AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Like you fucking Nazis needed more propaganda.”
“I told you. I wasn’t political.”
“Yeah. You said. What does a fascist tourist brochure have to do with what went down at Murphy Ranch?”
“I told you there were several translations, but the thing is, none of them was complete.”
“What was missing?”
She picks up the Montblanc and doodles something on a pad. I can’t quite see it.
“Why, the chapter on ancient Aryan magic, of course. That’s why Himmler wanted any of the few surviving complete manuscripts. He sent a whole squad of his pretty SS boys to a villa in Italy for it. He missed that one, but the Ahnenerbe eventually found another.”
“What kind of hoodoo are we talking about?”
“How to become the Lord of Death.”
Now we’re getting somewhere.
“If those übermensches running around the woods had that kind of power, how is it the Romans kicked their asses?”
“The Romans didn’t conquer all the tribes, but your basic point is right. They never did make proper use of the power.”
“Why not?”
She pushes the pad across the table to me. It’s covered with alchemical symbols and runes. I wish I’d brought Vidocq along.
“Because back then they couldn’t put all the pieces together,” says Tykho. “The magic described in the book called for certain kinds of metals and potions, things they couldn’t produce at the right purity, so they could never complete the death ceremony.”
“And maybe they needed a nonpolitical vampire for the ceremony?”
“Maybe. The point is that it took the believers two thousand years to create everything the ritual required.”
“But they haven’t finished it, have they?”
“That’s right. Until the new Death reigns through a new moon, the ritual isn’t complete.”
“How do we stop them?”
She takes the pad and sits back in her chair.
“Why should I tell you? You keep showing up uninvited. What’s in it for me if I tell you anything?”
I lean my elbows on her desk.
“Let me ask you something: Why did you help me the last time I was here? Why did you hand us those tickets? You wanted me pissed off, didn’t you? You want us to take down the White Lights. What do they have on you?”
“I don’t like people knowing about my past. It makes them feel like they have power over me and they’re prone to take liberties.”
“What kind?”
“Some things are private, even from you.”
“I know about your past now. You coming after me next?”
She makes a face at that.
“Please. Everyone knows you’re insane. Tell them I’m Sigrun. Tell them I’m Catherine the Great or Wonder Woman. No one is going to believe you.”
