Chapter 14 - The Unbroken Circle
The early morning fog rolled lazily over the cliffside chapel grounds, wrapping ancient stone walls and towering cypress trees in a soft blanket of white mist. I walked alone down the stone pathway leading from the main estate down to the family crypt, my heavy wool overcoat pulled tightly against the chill. I reached the heavy Carrara marble slab set deep into the cliffside bedrock. The industrial mortar had been completely repaired and restored to its original, pristine condition. I knelt slowly on the damp stone, reaching out to gently touch the smooth marble with my bare fingers. My mind drifted back to the final whispered words my mother Isabella had spoken on her deathbed: “The black cross stays against my bone, Gabriel. If it ever sees the light of day again, a traitor is walking in our blood.” I had kept my promise. I pulled the black-diamond crucifix from my inner pocket, placing it carefully into a small stone niche carved directly beside the marble slab, locking it away safely where no outsider would ever reach for it again. “Rest easy, Mother,” I whispered softly into the quiet morning air. “The house is secure.”
