enough for everyone to hear, “Get rid of them, Captain. Every last one of them.”
Ridolfo and his men were horribly outnumbered, but that didn’t stop him and several of the other more perceptive workers from snatching up shovels and pickaxes and charging the hated Oprichniki with murder in their hearts.
The end result was all but preordained. Ridolfo managed to deliver a couple of blows with the pickax before the soldier in front of him parried a strike and thrust a thick-bladed cavalry sabre through Ridolfo’s chest.
As the Italian architect lay bleeding to death on the cold stone tile his men had laid only days before, his last thought was of his brother’s son and the clues buried in the pages of the journal the boy carried to the sunlight high above.
Chapter 2
“You sounded a little tired in that one, Annja. Let’s redo it, all right?”
Annja Creed stared out through the glass of the sound booth at the smiling face of her producer, Doug Morrell, and had to resist the urge to run him through with her sword. She sounded tired because she was tired; they’d been at this for more than nine hours already! If he wanted her to sound fresh and energetic, they were going to have to call it quits soon or she wouldn’t have a voice left for tomorrow’s session.
Annja worked as one of the hosts of Chasing History’s Monsters, a cable television show that featured a combination of history crossed with the weird and unexplained. It was her job to act as the show’s resident skeptic, using reason and history to explain some of the more fantastical ideas that were raised during each episode. It was a position she was well suited for. Her background as an archaeologist gave her the skills to examine disparate pieces of information and pull them together into logical theories, while her ability to speak multiple languages, specifically French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin, allowed her to be comfortable in the foreign locations where the show often sent her.
Of course, her travel had a tendency to bring her face-to-face with all kinds of other trouble, as well. It was almost as if the sword were orchestrating her movements, causing her to be in the right place at the right time to defend the innocent and right wrongs. She’d faced off against enemies of all kinds since taking up the sword, from Thuggee death cults to the angry spirit of an ancient Inuit god. She never knew what she would be facing next.
The ancient Chinese used to curse people with the expression “May you live in interesting times.” Since the sword came into her life, Annja understood the power in that curse.
Her life had certainly become interesting.
She’d arrived at the show’s Manhattan studio early to get a jump on the voice-over work she was scheduled to do for the next three days. The powers-that-be had decided a Chasing History’s Monsters boxed set was just the thing to help kick DVD sales up the charts. They wanted Annja to provide additional detail on the things she’d seen and heard while filming each episode. A kind of director’s cut track, if you will, but from the host’s perspective. The past week had been spent reviewing the episodes, making notes and then turning those notes into coherent remarks to be recorded during the voice-over sessions. Trying to reconstruct thought processes and research of the past several seasons’ worth of programs hadn’t been easy.
It had also stirred up plenty of other memories, as well. Her first encounter with Roux, meeting Garin Braden, the mystical reforging of the sword once carried by Joan of Arc, the new role she’d adopted as protector of the innocent and defender of the good. Her life had been put in danger more times than she could count. And yet she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Somewhere, deep inside, she knew she’d been born to wield that sword. And she had every intention of doing so well into the foreseeable future. Even if she didn’t understand the hows and whys behind it.
“Earth to Annja? Hellooo? Anybody home?”
Doug’s voice over her headphones startled her from her reminiscing.
“I’m here, Doug. Just rehearsing the lines in my head. One more time and then I’m done for the night.”
Doug’s boyish grin flashed from the other side of the glass. “Sure, Annja, one more time and that’s it.”
It took them two more takes, actually, but when they were finished everyone involved applauded. It had been a long day, but they might be able to cut it down to two days if they kept this pace up.
Afterward Doug dragged Annja to his office to deliver his suggestions for what she should say during tomorrow’s commentary.
As usual, he was way over the top.
“Not a chance, Doug,” she found herself saying not five minutes after entering the room. “No way.”
“But it will drive ratings through the roof, Annja!”
“I don’t care if it blows them into outer space. I’m not going to say I witnessed a chupacabra attack outside Mexico City.”
“Okay, forget the attack. How about just claiming you saw one? That should achieve the same effect.”
“Yeah, of making me look like the world’s biggest idiot. No, Doug, no chupacabra. Period.”
“Now you’re just being difficult.”
“No, I’m being honest.”
“Honest? Since when is that—?”
Thankfully Doug was interrupted by a knock at the door. A young brunette stuck her head inside the room.
“Mr. Morrell?”
Doug held up a finger to Annja as if to say, Hold that thought and then turned to face their visitor.
“Yes, Jessica?”
“This was just delivered for Annja,” she said, handing him a fancy envelope tied with a red ribbon.
Annja couldn’t miss the flirtatious smile Jessica sent Doug, especially since the show’s newest intern didn’t even bother to glance in her direction. The look of irritation that crossed the girl’s face when Doug distractedly took the envelope didn’t go unnoticed, either. Neither did the way she shut the door too hard in her wake.
Annja stared at the closed door a moment, then turned to Doug and asked, “Why are you Mr. Morrell and I’m just plain old Annja?”
“Because you’re the star of the show.”
“Exactly. Shouldn’t that be worth a little more respect?”
Doug shook his head. “Not when I’m the one paying her.”
That was, she had to admit, a good point. Putting aside office politics for the moment, she turned her attention to the envelope Doug handed to her.
It was made from a thick, richly textured creamy paper that practically shouted money the minute she laid her hands on it. The ribbon was a classy affair, as well—a wide swatch of red velvet tied in an intricate bow. Untying it, she laid it aside, opened the envelope and withdrew a small white card.
Sir Charles Davies requests the honor of your company for dinner this evening. Gascogne, 7:00 p.m.
There was a phone number underneath for her to RSVP.
Annja sighed. After working all day on the voice-overs, all she wanted to do was to go home and relax. Maybe grab some dark chocolate and red wine, then lounge in the bath. She certainly didn’t have the energy to be out entertaining someone she didn’t know, especially someone with the stature and notoriety of Sir Charles.
“Sorry, not tonight.” She dropped the invitation into the trash can next to Doug’s desk.
Doug, of course, freaked.
“Are you insane?” He snatched the card out of the trash and thrust it back at her. “You have to go!”
Annja put her hands behind her back, refusing to take it. “I don’t