Shadows in the Silence (28 page)

DESPITE HOW EXHAUSTED EVERYONE SEEMED, they were very alert while listening to my explanation of our next plan. While Ava, Marcus, and Madeleine rallied their allies, Cadan would call upon his own friends. I’d be surprised if Cadan had any other angelic friends, but he appeared confident nonetheless. Ethan Stone was already on the phone with his men and the pilot of his jet. Things were falling right into place.

I fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel, but I woke long enough to follow Will into the elevator and to our room. I lay sprawled on the bed wishing I could return to blissful unconsciousness, but Will wouldn’t let me until we’d ordered room service and gotten some food in our stomachs. one meal a day wasn’t cutting it for either of us. If I survived this war, I’d go back to Michigan and inhale some real food cooked
by my nana. Even though the hotel only served breakfast at this hour, I ordered an omelet. After having had real Belgian waffles, I wouldn’t waste my time ordering some cruddy hotel version. Unless I came back to Belgium, I’d never be able to eat waffles again, to be honest, now that I’d been spoiled. That was quite heartbreaking.

I couldn’t remember when I fell back to sleep—or if I’d fallen asleep with my face in my breakfast—but I woke hours later to Will nudging my shoulder. I’d slept until after midnight, but now it was time for us to meet Ethan Stone and fly to Syria. I took a quick, cool shower to wake myself up and finish packing before we took our luggage down to the lobby. Ethan Stone was already waiting for us, leaning on a sleek black limousine. His driver grabbed our bags and set them securely in the trunk. He rushed around the limo to open the rear doors for us to climb in.

“We ought to arrive just after dawn,” Stone explained. “This will allow us to travel safely through the desert. The sun is too direct for any demonic reaper to even consider attacking us during daylight.”

“You are officially invited on all of our adventures,” I told him as I slid across the seat and stopped next to the window. Will took his place beside me.

Ethan eased onto the seat opposite ours, sank deep against the cushions, crossed one leg over the other, and waved his hand over the panel under the windows. The panel slid away—a result either of a display of his power or the
device being motion-activated—and a tray lifted into its place with a lazy hum, displaying crystal glasses, a pitcher of ice, and a bottle of brandy. Stone tipped the bottle over a glass.

“And we’re off,” he said, and grinned at us.

Ethan Stone’s private jet was small compared to most commercial aircrafts, but it flew smoothly and in just a few hours we landed at a tiny airfield in the middle of the desert. The runway ended in a barrier of ten-foot-tall chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. on the opposite side of the airfield was a rickety, dusty building shadowed by a manned guard tower. I had a strong feeling there was more to this military base than we were told.

Stone exited the aircraft first and greeted a man brandishing a very large assault rifle. They spoke as if they were old friends, chatting in fast, happy-sounding Arabic to each other. Suddenly the man with the gun guffawed loudly and slapped Stone on the back so hard he lost his balance and frowned in pain. Ethan waved up at us and we climbed down the ramp, Will out in front like a bodyguard. The sun was insanely bright and hot, and I felt like my skin was frying right off my arms, even though I wore a thin shirt over a tank top and linen cargo shorts. Cadan, though he had braved daylight for me before, would never be able to handle this. Stone had been right that we’d be safe from demonic forces until nightfall.

We passed by groups of rough-looking men with so many weapons dangling from their uniforms they looked like twisted Christmas trees decorated by the Godfather. What kind of maniac were we traveling with who kept this sort of mafia-esque company all the time?

I tried to ignore the curious, leering gazes of the men, but I imagined they didn’t have seventeen-year-old girls passing through too often. Stone’s men took our luggage, but knowing that we’d be investigating ancient temples, I kept a backpack stuffed full of bottled water, food, a flashlight with batteries, and an extra change of clothes, just in case. We followed Ethan and the man he’d been chatting with toward the dusty building. Just past it, a Jeep was parked in front of a closed gate surrounded with more armed guards. This had to be our ride and I was more than giddy to get out of this sketchy “airport.”

