In chapter 102, Langdon arrives at the Bernini’s Fountain of Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona. It is only 10:46 when a black van emerges from an alleyway on the far side of the piazza. The van’s side door slides open and Langdon sees, on the floor of the van, a naked man wrapped in yards of heavy chains. Langdon takes the gun, runs to the fountain, and wades in the waist deep water. He makes his way to the other end of the fountain to the van, aims the gun at the Hassassin, and tells him not to move. The Hassassin grasps one of the van’s roll bars and uses it to swing outward, launching the cardinal out the door and into the fountain. Langdon pulls the trigger and the bullet explodes through the toe of the Hassassin’s left boot. The two men splash down in a spray of blood and water. Langdon searches the bottom for the gun that had been knocked out of his hands. He finds the cardinal and tried to heave him up to the surface, but he loses his grip on the slippery chains. Like a stone, Cardinal Baggia goes down again, disappearing beneath the foaming water. Langdon once again tries to help and sees Water branded to his chest. Then he sees two boots striding into view, one gushing blood.
In chapter 103, Langdon and the Hassassin battle once more, this time under water. While fighting to stay alive, Langdon reaches for what he thinks is the gun on the floor, but it turns out to be one of the fountain’s many harmless bubble makers. A few feet away, Cardinal Baggia drowns to death peacefully. The Hassassin focuses on Langdon, who is now pinned beneath him in the churning water. As he predicted, Langdon’s struggling became weaker and weaker. Suddenly, Langdon’s body goes rigid and he begins to shake wildly for six seconds. Then Langdon fell limp. He waits another thirty seconds and then leaves. Across town, Vittoria wakes up in pain. She is on her back and her hands are tied behind her. She scans her surroundings. She is in a crude, stone room that is large and well-furnished, lit by torches. It is some kind of ancient meeting hall. Nearby, a set of double doors are open and beyond them is a balcony. Though the slits in the balustrade, Vittoria thinks she sees the Vatican.
In chapter 104, Langdon is at the bottom of the Fountain of the Four Rivers with his mouth still wrapped around the plastic hose. Air is being pumped through the tube to froth the fountain. He was alive. He thinks about how accurate his imitation of a drowning man had been and that, thankfully, the Hassassin had bought it and let go of him. Langdon swims up to the surface and sees that the van is gone. He then finds Cardinal Baggia and brings him up out of the water. He tries to revive him, but after five minutes Langdon knows it’s no use. The man who would be the Pope was dead. For the first time in years, Langdon cries.
In chapter 105, Langdon realizes that he has to find the Illuminati lair and help Vittoria. The dove on the top of the obelisk represents the Angel of Peace and it is looking west. Langdon finds out that the Illuminati lair is in Castel Sant’ Angelo, Castle of the Angel, right outside of the Vatican.
In chapter 106, Langdon arrives at the castle. He sees that at the very peak of the central tower, a hundred feet above, directly beneath an angel’s sword, a single balcony protruded. The marble parapet seems to shimmer slightly, as if the room beyond is aglow with torchlight. Langdon then sees a shadow and knows that someone is up there.
In chapter 107, it is 11:12. While trying to find his way up to the balcony, Langdon passes a dozen tiny jail cells where the Hassassin held the cardinals. Near the cells, he sees some sort of passage and realizes that it is Il Passetto. The Il Passetto – The Little Passage – is a slender, three-quarter-mile tunnel built between Castel St. Angelo and the Vatican. It had been used by various Popes to escape to safety during sieges of the Vatican as well as by a few less pious Popes to secretly visit mistresses or oversee the torture of their enemies. Nowadays both ends of the tunnel were supposedly sealed with impenetrable locks whose keys were kept in some Vatican vault. Langdon realizes that the passage is how the Illuminati had been moving in and out of the Vatican. Langdon grabs the only weapon he can find – a four-foot section of iron bar – and then goes up the stairs. In the room, the Hassassin has returned and he has a knife. He begins sawing upward through the fabric of Vittoria’s khaki shorts when he suddenly stops, looking up. Just then, a deep voice growls from the doorway, “Get away from her.” Vittoria is overjoyed that it’s Langdon’s voice and that he is alive. The Hassassin looks like he has just seen a ghost and says, “Mr. Langdon, you must have a guardian angel.”
In chapter 108, in the Church of Illumination, Langdon and the Hassassin circle the room while talking. Langdon sees a copper chest with the five brands inside. In the center is an empty compartment which is intended to hold another brand – a brand much larger than the others and perfectly square. The Hassassin attacks and grabs the iron bar because Langdon lost his concentration for a moment. The hunter had become the hunted. Langdon says that he’s never read anything about a sixth Illuminati brand. The Hassassin tells him that he probably has heard of it and that Janus is the only one who holds it. Langdon doesn’t recognize the name and says, “Janus?” The Hassassin tells him that Janus is the Illuminati leader and he is arriving shortly to do the final branding. Langdon looks at Vittoria, who is strangely calm, her eyes closed to the world around her, breathing deeply. The Hassassin says that the final victim isn’t them, though they will die, but it is a truly dangerous enemy. Langdon realizes that he means the camerlengo. The Illuminati leader intends to brand the camerlengo and Langdon says, “But no one could possibly get into Vatican City right now!” and the Hassassin says, “Not unless he had an appointment. Janus is the 11th Hour Samaritan. By this point, the Hassassin has backed Langdon onto the balcony. Langdon is shoved off the balcony, but he manages to hang onto the railing with his hand. Looming over him, the Hassassin raises the bar overhead, preparing to bring it crashing down. Halfway though his swing, the Hassassin drops the bar and screams in agony. As he spins away from Langdon, he sees a blistering torch burn on the killer’s back. Langdon pulls himself up to see Vittoria now facing the Hassassin. Langdon scrambles back up over the banister and Vittoria thrusts the torch hard into the Hassassin’s face. There is a hiss and his left eye sizzles. Vittoria says, “Eye for an eye.” Both Langdon and Vittoria push the Hassassin backward over the banister into the night. Langdon turns and stares at Vittoria in bewilderment. Slackened ropes hang off her midsection and shoulders. She says, “Houdini knew yoga.”
Ahh! That was so epic! I’m so glad Langdon saved Vittoria and that they killed the Hassassin. He was just so evil. It was too bad that Cardinal Baggia died though. I thought that at least one of the four cardinals would survive, but apparently not. I hope they get to the Vatican in time to stop Janus from branding the camerlengo. I really like him and that would be really sad if he died too. I also think the sixth brand is probably the Illuminati Diamond.
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