“Hello, Sister Hannah,” he began. “I trust you’re feeling better these days.”
A bizarre thought flashed through Hannah’s brain. This man was her step-son by marriage. What should she call him? Brother Joshua? Son? She chose not to call him anything at all.
“I see you aren’t in the mood to speak. Perhaps, over time, I can do something to loosen your tongue.” The observation wasn’t menacing. It was a mere statement of fact. He didn’t wait for her to resume her seat. Instead, he drew up a chair and sat down.
She pointedly turned away from him and stared out the window. Hannah had formed the disturbing impression that he might be able to read her thoughts or, at the very least, her facial expressions. Best not to give him that advantage.
He directed his comments to her back. “I’m sure you’re aware that my father dotes on you. I showed him some provocative pictures of you in your new life among the Fallen. Dressing indecently. Painting your face. Courting the lustful attentions of men. Kissing that Fallen boy.”
Hannah let out an audible gasp but kept her posture rigid.
“Incredibly enough, the diviner cannot see your corrupt nature. But I can.” He paused for emphasis. “You are a true daughter of Eve—the serpent’s first ally. A scheming adulteress who forgot your marriage vows the minute you doffed the attire of a consecrated bride. If your punishment were left up to me, you would suffer the same fate meted out in the Bible to women of your sort. You would be stoned to death.” He sighed regretfully. “Sadly, your destiny remains in the hands of my father, and he continues to see you as a lost innocent. But you and I know better.”
Hannah was trembling. She folded her arms across her chest in an effort to control her shaking limbs. It was critical that he not see the destructive effect his words were having. Mustering all her self-command, she turned to face him aloofly.
Joshua returned her stare impassively. He stood up. “Sooner or later you will tell me how you escaped from here. You will tell me who you consorted with in the Fallen World and why. You will tell me everything I want to know so that I can make my father see the truth about you.” He gave a fleeting smile of triumph. “Like everything else, time is on my side. We’ll chat again soon. Next time, you’ll do all the talking.” He turned and let himself out.
Hannah could hear the click of the lock. She collapsed onto the bed, muffling her sobs in the coverlet as she allowed suppressed waves of terror to crash over her. Beneath the surface turmoil, a rock-hard conviction was forming. With Daniel’s help or without it, she was going to find a way out of here. Once and for all.
Chapter 42—Embracing Truth
Daniel dashed through the library lobby and ran up the escalator to the Reference Department.
Chris smiled a greeting when he saw the scion arrive breathlessly at his desk. “Danny Boy! How was your trip? Successful, I hope.”
The scion cast an anxious glance around the empty reading room. “I need to speak to you privately. Can you get away for a few minutes?”
The look on Daniel’s face must have convinced the librarian of the urgency of the matter. He briefly poked his head through the swinging doors leading to the staff area, presumably asking to take a break. When he re-emerged, he said, “Let’s go upstairs.”
They took the elevator to the Rare Book Exhibit.
Daniel found himself breathing easier the minute Chris was beside him. He relaxed further still when they entered his favorite room in the building. He immediately walked to the back wall to study the glass-encased illuminated manuscripts. He thought about the monks who had toiled for years on end to create such works of visual and spiritual beauty. He would give anything to be one of them right now, immersed in scholarship and meditation, a world away from his own troubled life.
Chris walked up beside him. “I know you didn’t want to come up here just to look at the pretty picture books.”
They both retreated to the circular bench in the center of the room and sat down facing one another.
“I’m dying of curiosity. How did your retrieval go?” the librarian urged.
“All things considered, it went well,” Daniel replied distractedly.
“All things considered?”
“The thieves I’ve told you about very nearly made off with the artifact, but we stopped them.”
Chris leaned forward. “How? Tell me everything.”
“Mr. Hunt caught one of them and held her at gunpoint. The second thief offered to let us have the artifact if we would spare his partner’s life.”
Chris knit his eyebrows. “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t the second thief just take off with the relic?”
“Because they care about each other, of course.”
“But they’re thieves.”
The scion failed to grasp the objection.
“If these thieves are such badass relic hunters, why would they look out for each other?”
“Because they’re good people,” Daniel concluded simply.
This bit of news brought Chris up short. “Huh?”
Daniel waved his hand dismissively. “That isn’t why I needed to talk to you today. I have a much bigger problem. Hannah has been recaptured.”
“Get out!” Chris exclaimed. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“You’ve got an odd notion of ‘better,’” the scion retorted bitterly.
“Sorry. Go on.”
“While Mr. Hunt and I were away in China, my brother Joshua raided the house where Hannah was staying and brought her back.”
“So, where was she?” The librarian, caught up in the story, leaned even farther forward.
“She had taken shelter with the thieves.”
Chris shot out of his seat. “What?”
“She asked for refuge, and they gave it. Mr. Hunt seems to think they planned to keep her as a hostage.”
“She was locked up?”
“No, she stayed with them willingly. She went to school like any other teenager in the outer world.”
Chris rubbed his chin reflectively. He began to pace back and forth in front of the bench, frowning
