Sin and Sacrifice (30 page)

He was more than a little
surprised to see Dracht and Alexandra, barefoot, swords in their
hands, faced off against each other.

Instantly he
tensed.

Then he realized when he
saw their faces that Dracht was giving her instruction. The sword
raised in a blocking motion, she copied it precisely, handling the
weapon with skill considering she'd probably never held one like it
before.

Crossing his arms over his
chest, he leaned against the door frame and watched.

This must be the epitome of
ironies; a Templar Knight giving a Daughter of Eve self defense
lessons. They circled each other, parrying until their blades slid
slowly off one another. They did not clank or clang, but Alexandra
was learning nevertheless.

He was impressed by their
resiliency, how they stayed as fluid as the situations around them.
Rhett imagined it was part of how they'd survived this
long.

Motion further beyond the
pit drew his gaze. Across the courtyard into the opposite hallway.
Evelyn, resembling a deer caught in the headlights, stood just far
enough out of her doorway for the vague glow of the moonlight to
outline her features. She looked startled at what she saw her
sister doing in the pit. To her credit, she did not interrupt the
lesson.

He knew the second her
gaze found
him,
though. Her chin shifted and he saw the fixed stare his way.
The distance was not so great that he couldn't read the change in
her expression. In another moment, Rhett knew that he wore the same
look of open desire and need that she did. Across the space of the
courtyard, through the moonbeam, they locked and held gazes while
Dracht and Alexandra moved in slow motion with the blades catching
light to bounce off the steel.

For five minutes he kept
her there hovering in the doorway with nothing more than a look.
Finally, she broke the spell and backed into the room, closing the
door with a quiet click. Putting a barrier between their gazes but
not the energy he could still feel slithering through his
system.

Rhett glanced once more at
the two in the pit before drawing back into his own room. Any
thoughts of sleep had been lost for the rest of the
night.

Gathered in the spacious
living quarters the next morning, Evelyn sat between Alexandra and
Minna on the couch. Smoothing her hands along the crease of her ash
gray slacks, she waited in silence for the meeting Dragar had
called. Their luggage had arrived early that morning from Egypt,
giving them access to their own belongings once more.

Alex leaned behind her to
whisper to Minna and Evelyn caught words like 'training' and
'sword' and 'skill' in the conversation. She was curious what Minna
would think about Alex practicing with Dracht but didn't interrupt
the girls to ask.

If she didn't know better,
she would think Alex was starting to enjoy herself here. All the
facial swelling had dissipated overnight and the bruises were
fainter.

The brothers stood across
from them, ever appearing the warrior; Christian, with his hands
behind his back, Dracht and Rhett resembling twins in posture with
their arms folded over their chest. Rhett looked especially
appealing in jeans, a white button down and dark navy
blazer.

Dragar entered the room and
with him came the presence of power and steel control. He exuded it
more strongly than did his sons, though none of them were lacking
in confidence or ability. Evelyn wondered how she couldn't have
realized the familial similarities between he and Rhett if only
because of their size and stature. Dracht was almost a spitting
image of his father with his dark hair and goatee.

Standing at a spot that
allowed him easy eye contact with everyone, Dragar got to the
point.

“
I have spoken at length
with Father Valanzano, who, as you know, is my direct liaison with
the Church. Everything that we have learned from you as well as
Saul was discussed and as you may have guessed, he is extremely
skeptical. They're going to need some other kind of proof, but I
have his early assurance that if this can be proven beyond doubt,
that you will have their protection from here on out. Actually, you
will have
our
protection. We—myself, Dracht, Rhett and Christian—will
become
your
guardians. You will live as you always have, without the need
to constantly look over your shoulders. Provisions will be made to
change or hide your identities as the years progress so that as
technology grows ever more intimate, you will be able to slide
under the radar,” he said.

Evelyn exchanged a look
that was hopeful but cautious with her sisters. She knew they felt
the same way she did; if this was truly the end of being hunted,
then it was worth the small sacrifice of answering questions and
having what amounted to bodyguards for the rest of their
lives.

Which brought Evelyn full
circle to the knowledge that when these men became too old to
properly do their job, someone else would take their place. It
reminded her, again, that she and Rhett had all the odds stacked
against them.

“
You
do
want the protection, don't you?”
Rhett asked.

“
Hm? Oh yes, of course we
do. Although I expect that your jobs will be fairly boring after
this because the biggest threat to our existence is one you're
going to take care of now, rather than later,” Evelyn said, coming
out of her reverie.

“
Somehow, I have a feeling
it will be far from boring,” Dragar said.

Evelyn watched his rugged
features while he spoke. Relief and melancholy fought a bitter war
inside for dominance; if this had happened a few weeks ago,
Genevieve and Galiana would still be alive. She glanced at Alex and
then at Minna, exchanging silent communication. They had another
way to prove they were who they said they were, but she wouldn't
give that information over without their consent.

“
Might as well,” Alex
relented. Her foot started bounce-jiggling with
restlessness.

Minna inclined her head in
agreement.

Evelyn felt every one of
the Templar's eyes on her.

“
Somewhere in the tunnels
of the Vatican is a box that has been passed down from the time of
Christ. Its existence has been kept a strict secret. The Church
will recognize it as the box of the Golden Pear.”

“
And what's in the box?”
Rhett asked.

“
A scroll with a list of
twenty-two names. I'll give you the names, in the order they
appear. There should be script as well indicating that these were
the original daughters born to Adam and Eve.”

“
Why just a list of the
daughters?” Christian asked.

