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  Kelly had studied Ballor demons intently, but she’d never run across any reference to how they’d originally bridged the gap from their own world to Earth. And there’d been only scant references to the Demon Gate.

  The Arcanists had been working to eradicate demons for thousands of years. She’d encountered the Demon Lords and their armies of lesser demons countless times. Most recently she’d helped rescue her friend, Anna Brown, from a lair of the foul creatures just outside of town.

  “In time, and with some divine help, the Atlanteans were able to close the Demon Gate. Their home lost, the surviving Atlantean sorcerers took the portal to the only other advanced civilization at that time, Egypt. There they discovered that, despite their magics, the portal would open every hundred years or so of its own accord. Through work and study, they also developed a way to counter it.”

  It was bad enough that demons could be summoned one at a time across the void. An actual portal that allowed back and forth access to the demon dimension in massive groups would be horrible.

  “The how and why of its creation has been lost in the ages and probably does not matter at this point. Over the past three thousand years numerous attempts have been made to destroy the portal, including the great effort you referenced during the Renaissance. However, all have failed and the portal remains. It is, indeed, humanity’s greatest threat.”

  So much of this was new to Kelly, and she’d read through most of the available ancient texts on demonology. Where had Nathan gotten this information?

  “What they could not undo, the Atlanteans at least took responsibility for. A sect of the sorcerers evolved to guard the portal and keep alive the rituals needed to close it when it did open. This system worked fine for almost two thousand years. During that time the portal was moved on a number of occasions to protect it. Eventually, it ended up in Jerusalem where it found a home in a secret chamber under the temple mount. The demons had not been allowed to enter our world in mass again, until the Crusades.”

  Geoffrey le Court turned red, his eyes downcast. Could the proud Templar actually be feeling shame? The Crusades were one of the darkest marks on humanity and the Knights Templar had been a driving force in the evil that had been done during that time.

  “How were we to know?” Geoffrey said. “We were sent to return the Holy Land to Christian hands. Those who did not believe, we fought and killed, be they Muslim, Jew, or Atlantean. Did they not do the same to us?”

  Yes, but the Templars started it, Kelly mused. Geoffrey spoke as if he were directly to blame, though obviously by we he meant the Templars as a group—self-righteously pompous in their world-stomping ways. Certainly, he couldn’t have been one of the original crusaders. Still, the Crusades were only one of many times the High Lord’s followers had fought an unjust war in the name of their god.

  “Though I doubt you realized it at the time, you were simply following a path laid out for you by the High Lord,” Nathan Gray said. “He has never been one to reign in his zealots.”

  Kelly couldn’t help but add, “And you Templars are the worst of that lot.”

  The knight paled at her accusation. “I suppose I must accept my share of the responsibility for what we did.”

  Nathan shook his head. “You have paid a hundred times over for any wrongs you have committed, Geoffrey le Court, but please, continue your narrative. Kelly needs to know the history to fully understand.”

  Geoffrey’s eyes stared directly into hers. It was a haunted look, one filled with contrition. His aura darkened as he spoke.

  “We took control of Jerusalem at last,” the knight continued, “and began to explore the underground chambers of the Temple Mount. We were searching for artifacts, holy relics—the Ark of the Covenant, the Chalice of Christ, the Sapphire Staff of Moses. We didn’t find them, of course. I doubt now they ever truly existed, but in the years that followed we created the myth that we had found them, to cover the horrible truth.

  “What we found instead was the Demon Gate and the Atlantean sorcerers that guarded it. The Atlanteans were in the middle of what looked to be dark sorcery, reason enough in those days for me to order their destruction. I realize now they were performing the ritual to close the Demon Gate, but at the time I could not have known.

  “As I slew the last guardian, he pleaded with me to safeguard the gate and read the manuscripts they had there. He warned that if I did not, the world would end.” The knight went silent then for a moment before bowing his head and adding, “I should have listened to him. I didn’t.”

  Kelly almost let her emotions slip enough to feel sorrow for the man.

  Almost. The man was still a Templar, and a High Templar at that. One of her most powerful enemies. She needed to remember that.

  “We were preparing to burn the books, and the dark magics we thought they contained, when suddenly the portal opened and we found ourselves assaulted by a host of demons. I lost a score of good knights in the first onslaught. Eventually, with prayers on our lips, we were able to defeat many of the demons that spilled out. We pushed them back to the gate itself, where only a few could enter our world at a time, but the demon hoard seemed endless, and our losses were staggering. In the end, we were forced to retreat. Remembering what the Atlantean sorcerer said, I took some of the books with me as we fled the Temple Mount. I had a strong feeling they might be our only salvation. We escaped the city, but the streets of Jerusalem ran red with blood for three days.”

  He paused, as if in thought, his head bowed. When he did raise his head, his gaze swept to Nathan. “If you already knew the history of the Demon Gate, why did you send me to that library to study it?”

  Yes, it did appear that Nathan and the Templars had accounts that the Arcanists didn’t have access to. How else could these two men have such knowledge of the ancient past?

  Nathan Gray smiled. “I had my reasons. Reasons that will soon be crystal clear, I assure you. There were things you needed to learn and experience.”

