“And what do they represent to you? How is it, Saul, that your group thinks they know that kind of secret?” The snakebites are reminders, Rhett had said. He kept that in the back of his mind as the interrogation went forward.
“Because the truth was passed down through the centuries, generation to generation. A sect within a sect, Dracht, our own secret kept from the rest of you all this time. We have been rooting them out and killing them longer than you might believe. Doing the citizens of the world a service while they sleep. Even the Church does not realize their true intent, the maliciousness that walks the earth.” Saul spat on the ground.
“What I know is that none of your actions were condoned or ordered by anyone, which means you've acted against the wishes you promised to uphold and honor. What if you're wrong? What if the women are innocent?” Dracht dropped his arms and paced before the chair.
“When the Church learns that we've been eradicating the vermin, bringing an end to the disease and evil, they will immediately understand that we have been following God's will.” Saul's eyes glinted with feverish fanaticism.
“Spoken like a true zealot, Saul. So it's God's will, is it, to slaughter women?” Dracht snorted his disbelief and disgust. “Did he tell your great ancestors that himself? Just how is it that they came into such knowledge?”
Saul sat forward until the chair creaked, elbows on his knees, hands clasped so tight his knuckles were white. He spoke with righteous fervor.
“Before the crusades, a wealthy land baron's guard captured a man in a raid. They suspected him of thieving and pillaging a nearby village that had been under attack at the time. More than fifty men were rounded up. This particular man though, when it came about that he would be put to death for his crimes, spouted an incredible story. He talked about the Garden of Eden, about his brethren that had fled there with him, and how they had all eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and Life. He spoke convincingly of immortality, how they were destined to live forever. He whispered about a mark on the wrist of the women. The mark of the serpent. A mark he did not carry.”
Dracht paced and listened, hiding his incredulity over the topic. “Go on.”
“The prisoner promised that he could prove the truth of his words. He challenged them to let him live, and to inflict injury upon him, because they would see the miraculous speed with which he healed. Then they would have cause to believe him. And that he had many sisters who had escaped Eden with him. But the women, as their mother, had been cursed instead of blessed and that they had been bitten by the serpent, knowingly spreading his evil across the world. It was their task, chosen because of their fair looks and ability to breed. What more perfect vessel to assure the continuation of wickedness.” Saul licked his lips, forehead beaded with sweat.
Dracht grunted and arched a brow, encouraging Saul to continue.
“This man wanted his freedom for the location of a few of the sisters. He didn't know where they had all scattered to, but with the capture of one, the guards could likely coax out the whereabouts of the others. He told them to look for the mark, and what their names were. He had an address of one, they could start from there. What the man didn't count on, was that the guards and the wealthy land owner, religious in their own right, saw an opportunity to prove his words another way. They wanted the location of Eden so they could seize fruit from the Tree of Life and therefore live forever themselves. Become immortal, like the man and his sisters. With that power, the baron thought he could rule absolutely. They kept the man a prisoner while they went in search of the sisters, whom they found, and whom all bore the mark of the serpent. They were slaughtered, the evil wiped from the earth, although none gave up the locations of any other siblings. They died with the secrets locked on their tongues.”
“What happened to the man?” Dracht asked.
“They kept him a prisoner for years. Afraid he would confess his secret to another, they locked him in a cell in the baron's dungeon. He did not age and quickly healed from any superficial injuries he sustained. The baron had solid proof that the man was a son of Adam and Eve, which meant the women were his sisters, and moreover, that the women were indeed as evil as he claimed. The baron passed down the legacy of the man to his children, and their children, and still the prisoner never aged. Never died. He lived through three generations and could not ever produce a map leading them to Eden. He suffered dementia after a time and became nothing more than a shell of a babbling man. But the secret was in the hands of powerful men who made the right connections. The Templars were begun for this mission, Dracht. This is why the order was initially started. It expanded outward during the crusades and the Church used their power and prowess to advance their agenda. My forefathers never forgot what they saw, what they heard, nor that the man lived for more than a hundred years in captivity. Their belief's were well founded and only grew stronger over time.”
