Chapter 52 - The Glass Pyramid
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The Louvre Museum was entirely deserted when our black town car pulled into the main courtyard at eleven forty-five. The iconic glass pyramid glowed ominously in the heavy rain, completely shut down to the public.
There were no paparazzi, no red carpets. Only a dozen heavily armed mercenaries standing in the downpour, wearing the featureless black armor of the Elite Sphere operatives.
Ben and I stepped out of the car. I held a vintage silver pram, the exact same one Clara usually slept in. But tonight, the pram was empty, carrying only a heavy, weighted doll wrapped tightly in blankets. The decoy.
A tall, imposing man in a pristine white suit walked out from beneath the glass pyramid. He held a biometric scanner.
"Mrs. Sterling. Mr. Sterling," the man greeted with a sickeningly polite bow. "We have been expecting you. Please, step through the scanners."
We walked toward the entrance. My heart hammered against my ribs as we passed through the massive, arching metal detectors. They beeped once, a low green tone. The ceramic knife on my thigh and the C4 in Ben’s jacket passed undetected.
The man in the white suit looked down at the covered pram. "May I see the child?"
"No," I replied, my voice dripping with aristocratic authority, staring him dead in the eyes. "The Council requested my presence with the child in the central chamber. I will not unveil her in the rain for a foot soldier."
The man’s jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. He knew his place in the hierarchy. He gestured toward the glass doors. "Right this way. The Council is waiting below."
We entered the pyramid, stepping onto a massive, glass hydraulic elevator. As the doors sealed, the elevator began a rapid, stomach-dropping descent deep into the earth. We were going far below the public galleries, down into the secret catacombs the Spheres had built.
"Showtime," Ben whispered, gently taking my hand.
The elevator hit the bottom with a heavy mechanical thud. The glass doors slid open, revealing a cavernous, circular chamber carved from solid black marble. At the center of the room sat a massive, circular obsidian table.
May you like
Sitting around the table were seven figures, their faces completely concealed by intricate, silver masks.
The Council of the Seven Spheres.