  An explosion shook the house. Windows shattered and plaster from the ceiling rained down around them. “They’re here,” Nathan said. It was almost conversational with no urgency at all. “A bit earlier than I’d expected. We’d best take cover!”

  But where to run? Kelly found her way to a window as the house rocked and started to come apart around her. There she saw a battalion of Arcanist wizards, some she recognized, casting bolt after bolt of arcane power into the crumbling house. Over two dozen Arcanists sent spell after spell hurtling toward Nathan’s home.

  A dome of magical energy shielded the Arcanists from detection. Despite the fact Nathan’s home was in the heart of the city, passersby outside the dome wouldn’t see or hear anything happening to the structure.

  “Stop!” she cried. “What are you doing?” But the wizards probably couldn’t hear her above the din of destruction. Not one of them seemed to notice her no matter how loudly she shouted or how frantically she waved.

  “Look out,” Geoffrey shouted above the commotion. He was again dressed in his Templar armor. Striding toward her, he nudged her away from the opening, just as a bolt of power sliced through the window, shattering the pane. Had he somehow sensed the spell’s trajectory?

  His fast action saved her, but the energy struck him, throwing him across the room. He slammed into a wall then crumpled into a heap on the floor.

  “Why are they doing this?” she queried, as she ran to the fallen knight.

  These were her friends and fellow Arcanists. Surely this was some kind of misunderstanding. Someone simply had to go talk to them.

  “Nathan?” He was high in the order. He had the authority to stop this.

  But Nathan was nowhere to be seen. Had he also been struck by one of the arcane beams that were pounding holes in the walls around her?

  Geoffrey lay in a broken heap, amidst the rubble—his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. Blood ran from a deep gash on his forehead. But at least he was alive.

  He’d risked hi
s life to save hers. Why? He was a Templar. She was an Arcanist. They were enemies.

  She spun toward the door. Someone had to stop this. But at that moment, the floor beneath her gave way, wood splintered and a massive hole opened.

  Kelly fell into the darkness, striking the cold basement floor. Darkness swirled in her mind as she struggled to stay conscious. Her last vision was a mass of rubble descending toward her from above.

  Healing comes from within, for when the soul is right with the Lord, the body cannot help but follow. – A Monks Reward by Brother Tandish, 1325

  Chapter 3

  Water dripped from a broken pipe somewhere above. Eventually it found its way down into the ruined building’s lower level to trickle onto the face of Geoffrey.

  He groaned as he woke to pain pulsing throughout his body. He was no stranger to pain, having lived seven hundred years in the fires of purgatory. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the agony. He’d just learned to put it out of his mind. Rising, he checked for broken bones. A few ribs perhaps, already on the mend, and a finger bent all the way back. Gritting his teeth, he tugged the digit back into place. He would mend, of that he was certain, but what of his companions. Nathan he didn’t worry about…but the girl…

  Where was she?

  An arm, small and shapely, stuck out of a pile of rubble.

  “Please Lord, let her be alive.” Briefly, he considered why he cared. He shouldn’t, but he did.

  Digging into the pile, he flung debris right and left, until he found Kelly. She was still breathing…barely. Battered and bruised, he could tell she was dying. Her pulse was weak and growing weaker.

  She was an Arcanist! He should let her just slip away. The world would be better off…wouldn’t it?

  But he couldn’t let her die. Placing one hand on her forehead and the other over her heart, he called for his healing gift. He felt the familiar tingle start just behind his ear. Then the feeling flowed down his neck into his shoulders. As the warmth spread down his arms, his hands glowed softly and his life energy entered Kelly’s shattered body, healing her from within.

  Her breathing became deeper and steadier. Her pulse strengthened. The cuts and bruises on her body disappeared. Pale skin took on new color. As the blush of renewed health touched her cheeks, Geoffrey brushed stray locks of her lush hair from her face. Time suspended and he was held captive by her beauty. What was it about her that so attracted him?

  He gathered her into his arms, cradling her like she was a small child. He sat and held her, gently rocking. She would still wake to aches and pains, he couldn’t take that away from her. But she would live.

  Kelly. Kelly Grant.

  There was something about her name that resonated within him—calmed his soul. But was it really the name or the woman it was attached to? Most of the time he’d known her, he’d either been annoyed with her or hated her for what she was…what she represented.

  He sighed as he considered the situation. He’d returned to a world on the brink of destruction, and it was so different from the world he’d left seven-hundred years before—electricity, plumbing, motors. There were radios, televisions…computers, and so many other strange and terrifying inventions. He’d had to force acceptance of concepts his mind just couldn’t wrap around. Airplanes, lasers…and now elevators. But he knew he had to adjust quickly to this new world. He wasn’t afforded the luxury of time.

  Fortunately, Nathan had visited him often in Purgatory and given him updates of the happenings in the modern world. Geoffrey had often wondered why. Had it always been Nathan’s intention to bring him back?

  The evil of the Demon Gate cast a pall over everything. The demons had it hidden away somewhere and it was set to open soon, unleashing a demonic army into an unsuspecting world once again. And no one seemed to be able to find out where the Demon Gate was.

