“You’re not here for Gurlitt?” Bes asks.
Ingrid turns to Bes and smiles like she’s hiding a great secret. My stomach sinks.
“I never did properly thank you for killing my brother in Cairo.”
She nods at one of the Liechtenstein Nazis, who points his gun at Bes. Before I can utter a word, a shot rings out. Blood spatters across my pants.Bes!I pivot toward him—he’s crouching down and gripping the outside of his leg, pain pinching his face. I release a quivering breath.
Though I’m grateful, I have no idea why she didn’t just kill him.Maybe she plans to torture him for more information on the order.
I can’t allow that to happen.
Ingrid continues as if she didn’t just have one of her men maim Bes. “Now, to answer your question: we’re not after Gurlitt. He’s one of us. We know all about your precious order”—she glances between Bes and I—“so we found a way to pass on a rumor about the Arma Christi through one of our informants on the inside.”
One of their informants on the inside…Anders? No. My knees wobble beneath me as I remember the trusted source Nonna Alessa received her tip about Gurlitt and the Arma Christi from:Kali. Fucking Kali. And we even helped them further by sending Kali, and Mara, here for reconnaissance. But we haven’t seen hide nor hair of her…
Was this all Kali’s doing, and she decided not to stick around to witness the fruits of her labor?
Then again, Maracouldbe in on it as well. Kali and Mara seemed close the first time I met them, but now that I think onit, Kali didn’t exactly appear happy when Mara found her in the urn room. And Mara had it out for me from the beginning.
No, Marahasto be the mole. She must have something on Kali, something that would force her to feed false information to the order and pass it off as truth. Then, she used this same weakness to get us all here. Ingrid must’ve known I’d want to go off on my own—counted on it even.
And I played right into her hands. All because I let my emotions get the better of me and insisted we go on this suicide mission ourselves.
Panic seizes me.What has Mara done with Cec?
“How did you know I’d be the one to come here in search of Gurlitt?” I ask, my voice trembling slightly.
“I didn’t,” she admits. “I planned to use whoever the order sent as bait: their lives for yours. But then you went and served yourself up on a silver platter.”
I cross my arms over my stomach, feeling sick. “So, the art, the Arma Christi—it was all a lie? A ruse?”
“Well, the Arma Christi are real and Hitler does seek them, but Mr. Gurlitt has no idea where they are.”
I glance at Gurlitt—instead, finding Mara holding a knife to Cec’s throat as she brings him down onto the grass from the castle. Fear chokes me.Fucking Mara.My assumptions being correct give me no pleasure.
Dread pinches Cec’s brow. I nearly take a step toward him, but I’m not sure what Mara’s reaction will be if I do.
I glare at her instead. “Why?”
She ignores me.
“Now, I won’t ask again.” Ingrid holds out an open palm, though she’s too far away for me to hand it to her. “Give me the Amulet of Amun, and I’ll let you live.”
Time to do what you do best, Mel: keep talking until Bes figures something out.
“Of course, you’ll let me live,” I reason, clenching my fists at my side. “You don’t see me as a threat.”
She pastes on a smile. “A threat? No. A great thorn in my side? Absolutely. Now, hand it over.”
“Why would any of you align yourselves with the Third Reich?” I ask instead.
“The Führer has a great vision for this world,” Ingrid argues. “One that promises to stamp out the filth and usher in a stronger, better human race.”
My stomach roils at her words. How many of them believe this? How many of the German people have always believed this but never spoke their sick fantasies aloud until Hitler made it alright to do so? Encouraged it, even.
“And you, Mara?” I ask, not daring to turn around. “You would betray the people you pledged your life to, and for what?”
“The God Men made me a better offer,” she explains simply.
