"Huh?"

"The medical equipment. That's why the Adversary picked this place. Finding room to store a half-dozen coma patients is one thing, but having the equipment to keep them alive in the process means he either needed access to some that was already in place or he had to knock over a medical supply company. The former was probably the easiest. With a couple of pet doctors on hand to monitor the patients, it wouldn't have been too hard to find the gear he needed inside of an abandoned hospital, right?"

Cade had to admit that it made sense.

It also made things much easier for what he needed to do next.

"How far away are Davis and the rest of the team?"

Riley checked his watch. "It's three hundred miles from here to Baltimore and they've been in the air just over an hour...I'd say we've got another forty minutes before they get close enough to make a difference."

Cade nodded. "Good enough. Gives us time to scope the place out, anyway."

"Roger that."

It took them fifteen minutes of driving to reach South Mountain and then another ten to find a forest road leading into the woods that was wide enough to accept the van. Satisfied that they couldn't be seen from the road not that there was much traffic on it anyway the three men got out and began making their way through the trees to get a look at what they were up against.

When they reached the edge of the hospital property they discovered that it was surrounded by eight-foot high chain link fencing with barbed wire strung along the top. The fencing was old, however, clearly put up decades ago to keep the curious public out when the hospital had first shut down, and it didn't take long to find a section that had fallen into so much disrepair that a gap had formed that was large enough to admit them.

They didn't pa.s.s through it, however, just marked it and continued their inspection of the perimeter. Twice they saw roving pairs of guards, but both times they were given plenty of advance warning thanks to the noise the guards were making between them and Cade and his two companions were able to slip into the undergrowth and wait for the patrol to pa.s.s without being seen.

By the time they had circ.u.mvented the entire property, it was clear that something out of the ordinary was going inside. They saw additional guards at both the main gate and at the front entrance to the facility odd for a supposedly abandoned facility - as well as slivers of light seeping out past the edges of what were clearly covered windows on the third floor of the east wing.

Back at the van they double-checked that the transponder signal hadn't moved it hadn't - confirming what Cade suspected all along; the Adversary intended to use Undercliff as a staging area for the ritual to come. The hospital had the equipment necessary to maintain the patients he had kidnapped as vessels for the other fallen angels in his scream and he'd clearly brought in some of his human acolytes to handle guard duty and other ch.o.r.es leading up to that point.

While Riley checked in with Davis, Cade stood by the side of the van, staring off in the direction of the sanatorium. His hand dropped unconsciously to the hilt of the dagger at his waist, running his fingers over the rough steel, as he thought about the confrontation to come.

Uriel had said that the power of the Tear would activate when it came in contact with the Adversary's blood. He had, no doubt, believed that Cade would be striking with deadly force in order to draw that blood; the Adversary certainly wasn't going to just stand around and let that happen. It was a logical a.s.sumption to make. Gabrielle's body would be the recipient of that blow, hence Uriel's remark that it would be deadly to her as well.

But Cade wasn't convinced it had to happen that way. In fact, he was all but positive that it didn't. He was going to use the Tear, just as Uriel instructed, but he would make sure the blow wasn't the least bit dangerous to Gabrielle.

He would rescue his wife, just as he had intended all along.

They would beat this thing, once and for all.

Hang in there Gabrielle, he thought. Just a little while longer.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.

Davis and the three men with him arrived ten minutes later and the entire seven man team suited up for what was to come. All of them pulled on standard Templar tactical gear that included dark ceramic body armor worn under black jumpsuits of flame r.e.t.a.r.dant material without markings or insignia, lightweight Kevlar tactical helmets with builtin communications gear along with audio and video recording devices, and military style combat boots. For this mission a set of I2 goggles had also been supplied; the image intensifier headgear what most people called night vision goggles would allow them to see in all but total darkness. Each man was armed with a Heckler & Koch MP5 SD submachine gun, a HK Mark 23 .45 caliber handgun and the holy sword they'd been given at their invest.i.ture into the Templar ranks. Cade eschewed the MP5, as was his habit, taking extra magazines for the Mark 23 instead and slipping them into the loops on his belt next to the angel's blade.

Last, but certainly not least, he picked up a long case roughly the width of a standard sword case but twice as long. He'd used the mirror in Riley's quarters to slip into the Reliquary to get it, figuring what it contained would come in handy when they finally faced the Adversary. Now he stared at it, wondering if it was a smart move or not.

"You really gonna use that thing?" Riley asked, from over his shoulder.

Cade glanced in his direction and in that moment made up his mind.

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" he asked. "The Adversary is ten times stronger than we are and that's on an off day. We'll have surprise on our side, sure, but if we're going to beat this thing we need a little more firepower, too. This will give us that."

"I'm all for more firepower, but you don't know how to use that thing any better than I do," Riley said. "One wrong move and it could blow up in your face."

