Page 7 of The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon #6)

Robert Langdon gasped for breath.

The icy waters of the Vltava River had shocked his system into near paralysis, and as he struggled to stay afloat, he could feel the weight of his wet clothes threatening to drag him under.

Katherine…

Langdon looked up at the second-story window from which he’d leaped. The explosion he had feared was coming…had not occurred. The Four Seasons Hotel was still standing, still very much intact.

In the stark glare of emergency lighting, hotel guests were now flowing out the side exit onto a wide terrace that overlooked the hotel’s mooring docks, which jutted out into the river.

As he fought to tread water, Langdon suddenly realized the current was pulling him away; the hotel dock would be his only chance of climbing out of the water before being carried downstream.

Doing his best to avoid panic, he attempted to freestyle toward the dock, but he could barely lift his arms. His soaking sweatshirt was like an anchor around him.

The cold water was already constricting his circulatory system, and Langdon could feel the first warning signs of hypothermia in the pain shooting through his ankles and wrists.

Swim, Robert…

Resorting to an awkward breaststroke, Langdon strained against the current, trying to make his way toward the hotel dock.

He glanced beyond it and feared being dragged over the waterfall that was not far downstream—although he knew he would probably be unconscious and submerged long before he went over the edge.

Push, dammit!

As his arms pulled him through the water, Langdon’s mind burned with the image of the ghostly woman wearing the black radiant halo. The headpiece could have been a startling coincidence…but her spear? And the smell of death?

Impossible.

Beyond explanation.

For an instant, Langdon wondered if he was still asleep, trapped in a vivid nightmare like the one Katherine had experienced last night.

No. The biting cold and frantic beat of his heart assured him he was awake.

As anyone who had plunged through pond ice could attest, the onset of acute hypothermia brought with it a unique succession of mental states—shock, panic, reflection, and finally, acceptance.

Use the panic, he told himself. Swim harder.

Angling across the current, Langdon stroked awkwardly in the direction of the dock, trying to ignore his intensifying pain.

With each effort it grew worse, although the blare of the hotel alarm seemed to be growing louder.

Closer. His eyes stung in the freezing water, and his vision was beginning to fade.

The dock was close now, a dark mass in the glare of the security lighting, and Langdon urged himself toward it, making a final push.

When his hand groped something solid, his numb fingers were barely able to feel the rough wood, much less take hold.

He pulled himself hand over hand down the dock to the small metal ladder mounted there.

Using every last bit of strength, he pulled himself up, flopping like a deadweight onto the landing, his soaking-wet clothes shedding water all around him.

Langdon lay immobile, shivering and spent, knowing he was still very much in danger.

I’ll freeze quickly out here. I need to get warm.

He crawled to his knees and looked up at the hotel. The terrace was already jammed with guests, many wearing bathrobes, standing in the snow. He turned and looked back toward Charles Bridge, which looked like a postcard, its gas lanterns glowing warmly in the falling snow.

I saw what I saw.

Langdon heard the rapid approach of footfalls on the dock.

“Mr. Langdon!” the hotel manager shouted, arriving wild-eyed. He slipped to a stop on the snow-covered surface. “Are you all right, sir?! What happened here?!”

Langdon nodded. “I…thought…there was…”

“A fire?!”

Convulsing with cold, Langdon shook his head. “No…”

“Then why did you pull the alarm?!” The man’s normally gracious tone was frayed and angry.

“I thought…there was danger.”

“From what ?!”

Langdon struggled to prop himself into a sitting position. His head pounded, and he could feel hypothermia setting in.

A hotel security guard sprinted down the dock and joined them. The muscular man reached down and roughly pulled Langdon to his feet, lifting him with a firm grasp beneath his armpits. Langdon was uncertain whether the guard was helping him up or restraining him.

“ Why did you pull the alarm, sir?” the manager repeated, staring intently at him.

“I’m sorry…” Langdon replied, his teeth starting to chatter. “I was…confused.”

“Because of the police in the lobby? I told you that was nothing!” The manager seemed barely able to contain himself. “I need to know—is it safe to go back inside?”

Langdon could see guests still flowing from the rear emergency exit, and he could only imagine the chaos at the hotel’s main entrance. I can’t explain this to them. They’ll think I’m mad.

“Professor Langdon,” the manager said, his frustrated tone now turning angrier, “I need an answer! I have four hundred guests standing outside in the snow. Is the building safe? Yes or no! Can our guests return inside?”

Langdon again saw the image of the woman wearing the black radiant crown…the silver spear…and the putrid smell of death. There must be another explanation. The world does not work this way! Get a grip, Robert.

Langdon finally nodded. “Yes…I believe it’s safe. I’m terribly sorry. As I said…I was confus—”

“Vypněte alarm!” the manager said to the guard, who released Langdon abruptly. As Langdon teetered on trembling legs, the guard pulled out a radio and barked orders while the hotel manager placed a call on his mobile.

Within seconds, the alarms fell silent, replaced by the distant wail of approaching emergency vehicles. The manager closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly through pursed lips. Then he reopened his eyes and calmly brushed the snowflakes from his dark suit.

“Professor Langdon,” he whispered through clenched teeth, “I need to receive the authorities. My security guard will help you to your room. Do not go anywhere. The authorities will need to speak to you.”

Langdon nodded his understanding.

As the manager rushed off, the guard led Langdon through a smaller service entrance to a back staircase. Langdon’s sneakers squished with every step as the two men made their way up to the Royal Suite. The door was open, and the lights were on, exactly as Langdon had left it.

“Z?staňte tady,” the guard commanded, pointing into the room.

Langdon didn’t speak Czech, but the guard’s body language was crystal clear. Enter and do not come out. Langdon nodded and entered the suite alone, closing the door behind him.

The bay window from which he had jumped was still open wide, the flower arrangement on the sill already wilting from the icy cold.

The red, white, and blue tulips had been a gift from the U.S.

ambassador to Katherine in honor of her anticipated lecture, the colors being those of both the American and Czech flags.

Langdon closed the window, morbidly recalling that the practice of defenestration—throwing a victim from a high window— had sparked both the Hussite Wars and the Thirty Years’ War.

Fortunately, Langdon’s hotel window was significantly lower than Prague Castle Tower, and despite the trouble he’d caused this morning, Langdon doubted he’d started any wars.

I need to talk to Katherine…and tell her what I saw.

The encounter on Charles Bridge had been as disorienting as anything Langdon could ever remember, and despite Katherine’s open-mindedness to all things “paranormal,” Langdon doubted even she would have an explanation.

Hoping she might have texted to say she had safely exited the hotel, Langdon reached into the pockets of his dripping sweatpants to dig out his phone, but it was no longer there—most likely at the bottom of the Vltava River.

A fresh wave of cold shuddered through him as he hurried to the bedroom to use the hotel phone to call her. As he reached for the handset, though, he saw a handwritten note on the bedside table.

In his panic earlier, he had not noticed it.

R—

Decided to walk to my meeting at Dr. Gessner’s lab.

You can’t be the only one to get exercise today!

Back by 10 a.m. Save me a smoothie!

—K

Langdon exhaled.

Katherine is safe. That’s all I need to know.

Relieved, he went straight to a shower, turned it on, and climbed in fully clothed.