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."Coffee, doughnut?" Father Forthill asked.I sat down at the table."Father, you've never been closer to converting me."He laughed."The Fantastic Forthill, saving souls one Danish at a time." He produced the nectar of the gods themselves in Dunkin Donuts paper sacks and Styrofoam cups, taking some for himself as well."I've always admired your ability to make jokes when faced with adversity.Matters are grave.""I sort of noticed," I said through a mouthful of glazed doughnut."Where's Michael?""He and Sanya went to St.Louis to investigate possible Denarian activity.They were both arrested by the local police.""They what? What for?""No charges were filed," Forthill said."They were arrested, held for twenty-four hours, and released.""Sand trap," I said."Someone wanted them out of the way."Forthill nodded."So it would seem.I spoke to them about two hours ago.They're on their way back now and should be here soon.""Then as soon as they get here, we have to go get Shiro back."Forthill frowned and nodded."What happened to you last night?"I told him the short version—all about the art auction and the Denarians, but I elided over the details afterward, which were none of his chaste business.And which would have embarrassed me to tell.I'm not particularly religious, but come on, the man was a priest.When I finished, Forthill took off his glasses and stared hard at me.He had eyes the color of robin's eggs, and they could be disturbingly intense."Nicodemus," he said quietly."Are you sure that is what he called himself?""Yeah.""Without a doubt?""Yeah.We had a nice chat."Forthill folded his hands and exhaled slowly."Mother of God.Harry, could you describe him for me?"I did, while the old priest listened."Oh, and he was always wearing a rope around his neck.Not like a ship's hawser, a thin rope, like clothesline.I thought it was a string tie at first."Forthill's fingers reached up to touch the crucifix at his throat."Tied in a noose?""Yeah.""What did you think of him?" he asked.I looked down at my half-eaten doughnut."He scared the hell out of me.He's … bad, I guess.Wrong.""The word you are looking for is 'evil,' Harry."I shrugged, ate the rest of the doughnut, and didn't argue."Nicodemus is an ancient foe of the Knights of the Cross,"Forthill said quietly."Our information about him is limited.He has made it a point to find and destroy our archives every other century or so, so we cannot be sure who he is or how long he has been alive.He may even have walked the earth when the Savior was crucified.""Didn't look a day over five hundred," I mumbled."How come some Knight hasn't gone and parted his hair for him?""They've tried," Forthill said."He's gotten away?"Forthill's eyes and voice stayed steady."He's killed them.He's killed all of them.More than a hundred Knights.More than a thousand priests, nuns, monks.Three thousand men, women, children.And those are only the ones listed in the pages recovered from the destroyed archives.Only two Knights have ever faced him and survived."I had a flash of insight."Shiro is one of them.That's why Nicodemus was willing to trade me for him."Forthill nodded and closed his eyes for a moment."Likely.Though the Denarians grow in power by inflicting pain and suffering on others.They become better able to use the strength the Fallen give them.And they gain the most from hurting those meant to counter them.""He's torturing Shiro," I said.Forthill put his hand on mine for a moment, his voice quiet, calming."We must have faith.We may be in time to help him.""I thought the whole point of the Knights was to deal out justice," I said."The Fists of God and all that.So why is it that Nicodemus can slaughter them wholesale?""For much the same reason any man can kill another," Forthill said."He is intelligent.Cautious.Skilled.Ruthless.Like his patron fallen angel."I guessed at the name."Badassiel?"Forthill almost smiled."Anduriel.He was a captain of Lucifer's, after the Fall.Anduriel leads the thirty Fallen who inhabit the coins.Nicodemus wasn't seduced into Anduriel's domination.It's a partnership.Nicodemus works with Fallen as a near-equal and of his free will.No one of the priesthood, of any of the Knightly Orders, of the Knights of the Cross, has so much as scratched him.""The noose," I guessed."The rope.It's like the Shroud, isn't it? It has power."Forthill nodded
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