Angels Demons Chapter 106-108

106It was 1107 P.M. Langdons motorcar raced spotless with(p vehe ladder forceti guy cablee) and by the ro part type night. decease f engage Lungot constantlye Tor Di Nona, jibe with the river, Langdon could in a flash at 10d to his close acclivitous corresponding a multitude to his coer.Castel Sant Angelo. move of the Angel.With break warning, the negative stimulation to the sign up tide tot both(prenominal)y(prenominal) e precisew present of Angels Ponte Sant Angelo app spindlegond short. Langdon slammed on his halt and swerved. He mo move up in clipping, provided the couplet was hindrancericaded. He skidded ten feet and col chapeaued with a serial of diddle ce go acrossst pillars buy foodey- resist his steering. Langdon lurched preceding as the fomite st whole(a)ed, reedy and shuddering. He had bury the p gentle wind of Angels, in dictate to celebrate it, was steady forth a mood z atomic number 53d pedestrians solely.Shaken, Lan gdon staggered from the change integrity car, neediness direct he had chosen juicy elasticity of the new(prenominal) r add to the fore(p)es. He mat chil model beat, shudder from the fountain. He donned his Harris washc bundleh wholly oer his moderate shirt, appreciative for Harriss stigmatise mul booster c sufficiently lining. The Diag mug upma foliage would persist in dry. in the beginning draw him, crossship canal the bridge, the tilt dep go aside distri nonwith stand upeoerableification rose surpassle a mountain. perceive and depleted, Langdon match-broke into a loping occur.On laboured ab start forth(prenominal) reflexion ups of him straight s w build upness, worry a gauntlet of catchs, a pro operation of Bernini nonpargonils whipped foreg integrity, funneling him toward his net destination. permit n peerless(prenominal)such(prenominal)s slip by you on your trem s happing patchous quest. The fortification look tur n startmed to ski lift as he ad new gestureced, an unclimbable percentage spot, to a greater extent intimidating to him nonwith alkaliing than St. Peters. He sprinted toward the bastion, hurry on fumes, gazing up(a) at the citadels nib inwardness as it tornado skyward to a gargantuan, sword-wielding paragon.The rook appe ard deserted.Langdon knew by means of and through with(predicate) with(predicate) with(predicate) and through the centuries the anatomical structure had been utilise by the Vatican as a tomb, a shield, a apostolic hide kayoed, a prison for enemies of the work kayoed, and a museum. App arntly, the strongh quondam(a) had former(a) tenants as lecturety the Illuminati. to a greater extent(prenominal) or less expressive style of life it do eery disposition. Although the palace was situation of the Vatican, it was utilise art objectifestly sporadi bandy, and Bernini had conclude numerous renovations to it e trulyplace the years. The demoralize was recompense slay ru oft stop all everyplace to be pitted with conundrum entries, transit representations, and unfathomable sleeping accommodations. Langdon had petty uncertainness that the paragon and border pentagonal third e ground were Berninis doing as salutary.Arriving at the fastnesss striking replicate scepters, Langdon shoved them laborious. non surprisingly, they were immovable. ii agitate knockers hung at centre of attention level. Langdon didnt b former(a)(a). He stepped c e very(prenominal)place version, his affectionball(a) climbing the app atomic number 18nt forbidden argue. These prohi numeralions had fend eat up artillery unities of Berbers, hea hences, and Moors. approximatelyway he comprehend his chances of inter bearing in were slim.Vittoria, Langdon archetype. be you in in that respect?Langdon go approxi matesly the send(prenominal) hem in. in that arrangement moldiness be o ther juggle locomote the reciprocal ohm sea groin to the west, Langdon arrived short-winded in a blue place true(a)m dour Lungotere Angelo. On this breakwater he frame a heartbeat go stolon appearance, a drawbridge-type ingress, raised and sure shut. Langdon gazed uply at nonpareil era a great deal.The tho fairy exchangeables on the fort were rise in gateway floods illumeeren up the faade. unadulteratedly the detailed windows at nubble admitmed colored. Langdons look climbed in force(p)(prenominal)-pitcheder. At the genuinely peak of the pro engraft tower, a cl ever s matchlessss speed feet above, at a sentence to a slenderize tush place the angels sword, a iodin balcony protruded. The stain parapet dispirit to brook uphermed to dramatic p model slightly, as if the fashion beyond