This was not a lie either. Annabeth, in her volatile state, posed a spiritual threat to his flock and Abraham had placed her temporarily in an institution—Doctor Aboud’s underground laboratory.
“When can I see her?” the scion asked urgently.
The diviner shook his head sadly. “Not for a while, I’m afraid. Her condition seems to worsen whenever she comes into contact with family members—myself, your other wives, her daughter. The doctors have forbidden any of us to see her, at least for the next month or so. Be patient. She will be restored to you in time.”
Nor was this last statement a lie. Annabeth would be restored to him in time—at the end of all time. Husband and wife would be reunited in heaven, and then his son would realize that Abraham had acted for the greater good. In the near term, Daniel would be given periodic reports of Annabeth’s decline. Within a month, the scion would be told that Annabeth had contracted a fatal disease at the institution. This was equally true. She had contracted pneumonic plague. A week later, it would be reported that Annabeth had succumbed to an infection which was so highly contagious that her body had to be cremated to avoid contaminating anyone else. Another true statement. Her corpse had been burned in Aboud’s incinerator. Daniel would be told there could be no burial because there was no body to bury. True yet again—only a pile of ashes remained. If Daniel questioned any of these facts, Doctor Aboud would be summoned to testify to their verity, and the doctor could bear witness with a clear conscience. None of these statements were falsehoods.
No doubt, once the diviner’s son had put these shocking events behind him, he would devote his full attention to the relic quest. Abraham felt confident that matters would proceed more smoothly with no family distractions to get in the way. Annabeth’s entire life had been the very definition of pointless distraction.
“I understand, Father.” Daniel’s words broke into the old man’s reverie. The scion seemed resigned to the news of Annabeth’s condition. “It’s time I paid a visit to my other wives and children.”
“Yes, of course.” Abraham rose and walked his son to the door, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I will not forget the great service you have rendered to the Blessed Nephilim this day. You have earned the gratitude of the entire brotherhood and my own personal thanks as well.”
Daniel ducked his head uncomfortably and left.
***
After his son’s departure, Abraham turned to admire his newest acquisition. He picked it up reverently. This was a momentous day. The artifact, separated from its counterparts for thousands of years, was about to be reunited with them in his treasury room.
He had already taken the precaution of switching off the surveillance cameras in his office so none of the security staff would see the object his son had just deposited on his desk. Nor would they see him slide open the wooden panel on the opposite wall to reveal an alcove and the solid steel door beyond.
He punched a code into the keypad next to the inner door which protected his treasury. Then he entered. The metal door and the wooden panel both slid shut noiselessly behind him.
He glanced around at the locked drawers lining the walls, each one guarding a treasure of its own. In aggregate, they held the world’s most concentrated collection of objects of mystical power. It had taken Abraham decades to amass them. In anticipation of his son’s return, he had already retrieved the other three Minoan artifacts from their storage lockers and set them out on the table in the middle of the room.
On the left side was the golden bee, then the lapis dove, after that the diamond-studded bull. To the right of the bull, he set down this latest find and stepped back a few paces to admire the priceless menagerie which had taken so much struggle and sacrifice to retrieve.
Abraham gave a satisfied smile as he gazed down at the artifacts resting on the table before him. Their very presence in his treasury was a sure sign that God’s favor had been restored to the diviner in spite of recent unfortunate events. Annabeth’s Satanic master would have to find another even more weak-minded vessel to do his bidding. Daniel’s late wife could no longer compromise Abraham’s position in the heavenly hierarchy.
Only one more relic to go. Together the Bones of the Mother would unfailingly lead the diviner to the greatest treasure of all—the Sage Stone. He would wield its formidable power to forge the world anew in God’s image. “In hoc signo vinces,” he whispered. “The hour is almost upon us!”
Chapter 51—Hitting Home
Leroy Hunt cracked open the door to Abraham Metcalf’s office and peered inside. One of Metcalf’s flunkeys had told the cowboy to wait in the entrance hall, but he figured if he showed up unannounced he might catch the old coot with his pants down and maybe learn something about where all the doodads were stashed. Leroy slipped inside the office, but the preacher wasn’t around. He found that strange. They hadn’t passed each other in the hallway, but Leroy wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Metcalf’s absence supplied a golden opportunity to scope out the room without being watched. The cowboy studied the surveillance cameras above the desk. Just like Chopper had told him, they were all trained on the opposite wall—nothing to see there but carved paneling. Why would a body waste all that tech on a blank wall? Leroy had a hunch that those cams were guarding a lot more than pricey oak veneer.
He blinked once in surprise when he saw the wall move. It slid noiselessly to the side, and Abe
