Hidden Devotion (17 page)

Midway down the hall were openings in the walls, one to the right, another to the left. Juliette pointed to the left hall.

“Normally when you’re here, you need to wear a robe. Down here are changing rooms. The robes are inside.”

“Do I need to change now?”

“I’m not…maybe.” Juliette looked unsure. “Yes, you should. I’ll show you.” She guided him to an elegant, dark-wood door.

“What’s in the other hall?” he asked curiously.

“Private changing rooms, but those ones are connected to the medallion room. When people are called to the altar, that’s where they go.”

The main changing room looked like the kind of thing that would exist in a luxury spa. There were full-length lockers, padded benches and recessed lighting. An archway led to a tiled room full of private showers.

Each locker had a small plaque on the door with a measurement on it.

“What’s this?” He pointed to the number.

“Sadly, it’s nothing mysterious. It’s just the size of the robe inside. Sixty means sixty inches, which is the size robe you’d need.”

He opened the locker, whistling as he fingered the heavy velvet robe.

“I need to do something.” Juliette took the box he’d brought and stuffed it into the duffle, then hefted her bag back onto her shoulder as he stored his jacket and sweater. “You can leave your clothes on this time.”

“This time?”

“Some of the ceremonies require people to be naked, so usually everyone just strips before putting their robes on.”

“Naked. Right.”

“Don’t worry so much.”

“Worry? Me? I’m just in a super-secret underground temple-thing with a woman I’ve only known for a week.”

“Aw, now you’re hurting my feelings. It’s been nearly two weeks.”

“Considering how much has already happened I’m a bit scared to think what my life will be like in another two weeks.”

He’d meant it as a joke, but Juliette’s features creased with worry.

Robe hanging off his shoulders but not yet closed, Franco rubbed her arms. “I was kidding.”

“Are you really sure you want to do this?”

“What I said before, that I’d been waiting for you, for this…it’s true. I’m ready for this. Though I’m not sure what this is. What are we doing here? Is the Grand Master here?”

“Yes. That’s why we came. Sorry, I’m not great at this new member induction thing, since I didn’t go through it. Normally there would be a lot of hoops you’d need to jump through, and a mandatory waiting period, but you’re a special circumstance.”

With that Juliette slipped out, leaving Franco to practice not freaking out. When she returned she held a note-card sized envelope made of paper so thick it felt like fabric.

Francisco,

If you are ready to take your place among the members of the Trinity Masters join me in the altar room. If you choose not to join, you must never speak about the Trinity Masters again, nor wear your grandfather’s ring in public. Failure to maintain silence about us will result in repercussions.

Grand Master

“Yikes.”

“You can leave.”

“No…I want to stay.”

“Even after last night?”

“Especially after last night. I know things are complicated for you and Devon, but what we had, the three of us, felt special.”

“It
was
special.” She sighed and relaxed, smiling slightly. “Once you’re done, take the hall all the way to the end. There are three doors. Take the center one. That leads to the grand hall, which has the altar.”

“Altar? As in the sacrificial kind?”

“If you’re ready to join, it’s time to make it official.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ll see you when it’s over?”

After a week of waiting, he should have been ready for this moment, but it suddenly seemed to be happening way too fast. “What do I have to do?”

“Don’t worry, the Grand Master will tell you.”

Francisco stood on one side of a large stone altar, trembling hands hidden under the sleeves of his robe. He was shivering from the cold. This far underground, with unforgiving stone rooms and high ceilings, the chill was creeping through his skin and settling in his bones.

Who was he kidding? It might be cold, but it was nerves that caused the tremor. He’d told Juliette he was ready, but it wasn’t until this moment that he truly accepted the gravity of what he was about to do.

Standing across from him was a slight figure in a black robe. The Grand Master.

A heavy gold chain hung from the Grand Master’s shoulders. The robe completely concealed the person’s identity and added a menacing note to the whole event. This scene would not be out of place in a horror movie—if that robe concealed a demon instead of a powerful human. That absurd thought was enough to shake him out of his anticipatory paralysis. Franco took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He was ready.

“Francisco Garcia Santiago, do you understand the rules and privileges of the Trinity Masters?” The voice was gravelly, but strange sounding, as if the person were artificially lowering their voice.

“I do.”

“You will live by our laws and rules, dedicate yourself to both the United States of America and the protection of the Trinity Masters.”

“I will.”

“You will marry in the secret way of the Trinity Masters, accepting two others into your life, and protect them and the secret of your trinity, placing them above all others.”

“Quick question, can I, uh, tell you my preferences? I mean, maybe you’d appreciate some suggestions?”

Silence.

Franco shifted. “Sorry, forget I said anything. What was the question again?”

“You will marry in the secret way of the Trinity Masters, accepting two others into your life, and protect them and the secret of your trinity, placing them above all others in your life.”

The Grand Master’s voice had lost some of its gravelly quality, and there was a distinct note of exasperation. Strange, it almost sounded like…

“I will.” He rushed the words, wanting to make sure the Grand Master knew that he was committed.