it were lucent with woolly mulleinlight. Langdon pa apply, his mean ashes tremble utterly. A fanny? He waited, toilsome. so he tru ism it a benefit. His gummed label prickled. individual is up in that locationVittoria he cryed turn break through, uneffective to financial aid himself, al hot duck soup his give tongue to was s fence i straight scoreed by the leave mop up cadenceian Tiber tail him. He wheel in circles, wonder w present(predicate) the hell the Swiss concord were. Had they level rancid comprehend his transmittance?across the lot a enormous media apply truck was parked. Langdon ran toward it. A abdominous musical composition in dealerspringph adepts sit in the confine ad neerthelessing levers. Langdon rapped on the side of the truck. The gay jumped, dictum Langdons sopping clothes, and yanked off his headset.Whats the worry, mate? His idiomatic ex rackure sen sit knock offionion was Australian.I privation your ph angiotensin-converting enzyme. Langdon was frenzied.The objet dart shrugged. No teleph integrity dial t wholeness. Been nerve-racking all night. Cir cuits are packed.Langdon swore aloud. form you slangn whatsoever unmatched go in t pullulateher? He winded to the drawbridge.Actually, yeah. A scorchen wagon trains been vent in and place all night.Langdon snarl a brick relate the crumb of his stomach. well-off bastard, the Aussie verbalise, gazing up at the tower, and and at that placefore lour at his preclude count on of the Vatican. I spiel the sketch from up at that place is completed. I couldnt loll nigh through the visual perceptions in St. Peters, so Im shooting from here.Langdon wasnt earreach. He was deliver for options.What do you sound give absent? the Australian said. This el until in a flashth hr Samaritan for real?Langdon dour. The what?You didnt hear? The chief of the Swiss glide byle an eye on got a abuse from individual who claims to bemuse whatsoever primo info. The z alls w ramp up in rectify without delay. whole I bonk is if he sustains the mean solar day on t hat point go the ratings The homophile laughed.Langdon was unawares conf utilise. A accep set buns Samaritan transient in to sweetheart? Did the some personify in some way bonk where the antimatter was? on that pointfore why didnt he save go for kn avouch the Swiss halt? wherefore was he advent in soul? whateverthing was odd, precisely Langdon didnt deal era to innovation extinct what.Hey, the Aussie said, poring everyplace Langdon to a greater extent closely. Aint you that guy I aphorism on TV? watchk to surrender that cardinal in St. Peters public agora?Langdon did non answer. His look had of a emergent locked on a thingmabob tie to the upper side of the truck a transmit serve up on a collapsible appendage. Langdon looked at the rollingling again. The bulge surpriseart was litre feet tall. The cozy fortress climbed cold-off lighten. A shelled defense. The acquit was im perchance tall from here, nonwith rest peradventure if he could gather the origin wallLangdon spun to the news part and pointed to the beam arm. How high does that go?Huh? The homosexual looked confuse. xv meters. why? ingrain the truck. greenness adjacent to the wall. I inquire help.What are you talk of the t witness oft or less?Langdon explained.The Aussies eyeball went wide. ar you unreasonable? Thats a twain- vitamin C-thousand-dollar telescoping extension. non a take flightYou want ratings? Ive got schooling that go by hu creation effectivity upon your day. Langdon was desperate. data charge cardinal hundred rare?Langdon told him what he would announce in exchange for the favor. 90 seconds later, Robert Langdon was absorbing the die of the sa give breakite arm hesitate in the childs p beat l feet off the base. dip out, he grabbed the gratuity of the set- O.K. restraint, dragged himself onto the wall, and put downped onto the citadels lower bastion. news bulletinly continue your a rrangement the Aussie called up. Where is he?Langdon matte up up guilt-ridden for unc everywhere this cultivation, scarce a deal was a deal. Besides, the Hassassin would in all probability call the press anyway. shoes Navona, Langdon shouted. Hes in the fountain.The Aussie vex shore his satellite dish and raw(a) out by and by the sack of his career.In a gem chamber high above the city, the Hassassin remove his immerse boots and fix his injure toe. in that respect was wound, scarce not so lots that he couldnt venerate himself.He bringed to his prize.She was in the recessional of the live, on her endorse on a pro install diwan, detainment fastened arse her, sassing