The Library of Shadows (37 page)

'You bastards,' exclaimed Pau from where he sat on the chair. 'You're never going to get away with this.'

Henning and Mehmet had tied him up with a rope they'd brought along while Katherina had taken over the toy pistol, which she kept aimed at Pau. Now he was spitting venom at them with hatred in his eyes.

'Are you going to a fancy-dress party?' asked Mehmet, holding up Pau's white robe.

'Look who's talking.'

'And what's this?' Mehmet held up the copper amulet they'd found round Pau's neck. 'Is this your VIP ticket?'

Pau didn't answer.

'Let's assume it is.' Mehmet handed the amulet to Katherina. 'So the question is, a ticket to what?' He looked expectantly at Pau, who deliberately turned his head away.

Katherina examined the copper amulet. It was round, about the size of a 5-krone coin, and it had a hole in the centre through which a leather cord was attached so it could be worn as a necklace. All around the edge, tiny characters had been neatly etched.

'What are you going to get out of all this?' asked Henning. 'You're already activated.'

Pau smiled.

'And what an activation it was,' Henning added. 'What was it you have for an RL score? Nought point seven? That's not even enough juice to run a bicycle light.'

Pau's smile vanished. Katherina could see he was gritting his teeth in anger.

'So I suppose it's a good thing you've got the protection of the organization,' Henning went on. 'Weak Lectors like you need all the help they can get. Do they have any use for you at all?'

Fury glittered in Pau's eyes, and his cheeks were flushed.

'Oh, that's right, you infiltrated Libri di Luca, but that was only because Luca took pity on you. He could see from a mile away how weak you are.'

'Shut up!' Pau threw his body as far forward in his chair as the ropes would allow.

Henning leaned towards him, just enough to stay out of his reach.

'So, what now? Your job is done. What possible use can the Shadow Organization have for a weakling like you now?'

'Come back after the reactivation, and I'll show you.'

Henning and Katherina exchanged glances.

'Reactivation?' Henning repeated. 'Is that what's going to happen tonight?'

Pau didn't reply.

'Have you found a way to repeat the activation?' Henning asked. 'A way to enhance it?'

A little smile formed on Pau's lips.

Katherina could see that was exactly what was going to happen. According to the documents from the school, almost all the people who had flown in were already activated. The whole staging of this gathering in this place seemed to point to something larger than a ritual ceremony of no practical significance. She held her breath. If a reactivation could enhance a Lector's powers, then what would happen to Jon? He was already off the scale and deadly dangerous when he was out of control. She could see that the others were thinking along the same lines.

'How much stronger can all of you get?' asked Henning at last.

'Enough to power a bicycle light,' said Pau, then smiled secretively.

'Then it's too bad you're not going to experience it,' said Katherina. She nodded towards the ropes. 'It's going to be hard to go to the reactivation when you're tied up like this.'

Pau looked at her. A hint of uncertainty had stolen across his face. 'They're coming to pick me up,' he said. 'They'll be here any minute.'

Mehmet looked at his watch.

'In half an hour, at the earliest,' he said. 'Plenty of time to get you out of here.'

Pau laughed nervously.

'We have friends in town,' Mehmet went on. 'How else do you think we found you? People who are good at finding things and also good at making things disappear.'

Pau shifted his gaze from one to the other, without finding even an ounce of support. Finally he gave Katherina a pleading look.

'You have to let me go, Kat,' he said desperately. 'I need this. It's my reward.'

'For what?' she asked.

'For Libri di Luca,' he replied, sounding annoyed.

'Did
you
murder Luca?'

'No, no,' said Pau, shaking his head. 'It's my reward for infiltrating you.' His eyes took on a suffering expression. 'Come on, Kat. I promise not to say anything about you being here. Just let me go, so I can get my boost.'

'When is it going to happen?' asked Katherina.

Pau turned his head so he could avoid looking them in the eyes. He was silent for a long time before he answered.

'Tonight, like I said.'

'How?'

'Like an ordinary activation,' said Pau. 'But Jon is going to act as some sort of medium. I don't know exactly how it works. It has something to do with the library's energy and Jon's powers. When they're put together ... ka-boom! Then we'll all get a boost up the scale.'

'And Jon?'

Pau shook his head. 'Nobody knows. Maybe nothing will happen, maybe he'll get a kick too, or maybe he'll croak.'

Katherina fought back a desire to grab Pau and shake the indifference out of him. They were wasting time while the Shadow Organization was getting ready to sacrifice Jon.

