"He showed me the Scottish Rite Temple," the priest said, winded and now leaning on a headstone.
"Why didn't he come to me directly?" Carlos said, eyeing the priest with suspicion.
"Because you were in too much pain," the priest said quietly. "I can still feel it . . . and I am sorry for your loss."
"De nada,"Carlos muttered, returning his attention to the map, somewhat mollified by the priest's explanation. "But, I don't understand." He looked at the map that seemed as though it had been printed off an Internet driving directions Web site, containing local streets of Washington, D.C., yet with a thick, hand-drawn pen line creating a pentagram on it.
"Look carefully," the priest said. "Massachusetts Avenue intersects with Rhode Island Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, Vermont Avenue, and K Street to form the five-pointed star immediately north of the White House . . . and remember the prophecy-they will come from the north to conquer." The cleric wiped a new sheen of sweat from his brow. "Then look at the positioning of the Capitol, Jefferson Memorial, and Washington Monument, which form a Mason's compass and a pyramid to the left of that. Even Metatron's Cube can be seen in all this. I'm not a Templar; I don't know what any of this means to your quest. This is all I know, I swear to you. But our dearly departed brother seemed urgent in the vision that he wanted you to push forward to Washington, D.C. Maybe there is more for you at the Scottish Rite Temple?"
"Metatron's Cube?"Carlos said, studying the map with new eyes. He suddenly jerked his head up. "Where's Rabbi Zeitloff?"
"Somewhat overcome and waiting in the cars."
"Thanks."
Carlos took off in a dash across the cemetery grass. He could see the cars and people milling about in the distance. The rabbi sat in the backseat of one of the black sedans with his head leaned back against the headrest. His eyes were closed and tears stained his cheeks, but he had considerably calmed. Dan moved aside as Carlos approached the vehicle as did Imam Asula and Monk Lin.
"He took it really hard," Dan said quietly as Carlos slowed to a trot and then finally stopped beside him. "We sent Bobby and J.L. to go get him some water."
Monk Lin bowed slightly and let out a weary breath. "These are hard times for us all."
"Persevere, young brother," Imam Asula said, and then swallowed hard as he stepped away from the car.
Carlos bent and peered in the door, and then slid into the backseat with the elderly rabbi.
"Hey . . . Rabbi," Carlos said in a gentle tone. "I know how you feel."
"Carlos, Carlos, Carlos," the rabbi said, shaking his head and slowly pounding on his chest with his fist.He opened his bloodshot eyes and stared at Carlos. "He was like my own brother. That crotchety old priest and I would debate till the wee hours . . . he was my friend. I have lost my dear friend. I am an old man; friends don't come easy now . . . who will I fight with?" He released a sad chuckle as new tears filled his eyes. "I should complain to Patrick for allowing this to happen to himself."
"I know," Carlos said, a sad smile tugging at his mouth. "He used to give me the blues and stayed on my case. I'm gonna miss that tough old man, too. So, maybe you and I can fight about philosophy sometimes, huh? How about it? I give asgood as I get."
Zeitloff wiped his eyes with a shaking hand and then patted Carlos's cheek. "I should love to argue with you." He fell quiet and stared at Carlos, new tears rising. "I see now why he loved you so."
Carlos glanced away and took in a deep breath, needing a moment to regain his voice. He slowly extracted the map from his pocket and held it for a moment before showing it to the rabbi.
"The young priest said a Templar gave him this . . . our team has to go to D.C. It's part of a clue as to where we might be able to get a jump on the enemy. But he also said Metatron's Cube can be seen in this map. My Kabbalah facts are rusty, I admit, but I do know that Metatron is an archangel."
Rabbi Zeitloff sat forward quickly, adjusting his glasses on his nose with agitation. He spoke in short, excited bursts in hushed tones, constantly looking around him as he did so. "Enoch was swept away to Heaven and for his loyal service he sits at the right hand of Jehovah, Yahveh,as the archangel, Metatron -who was the one that transmitted the secrets of the Kabbalah to humanity to use to protectthemselves from evil. Kabbalah by definition means, transmission and preservation of knowledge . . . to receive. A Kabbalistic message is one coming from the highest realms of On High, Carlos."
"Enoch also became an archangel?" Carlos said, eyes growing wide. "Damali's oracle used Enoch's name in the first metaphor-the first clue she gave us about things to come-when we got to Detroit."
"Then the pearl was giving you much more than you know," Rabbi Zeitloff said, leaning even closer.
"We thought it was a link to the Archangel Uriel," Carlos whispered. "So there were two of them guarding us. . . . Whoa."
"It was linked to Uriel . . . but look deeper, and understand the Enoch connection to your mission," the rabbi said in a conspiratorial murmur. "Enoch was the grandfather of Noah, and Yahveh forewarned him of the great flood. Yahveh told Enoch to inscribe all that is known on two huge pillars-the sum total of all human knowledge-so it would be preserved. Therefore," he added, pointing to the map, "Enoch is also our metaphor for symbolic architecture-messages hidden in the stone-just as the pyramids are Egypt's stone libraries. Something you seek or need to know is in the stones . . . in Metatron'sCube, that surrounds this deadly pentagram . . . perhaps only Templars or Masons that founded this country would know?"
The two men stared at each other for a moment.
"When Damali first went through her Neteru enlightening, part of her journey took her through a Masonic temple in Philadelphia," Carlos said, intermittently staring at the map and then Rabbi Zeitloff.
"Our friend, Father Patrick, was killed trying to get information from his Templar brotherhood for the cardinal," the rabbi said, now gazing out of the sedan window. "It's gotta be in the stone. The pentagram has always been there in the street layout, but someone also came behind it and encased it in Metatron's Cube, and that sits to the left of the Masonic compass and pyramid that is in the street grid, too . . . somebody knew. Somebody wanted to seal in whatever could emerge from that pentagram in the future."
"Yeah, and we've now got a pretty good idea how bad that thing is." Carlos stared at Rabbi Zeitloff for a moment. "What if something disturbed the lines on Metatron's Cube . . . wouldn't that allow the unspeakable to get out of the pentagram?"
"Yes," the rabbi whispered. "And it's right in front of the White House, in direct alignment."
"Then we've definitely gotta head to D.C. now."