“I love you,” she said softly, and Levi’s mouth twitched. A

  glance at the clock showed it was early, but it was nice to be

  able to look at Levi without any audience. She moved her head

  closer and shrieked when Levi grabbed her and rolled on top.

  “You!” She laughed.

  “Me, and you are beautiful in the morning.”

  When they went to the library after breakfast, the books

  were out. Percy had put the second one aside. This one was

  longer, and the first part spoke of the time Farah and André

  spent together as the wound on André’s chest healed. The

  story was woven with the growing love that Farah obviously

  felt for André.

  “She did a good job of describing how it began and how it

  grew,” Yasmine said when she finished the first section. “What

  do you think of the grandmother?”

  “She was a trailblazer,” Zara said. “The elder Farah

  understood what would make her granddaughter happy, and

  that is a progressive way of thinking even now. Right now, it’s

  innocent flirting and acknowledgment from Farah that she

  loves André, so we’ll see when it becomes something more.”

  “There has to be something more, much more. If there

  wasn’t, why all this?” Jane asked.

  “I might be reading that wrong, but you’re right. André

  was born a girl but never identified that way, so falling for

  Farah would be natural. She was as much a man as all the ones

  she traveled with. What I can’t figure out is if the men realized

  who she was. It might account for the teasing Farah mentions

  that had an undercurrent.”

  “They would’ve never allowed her to preach if they knew

  she was a woman. The Templars didn’t always play by the

  rules, but they were men of faith. Even today, that faith can

  only be administered by a man.” Levi was right, and that went

  well beyond the Catholic Church. Why men couldn’t bring

  themselves to follow a woman was beyond her, but that was

  the way of life and had been since the time of Adam and Eve.

  “They should allow women to lead the churches and

  mosques,” Zara said. “The men have made a mess of what is

  supposed to be a beautiful thing. Our mother fusses all the

  time when it comes to our devotion to Allah, but I’ve found

  my own way of praying, and it doesn’t have anything to do

  with our mosque.”

  “Faith is personal, so however you choose to practice it

  isn’t wrong,” Levi said, taking Zara’s hand. “We all like to

  think we’re unique, but maybe there have been different

  versions of us through time. This story sure proves that.”

  Levi looked into Yasmine’s eyes, and she nodded. It was

  easy to place herself in Farah’s place and feel that who she

  loved wasn’t wrong. All it was to her was the universe putting

  this perfect person in her path and saying here, I made this one

  just for you. That’s who Levi was. She was her match, her

  other half, and all the other things people said when it came to

  the right person finally coming into their life.

  “Maybe it gets better with each new chapter of the story.

  Theirs and everyone else’s.”

  Levi smiled at her and seemed to act without regard for

  where they were and who they were with when she leaned

  down and kissed her. The applause made Yasmine blush, but

  she held on to Levi and pressed another quick kiss to her lips.

  Zara winked at her when they came apart, and it made her

  happy to have someone in their corner.

  “It’s good you finally got it right, bear,” Jane said. “But

  enough with the mush. Get back to the books. Perhaps by the

  time you’re done, the computer will have something.”

  “Let’s get back to it, then. We need to know what the rest

  of the story is and where it will lead us.”

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  He is back to full strength, but still he stays close to

  us. There has been a change in him and he seems

  nervous around me. A secret as large as the one he has

  kept would come with all the fear one person could

  hold. I could not stand to see him suffer another

  moment, so I asked him to tend the goats with me at

  dusk. He nodded and we walked the herd to the oasis

  close to our home. The world felt alive. The grass was

  green and there were a few trees. He leaned against one

  and gazed off as he always did, as if his eyes could see

  into the vastness of our world. Finally, he looked at me,

  and a small part of that hunger I was used to seeing was

  back. It was what I was waiting for, and I took his hand

  and led him deeper into the desert darkness.

  “Farah,” he said as he stared at our joined hands. “I

  am sorry I lied to you.”

  “Did you?” I touched his face. “Are you not

  André?” I moved my hand to the side of his neck, and

  he hid those blue eyes from me. “Are you not my

  friend?”

  “But you know the truth of me.”

  “Yes, and your secret will be safe for always. The

  truth does not change how I feel for you.” My words

  made him open his eyes, and I suffered at the tears.

  “Do not fear me.”

  “How can you feel the same? My father always said

  I was an abomination that needed to be cleansed in

  battle. I was his punishment for what he did, and I have

  never known love or acceptance.”

  That brought tears to my eyes. How could such a

  pure soul believe his god would think him wrong?

