What could this mean for other artifacts? Do the gold masks found at Sanxingdui actually turn someone into Cancong, thelegendary founder of the ancient Shu kingdom? Or can the Aztec calendar stone truly predict the future?
What about the Arma Christi? I never thought they might be able to do what the legends claim. If they’re anything like the amulet, then Hitlertrulycan’t get his hands on them.
We need to get to them before the God Men do.
And the auras… I wasn’t expecting that.
Now, I wonder, what do I do with this information? Just accept it, I suppose—like everything else lately? What else can I do? It doesn’t feel right telling the order, not when they might be able to use it for themselves.
No good can come of seeing into someone’s soul like that.
With Bes gone, I sink deeper into my musings. Unfortunately, they’re clear as mud. The more time I spend with the Order of Cavendi, the more at war I am with myself. This life with the order… It’s exciting. Full of secret meetings and fantastical artifacts and legends made real. It promises the opportunity to thwart a man who could be the worst villain the world has ever seen.
With it, though, comes an organization born from the spilled blood of innocents—including my own mother—in the name of good at constant battle with evil; who steal artifacts for their own gain despite what their members might believe otherwise; who force people into joining, even if it’s merely under the guise of providing a roof over their head and food in their bellies.
They’ve also lied to me, and taken advantage of not just me, but my entire family. Not only did they chase my mother out of her home and cause her death, but one could argue they were the reason for my father abandoning me. When I think about it, most of my problems can be traced back to the order. And somehow, after all that, they still expect me to join them against my will and my better judgment.
If, somehow, I managed to put all that aside and pledge myself to them, I’d probably still never be able to go home. Maybe never see Nonna again.Not that I can do so now.
If I join the Order, Amelia Hawkins as I know her would no longer exist.
However, if what Nonna Alessa said is true, then the Third Reich’s search for the world’s supernatural items is only just beginning. Hitler doesn’t need more power than that which he’s already taken. And sending his henchman after someone as insignificant as me to retrieve the Amulet of Amun, means he’ll stop at nothing to possess whatever he desires.
The God Men, the Nazis, the SS, the Blackshirts—they don’t care if I’m under the protection of the order or not. Ingrid won’t stop coming for me and the amulet. Especially now that I know what it can truly do, beyond the invisibility.
I have to accept the truth now: magic, in some form, is real. As if to remind me, the bloodstone atop the amulet catches my eye, flickering eerily in the candlelight. I’m sure it’s not the only artifact in the Archive with the ability to do extraordinary things. If the Third Reich were to ever find the order’s hidden stronghold, Hitler would steal their knowledge and their artifacts for his own use.
Not only that, I realize.He would pilfer their supply of magic leaves to create his twisted army, turning them into super soldiers.
He could take over the world in a matter of months.
“Well?” Bes sets two plates down, startling me. I flinch; I didn’t even hear him come back. “Don’t keep me in suspense, Miss Hawkins. What did you find?”
I stare longingly at tonight’s meal, which is gnocchi—Italian dumplings made of potato, flour, eggs, and ricotta—in a pink sauce. It smells so delicious I have to restrain myself fromshoveling it into my mouth. Instead, I grab the fork he brought me and eat like a lady.
As soon as I take my first bite, though, I shovel half of it into my mouth. I’m not leaving Italy without getting the recipe from the chef, because the dish is absolutely divine. The gnocchi themselves are tender and smooth, and the pink sauce was the perfect balance of the sweetness of the tomatoes combined with the thick body of the heavy cream and parmesan cheese.
I sit back in my chair, savoring the flavors. “I didn’t start—I can barely see straight.”
Bes takes his seat beside me. “It’s a lot to digest, I know. I wish we could’ve prepared you somehow, but—”
I cut him off, having heard this excuse too many times. “The blood oath; I get it.”
He chuckles. “At least, now, you know we were telling the truth.”
“I don’t know what the truth is anymore,” I murmur, closing my eyes and taking a breath. “I had no idea the amulet could do what it was prophesized to. I thought it was a bunch of nonsense.” I pinch the skin between my brows. “Now I know it’s real, I have to find out what else it might be capable of. What the Third Reich might use it for if they manage to get their hands on it.”
When I open my eyes again, I find him studying me. Eventually, he brushes a lock of my hair over my shoulder absentmindedly. “You saw or felt something else after you said the incantation, didn’t you? Something more than invisibility?”
I nod. “Have you heard of auras?”
“Of course.”
I smile slightly. It’s refreshing not to have to explain something as niche as auras to Bes.
“Well, after I repeated the incantation and became invisible, you and Cec and Anders all had this halo of colored light aroundyou. The Egyptians must’ve held similar beliefs to the Hindus. Although, the Egyptians cared more for the dead than the living.”
“Yes and no,” he argues. “The ancient Egyptians believed that the world—and every living thing on it—was infused with the magic that the god Atum wielded to create the world out of chaos. For humans, that magic manifested into the soul. Only in death and after transitioning to the afterlife were all five spirits called the Akh.”
