unearthed around excavation sites near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There are even gold flecks embedded in it, something that suggests it was in the temple itself for some time. The inscriptions are in what is known is lingua malitia . Do you know what it says?â
âIâm sure I would, if I had any idea what that meant.â
âItâs the language of demons. Similar to Enochian. Very few humans have ever even heard it. The only known person to have spoken it was Solomon.â
âThe Solomon from the Bible?â
âThat Solomon.â
âAnd you think I can read this?â
âNo, but it couldnât hurt to ask. Weâve had a hard time translating it.â
Hatcher looked at the engraving. There were symbols and characters carved into rows of text. To his untrained eye, it looked like a combination of Greek and hieroglyphics.
âSo?â
âBest anyone can tell, it talks about the creation of a gate. A portal.â Bartlett pointed a finger, swept it over the some of the markings. âIt references a being banished to Hell, then coming back. A Hellion.â
Hatcher said nothing for a long moment. He didnât like the way that sounded. It reminded him of things heâd heard before. From the Carnates. Gorgeous women who had everything. Except souls. That hadnât turned out so well.
He dropped his eyes to examine the tablet once more. âI still donât see what this has to do with me.â
âTwo weeks ago, a Markhor goat was stolen from the Los Angeles zoo. A rare specimen. Enormous. Almost six feet tall at the shoulders.â
âOkay.â
âFingerprints recovered from the cage matched a serial rapist from Seattle. They found his body a few days ago. His genitalia were missing. Surgically removed, you might say. So was his right hand. No sign of the goat.â
âI guess with one gone, he wouldnât need the other anymore.â
âThis isnât a joke. Do you know how he was killed? He was hanged.â
A crude comment about being hanged but not hung came to mind, but Hatcher was able to keep it from popping out.
âAnd?â he said.
âThe right hand of a hanged criminal is used as something called the Hand of Glory. An implement of magic that can be used to render a person immobile, put them almost instantly into a hypnoticlike state. It can also be used to open that person up to a spiritual possession.â
âStill not getting how I fit in.â
Bartlett nodded to Edgar, who retrieved a folder from the table and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to Bartlett. Bartlett held it out for Hatcher to see. It was a drawing of a creature with a human torso and goatâs head.
âAre you familiar with this?â
âIt looks like the Devil sat for a sketch artist.â
âItâs called the Baphomet.â
âIf you say so.â
âIt is an icon of demon worship. A powerful symbol. A goatâs head, a human torso, goats legs, wings. An authentic one, the kind suitable for conjuring a very specific demon, requires very specific body parts. One is the penis of a rapist.â
âIâm not following.â
âDid you happen to catch the Apocalypse exhibit at the museum here some weeks back? Pity. Several of its displays contained unmistakable references to whatâs happening. Imagine, Hatcher, if a passage to Hell were opened. A doorway. Imagine demons being set loose on this world, streaming into it like the bats I just described. Each of them containing the equivalent of a ticking incendiary device. Thousands of bats out of Hell, working their way into our society, then once in place unleashing hellfire everywhere. Imagine death and mayhem and damnation here on Earth, the world literally burning. What would you say if I told you that was a very real possibility?â
âIâd say insurance companies would be looking for another round of bailouts. Then
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