“Don’t listen to him,” Jade said. “You’re every bit as pretty as Maddock described you.”
“Oh really?” Bones gave him an appraising look. “Now you’re hot for my sister too? How many babes do you need?”
“What I said was, you must have gotten all the bad genes in the family.”
“Don’t hate,” Bones said. “You’ve always been jealous of my good looks.”
“How about we get going?” Jade said. “We’re supposed to meet my friend at the cathedral in ten minutes.”
A few minutes later found them rounding the Kölner Dom. The massive Gothic cathedral was, according to Jade, the largest in all of Germany. Dane had never seen its equal. Its twin columns, square in their lower sections, octagonal in the middle and tapering off to points far above, were inlaid with stone reliefs, and towered above them, almost sinister in the darkness.
“It withstood all the bombings during World War II.” Jade spoke in a tone almost as soft as the downy flakes that fell harder as they approached the cathedral entrance. “Everything around it was leveled, but the cathedral stood.”
Bones whistled, clearly impressed.
“Some think the Allies tried to avoid hitting it because its height made for a good landmark for pilots. Others credit more otherworldly protection.” Her eyes flitted skyward for a moment before locking on a man who stood waving to them. He was tall and wiry with thinning brown hair sprinkled with white. He looked to be of late middle years, but his smile was eager and his eyes brimmed with vitality. He gave Jade a quick embrace before turning to introduce himself to the others.
“Otto Döring. I am an archaeologist and an old friend of Jade’s.” He had only the slightest German accent.
“Otto has pulled a few strings to get us access to the cathedral after regular tour hours.” Jade beamed. “He is going to show us around.”
Otto nodded and led the way through the main entrance, filling them in on details as they went. Bones snickered at the mention of “flying buttresses,” but it turned to a wheezing cough when Angel elbowed him in the gut. Otto did not seem to notice, so absorbed was he in his subject. “The cathedral is nearly one hundred fifty meters long, more than eighty-five meters wide, and over one hundred fifty meters high.”
Dane performed some quick calculations. That put the towers at over five hundred feet tall, the nave nearly that length, and the transept almost three-hundred feet wide. As they stepped inside, he fully appreciated the sheer size of the place and what it must have taken to construct it, considering the available technology between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries. The towering columns drew his eyes up to the vaulted ceiling overhead. This place was an architectural marvel.
“The windows on the south wall were donated by…” Otto’s voice trailed away. “Oh my!” He pointed to the far end of the nave. “The Shrine of the Magi. What happened to it?”
“The what?”
“The Shrine of the Magi.” Jade said. “The golden sarcophagus that supposedly holds the remains of the three Wise Men who visited the baby Jesus.”
Ignoring the others, Otto took off at a trot and Dane ran alongside him as the archaeologist hurried toward the far end of the cathedral. They skirted the transept altar and ran toward the main altar.
Under a different set of circumstances Dane would have goggled at the ornate stained glass, the sculptures, and the artwork. Now, however, he had eyes only for the scene around the altar.
Three steps led up to the black marble altar outlined in ornate white friezes. Directly behind it stood the shattered remains of what had been a bulletproof glass container. Nearby lay an upended golden sarcophagus, and behind that were bodies.
Chapter 2 — Kölner Dom
Three men in clerical robes lay around the fallen sarcophagus as if they had tried to defend it from whoever was after it. Dane knelt to check on the nearest man. He was dead. He’d been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. Deep slices in his palms indicated defensive wounds. He glanced at Bones, who was examining another man. Bones shook his head.
“This man’s alive.” Angel knelt over the third man, feeling for a pulse. “But I don’t think he has much time.”
They surrounded the dying man, whose eyes suddenly popped open. He looked down at the blood soaking his vestments and he let his head fall back. He stared glassy-eyed at Angel, the knowledge of his certain death filling his eyes.
“Engel?” he gasped, reaching up to grab her by the sleeve.
“Angel, yes.” She looked surprised. “How does he know my name?”
Considering the dying priest’s probable delirium, Dane thought, the beautiful young woman clad in a white jacket with a few snowflakes still dusting her hair probably made her look like an actual angel to him. “I think he believes you’re an actual angel.” Dane kept his voice low, as if they sat at a hospital bedside.
“You guys, look at that.” Something had caught Jade’s eye. Carefully skirting the fallen bodies, she moved closer to the fallen sarcophagus, which lay on its side like an upended house. The top had either fallen or been tossed to the side, and on the floor nearby lay three skulls.
Jade slipped on her gloves and picked up one of the skulls to give it a closer look. Candlelight flickered across its surface, lending it a sinister feel.
“Do you think he’s a Magi?” Dane moved closer to Jade, and Bones and Otto followed.
“I don’t know what he is.” Jade’s voice trembled. “But he’s not human.” Slowly, as if turning over the last card in a losing hand, Jade rotated the skull for all to see.
Dane stopped short. Behind him he heard Bones’ sharp intake of breath, and Otto’s mumbled German curse. At least it sounded like a curse to Dane.
Protruding from the skull were two small, curved horns.
“What the hell is that?” Dane could not believe what he was seeing.
“Tuefel,” Otto whispered, taking a step back.
The priests eyes drifted toward Jade, and he seemed to experience a sudden moment of clarity as he saw what she was holding. “Nein!” he gasped. His grip on Angel’s sleeve tightened and he rattled off a stream of words. He let go of her arm and pointed beyond the altar toward the apse, where seven chapels formed the cathedral’s chevet. The priest was speaking so fast that Dane could make out only a few words, though he did catch “Mailänder Madonna” and something that sounded like “dry house and build.” He paused, gasping for breath, and hacked up a gout of blood. This seem to take everything he had left. He let his head fall back and his eyes close. “Ewige.” His voice was a scarce whisper. “Ewige.” He coughed again. “L…” He fell silent as life fled his body.
“What did he say?” Angel’s jaw was set and she looked like she was ready to punch anyone within arm’s reach.
Otto held up a hand and shook his head. He took out a cell phone and made a call. His voice sounded both grave and urgent. When he finally hung up, he turned back to Angel. “I apologize. I felt I should call the authorities right away.” He gave a quick shake of the head as if to jar his mind back on track. “The priest said the skulls must never be seen or people will lose faith. He begs us to take them away.” Otto scratched his head. “After that, I think he was confused. He said all the priests were dead and he had to share the secret or it could be lost forever.”
“What story?” Bones asked.
“I do not know. As I said, he sounded confused, though he was insistent that I listen to him. I could see in his eyes that it was important.”Otto looked around. “He mentioned the Milan Madonna, as you would say it in English, which is back there.” He pointed to a statue that stood beyond the altar, far to the right, where the first chapel began. “It is a well-known work of art.” Otto shrugged.