Dragging a hand through his black hair, Dracht tried to absorb the story. It sounded impossible. Daughters of Eve. Eden. Immortality. A man who never aged. Yet he was faced with women who were being slaughtered without remorse and here was one of his own brethren spinning a tale that he couldn't just dismiss.
What had Rhett said? You won't believe it. He resisted the urge to glance at the one-way mirror.
“What if the captive man had been lying? To save his own ass? In the face of his own demise, he might have thrown them to the wolves. As a Templar, you know that you're required to find out what all the possible answers might be in a situation like this. Besides that, you and the others engaging in murder--”
“It's not murder,” Saul spat.
“It is,” Dracht said, leaning his back against the wall. “What happened to the man?”
“He eventually died. His mind was gone for the last twenty years.”
“How many women have the Templars killed in the name of erasing evil?”
“There were supposedly twenty-two girls born to the sinner. No one can be exactly sure. We have killed twelve.” The zeal kicked up a notch in Saul's voice when he made the announcement.
Twelve.
He remembered the uneasy feeling he'd had standing before Genevieve as she'd hung from the ceiling by her wrists. That uncomfortable sensation that something pristine and beautiful had been lost. For a moment, Dracht was overcome with the desire to end Saul where he sat.
“Where are the other Templars staying?” he asked, forcing calm.
“That I cannot tell you. After Rhett's raid we split off into two groups. So even if I wanted to tell you where the others were, I don't have the information. Safety precaution.” Saul sat back in his chair with a satisfied grin. “Father Valanzano, in fact the whole congregation, is going to be terribly put out with you when they discover that you have interfered with our plans.”
This was why Saul hadn't fought him for the information. Saul honestly believed the Church would stand on their side, that they'd been carrying out God's work all this time.
“I doubt it. You over reach. You and everyone working with you.” Dracht exited the room without any more questions. If he stayed any longer, he might give in to the urge to beat Saul to a bloody pulp.
Half expecting the viewing room to be empty, Dracht found Alexandra and Minna standing right where he left them, eyes wide, faces pale. Wary, too, that much was easy to discern. He couldn't blame them. Shock, maybe at the news one of their brothers had been held for so long as a prisoner, or that he had turned against them, was plain on their expressions.
“Ladies.” He gestured them out of the hallway and back into the main quarters of the stronghold. Dracht wasn't sure what to say to them at the moment. He needed to consult with Dragar, Christian and Rhett.
“What are we going to do now?” Alexandra asked, quite subdued from her earlier belligerent attitude.
“I need to speak to Dragar and Christian while Rhett and Evelyn make the trip back. Until we have the rest of that other group contained, I'd like you both to stay here in the stronghold.
We have guards at the front gate and at the back and we'll be changing all the access codes shortly. I need to know you're both secure so we can act without worrying you'll bolt the second our back is turned.” Dracht laid it all on the line, no nonsense, no bullshit. If the women wanted help, they had to give him a little.
“Just point us in the direction of a shower and a bed,” Alexandra said.
The plush interior of the private jet was far more comfortable than commercial airplanes. Colors of fawn, cream and dark brown were accented by touches of red and gold trim. Evelyn spent most of the flight sitting in a leather chair across from Rhett with a small table between them. All her doubt about Rhett's loyalties and intentions fled between the time in the warehouse and their arrival back at the hotel.
In the peaceful atmosphere, with the roar of the engines in the background, Evelyn eased into the details of her life.
Out of twenty-two girls, eighteen of them had been given the choice to go forth in the world from the Garden. The other sisters had died natural deaths either from childbirth or injury. She explained that although they had innate healing abilities, they were still susceptible to mortal wounds and could die like anyone else. Reliving the murders of her sisters was difficult even without the two most recent deaths, and she fought back fresh tears as she rolled out the horror the Templars had visited upon them. One of their sisters had escaped, only one, and had urgently relayed the intent of the Knights, sending the sisters scattering across the globe. Evelyn had spent the ensuing centuries watching humans populate the lands and adjusting to the changes that took place with each generation.