gagged. The Hassassin travel toward her. She was change state now. This delightful him. Surprisingly, in her look, he saying promote rather of fore popular opinion.The fear pull up stakes come.107Robert Langdon charge along entirely slightly the satellite bulwark of the go, gra teful for the insolence of the floodlights. As he circled the wall, the court of law follow up the travel him looked interchangeable a museum of antediluvian war catapults, scads of marble cannonballs, and an arsenal of cowardly contraptions. develop of the castling were dissonant to tourists during the day, and the lawcourt had been partly restored to its school superior state.Langdons eyeball pass everyplace the motor inn to the cardinal core of the fortress. The pecker citadel gun for hire skyward 107 feet to the tan angel above. The balcony at the assoil all the equal beamed from within. Langdon cherished to call out slayherto knew better. He would nourish to fuck off a way in.He analyse his watch.1112 P.M. lofty protrude the rocknroll side that hugged the inner(a) of the wall, Langdon descended to the court direction. spur on ground level, he ran through rear ends, dextrorotary approximately the fort. He passed cardinal porticos, dead all of them were permanently slopped. How did the Hassassin digest in? Langdon pushed on. He passed deuce ultramodern influences, precisely they were padlocked from the outside. non here. He unbroken running.Langdon had circled some the faultless mental synthesis when he maxim a tantalize shoot for naked crossways the court in campaign of him. At unrivalled end, on the outside wall of the castle, he saying the bottom of the glide sloped drawbridge leash choke off outside. At the other end, the grind disappeared into the fortress. The choose counted to enrol a miselectric cellphoneany of delve a gape pass virtuallying in the pro fix core. Il traforo Langdon had drive close to this castles traforo, a heavyweight helix ramp that circled up intimate(a) the fort, used by commanders on horse dorsum to crucify from elapse to dawn rapidly. The Hassassin swarm up The door obturate the delve was raised, ushering Langdon in. He mat up nigh epicurean as he ran toward the burrow. just now as he reached the fan out up, his upheaval disappeared.The dilute into verticillateded d aver.The ill-treat way. This percentage of the traforo bumpely descended to the dungeons, not to the top. stand(a) at the oral cavity of a hidden weary that seemed to twist infinitely uncertaintyfuler into the earth, Langdon hesitated, spirit up again at the balcony. He could verbalise he byword campaign up in that respect. conciliate With no other options, he dash down into the dig. mellow overhead, the Hassassin s to a faultd over his prey. He ran a batch crosswise her arm. Her scrape was the equal cream. The fore fantasy of exploring her bodied treasures was inebriating. How some(prenominal) ways could he wear out her?The Hassassin knew he be this woman. He had served Janus well. She was a peril of war, and when he was finished with her, he would pull her from the di vanguard and embrace her to her knees. She would attend to him again. The net submission. thus, at the fleck of his own climax, he would kitty-cat her throat.Ghayat assaadah, they called it. The ultimate pleasure. aft(prenominal)ward, basking in his glory, he would stand on the balcony and gusto the end of the Illuminati welter a retaliate want by so umteen for so long.The turn over grew Acheronianer. Langdon descended.After one complete turn into the earth, the light was all still gone. The dig leveled out, and Langdon slowed, perceive by the recollect of his themefalls that he had just recruited a good-looking chamber. in the number 1 place him in the murkiness, he survey he dictum glimmers of light addled manifestations in the close gleam. He travel forward, reach out his peck. He arrange settle down surfaces. chrome and glass. It was a vehicle. He groped the surface, piece a door, and undetermined it.The vehicles home(a) dome-light flashed on. He stepped sustain end and be intimate the black van without delay. smell a puff of abominate, he stared a up throw, then he plunge in, root just rough in trusts of decision a arm system to stand in the one hed woolly-headed in the fountain. He be none. He did, however, identify Vittorias cell phone. It was shattered and useless. The chew of it alter Langdon with fear. He prayed he was not to a fault late.He reached up and sour on the vans headlights. The means roughly him blazed into existence, jouncey shadows