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  THE Double-Edged Sword

  TALLENT & LOWERY: BOOK FIVE

  AMY LIGNOR

  SUSPENSE PUBLISHING

  THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

  Tallent & Lowery Book Five

  By

  Amy Lignor

  DIGITAL EDITION

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Suspense Publishing

  The Double-Edged Sword: Tallent & Lowery Book Five

  Copyright 2017 Amy Lignor

  Cover Design: Shannon Raab

  Cover Photographer: Cindy Grundsten

  Cover Photographer: MixPix

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  CONTENTS

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  PRAISE

  DEAR READERS

  PERGAMON

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  EPILOGUE

  AFTERWORD

  “13”

  “THE SAPPHIRE STORM”

  “THE HERO’S COMPANION”

  “THE CHARLATAN’S CROWN”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  This book is dedicated to Susanna Elizabeth Lignor.

  Thank you, Susie, for giving me the best adventure I’ve ever had.

  Love, Grandma

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Writing the Tallent & Lowery series has been a thrilling experience. It is hard to imagine that there is only one more before the series comes to an end. Even though I’ll be sad to see my characters take a bow, I am also excited to deliver the climactic ending for the fans out there who have enjoyed traveling to these locations, finding these hidden treasures, and putting together the pieces of this grand puzzle, as much as I have enjoyed writing them all down.

  But as we all know, none of this could have been possible if I hadn’t been lucky enough to have Fate smile on me and bring Shannon and John Raab into my life. It is because of them and their continuing help, support, and patience while dealing with a pain like me that Tallent & Lowery found the perfect home. I am always humbled and highly thankful to be a part of the Suspense Publishing family.

  In addition, it is with my family’s love and support, and their ability to keep up that cheering section even on the worst of days that gives me the ability to create. Mom and Ron, thank you for the help and the humor. To the friends, reviewers, and other authors from the ITW (International Thriller Writers), who are so kind and continue to help me with their input, critiques, and support, I know I’ll forget a name so I am cheating and saying a big thank you to “all” of you. Jon Land, for your kind words. Ellen Feld for the support and friendship all these years. And to my own idol, Dean Koontz: I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that my favorite author takes time out to converse with a Roswellian like me. (You have my word, I will tell no one about your part in that UFO crash.)

  And to Shelby…you were, are, and will forever remain the most amazing, blessed event that ever happened in my life. As our team now grows with the addition of Susie-Q and Xander on the way, it becomes even stronger. You are the greatest daughter in the world and now I get to watch you be an amazing Mom. You deserve the best of the best, and I hope that’s exactly what you receive.

  To readers, I hope you enjoy this, the fifth book in the Tallent & Lowery Adventures. And, when the pages come to an end, I hope you enjoy the “curveball” thrown at you and look doubly forward to witnessing the grand finale to come.

  Until Next Time, Everybody,

  Amy

  PRAISE

  “The latest Tallent & Lowery book from celebrated novelist Amy Lignor is the best yet, an exciting and colorful suspense story with every element we love: risk, passion, mythology, icons, exotic locales, empathetic characters, and a spiritual quest.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  “Amy Lignor yet again ruined my night’s sleep. I started to read Book 5 and I truly could not put it down. With Amy’s prodigious talent as a writer, I was hooked! The Tallent & Lowery stories are brilliant, timeless, cleverly constructed, rich in detail: intricate and exotic epic tales that are also credible suspense novels.”

  —Ann Seymour, Bestselling Historical Fiction Author of “I’ve Always Loved You.”

  “Amy Lignor redefined the genre with her Tallent and Lowery series and ‘The Double-Edged Sword’ takes it to new heights!”

  —J.M. LeDuc, Author of the Sinclair O’Malley series

  “Spellbinding, mesmerizing and imaginative, ‘The Double-Edged Sword’ makes another outstanding entry in the Tallent & Lowery series.”

  —Maryglenn McCombs

  “ ‘The Double-Edged Sword’ is an all-out ‘bite your nails’ adventure story wrapped within a mystery with just enough historical facts inserted. As with all the books in this series, the dialog between characters is sharp and animated, and truly brings the story to life. With just one more to go, the action and cliffhanger ending will leave readers hankering for that last book, to see how this epic fight between good and evil ends.”

  —Feathered Quill Book Reviews

  DEAR READERS

  For all those who have enjoyed the incredible team of Leah Tallent and Gareth Lowery since they first came together in the suspense-filled adventure, “13,” I want to thank you. I hope, thus far, this series has been as thrilling for you to read as it has been to create. I, personally, have become immersed in their tale; not only have I fallen in love with the characters, but I have also loved the excitement found in some of the most diverse, historic, and haunted locations in the world that appear in each and every one of these books.