'How do all of you get in?' asked Mehmet.

Pau nodded at the robe.

'We have to wear that, and the necklace.'

'How many are going to be there?'

'Lots. They're coming from all over the world.'

'What about the language?' asked Henning. 'Jon can't very well reactivate people in all the different languages, can he?'

'I don't know! I think it has something to do with the electrical discharges. They'll strike everyone, regardless.'

'And what about afterwards?'

'Afterwards nobody'll be able to stop us.' Pau smiled.

Mehmet nodded to Henning and Katherina and then drew them away from Pau so he wouldn't hear what they said.

'What do you think?' asked Mehmet in a low voice.

'I believe him,' replied Henning with a sigh.

Katherina cast a glance over at Pau, who was sitting there with a satisfied smile on his face.

'I do too,' she whispered. 'Unfortunately. It doesn't look good. This is worse than I had imagined. We're going to have to stop it.'

'But how? There are three of us, and we don't know how many hundreds of them.'

'But there's only one Jon,' Mehmet pointed out.

'What do you mean?' asked Katherina.

'We have to stop him from taking part in the celebration,' said Mehmet bluntly. 'No Jon. No party.'

Katherina didn't really want to know what lengths they would have to go to in order to stop Jon, but she knew Mehmet was right. Jon was the key to the whole thing, and as long as he was on the side of the Shadow Organization – as he seemed now to be – he was dangerous.

'And how are we going to stop him?' asked Henning.

'We have to go to the party,' said Mehmet. He nodded towards Pau. 'One of us will have a free ticket to get in.'

'That will be me,' said Katherina quickly.

The other two looked at her.

'I know him best,' she stubbornly pointed out. 'We've trained together, so I know what he's capable of doing.'

Mehmet nodded. 'Okay. You take the amulet. Henning and I will find another way in.'

Henning agreed with a nod.

'Hey,' shouted Pau behind them. 'I think it's about time for you to set me free.'

The three exchanged knowing smiles before they turned to face their captive.

In a few hours it would be done.

Jon could hardly comprehend it. For most of his life he had been held back from following his destiny, and until only moments ago people had been trying to lead him astray, but now he would finally have the opportunity to take his rightful place. There had been countless obstacles along the way, and they had caused extraordinary delays. He wished that he'd had more time to prepare. After all, it was only a couple of days ago that he'd been initiated into the true nature of the Order. It annoyed him not to feel entirely ready, even though Remer had said he was. Of course he could see it was important for the Order to launch the activation. The longer they waited, the more chance of losing their influence, but he still felt uncertain. His encounter with Katherina just a few hours ago had shaken him, and if it hadn't been for Remer's intervention, things could have gone terribly wrong.

That couldn't be allowed to happen again.

So it was a focused and silent Jon who sat on the back seat of the Land Rover, together with Patrick Vedel, on their way to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In his hands he held the book from which he was supposed to read. It bore neither a title nor the name of the author, and the black leather had no visible markings to reveal the contents. This was the book used for all activations in the Order, specially written for the occasion and charged with so much energy that Jon almost dropped it the first time he held it in his hands. The pulsing from the book made his fingers tingle, but in a pleasant, reassuring way, which helped him to concentrate instead of distracting him. The contents were equally surprising. When Jon had had the opportunity to read some of the pages, he discovered that the descriptions and the images they evoked were strangely compelling. There was no question of any sort of coherent storyline. The book had been written for the purpose of supporting the powers in the best possible way, and it was full of scenes that could be interpreted and charged by the transmitter to great effect. Remer had explained that Jon's copy was only one of a large set of identical books that would be used at the reactivation. All of them had become charged during countless rituals.

Outside the car the weather changed as they travelled from the country house to the city. The wind picked up, and dark clouds drifted in across the evening sky. When they reached Al-Corniche, the beach promenade, they could see the water pounding against the bulwark, the beaten foam tossed over the roadway in great white clumps.

Even though they had driven past the library earlier in the day, it made a different and much more spectacular impression against the backdrop of the sombre sky. The disc of the library roof was illuminated by spotlights, the entire glass surface gleaming an unnatural white. The spherical building on the plaza in front, which housed the planetarium, was girdled by glittering blue bands. Beyond the library was the pyramid-shaped library school; in the darkness it shone green in the glow from powerful searchlights. The illuminated buildings were an incredible sight, and from the sea they must have seemed a worthy replacement for the lighthouse of antiquity.

