thought . . . people. . . . But this was an entity!"
Awed by the revelation, Father Patrick pressed on. "You knew men were evil. You knew people also did angelic things. Therefore there was no unseen for you, right? You believed in the deeds of mankind, but in your soul were very unsure of there being a real mystery of faith . . . so, in truth, you had lost the faith, had lost your way-you thought all this was theoretical, didn't you? Answer me, man!"
Agitated, Father Patrick fought off the cardinal's hands and unsuccessfully tried to stand. "You sent us out as exorcists really thinking human beings simply had psychological problems, and only kept the practice so that the so-called ignorant, common masses would stay with our church . . . but until Lucifer himself showed up in a chair facing the Pope and smiled at him, you didn't believe that the Devil existed, did you?" Father Patrick sat back in his chair, winded. "That old demon must have had quite a laugh . . . but I could have saved you and the pontiff the trouble of being surprised.I saw him and fought him . Foryears I tried to tell you this-for years, man, I tried to get through to you all but you treated me like a mental patient . . . or worse, like a child to be indulged and dismissed."
Two large tears rolled down the cardinal's cheeks without censure. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned . . . it has been years beyond your comprehension since my last honest confession. Do not forsake humanity because I, we, so many of uswere arrogant and vain. Come back to us and protect us. Pray for us. Forgive us. Bring the angels into our company. We are afraid."
"That was all I ever wanted," Father Patrick said quietly."The truth. I never got that from the Vatican hierarchy . . . just evasions and political equivocation."
"I'm sorry," the cardinal said, beginning to sob against Father Patrick's clasped hands. "We're all so sorry and know not where to turn."
Father Patrick made the sign of the cross on the cardinal's forehead. "I, as only a man, can grant you absolution and have, but the Father is the one you must commune with during these most difficult of times. I will not abandon you, nor will the Templars. God most assuredly will not, if you seek him with a true heart. We Knights took a vow, we have no right to dishonor that vow-because it was not a vow between the vagaries of men, but a vow between us and God. Beyond our prayers and attempts to ensure the safe passage of innocents and the pontiff, what would you have us do? Tell the pontiff that the Original Order of the Knights of Templar is at your service in the battle against the Antichrist." Father Patrick bowed his head slightly and then stared at the weeping cardinal.
"Once the Antichrist has been identified . . ." Mucus strangled the words in the cardinal's throat, halting his statement.
"You need us to be the church's assassins-like old times."
The cardinal closed his eyes. "Let us pray."
Every step she took felt like invisible springs were helping her walk as she bounced down the hall in search of her teammates. The ever-present scent of fresh brewed coffee drew her toward the kitchen. Mike and Carlos had never succumbed to herbal tea, despite all of Marlene's and Shabazz's urging. Damali took another deep, satisfied inhalation as she walked. The scent of burning wood from the fireplace was everywhere and the comforting smell of it wrapped around her.
Practically giddy, she studied the air, noticing how she could now almost actually see subtle shifts in the molecules within it. She could nearly make out the variation between floating ash, sunshine, and the haze left behind by smoldering embers. Everything had an aura . . . but unlike when in serious battle or trying to do a divination, somehow her second-sight was on full blast without her even trying. As she entered the kitchen, she felt Carlos round the house and come up the deck stairs.
Damali looked down at her arms and stared at the goose-flesh the sensation had produced. "Whoa . . ." It was beyond profound. She could even hear him breathing and he hadn't opened the sliding-glass doors that led in from the deck yet. Her attention snapped up to look at him. It was too freaky. Carlos's