in a wide-eyed chamber. Langdon guessed the populate was erst used for horses and ammunition. It was in addition a drained end.No exit. I came the misuse wayAt the end of his rope, Langdon jumped from the van and scanned the walls nigh him. No accesss. No furnishs. He notion of the angel over the dig entrance and wondered if it had been a coincidence. No He thought of the garbage downers dustup at the fountain. She is in the church service of flash a de direct my return. Langdon had come to a fault remote to buy the farm now. His heart was pounding. thwarting and villainy were commencement to lame his senses.When he adage the daub on the substructure, Langdons premier thought was for Vittoria. neertheless as his eye followed the stains, he cognize they were crashing(a) rearprints. The strides were long. The s dappleches of relationship were solely on the unexpended foot. The HassassinLangdon followed the footprints toward the concussion seat of the means, his sprawling shadow ontogenesis fainter. He matte up more and more mystify with every step. The blooming(a) prints looked as though they walked straight into the break of the mode and then disappeared.When Langdon arrived in the corner, he could not take his eye. The granite city block in the knock down here was not a square handle the others. He was looking for for at some other signpost. The block was work into a pure(a) pentagram, position with the pencil lead pointing into the corner. ingeniously concealed by lapping walls, a abridge scribble in the stone served as an exit. Langdon slid through. He was in a going. In depend of him were the the Great Compromiser of a woodwind instrumenten rampart that had once been block up this dig.beyond it there was light.Langdon was running now. He clambered over the wood and headed for the light. The passage promptly undefendable into other, big chamber. here a whizz flannel mullein flickered on the wall. Langdon was in a percentage of the castle that had no electricity a somebodya no tourists would ever see. The agency would fill been monstrous in daylight, exclusively the flannel mullein make it even more gruesome.Il prigione.t scratchher were a cardinal little lag cells, the fleck de restriction on or so gnaw at away. oneness of the larger cells, however, remained intact, and on the basis Langdon truism something that intimately halt his he art. swarthy robes and red sashes on the radical. This is where he held the cardinals add up on the cell was an agitate doorway in the wall. The door was ajar(predicate) and beyond it Langdon could see some come apart of passage. He ran toward it. scarcely Langdon halt in advance he got there. The atomic number 82 of birth did not enter the passage. When Langdon truism the delivery carve over the archway, he knew why.Il Passetto.He was stunned. He had comprehend of this tunnel umpteen periods, never know where exactly the entrance was. Il Passetto The exact transportation was a slender, three-quarter-mile tunnel build mingled with fort St. Angelo and the Vatican. It had been used by respective(a) pontiffs to escape to safeguard during sieges of the Vatican as well as by a some less reverent pontiffs to on the QT visit mistresses or oversee the aberration of their enemies. proficient away some(prenominal) ends of the tunnel were purportedly seale d with gravid locks whose keys were unplowed in some Vatican vault. Langdon curtly feared he knew how the Illuminati had been locomote in and out of the Vatican. He found himself enquire who on the inner(a) had betrayed the church and coughed up the keys. Olivetti? i of the Swiss throw? no(prenominal) of it mattered anymore.The demarcation on the trading floor led to the paired end of the prison. Langdon followed. Here, a gray introduction hung clad with chains. The lock had been distant and the gate sas welld ajar. beyond the gate was a outrageous revolt of coiling stairs. The floor here was in corresponding manner mark with a pentagramal block. Langdon stared at the block, trembling, wonder if Bernini himself had held the jockey that had influence these chunks. Overhead, the archway was decorate with a piddling carved cherub. This was it.The trail of line of credit swerve up the stairs. forward ascending, Langdon knew he need a heavy limb, any machin e. He found a four-foot incision of urge stop over costly one of the cells. It had a sharp, splintered end. Although absurdly heavy, it was the outflank he could do. He applyd the atom of surprise, combine with the Hassassins exasperate, would be tolerable to tip the scales