"Then you probably better stay behind me," Cade said with a grin.

Riley was right; he didn't know how to use the relic. But if Simon Logan could do it, so could he. He pointedly ignored the little voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that the Necromancer had years of experience in dealing with sorcerous artifacts.

Satisfied that he had what he needed, he stepped to the side and watched the men finish gearing up. He liked what he saw; they were focused and ready.

"How much have you told them?" he asked Riley.

"Just that we're here to rescue the missing soldiers and that we think that the Adversary is behind it all. They've been instructed to focus on any human followers who might be present and leave the Adversary to you and me, no matter what."

Cade nodded; the men were Echo veterans and that would be explanation enough for them. The fact that they were here at all spoke volumes about their faith in him. He intended to live up to that faith.

When the last man finished, Cade gathered them into a group just as they always did before a mission. Just another day on the job, he told himself.

"All right, listen up. Our objective is a ward on the third floor of the east wing. It's there that the Adversary is preparing a ritual intended to drag six of his former allies back out of h.e.l.l and stuff them into the bodies of the soldiers that he's kidnapped. I don't think any of you need me to tell you what bad news it would be for all of us if he succeeds in doing that."

A couple of them nodded their heads. Cade had no doubt that they understood what they were up against and the stakes ahead of them if they failed.

"I know you've heard some rumors about me lately," Cade told them. "Normally I wouldn't dignify them by even mentioning it, but I want you all to be clear about what's going on."

He pointed through the woods behind him in the direction of the abandoned hospital.

"Inside that building back there is the motherf.u.c.ker that murdered my wife. I think you all know that."

Nods all around this time.

"I intend to make him pay for that; to make him pay for every missed moment, every stolen memory, every potential dream that I could have shared with her had he never crossed our paths.

"We know the Adversary's in there, but the rest of our intelligence is pretty weak. We can expect him to have anywhere from a handful to a couple-dozen human followers working on his behalf, if past experience holds up, but that's about all we can tell you. If they aren't in a coma, they're fair game. Your job is to secure the service personnel. Riley and I will handle the Adversary."

Cade glanced around to be sure everyone was on the same page and then went on.

"Davis, Mills, and D'Angelo, you've got the front entrance. Distract and stall the guards there as long as you can. I'll take Riley, Martinez, and O'Connor into the building from the rear and we'll meet on the third floor, hopefully catching them between us. Questions?"

There weren't any so Cade turned the group over to Riley, who led them in a quick prayer for safety and a successful outcome as was their custom, and then they split up.

Cade took his trio through the woods to the break in the fence. There they hunkered down and waited for Davis' team to do their job.

It didn't take long. Angry shouts soon floated through the night air and Cade watched as the roving duo of guards hustled past their position, headed for the front gate. He smiled as he watched them hustle past; he'd been betting their duty discipline would be poor and he'd been right.

Stop gloating and get on with it.

They slipped through the fence and hurried across the lawn to the rear of the main building. Cade and Martinez stood watch while O'Connor and Riley stepped up to one of the boarded-up doorways, crowbars in hand. The plywood nailed over the door was quickly pried off and the foursome entered the building, pulling on their night vision gear as they went.

Cade moved quickly through the lower floor of the main building, heading for the adjacent wing where they suspected the Adversary had set up shop. Behind him, the men followed in standard formation, with Riley and Martinez behind Cade and O'Connor bringing up the rear.

As they pa.s.sed from one section of the building to another, Cade could hear the sound of a generator rumbling somewhere above them. He held up a closed fist in the signal to stop and sank to one knee, the men behind him doing the same. He listened, trying to get a fix on the sound, and then waved Riley forward.

Cade pointed upward. "Second or third floor?"

Riley listened another moment and then said, "Second. Sounds too clear to be third."

"Agreed."

At the first stairwell that they came to, Cade headed upward.

The generator was set up in the middle of a second floor ward, just as they'd suspected. From where Cade crouched in a doorway down the hall, he could see that it was a large, industrial-grade model, the kind normally used outside for parades, concerts, and other large-scale events. Large black electrical conduits snaked away from it across the room, but Cade's view was limited and he couldn't see where they led.

Two men armed with AR-15s stood watch over the generator, but it was clear from their body language and positioning that they didn't expect company. Cade watched them for a couple of minutes and the fact that neither man interacted with anyone else in the room, not even a glance, confirmed his suspicion that they were alone. He drew his pistol and then glanced across the hall to where Riley was crouched in a similar doorway. Riley had his weapon in hand as well. Like Cade's, it had a sound suppressor screwed onto the end of the barrel.

A glance pa.s.sed between them.

As one they lined up their shots on the unsuspecting men ahead of them and then fired, Riley a split second after Cade.