She had seen Christ rise and fall, witnessed the unbelievable massacre of the Jews, lived through too many wars to count. Sometimes she and a few of her sisters would reside in the same city, always watching over their shoulders, always wary. As the population swelled, it became easier to hide. Travel was more convenient, giving them a wide range of countries to enjoy. Every year they returned to the Garden to reconnect with each other.
By the sixties, there were only seven sisters left. In nineteen-eighty-four, the Templars found them and killed two more. One had been Galiana's twin sister.
Rhett asked quiet, intuitive questions of her with serious eyes that studied her with the intensity she was used to. Perceptive, he seemed to know which questions not to ask that might upset the fragile balance she'd acquired since leaving Las Vegas. He served her drinks and made them a late dinner of teriyaki chicken and rice, handling the preparations with as much efficiency as he handled everything else.
Later, he drew her onto the long couch and encouraged her to rest. Evelyn, exhausted, leaned against him and fell into a dreamless sleep. When he woke her it was with a light press of his lips against her temple. The pilot announced their final descent and landed without incident.
Disregarding his wound, Rhett drove them through the last minutes of an Athen's sunset toward a safe house. Each mile they drew closer, Evelyn grew more excited to see Minna and Alexandra, until she was wringing her hands and scouting the streets in anticipation.
The house Rhett pulled them up to was large and imposing, almost cold. 'House' was an understatement for the expansive structure that reminded her of a small museum or state building.
“What is this place?” she asked after the guard let him in the gate.
“It's one of the Templar strongholds,” Rhett said while he parked the sedan.
“One of them?” She glanced across the car. Rhett met her gaze.
“Yes. We have them set up all over the world.”
“It seems the Templar business is thriving.”
“They keep us pretty busy.” He pulled the keys out of the ignition and came around to open her door.
“Thanks,” she murmured and got out.
“Of course.”
“I hope your brothers and father won't be angry.” Considering she'd shot him. She brushed a piece of hair away from her cheek and stared up at the imposing facade of the building.
“I've explained. Not everything, not yet, but enough.” After retrieving their bags from the trunk, he guided her toward the stone steps leading up to the carved, double front doors.
Christian swung one open just as they reached the landing. Evelyn studied his neutral expression, detecting no open hostility. He seemed welcoming and as calm as she'd ever seen him. His size was the only thing she thought he had in common look or build with Rhett. The black hair and blue eyes, the whole structure of his face was quite different than his brother.
“Hello, Christian.”
“Good to see you well, Miss Grant,” he said without sarcasm or mockery.
“Evelyn, just Evelyn.”
“Evelyn.” He inclined his head and closed the door after she and Rhett entered.
The brothers exchanged claps on the shoulder while she surveyed the soaring foyer ceiling, arched and painted with a mural. There was a classical feel to the atmosphere enhanced by the random carvings of lions on the banisters of the stairs and more around the archways to other rooms.
Rhett dropped their bags at the foot of the stairs.
“I think they're all in the back,” he said, gesturing deeper into the expansive home.
Evelyn heard voices even as he spoke. Passing through the high archway, she saw Alexandra and Minna standing near a tall fireplace speaking with Dracht. Her sisters seemed relaxed and comfortable, a surprise considering what surrounded them.
“Alex, Minna!” The girls broke away from Dracht and met her halfway across the room, arms tangling in a tight embrace. Alexandra was as awkward about her affection as she'd ever been, giving a few stray pats to her back.
Nevertheless, the hug relieved her. It felt like years had passed since she'd seen them, smelled them, kissed the downy softness of her sister's cheeks. Under the skin the subtle heat assured her they were real and not figments of a fever dream.