Stone exchanged a few more words with the man, handed him a fat envelope of what was likely cash, and returned his attention to Will and me. “Climb in,” he instructed. “Yusri will escort us to our destinations today.”

“Another driver?” I asked, peeking over the seat at the man in the Hawaiian-print shirt behind the wheel. He turned around and gave us a pleasant smile. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I caught a glimpse of a gun sticking out the waistband of his khaki shorts.

“Of course,” Stone replied. “Don’t be silly. I never drive myself anywhere.”

I studied the GPS on the dashboard as Yusri configured
the map. “Aleppo? Why are we going there first? I thought we’re headed to Ain Dara. You’d better not try to bamboozle me, Stone.”

“No
bamboozling
, I assure you,” he replied. “The surface of Ain Dara has been reduced to rubble. There’s no way to access the underground channels there. We’ll be going in through a different door.”

Will made an impatient noise. “Can you be a little more specific?”

“Ain Dara’s underground system connects with the temple of the storm god Addu in the Citadel in the center of Aleppo. This temple is five thousand years old, older than the ottoman palaces, the fortifications constructed by Ghazi after the Crusades, the Byzantine churches, the colonnades built during Alexander the Great’s conquests…. It’s older than everything built atop it. The passageways beneath run for miles and miles.”

I nodded, understanding the plan. “So we will access Ain Dara from underground.”

“I hope you brought walking shoes.”

I frowned down at my sandals. “Meh,” I mumbled in response. At least I had my backpack full of supplies.

“We’ll need plenty of propane lanterns,” he said. “It’s dark as Hell down there.”

Aleppo could only be described as a city built of gold—of golden limestone and sand brick, that is. The streets were
a vibrant mix of languages, of people wearing Western and Middle Eastern clothing, and the scents of oils and spices. We navigated toward the ancient Citadel in the center of the city, past tourists and locals, automobiles, and carts pulled by donkeys. The Citadel, sitting atop a gigantic hill, was never out of sight so we’d never get lost, even though Stone seemed entirely sure of his path through the winding streets. We entered the same way the tourists did, across a grand stone bridge over what was once a moat and toward the towering entrance gate.

Ethan Stone pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. “We’re here. See you shortly.” And he hung up. He led us past groups of tourists and their guides, and past open areas of excavations by archaeologists. The Citadel was an array of different levels of excavations, some sections cleared and others barricaded from visitors, and we had to hop up and off short ledges when there weren’t any stone steps. The walls of some buildings still stood with little damage to their structure, while others had been reduced to rubble, though leaving clearly defined floor plans. We passed through archways of stone of alternating colors and through magnificent colonnades lined with gorgeous Hellenistic columns. The entire city, with its rich variance in ancient styles, was incredible. I wanted to veer off our path and go explore so badly, but we had a mission to see through. I wondered, for a fleeting, sad moment, if when I became an archangel again I’d even care about the beauty of the Citadel.

“Hello!” an attractive woman in her midthirties called out to us and waved. Dressed in khaki shorts and a wide-brimmed sun hat, she looked like she’d meandered off the set of an Indiana Jones movie not five minutes ago.

“Rebekah,” Ethan Stone greeted her, and kissed both her cheeks. “Ellie, Will, meet Dr. Rebekah Massi. She is an old friend and accomplice on many adventures. She’s treated me to archaeological finds not available to regular visitors, including some passageways still being excavated.”

She flipped her long braid of dark hair over her shoulder and smiled at us. “It’s wonderful to meet you,” she said, accent thick. “Ethan has told me you’re interested in climbing down into the tunnel system beneath the Addu Temple. It’s really a very exciting maze of a system. The tunnels are still mostly intact. We haven’t run into many that have collapsed.”

My eyes bulged and my stomach turned. As claustrophobic as I
wasn’t
, I had no desire to be buried alive in Syria. or anywhere.

