Chateau le Bezu was a Templar stronghold, but the amount of Templars present seemed excessive. She glanced over her shoulder to see white tunicked Templar Knights emerging quietly from some rooms and heading away from her. She paused, staring as they rounded the corner she had come from, walking in the direction her father had gone. So many knights moving in one direction. It was strange.
She watched until they disappeared around the corner. Where were they going and for what purpose? Curiosity itched inside her, but she had to find her sisters. She hurried after the monk and Landyn.
The monk led them through the stone corridors and down a set of stairs.
She recognized these steps, recalling the feeling of dawn. She and Willow had ascended these stairs to locate their father and she remembered how, when they were climbing, the darkness had given way to a lighted corridor. Now it was reversed. She was descending into the dark, and only occasional torches in sconces lit the spiral stairs. The catacombs of the chateau stretched before her. The corridors were dank and musky, carved from the very ground around them.
She remembered these rooms and knew which one was Brother Nicolas’s. She pushed her way between Landyn and the monk to hurry forward. The sooner she got Sage, the quicker they could locate Willow.
She entered the room and stopped, frozen. A sweet metallic scent Raven recognized immediately as blood filled the chamber.
Brother Nicolas sat in a chair behind the desk. His head was bowed to his chest. An arm was wrapped around his stomach.
She scanned the room for Sage, but no one else was there. She hurried toward Brother Nicolas as Landyn and the monk entered. If it weren’t for the potent smell of blood, she would have thought he was asleep. When she came around the desk, she saw his bloodied hand resting across his stomach and a stain of red marring his brown robe, dripping onto the floor. She knelt at his side. “Brother Nicolas?”
His eyes remained closed.
She put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. When there was no response, she slowly stood, her gaze shifting to the pool of red below his chair. He was gone.
The monk hurried to Brother Nicolas’s side, pushing her away.
She stepped back, allowing the monk to minister to Brother Nicolas. The monk placed his hand before Brother Nicolas’s mouth to see if he was breathing.
Raven looked around the room. If Brother Nicolas had been killed, what happened to Sage? Her sister would not have allowed this to happen. “We have to find my sister.”
“Your sister killed him,” the monk accused.
Rage flared through Raven, and she straightened, facing him. “My sister would not kill an innocent man. It is not the Hawke way.”
The monk retreated from her, glancing at Landyn. “She was the only one with him,” he said weakly.
“We don’t know that,” Landyn said firmly.
“Someone else must have joined them. Sage would never hurt him,” Raven insisted.
“Then why isn’t she here?” the monk asked. “Where is she?”
Raven didn’t have the answer. She twisted a lock of hair. Concern flooded her mind. Was Sage hurt? She regretted ever coming to the chateau. Especially over some damned book.
The book!
She scanned the desk and noticed the black leather book was not there. Had Sage taken it somewhere? Had Sage been here when Brother Nicolas was attacked?
“We should find your other sister,” Landyn said. “Maybe they are together.” He glanced at the monk. “See to Brother Nicolas.”
The monk nodded.
Raven’s gaze moved slowly over Brother Nicolas. Killed. By the looks of it, from a sword wound. But why? Who would kill a defenseless monk? What threat could he have posed? Tingles of forewarning danced across her nape. She had to find her sisters.