“
Because there's already a
list of male names and this particular list was made specifically
in case we found ourselves in the position we do now,” Alex
interjected.

“
Instructions were passed
down that dictated the box was not to be opened until a woman named
Eiah came for it,” Minna added. She pronounced it
eye-ah.

“
Who's Eiah?” Dragar
asked.

Alex and Minna both pinned
their gazes on her.

“
That's me,” Evelyn said
with a lift of her hand.

Dracht, scraping fingers
thoughtfully through his goatee, asked, “And how did someone know
that you specifically would come asking for it one day?”

“
We chose my name as a
password,” Evelyn explained. “It didn't really matter whose name
became the key, so to speak, as long as we all remembered which one
it was. As well, it didn't matter which daughter used the password.
The disciple who wrote it intended it to be protection and perhaps
explanation if our existence came to light.”

“
That, and there is no
other complete list of the daughters to be found anywhere else,”
Minna said.

“
Not the correct version
anyway,” Alex added with a grunt.

“
What if he asks you to
lead them to the Garden of Eden?” Christian asked.

“
You can't just walk in if
you're not one of us. It takes permission and special
circumstances. The Guardian has to allow it,” Evelyn
said.

“
Besides that, you
can't
find
it
without one of us. We're the only ones other than the Guardian who
knows how to get to the Gate.” Alex spread her hands and clapped
them back together again after she'd made her point.

“
The Guardian?” Christian
looked confused.

Evelyn glanced between the
four men. “The Guardian of the East Gate?”

Christian looked
blank.

“
The angel God put there
to protect the Tree of Life.” Rhett proved he knew a little more
about it than Christian.

Evelyn nodded at the same
time Alex and Minna did and said, “Correct. Not just the Tree of
Life but the entire Garden.”

“
Huh.” Dracht grunted,
arms still crossed over his chest.

“
All right. Make me a list
of the names so I can give that to Father Valanzano before they try
and find this box you're talking about. Then we'll wait for a reply
while we're baiting the other Templars into a trap and go from
there once they're in our custody. In the meantime, I've arranged
for you to visit your sisters before their burial.” Dragar gestured
to Dracht, Rhett and Christian. “You three come with me for a
moment.”

“
I'll make the list,”
Minna offered, standing up.

“
Thank you, Dragar. We'll
see you all shortly.” Evelyn thought that went a lot better than
she'd imagined. She stood up when Dragar nodded and met Rhett's
gaze for a lingering beat while he filed out of the room behind his
brothers. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“
C'mon, Ev. Let's go get
ready to say goodbye.” Alexandra slung an arm over Evelyn's
shoulders and led her out of the room.

With a lot on his mind,
Rhett followed his father and brothers through the halls to an
enclosed office. Like the rest of the stronghold, the furniture was
heavy, thick and sparse. A desk framed by walls of bookcases sat in
the middle of the room. Three chairs with leather cushions and
burnished studs offered seating. On any other day, the brothers
would have sank into the comfortable confines for the oncoming
conversation.

“
Shut the door,
Christian,” Dracht said with a gesture.

Christian closed the door
behind him.

Rhett stood next to Dracht
while his father perched on the corner of the desk, meeting each of
their gazes dead on.

“
The plan we discussed has
been put into motion. False details were relayed that the girls
would show up at the funeral for their sisters
tomorrow
. At the same time, I made a
discreet call on a separate phone to Valanzano telling him that the
girls would be transferred to one of the other safe houses here in
Athens and that the funeral was to be used as a cover for the move.
I have no doubt the Templars will intercept that phone call and
show up at the safe house to try and nab them,” Dragar
said.

“
How many of us do you
want at the safe house? If all nine show up, it could get messy.
The element of surprise will help,” Christian said.

“
I want you and Rhett here
at the stronghold with the girls. Dracht, Raoul, Benecio and I will
apprehend the men at the safe house along with some of the other
Templars we've recalled from duty. Once we have them in custody,
Dracht will call you while I inform Valanzano.”

“
Who is going to Italy for
the transfer of the Knights?” Dracht asked.

“
I'll take Raoul and
Benecio with me. The girls are more familiar with you three, so I
want you here until we get the rest of this straightened
out.”

“
What about the visit to
the mortuary today? You still want us to leave in separate cars?”
Rhett asked, comfortable with all of the other plans. Everything,
so far, was going according to their tentative schedule.

“
Different cars, different
departures. I can't imagine any of them would think we'd bring them
here, but just in case they've outguessed us, I'd like to cover our
actions as well as we're able,” Dragar replied.

“
I'll take Alexandra with
me and go out the back entrance,” Dracht said. “That'll split us up
even more.”

Dragar inclined his head.
“Good. Then I want everyone back here with no other stops in
between. After that, it's just a waiting game until
tomorrow.”

“
I'll take personal
pleasure in seeing the bastards brought in.” Rhett, annoyed that
their own brothers had deceived them, looked forward to their
capture.

Chapter
Thirteen

“
How are you feeling?”
Rhett asked.

Evelyn watched the streets
of Athen's whip by out the tinted windows of the car. They had left
the stronghold separate from the others, staggering their
departures as Rhett suggested. She'd added a cream colored,
crocheted shirt over the lemon yellow one underneath, affixing the
single button across her chest. Paired with the gray slacks, it
would have to do for the impromptu viewing of her sisters. She
wouldn't complain; she wasn't up for a shopping trip and there was
no time for it anyway. She felt lucky that they were allowed this
last chance to see the girls before they were buried.