Raiders

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Schelto Kranz knew his star was rising in the Hidden Hand’s glittering firmament. He had done well. He had served the Order faithfully, but Jed Mason and his Raiders still posed a mortal threat to his ambitions. If he let them take the Book of Thoth from his masters, his punishment would be of the capital variety. Those who failed the Order were usually offered the chance to end their own lives first, but if they couldn’t do it, the end was swiftly provided by another servant desperate to show the Sun-runners and Persians their loyalty.

Watching the sun set over Alexandria was peaceful enough, but it had done nothing to settle his nerves over Mason. And no matter how hard he tried, he could never shake off the feeling that he was being watched, monitored, studied for weakness and tested for loyalty. He felt the Hidden Hand’s eyes crawling all over him, as if he were under a hundred hidden cameras. It made him shiver. But… to be the man behind those cameras! To be higher in the Order and leading a contingent of Sun-runners! It was all worth it, he reminded himself. All he had to do was please Amadeus.

Kiya had served him well, reporting a few hours ago that the Raiders were in Alexandria on the Egyptian coast. He had flown to join her at once, keen to be part of the glory when the ancient Book of Spells was finally secured for the secret order.

Now, as he waited for her report, he noticed his hands were trembling with the anticipation of pleasing his lord Amadeus, the Persian.

Matthias entered the hotel room and closed the door.

“Speak.”

Matthias licked his lips. “Kiya says they are in the American Embassy, Lion.”

Kranz’s voice purred like a sated beast’s. “I see. Where is the Bride now?”

“She and the surviving Raven are waiting outside the embassy as instructed.”

“Good. Kiya is a loyal acolyte, but if she fails me again she will be terminated.”

Matthias gave a shallow nod. “She desires her promotion a great deal. I’m certain she will not fail us.”

“Fail me, not us, Matthias. If she fails then it is I who must answer for it to the Persian.”

“I understand, Lion.”

Kranz doubted that the young Austrian Soldier understood at all. Members of the Order down at Matthias’s level were not privy to the sort of ruthless business conducted higher up the ladder. They would never recruit anyone if the sort of darkness he had witnessed ever became common knowledge among the lower levels. It was the sort of thing that might keep most people up at night, but Kranz had long learned to deal with it.

“I want to know the second they leave the embassy. There is no way this mission can be allowed to fail, Matthias. If she secures the Book of Thoth then our initiations into the higher ranks of the Order are guaranteed. If she fails, we are all dead.”

“Yes, Lion.”

Both men were silent for a long time. Outside, the sun was now gone. It had slipped beneath the sandy, western horizon while Kranz was dreaming of his promotion. Now, a new night had fallen over the land, and the darkness it brought with it was reflected in the cold, bitter heart beating in his chest.

It was unfortunate that Mason and his team had stumbled into such a terrible conflict, but such was the way of things. If he had turned Haven down and minded his own business, he and his team would live a long life in their asset recovery business, but instead they had made the suicidal decision to challenge the might of the world’s oldest and most powerful Order. They had decided to wade into a war older than they could understand, and they would be punished for it, savagely.

Alexandria, he thought once again with a smile. Of course.

Back when this place had become the Patriarchate of Alexandria in 42 AD, the ancient religions had been driven out by the Christians. The priest must have hidden the Book of Spells to protect it, he thought, and then secreted the codex in Nectanebo’s sarcophagus as a final, mocking twist.

But then Parennefer was in the Hidden Hand, after all.

The Raiders had done well, but now was the time to fight back and finish them.

“You are dismissed, Matthias. Inform me when they leave the embassy.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Lion closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was so close to the ancient Book of Spells he could almost reach out and touch it, and yet… Kiya would track Mason and the Raiders to the book’s location, and then he would take it from them personally before ordering their execution.

Nothing would please Amadeus more.