“Francisco Garcia Santiago, lost legacy to our order, welcome to the Trinity Masters.” The Grand Master extended a gloved hand, placing it on the altar. When it pulled back, a gold ring awaited.

Franco picked it up and slid it on his finger. It was nearly identical to his grandfather’s, but the gold was shiny and new.

“Thank you, Grand Master.” Franco dipped his head in a small bow.

When he looked up, the Grand Master was gone.

Juliette was waiting for him in the locker room. She’d had to rush to shed the Grand Master’s robe and chain and make it back here before Franco did. Luckily she was familiar with the network of halls and secret doors that connected the smaller and less public areas of the headquarters.

“Did you join?” she asked him when he entered.

Franco held up his hand and grinned, showing off his ring.

She answered his smile with one of her own. “I’m glad.” That was certainly the truth.

“I may have done something stupid.”

“Uh-oh, what did you do?”

“I asked the Grand Master if I could help pick my trinity.”

“Oops.” Juliette forced herself to wince rather than sigh in exasperation. In the ceremony, she’d had to fight the urge to take off her shoe and smack him upside the head with it.

Juliette was trying to imagine how her father or Harrison would have handled the situation. Hopefully intimidating silence was appropriate. Considering how strong-willed most of the members were, it couldn’t be the first time someone had said something like that, or asked if they could have some input into their trinity. The awkward way Franco had done it was uniquely him. She wanted to both hug him and smack him.

And that was one of the reasons she was starting to have feelings for him. Very serious feelings for him.

Franco took a seat on the bench beside her. He carefully picked up one of her hands in his.

“Juliette, I need to ask you something.”

His blue eyes searched her face, and Juliette’s stomach tightened.
Shit
.

“Are you the Grand Master?”

*****

“Dead. He should be dead. Have him murdered.”

Juliette looked up from her stack of papers. Franco was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Grand Master’s office sorting through files. His hair was standing up from where he’d run his hands through it. His glasses were on crooked and he was still half-wearing the robe, which was now rumpled. He looked somewhat crazy.

When she’d admitted to him that she was the Grand Master, her primary feeling had been relief. Because he was so new, Franco had been impressed and interested, but not completely intimidated or shocked. That’s what she needed, to be treated like a normal person.

The other thing she needed was help with all these files and records.

“You want me to have my brother killed because the paperwork isn’t in order?” She set down the file she was holding and stretched her arms over her head. They’d been in here for hours. The first thirty minutes had consisted of Franco darting from cabinet to cabinet and box to box, commenting on the wealth of information. The second thirty minutes had been Franco getting increasingly irate as she pointed out the issues she was having finding and organizing the materials she’d brought out of storage in her quest to figure out why Franco’s grandfather hadn’t been called to the altar. When she got to the secret boxes in the Victrola, Franco had descended into wordless sounds of horror.

“Isn’t he supposed to be punished for breaking the rules?”

“He
was
punished, that’s why I’m the Grand Master.”

“And what about this? How will he be punished for this?”

“His punishment is that he has to keep working on my father’s journals.”

“That’s a drop in the bucket.”

“Not knowing what’s
in
that particular drop almost got him killed. I don’t want to wind up in that same situation. I have no idea how many people there are like you—their families have drifted away, and they know pieces of information about us, but don’t know enough to keep our secrets.”

“You should have an archivist.”

“I think one of my father’s councilors acted as an archivist.”

“A terrible one.”

“Will you be one of my councilors?” she asked softly.

“Of course.” Franco’s immediate answer made her feel good, as if in him, she really had an ally with no ulterior allegiances.

Juliette released the tension she didn’t realize she was carrying. The task she’d set for herself—to make sure she never faced a situation like the one her brother had, and to find everyone who might know about the Trinity Masters—was Herculean at best. Yet, she was terrified to ask for help. The Grand Masters gave orders, they didn’t issue requests. “At least most of the current files are in good shape.”

“Are they?” Franco held up a file and shook it. “Those are what I’m going through right now. Every file is completely different. Some are chronological with the birth certificate at the front, some start with the newest information. Some have copies of passports and driver’s licenses; others have a sheet of paper with the information handwritten on it. Some have summary pages, others are just a mess of random information…”

Deciding arm stretches weren’t enough, Juliette rose to her feet and did a full-body stretch, arching her back. When she realized Franco had stopped talking, she looked over. His gaze trailed over her, his eyes hot and heavy with desire.

Juliette’s heartbeat quickened and she licked her lips. Maybe it was time to really make this office her own and have sex on the desk.

Then again, she can’t have been the first Grand Master to have done that. Ew. Maybe she needed a new desk.

In the short time she’d spent being grossed out by the idea of having sex on the same desk where her parents might have, Franco had once again been distracted by the file in his hand.

“I mean, look at Devon’s. His file is excellent. An itemized list of contents, a page on his trinity—oh, uh, look, there’s your name. Moving on…look at this, a nice summary of who he is, why he’s a member, and what his best traits are.”