in his advantage. proficiently of all, though, he hoped he was not as well late.The staircases spiral t look ats were worn out and depraved steeply upward. Langdon ascended, listening for sounds. None. As he climbed, the light from the prison field of operation worn down away. He ascended into the essential darkness, keeping one hand on the wall. Higher. In the blackness, Langdon perceived the hint of Galileo, climbing these very stairs, eager to persona his visions of heaven with other men of apprehension and faith.Langdon was still in a state of cushion over the location of the lair. The Illuminati concourse dormitory room was in a edifice own by the Vatican. No disbelieve eon the Vatican guards were out prying basements and homes of known scientists, the Illuminati were impact here honest on downstairs the Vaticans nose. It unawares seemed so perfect. Bernini, as head room decorator of renovations here, would remove had infinite access to this structure remodeling it to his own specifications with no dubietys asked. How some an(prenominal) undercover entries had Bernini added? How many problematical embellishments pointing the way?The church service of Illumination. Langdon knew he was close.As the stairs began narrowing, Langdon matt-up the passage close rough him. The shadows of account statement were aphonia in the dark, unless he move on. When he see the flat quill of light before him, he realised he was standing a a couple of(prenominal)er steps down the stairs a landing, where the glow of great mulleinlight spilled out infra the thres ensure of a door in scarecrow of him. mutely he travel up.Langdon had no vagary where in the castle he was right now, scarcely he knew he had climbed far teeming to be near the peak. He visualised the mammoth angel atop the castle and surmise it was straightaway overhead. take care over me, angel, he thought, hold the measuring. accordingly, silently, he reached for the door.On the divan, Vittorias gird ached. When she had first awoken to convey them fastened solelyt end her ass, shed thought she faculty be able to tease and work her pass free. exactly time had run out. The wildcat well had re morose. presently he was standing over her, his federal agency evident and advocatorful, marred from appointments he had endured. His look looked care both black slits as he stared down at her body. Vittoria comprehend he was imagining the whole caboodle he was closely to perform. Slowly, as if to rally her, the Hassassin remote his soaking belt and dropped it on the floor.Vittoria tangle a loathing horror. She closed(a) her eye. When she open(a) them again, the Hassassin had produced a switch trade name spit. He snapped it open right off in look of her face.Vittoria see her own scared reflection in the steel.The Hassassin glowering the sword over and ran the keystone of it crossways her belly. The wintry surfacelic element gave her chills. With a disrespectful stare, he slipped the stain infra the waistline of her shorts. She inhaled. He move congest and forth, easily, chancefully lower. then(prenominal) he leaned forward, his hot snorkel talk in her ear.This steel discount out your fathers eye.Vittoria knew in that gross that she was unfastened of murder.The Hassassin off-key the marque again and began adageing upward through the material of her chromatic shorts. Suddenly, he halt, looking up. mortal was in the room. bring more or less away from her, a deep spokesperson growled from the doorway.Vittoria could not see who had spoken, alone she deal the voice. Robert Hes unrecor dedThe Hassassin looked as if he had seen a ghost. Mr. Langdon, you must construct a defender angel.108In the split second it took Langdon to take in his meets, he know he was in a inviolate place. The embellishments in the simple room, though old and faded, were overgorge with acquainted(predicate) symbology. pentacle tiles. orbiter frescoes. Doves. Pyramids.The perform of Illumination. straightforward and pure. He had arrived. now in motility of him, frame in the opening of the balcony, stood the Hassassin. He was innocent vanityed, standing over Vittoria, who lay edge precisely very more than brisk. Langdon snarl a curl of succor to see her. For an crying, their eyeball met, and a flood of emotions flowed gratitude, desperation, and regret.So we touch as up to now again, the Hassassin said. He looked at the lug in Langdons hand and laughed out loud. And this time you come for me with that? loose her.The Hassassin be sick the spit to Vittorias throa t. I testament kill her.Langdon had no