There were two other people in the car besides Jon and Patrick Vedel. Poul Holt was driving, and Remer sat in the front passenger seat. All four wore the same type of robe; only Jon's was black, the others were white. At first Jon had thought it slightly ridiculous to be dressed in this way, but now he agreed they needed to show the proper respect for the ritual, and this opinion was reinforced the moment he saw the historic setting before him. At the same time, the robe had a reassuring effect, and gave him a strong sense of solidarity with the others. He still felt slightly nervous, but otherwise great, and was looking forward to delivering the best performance he could muster. He recognized this feeling from all the occasions when he had delivered his closing remarks in court, but this time there was much more at stake than the fate of his client or his own pride.

Holt stopped the car right in front of the library and the three other men got out. The wind instantly grabbed at their robes and the trio hurried towards the entrance while Holt drove off. The entry area was made of glass; just inside, a red carpet led the way to the interior of the library. Behind glass doors stood two Arab-looking men wearing the same type of white robes and welcoming the arriving guests. When they caught sight of Jon's black robe, they bowed low and chanted several phrases in Arabic. After that they checked everyone's amulets before the party was allowed to pass through yet another set of glass doors.

The hall they entered stretched ten metres upwards and massive pillars of light-coloured sandstone soared like tree trunks, ending at the metal rafters of the roof. Jon sensed the energy that pervaded the entire hall. It was different from Libri di Luca, not nearly as insistent; instead, it was present in a natural way, like a background radiation that permeated everything.

More than two hundred people had gathered in the foyer, all wearing white robes, some with their hoods up, others bareheaded. There was a buzz of voices as lively discussions were carried on in the small groups that had formed. Jon caught words from a number of different languages spoken by the participants, but as Remer and Jon made their way through, the conversations stopped until they had passed. Then a great whispering followed at their heels.

Remer led the way to a group of about ten people, who greeted the three men in Danish as they approached.

Remer introduced Jon to the group, which he explained was the inner circle of the Danish division of the Order.

All the members of the group carried a book identical to Jon's. Each person stepped forward in turn to introduce himself and utter a few appropriate words of welcome. Jon politely returned the greetings, but he didn't recognize any of them. Judging by their expressions and friendly attitude, however, they all seemed to know who he was.

'The ceremony will be conducted in the reading room,' said Remer, turning to Jon.

'It's an amazing place,' said one of the people in the group, and the others chimed in with eager nods and approving remarks.

'But how are you keeping this whole thing secret?' asked Jon, gesturing towards the assembly. 'It's not exactly a discreet gathering.'

Remer laughed. 'You might well say that,' he acknowledged. 'But often the best way to hide something is to put it right out in the open.' He gave Jon a wink. 'Of course we're not exactly advertising what's really going on here. Officially it's a charity event, and we're also making quite a handsome donation to the library operating fund. Not that it's pure altruism. The staff are our people, of course, even those who work here in the daytime.'

In the meantime groups of Lectors continued to arrive, and Jon estimated the number had now reached well over three hundred. More and more people had begun to pull up their hoods, as a signal that they were ready, and many cast glances filled with anticipation in his direction. He looked up at the ceiling, ten metres above, and suddenly had a feeling that he was the one holding it up and not the massive pillars.

Katherina was shaking with nerves. She stood a short distance from the entrance to the library, observing the other participants as they arrived. To her relief, some of them had already pulled up their hoods, so she did the same. That helped.

Henning and Mehmet had separated from her at a safe distance from the library. They had neither robes nor amulets and would have to try to find another way in. At any rate, the main entrance was closed to them. That became clear to Katherina the moment she saw the two guards at the door. They wore robes just like everyone else but she could clearly see the muscles underneath, and the bulges at their hips indicated they were also armed – with real guns, not toys like the one Mehmet had used to scare Pau.

They had left Pau gagged and bound in the bathroom of his hotel room. Aside from the fact that Katherina considered it an appropriate fate, they had decided it was too risky to try to remove him from the place. And there was little likelihood he would be found before Katherina was safely inside the library. He had put up a fierce struggle when it finally dawned on him he wasn't going to be freed in time for the reactivation. Desperation had shone in his eyes and he tried to break loose in frantic fits of rage. It made Katherina realize that the evening's event was much more than some cosy gathering for bibliophiles. A great deal was at stake, maybe even people's lives. Including Jon's.

