The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost Read Free Book Online

attachment and it transferred onto his hard drive. It was a video file. He clicked on it repeatedly but couldn’t open it. Six minutes .
    He tried every program on his drive that could play video. Nothing worked. Then he noticed the subject tag on the email: Translated . He transferred the Universal Translator app from his phone to the laptop. This time a pull-down menu appeared. On the menu were two options: Translate and Delete . He clicked Translate . A video player’s graphic interface came up on-screen. A triangular PLAY arrow floated into view. Will clicked on the arrow. The video file began to play.
    A generic hotel room faded in, shown through the wide-angle lens of a laptop’s on-board camera. There was a framed generic still life on the wall and a fragment of window on the left side of the screen. Pale morning light.
    “Will.”
    Dad’s voice. A moment later, Jordan West sat down in front of the camera. Will felt a flood of relief just seeing his father. But it didn’t last. Dad’s face and sweats were drenched, as if he’d come back from a hard run. His wire-rimmed glasses were fogged up; he took them off to clean them. Will realized it wasn’t just fatigue or urgency in his eyes: Dad looked terrified.
    “Pay attention now, Will,” his dad said. “I’m in room twelve-oh-nine at the Hyatt Regency.”
    He held the front page of a San Francisco newspaper close to the lens. He pointed to its upper right-hand corner. His hands were shaking.
    He’s showing me today’s date. Tuesday, November 7 . Then Dad held his phone in front of the laptop’s camera: 8:17 a.m. So I’ll know exactly when he recorded this .
    Jordan leaned in close and spoke in low, controlled tones. “Son, I’m making a big bet that only you will be able to open this: I’ve always bet on you. From what I’ve just seen, I don’t have much time, and by the time you see this, neither will you.
    “I know how strange and how frightening this sounds, Will. The first thing you have to know is that none of what’s happened, or might happen, is your fault. Not one bit of it. We’re responsible for this. And the idea that something we did would bring pain or sorrow into your life is the worst feeling your mom and I have ever known.”
    Will felt panic spread from his gut.
    “We always hoped this day would never come. We’ve done everything in our power to prevent it. We’ve tried as best we could, the only way we could, to prepare you if it ever did. Someday I hope you’ll understand and forgive us for never saying why—”
    A startling bang rocked the screen. Will recoiled along with his dad. The camera shook as Jordan West looked to his left: Something powerful had crashed into the door. He turned back to the lens, his eyes frantic.
    “My dear boy,” he said, his voice breaking. “We love you more than anything in life. Always and forever. Tell no one about this or about our family, no matter who they say they are. Believe me, these people will stop at nothing. Be the person I know you can be. Use the rules and everything we’ve taught you. Instincts, training, discipline, hold nothing back. Run as far and as fast as you can. Do whatever you need to do to stay alive. I’ll come for you. I don’t know when, but I swear I’ll tear down the gates of hell to find you—”
    Another explosion blew out the laptop’s equalizer into white noise. The hotel room filled instantly with a cloud of dust and debris. The image spun around as the laptop flew through the air and landed on the floor at a crazy angle. Will was looking at the window he’d seen earlier but the camera had turned sideways. In the near distance, a tall, singular skyscraper jutted horizontally across the window: the Transamerica Pyramid. San Francisco. The video signal fractured into static lines. Dark figures rushed into view. A curtain closed across the window, and then a hand reached into the keyboard. Dad’s hand: He hit the key that attached the video and sent