Read Online The Judas Relic: An Evangeline Heart Holiday Adventure by A.K. Alexander, Jen Greyson - Free Book Online

had asked me if there was anything in the house, particularly the office where he kept most of his collected relics and artifacts that I wanted. I’d eyed the stone and had been inexplicably drawn to it, so he’d said that I could have it. It had been a simple stone, nothing extraordinary, and so mundane compared to everything else in Ralph’s collection. When I’d taken it, I’d thought it simply reminded me of my mother—the sand of the stone the same color as the earth of the dig in Jordan where she’d died. But now, with this match... I didn’t think that was why I’d been drawn to it at all.  
    “It’s a consideration. Isn’t it? That Clay is more than just someone to help me get to the relics. And, check this out. This was in the same room of the castle we came from last night, where we, uh, we had a job to do. Obviously, the job didn’t pan out as planned and was a setup. I almost missed this, though, as we were being fired at by whoever was sent to kill Clay.”
    Ralph reached for the stone and I handed it over. “Do you still have the other half?”
    I nodded. “But not here.”
    “I have something to show you,” Ralph said. “Finish your breakfast.”
    A few moments later, stomachs full and plates rinsed, I followed Ralph toward the front of the house and through the doors to his overcrowded study. Passing by the living room, I could hear Clay softly snoring, and I smiled and sighed in relief.
    Inside Ralph’s office, I paced the small expanse of open floor while he settled into the only chair, tucked against his unorganized desk. “Something Anna found while we cleaned out the kitchen.” He motioned toward a new stack of boxes that hadn’t been crowding the room the last time we were here. “In that top one.”
    I lifted up on my tiptoes and opened the flaps. The box held an assortment of relics, papers, and coins.
    “On the top, a linen satchel. See it?” he asked.
    I spotted it beneath a haphazardly stapled stack of papers, and drew it out. “This?”
    He nodded and held out his hand for it. “I don’t believe in coincidences, Lina. Not where the Book of Enoch is concerned, and I know Metatron would not be pleased if I didn’t put these pieces together. He would have known about the ambush tonight, would have known whether you survived it or not … and also would have known about the existence of the other half of the stone.”
    Metatron had strange ideas about helping and I preferred to figure things out myself since he had a flair for exuberance that didn’t suit me. If he’d been part of the assassination attempt on Clay, then he was seriously on my shit list, especially if he’d done it to manipulate me toward the stone.  
    I shook my head, dismissing the thought. He’d put Clay and I together, and while Metatron’s code was annoying, so far he’d only kept details from me because he couldn’t tell me. I really didn’t believe that he’d set Clay up—risking my life in the process—just to get me to a relic.
    “The stones are from the Garden of Gethsemane. Do you know the name?”
    I frowned, finding it familiar. “That’s where Judas betrayed Jesus, right?”
    He grinned. “Correct. These halves are from there, said to be from a single stone that James picked up to defend Jesus and the other apostles that night against the approaching soldiers.”
    “I don’t remember that part.”
    “Because you know the canon—those stories included in the Bible—not the other stories. Not the truth of that night because they weren’t important to those seeking to further Christianity. The part of the evening’s events that were included in the Bible references only Peter’s attack with the sword against the soldier. But all the men that night in the garden with Jesus had been warned that they should be on watch. Jesus knew the betrayal of Judas was coming and when it did, they armed themselves, but only had one sword for all of them.” He pointed at the stone still