Thorn and Jennings looked at the monk who shook his head with dismay.

"Cerveteri is nothing but ruins. The remains of the Shrine of Techulca."

"Techulca?" asked Jennings.

"The Etruscan devil-god. The Etruscans were devil worshippers. Their burial place was a sacrificial ground."

"Why would he write this?" asked Thorn.

"I do not know."

"Where is this place?" asked Jennings.

"There is nothing there, Signor, except graves . . . and a few wild hogs."

"Where is it?" repeated Jennings with insistence.

"Your cabdriver will know. Perhaps fifty kilometers north of Rome."

The cabdriver was hard to awaken; then Thorn and Jennings had to wait until he defecated in the field alongside the road. He was disgruntled now and sorry that he had taken the job, particularly when he heard where they now wanted to go. Cerveteri was a place that God-fearing men avoided, and they would not reach it until after nightfall.

The storm that hung over Rome had spread outward, heavy rains slowing their progress as, in darkness, they swung off the main highway onto an older road that was washed out with mud and potholes. The cab faltered, its rear left wheel slipping into a trench, and they all had to get out and push. When they got back inside, they were drenched and shivering; Jennings checked his watch and noted it was close to midnight. It was the last thought he registered before falling asleep; awakening several hours later, he realized the cab was no longer moving, and all was silent within. Thorn was asleep beside him, wrapped in a blanket; all that could be seen of the driver were his mud-caked shoes as he lay snoring in the front seat.

Jennings fumbled with the door handle and moved stiffly into the night, staggering to a nearby stand of bushes to urinate. It was near dawn, the sky was beginning to show the first signs of light. Jennings blinked hard, trying to make out his surroundings. He slowly realized that they'd arrived at Cerveteri. Before him stood a spiked iron fence, and just beyond it, tombstones silhouetted against the faintly lightening sky.