Death Mask

Death Mask
Alex Archer

The face of evil.And the face of greed…The video showed a nearly naked man bloodied and beaten. Even as archaeologist and TV presenter Annja Creed watched, the clock on his suicide vest ticked down, and precious seconds were lost. But this was no stranger. Garin was her friend. Their fates had been bound by the secrets of Joan of Arc's sword. And Annja had less than twenty-four hours to save his life….The price for Garin's life was the lost mask of Torquemada, rumored to have been cast by the Grand Inquisitor himself, five hundred years ago during the Spanish Inquisition. Abandoned crypts, lost palaces and a cruel and ancient brotherhood: all clues to the mask's complicated and deadly mystery that Annja, and her mentor, Roux–using all of their considerable resources and cunning–must solve before Garin runs out of time. Annja Creed is facing her greatest trial. And not even the holy sword of Joan of Arc can spare her from the final judgment.

The face of evil.

And the face of greed...

The video showed a nearly naked man bloodied and beaten. Even as archaeologist and TV presenter Annja Creed watched, the clock on his suicide vest ticked down, and precious seconds were lost. But this was no stranger. Garin was her friend. Their fates had been bound by the secrets of Joan of Arc’s sword. And Annja had less than twenty-four hours to save his life...

The price for Garin’s life was the lost mask of Torquemada, rumored to have been cast by the Grand Inquisitor himself, five hundred years ago during the Spanish Inquisition. Abandoned crypts, lost palaces and a cruel and ancient brotherhood: all clues to the mask’s complicated and deadly mystery that Annja, and her mentor, Roux—using all of their considerable resources and cunning—must solve before Garin runs out of time.

Annja Creed is facing her greatest trial. And not even the holy sword of Joan of Arc can spare her from the final judgment.

“It’s rather a plain church, don’t you think?”

Annja glanced around, looking for someone who stood out, someone who was obviously watching her, who had a phone to his ear. The street was quiet. She couldn’t see anyone. But they knew where she was.

“Is this a social call?” she said into the phone, still looking up and down the street.

“No. Definitely not. I like to think of it as incentivizing.” The man on the other end laughed. In the background, she heard a cry of pain. Garin. Why were they doing this to him? Why torture him? If he knew where the mask was, he would have told them. He wasn’t a hero. There was only one thing Garin Braden valued above and beyond the possession of beautiful things, and that was

self-preservation. “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you,” he said.

There was a pause. A second. Two. It felt like forever.

A weak and mumbling voice spoke. “Don’t do it...don’t give them what they want. Even if you find it...”

It was Garin. The phone was snatched away before he could finish speaking. The next thing she heard was a grunt and the sound of flesh slapping flesh.

“Garin!” Annja called, unable to stop herself.

“You’ve wasted four hours, Miss Creed. Don’t waste any more.” The kidnapper killed the connection.

Death Mask

Alex Archer

Contents

Cover (#uac5d93ea-b081-5d0b-b662-75d13ae0cde3)

Back Cover Text (#u6cea3fc2-8363-5a14-9a54-997aac6f13ad)

Introduction (#ueb248823-58dc-58b1-bd59-1bffd01cc7d9)

Title Page (#u50718f1f-804b-5043-9318-e31cf2bf6870)

The Legend (#u585ca959-6aee-584e-9e40-b807821d0b54)

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24