Blood Codex

Chapter 29

Crowley and Rose walked the busy streets of Rome heading for the Vatican. Sunshine filtered brightly through a soft cloud cover, the day warm without much breeze to move the air. Crowley found himself increasingly comfortable in Rose’s presence and felt that she was also relaxing with him. Of course, the tension of the situation, the pressures of pursuit, still weighed heavily on them both, but Crowley thought maybe they were both also enjoying the thrill of the hunt. And there was no doubt they made a good team. He desperately wanted Rose to be safe from her pursuers, but part of him would be disappointed when all this was over. He hoped she’d still be a part of his life even then.

Eventually they battled heaving crowds along the Via di Porta Angelica and came to the Porta Sant’Anna. Like so much of Rome, the road and the sidewalk were dark gray cobblestones, square and slightly uneven. Pale double columns, topped by impressive stone eagles, flanked the gate before them. Curlicued iron bridged the span between the columns and the cobblestone road continued up a slight rise. Crowley and Rose walked past Swiss Guards in their almost clown-like uniforms and continued between yellow stone buildings with tall arched windows.

Ahead of them stood the impressive bulk of the Cortile del Belvedere, the Belvedere Courtyard, designed by Donato Bramante in 1506. Crowley marveled at the High Renaissance architecture, the density of design and imposing stonework.

“Really quite the place, huh?”

Rose smiled at him. “You’ve never been before?”

“No. Always been on my list of places to see, but I hadn’t got around to it yet. It’s kind of weird to come under these circumstances.”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that. But this is somewhere I have been before. Though I wish we were on vacation, taking in the sights at our leisure.”

Crowley threw her a cheeky grin. “I’d like to go on vacation with you too. Maybe once this is all over we can come back?”

Rose shook her head, but her eyes were alive with amusement. “I think I might prefer white sandy beaches and crystal clear seas for a while once all this is over.”

“I know just the place,” Crowley said. “Jervis Bay in Australia. I went there a few years ago. Amazing place. I could show you. And the places I could rub lotion onto you.”

“Let’s keep our focus on this business for now, shall we?”

Crowley grinned. “For now? Sure.”

Rose let that one pass and led the way to an entrance, adjacent to the Vatican Library, guarded by another Swiss Guard in his yellow, red and blue puffy uniform. “Here we are,” she said.

Crowley looked around, the open buildings, the milling crowds. “Not quite what I expected. I thought the Secret Archives would be more… secret.”

Rose laughed. “Don’t let that word confuse you. In Latin this place is called Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum, or in Italian it’s Archivio Segreto Vaticano. But in both cases, the translation of secret is misleading. A better word, according to the official word from the Vatican, would be ‘personal’. Apparently in reference to the private letters and historical records of past Popes. The archives were created by Pope Paul V in 1612, and while it’s true that outside researchers can’t just enter at will, there is a designated reading room. More than a thousand researchers request access annually, and they’re usually granted it. The archives used to be closed up tight, but in 1881 Pope Leo XIII opened them to researchers.”

“So we’re just going to go in and ask them for the Codex Gigas and they'll bring it out to us?” Crowley asked. “I’m not buying that!”

Rose laughed. “No, of course not. But don’t you have more faith in me than that yet?”

They approached the entrance together and Rose smiled warmly to the Swiss Guard on duty. His face was stern, giving nothing away. “We have an appointment at the reading room,” she said.

He gestured for them to step inside and Crowley threw the guy a wink, more to annoy him than anything else. He understood guard duty, but the guy didn’t have to be so dour. Then again, if Crowley had to dress like that every day he reckoned he might lose his sense of humor pretty quickly, too.

Inside the reading room, they were met by a middle-aged man with thinning blond hair and a paunch stretching the front of his collared white shirt. “Your entry card please?” His voice was heavily accented Italian, but clear enough.

“I’m afraid we don’t have one,” Rose said, and Crowley’s stomach lurched at the smirk the man gave them.

“Then you will have to leave immediately.” He raised a hand to attract the attention of the Swiss Guard outside, but Rose put a hand on his forearm and flashed a wide smile.

Crowley took his turn to smirk. No one could ignore that look when she put it on and this Vatican official was no exception. He paused, reddening slightly at her touch, one eyebrow raised.

Rose left her hand in place on the man’s arm and pulled a letter from her pocket with her free hand. Crowley could see it was a printout of an email, but the type too small for him to read. She had clearly been busy on their journey here.

The man read slowly, then frowned. “A moment, please.”

They waited quietly while the man disappeared through another door. Crowley watched all around, as casually as he could manage, sure the Swiss Guard would descend on them any second and drag them away.

Rose smiled at him. “Trust me, Jake. Honestly, you’re skittish as a cat.”

Eventually the man returned, looking more harried than when he had left. “Please, follow me.”

They were led through a door and into a long marble hallway, high domed ceilings with intricate frescoes impressive overhead. Another man, tall and thin with thick black hair and suspicious eyes nodded once in greeting. He held out two laminated badges on green lanyards. “Sorry for the delay, we had to make these especially for your visit and we weren’t quite ready.”

“Thank you so much,” Rose said, the embodiment of politeness and gratitude.

But something nagged at Crowley, tickled his hindbrain and put him on edge. He took the badge and the linen gloves the tall archivist offered, still uncertain. But so far so good. Maybe he should chill out and trust Rose, but he had long since learned to trust his nerves and instincts. He didn’t think he would be relaxing too much all the time they were here.

“Please,” the archivist said. “You must exercise great care with all the items inside. Anything you choose to look at must be treated with great reverence. I will suffer the wrath of His Eminence a thousand times over before I will allow documents in my care to be damaged.”

“Of course,” Rose said. “We won’t give you any cause for concern, I promise.”

“My thanks. Then this way please.”

The archivist turned and escorted them inside.