20. A Thiefs Sacrifice
Chapter twenty
A Thief's Sacrifice
L ucas
We worked quickly, disguising ourselves with our old alias, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith," a wealthy couple on holiday.
I quickly made flight and hotel bookings and ordered elegant new wardrobes.
“We have to go back to my apartment. There are few of those documents we might need.”
I nodded. "Okay, but we have to be quiet. We are moving targets now."
We waited until it was past midnight to head out to the car, sticking to the shadows as much as possible.
The drive across town was tense, both of us scanning the darkness for any signs of being tailed.
When we finally arrived at Emelia's building, I killed the engine and we sat in silence for a long moment, ears straining for any suspicious sounds.
Satisfied that everything seemed secure for now, we exited the car and made our way inside, taking the service elevator.
Everything appeared undisturbed at first glance. I looked around while Emelia hurried into the other room.
“Lucas.” Her sharp tone as she called my name had me running into the room to find an open safe, its door hanging askew.
"No... no, no, no," she murmured. Her shaking hands rifled through the contents frantically.
Emelia looked up at me, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "It's gone. The painting, the artifact... and my father's documents—they took everything!"
For a long moment, the weight of that realization hung heavy in the air between us. Finally, I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It doesn’t matter now, as long as we get there in time to stop them," I said firmly.
Before we left, I put in a call to one person.
Within 24 hours, we touched down at the Zurich airport. I marveled at the soaring Alpine peaks as we traveled to our luxurious ski resort suite. The two of us looked every bit the pampered jetsetters.
Once alone, we got to work trying to find where the sect would hold their meeting. I had done a fair share of jobs in Switzerland, so I hit the streets meeting with informants while Emelia dug deeper online.
Pieces slowly came together to form a shadowy picture—Senator Grey had a secluded chateau in the Alps. This was more than likely where ‘The Seeing Eye’ sect would meet tonight.
"That's it!" Emelia exclaimed excitedly when I showed her the chateau's location.
“We will stage a break-in and put an end to what plans they have.”
Adrenaline coursed through me as we prepared for the heist. But I noticed Emelia’s hands shaking as I handled our gear.
"We can call this off." I put everything down and held her two hands in mine. This sweet lady had done everything I’d asked, no questions asked, but we had no idea what we would be facing tonight.
I pressed her knuckles to my lips and said gently, "It's not too late to walk away, live a normal life."
I watched her expression harden with resolve. "We've come too far to stop. My father sacrificed himself for the truth—I owe it to him to finish this."
I pulled her close. "You're so much stronger than you know. We'll get justice for your father, together."
We suited up and stealthily infiltrated the chateau.
Slipping through a service entrance, we made our way inside.
Keeping to the shadows, we advanced room by room, clearing each one with deliberate care. The place seemed deserted, not a soul in sight.
That's when we became aware of a low, rhythmic chanting filtering up from below.
We exchanged a weighted look before following the unsettling sound down a narrow stairwell leading into the bowels of the chateau.
The chanting grew louder as we neared what appeared to be some kind of cellar or basement chamber.
Through a cracked door, I caught glimpses of flickering candlelight and hooded figures gathered in a circle.
Placing a finger on my lips, Emelia and I crept closer, sliding up to the doorway to peer inside. What we saw caused the blood to drain from my face.
At least twenty robed figures stood in a tight ring, swaying and murmuring in eerie synchronization.
In the center of their ranks, a raised dais held a solitary podium draped in crimson cloth. And there, mounted in an elaborate golden frame, was the ‘Eternal Lovers’ painting.
My gaze snapped back to the gathered cultists as one of their number stepped forward, ascending the dais.
He turned and the light reflected on his features. Great. Dovrak must have been in here somewhere.
With a dramatic flourish, Grey plucked the artifact from the podium, holding it aloft. The chanting swelled in fervent response.
"Brothers and sisters of The Seeing Eye," Grey's voice boomed out, carrying easily in the cavernous space. "For over a decade we have searched, slaving to recover our true heritage and birthright!"
