by R. D. Brady
“But John Paul had made other enemies,” Bas said, continuing. “He had claimed that God was not only the Heavenly Father but the Heavenly Mother as well. He was viewed as a supporter of women’s rights and even agreed to meet with a delegation from the United States who was arguing that the Church should rethink its views on banning birth control.”
“That’s awfully progressive,” Laney said.
“Perhaps too progressive,” her uncle said. “After John Paul’s death, he was quickly embalmed and cremated.”
Laney’s head snapped up. “Cremated? The Church doesn’t cremate.”
“Technically, you can cremate. It’s been allowed since 1963. But he’s the only Pope who’s been cremated,” Patrick said.
“Okay, a potential murder of a Pope what, forty years ago?” said Drake. “Very unfortunate. But what does that have to do with what happened today? Or the Followers?”
“There are some who say that Pope John Paul’s death was foretold,” Bas said.
“Nostradamus,” Patrick said quietly.
Bas nodded, quoting the ancient seer:
“When the sepulcher of the great Roman is found
The day after will be elected a Pope
By his Senate he will not be approved
Poisoned is his blood by the sacred chalice
He who will have government of the great Cape
Will be led to take action
The twelve Red Ones will come to spoil the cover
Under murder, murder will come to be done.”
The room was quiet as the words of the long-dead seer hung in the air. “The Church began to take prophecies very seriously at that point,” said Bas.
“Not just because of that, though,” Patrick said, his gaze on Bas. “But because of the prophecies regarding the lines of the Popes.”
“The lines of the Popes?” Laney asked.
Angelica nodded. “There are three separate prophets who have argued that the lines of Popes will end with the 112th Pope after Pope Clementine. And that that time will also coincide with the end of the world.”
“And what Pope are we at now?” Drake asked.
Angelica looked at each of them. “One hundred twelve.”
CHAPTER 50
Bas took over the story as the shock from Angelica’s words faded. “The Brotherhood of the Eclipse of the Sun was created to keep the prophecies from being fulfilled. John Paul II was ordained after John Paul I. There were two assassination attempts on his life, which the Brotherhood thwarted.”
“Were those prophesized?”
“Yes.”
“But John Paul II didn’t die. He lived. So that right there must demonstrate that the prophecy has been thwarted,” Laney said.
“There are some who say that,” Angelica said. “But the Brotherhood, they are highly conservative in their interpretation of the prophecies. They believe that each individual prophecy can be avoided by diligence, but it does not change the prophecy that follows. So the only chance the world has is for them to stay vigilant and act when the signs that the prophecy may be coming true appear.”
“But what does that have to do with me? I mean, to state the obvious, I am not a Pope,” Laney said.
Bas nodded to her ring. “No, but you do bear the mark of God. You are also his chosen representative on Earth. If the prophecy of the last Pope is to come true, you are the only one capable of fulfilling it.”
“What is the last prophecy?” Drake asked.
“They all generally say the same thing,” Bas said, “but Malachy is perhaps the most succinct: “‘Rome, the seat of the Vatican, will be destroyed, and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.’”
Laney frowned. “But that’s not me. If anything, that’s what would have happened if Samyaza had come into power. But by stopping her, we avoided that happening.”
“I agree with you,” Angelica said. “If the prophecy was going to come true, it would have been at the hand of Samyaza. But the truth is, you still could level Rome if you chose.”
Laney frowned. “Technically, I could. But any country could. The Vatican’s a two-square-mile country. Any country that wanted to could take it over or destroy it. It does not require my powers to make it happen.”
“That may be,” Patrick mused, “but I believe it is the third secret of Fátima that the Brotherhood is perhaps most concerned with.”
Laney frowned. “The third secret of Fátima? That refers to the assassination of John Paul II? Or at least the attempted assassination?”
“That is what the Church says,” Patrick said.
“But . . .” Laney prodded.
Patrick frowned. “There are many parties that are not satisfied with that translation. When Sister Lúcia sealed the third secret, she said it could not be opened until 1960. But it wasn’t publicly revealed until 2000, although the Church had opened it earlier. But there are some who claim that what the Church revealed was actually a fake. That the real secret is still hidden in the Vatican vaults.”
Laney studied Bas, who shifted in his seat, his gaze darting away from Laney’s. “You’ve read it, the real one.”
Bas met her gaze for only a moment before looking away. “As a member of the Brotherhood, I was given access to it once I reached the inner council. Learning the third secret was one of my primary directives.”
“And?” Drake asked. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“It speaks of a wicked council and the rise of the abomination of abominations.”
“The Fallen,” Laney said softly.
“Here.” Angelica stepped forward, handing Laney her phone. It was a translation of the “original” document:
“There will be a wicked council planned and prepared that will change the countenance of the Church. Many will lose the Faith; confusion will reign everywhere. The sheep will search for their shepherds in vain.
