“According to this, yes,” Elijah said. “There's no way of knowing how reliable the scribe of this slab was but if they are accurate, then yes, Commodus came to Egypt during his reign. It was secret and hidden from the public but he went to Egypt looking for a Roman treasure that had been lost.”
“The sword!” Riley exclaimed happily.
“It doesn't specify,” Elijah said. “But if we take into account the message that Santino has at the museum and this...there's a high chance that the treasure Commodus found was indeed Caesar's sword.”
It was great news to hear. It wasn't a guarantee yet, but it was better than finding nothing at all. Now they just needed to determine where this treasure Commodus found in Egypt ended up. Hopefully it wasn't any place too difficult to find.
“So we're going back to Rome then?” August asked.
“That would be our safest bet,” Elijah said. “If he went to Egypt to locate a specific treasure, then he most likely brought that treasure back home.”
They all nodded in agreement. It made enough sense but it was hard to know for sure, considering they were analyzing decisions made nearly two thousand years ago.
Nina couldn't stop smiling. “I'll call Santino and give him an update.”
8
THREE AGAINST ONE
Santino hung up the phone. He was very happy to have Nina’s help to find the sword of Caesar. Her experience in tracking down artifacts was already proving to be incredibly beneficial to him and his cause. The sword had been lost for thousands of years, but somehow he knew that Nina would be the one to locate it. And once the fabled sword was recovered and she succeeded, that discovery would be celebrated in the museum for everyone to see. There was no better way to honor the dead than to preserve their possessions and make sure the rest of the world didn't forget them. Also, naturally, it was a nice way to bring in some more guests to the museum.
A door somewhere nearby creaked open and Santino turned in the direction of the sound. There were quite a few entrances to the Palazza Nuovo but most of them were locked this time of night. Monica had already locked up and gone home for the night so it wasn't her. It wasn't anyone expected. But the museum had had a late night visitor recently—and that meant bad news for Santino.
Santino cautiously stepped in the direction of where the sound had come from, trying to keep quiet and kept listening for more sounds. Nothing came, not at first.
“Beautiful night, isn't it?”
Santino nearly jumped out of his own skin in surprise, but managed to swing around to find three figures standing side by side nearby. They all had masks that shrouded their identities but it was hard to make out any details in the dimly lit room. Santino felt fear creeping up his body.
It was them—the Third Triumvirate. Why had they come back? They’d already hit the Palazza Nuovo. There was no good reason to return, but this was the first museum that they’d revisited. It was the most recent one that they had robbed, too...so why come back so soon? He would have preferred that they go back to one of the other museums that they’d already hit, one where he wasn't working. Why couldn't they give him a break?
Santino straightened his tie, and bolstered all of his courage, trying to muster all of it despite his trembling limbs. He wasn't going to let a couple of thieves intimidate him. This was his museum and they were trespassing.
“The museum is closed for the evening,” Santino said, trying to sound commanding. “I’m going to have to ask you all to leave immediately. We’ll be open tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.”
“But we’d like to visit now,” the masked man in the middle said. “There’s just too much to see. We wanted to get here nice and early to make sure we had a chance to see everything.”
Santino took a step back. “Leave now. I'm calling the police.”
“We won't stay for long,” the figure with long hair said. Despite the masculine face of the mask she wore, it was evident that she was a woman. “Just long enough to get what we came for.”
“And what are you here for?” Santino dropped the pretenses. “What do you plan on taking this time? Hmm? A set of armor? A spear? Or will you be upping your game and taking an entire war chariot?”
“No, no, no, nothing as valuable as those. We’re just here to take your pathetic life.”
Terror pooled through Santino's blood and he found himself retreating back a few steps. They were serious, but why kill him? They hadn't murdered any of the other museum workers. Why him? It wasn't fair.
“We hear you’ve sent some friends to look for the sword of Caesar,” the masked man said coldly. “Dr. Nina Gould, isn't that right?”
“So?” Santino tried to bite back his fear but he wasn't doing a great job of it. Beads of sweat were rolling down his cheeks. It was getting harder and harder by the second to keep trying to be brave. “The sword isn't here yet if that's what you're after. They haven't even found the blade.”
“We know,” the masked man said. “We’ll get it in due time. We already told you what we're looking for tonight and it's not the sword...”
Santino ran. He didn't know where he was going, just that it’d be as far away from those masked lunatics as possible. If they were really here to take his life, then he wasn't going to make it easy for them. He’d too much to lose and way too much to live for personally and professionally. And he wasn't going to let them ruin one of his favorite suits. He refused to go down, not like this.
They may have outnumbered him three to one, but this was his museum. He knew the Palazza Nuovo better than most people ever could; certainly better than three thieves who had only been there once before.
If the doors really were locked like they claimed they were, then he’d have to make due with a good hiding place within the museum. There were plenty, and some were only known to the staff of the museum. The Third Triumvirate had no idea about some of the most concealed places in the museum.
