“It is in here.” Andre stepped back and motioned for the man to enter.
“You first.” The man’s tone made it clear he would accept nothing less than total obedience.
Andre stepped inside with only the greatest reluctance. It was as if invisible hands held him back. His fear of the crypt, however, was nothing compared to his fear of the man behind him.
“Which one is Lazarus?” The man swept his beam across the two stone sarcophagi. Between them lay a stone rectangle where a third sarcophagus had once rested.
“Neither,” Andre stammered. “These were too large to move. Lazarus is here.”
He hurried to the back wall, cursing himself for cowardice. Keeping the secret had been a simple thing when it was only a matter of misleading researchers, but an armed man was more than he had ever bargained for. His fingers searched the rough, shadowed surface until it found what he was searching for- the odd carving of three joined hares. Some said it was a symbol of the Trinity, but Andre knew it to be an evil pagan symbol. Grimacing, he pressed his hand to the hateful symbol and pushed. The stone slowly gave way. When he heard it click, he turned it to the right once, twice, three times. It locked into place and, behind him, Andre heard a grinding sound. He turned to see the foundation stone slide back, revealing a dark hole the size and shape of a grave.
The man shone his light down into the darkness where the beam fell on a small stone box inscribed with the same three hares symbol.
“Open it.”
Andre did not hesitate, but clambered inside, turning his ankle in the process. Trying to ignore the burning pain, he knelt down by the ossuary. He had never actually laid eyes on it before. Taking a deep breath, he took hold of the lid and heaved.
It was a struggle. He was not a strong man and the lid was heavy, but fear had his adrenaline pumping and he was able to wrestle it free and slide it to the side. Despite his terror, he could not help but feel a thrill at knowing what was inside. The air in the ossuary smelled of dust and age. Andre leaned closer to see what lay inside.
The shaft of light shone on a perfectly preserved skull. He found he could not breathe, but it was not due to fear— that had been forgotten. He was gazing upon the remains of Lazarus himself, whom God incarnate had raised from the dead.
“Take it out and hand it to me.” Despite having found what he sought, the man sounded angry.
Andre reached in and gently cupped the skull in his trembling hands. Though the air down here was cool, a solitary bead of sweat rolled off his forehead and dropped to the floor, making a crater in the dust at the bottom of the ossuary. Slowly, carefully, he raised the skull to eye level and took one long look at it before handing it over to his captor.
The man turned the skull in one hand, scowling. He shone his light back down into the ossuary.
“There’s nothing else?”
“No.” The fear was back, twisting his insides into a queasy knot. “We have had only the skull, nothing more, for many centuries.”
The man moved the skull to the crook of his left arm, took the flashlight in his left hand, and drew his gun with his right. He leveled the weapon at Andre’s head.
“What was the secret?” The bearlike voice was now a scratchy whisper. “How did he bring Lazarus back from the dead?”
Andre gaped. Did the man not know the story?
“By the power of God. He spoke the word and Lazarus rose from the dead.”
Fire lanced through Andre’s leg as a sound like a thousand thunderclaps erupted in the crypt. He slumped to the ground clutching his wounded thigh. He had never dreamed such pain was possible.
“Last chance to live,” the man snarled. “What is the secret? How was he brought back?”
“I only know what the scriptures tell us.” Andre’s voice was a whimper. “I do not know any secret.”
“Are you sure?”
Andre nodded. “I know nothing. Please, let me go.”
The flashlight winked out, leaving them in absolute darkness. Pulse pounding in his ears, Andre strained to listen for any sounds, hoping to hear receding footsteps that would mean his terror and suffering were at an end. Silently he prayed, eyes squeezed shut. He heard the soft tread of footsteps and then…
No!
The loud scraping of stone on stone filled the room. He tried to get to his feet, but his wounded leg betrayed him and he fell down hard. Summoning all his remaining strength, he hurled everything he had into the effort, and sprang to his feet.
Pain exploded through his skull as he cracked the top of his head on hard stone, and he crumpled to the ground with a whimper. Head swimming and ears ringing, he tried to push himself up, but his strength was gone. Only a moan of pain and desperation escaped his lips as the stone cover slid back into place, entombing him where the saint had once lain.
Chapter 10 — The Peacock
“Let me take another look at that.” Dane reached into the back seat and accepted the skull from Angel. He sat it in his lap, its face grinning up at him. The Magi, the Wise Men who visited the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Could it be true? He had to laugh. How many times in the past few years had he asked himself that very question? Either the world was jam-packed with mysteries and secrets, or he and Bones were very lucky— or unlucky, depending on how you looked at things.
“I don’t know what to make of it.” Jade leaned over his seat to get a better look. A moment later, Angel’s face joined hers.
“Hey chicks, we’re driving on a snowy highway. Put your seat belts back on!” Bones shook his head. “And they say I’m reckless.”
Angel laid a hand on his shoulder. “We just trust your driving ability, that’s all.”
Bones rolled his eyes but dropped the issue.
“Does that light ever go out?” Angel pointed to the stone set in the front of the crown.
“I think it’s just reflecting light from the dashboard,” Jade said.
“I’m not so sure.” Dane remembered his first impression when he removed the skull from its reliquary. The light seemed to come from within the stone. “I could see a glimmer of light in it from the very start.”
“A stone that generates its own light? Maddock, that’s impossible.”
Dane and Bones exchanged a quick glance, both remembering an underground temple, its walls lined with stones that could absorb and amplify light.
“I once saw something along those lines, though not quite the same.” He told them about what he and Bones had found in the Holy Land a few years earlier. “I have an idea. Bones, can you pull the car over and kill the lights?”
A few minutes later they sat on a dark, deserted stretch of highway. They all huddled around the skull, blocking any ambient light, and peering intently at the opaque gem.
“I see it!” Jade gripped Dane’s arm. “There’s a faint sliver of light there.”
“It’s almost shaped like a triangle,” Angel mused. “See how it’s narrower at one end?”
“But is it generating its own light, or is it like the stones we saw before, and just using the light it absorbs?” Bones asked.
“This isn’t like those stones.” Dane shook his head. “Those took a little bit of light and multiplied it. This is just a sliver that seems to come from within the stone itself. Weird.”
Just then, Jade’s cell phone rang, interrupting their quiet contemplation. She glanced at the screen and smiled.