A schism will tear apart the holy tunic of My Son. This will be the end of times, foretold in the Holy Scriptures and recalled to memory by Me in many places. The abomination of abominations will reach its peak and it will bring the chastisement announced at La Salette. My Son’s arm, which I will not be able to hold back anymore, will punish this poor world, which must expiate its crimes.
One will only speak about wars and revolutions. The elements of nature will be unchained and will cause anguish even among the best (the most courageous). The Church will bleed from all Her wounds. Happy are they who will persevere and search for refuge in My Heart, because in the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Laney handed the phone back. “I guess I don’t have to ask how they interpret that.”
Angelica slipped the phone back into her pocket. “They believe you and your followers are the wicked council. That you will usher in the end of times.”
“That I’m the antichrist while they are the ones who will shepherd the people to the righteous path,” Laney said.
Bas nodded slowly.
Drake snorted. “Please. It sounds like this brotherhood of yours is more likely the ‘wicked council’ than Laney and her group.”
“I agree,” said Bas. “The Brotherhood, they are so adamant about protecting the papacy that I don’t think they see how they are creating the very thing they are trying to prevent.”
David frowned. “How?”
Patrick folded his hands in his lap. “The Fallen, like all humans, have a choice in who they become. The Church could use this example to support their message: that humans are good and made in God’s image. They could take the time to speak with Laney, not interrogate, but speak and learn what she can do and what she has done. Instead, they fear what they don’t know and try to hide it away. The Church’s track record for banishing knowledge appears to continue unbroken.”
Laney knew what he meant. The Church had rebuked Galileo for his heliocentric argument that the Sun did not revolve around the Earth but that the Earth revolved around the Sun. It took over a hundred years before they could accept
Darwin’s idea of evolution. Now, it was their refusal to condone stem cell research that marked their anti-science bias. They had a long habit of accepting things well after the rest of the world had.
And if that’s the case, I’ll be dead and buried before they realize I’m not the bad guy.
“But what can they actually do?” Drake asked. “The days of the Vatican being the stronghold of power are long past.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Moretti arranged for you to be out of the country when the President of the United States issued her executive order. You are now not allowed back in the United States. And if they had succeeded in abducting you, I do not think the United States would be rushing to help secure your release. So it seems like they still have a little bit of power.”
Laney turned to Bas. “Could you do something to convince them?”
“My voice does not hold much sway on the order.” Bas grimaced. “And now I’m sure it holds none.”
“Why risk that now?” Drake asked. “You’ve been with the Brotherhood for years.”
“True, but the Brotherhood was never my primary directive. I am a Follower before a brother.”
“I still don’t understand that. How are you Followers?” Patrick asked.
David leaned forward. “In the seventeenth century, the Followers were based in Spain. But they were found. The leader at that time, a woman named Marguerite, knew they would be found. She sent a group ahead, forbidding them from telling her where they were going. Some went on to the New World. They were rooted out in the Salem Witch Trials.”
“And another group went to Italy,” said Patrick, “or should I say back to Italy. They folded themselves within the ranks of the Church.”
Bas nodded.
Laney frowned. “But that must have been dangerous. The Church is not known for embracing the role of any women, never mind the idea of a Great Mother.”
“That is true. But by working from the inside, we have been able to spread our influence and be in important locations. And we have gotten very close to getting the Great Mother acknowledged.”
“Pope John Paul I. He was a Follower,” Patrick said.
“Yes.”
Laney turned to her uncle. “How do you know that?”
A light glowed from inside Patrick, and for the first time in a long time, he looked like his old self. She should have known a history lesson would be the thing to bring him back. “His reference to both the Holy Father and the Holy Mother. At the time, scholars believed he was referring to God as male and female. But he wasn’t. He was referring to the Great Mother.”
“Yes. Very good, Father.” Angelica beamed.
“But how does the idea of a Great Mother reconcile with the Church’s idea of God?” Laney asked.
“It’s not different from its view of Jesus, Moses, Noah, or any other Biblical figure. The only difference is the gender of the subject. Recognizing the Great Mother does not negate any of the greatness of God. But the Church, since its early days, cannot and will not acknowledge the role of women as being anything other than subordinate.”
Laney knew that was true. Mary Magdalene had been a critical disciple in the Church. And yet Peter made sure women did not have a large role in the running of the Church. Each successive Pope further diminished the role, pointing to the “fact” that all of Jesus’s apostles were male. The role of Mary Magdalene, who unlike her male counterparts, stood with Jesus right up until his crucifixion, was relegated to a footnote in history. She was just another Mary. Or a prostitute, in Pope Gregory the Great’s reimagining of history.
Patrick nodded. “I have a great deal of difficulty accepting the Church’s view of the role of women. Pope John Paul II is considered to be the most recent and most definitive answer on the issue when he wrote the ecclesiastical letter, the Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that ‘the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women.’”
Drake’s gaze ran over Father Bas and Sister Angelica on the couch. “So how can you two have pledged your life to the Church?”
