“What is it?” Sharyn asked, waving for Duncan to keep working after he looked on with concern.
“I got on TikTok,” Naomi said. “I didn’t log in to my account, but I ghosted onto my site.”
Her WitchTok page . . .
“I wanted to get a feel for the general temperature. Of how the public is taking the deaths in Exeter and the accusations against us.”
“It’s not going well,” Archie muttered.
“Even my followers have turned against me. And why would they not? When one of their own is accused of a ritualistic murder. Only a few came to my defense, declaring it a false accusation, a digital burning of a witch.”
Archie looked up from the screen. “There are also memorial messages on the site for Professor Wright. With links to the latest news out of Exeter.”
“What are they saying?” Tag asked.
“Though the professor’s body was badly burned, the coroner has confirmed his identity from medical records.”
Sharyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Anger at the man still burned inside her, but he did not deserve such an end.
“The police have stepped up their efforts to look for us,” Naomi added. “Expanding to include Europol and intelligence agencies across the Continent.”
“Then we must work quickly,” Laurent said. “If we are forced to leave, I have new ID papers for the lot of you.”
Sharyn felt little relief at this.
“I may have something,” Duncan blurted out, glancing to Laurent, then back to the computer. “While you succeeded in decrypting the large section at the beginning of the Adage, I think it’s wrong to apply the same methodology to the rest. I believe the encryption of the mountain’s location is entirelydifferentfrom the rest. So, I’m going to erase the prior dataset for the next pass, then apply MDA—Multiple Discriminant Analysis—and start fresh.”
Laurent pushed him closer to the computer. “Don’t explain. Just do it.”
As they worked, Sharyn found herself bothered by what Duncan had just said. She eyed Laurent, who stood with his arms crossed, casting frequent glances toward the library door.
Sharyn raised a hand to draw the Frenchman’s attention. “Duncan said you had already decrypted a chunk of the writing, and that it had nothing to do with the location of the hidden site. If so, thenwhatwas deciphered in that first section?”
Laurent looked at her, his expression hardening, clearly reluctant to divulge this information. It must be something kept tightly guarded.
“I think we’re well beyond secrets now,” Sharyn stressed. “What did you learn?”
He unfolded his arms, giving in. “It is something we do not want theConfrérieto know. Not after having the Solomonic gold stolen from us. Though, with a traitor amongst us, such guardedness might be moot.”
“What are you holding back?”
He sighed. “The passage we deciphered. It revealedwhatis hidden out in those mountains, what the Second Adage was meant to protect.”
Sharyn stared aghast at him. “You know what the treasure is?”
36
1:07 p.m.
Shock shoved Sharyn to her feet. “All this time, you’ve known what’s out there?”
“For less than a year,” Laurent amended. “We had to protect the secret. It’s a treasure that could shake the Western world.”
Naomi stood up, challenging him, too. “What is it?”
“Similar to the cache of gold coins from the First Adage, the second treasure is tied to King Solomon. They are artifacts of immense value—not just in monetary worth, but also of great archaeological, historical, and religious significance.”
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Archie pressed the man.