He turned slowly, ensuring his rapt audience took in every word.
"And tonight, our noble quest reaches its culmination!" Grey's arm swept out, dramatically presenting the resplendent painting. "With the return of the original ‘Eternal Lovers’ back to us, our path to ultimate power and world domination is finally, irrevocably, complete!"
A roar of adulation rose from the ranks as Grey basked in their darkly ecstatic cries. Exchanging a grim look with Emelia, I tightened my grip on my weapon, readying myself.
No matter what unholy rites or occult powers they wielded, we would put an end to The Seeing Eye's madness once and for all.
We watched as Grey placed the grotesque artifact against the woman's eyes in the painting. He slowly dragged it down the curve of her back, muttering an arcane incantation under his breath.
The hooded cultists' chanting intensified, becoming a droning cacophony that set my teeth on edge.
Grey turned his attention to the male figure, tracing the length of his back with the cursed relic.
Suddenly, an eerie blue light began to emanate from the eyes of the painted lovers. It pulsed and brightened, tendrils snaking out to coalesce around the artifact clutched in Grey's hand.
I hazarded a glance at Emelia, her face inscribed with a rictus of repulsed fascination. We both flinched as the artifact tore free of Grey's grasp, levitating several feet in the air as the ghostly light seeped into its grotesque, leering features.
The chanting reached a frenzied crescendo. Rivulets of luminous blue liquid—glowing with the same unearthly light—began oozing from the artifact's gaping maw. It gathered into a shimmering pool, droplets raining down in soft patters onto the ancient flagstones.
Grey spun in a slow circle, face upturned in rapturous zeal as he spread his arms wide. "Behold!" he crowed, voice dripping with dark triumph. "The elixir of eternal youth and everlasting life! Drink deep, my brethren…" Grey's gravelly voice boomed out. "For when this unholy ichor courses through our veins, we shall be untouchable! Masters of life and death itself!"
Grey's laughter echoed through the vaulted chamber, high and unhinged.
My grip tightened on my weapon until my knuckles shone bone-white. This had to end here and now, no matter what profane entities or unholy powers they tried to unleash. I met Emelia's gaze and saw the same iron resolve mirrored in her eyes.
Drawing a deep, steadying breath, I gave her a curt nod. It was time to make our move and put an end to The Seeing Eye's madness once and for all—before their eldritch rites and hunger for immortality consumed the world.
I gripped Emelia's shoulders, locking eyes with her. Suddenly, my heart thundered in my ear.
And in that moment, in a fraction of a second, the insanity swirling around us fell away and there was only her: my partner, my lover, my everything.
Cradling her face, I pulled her into a fierce, desperate kiss. When we finally broke apart, I steeled myself and spoke the words I'd been holding in for far too long.
"Emelia, marry me," I whispered hoarsely. "After we end this, let's start our lives together properly."
Her eyes shone with a bittersweet mixture of love and trepidation, but she gave a resolute nod. No more delaying or holding back—we would face this together to the bitter end.
Sharing one last charged look, we turned as one and rushed headlong into the fray. Diving through the entryway, I opened fire into the air.
Chaos erupted as Grey and his wretched cultists scattered in all directions. Gunfire exploded through the cramped chamber as Grey and Dvorak returned fire wildly.
A searing pain lanced through my shoulder, but I grit my teeth and kept pushing forward, ensuring Emelia stayed behind me.
Grey's crazed eyes locked on me over the barrel of his pistol. "You can't stop the inevit-"
His boasts were cut short as I dropped him with two shots to his shoulder. He crumpled, jaw hanging slack in surprise.
A flicker of movement in my peripheral vision was my only warning before Dvorak's hulking form appeared, firearms blazing.
“No, Emelia.” My only instinct was to save her and I jumped between her and the speeding bullets.
White hot agony blossomed in my chest as multiple rounds tore through me in rapid succession.
I dropped hard, all the strength leeched from my limbs as I crumpled to the unforgiving stone floor.
"No! Lucas!" Emelia's anguished scream bordered on inhuman as my vision tunneled and greyed around the edges.