“What the hell were you doin' in Vegas anyway?” Alex asked after untangling.
Leaning back, Evelyn checked them each over head to toe; Alexandra looked beat to crap but not seriously wounded and Minna seemed fine.
“It's a long story. I'll fill you in later. It's so good to see you.”
Genevieve's missing presence was as much a black hole in Evelyn's life as Galiana's. She saw the similar looks on the faces of her siblings. They spoke of their sorrow with their eyes instead of their tongues.
“Hey, that Dracht guy made arrangements to hold Galiana and Genevieve so that we can give them a proper funeral,” Alexandra said.
“I know, Rhett told me on the way over.” It dawned on her that Alexandra and Minna hadn't met him yet. Glancing back, she saw him in conversation with Christian and Dracht. Catching his eye, she gestured him closer.
Rhett broke away from his brothers and approached.
“Girls, this is Rhett.” Introducing him felt more intimate than it should have. On the plane, Rhett had showered and changed into simple, nice fitting clothing in dark colors. It accented his golden skin and hair and as yet, he'd neglected to get rid of his whiskers.
“Nice to meet both of you, finally,” he said, and shook both girls' hands.
Alex clicked her tongue against her teeth, shaking firm and vigorous. “Yeah, you too. What's wrong with your arm?”
Alex and Minna were the type to notice the small things. Galiana, bless her, wouldn't have noticed anything but the cut and fabric of his clothing. How his skin smelled. Genevieve would have pinged in on his intensity, facial expressions and mood. She had always been empathetic and intuitive that way.
“Oh, that. Evelyn shot me.” Rhett brushed off the remark like it was nothing.
Alexandra gaped like a landed fish and Minna darted a startled look at her.
Evelyn shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “He cornered me after I saw the tattoo. What was I supposed to do?”
Alexandra in her typical manner, resiliently bounced back from their strange circumstances and snagged Evelyn with both arms. “
Way to go, Ev! There's hope for you yet.”
“Hello, Dracht,” Evelyn said after she pried Alex off with an exasperated huff. Relieved that none of the brothers were offended at her extreme course of action, she gave him a smile.
He inclined his head from where he stood near the fireplace. “Evelyn.”
“All right. We need to figure out what we're doing next,” Rhett said, gesturing to the available seating.
Evelyn sat between Minna and Alexandra on a deep set leather sofa. Alexandra sprawled, despite her injuries, one foot hooked up over the opposite knee. There was just nothing feminine about her. It was useless to try and correct her wayward sister's habits.
The brothers stood in a semi-circle in various poses of relaxation.
“Dracht suggested going to Italy to talk to Father V-someone or other, but I dunno if that's such a good idea,” Alexandra said.
“Why not?” Dracht inquired.
“Because what if they see it the other Templar's way? What if they agree we should be wiped off the face of the earth once they hear his side of the story?” Her paranoia would not be shed so easily.
During the plane ride, Dracht had called Rhett and explained, in painstaking detail, what he'd learned from Saul. Rhett had relayed that to her with a fair amount of surprise at the tale.
He wasn't the only one. Evelyn had been downright stunned.
“Father Valanzano knows the system well. As do we. If we thought there was any danger of that, we wouldn't have contacted him to begin with,” Dracht said.
“I don't see them taking that route, Alex, I have to be honest,” Rhett added.
“Saul only thinks that the Church will be swayed when they hear the details because his mind has been warped into believing the wrong truth. He's delusional, and obviously the rest of them have been convinced of the same thing.” Dracht seemed to have lost all respect for the rogue group of Templars. With good reason.
Rhett sank down onto an ottoman with his knees splayed wide, clasped hands dangling between. He fit right into the grandiose surroundings, as impressive and imposing as the arching ceilings and masterpiece paintings on the walls. Whenever their eyes met, she swore she saw a secret smile in his own.
Sin and Sacrifice Page 19
