Page 85 of The Secret of Secrets

The truth he uncovered was unexpectedly disturbing.

He considered relaying it all to Sasha, but the trauma would be too great for her.

Sasha desperately needs a mentor…someone to believe in.

The truth about Michael Harris was even worse. The Golěm had watched the handsome American’s calculated advances on Sasha and seen through them in an instant. But Sasha was too naive to realize that a man like Harris would never have chosen her.

Now their treachery has been repaid.

As he carefully checked the clay around his mouth and nostrils, The Golěm reveled in his experience with Gessner the night before. He had tailed her to Katherine Solomon’s lecture, then to the bar at the Four Seasons, and finally back to her lab…where he violently overwhelmed the neuroscientist and improvised a devastatingly effective interrogation technique.

Gessner’s forced confession had filled in the gaps in his understanding…and the betrayals were even more depraved than The Golěm had ever suspected. She had revealed the identity of her influential partners, as well as the chilling details of what they had built beneath Prague.

Threshold.

The Golěm was enraged. Upon leaving her lab, he immediately began to plan. The head of the snake was an American man named Finch, to whom Gessner answered directly. Finch operated from the safety of an office in London and moved around the world.

I will first destroy your creation in Prague…and then I will take pleasure in hunting you, wherever you may be.

Gessner had revealed the location of the underground facility, but unfortunately her personal key card had proven insufficient authorization to enter. I require something more. He had already made one failed attempt to obtain it from Crucifix Bastion, but on this visit he would be far better prepared for anything he might encounter.

As The Golěm stepped into the windy alley outside his home, he could feel the wet clay on his face drying fast, pulling at his skin. His platform boots were still damp from last night, but he ignored the discomfort. His enemies could be watching…and he could take no chances being recognized.

I move now as my true self.

I feel the force of that truth.

He knew his mission today would require extraordinary focus. For this reason, he would first need to replenish his energy by visiting the site where he felt the pulse of Prague’s most mystical power. There, in a hallowed field of the dead, The Golěm would kneel on the cold earth and draw strength from his namesake and inspiration…the golem who came before.

Chapter 54

As Dana Daněk climbed the stairs to the U.S. ambassador’s office, she had a feeling that this summons would be her last. The ambassador had turned on her heels and vanished after angrily confronting Dana about her visit to the Four Seasons and her personal relationship with Michael Harris.

I’m about to be sacked, she sensed, knocking quietly.

“Come in,” the ambassador said. “And close the door.”

Dana obeyed and turned to face her boss.

As always, Ambassador Nagel’s demeanor matched her unadorned attire—all business. Dana found Nagel intimidating even outside her office, but right now, sitting behind her mahogany desk, flanked by the flags of both the U.S. and the Czech Republic, Ambassador Heide Nagel looked like a lion about to consume its prey.

The ambassador stared at Dana over the reading glasses she always kept low on her nose. “Turn off your phone. Put it on my desk.”

“Am I being fired?”

“You should be,” the ambassador said. “Let’s see what happens.”

Dana turned off her phone and put it on the ambassador’s desk.

“You will need to sign this,” the ambassador said, pushing a document across her desk.

Dana studied the document. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a nondisclosure agreement. It means you cannot discuss what I am about to tell you.”

“Of course, ma’am, I’m just not sure that I should sign something without—”

“Would you like Michael to review it for you?”