As the electronic voice echoed through the speaker, Nick felt an electric rush of adrenaline and a sense of something dark and ancient watching outside the edge of his awareness. It made his skin crawl.
"Darkness and light, good and evil. There is no war older than that. That story can be found in every religion in the world."
"If you mean what I think you mean, I don't believe in the devil," Nick said.
"Do you believe there is evil in the world?"
"I think that's self-evident."
"That is all that is required," Adam said.
"What am I supposed to do with the Grail once I find it? If I find it?"
"That will become apparent."
The drawer in the black glass wall separating Nick from Adam slid open. It contained a folded map. Nick reached in and took it out. The drawer slid closed.
The car came to a stop. Nick heard the quiet sound of the door lock releasing. Adam's disembodied voice came through the speaker.
"The map gives you the exact location of the library. The opening to the crypt is in the southwest wall of the room."
"How come no one's discovered it yet?" Nick asked.
"It was always well hidden. Good hunting, Nick."
Nick got out. Adam had brought him back to the sidewalk in front of his loft. He watched the black limo pull away.
How do I get into these things? he thought.
CHAPTER 48
In Raqqa, Abdul Haddad was thinking about Darraya and the hidden library. The irony did not escape him. He'd been looking far away for the cup used by the prophet Isa, when all along it had been close nearby.
In a normal world it would have been within easy driving distance. The world wasn't normal anymore and it wasn't going to be easy to get to it. Darraya was one of the places in Syria were ISIS was not in control. It was under siege by Assad's forces. Scum. Pigs. Words would never describe how much Haddad loathed the Shia.
He knew about the prophecy in the Book of Simon from his spy in Sweden. It fit with the signs of the coming of the Mahdi laid down in the Hadiths, teachings collected after the death of Mohammed. Haddad was certain he'd been chosen by Allah to help fulfill the prophecy. Why else had he found himself at the center of this search for the relic?
One man traveling alone had the best chance of getting through Assad's lines. Once through the ring of steel surrounding the city, he would need to be careful if he wanted to stay alive. Discovery meant torture and death. Allah would protect him, but he needed to prepare.
He would have to take on the appearance of the thing he hated most, a Shia apostate. Few in the caliphate knew as much about Shia ways as Haddad. Aside from his personal distaste, it wouldn't be difficult to pass as one of them. In the service of Allah, anything was permitted. He would be forgiven for his deception.
Haddad didn't know the exact location of the bombed out building where the secret library hid the cup. The library had been created by University students, as a way to continue their studies in the midst of the chaos. It wouldn't be hard to find out where the students gathered. One of them would tell him where the library was, whether he wanted to or not.
Most of Darraya had been destroyed and many of its inhabitants slaughtered by Assad. Those who were left were being bombed by the Russians and shelled by Assad’s troops. The city was on the old road to Damascus, famous as the place where the traitorous Jew Saul had received his conversion to Christianity. Haddad prayed the destruction of the city would be complete and all association with the Christian heresy wiped forever from the face of the earth.
But not before he found the cup of Isa.
Just as the Christians believed in the final judgment and an eternity in heaven or hell, Islam believed in the coming of the Mahdi and the yawm al-qiyamah, the Day of Retribution that would follow. On that day the faithful would ascend to paradise. All others would be cast into hell and suffer the torments of the flames for eternity.
The coming of the Mahdi was something Haddad wished for with all his heart, as all true followers of the Prophet did. He would find this cup the Christians wanted so badly. When Jaffari's bomb exploded in the great American city, the final war would begin and the rest of the prophecy would unfold.
The call to prayer echoed through the dusty streets of the city. Haddad spread his rug on the floor and began the ritual ablution.
CHAPTER 49
Adam left Nick in front of his building. Nick watched the limousine pull away and then went up to the loft to change. Selena had already gone to the hospital. He drove out to Virginia and Project headquarters. Now he sat at Harker's desk, staring at the blank monitor on the wall and a row of clocks above it.
He was alone in the building except for Burps. The huge, orange cat strolled over and rubbed against his leg, purring and shedding and drooling on his shoe. Burps was getting old. Nick reached down and scratched him behind one of his tattered ears.
"You're still a pretty kitty," he said. "Don't let anybody tell you different."
He got up and opened a can of cat food and set it down near the desk with a bowl of water. There was something comforting in the sounds as the cat ate. It was noisy, like everything else Burps did.
Nick had wanted a little time to think before the others got there. The unexpected encounter with a man he'd thought dead changed everything.
What was it Adam had said? You're part of a war that's been going on for a long time. He'd meant since Lucifer had been thrown out of heaven. The Templars were a religious order, and Adam was one of them. It made sense he would see it that way, but it wasn't the way Nick was used to looking at things.
He'd never been religious. How could anyone believe in God when they thought about the terrible things happening every day? Things like barrel bombs falling on children or fanatics justifying mass murder in God's name.
Nick had no problem believing in evil, but he didn't believe it needed a supernatural being like Satan to account for it. He thought it was hardwired into the human psyche. Fortunately for humanity, there was also something hardwired in for good. The problem was that it seemed there were more people at the moment who fell into the evil category than the good one.
He felt a headache begin. Thinking about the nature of good and evil was enough to give anyone a headache.
Harker's desk was his for the moment and there was plenty to do. First he had to talk with Hood. Then the team had to plan the mission into Syria. Hood could help there, but it was going to be harder without Stephanie backing them up.
He used Harker's secured desk phone and called Hood at Langley. Half an hour later, the headache was a lot worse. Hood had confirmed what Adam had said.
A nuclear bomb, coming soon to a city near you.
Without explaining the source of the information, Nick told Hood he had learned that the bomb was headed for America. He ducked Hood's questions and after they had arranged a meeting for later in the day he ended the call.
Nick got up and walked to the bathroom out in the hall. He found a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet, scooped water from the tap into his hand and gulped down four of the pills. As he headed back to Elizabeth's office, Stephanie came in. She had her newborn wrapped up and cradled in her arms. Selena was right behind her.
"Steph. What are you doing here?"
"You need my help. Besides, I was bored in the hospital. There's no reason for me to be there. There's nothing wrong with me, Michael is healthy. The worst thing I can do for myself is do nothing."
"I tried to talk her out of it," Selena said.
"I won't pretend I'm not glad to see you," Nick said. "But are you sure you can handle this? Things are going to get intense around here over the next couple of weeks."