New Town Hall, Prague – 11:03 a.m.
Robert Langdon stared at the ancient symbol under glass. The Chamber of the Mind. He hadn't seen it since his days in graduate school—tucked in the footnotes of obscure manuscripts dismissed as pseudoscience.
But now it was here, on parchment pulled from a fresh crime scene. Not a hoax.
Not an illusion.
And the Enochian script—used by John Dee and Edward Kelley in the sixteenth century—translated to five letters:
S-E-P-H-A.
Langdon whispered the word aloud. "Sepha...?" Lenka, reading over his shoulder, asked, "What does it mean?" Langdon hesitated. "It's likely a code. Or a name. But in Hebrew mysticism, Sephah or Sephiroth refers to the ten attributes through which the Infinite reveals itself." She gave him a flat look. "So this is about God?" "No," Langdon said quietly. "It's about how humans try to reach God." Lenka's radio crackled. "Emergency dispatch—intercepted message. GPS ping.
Suspect vehicle heading toward Charles Bridge. American plates." Langdon's eyes narrowed. He recognized that plate.
Katherine's rented sedan.
He didn't wait for permission.
He turned and ran.