107

Robert Langdon circles the illuminated outer bulwark of Castel Sant'Angelo, searching for a way into the central fortress where the balcony still glows above. After finding sealed porticos and padlocked entrances, Langdon discovers the traforo, a spiral ramp once used by riders, but the opening leads downward instead of up.

Langdon descends into darkness and finds the Hassassin's black van in a dead-end chamber. Inside, Langdon discovers Vittoria Vetra's shattered cell phone but no weapon, deepening Langdon's fear that Langdon may be too late. Blood on the floor reveals the Hassassin's wounded footprints, and Langdon follows them to a hidden pentagram-shaped floor marker and a concealed slit leading into another passage.

The hidden route brings Langdon into an old prison chamber. Langdon recognizes black robes and red sashes in an intact cell, realizing the kidnapped cardinals were held there. Langdon also discovers the entrance to Il Passetto, the secret tunnel between Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican, which suggests the Illuminati used a Vatican passage and may have had help from someone inside.

Following the blood trail away from Il Passetto, Langdon finds another pentagram marker and a chained gate leading to steep spiral stairs. Langdon arms himself with a broken iron bar and climbs toward the upper fortress, reflecting that Bernini may have shaped the secret Illuminati route within a Vatican-owned building.

Meanwhile, the Hassassin returns to Vittoria, who remains bound on the divan. The Hassassin taunts Vittoria with a switchblade and reveals that the blade was used to cut out Vittoria's father's eye, which transforms Vittoria's fear into murderous resolve. Before the Hassassin can continue, Langdon appears in the doorway and orders the Hassassin away from Vittoria, shocking the assassin, who had believed Langdon dead.