Faye went on ahead and ushered the pair out into the garden, chatting away amiably all the while. She seated them under the pergola and immediately started pouring glasses of lemonade and offering them sugar cookies.
Maddie drew up a chair beside Faye.
Nobody spoke for a few moments while the visitors got settled and sampled their refreshments.
Hannah held her glass forward tentatively. “Could I have a little more lemonade, please?”
Faye beamed at her. “Of course you may, my dear.”
Maddie rushed to pour, apparently hoping a friendly gesture might put the girl at ease.
Hannah did look slightly less terrified than at first.
Cassie glanced at her questioningly, and the girl nodded, signaling the pythia to begin. “Yesterday afternoon, Hannah came to find me. She ran away from the Nephilim because she doesn’t like being married to some old creaker instead of a guy her own age.” Cassie paused long enough to note the shocked expression on Hannah’s face at her choice of words. “Uh, that is, um, it’s not like she wants to be married to anybody. I mean, for crying out loud, she’s only fourteen.”
“But how did she get out?” Faye asked. “The compound is guarded at all times.”
“D... Daniel helped me,” Hannah stuttered.
“Daniel! That—”
“Whoa, Maddie.” Cassie preempted her tirade. “I already gave her an earful about what we think of Daniel. She doesn’t need another lecture from you.”
The operations director shot Cassie an incredulous look. She was obviously struck by how quickly the pythia had stepped into the role of guardian. “Since when did you turn into Sybil Junior?” she asked.
Cassie smiled sheepishly. “It’s pretty strange, isn’t it? I swear I’m channeling my sister. This morning, I even caught myself telling Hannah not to pick at her breakfast because there are starving kids in Africa who would be happy to have that food.” Then her smile faded. “I guess hearing what she’s been through made me want to help her out.” She then repeated what she knew of the girl’s story including her unexpected pregnancy.
Her listeners looked grim.
“It’s a miracle she was able to escape at all,” Faye said.
“We can all thank that Daniel dude for making it possible,” Cassie added. “My theory is that he’s really torn up about doing his father’s dirty work. Because his conscience is pestering him so much, he’s trying to do a good deed by helping Hannah.”
“How very interesting,” Faye murmured. “It’s just what I suspected would happen all along. A Nephilim exposed to the outside world can never view his faith in the same way again.”
“Daniel says he isn’t ready yet,” Hannah piped up.
The other three women turned to her in surprise, almost having forgotten her presence.
“I asked him to run away when I did, but he told me it wasn’t as bad for him yet as it was for me...” The girl trailed off uncertainly.
Maddie was about to lunge in with more questions, but a glare from Cassie made her moderate her approach. “Hannah,” she began gently. “Do you know why your diviner wants these relics so much?”
The girl shook her head. “Nobody knows. In fact, nobody besides Daniel and me know about this relic hunt at all. Father Abraham has only told Daniel that these heathen artifacts are very important to the future of the Nephilim.”
Faye and Maddie traded startled glances.
“Why on earth would the Bones of the Mother have any significance at all to him?” Faye wondered.
“Things have been different ever since Daniel started searching for those things,” Hannah added.
“Different how?” Cassie prompted, helping herself to another sugar cookie and handing one to the girl.
Hannah took a bite before continuing. “There are rumors. Some of the younger men are being given training with weapons.”
“What!” all three women exclaimed at once.
The girl grew flustered and dropped her cookie on the ground. She dove to retrieve it, but Cassie forestalled her. “I’ll get it. Here, take another one.”
In a deliberately soft voice, Maddie asked, “What was that bit about weapons training?”
Hannah started on a new cookie. “Nobody knows very much. Some of my sister-wives were whispering about a place for training some miles away from the compound. All the boys who were involved were sworn to secrecy.”
“Oh, that can’t be good,” Cassie commented ominously.
“And then there’s the other building which is even more secret. I’ve caught a few words when Father Abraham didn’t know I was listening. He said something about a laboratory.”
“A what!” Maddie caught herself. “Sorry, guys.” In a whisper, she repeated, “A what?”
Hannah shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know much. There’s a foreign doctor. Very dark-skinned and he speaks with an accent. He’s the one Father Abraham brought to this country to work in the laboratory, but that’s all I heard.”
The group grew silent, each one contemplating the possible uses the Nephilim would have for a secret laboratory.
When no one spoke, Hannah asked, “You won’t send me back to them, will you?”
Faye rushed to reassure her. “Oh, you poor dear, of course not.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for her to stay with me though,” Cassie added in a low voice. “In fact, I don’t think it’s safe for me to stay at Sybil’s anymore either. If anybody was sent to look for Hannah, they might follow her trail straight to my door.”
The girl turned to peer anxiously at Cassie. “Oh, I’m sorry. I never thought—”
The pythia gave her a brave smile. “It’s OK, kid. It was only a matter of time. We couldn’t hope the Nephilim would stay off our backs forever. I just need to find a place that they can’t connect to Sybil or me.”
“A wise decision,” Faye concurred. “In any case, I think Hannah would be much safer out here in the country with me than in the city with you, Cassie.”