  “You will know it now. I have made my choice, and it

  is you. My fate was to write the history of our people,

  but I cannot go on without you.” I pulled his head

  down and kissed him. It was my declaration, one that

  could not be misunderstood.

  “I cannot commit you to a life of lies. You are too

  precious to me.”

  “Can you ask me to give up something I want? You

  have changed my life and brought me out of my

  loneliness.”

  I saw the battle in those eyes that haunted my

  dreams, and he finally lowered his head and kissed me

  again. It was the start of my life with my love. I loved

  all the time we spent talking of different things. My

  grandmother was correct—having someone who not

  only hears you but sees you as well is a gift. André was

  that to me, and I loved him. Still now I cannot believe

  how lucky I am to have found such a special person.

  All those wonderful feelings ended the day André

  told me the morning would mean our separation. Her

  group was ready to move and start what they said

  would be the beginning of a new Crusade to bring their

  god to our lands. I begged André not to go, to stay with

  me and make a life with me. His father had a stronger

  pull than I, and he had promised. His sacrifice would

  wipe away the sins of the father but steal my love from

  me.

  I did all I could do to sear myself into his heart. The

  morning was so far away, yet so close, and in that little

  time I gave him my innocence. It was the only way to

  give him the will to come back to me. When he left me

  before the dawn, my heart broke as he donned his

  armor and white tunic. He had taught me the word

  Templar. That was who André was, and I cared not. All

  I needed was for him to live.

  The weeks passed, and with each passing day, I

  died a little more. One morning my brother ran to me

  and led me to the place we had shared our first kiss.

  There André lay, the tunic torn from his body and

  blood everywhere. He was alone, hurt, but he had come

  back to me. My brothers carried him back to my

  grandmother, and like before, we brought him back

  from the grasp of death.

  “I cannot stay,” he said when he was finally able.

  “You are safe now. You are home.” His fever

  worried me, but he was so adamant. He had to go

  because it was not safe.

  “I cannot bring you harm. I love you.” He reached

  up with what little strength he had and touched my

  cheek. “You must send me away to keep you safe.”

  We went on like that for days until the fever broke

  and his many wounds started to heal. The story he told

  me and my grandmother was one of betrayal. His own

  church had killed the rest of his men. Their battle had

  been waged against their own, and André was the only

  survivor who could tell the tale.

  It took months for him to heal, and my grandmother

  oversaw our joining. My father was not sure, but I told

  him it was my choice. She was my choice. Word came

  soon after that explained what André was saying. There

  were men visiting all the tribes looking for the one who

  got away. The secrets he knew had to die with him.

  “I must go,” André said.

  “You are mine and I am yours. Where you go, I go

  with you.” It was the start of an adventure that would

  open the world to me only to lead me right back home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “If this battle happened, there’s nothing in the history of the

  Templars about it,” Levi said. “I would have remembered the

  slaughter of Templars by the Church. Well, aside from what

  the church did to them.”

  “There is no mention of it in Arabic history either. The

  Templars were driven out after the Crusades were over. I can’t

  remember a reference of anyone trying to revive the Crusades

  the second time around.” Yasmine stood and typed in a few

  things into her laptop. “See, there’s no reference to it.”

  “But there’s no reason for Farah to write all this and go

  through what they did to hide it if it wasn’t true,” Zara said.

  “This was written five years after the end of the Templars

  as we know them in history. The church as well as the French

  king executed their plot to kill them off and plunder their

  banks. I think the reason Farah wrote this was to make sure

  whatever betrayal started with André didn’t end with the two

  of them.” Levi joined Yasmine at the table and motioned for

  her laptop. “I’ve looked through the rosters of Templars and

  never found André Sonnac, but perhaps there is a history of

  Farah’s family.”

  “I thought of that,” Yasmine said. “I’m still looking, but

  nothing yet.”

  “The answer of what exactly happened to this troop of

  Templars has to lie in the vast archives of the Church. Who

  exactly sent them back to the Holy Land, and why that

  subterfuge? The problem with that is, if it is damaging, they’re

  never going to share it with us,” Jane said.

  “That’s true, but there might be something else they didn’t

  count on.” Levi glanced at the other two books.

  “What?” Yasmine asked.