“It allows us to do God’s work, to do good,” Angelica said. “And to protect those that need to be protected. Our job would be much more difficult if we were on the outside.”
Bas took her hand. “Besides, we truly believe our vows. Our duty is to serve God. The Church is part of how we do that. But being a Follower is the larger part of how we do that.”
David leaned back. “I am less self-sacrificing. I like having things and sex.”
Angelica nearly choked on her tea. She quickly put the teacup down as David pounded her back with his hand. She glared at him when she could finally speak. “You did that on purpose.”
“Yes. You have become entirely too serious in your old age.”
“I am two weeks older than you!”
“Still older.”
Laney frowned, watching him. “So what do you do? You said you’re not just a bureaucrat.”
Drake spoke before David had a chance. “No. He’s a contract killer for the U.S. government.”
David eyed Drake, speaking slowly. “I prefer to think of myself as a secret soldier of patriotism. But it’s true. I freelance between different agencies—CIA, NSA, even your SIA a few times.”
Laney frowned. “Wait. But why would they send you as the representative to the Vatican? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sure it does.” Drake was up and across the room in a flash, holding David by the throat. “Because he’s been sent to kill you.”
CHAPTER 51
Laney bolted to her feet. “Drake!”
Bas pulled his sister behind him.
But David showed no reaction. He simply raised an eyebrow.
“Do you deny it?” Drake demanded.
David grimaced. “No,” he managed to squeak out.
Laney pulled on Drake’s arm. “Drake, let him go. Now.”
With a growl, Drake released him.
Angelica stared at Laney and Drake as David dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. “You can control him?”
Laney frowned, then looked at Drake. “Drake? No.”
“But then why did he—”
“Because I asked him to, not because I ordered him to.” She was about to tell them she couldn’t control any Fallen, not since she’d taken the Omni, but something made her hold that little fact back.
Patrick inched his chair forward. “Well, I’m going to hold back my judgment as to whether or not it’s a good thing Drake didn’t kill him until he explains what his mission is.”
David put one hand on the edge of the couch, pulling himself up. Angelica moved toward him, but David waved her away. “It’s all right. I’m fine.”
Angelica whirled toward Laney, Patrick, and Drake. “I will not stand for any more violence.”
Drake crossed his arms over his chest, not retaking his seat. “Then I suggest your ‘brother’ start speaking. Quickly.”
David took a drink of tea, rubbing his neck. “Well, that was a novel experience.”
“Speak,” Drake ordered.
David resumed his seat. “As I was explaining, my skills are in demand within the U.S. government. Not to toot my own horn, but I am one of the best at what I do.”
Drake snorted. “One of the best?”
“I said I was trying not to toot my own horn. But if you’d like me to toot, then I am the best at what I do. The U.S. government has sent me after individuals that no one else could touch, both legally and physically. Individuals who were monsters, destroying all they touched. On my last mission, I killed an overlord. He created an army of four hundred child soldiers. He pulled them from their families, got them addicted to drugs, and had them kill their mothers as a test of their loyalty. Most of them were so addicted that they did it without even thinking about it. But no one could get to him. He surrounded himself with his ‘soldiers’ and ‘wives,’ the sisters of his soldiers.”
“I heard about that case. He was found hanging from a tr
ee. There was very little left of him after the animals had gotten to him,” Patrick said.
David’s eyes turned almost black, and Laney read the conviction there. And the darkness. “It was the least he deserved. I don’t pretend to be a good man. I’ve had a dark side since I was young. But I have tried to channel that darkness into acts that, if not in and of themselves are good, can lead to good.”
Drake wasn’t moved. “And what about Laney?”
“I was called to a special meeting shortly after the Day of Reckoning. It was held in the bunker beneath the White House. Some members of the President’s cabinet were there along with heads of various agencies. And me. The topic of the meeting was what to do with the threat of the Fallen. But the question was also raised about what to do about you.”
“Me?” Laney asked.
“The government is worried about the amount of power you possess. If you chose to turn against the government, they aren’t sure they would be able to stop you.”
Laney sat back, the news hitting her hard. She knew there were members of the government that were nervous about what she could do, what the Fallen could do. But the idea that the President was actively looking into how to take her out was more than a little disturbing.
Patrick took her hand. “But that is just a precaution, right? The same way the government has precautions for different countries in case they launch a missile or attack an American holding, right?”
“True . . .” David said.
“But?” Laney demanded.
“You’re talking about more than the registration,” Drake said.
“Yes.” David paused. “They recovered one of your cats after the Day of Reckoning.”
Laney blanched. Thunder had gone missing. They had thought he was dead. She had never considered that he could have been taken. “Where is he?”
“I’m afraid he’s dead now. There’s a doctor. She’s been appointed by the President to look into his anatomy, trying to replicate it. My understanding is she tried to use the cat to breed but was not successful.”
