“Wait.” Raven planted her feet. “What about you? What about Ambrogio?”
“We’re following his lordship’s orders.”
“Forget about that! You need to come with me.”
Lucia stared at her impassively. “His lordship’s orders are always obeyed. Once you enter the passage, you’ll find a network of tunnels. His lordship will find you, but you must go now. The intruders are armed.”
Lucia pushed her through the door as the sound of heavy, booted footsteps echoed from outside the library.
Someone began rattling the door handle.
“Hurry.” Lucia pushed her again and retreated, closing the secret door.
Raven was left standing in total darkness.
She fumbled with the flashlight, and a beam of light shone down the spiral staircase.
The stairs were familiar, but Raven couldn’t remember when she’d seen them. Perhaps the night William had taken her to see her stepfather.
Her stomach rolled.
She limped awkwardly down the stairs, breathing shallowly against the damp air. It smelled musty and ancient.
A long corridor lay at the foot of the staircase, punctuated by a series of wooden doors.
Raven heard noises from above—loud footfalls and raised voices.
She quickened her pace, walking with as much speed as she could muster toward the door at the far end of the corridor.
She heard more footfalls above. Something began to thud loudly and repeatedly.
As she approached the door at the end of the corridor, she saw a numbered keypad.
She put her cane aside, fumbling for the piece of paper Lucia had thrust at her. She shone the flashlight on it so she could see the numbers.
Someone shouted above her, and she heard the clatter of things being thrown to the library floor.
With shaking fingers, she punched in the code. The keypad beeped at her and…
Nothing.
She tried the door and was surprised to find it opened easily.
Blocking out the sounds from the library upstairs, she grabbed her cane and passed through the door. She closed it quickly and leaned against it, taking a deep breath.#p#分页标题#e#
Something slithered across her foot. Without thinking of the consequences, she screamed.
Chapter Forty-Two
“WE COULD BLOW THE DOOR.” The commander of the Curia’s special forces unit banged his fist against the secret door he’d uncovered. “But the local police are probably on their way. We don’t have much time.”
Father Kavanaugh stood next to him in the Prince’s library, holding Raven’s cell phone. “She left her phone. I have no way of tracking her now.”
“We came prepared to storm Palazzo Riccardi.” Commander Sullivan’s tone was testy, his New York accent more pronounced. “You didn’t provide schematics for this building.”
“Our sources told us there was a secondary residence, but no one believed it could be this one. There are relics here.”
The commander shrugged. “You’re the Padre.”
“Nothing at the seminary prepared me for this,” Father muttered.
“We agreed to a simple extraction, Padre, off book. I can give you until an hour before sunset and then me and my guys are packing up and getting out, with or without the girl.”
Father stared at the soldier incredulously. “We can’t leave her.”
“I’m not getting hemmed in here after dark with only nine guys.”
Father tugged at his beard. “What do you suggest?”
“We traced the SIM card in her cell phone. She was in this room until we came over the wall. Behind the door there could be a safe room or access to a tunnel. We can enter the tunnel system outside and do a sweep. But we aren’t armed for a large-scale engagement.”
“Do you have time to locate the relics?”
“Negative. We need to vacate before hostiles get the drop on us.”
The priest glanced around the room. It was in chaos. Papers and books had been flung on the floor as the soldiers searched for a hidden exit. They’d succeeded in antagonizing the Prince without securing Raven.
He’d failed his mission and was probably about to be ousted from the Curia, if not defrocked.
But he wasn’t going to give up.
“Let’s find the tunnels,” he told the commander, who ordered his team to retreat.
Father took one last look around before pocketing Raven’s cell phone.
Chapter Forty-Three
AOIBHE TOUCHED HER SHORN LOCKS, comparing them with the longer strands of her hair. She’d been stripped of her position in the Consilium and barred from her usual seat of honor near the throne. She’d been forced to stand by the wall, guarded by two soldiers, while the Prince attended to the business of state.