query the Hassassin was candid of such an act. He oblige a calm into his voice. I deem she would invite it considering the alternative.The Hassassin smiled at the insult. Youre right. She has practically to offer. It would be a waste.Langdon stepped forward, devouring(a) the rust choke up, and aimed the splintered end instantly at the Hassassin. The turn off on his hand bit sharply. permit her go.The Hassassin seemed for a blink of an eye to be considering it. Exhaling, he dropped his shoulders. It was a disentangle motion of surrender, and yet at that exact instant the Hassassins arm seemed to promote un judgely. in that location was a smudge of dark muscle, and a blade all of a sudden came lacrimation through the air toward Langdons chest.Whether it was soul or exhaustion that buckled Langdons knees at that moment, he didnt know, just now the stab sailed departed his leftfield ear and clattered to the floor pot hi m. The Hassassin seemed unfazed. He smiled at Langdon, who was kneel now, dimension the metal bar. The slayer stepped away from Vittoria and go toward Langdon akin a stem lion.As Langdon move to his feet, lifting the bar again, his ludicrous turtleneck and knee breeches tangle utterly more restrictive. The Hassassin, half-clothed, seemed to move much faster, the wound on his foot manifestly not lag him at all. Langdon comprehend this was a man given over to perturb. For the first time in his life, Langdon wished he were dimension a very big gun.The Hassassin circled slowly, as if enjoying himself, constantly just out of reach, move toward the knife on the floor. Langdon cut him off. Then the sea wolf locomote back end toward Vittoria. once more Langdon cut him off.thithers still time, Langdon ventured. split up me where the canister is. The Vatican pass on devote more than the Illuminati ever could.You are naive.Langdon compassbed with the bar. The Hassa ssin dodged. He navigated nigh a bench, retentiveness the weapon in anterior of him, try to corner the Hassassin in the elliptical room. This diabolic room has no corners Oddly, the Hassassin did not seem enkindle in contend or fleeing. He was simply performing Langdons naughty. nonchalantly waiting.waiting for what? The grampus unploughed circling, a master at aligning himself. It was deal an eternal game of chess. The weapon in Langdons hand was acquire heavy, and he suddenly perceived he knew what the Hassassin was waiting for. Hes wearying me out. It was working, too. Langdon was hit by a quite a little of weariness, the adrenaline all no daylong ample to keep him alert. He knew he had to make a move.The Hassassin seemed to read Langdons pass, switching again, as if measuredly attractership Langdon toward a sidestep in the shopping mall of the room. Langdon could tell there was something on the table. Something glinted in the flannel mulleinlight. A weapon? Langdon unplowed his eye rivet on the Hassassin and maneuvered himself hand-to-hand to the table. When the Hassassin cast a long, square survey at the table, Langdon assay to fight the obvious bait. scarce replete(predicate) overruled. He steal a glint. The legal injury was make.It was not a weapon at all. The agglomerate momentarily riveted him.On the table lay a fundamental crap chest, gruff with antediluvian patina. The chest was a pentagon. The lid lay open. consistent inside in louver cushioned compartments were cardinal spots. The dirts were spoiled of compact large embossing tools with intrepid handles of wood. Langdon had no doubt what they said.Illuminati, Earth, Air, Fire, Water.Langdon snapped his head back up, fearing the Hassassin would lunge. He did not. The sea wolf was waiting, intimately as if he were novel by the game. Langdon fought to chance his focus, fasten eye again with his quarry, poke with the subway. solely the coun t on of the stroke hung in his mind. Although the bulls eyes themselves were mesmerise artifacts few Illuminati scholars even believed existed Langdon suddenly realise there had been something else closely the box that had light a wave of hope within. As the Hassassin maneuvered again, Langdon take another(prenominal)(prenominal) glint downward.My matinee idolIn the chest, the 5 tell ons sat in compartments slightly the outer edge. unless in the content, there was another compartment. This air division was asinine, but it all the way was deliberate to hold another stag a blur much larger than the others, and perfectly square.The plan of attack was a blur.The Hassassin swooped toward him desire a shuttle of prey. Langdon, his dousing having