The pythia didn’t argue the point. “Yeah, I agree. I won’t be around to keep an eye on her anyway once we start hunting the next relic.”
Maddie caught Cassie’s eye and shook her head slightly, apparently fearing that the pythia was revealing too much about the Arkana to Hannah.
Cassie understood and tried to repair the damage. “Did I say we? I meant me.”
“Will I see you again?” Hannah asked anxiously, fearing her one ally might disappear for good.
Cassie gave her a comforting pat on the back. “No worries. I come around here all the time. Faye’s a really great cook.”
The girl relaxed slightly.
“They won’t find you here,” Maddie added emphatically. “This is the last place they’d think to look.”
Hannah smiled with relief. “Then I would be happy to stay and help with the chores if I can.”
Faye laughed. “An extra pair of hands in the kitchen. Now that is good news.”
Hannah stood immediately. “Here, let me help you clear the plates.”
***
Maddie and Cassie watched as the other two walked back to the kitchen.
The operations director lit a cigarette, took a long drag and exhaled with a grateful sigh. “I was dying for a smoke all through that little chat.” She chuckled ruefully. “But after the first impression I made on that poor kid, I knew she’d faint dead away at the sight of me smoking.”
“No lie,” Cassie agreed.
Maddie paused to contemplate the rear door of the house through which Faye and Hannah had disappeared. “You’re going to have to tread carefully with her.”
The pythia frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We don’t want her knowing anything about the Arkana if we can help it. As far as she’s concerned, Faye is just a kindly old lady who’s helping you soldier on after your two comrades in arms were brutally murdered by Hunt.”
“
At some point, she’ll start to wonder what a kindly old lady has to do with ancient artifacts,” Cassie countered.
Maddie cocked her head to the side to consider. “Right now, the only thing on her mind is how to keep herself off the Nephilim’s radar.”
“True, but sooner or later she’ll feel safe enough to start asking some pretty awkward questions.”
The operations director grinned. “Then we tap dance like mad.”
Cassie folded her arms truculently. “I hate dancing.”
“Look, kiddo, keeping her in the dark is as much for her protection as it is for ours. Imagine what the Nephilim would do to her if they thought she was part of some secret organization bent on thwarting their plans.”
The pythia sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’ll be careful what I say to her.” She paused. “I still think having her here is a good thing. She can give us the scoop on life inside the compound. You have to admit that’s a plus.”
Maddie ground out her half-smoked cigarette and immediately lit another. “Maybe,” she agreed guardedly.
“We can’t send her back to them,” Cassie insisted. “Think about what her life was like.”
The operations director blew a smoke ring. “Of course not. That isn’t even a question. I just mean that her disappearance must have stirred up one hell of a hornet’s nest among the BN.”
“So?”
“Let’s hope we aren’t the ones who end up getting stung.”
Chapter 14 – A Change in the Wind
Daniel stole quietly up behind his father. The old man was kneeling at the prie-dieu in his prayer closet, head sunk into his hands, sighing and muttering to himself. The words were unintelligible, but the urgency of the tone was unmistakable. He seemed to be using the room for its nominal purpose. He was actually praying in it. The scion had never known the diviner to do that before.
In the past few days, Abraham had displayed any number of uncharacteristic behaviors. He was more distracted and less decisive than usual. Hannah’s disappearance had shaken him to the core. Perhaps it wasn’t so much her disappearance as it was the interpretation Abraham had placed on the event. By spiriting Hannah away, the devil had harmed the diviner personally. Although Abraham had spent countless hours in the pulpit exhorting his congregation to beware of Satan’s attacks, he must have felt himself to be above the reach of the Evil One. The devil had just demonstrated that his arm was quite a bit longer than the diviner had anticipated. Daniel speculated that this affront made his father feel vulnerable—an entirely new sensation for him. No wonder Abraham was praying so hard. The devil had thrown down a gauntlet at the old man’s feet. The only question was how the diviner intended to answer the challenge.
“Father?” Daniel laid a hand tentatively on the old man’s shoulder.
“What!” Abraham jumped to his feet and whirled about. He seemed disoriented until his eyes fastened on his visitor. “You shouldn’t sneak up like that when I’m at prayer!” He adjusted his suit coat, smoothing the lapels.
“I... I tried knocking, sir, but you didn’t answer.”
“I was very deep in prayer,” the old man countered self-righteously. He gestured for Daniel to take a seat at the little table below the scowling portrait of his grandfather. “What did you want to see me about?”
Daniel forced a smile. “I wanted to tell you I have good news. I’m ready to set forth on the relic quest once more.”
“Oh, that,” the old man said vacantly. His eyes traveled back to the prie-dieu.
The scion was nonplussed. Ordinarily, an announcement such as he had just made would have made his father quiver with delight. Instead, Daniel was treated to an empty stare. Strange behavior indeed.
Perhaps Abraham’s distraction was a blessing in disguise. His son’s reasons for launching the quest at this particular time wouldn’t bear close scrutiny. Daniel couldn’t very well reveal that his principal motive was simply to get as far away from the compound as possible. The continued search for Hannah was making him nervous. He didn’t know how long he could manage to feign innocence every time the topic of her disappearance came up. Whenever he was engaged in a conversation with one of his brethren, someone would invariably begin to speculate about how she got out and where she had gone.
