“Meaning what?” Cassie was lost again.
The scrivener smiled. “They think we’re dead. If we orchestrate this correctly, they need never know about our resurrection.”
“How are we gonna pull that off?” Erik seemed just as bemused as Cassie.
“Time will be on our side,” Griffin explained. “We should get to the first relic long before they realize their mistake.”
“Yeah, but assuming they do realize their mistake, they’ll know somebody took it the minute they get to the right spot and find it’s missing,” objected Erik.
“But it won’t be missing,” the scrivener said quietly.
“Yes, of course,” Faye concurred. “I see where you’re going with this.”
Griffin continued. “We will substitute a forgery for the real relic, whatever it turns out to be. We succeeded in duplicating the granite key, didn’t we? As long as we remain two steps ahead of them, we’ll have time to retrieve the artifact, duplicate it, and place the forgery in its original location. Unless they decide to authenticate the date of the relic, they’ll assume they have the original.”
“But we’ll collect all the originals in our troves, right?” Cassie asked.
“Yes,” Griffin affirmed. “Given the lead we’ll establish with the first relic, there’s no reason why we can’t stay several steps ahead of the Nephilim in retrieving the other four. They’ll never discover the Arkana’s involvement at all. Let the diviner have his forgeries and welcome to them.”
“We will have to plan our strategy carefully.” The old woman frowned in concentration. “Forgeries, substitutions. This may require the full resources of the Arkana if we’re to orchestrate it correctly.” She lapsed into silence.
The other three gazed at her eagerly, waiting for her to say something more. She remained silent for several minutes, lost in thought. Cassie wondered if they should tiptoe quietly out of the garden and come back another day.
Just then, Faye roused herself from her reverie. “Yes,” she said decisively. “Yes, I believe this is a workable plan.” She regarded each one of them gravely. “My dears, you are about to play a very dangerous game. You should understand the risks.”
“You don’t need to tell us,” Cassie agreed in a rueful tone. “We already caught a preview of what’s in store.”
“Of course, we can’t go anywhere just yet,” Griffin interjected. “There’s still the small matter of interpreting the second line of code.”
“Any chance our friends will figure it out first?” Erik sounded wary.
“Unlikely,” the scrivener replied. “And even if they did, it wouldn’t change the fact that they would be searching the wrong mountaintop in the wrong country.”
“Before we get cracking on cracking any more codes, I need to get a few hours of beauty sleep. I want to be well rested for the next time I’m in mortal danger,” Cassie observed.
“I need to get in touch with some of my Turkish contacts. This isn’t gonna be a walk in the park,” Erik admitted.
“Judging from your comments, I take it you’re all up to the task?” Faye inquired pointedly.
The trio exchanged glances. A wordless message seemed to fly from one to the next.
In a determined voice, Cassie translated for the group. “Try and stop us.”
Chapter 43 – The Key to the Kingdom
Abraham retreated to his prayer closet for a few moments’ reflection at the end of a very long but gratifying day. So much welcome news. Daniel had discovered the whereabouts of the first relic, and the thieves who coveted the artifacts had been struck down. He could see the workings of Providence in all these things. God surely blessed his efforts.
He walked over to the locked cabinets that lined the wall. His hands mechanically performed a task he had done a thousand times before. It was a task so familiar that he could go through the motions with his eyes closed. He unlocked the middle cabinet and withdrew a leather-bound volume of diviner prophecies. The pages were worn. The prophecies it contained were over a hundred years old, but he knew they referred to him just as surely as if the diviner who gave the prediction was standing in the room and singling him out.
When Metcalf had first ascended to the position of diviner, he followed the traditions of his predecessors. As their founder Jedediah Proctor had ordained, they lived apart from the Fallen and awaited the end of days. But the prophecy revealed this course of action to be a grave error. It was plain that God did not intend the Blessed Nephilim to wait meekly for the end times. He wanted the faithful to bring the end about. His servant Abraham had been charged to cleanse the world of the Fallen abomination and replace it with a godly kingdom of Blessed Nephilim. The first time Metcalf stumbled across the prophecy, it sent chills down his spine. The words could not possibly refer to anyone else but him.
The diviner took a moment to visualize his triumphant entry into the kingdom of heaven: the day when he fulfilled his earthly destiny and was called to the Lord’s side at last. God would look upon him with favor and announce to all the celestial host that Abraham was to be elevated above the rank of the archangels—above the rank of the Messiah himself. All would be commanded to kneel before the diviner and praise his name.
Metcalf drew back from his flight of fancy and sternly reminded himself that there was work yet to be done before his day of glory arrived. The victory on Crete had renewed his conviction that God’s own hand was guiding his efforts. With such divine assistance, Abraham knew that nothing and no one could stand in the way. He would be invincible.
He opened the volume of prophecies to a familiar page and read the words aloud even though he knew them by heart:
“And
