Chapter 11 - The MonasteryThey left Blackwood Manor before sunrise.
The survivors remained behind with Marcus.
Cassian drove.
Elena sat beside him.
Neither had spoken for nearly an hour.
Finally Cassian said:
“You should have killed me.”
Elena looked at him.
“When?”
“Before all this.”
“You would have noticed.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“You're not funny.”
“I wasn't joking.”
He looked back at the road.
The monastery was hidden in the mountains.
No roads were marked nearby.
No cell service.
No surveillance.
Exactly what Elena expected.
They reached the gates at noon.
The monastery appeared abandoned.
Cassian approached the entrance.
A bell rang.
The doors opened.
An elderly woman stood inside.
She looked at Elena.
Then Cassian.
“You are late.”
Cassian frowned.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“Someone who knew your mother before she became your mother.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Where all ghosts go.”
Cassian's patience disappeared.
“Enough.”
The woman looked at him.
“You inherited your father's temper.”
“And your arrogance.”
She smiled.
“You've earned that.”
They entered.
Inside the monastery was a hidden command center.
Maps.
Computers.
Old photographs.
At the center stood Elena's mother.
Alive.
But only in a photograph.
The woman touched it.
“She died three years ago.”
Elena froze.
“Then who was speaking to us?”
The woman looked at her.
“A recording.”
Cassian stared.
“Everything she said?”
“Recorded years ago.”
Elena looked down.
“She predicted this?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your mother spent twenty years preparing for a war she knew might never come.”
Cassian walked toward a large map.
“Where is the Council?”
The woman pointed.
“Everywhere.”
She tapped the map.
Then several locations lit up.
San Francisco.
Seattle.
Los Angeles.
Sacramento.
Washington.
New York.
London.
Moscow.
Elena whispered:
“That's not an organization.”
“No.”
The woman looked at them.
“It is an architecture.”
Cassian stared at the map.
“Who leads it?”
The woman gave him a name.
Cassian's expression changed instantly.
“That can't be possible.”
Elena turned toward him.
“Who?”
Cassian didn't answer.
The woman did.
“Viktor Volkov.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“He isn't the leader.”
“Then who?”
The woman pointed to Cassian.
“The leader is standing beside you.”
Cassian went pale.
Elena looked at him.
The woman continued.
“Your father never intended to destroy the Council.”
“He created it.”
Cassian shook his head.
“No.”
“He created the first version.”
Elena stared at him.
Cassian stepped backward.
“This is impossible.”
The woman smiled sadly.
“Then perhaps you should ask your father.”
A door opened behind them.
A man stepped into the room.
Older.
Scarred.
Walking with a cane.
Cassian stared at him.
His knees nearly gave out.
The man looked at him.
“Hello, son.”
Elena's breath caught.
Cassian whispered:
“Dad?”
May you like
The man smiled.
“Let's finish what I started.”