  “The bread crumbs Farah has left through time. I’m sure

  she used her talents as an archivist to pen this story, and André

  is in there. It was something they did together, and they had

  sufficient resources to spread the clues far and wide enough

  that some of those things had to have survived. I doubt I’ve

  found every single thing they left behind.” Levi pulled up the

  map of everything she’d found. “For everything we’ve found

  about the Templars, and all the insanely vague clues we’ve

  already got in hand, there has to be that much more that leads

  us to the final destination. I just haven’t cracked the code to be

  able to figure out what that might be.”

  “It could be in here,” Yasmine said, pointing to the other

  two books.

  “The rest of their history is in there, but the answer to what

  she and André are really talking about is in the code. We need

  to find that.” Levi glanced up when an alarm beep sounded.

  Someone was coming up the drive. “Take it all with you,” she

  said, and everyone in the room picked up something. She was

  done taking chances.

  “What are you doing?” Yasmine asked, holding the books

  against her chest.

  “Let me see who it is, but you need to follow Granny and

  Grampie.” There was no time to argue. “Please, honey. I

  promise I’ll be okay.”

  “You’d better be. Don’t make me have to come after you.”

  Yasmine kissed Levi and followed everyone through the secret

  passage Jane had opened. Once it was locked from the inside,

  there was no way someone could open it from the outside.

  Levi went to the security monitors and stared at the three

  cars headed in their direction. She didn’t recognize them, and

  they didn’t appear to be local. When they stopped, two men

  stepped out of the first car. She didn’t recognize them either,

  but she did catch a glimpse of the guns they wore. The driver

  walked to the heavy oak front door, rang the bell, and held up

  his credentials to the camera.

  “We’re here to see Dr. Jane Breeden. We have some

  information on what happened at her house and with her

  granddaughter. The director sent us.”

  The identification said MI6, but she wasn’t in a trusting

  mood. This many agents wouldn’t show up to brief someone

  on a break-in. “Granny, are you expecting company from your

  former bosses?” She used the house’s intercom system.

  “How many Land Rovers?”

  “Three, and their suits are nice.” The men didn’t ring the

  bell again but did appear ready to stand there all day if

  necessary.

  “Give me a moment,” Jane said, and was soon in the room

  with Levi. She quickly made some calls, then said to Levi,

  “Let them finish this sequence. Echo, Zulu, Lima, Papa.”

  Levi repeated the words, and the guy who’d spoken

  glanced up at the camera again. “Charlie, Kilo, Quebec.” He

  followed that with a string of numbers.

  “Come with me, bear,” Jane said.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” the tall guy said when they entered

  the library. “Director Witherspoon wanted us to come and

  update you on the investigation.”

  “A phone call would’ve sufficed,” Jane replied.

  “Usually that is true, but this was a coordinated attack that

  still has moving parts. We’d like to set up a perimeter to keep

  an eye on things. I promise you won’t know we’re here, but

  Director Witherspoon insisted. He knows how valuable you

  are to the agency.”

  “How many men?” Jane asked.

  “We brought six. That should be plenty, since from what

  we could tell no one knows exactly where you are or what

  you’re doing. They want something but didn’t find it at the

  London home.” The other man was all business.

  “We flagged some inquiries run by unknown players to see

  if you’ve used credit cards. It’s the easiest way to track travel.”

  “If you’re a complete imbecile,” Jane said. “Set up

  wherever you like as long as it’s not in the house.” She

  escorted them back outside and bolted the door. She made a

  call, going through different channels until she reached the

  person she wanted to talk to. “Harrison,” she said.

  Levi recognized the name. Harrison Witherspoon was the

  director of MI6. That her grandmother could so easily get him

  on the phone meant her role in the government was a little

  more than she’d always alluded to. After reporting about the

  men outside, Jane was quiet for a bit and then made some

  notes.

  “Find out and let me know. They said you were the one

  who sent them, and I will practice my shooting if they

  approach the house again.” She sounded peeved. “And have it

  done before nightfall, please.”

  “What’s this about?” Levi asked once they’d given the

  others the all clear.

  “The team outside is MI6, but they weren’t sent by who

  they said they were. That means they used their position to

  find us for someone not involved with British Intelligence.”

  Her grandmother walked to the window and glanced out. “I

  can’t know that for sure, but when their boss has no idea why

  they’re here, I can jump to any conclusion I want.”

  “Do you think they will try and harm us?” Yasmine asked.

  “No, but if you want information on someone and what

  they’re doing, they chose the best in the business to do that.”

  Jane tried to sound calm as Percy walked to her and put his

  arm around her.

  “Should we stay or go?” he asked.

  “The house is secure,” Jane said.

  “Is secure enough if they’re here and want what we have?

  We need to figure out how to get out of here without having