  If he could find it, and be there when it activated, he could shut it down for another century.

  And if they could discover a way to close it permanently…

  But perhaps there wasn’t a way.

  His body started shutting down. The energy he’d used to heal himself and Kelly needed to be recharged. Power was neither limitless nor free. There was always a price to pay. Still, Geoffrey said a prayer of thanks as exhaustion washed over him.

  As his eyes grew heavy, his gaze settled on Kelly, lying unconscious in his arms. Her breathing was strong now, her life renewed. He brushed a hand through her hair as he watched a purple bruise on her chin fade to nothingness. Smooth, creamy skin reappeared. Her hair was so soft in his hand he found himself stroking it, running strands through his fingers. The world was in turmoil, on the brink of devastation. Geoffrey knew in his heart that they were all in terrible danger. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, for just this one moment in time, everything seemed just fine. With Kelly Grant in his arms he’d somehow found a peace he’d never experienced before.

  * * *

  Dryness clogged Kelly’s throat as she woke. A thick cloud of confusion whirled in her mind. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to open her eyes. Aches and pains wracked her body. There was barely a spot on her that didn’t hurt.

  She forced open her gummy eyes and fought with the cobwebs in her mind for the memory of where she was and how she’d gotten here.

  The devastation of the house lying all around her brought memories roaring back into her mind. She was in the basement of Nathan Gray’s home. She’d fallen…through the floor.

  She must have blacked out. Her head was resting on Geoffrey le Court’s shoulder. In the gloom, she could just make out his features. His rugged good looks were only enhanced by the stubble on his chin. Either his beard grew quickly or she had been unconscious quite a while. His chiseled features seemed relaxed. His eyes were closed. Yes, he was asleep. A soft snore issued from his lips.

  She’d never actually encountered a Templar in the flesh. Her Arcanist mother had made it clear to her what the Templars represented. Kelly had been told how, over the centuries, the Templars had been a corrupting force, bending people to their will. They were evil and selfish, taking what they desired by force, theft, or intrigue. Her studies of ancient history, including extensive research of the Crusades and the Inquisition had seemed to bear this out. The Templars of today were an underground, secretive society. Still, their evil workings were evident in the world and easy to spot if one knew what to look for.

  But being with Geoffrey had caused doubts to percolate. Were the Templars really as evil as she had been led to believe? Geoffrey hadn’t seemed like that at all. He seemed dedicated, sincere…almost noble. He’d risked his life to save her. Hell, he seemed like such a good guy. And, damn it, if he was her enemy, it was just wrong for him to look so damned sexy.

  She rose, carefully extracting herself from his grasp. Had he really been holding her? She felt well enough—remarkable for having fallen into the basement of a crumbling building. She stood and surveyed the ruins of Nathan Gray’s home.

  Nathan!

  Could he have survived somewhere in the rubble as she and Geoffrey had?

  The knight stirred, waking. “Kelly?”

  Had she really been the first thing on his mind? “I’m here.”

  He rose, “You are…well?” He appeared genuinely concerned.

  “I’m okay,” she answered, “but Nathan…”

  Tears welled in her eyes. It didn’t seem possible that her old friend could have survived this.

  “I’m sure Nathan Gray is just fine,” Geoffrey said. “It will take more than a house falling on him to bring low one such as he.”

  What?. Sure, Nathan was a powerful sorcerer but he was still a very frail, old man. Still, Geoffrey seemed to be convinced Nathan had somehow survived. Could the knight know something about Nathan Gray that she did not? “What do you mean one such as he?”

  Geoffrey’s eyes widened. “You mean you don’t know? Nathan Gray is—”

  “…just fine, as you said.” The voice belonged to Nathan
. The old man ambled out of the gloom, looking his usual dower self.

  Kelly made her way across the debris toward him. “You’re alive!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. “I was so worried. But your poor house…”

  The basement was littered with rubble. Through the holes in the ceiling above Kelly could see blue sky. There couldn’t have been much left of the grand old structure.

  “There have been many places I’ve called home over my time here on Earth. This one was no better or worse than most, but it was comfortable.” His gaze captured her eyes. “Your order has a bit to answer for, I believe.”

  “You seemed to know they were coming,” Geoffrey asked. “Why would the Arcanists do such a thing? Have you been found out?”

  “Those are a few of the questions we are going to go ask them.”

  Geoffrey chuckled. It seemed so out of place from the serious knight. “Nathan, my old friend, I am willing to bet you already know the answers.”

  We sank the island many leagues under the sea, killing hundreds of thousands of our fellow Atlanteans. It was the only way to save them. – translation from a 3000 year old scroll (author unknown)

  Chapter 4

  After they’d extracted themselves from the crumpled ruin of Nathan’s house, the three made their way to Kelly’s apartment. She was filthy, tired, and hungry. She put on coffee and threw together a hasty breakfast, nibbling as she scrambled eggs and singed toast.

  Her differences with the Templar could wait…for now. Kelly needed to confront Nathan Gray first. But not in her current jumbled state of mind.