Thick ropes of my own blood spread in a sluggish pool beneath me.
Emelia's pale, stricken face swam above me, tears streaming down her cheeks to patter warmly on my skin. I tried to speak, to reassure her, but I could muster little more than a wet gurgle around the iron flooding my mouth.
Using the last dregs of my waning strength, I forced the words out in halting spurts. "Don't... cry… Eve. Take care... of our... baby..."
Her eyes flew wide, one hand instantly going to her stomach in belated realization. Gathering what little life I had left, I managed to caress her cheek tenderly.
"I... love... you..."
Through the roaring in my ears, I was vaguely aware of Emelia screaming my name in abject anguish. The anguished wail lanced straight through my battered heart.
Emelia cradled me against her, begging me not to leave her alone—to stay with her and our unborn child.
I stubbornly clung to consciousness. I would not leave Emelia alone in this waking nightmare, not after everything we had endured to stay together.
“Lucas, hold on. Just hold on for me and the baby.” With clumsy desperation, she dragged me until we were both standing under the glowing viscous fluid, an icy chill encasing me from head to toe.
The cold rapidly seeped inward, freezing me in a suspended state of eerie calm as my senses dimmed.
Then, like a tidal wave, scorching heat came crashing back in. The unnatural blue ichor seemed to burn through my veins, setting my nerves alight with blinding agony. I would have screamed if I could draw breath—it felt as if I were being unmade and reforged anew in a crucible of liquid fire.
Just when I thought the torment would obliterate what tattered remnants of my psyche remained, the searing pain peaked... and ebbed. I became distantly aware of my ruined flesh knitting back together with shocking alacrity, torn musculature reknitting and shattered bone fusing seamlessly.
It was as if some primal, arcane force was reversing the very laws of biology and physics to make me whole once more.
Slowly, the world began to rematerialize in vivid, hyper-real clarity, completely suffused in shades of brilliant azure and indigo.
Emelia's breathless sobs of disbelieving relief pulled my gaze to hers. Her eyes shone with a bittersweet combination of awe and trepidation as she reached out to gingerly touch my face, now glowing with an inner sapphire luminance.
"Oh Lucas... it worked. It worked. You’re okay!" She searched my eyes, clearly shaken yet overjoyed to see me whole and vibrantly alive.
Before either of us could begin to process the earth-shattering ramifications of my seeming resurrection, a furious bellow shattered the moment.
"So it’s true!" Dvorak and Grey advanced on us, hunger blazing naked in their eyes as they took in the shimmering azure pool lapping around us. "The ‘Eternal Lovers’ painting harbors the genuine gift of everlasting life!"
They flung themselves at the puddle, grasping hands outstretched toward the unearthly liquid that had seemingly raised me from death's door.
As the slimy residue sluiced over their scrabbling fingers, gunfire erupted through the chamber in deafening staccato bursts.
Whipping my head around, I watched as both men's bodies jerked and convulsed, sluggish blood blossoming across their clothes as they crumpled into the diminishing pool.
Shouts and the thunderous bootsteps of an armed tactical team swarmed the room.
"You two need medical attention," a disembodied, gruff voice barked at us as they secured the moaning Grey and Dvorak. "We've got an ambulance upstairs."
Emelia started to protest, likely about my miraculously healed state, but I silenced her with a warning look and slight shake of my head.
Leaning in close, I murmured, "There will be a time for explanations, but not here, not now. Not until we can ensure no one else gets their hands on... this."
I gave a meaningful glance to the glimmering shards and congealing azure slurry surrounding us—whatever profane power had resurrected me from the precipice of death.
With our arms locked tightly around each other, we allowed ourselves to be ushered out into the night air.
As Emelia pressed herself against me with each step, I could feel the steady thrum of two heartbeats—the miraculous doubled cadence of our new, hard-won lease on life together.
No matter what unholy secrets the future held, I vowed to protect our little family at all costs. For in that moment of self-sacrificial oblivion, I had caught the barest, beatific glimpse beyond the mortal veil.