[Betrayed 01.0] 30 Pieces of Silver by Carolyn McCray

Author:Carolyn McCray [McCray, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: international thriller
ISBN: 9781612185118
Amazon: 1612185118
Barnesnoble: 1612185118
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2012-09-18T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Island in the Sea of Marmara

Tok sipped at his hibiscus tea. Dressed in a monk’s robe, he appreciated the coarse cloth against his scraped and bruised skin. The wild, watery ride through Budapest’s cave system had left them all marked. It would be weeks before the tender skin over his scarred hand healed. His left cochlear implant occasionally squealed unprovoked. Once debriefed, he would have the medical team assess the damage.

Blowing to cool the hot liquid, Tok looked out over the Marmara Sea. The waters were tranquil this morning, unlike his heart. True, they had recovered most of James’ remains, but Lochum had eluded his grasp. The professor’s group had executed an escape worthy of respect, but it galled Tok to think the blasphemer lived after all that Lochum had desecrated. So much had been lost in Budapest that Tok’s heart ached.

But his pain amounted to little consequence. After the Knot’s scholars deciphered the bones, it would be only a matter of hours until they determined Lochum’s next move and intercepted him, one last time. There would be time to grieve later.

Petir entered the terrace, his footsteps quick against the granite floor. Tok enjoyed one last sip of the syrupy tea before he turned to his mentor. By the set to his shoulder, the older man clearly had a destination in mind. Tok did not welcome a long plane ride that would cramp his already-taxed muscles, but he would gladly accept the discomfort if it brought him closer to Lochum.

He stood in greeting, but Petir shook his head. “I would remain seated, Master.”

Tok looked into his mentor’s winnowed face. It was not like Petir to be overly dramatic. “Out with it.”

“They are here,” his mentor said, slowly. Carefully.

“Here?”

The old man nodded repeatedly. “In Istanbul. Right across the sea.”

Tok could not imagine what Petir meant. “Who is here?”

“Lochum. His team. They drove in from the north.”

Tok felt his legs shake of their own accord. “But, why? James’ bones speak of the Eternal City, Rome. Why would they come here?”

Petir shrugged. “I do not bear such knowledge, but I do know your older brother lives.”

This news made Tok gain his feet. “Are you certain?”

“It was he who signaled their location.”

Tok gripped the table to keep himself steady. Each time he fired upon Lochum’s team he risked killing the man who had become a brother.

For Tok was not the only orphan found that fateful year. Whereas he had been plucked from the marketplace in Cairo, his brother had been found in the slums of Chicago. The two were raised under Petir’s watchful eye, but they had been separated as teens. Tok to learn the craft of stealth and torture, his brother to join the American Armed Forces in order to infiltrate Special Ops. With the Knot’s connections, it had not been a roll of the dice that sent Brandt’s team to Ecuador.

After their plane had been downed in Bulgaria, Tok had feared the worst. Neither of them feared death. Each welcomed it

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