He just had to get to one of those secret spots without bumping into his pursuers.
Just as that crossed his mind, something collided with his left side, sending him skidding across the floor. When he looked back, the enormous member of the Third Triumvirate towered over him. The man looked strong enough to crush Santino under his boot with ease—and he probably wanted to annihilate him. Santino rolled out of the way and scrambled to his feet, nearly falling back down onto his face as he frantically tried to get away from the masked behemoth.
He wouldn't be able to go that way; he would never get through that brick wall of a man. He would have to go to another one of the hidden spots that was tucked away.
Santino hurried down the corridor but came to a sudden stop when he saw the silhouette of a long-haired woman standing in the center of a doorway. It was her, the only female in the Third Triumvirate. He wasn't sure if he could knock her out of the way or beat her in a fight. It was hard to know much about an enemy when you didn't even know what they really looked like. It didn't help that he wasn't sure where the other two were. Even if he could get past her, they could pop up and intervene. Then he would really be in trouble. His best bet was to avoid her altogether.
He quickly dashed to his left, hoping that she didn't catch sight of him in the dark. He sprinted down the corridors that led straight to the formation hall, where dozens of costumed models were in their testudo formation. It was one of his favorite new additions to the museum and he hoped that it liked him just as much, enough to save his life. It might be a fairly good hiding place now that he was that museum's power was turned off. The Third Triumvirate's strategy of cutting the museum's power might turn out to be a blessing for him in the end. The darkness could be an effective cover to stay hidden from his masked assailants.
He hurried into the large room and ducked behind the first row of mannequins that had their shields held in front of them, covering most of their bodies. The rows of men behind them had their shields over their heads to protect themselves from attacks from above. The testudo was an effective defensive positi
on to take against ranged attacks. It was difficult to break or penetrate the formation's shell. Santino just hoped that it would be a good defense against his enemies too, even if they weren't trying to pepper him with arrows or catapults.
In the darkness, it was hard to make out the lifeless details of the models' faces. It really did feel like he was surrounded by a contingent of warriors. It was like they were putting their lives on the line to defend him. It was slightly reassuring—but it wasn't like they’d actually be able to fight for him if he was discovered. He just had to pray that he wasn't found.
Footsteps echoed down the hall, and he heard a loud groan. It was the biggest of the three Triumvirate members. “I can't believe that little bastard managed to get away from us!”
Santino felt some pride swell in his body. It was nice to know that he’d upset someone trying to kill him. It was the least he could do in return. The unfortunate part, was that making the behemoth of a man angry would probably just hurt Santino more in the end.
“Will you relax?” The woman was apparently close by, too. “He hasn't gotten away. All of the doors are locked. There's nowhere for him to go. So calm down.”
“What if there’s some secret way out? A trap door or a hatch or--”
“There’s not,” the woman said. “Trust me on that.”
The woman sounded very sure of herself and Santino really wished that she was wrong. If he somehow made it through the night in one piece, he would be sure to have at least ten top secret emergency exists installed into the museum. That way, he would never have to be skulking around and hiding. He could already be long gone and on his way to the police, out of harm's way and not at risk of being murdered at any moment.
The footsteps came closer. Santino made a pose, trying to match the life-sized models beside him. He tensed up, trying his best to remain perfectly still. Hopefully, this way, if anyone tried to look around the room, he’d blend in with the soldiers beside him. He’d be just another frozen silhouette performing the testudo.
His eyes had adjusted well enough to the dark that he saw the two figures enter the room. Neither of them moved with much caution. They weren't intimidated by him being somewhere nearby at all. Of course they weren't; they could probably beat him into submission if he tried to ambush them. They walked casually like they were just taking a late night stroll in the moonlight. Santino kept as still as he possibly could. He could feel beads of sweat rolling down his face and was terrified that one would drop to the floor and make an enormously loud splash. It was irrational to think that it would be that loud but it felt like even the tiniest sound would be enough to alert them in the darkness. He was surprised that they hadn't heard his rapid heartbeat yet. He thought it was thumping so loudly that it was shaking the whole world around him.
The large masked man threw one of the soldier models onto the floor. The mannequin's metal props crashed down so loudly that Santino almost jumped up and yelled from being startled so bad. That would have been the end of him if he hadn't caught himself and prevented himself from making a sound. Another model was knocked over and then another.
The big man let out a deep booming laugh like this was the most fun he ever had. “Look at them! I guess they weren't ready to deal with an attack from the sides. They should’ve remembered to always watch their flanks!”
He was like a massive child, channeling his frustration into things that couldn't run away or fight back. He was like one of those demented adolescents that Santino had heard about; the kind of children who liked to slowly pick off the wings of flies or torture their pets. He couldn't imagine what this man must have been like at that age, but he imagined he was still humongous even then. He kept knocking down the Roman soldiers one by one like dominoes. He started from the back of the legion and was moving forward, making his way toward the front row where Santino was huddled with the soldiers.