His anxiety about being caught in a lie was further compounded by his concern for the girl herself. Daniel had gone back to the maternity home a week later, but Hannah never appeared on the steps as promised. He suspected she had gone deeper into hiding and didn’t want him to know her whereabouts. The scion had no way of tracing her without arousing suspicion about his own involvement in her disappearance. He prayed that she had found refuge, but he could never be certain. The strain of dodging questions and worrying about Hannah’s welfare was starting to tell on him.
If that weren’t enough, he also had to deal with the new problem of Annabeth’s sexual appetite. Once he’d opened that particular floodgate, there appeared to be no way to shut it off. If he missed even a single night in her chamber, she sulked. He feared that repeated disappointment might result in a vindictive desire to punish him by spreading gossip about Hannah and her language lessons. The scion needed an excuse to distance himself from his wife, and the excuse had to be unassailable. There was only one legitimate pretext available to him—the relic hunt.
He glanced at his father. The old man continued to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. Daniel launched into his well-rehearsed story. “I’ve discovered an obscure reference to the east wind in the riddle, but I need to go back to Crete to unravel it further.” At least the first part of his statement was true. He had solved the reference to Eurus but had no idea what to do with that bit of information just yet. He didn’t know if returning to Crete would be helpful or not in solving the riddle—only that the trip would be helpful to him personally.
“Well, if that’s what you need to do,” Abraham offered nebulously.
“Oh, and Father,” Daniel added as a seeming afterthought. “There’s no need to involve Mr. Hunt quite yet.”
The diviner nodded in agreement. “I’m glad to hear it. As it is, I can’t spare him at the moment. I’ve directed him to take charge of the search for Hannah.”
A chill ran down Daniel’s spine at this news. On the one hand, he was overjoyed not to have the cowboy dogging his heels. On the other, he dreaded Hunt’s involvement in the search to retrieve the girl. Although the scion held a low opinion of the mercenary’s general intelligence, the man was very good at his job. While the Nephilim sentries could be counted on to bungle the search, Hunt knew the Fallen Lands and very likely knew where to look. Perhaps Hannah’s instinct to burrow further underground had been right after all.
“I’ll send for him when I have a definite trail to follow,” Daniel said reassuringly.
“Yes, yes, of course.” Abraham rose to terminate the interview. “Do what you must.” He drifted back to the prie-dieu and left Daniel to add this new source of worry to the collection already churning in the pit of his stomach.
Chapter 15 – The Dating Game
The morning after Cassie deposited Hannah at Faye’s house, she was speeding through the countryside en route to the vault. Griffin had called her the night before to say there would be a team meeting in one of the upstairs conference rooms. Closed-mouthed as ever when it came to revealing information beforehand, he refused to say what the gathering was about. Cassie glanced at her watch. They were supposed to assemble at 10:30. Since she already had a reputation for being late, she hastily parked her car, ran through the old schoolhouse and up the back stairs with two minutes to spare before the appointed time.
“Hah!” she said triumphantly as she rounded the corner and saw her colleagues seated at a conference table. “Made it before the bell.”
“You’re still the last one here, toots,” Erik observed.
Cassie did a double-take when she noticed Griffin connecting his computer to a large fla
t screen monitor at the front of the room. “What’s going on?”
“He said one picture is worth a thousand words,” Maddie replied enigmatically. “And that’s all he said.”
“Isn’t Faye going to be here?”
“Nope,” the operations director answered. “Our fearless leader told me to act as referee in case you two started scrapping.” She cast a warning glance toward the security coordinator.
“On my best behavior, chief.” Erik held up a hand. “Scout’s honor.”
Cassie spied a carafe of coffee on a side table and eagerly poured herself a cup. “I didn’t get a chance to stop for java this morning,” she explained, taking a seat across from the others. Pointedly, she added, “You know how long the drive is from the city. On top of that, I hit rush hour on the outbound expressway.”
“Rush hour, really? That’s the excuse du jour?” Erik quipped.
“Dude, you do not want to get into it with me before I’ve had coffee.” Cassie glared at him. “Remember last Thursday? How’s that bruise on your ribs healing?”
Her words had a surprising effect on Erik. He blanched. “I should’ve known better than to teach you a roundhouse kick.”
Griffin chuckled softly. “‘Oh, when she’s angry, she is keen and shrewd! She was a vixen when she went to school. And though she be but little, she is fierce.’”
“Shakespeare?” Cassie guessed.
“Yes,” the scrivener replied. “From A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The quote seemed unusually a propos.”
“Are we gonna get started or what?” Erik grumbled irritably, eager to move away from the topic of Cassie’s newly-acquired combat skills.
“Right then.” Griffin cleared his throat. “I suppose you’re wondering what this is all about.”
“Since you told us zip, yeah, we are,” Maddie drawled.
“I may have found a starting point for the next stage of our relic quest.” He paused for effect. “Malta.”
“Malta?” Cassie repeated uncertainly. Her other two companions remained silent. She inferred this meant that all three of them were equally in the dark.
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