  For all those just meeting Tallent and Lowery in this, “The Double-Edged Sword,” I truly hope you have a whole lot of fun. Each book, of course, has its’ own central plot. Yet, it is important to note that the path Tallent an
d Lowery are on, the secondary characters, the events that have led them to this, Book 5, have been set-up over the course of the entire series. In other words, after having a wonderful time reading this book, I hope you will be drawn back to the beginning in order to witness every incredible step these characters have taken throughout the entire Tallent & Lowery series.

  With only one book left to go that will provide an ending filled with surprises—and one that will live in the imagination forever—the truth that their thrilling journey will come to an end is heart-breaking for this writer. All I can say is, I have had a ball, and I can’t wait to present Tallent & Lowery’s epic finale to everyone.

  Until Next Time,

  Amy

  THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

  TALLENT & LOWERY: BOOK FIVE

  AMY LIGNOR

  PERGAMON

  Satan’s Seat

  There’s no bigger thrill than sitting in the Master’s chair. Excitement raced through his veins at the thought.

  Zeus, the mightiest of gods once sat here. But it was Satan, the very darkest of beings who had come along and claimed this seat for himself. The magnificent structure that’d once overlooked this location may have been named for the mythical god, but the truth behind its real owner was spoken in nervous whispers by the citizens who’d once walked these streets. To them, the altar had carried the demon’s name and sat as a constant reminder that he was the force to be reckoned with long ago.

  Yet, if you closed your eyes for just a moment, erasing the view of the modern day tourists enjoying this gorgeous day that Satan’s archenemy had created, you could still feel his presence. If he had to bet, he would say that the Master of Evil was still here, silently waiting for someone special to arrive before unveiling himself to the world once again.

  His face broke into a wide grin. Perhaps that someone special has just arrived.

  From his elevated location in the ancient theatre, he caught sight of the dark red hair adorning the familiar woman. The bright sun set the mass of curls ablaze. It marked her well, he thought. After all, she was the flame—a steady, burning light that continued to fight through the darkness of her journey in order to keep the people she loved alive. Even if those people weren’t worth a second of her time.

  Flipping up the hood of his black jacket, he moved forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees to watch. Her pace was sluggish…exhausted, as if she was looking for any way possible to end this game once and for all. Have the villain disappear so she could go back to the place she longed to be. But the one thing that hadn’t changed about this woman since he’d last viewed her was the stance she took. The lovely chin was still held high; the spine was perfectly straight. Even with the frustration she must feel from the quest she’d undertaken when she’d met Gareth Lowery, every muscle she owned remained on high alert—proof that calling it quits and running away was simply not part of Leah Tallent’s character.

  He moved his gaze to the small Greek café on the street. Made of glass, it allowed visitors to stare out at the incredible acropolis as they feasted away. Inside those walls he could only make out the height of Leah’s partner; the man’s shadow seemed to tower over the others waiting in line.

  Shaking his head, he thought of just how nonsensical the duo was. Leah owned the knowledge, skills and utter determination to win this game, but he knew the love she held in her heart for Gareth would eventually cause her demise. Yet she remained by his side, fighting for what he believed in.

  Sitting back against the stone, he closed his eyes. By choosing to stay behind—here in Satan’s Seat—and electing to send his guards to stalk his other prey for a short time, he knew he’d made the right choice. Leah Tallent was always a good bet when it came to uncovering secrets from the past. And with her sudden presence on this acropolis, he knew she was hot on the trail of something—something he was going to make damn sure she didn’t walk away with. And perhaps, if he was lucky, it was she who would draw the Devil from his hiding place; she, who would open the door to allow mankind’s most malevolent beast to show his face once again.

  “Lucifer versus the Librarian,” he snickered. “Let the games begin.”

  CHAPTER 1

  A librarian’s life is a quiet one.

  “My ass,” Leah Tallent whispered, rolling her eyes at the thought.

  Legs weary, she sat down on the nearest bench—one of many placed here for tourists who needed a time out and a chance to enjoy the scenery. Sighing from fatigue, Leah took a moment to wonder what life would’ve been like if the serenity she enjoyed as Head Research Librarian for the New York Public Library had not been interrupted. What it would have been like if that quiet life was all she’d known until receiving her first paycheck from the government confirming her retirement. Of course, life would’ve been dead quiet by then, she figured. With the way politics was going now, she’d have to work until the day cars flew through the air in order to receive that illustrious check.

