Madrid, Parque del Oeste — That same morning, 7:12 a.m.
Rebeca left the apartment with a small backpack, a fake passport, and the Beretta she
had never returned after leaving the service. She put on sunglasses and a cap.
She didn't detect anyone following her… or so she wanted to believe.
She needed air. She needed to think.
She walked down to the Parque del Oeste, almost empty at that hour. She sat on a
bench facing the Temple of Debod and opened the Bible on her phone: Revelation 6.
A boy ran up to her. He looked about eleven, messy hair, clothes too big for him. He
stopped in front of her.
"You glow," he said.
Rebeca frowned.
"What did you say?"
"You glow. Like you've got little golden lights around you. But you also have a black
shadow stuck to your back."The boy spoke with total naturalness. Rebeca tensed.
"What's your name?"
"Lucas. And you're Rebeca, the one of the seventh seal. They're already coming."
A black SUV screeched to a stop on the other side of the park fence. Two men got out
quickly. Dark suits, earpieces, military posture.
Rebeca grabbed the boy's hand.
"Can you run?"
Lucas nodded.
"Then run with me. Now."
They sprinted through the park. A silenced shot splintered the bark of a tree.
They reached Calle Ferraz, stopped a taxi, and jumped in.
"To the airport! Hurry!"
Lucas, panting, stared at her.
"They weren't after you," he murmured. "They were after me. You were just the bait."