ‘You don’t think they died in that fire, then?’

  Brulet eyed him solemnly and shook his head. ‘The full search will take some time and it’s early days, but so far no charred corpses have been found amongst the rubble on Poveglia island.’

  The thought was unsettling to Harker as Brulet continued.

  ‘We shall have to play the waiting game, and given Davies’s talk of being just one of many Mithras chapters is of deep concern I’m afraid. However, knowing about a threat and in turn keeping vigilant is half the battle.’

  There was still one important point that Brulet had so far skipped over and whether it was deliberate or not Harker couldn’t say, but it needed to be addressed nonetheless. ‘And have you had a chance to look at the diary yet?’

  ‘Ah, yes, your “heist’ in Vatican City.” Brulet now stared at him with ambiguity in his eyes which had Harker looking sheepish. ‘Well, true to Father Davies’s words, I have heard that the archbishop doesn’t remember anything, although your very being there will be impossible to conceal. However, I’ve already set some back-channels in motion and I think we can come to a resolution that will put the matter to bed. Best for everyone that way. But, regarding the diary itself, it will certainly be missed so I suggest we return it to the rightful owners, don’t you?’

  It was asked as an open-ended question and Harker took the opportunity to now make his own views known on such a sensitive subject. ‘I would like a look, before it goes back.’

  ‘That’s only fair,’ Brulet replied, ‘but you should know that I’ve taken a peek for myself and it is far less provocative than Father Davies would have you believe. It contains mainly the first pontiff’s own personal thoughts on the inception of the Church itself; it could be used to spin some doubts on the origins of some of Catholicism’s formal practices, customs etc, but nothing more. I will, though, have it waiting for you at Mont St-Michel but, after that, it should be returned.’

  Harker offered a nod and, even though he was curious to read the diary for himself, it seemed that Davies’s wish to use anything at his disposal to ‘chip away at the Church’, had little to do with truth or fact.

  ‘Any clues on the current whereabouts of Avi Legrundy?’

  ‘No, not yet but like I said, it’s early days, and we have their “temple” underneath the Eiffel Tower staked out in case she shows up. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs for her life. Cowards usually do… but as always, we’ll be watching.’

  As usual Brulet had a way of soothing Harker’s fears and, although it was a major concern, he also felt secure in the knowledge that the Templars were at his back.

  ‘Just a final thought,’ Brulet said, clearly wanting now to wrap up his explanation but at the same time unprepared to leave any stone unturned. ‘The Mithras files were not deliberately hidden from you in the vault. It’s just I wanted to keep them to one side until we’d had this talk. If I’d known the cult of Mithras were still around, I would have had this conversation with you a while back.’

  ‘I understand, Sebastian, I really do.’

  Brulet smiled, feeling encouraged by Harker’s understanding of his reasons. ‘We’re good, then?’

  ‘Always.’ Harker replied and Brulet gave his seat a gentle punch in relief.

  ‘Well, I’ve got a flight to catch and some business to attend to, but I’ll swing by Mont St-Michel in a couple of days’ time. You’d better get back to your friends before they come looking for you… as they always do. You have yourself a good group there.’

  Harker nodded as he grasped the door handle and swung it open. ‘The best,’ he agreed.

  After he had exited the vehicle, Brulet threw a final question his way. ‘I know you’ve accepted the position of Jarl already but after all that has happened I have to ask if you’re still sure you want it. I know how teaching full-time at Cambridge was a big part of your life and honestly, until we know exactly what the Mithras are, we’re heading into the unknown. I fear this battle has only just begun.’

  Harker rested his arms on the car roof and lowered his head to the open door. ‘I’m going to stay connected to them through the Board of Trust; Doggie will see to that, I’ve no doubt. But, Sebastian, I’m a Templar now, through and through, and the position of Jarl is needed now more than ever.’

  Harker left Brulet and, with a big smile on his face, headed back to the
pub garden pausing momentarily to offer a wave as the limo pulled away. He still had many concerns but this chat with Brulet had left him feeling reassured and, even though the Mithras were still out there and more than a force to be reckoned with, the Templars’ vault had far more mysteries for him to uncover now and focus on for the time being. As for that assassin, Avi Legrundy, Brulet was right: she would need to possess a death wish to come after him. She was clearly vengeful, but not stupid, and her strong sense of survival would keep her at a distance, at least for now. The Mithras may have been far stronger than any of them could have imagined but the Templars were not to be underestimated. It was unquestionably only the end of the beginning but between them Harker had no doubt they could hold the line. Wherever it may lead.

  As he reached the beer garden table and took in the sight of his friends surrounding it, he couldn’t help but consider himself the luckiest man in the world and he felt a rush of confidence that together they could take on anything, whatever the future held.

  ‘Where the hell have you been?’ Carter demanded loudly, having already finished his latest drink. ‘We were about to send out a search party.’

  ‘You’re like a bloody ghost, here one minute and gone the next,’ Doggie added, as Harker rested his hands on the table and looked around them all genially.

  ‘Everything all right?’ Chloe asked, shading her eyes from the bright sun.

  ‘Everything’s great.’ Harker replied. ‘We’ve got a vault full of historical wonders and artefacts that haven’t seen the light of day for a millennium, and who knows what we’ll find there.’

  ‘Well said,’ Doggie offered and he took another long swig of his Guinness as Chloe thrust a sealed envelope into Harker’s hand.

  ‘One of barmaids dropped this off for you. Some girlfriend I don’t know about?’ Chloe said jokingly, even though there was a slightly uneasy look in her eye.

  ‘Not at the moment. I mean we’re not even married yet, are we?’

  Chloe landed a firm punch on his arm as Harker ripped open the envelope and retrieved the note from inside.