La Malédiction des anges, Tome 3 : The Angel Hunter

Nouvel extrait

My dear Evangeline,

If you hold this, the final missive in my series of communications, in your hands, then you are in Paris, safe in the protection of your great uncle’s apartment, and I will have departed this life. It is odd to think of my words coming to you after I have died, my voice lingering on the earth long after my body has been burned in a crematorium, but such is life. The body is but the conduit of the voice and it is the voice, in the end, that endures. Listen to me well, Evangeline, and follow the instructions I leave you. They will take you on the most important mission of your life, one that will change the course of angelology and, thus, the world.

Should I be gone by your twenty-fifth birthday, Theophile has instructions that will make your work more comprehensible. If all has gone to plan, he has located you, brought you to Paris, and delivered a most important item, one that may perplex and mystify you at first, but that, I assure you, is no joke. There is more to the Imperial Easter Egg than meets the eye and, although I myself would like to dismiss it as a gaudy piece of Baroque kitsch, it is not what it appears to be at first glance. Its gleaming enamel and pave diamonds, the delicacy of the metal hinges that click closed, hiding a second egg inside—this glitter is but a beautiful, gleaming ruse. The sparkle catches the eye, while the interior holds the truth, the coveted surprise, as it was known. If I am correct, it is from this tiny egg that the mission that began with the lyre, and which will end with the death of the Watchers, will hatch.

But first, your physical safety must be arranged. If my brother has not alienated every active member of the academy, a possibility that seems, even as I write this, very likely—there will be representatives of angelology present to greet you. You are, if my arrangements have come to fruition, and you have received this letter on schedule, a woman of twenty-five years, aware of her duty to the world, ready to accept her position as an angelologist. You are to begin your study immediately. I have arranged it, and one must hope that my plans will be followed. The official stamp on this communication acts as my personal seal. It demands that angelologists, in the name of our Founding Fathers, accept you, my sole heir, as a rightful member of our organization. If they have not come for you, then you must go to them. Ask to speak to my friend and ally at the academy, Bruno Bechstein. He will embrace you and protect you. He will be expecting you.