“I think you’re shifting blame to ease a guilty conscience,” Chris observed softly. “I have no doubt your father would avenge himself the way you describe but do these Arkana people really remind you of the diviner?”
Daniel stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the librarian. “They couldn’t be more different.”
“Then stop projecting your old man’s barbaric eye-for-an-eye values onto innocent people!” Chris hesitated, pondering a new thought. “There might be another way for you to solve this crisis you’re having. It’s silly for me to tell you to choose the group that you trust most since you don’t trust either one completely.” He rubbed his chin, considering. “Maybe you need to ask yourself which group you distrust the least.”
The scion wavered and gave a despairing laugh. “I’m not sure I can even tell that much.”
The librarian transferred his attention back to shoving empty food wrappers into a paper bag. “I guess you won’t know whose side you’re on until push comes to shove so here’s my last piece of advice on the subject. I’ve told you this before. Pay attention to people’s actions, not their words. That’s how you’ll know who to distrust least.”
The suggestion calmed Daniel. He felt himself relaxing slightly until a new notion sent him spinning. “It just hit me. This is a very dangerous mission, and I may not come back from it alive. Today could be the last time I’ll ever see you.”
Chris stood up and shook Daniel gently by the shoulders. “Hey, nobody is going to die. You’re letting your imagination run wild. You won’t—”
Daniel abruptly threw his arms around Chris and kissed him.
It was a kiss which the librarian seemed more than willing to return.
When their lips parted half a minute later, Chris gasped. “Gotta say, I did not see that coming. Not that I minded, of course.”
Daniel hugged his friend more tightly. “No matter what you say, it’s possible I might not return from this trip. Today may be the last chance I’ll ever have to let you know how much you mean to me.”
They held one another for several moments before Chris drew back and peered into Daniel’s eyes intently. “Listen to me, Danny Boy. You’re going to come back alive.”
“Maybe,” the scion agreed diffidently. “If I do—”
“When you do!” Chris corrected sternly.
Daniel gave a melancholy smile. “If I do... We should plan on having that talk about the birds and the bees and the fairies.”
Chapter 48—Simply Revolting
The black sedan pulled up quietly to the compound’s iron gates. Just as quietly, the gates swung apart, allowing the vehicle to proceed unchallenged by the sentries in the guard tower. Joshua glanced at his watch. 2 AM. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
He drove the rented sedan up to the main steps where Paul and Shem stood waiting to meet him. Both were carrying pistols. Joshua took up a position between the two men as they marched him up the stairs and through the foyer. In the unlikely event someone was moving about, the three needed to look like two guards escorting a prisoner.
No one spoke. They all knew the plan by heart. They walked quietly down a long corridor to their designated dispersal point. The three paused there a moment before going to their assigned locations.
Shem reached into the waistband of his pants and produced a pistol. Handing it to Joshua, he whispered, “Here’s yours. It’s been modified just as you ordered.”
Joshua nodded curtly and accepted the weapon. “Good hunting,” he murmured to his men as they went their separate ways.
The spymaster took the corridor that led to Father Abraham’s chamber. He crept along cautiously, listening for sounds emanating from the rooms he passed. Apparently, everyone was asleep. His father’s quarters were at the end of the hall. Rank had its privileges. Both the diviner and the scion occupied suites set apart from everyone else. Taken together with Hannah’s isolation in the guest wing, this ought to make it possible for the three conspirators to carry out their assignments unheard.
He stealthily unlocked the door and slipped inside. A single lamp burned on the table next to his father’s easy chair. The diviner sat fully dressed, his head back and eyes closed.
Joshua raised his pistol, aiming it at his father’s heart.
Abraham opened his eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
The spymaster hesitated.
The old man heaved himself to his feet. “I didn’t want to believe it was true—that you would murder your own father in cold blood.”
“You left me little choice,” Joshua countered. “You’ve exhibited very poor judgment of late. Instead of leading the Blessed Nephilim with a firm hand, you’ve been wasting your time doting on unworthy miscreants like Hannah and Daniel.”
“And you think I should have doted on you instead?” Abraham asked wearily.
“You should have made me scion instead!” Joshua spat back, pulling the trigger. He braced himself for the recoil, but nothing happened. He fired again with the same result.
“Your associates betrayed you,” the diviner informed him coldly.
“Enoch and Lemuel? That’s impossible!”
“No, Commander Matthew has taken those two into custody. It was the other two—Shem and Paul. Apparently, they feared that murdering God’s own prophet might carry a heavy penalty in the afterlife.”
Joshua stared at his pistol stupidly. “I trusted Shem to load this for me.”
“Trust,” the diviner murmured. “You’re a fine one to complain of treachery. Mr. Bowdeen trusted you, and you shot him in the back.”
“I had no desire to betray Mr. Bowdeen. His death was simply a matter of expediency.” Joshua’s lips twisted into a bitter smile. “I learned that lesson from you, Father. You taught
