Free The Serpent's Curse by Tony Abbott

ally was Albrecht von Hohenzollern?”
    â€œâ€˜Albrecht of Hohenzollern Prussia,’” Lily read. “The one and only Grand Master of the creepy Knights of the Teutonic Order, and the creepy nemesis of Copernicus!”
    The reading room went quiet.
    Becca closed the diary, unable to read anymore. “So . . . Copernicus meets Maxim Grek in Padua when they’re students. Later, when he has to hide the relics, he remembers his college friend, who is now in Russia, where Maxim quickly becomes the enemy of Vasily and Albrecht at the same time. Maxim Grek is very possibly our Guardian!”
    Lily smiled. “And because the first will circle to the last, Copernicus leaves the clue in Magellan’s dagger, which we only found when Becca cracked it—saving my life. In other words, you’re welcome.”
    Darrell eased back to the computer. “It goes on . . . ‘War plenty. Maxim prison was after and after for his life. Last years in Saint Sergius monastery inside out of Muscovy. Only after Maxim die is he buried. This can be 1556!’” Darrell blinked. “To translate the translation, Maxim was jailed in one monastery after another and finally spent his last years in a place called Saint Sergius, a monastery ‘inside out of Muscovy.’ He never made it back to Greece. They buried him in the monastery after he died.”
    â€œHere’s Saint Sergius.” Julian turned a large photographic book around. Spread across two pages was a picture of the massive Saint Sergius monastery. It was an enormous and opulent fortress. Towering over its high white stone walls were dozens of plump domes painted brilliant gold or deep blue and flecked all over with silver stars.
    â€œCan you imagine how many places you could hide a relic there?” asked Lily. “Seriously, it makes sense to start at the end of his life and work backward. It’s how we zeroed in on Magellan.”
    Which Becca realized for the first time was true, as it had been for Uncle Henry, too. It was at the end of his life that he had passed the secret on to them.
    â€œMan, I wish I was going with you,” said Julian.
    â€œGoing with us?” Wade asked. “To Russia? Are we seriously thinking the relic is in Russia?”
    â€œGo to where he died. That’s where I would begin,” Darrell said. “Russia. The monastery at Saint Sergius. For which, by the way, you’re welcome.”
    â€œAll right, then,” said Wade. “It would be totally amazing if we think we’ve already figured out who the Guardian might be. But I’m getting nowhere on what the double-eyed relic is—”
    Julian’s cell phone buzzed. He swiped it on and answered it. He nodded once, ended the call, and stood up. “We have to go right now.”
    â€œDid the Order find us?” said Darrell. “Are they here? Why do we have to leave?”
    â€œFor brunch,” Julian said. “Our dads are meeting us in half an hour!”

CHAPTER TWELVE
    A s a precaution, Lily, Julian, and a guard left the Morgan from the old entrance on Thirty-Sixth Street, while Wade, Becca, Darrell, and another guard exited the brownstone through a pair of glass doors at 24 East Thirty-Seventh Street. They met one another a block east of the museum, on Park Avenue, where a brown four-door Honda sedan was idling at the curb. Dennis, the Ackroyds’ driver, sat behind the wheel. He smiled and unlocked the doors, the kids climbed in, and the two guards trotted back to the museum.
    â€œDennis, how are you feeling this morning?” Julian asked.
    â€œFine today,” he said. “Where to?”
    â€œThe Water Club.”
    â€œI hope they have food, too,” said Darrell.
    Wade laughed. Darrell was feeling good. They all were. In a couple of short hours, they had gained a solid idea of who the second Guardian was. That was real progress.
    Ten minutes later, after zigzagging