  There were days Leah craved a normal life, but she knew the downside to having all that peace would be too hard for her to live with. She had no desire to erase her present, no matter how hard it got, because she would have to give up loving the man she now had in her life. At the thought of him, she looked across the small street toward the busy Greek deli where she knew Gareth Lowery was waiting in line. No amount of normalcy is worth losing him.

  Shaking the silly thought from her head, Leah sighed and took in the surroundings. It was more than apparent that the clean streets were set up for vacationers who wanted to get that real ‘feel’ of Ancient Greece. On this famous spot they could explore and learn about the past, walk in the footsteps of some pretty remarkable characters, and be whisked back to a time when gods and goddesses were a part of everyday conversation. This was a place where they could come and forget the daily stress of their mundane lives for a while.

  “Same as New York,” Leah thought out loud. Back home the best parts were always lit up and flashing for the tourists. The best streets were cleaned each and every day in order to give visitors the impression that they were actually paved with gold at one time. The stunning monuments, museums, and even her beloved duo of Patience and Fortitude—the famous marble lions that guarded the steps of the library—were definitely must-see sites on all the tourist maps.

  The historic parts of the city made people feel as if the ones who’d set their eyes upon the Statue of Liberty, after suffering a horrendous trip across the deadly Atlantic, had been right to risk the journey. And she agreed with that. Being away from the home she loved so much on her own impossible journey—one that seemed to have another chapter written before the one they were living had come to an end—was slowly breaking her heart.

  Taking a deep breath, Leah closed her eyes and attempted to shut out the chatter and movement all around. She needed to take a breath and catch up; she needed to find a way to get everything straight inside her own mind during this one scarce moment of rest. God only knew when another would come around. There was so much that’d happened to her and Gareth that Leah’s usually well-organized mind was a huge mess.

  Resting against the back of the bench, she tried to relax her shoulders and calm the nerves in her body that were still jumping from the last leg of the plane ride that’d brought them here…to Satan’s Seat.

  She tried her best to call the librarian into action so she could sort through and file away all the disastrous moments they’d lived through up until now, while still letting a bad guy escape. Shaking that last angry thought from her mind, she imagined the familiar card catalogue that sat like a vault inside her brain. It was an image Leah knew well. Drawers upon drawers of data was stored there, just waiting to eject anything Leah may need in order to solve the next puzzle that was sure to arise.

  But now that the next step was about to begin—a step that may just see more corpses rising from their graves—the overload of information had grown too heavy to handle. There were scores of data that Leah needed to
organize in order to revive and recharge the mind she always relied on.

  Shuffling through the Technicolor moments, Leah began to categorize their travels from start to finish. And as always, there was that one specific scene that remained brighter than the rest; the exact moment when she was transformed from a librarian who was annoyed by teens with sticky fingers, to the woman who stood by Gareth Lowery’s side and repeatedly walked headfirst into danger.

  That day would remain unforgettable. That Sunday autumn morning had been bright and cold. She’d headed down into the NYPL’s basement of books to consume as much caffeine as possible and sit on the well-worn couch to read. After turning on the old, battered coffee pot that looked like it had served the troops well during the Revolutionary War, a loud noise had erupted so suddenly that it’d sent her running down the aisles. Her heart had been beating out of her chest when she turned a corner and set eyes on a man whose tuxedo was covered in white powder, the aftermath from the historic concrete block that he’d just blown up.

  Fear had quickly melted into rage the second she learned why the adventurer had the audacity to break in and damage her favorite place—he was trying to uncover a warped metal book that’d been buried in the library’s cornerstone by none other than Andrew Carnegie, himself. A book, she soon found out, that was filled with secrets no one was ever supposed to know.

  Instead of the police being called, Leah had been Gareth’s captive for thirty minutes, listening to a nutball story that was so creative even Dean Koontz would’ve been proud. But her logical mind had gone against her that day, when she heard a nugget of truth buried in a tale that should’ve sent Gareth Lowery directly through the doors of the nearest asylum. With that one truth, she had to know more, beginning a journey filled with infamous killers and beloved saints; deadbeats, psychotics, and WWII ghosts living in the house of a woman who ended up paying for her husband’s career with her own sanity. All of this had led them to find the key that Gareth had sought all his life; an artifact that would open a gate between the best and the worst in life and bring about a battle that wasn’t his to begin in the first place.