Page 59 of Midnight Torment

Jordan appeared beside me in an instant, examining it with his torch and photographing it. “The original members of the Council created their own language of symbols. I’ve found references to it in the archives and on the artifacts that Matteus had been collecting.”

“What does it mean?” I touched the tip of my finger to a loop in the design.

“I’m not fully sure,” Jordan conceded. “I’ve worked out some of the symbols, but not all of them.”

Their very own hieroglyphics from centuries ago. If Cassandra was right, then they were a society of evil murderers hellbent on world domination and destroying everything that got in their path. And Jordan was splat bang in the middle of them trying to destroy them. That put a target on his back that made me sick with worry.

“Most of the ancient cultures used symbols as a rudimentary language,” Johannes said, coming over to stare at the markings. “They’ve been found in caves all over the world. Some believe they were made by gods and even aliens. Maybe you should get an archaeologist to look at them in case they’ve mixed symbols from different lost cultures. That middle one looks Mayan in origin.”

“You seem to know a lot about this,” Jordan commented, sliding him a curious look.

Johannes shrugged. “My antique shop used to be real, there just weren’t that many people with the cash to buy collectables in this part of the world. I studied ancient cultures for years and travelled the world to visit their sacred sites. I met Seth on my travels.” He waved for us to follow him. “Come and see the next chamber down since you’re interested in carvings.”

Tiny stones and dust gathered between my toes and I gritted my teeth together as we followed him down the narrow tunnel. The next chamber was bigger than the first.

“This is when they discovered it was a diamond rich area,” Johannes explained. “Look at the holes in the walls where the initial diamonds were recovered for examination.”

I touched a glassy residue beside me. “Is this a diamond?” I asked.

“Yes. Little has been removed from this mine. Anything that has been taken has been hand mined, with that tunnel over there created for that purpose. This chamber was left untouched in case anyone came back to study the area.”

“How did it go undiscovered for so long?” Jordan asked. “Surely if word got out, this place would be overrun.”

Johannes kicked a pebble on the floor. “The Council has a long reach and its tyranny has spanned lifetimes. My grandfather was custodian of this godforsaken place, and my father after him. Word doesn’t get out because the penalty is death to my family.” He dragged in a staggered breath. “I’ve lost too many relatives to reinforce that point.”

This was the moment that a lesser man would find an excuse for the actions of the organisation he was involved in. Not Jordan. Instead, he grasped Johannes by the shoulder. “It is no comfort, but they will pay for their sins. Every single one of them.”

“I spoke to Seth last night.” Johannes brought his dark, troubled gaze up to meet Jordan’s. “He said if any man could sort this mess out, that it was you. He told me to trust you because war was brewing and he was on your side.”

Jordan moved his attention to me, his eyes saying more than his lips ever would. “The world is changing and we all need to find our place in it. All we can do is protect those we love and try to survive until the end.”

“And if those we love are already gone?” Johannes queried.

“Then we claim vengeance in their name and send as many of the perpetrators directly to Hell.” I knew Jordan was thinking of his parents. Some scars were so deep that they resided in your soul.

“Amen,” Johannes said in a deep tone. “May the dead rest and the living burn.”

A shiver of fear raced down my spine at his words. They painted horrendous images of violence and death in my head. We were in the middle of a war and on more than one occasion I had been involved in the crossfire.

To stop myself from dwelling on the ever increasing threat, I moved around the room to study it while Jordan examined the area Johannes pointed out. From what Cassandra said, this mine had been opened over a hundred years ago after her family had bought the land, which meant that all the riches on it belonged to them. The initial survey was carried out a few years after that, and the viability assessed. That was when the history got hazy since the deeds disappeared and there seemed to be some sort of fight about ownership.

“Do we know why excavation was halted?” I asked, stopping beside the diamond I discovered earlier.

Jordan sighed and leaned against the wall. “I’ve read a lot of the journals from the Council back then. From what I can understand, the members wanted this to be a resource that belonged to everyone since various families had bought land in different countries from profits generated from the Council. Cassandra’s relatives didn’t like that idea and the deeds conveniently disappeared so no one else could claim ownership. Some of the safety deposit boxes in dragon’s hoards haven’t been opened in decades, if not centuries. Their discretion is their legacy. The moment Cassandra walked in there with the two keys to open it, a chain of events was activated that we’re still trying to contain.”

That explained why Xavier had my best friend locked away from the rest of the world. “All this for a hole into the earth?” I mused.

Johannes stalked across the room and produced a flick knife from his pocket, digging it into the wall until he loosened the diamond I’d touched. He handed it to me. “That is simple carbon, nothing more or less, yet its value is unspeakable because someone declared its worth. Men die in these mines, women are bought using these stones. They are placed in rings and jewellery to declare love, even though blood is spilt to obtain them. There is nothing romantic about them, and yet, clever marketing has made them priceless.” His finger pressed the cold stone further into my hand. “This earth could be used to grow crops or graze animals, yet when the time comes, it will be blasted and dug until it is nothing more than a cancerous growth on the land.”

His words formed images in my head of evil men and corrupt actions. It sent fear pulsing deep in my stomach. This world was filled with monsters in designer suits hellbent on ruling the rest of us. We needed to escape before they caught up with us and I lost the only man I’d ever loved.

***

Chapter Twenty

Megan

We only had one day left until we returned to the real world. Our time here had been magical, far from the problems that normally pursued us. Jordan had been relaxed these past few days, full of smiles and affection since there was no one here from our lives to see us He had moved us again as a precaution after the man at the market. I didn’t care as long as I was with him, we were finally together, and I felt part of a couple.

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