Ethan held an arm out. “Shall we?”

Dr. Massi steered us toward the storm god temple, which was an unearthed pit lined with limestone walls. To me, it didn’t appear very different from the surrounding ruins, but Rebekah explained to us the intricate floor plan and what each room was used for. We headed to a section of the floor made of stone blocks that were free of dust, unlike the surrounding ground, and looked as if they’d been examined
closely. She waved Ethan over and they both lifted the stones from where they fit, revealing a hatch made of wood that seemed to have been preserved in the scorching desert heat. I watched in utter fascination as the two carefully pulled the hatch open by an iron handle. Beneath was a shaft, barely large enough for a full-grown man to slip through, that descended into darkness.

“Cool,” I murmured, and exchanged looks with Will. He seemed just as excited as I was.

“Are you ready?” Rebekah asked, a wide smile on her face. “It’s a bit of a drop, but I’ve cleared the dangerous bank of sand that might have broken our necks and I’ve tossed down sacks to cushion our landing. I’ll go first.”

She reached into her bag and retrieved a propane lantern. She flipped a switch and a small flame flickered to life. It didn’t seem like much, but as she positioned herself through the shaft, that little flame illuminated the darkness more brightly than I’d have guessed. Then she was gone, and a moment later her footsteps hit hard-packed earth with a dry thud and rustling of the sacks. I peered over the edge, deep into the shaft. Rebekah smiled up at me, holding the lantern over her head so that the glow turned her caramel skin to gold.

“I’ll go next,” Stone offered. He dropped his pack through the hole and followed it.

“Go,” Will told me. “I’ll close the hatch behind us and watch the rear.”

“Or stare at it,” I teased.

He licked his lips and they pulled into a little sideways grin. Smiling up at him, I eased my body through the hole until my legs dangled in clear air and all I needed to do was to let go. He gave me a reassuring look and I let my body fall. My senses quickened as I dropped and landed on my feet with grace and effortlessness. I stepped out of the way for Will to follow me and strained to see where Ethan and Rebekah had gone. They were talking just ahead of Will and me, lit by the glow of their lanterns. To my amazement, the tunnel had been carved out of solid rock. The air down here was cooler and less dry, and frankly it was more pleasant than aboveground. I picked up my pack and turned on my lantern. I started to get the second out for Will, but he put a hand on my arm.

“Save it,” he said. “I don’t need one to see. Three are enough.”

“Show off,” I grumbled.

“The passages open up into hidden locations all over the Citadel,” Rebekah called to us from ahead. We walked a little faster to catch up. “I’ve found four that lead out into the city, but this one travels the farthest so far. on one of my explorations, I made the discovery of a lifetime: an ancient underground city between Ain Dara and Aleppo, much like the city of Derinkuyu, north of here in Cappadocia—now modern Turkey—which was once the homeland for the Hittite civilization. The Hittites seemed to have taken a preexisting
city built by an unknown civilization and made it their home. I believe they have done the same with the city I’m taking you to today. I am itching to reveal the city, but not until I know what’s beyond the door in the Sanctum. That’s why I rang in Ethan.”

“Door?” I asked.

“An enormous one, twenty feet high, and made of solid basalt,” she replied. “There are engravings in a language I’d never seen before and reliefs of creatures I believed at first were cherubim, but upon closer inspection, were creatures I haven’t seen in any Mesopotamian structure, or anywhere else in the world. The written language cut into the stone is far more complex than any language within thousands of years of its dating. It is almost alien.”

“The language is Enochian,” Stone explained, glancing back at us, the firelight dancing on his face and making him look a little younger. “The angelic language. It was no astonishment that Rebekah didn’t recognize it.”

“You can read it?” I asked, surprised.

“Again,” he said, “I like knowing things.”

My gaze fell to the tunnel floor. “I don’t quite remember it. I didn’t think anyone knew it anymore.”