Both shots were true; the guards collapsed to the floor, the sound of their fall covered by the noise of the generator behind them. Cade waited a few seconds for a response, but when none was forthcoming he gave the signal for the squad to move up.

As Cade had guessed, the two now-dead guards had been the only people in the room.

Riley and Martinez quickly searched the bodies while Cade wandered over to examine the generator. It was a standard model, the kind you could rent at any good supply house for a weekend of work outdoors. It was chugging merrily along and the guards had been prepared to keep it doing so for some time, if the gasoline cans stacked in the corner behind it were any indication.

Cade stared at the generator a moment, thinking about his next move. The device had obviously been brought in to provide power for the lights, monitors, and life support systems the doctors were using in order to keep the patients alive until the Adversary conducted its ritual. A flip of the switch and he could cut the power, which, if it remained off long enough, would effectively put an end to the Adversary's plans.

But only temporarily, he thought. I'd stop the ritual, but I'd also end up with six dead innocent soldiers and be forced to track the Adversary down all over again.

Better to leave things as they were, he decided. The two dead guards were two less enemies at their backs and that was good enough.

Four large black conduits, each about the size of a fire hose, ran from the back of the generator, across the room and out the door. Figuring they would lead him to right to the missing soldiers, Cade decided to follow them.

The conduits ran down the hall about a hundred feet and then turned left, running up a staircase to the next floor. Cade led the men in the same direction, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to be certain they were unguarded before continuing upward. At the top, the conduits ran down another darkened corridor and through a set of double doors at the far end.

Light was spilling from between them.

Cade stared at that light, an uneasy feeling curling through his gut. Something wasn't right.

Why wasn't someone watching this approach? Where were the guards?

He had expected more resistance than what they had encountered so far. Much more. And yet there had been next to nothing.

Could they have surprised the Adversary so completely that the metaphorical back door had been left unguarded and open?

It seemed highly unlikely, which is why Cade was feeling so uneasy. Still, he didn't have much choice but to continue onward. They'd come here to confront the Adversary and they weren't going to do that while skulking about in the dark.

Cade set the case he was carrying down on the floor beside him. He unlatched it, opened it up, and pulled back the layer of silk that lay over the relic stored inside, exposing it to view.

The blade of the Roman-style lance was made of iron and was several inches in length, with a winged shape and an ornamental pin inserted down its center. Two additional wings had been added near the base of the blade and were tied to it with leather straps. The wooden shaft had been cut down to a more manageable length since he'd last seen it, giving him a weapon some six feet in length.

He could feel the power coming off of it like a low-grade hum that filled the room.

Several years ago Cade and the rest of the Echo Team had worked hard to recover this very artifact known to many as the Spear of Destiny or the Spear of Longinus - from the hands of the Necromancer, Simon Logan, who, with the help of a traitor inside the Order, had stolen it from the storage facility where it had been housed. Legend claimed that it was the spear the Roman centurion, Longinus, had used to stab the body of Christ while he hung on the cross. Cade had no idea if the legend was true or not, but there was no doubt of the relic's power. He had seen that power utilized by the Necromancer and he hoped that it would respond to his need as well in the coming battle with the Adversary.

If it didn't...well, he didn't want to think about that right now.

He lifted it out of its case and pushed the against the wall, out of the way.

He signaled the others that they were moving out and then led them down the corridor to the double doors at the far end.

A sign beside the doors identified the room beyond as Convalescent Ward B32.

Without any other options available to him, Cade pushed open the double doors and stepped inside.

The first thing that he noticed was that the former convalescent ward was large enough to have held somewhere between thirty and forty patients at a time, most likely in evenly s.p.a.ced rows about five feet apart. Some of the steel bed frames that had once held the former patients were still there, pushed into a ramshackle pile in the corner to his immediate left. He a.s.sumed the curtained bays on the other side of the room held more.

The second thing was that he was not alone.

Seven modern hospital beds were arranged in a semi-circle in front of him about two thirds of the way across the room. Six of the beds were occupied; four by men, two by women.

No doubt the missing servicemen, Cade thought.

But then a slim, auburn-haired woman dressed in the dirty remains of a jersey and a pair of blue jeans stepped out from behind one of the patient's monitors and Cade had eyes only for her.

"h.e.l.lo Cade," she said, with a smile.

It looked like Gabrielle. Talked like Gabrielle. Even smiled like Gabrielle. But Cade knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was talking to the Adversary.

It seemed that they'd been expected.

If there was any doubt over that fact, it was banished with the Adversary's next words.

"I've been waiting for you."

CHAPTER THIRTY.

Cade felt the door open behind him and heard his teammates enter the room, but he didn't dare look back. He kept his attention firmly on the figure standing in front of him, knowing that a strike might come at any moment.