The Atlantis revelation

42

Serena found herself on her hands and knees on the street. The SUV had been split open. She tried to get up but couldn't. As she crouched there, numb from shock, she could see Benito barely moving on the other side of the burning wreck.

"Oh my God. Benito!"

She crawled on all fours toward him. Half his face was burned off, but his arm was moving. Then she saw his insides spilling out. "Oh God." She reached toward him but was still several feet away.

Benito knew he was dying and struggled for breath. "Do not be afraid, signorina, for he will take care of you now."

Just then a shadow fell across Benito's face, and Serena looked up to see a twisted face with an eyepatch standing over her. She screamed as the man pointed a gun at her.

"Last rites," he said in a Russian accent, and pulled the trigger.

She heard the shot but felt nothing. The assassin fell facedown in front of her. She stared in shock and heard her name.

"Serena!"

It was Conrad driving up through the smoke on a motorcycle, like a demon from hell. Behind him were the police, chasing him like the Furies.

He braked to a halt and pulled her up to her feet. "Come on."

She couldn't leave Benito. "I can't."

"Hurry," Conrad said, and dragged her by the arms and plopped her on the back of his bike. He slid in front of her and took her slack arms and wrapped them around his waist. "Please, Serena, hold on."

"I told you not to come, Conrad," she said breathlessly, bitterly, and started crying. "I told you."

"This was set up long before I got here, Serena, long before you got here." He kick-started the bike, and she could feel it roar to life beneath them. He was going to carry her away, and her work wasn't done yet.

"The council meeting tonight. I have to stay."

"I'm sorry, Serena," she heard him say as the rear tire squealed and they drove off.