So I didn't ask for more. In that moment, as calloused as it sounds, I didn't care about his father while my own father's body was left to rot on our lawn.
The sights of the town blurred past me. Storefronts and small homes with big yards, a downtown area with street vendors set up on cobblestone streets. Ever-glowing lights lined the walking paths, and a steel sculpture of a cross hovered over an intersection. Once again, that mix of old Europe and Angel technology created something surprisingly beautiful. Most shops were closed at this time of night. We'd been flying for three hours. I reached up to tap on my e-Glass, but remembered it wasn't there.
Jax caught my movement. "I'll pick you up a new one. I know you need it to help with colors."
Yes. Colors. That wasn't true anymore, but I knew I couldn't tell him that, though I didn't know why. "Thanks." I would need it for other reasons, though. I'd need it to review the chip I had, and to keep tabs on the outside world. They'd of course bug whatever device they gave me, but I could override that easily enough and make it my own—and bring my Evie back. I'd spent too much time custom-coding her to lose all of that now.
We drove onto Vianney Bridge, a drawbridge, currently open. It was the only way into the castle, which was surrounded by a moat and various rivers separating it from Manhattan and Queens. We passed through the giant open gates, covered in engravings of knights. The grey stone fa?ade of the castle gleamed in the moonlight with chips of obsidian, giving it a beautifully ominous feel. It stood in a square with four towers, one at each corner, rising high into the sky.
At the end of the moat, two guards stood to either side of the castle entrance, dressed in light armor with a "V" crest on the right side of their chest and a Celtic cross on the left. Jax held out his hand and showed them his ring, something I hadn't noticed him slip on but that had the crest of Teutonic Knights, wings in red and black. They nodded and he ushered me into the castle courtyard.
A gentle breeze blew the hair off my face, cooling my fevered skin as we walked down a path surrounded by trees and gardens. "This is where many students come to walk, hang out, read or study," he said. We only saw two students this late at night. Both had on black cloaks with the V crest embossed in gold and silver thread on their chests and their back. "Those are Initiates," he said. "Once they are accepted to one of the Four Orders they'll receive the uniforms for their Order during their training."
"The Four Orders… Teutonic, Inquisition, Hospitaller and Templar, right?" I asked, recalling what I'd learned from the news. They used to be secret, but in our modern world it was hard to keep secret societies, so the Orders had 'come out of the closet' in a manner of speaking, and owned up to their role in the government. However, just about everything they did remained shrouded in shadows and mystery. Knowing they existed was one thing, knowing what they did under the cover of their Order was another thing all together.
"Exactly," Jax said. "The Inquisition ferret out rule breakers and enforce the rules. Hospitaller is the Order for healers and medical research. Teutons, my Order, are the soldiers, the guardians and protectors of the innocent. The last and most difficult to join are the Templars." He looked at me, his eyes holding deep sadness. "Your parents were Templars."
I knew this, or had suspected this, hadn't I? But hearing him confirm it shook me to my core. Templars were said to be dead, killed off hundreds of years ago, and most believed that true. But there were a few who remained over the ages, living lives in hiding until they could rebuild what they'd lost. They were the protectors and keepers of secrets, the inner circle that knew things no one else did.
It was these secrets that killed my family. It was these secrets I had to unravel.
Jax led me into the castle, with high ceilings and walls covered in ancient paintings and tapestries depicting great battles. Torches lit the hallways, but rather than fire, they contained a different kind of light, something that didn't make smoke and glowed blue rather than red—Angel light. Old and new. Ancient and modern. The past and the future.
My body ached. I felt tired and hungry, though when I thought of food nothing sounded remotely appetizing. A deep thirst dug a hole in my gut, but I ignored it. I studied my hands, still cut, still bloody, but nowhere near as destroyed as they had been. I remembered seeing my own bone protrude through the gashes. Now, though they were deep enough to show flesh, they would heal. They were healing.