Scott Mariani 3 Book Bundle

Chapter 26 (#ulink_81577a79-1076-5944-887e-5457dbb0e31d)

Chapter 27 (#ulink_5bde06c5-ab66-52d6-b388-c4164eb8fcd2)

Chapter 28 (#ulink_ec7d0630-1117-5526-a8b5-d3c2be6542bb)

Chapter 29 (#ulink_bb552558-b1ce-5ef0-9306-43a3fac3abed)

Chapter 30 (#ulink_478154a8-8c9e-5160-91be-ba986e4babee)

Chapter 31 (#ulink_1a81e83b-7732-5d83-8047-84c085788b96)

Chapter 32 (#ulink_28a1fdc1-14da-57ab-be66-9f93c5f2a28f)

Chapter 33 (#ulink_101af598-359f-5862-8a42-307527788d84)

Chapter 34 (#ulink_1d531d36-ec79-5b7d-ab1c-3e63c5071a69)

Chapter 35 (#ulink_4a2acb55-42c2-574c-bf8d-7515f4803104)

Chapter 36 (#ulink_4c337ec4-792e-59b7-a61e-c3c55222c18a)

Chapter 37 (#ulink_9b69005d-9fbf-58b9-85c0-de16ad02fa0c)

Chapter 38 (#ulink_26a9d58f-eaf6-5bcf-98de-1e05a0bd4e94)

Chapter 39 (#ulink_224e8823-4907-583f-a53b-1b9b450a86c4)

Chapter 40 (#ulink_0901705c-f761-55c5-af65-08e32de70d0f)

Chapter 41 (#ulink_d1ff4c5a-49d2-5ea0-a0d4-755de069938f)

Chapter 42 (#ulink_89abd2c3-f805-5e87-a1a4-d91322e46fb6)

Chapter 43 (#ulink_8186da59-dc5f-59d4-b59e-f32d7351dd10)

Chapter 44 (#ulink_20ce8272-e0a2-55b7-abd8-b765c077f3f1)

Chapter 45 (#ulink_aa9ea99b-a171-59af-984c-2351507a05d3)

Chapter 46 (#ulink_d6c9a1a0-f548-5260-b270-163c6e31afbd)

Chapter 47 (#ulink_7492c103-b49f-55f7-8c67-e306f82805e6)

Chapter 48 (#ulink_65be5b03-6752-5cbd-ad33-d64f23e50c3e)

Chapter 49 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 50 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 51 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 52 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 53 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 54 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 55 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 56 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 57 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 58 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 59 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 60 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 61 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 62 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 63 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 64 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 65 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 66 (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Author’s Note (#litres_trial_promo)

1 (#ua7bb5faa-e4df-5b0b-b7c4-d61e9f24228d)

France, October 2001

Father Pascal Cambriel pulled his hat down tight and his coat collar up around his neck to protect against the lashing rain. The storm had ripped open the door to his hen-house and the birds were running amok in a panic. The sixty-four-year-old priest herded them back in with his stick, counting them as they went. What a night!

A flash of lightning illuminated the yard about him and the whole of the ancient stone village. Behind the wall of his cottage garden lay the tenth-century church of Saint-Jean with its simple cemetery, the crumbling headstones and ivy. The roofs of the houses and the rugged landscape beyond were brightly lit by the lightning flash that split the sky, then plunged back into darkness as the crash of the thunder followed a second later. Streaming with rainwater, Father Pascal pushed home the bolt of the hen-house door, locking the squawking birds safely in.

Another bright flash, and something else caught the priest’s eye as he turned to dash back to the cottage. He stopped dead with a gasp.

Visible for just an instant, a tall, thin, ragged figure stood watching him from across the low wall. Then it was gone.

Father Pascal rubbed his eyes with his wet hands. Had he imagined it? The lightning flashed again, and in the instant of flickering white light he saw the strange man running away across the edge of the village and into the woods.