Santino didn't dare to look back and see. He kept so still that he could feel his body straining. It was taking everything he had not to move. All of his instincts were telling him to flee; to run away from this monster as quickly as he could. His brain knew to resist that urge though. If he tried to run, they would definitely catch him. He had a better possibility of surviving if he stayed hidden—even if it was only a slim chance.
Prop swords and shields kept crashing to the floor as more troops were being knocked down. More and more fake soldiers were being slain as the big man continued to take out his frustrations on them. Each time a sword clattered on the floor, it felt like a countdown to Santino's own end. Death was creeping up behind him, but making sure that he knew it was on its way. He’d fall just like those mannequins, but at least they couldn't feel pain.
“Do you always have to be so loud?” The woman was standing nearby, watching the large man flail and thrash about in the darkness of the room. “Would you stop for five seconds? You're giving me a goddamn headache!”
The huge man stopped his tantrum and kicked one of the mannequins on the floor in frustration. He probably would have been just as brutal if they were living people he was destroying. He would have been able to beat real opponents just as easily as those prop models—or maybe even more easily? He clearly didn't like being told to stop; or at least, he hated having to stop giving into his blood lust.
“Oh stop,” the woman said. “Let's go. He's probably hiding behind some vase or something.”
The woman started tromping off, toward the room's exit. Santino felt so relieved but he made sure to keep holding his breath, and keep his body from making any sounds. If he let out a breath, that might just be enough sound to catch their attention and attract them to his presence.
“Wait.”
A shiver went up Santino's body but he refused to even shiver. The person that spoke that wasn't either the big man or the woman. It was a different voice but one that Santino still recognized. It was the other one—the leader of the Third Triumvirate—and the voice was coming from the direction of the doorway to the room. Santino didn't know how long that smaller man had been standing there...it might have even been the whole time and Santino just hadn't noticed him.
“That testudo formation fell rather easily, wouldn't you say? There must have been something wrong with the formation. Perhaps someone was in the wrong spot, standing where one shouldn't...”
There was the sound of a switch flipping and the lights above them turned on, filling the display room with light, and making everything around them visible. Santino instinctively kept still but was staring right at the leader in the doorway—and the masked man was looking right back at him. Santino must have looked so ridiculous, posing there beside the last few remaining mannequin soldiers. He’d been doing his best to blend in, but that was a lot easier with the lights off. Now, he stood out like a sore thumb where he stood, wearing a suit and posing without any actual weapons besides models adorned in armor and wielding rather realistic looking weaponry.
Santino stood up straight, brushing himself off. They’d found him and there was nowhere left for him to hide.
“There you are,” the huge man took hold of Santino's arm. His grip was so strong, it felt like he might snap his arm clean off. The man pulled Santino toward the leader, almost pulling his limb right out of its socket as he did. He kicked out the back of Santino's leg, forcing him onto his knees.
The leader looked down at Santino and that passive mask hid what he was thinking. All Santino had to go on was the man's voice and it was triumphant and cold. “It was a valiant effort, Mr. Rossi.”
Santino had tried so hard for so long to stay still but now, all of those restrained movements were pouring through his body. He was twitching, shivering, and every part of him quivered. He felt tears filling his eyes.
He tried so hard to escape but now he saw that it was all for nothing there was no getting away from these people. They’d come to take his life, just like they said, and there was nothing he could about it. The two other members of the Third Triumvirate circled arou
nd, so they were standing on either side of the leader. Santino didn't want the last thing he ever saw to be those horrid masks that they wore. He didn't want to go out with those faces at the forefront of his final thoughts. It didn't look like he was going to have a choice, though.
The masked man drew a knife from his belt. “This really isn't personal, Mr. Rossi.”
“Then why?”
The man must have been grinning behind his mask.
“For the sake of Rome, of course.”
9
THE STONE FACES OF OLD
There was a silhouette standing at the foot of Nina's bed. Her gaze rose up to the shape's face and she found a strange visage staring back at her in the dark. The eyes didn't blink. The lips never twitched. The expression was frozen in complete passive stillness.
The only movement came from below the face as the figure held a finger up to its lips, signaling her to keep quiet.
She refused. She wasn't going to let some lunatic silence her. Nina opened her mouth to yell, but the figure suddenly pounced on top of her, shoving his hand over her mouth. She writhed and struggled but the figure squeezed her jaw and smothered the sounds so they were impossible for Riley to hear from the bed beside her.
A quiet whisper came behind those petrified lips. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I must ask that you don’t wake your friend. Doing so would only hurt her. Believe me, Dr. Gould. She will be much happier asleep than she would be awake.”
Nina glanced to her left and saw a much bigger shape looming over the sleeping Riley. That man was far larger than the one on top of her and held a knife in his hand, keeping it raised over the slumbering young woman. The threat was clear enough. If she didn't cooperate, Riley would get her throat slit in her sleep. Nina stopped struggling, even though all of her instincts were telling her to fight this person off of her.
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 11 Page 26