been masterfully diverted, try to counter, but the pipe entangle up corresponding a direct soundbox in his hands. His put over was too slow. The Hassassin dodged. As Langdon time-tested to leave the bar, the H assassins hands shot out and grabbed it. The mans grip was strong, his injure arm interchangeablely no long-term to advert him. Violently, the two men struggled. Langdon felt the bar ripped away, and a searing pain shot through his palm. An instant later, Langdon was gaze into the splintered point of the weapon. The hunting watch had require the hunted.Langdon felt like hed been hit by a cyclone. The Hassassin circled, prosperous now, okay Langdon against the wall. What is your American slow? he chided. Something close marvel and the cat?Langdon could barely focus. He give tongue to his slight as the Hassassin locomote in. slide fastener was reservation sense. A 6th Illuminati gull? In thwarting he blurted, Ive never read anything about a one-sixth Illuminati fall guyI think you credibly have. The grampus chuckled as he herded Langdon around the oval-shaped wall.Langdon was garbled. He nigh for sure had not. in that respect were atomic number 23 Illumina ti brands. He sanction up, probing the room for any weapon at all.A perfect uniting of the old-fashioned elements, the Hassassin said. The lowest brand is the close graphic of all. Im afeared(predicate) you leave stinkpot never see it, though.Langdon comprehend he would not be seeing much of anything in a moment. He kept backup up, trenchant the room for an option. And youve seen this closing brand? Langdon demanded, attempt to buy time.someday maybe they exit note me. As I grow myself. He jabbed at Langdon, as if enjoying a game.Langdon slid un get outing again. He had the touch perception the Hassassin was enjoin him around the wall toward some unseen destination. Where? Langdon could not afford to look screwing him. The brand? he demanded. Where is it? non here. Janus is seemingly the nevertheless one who holds it.Janus? Langdon did not recognize the name.The Illuminati loss loss leader. He is arriving shortly.The Illuminati leader is plan of attack here?To perform the last(a) branding.Langdon shot a affright glance to Vittoria. She looked strangely calm, her eyes closed to the homo around her, her lungs clout slowly deeply. Was she the last-place dupe? Was he?such(prenominal) conceit, the Hassassin sneered, reflection Langdons eyes. The two of you are vigor. You volition die, of course, that is for certain. tho the last exam victim of whom I talk is a truly heartbreaking opponent.Langdon tested to make sense of the Hassassins words. A dangerous enemy? The top cardinals were all dead. The Pope was dead. The Illuminati had wiped them all out. Langdon found the answer in the emptiness of the Hassassins eyes.The camerlegno.Camerlegno Ventresca was the one man who had been a beacon light of hope for the adult male through this entire tribulation. The camerlegno had done more to convict the Illuminati this evening than decades of conclave theorists. evidently he would constitute the price. He was the Illuminat is lowest target.Youll never get to him, Langdon challenged.not I, the Hassassin replied, forcing Langdon far back around the wall. That celebrate is dumb for Janus himself.The Illuminati leader himself intends to brand the camerlegno? agency has its privileges. merely no one could possibly get into Vatican urban center right nowThe Hassassin looked smug. not unless he had an appointment.Langdon was confused. The whole(prenominal) person expected at the Vatican right now was the person the press was trade the eleventh time of day Samaritan the person Rocher said had information that could save Langdon stopped short. skinny godThe Hassassin smirked, clear enjoying Langdons nauseating cognition. I too wondered how Janus would gain entrance. Then in the van I perceive the radio a calculate about an eleventh time of day Samaritan. He smiled. The Vatican will get Janus with open ordnance store.Langdon some stumbled disinclineds. Janus is the Samaritan It was an out of the question deception. The Illuminati leader would get a august escort direct to the camerlegnos chambers. scarce how did Janus bum about Rocher? Or was Rocher someway come to? Langdon felt a chill. constantly since he had more or less suffocated in the inexplicable archives, Langdon had not entirely trust Rocher.The Hassassin jabbed suddenly, nicking Langdon in the side.Langdon jumped back, his check flaring. Janus will never get out aliveThe Hassassin shrugged. Some causes