Page 48

“Perfect.” Smiling down at me, he lifted his hand to my arm and patted it. “You're going to love this, Berlin.”

The guard opened the door, stepping out of the way to let us in. Entering the room, I looked around. It was a new place to me, one of the few rooms I hadn't had the luxury of seeing before.

There was a long wooden table in the center, with several chairs placed around the outside. A thick oriental rug was beneath the table, and the walls had pictures of old Italian relics.

What the hell is this room for?

There was a recreation of the Volto Santo and the Shroud of Turlin. A painting of the Villa of Mysteries was hanging on the wall behind the table. My eyes were scanning each image, taken by the beauty and ironic nature of them being in Virgo's hands.

So much beauty for such a dark place.

“Beautiful isn't it?” he asked, walking up to an image of a woman on a horse and admiring her. Nodding in agreement, I stepped to one of a woman standing on the crest of a wave. “That's Venus,” he said, walking up beside me, his eyes mesmerized. “This painting is suppose to show her actual birth from the sea.”

“Why do you have this?” I asked, unsure how something so breathtaking fit into his world.

All I saw was darkness, a black hole that kept swirling and swirling, growing stronger every minute. I didn't see beauty, I didn't see color or shapes.

“Because I give life, Berlin, just like the sea gave her life. I take a seed and grow a flower, I formed everything in this place, just me. Without me, you'd have nothing.”

He said it as if I should be grateful for him, like he had given me something to cherish. He wasn't God, he was the Devil. He destroyed life, he tore it to pieces and put it back together like a shattered vase, and he expected that vase to still hold water.

I held nothing, I was too broken to be filled. All of us were, and yet he thought of himself as a creator.

Without you I'd actually be living.

My mouth opened to speak, but a knock on the door stopped me. Virgo turned to look at the door as it opened. The guard stuck his head inside, and said, “He's here.”

“Good, send him in.” Virgo swirled his hand in the air as he gripped my arm and guided me over to the table. “This is going to be fun. I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” I asked as he pulled out a chair and pushed me down.

Smiling, his eyes twinkled with an evil glow, but he didn't answer, simply pulling out a chair for himself at the head of the table and sitting down. Steepling his fingers, he watched me carefully as his smile widened.

Leaning forward, I asked him again. “What surprise, Virgo?”

Left in silence, my heart started to pound as he let his eyes shift off of me and onto the door. He refused to answer me, leaving my mind to tumble and whirl with questions.

Why am I here?

What does he want from me?

What is the surprise?

There was no way for me to know. Not if he didn't tell me.

All I could was wonder. . .

Until the door opened.