Katherina took a deep breath and pushed open one of the glass doors. She was met by a smiling guard who welcomed her in English. He looked at her expectantly. Her heart started pounding even harder. Had he already seen through her? Was she supposed to mention some sort of password? Had he noticed her robe was slightly too long?

The guard patted his chest and then pointed towards her throat.

The amulet.

Katherina glanced down and saw that the amulet had slipped inside her robe. Relieved, she pulled it out and murmured an apology. The guard merely gave her an even bigger smile and then gestured towards the next set of doors.

She quickly moved on, pushing open the glass doors to the foyer. The last time she had been here, tourists wearing gaudy clothes and carrying cameras had filled the space with colours, noise and flashes of light. Now several hundred identically clad people stood around chatting to each other as if they were at some perfectly ordinary social function. How was she going to find Jon in this crowd?

Two rows of square-shaped candles in wrought-iron holders lined the corridor leading to the reading room. Katherina started moving in that direction, positioning herself close enough to a group of participants that it looked as if she was one of them, but far enough away so as not to attract their attention. From the words she caught, she thought they were French.

More than half of the participants had now pulled up their hoods, but looking at those who had not, she could see there were people from many different ethnic groups. When she noticed the black book some were carrying she had a moment of panic, thinking the book was yet another item required for admission. But she quickly calmed down when she noticed that most of the people didn't actually have a book. Besides, receivers were not supposed to use books at an activation.

A short distance away Katherina noticed a large group that was getting a good deal of attention from everyone else, and after observing them for a moment she understood why. The robe of one of the group members was black instead of white. The person was surrounded by the others, and she couldn't see much more than a shoulder, an arm and a back when the individual moved to one side. Her hood didn't make it any easier for her to get a good view, so she discreetly moved a little closer.

It had to be the leader. Maybe even Remer.

Katherina held her breath and took another step closer. She knew it was risky because she ended up standing conspicuously separate from the groups around her.

The person in black turned his head, and it felt as if he were looking straight at her.

It was Jon.

His eyes seemed to fix on hers, right there among all the others, but then he let his gaze continue to slide over the assembled crowd, and soon he turned his attention back to the group standing around him. Someone must have said something amusing, because he smiled and nodded to one of the others.

Katherina couldn't tear her eyes off him. She stood there practically paralysed, watching him converse and listen attentively, as if he were among good friends. It was hard to keep her emotions under control. What she wanted to do most was to rush over there, throw her arms round him and hold him tight until the real Jon materialized. It was just too strange to see him enjoying himself in the company of people who had abducted him against his will and even murdered his family.

Jon couldn't quite get used to being the centre of so much attention. He felt as if people were watching his every move, and was aware of a need to ingratiate himself with those standing around him so as not to seem too affected by the situation. One of the participants in particular had been blatantly staring at him. He had tried to ignore it, but even though he had his back turned, he could still sense the person studying him intently. He glanced over his shoulder and saw he was right. The person was standing about twenty metres behind him, a woman judging by the shape of her body. She stood there all alone, observing him from under the shadow of her hood.

He nodded to her in greeting. She gave a start and immediately stepped out of his field of vision. Jon frowned. Was that a lock of red hair he saw as she turned away? No, that was impossible. It couldn't be her. Katherina would never be allowed admittance. And why should she? Besides, there must be other Lectors who had red hair. And it was perfectly natural people would stare at him; the mere fact that he was wearing a black robe made it hard for him to hide.

'Are you okay?' asked Remer at his side.

Jon turned his attention to Remer.

'Yes, sure,' he replied with a smile. 'I'm just feeling a bit tense.'

'We all are,' said one of the others in the group with a laugh. 'And it doesn't help matters that our guide is nervous.'

'Don't worry,' Remer assured them. 'Campelli is totally prepared. Nothing can stop us now.'

Jon nodded. 'When do we get started?'

'Very soon,' said Remer. 'Let me just check with the guards.'

Remer withdrew from the group and headed towards the entrance. Jon kept his gaze on Remer as he had a brief discussion with the guards, who consulted their watches and nodded affirmatively.

'Is it true you destroyed the test chamber in the basement of the Demetrius School?' asked an elderly man on Jon's right.

'Yes, there wasn't much left of it,' replied Jon, which prompted a worried look in the man's eyes. 'But it was an uncontrolled session. We've been practising since then, and now I can hit the right level with great precision.'

'But we're all at different levels,' said the man nervously. 'How can you be sure the level you choose isn't going to be too strong for some people?'