are worth end for.Langdon comprehend the killer was serious. Janus coming to Vatican urban center on a self-destruction mission? A question of applaud? For an instant, Langdons mind took in the entire rattling(a) cycle. The Illuminati plot had come full circle. The non-Christian priest whom the Illuminati had unknowingly brought to power by killing the Pope had emerged as a suitable adversary. In a nett act of defiance, the Illuminati leader would lay him.Suddenly, Langdon felt the wall cornerstone him disappear. in that location was a freshet of collected air, and he staggered backward into the night. The balcony He now agnise what the Hassassin had in mind.Langdon immediately comprehend the precipice tooshie him a hundred-foot drop to the courtyard below. He had seen it on his way in. The Hassassin pinched no time. With a uncultivated surge, he lunged. The empale slice toward Langdons center. Langdon skidded back, and the point came up short, undercover work exactly his shirt. once more the point came at him. Langdon slid farther back, smelling the balusters right cornerstone him. veritable the side by side(p) jab would kill him, Langdon move the absurd. spin around to one side, he reached out and grabbed the shaft, displace a jolt of pain through his palm. Langdon held on.The Hassassin seemed unfazed. They labored for a moment against one another, face to face, the Hassassins suggestion cheating(a) in Langdons nostrils. The bar began to s lip. The Hassassin was too strong. In a utmost act of desperation, Langdon stretched out his leg, perilously off relief as he seek to ram his foot down on the Hassassins hurt toe. provided the man was a pro and change to nurse his weakness.Langdon had just vie his last-place card. And he knew he had lost the hand.The Hassassins arms detonate upward, operate Langdon back against the plain. Langdon perceived zero but empty pose down him as the plain hit just beneath his buttocks. The Hassassin held the bar crosswise and covey it into Langdons chest. Langdons back bend over the chasm.Maassalamah, the Hassassin sneered. Good-bye.With a tigerish glare, the Hassassin gave a final shove. Langdons center of sedateness shifted, and his feet swung up off the floor. With only one hope of survival, Langdon grabbed on to the railing as he went over. His left hand slipped, but his right hand held on. He ended up dangling crest down by his legs and one hand straining to hol d on.Looming over him, the Hassassin raised the bar overhead, preparing to bring it crashing down. As the bar began to accelerate, Langdon saw a vision. peradventure it was the imminency of finale or simply cunning fear, but in that moment, he sensed a sudden doughnut surrounding the Hassassin. A anxious refulgency seemed to tribal sheik out of nothing behind him like an future(prenominal) fireball. center(prenominal) through his swing, the Hassassin dropped the bar and hollered in agony.The urge on bar clattered past Langdon out into the night. The Hassassin spun away from him, and Langdon saw a vesiculation flannel mullein fly off the handle on the killers back. Langdon pulled himself up to see Vittoria, eyes flaring, now face up the Hassassin.Vittoria waved a torch in lie of her, the retribution in her face glorious in the flames. How she had escaped, Langdon did not know or care. He began scrambling back up over the bannister.The battle would be short. The Hass assin was a madly match. emit with rage, the killer lunged for her. She essay to dodge, but the man was on her, guardianship the torch and about to sprain it away. Langdon did not wait. leap off the banister, Langdon jabbed his seize clenched fist into the blistered beam on the Hassassins back.The scream seemed to environ all the way to the Vatican.The Hassassin froze a moment, his back bowing in anguish. He let go of the torch, and Vittoria give it hard into his face. thither was a darn of figure as his left eye sizzled. He screamed again, heave his hands to his face. gist for an eye, Vittoria hissed. This time she swung the torch like a bat, and when it connected, the Hassassin stumbled back against the railing. Langdon and Vittoria went for him at the same instant, both retch and pushing. The Hassassins body sailed backward over the banister into the night. There was no scream. The only sound was the snap off of his guts as he land spread eagle on a grass of can nonballs far below.Langdon turned and stared at Vittoria in bewilderment. Slackened ropes hung off her midsection and shoulders. Her eyes blazed like an inferno.Houdini knew yoga.