Christian didn’t know. Guillume and Simon would have found anything there was to discover. Any sign of Sage would have been trampled or destroyed by the flames. His gaze swept the embers.
Willow stepped past him into the blackened outline of the barn. She bent and picked something up, shaking it as she turned to Christian.
The leather ends were curled and blackened.
Even ruined, Christian recognized it immediately. He took it from her and opened the book. Charred, and unreadable parchment pages coiled inside.
The book was destroyed.
Hisbook was destroyed.
He lifted his gaze to Willow. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Christian lowered his stare to the book. All this time chasing it, protecting it, wanting to complete his mission… It was done. It was over. With Brother Nicolas dead and the book destroyed, he no longer had a mission. He felt defeated but also relieved. The book had not fallen into the king’s hands, so in that sense, he had not let de Molay down. He tossed the book back into the ashes where it belonged. When it landed, a puff of dirt and dust erupted around it.
Christian turned to Willow.
She wrung her hands. “It’s the book.”
Christian nodded.
“Sage would never have burned it.”
No, Sage would not have burned the book. She wouldn’t have burnedanybook. Marcus must have had it. He must have died with it. Whoever killed him either didn’t want the book or didn’t know Marcus had it. And that left one question.
Where was Sage?
