The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3)

by Anita Clenney

  He searched the temple one last time, but he didn’t find the cross. Logically, he knew it couldn’t have vanished, but he also couldn’t have just searched his own corpse. Logic didn’t seem to matter here.

  He couldn’t pass the statues, so he had to go up or down. He looked at the ceiling. The Reaper had used it as a portal, but Jake had no idea how it worked, or if anyone could open it besides the Reaper. That left the floor. If he could dig down far enough, it should be safe to pass the statues, considering that people walked all over the hillside above the statues and didn’t get electrocuted. But how the hell could he dig his way out from under the Tor?

  He found a loose stone and started working with a small tool from his backpack. It took a while to remove it, and he was disappointed to find rock underneath. He chipped away at the granite, and after several minutes, the rock underneath cracked. A few more strikes and he was able to lift the broken rock. Dirt. That was good. But after an hour, he knew this was never going to work. He’d starve to death before he moved enough dirt to get out. The Tor wasn’t a huge mountain, but it was a mountain, and there was a good possibility that the temple was right in the center.

  Jake stopped digging. He was so thirsty he decided to risk taking another drink of water. He did, and he felt refreshed. Then a plan occurred to him. It was insane, and might kill him, but he couldn’t just sit there waiting. He’d passed the statues before and nearly died, but the water had healed him. If he drank the water as he was crossing . . .

  He refilled the vial from the fountain, but didn’t drink any more until he would need it. The water was powerful, and he didn’t know enough about it. Overdosing on the Fountain of Youth would be a hell of a way to die.

  He walked back to the door leading from the temple—the only exit, as far as he knew. The statues stood a few feet inside the temple wall, so if he could just get past them, he’d have some time and space to recover—which he was sure he’d need—before getting out into the tunnel. He opened the vial of water and moved as close to the line of statues as he dared. His skin tingled as the fingers of electricity reached out for him. He pictured Kendall in his mind, lying underneath him, her face glowing, so that in case he didn’t make it, she would be the last thing he saw. Then he took a long drink and leaped.

  The ringing in Kendall’s ears settled into a low rumble, but her body was tingling all over. She was wrapped in Nathan’s arms, and the rumbling sound was coming from his chest. She scrambled out of his arms and saw his eyes glowing the most beautiful shade of amber. He looked frightening and terribly beautiful.

  “Nathan. Calm down.” But his fiery gaze didn’t fade, and his chest was moving in and out too fast. He hadn’t tried to stand, which worried her. He stayed on the floor, arms tensed, body curled like a wounded animal. Kendall swallowed and eased toward him. Kneeling, she touched his arm. His skin was burning hot. He had taken the brunt of their fall . . . but where were they?

  Glancing around, she saw a room with large stones covering the walls and floor. The former was decorated with pictographs illuminated by candelabras lining the walls. In the center of the room was a rectangular object like an altar. It would be a fascinating place to explore at any other time, but now she was more interested in finding a door.

  Nathan’s body was thrumming with energy, and his gaze hadn’t left hers, like a tiger watching its prey. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and his body slumped. She checked his pulse. Fast. “Nathan? Can you hear me?”

  He didn’t open his eyes. His heartbeat was erratic and his skin felt dangerously hot. She tried her cell phone, but there was no signal. Not surprising. There wasn’t a signal in the temple either. She touched his cheek and brushed her hand over his light-brown hair. “I’m going to look for a way out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She had no idea where she was—under the Tor perhaps—but she had to get help.

  She left him there and quickly searched the room for a door. The pictures on the walls reminded her of some Egyptian tombs. The altar in the center of the room had writing along the edges, but she couldn’t read it. Latin perhaps? There was a large, round shield-looking stone on one wall. But there wasn’t a door. Panic started setting in. She had to get help. Nathan could die, and Raphael needed water.

  There wasn’t an obvious door, so she started searching for a hidden one. She examined the stones in general, and spent a good amount of time studying the round stone on the wall, but found nothing. Someone had built a lovely room here that required materials and labor. They weren’t here now, so there must be a way out. She glanced at the altar. Maybe it wasn’t an altar but a tomb holding the body of the last person who’d built this room. It was large enough. That was a morbid thought, and highly unlikely. Nonsense. Maybe the only way back was the way they came.

  The best she could tell, they had fallen from the ceiling. Had she activated a trapdoor? She couldn’t see any sign of an opening from here. Giving up for the moment, she went back to check on Nathan. He was still hot, heartbeat still too fast. Alternating between checking on him and searching every stone for a way out, she finally grew exhausted. Her head felt strange, from the portal, she guessed.

  Nathan was calmer and not quite as warm now, but still unconscious. Kendall sat down beside him, and when her eyes grew too heavy, she lay down, listening to him breathe. She thought about Jake. He would wonder where they were and come looking for them. But would he find them? She concentrated on his face, his steel-gray eyes and those dark lashes, as if trying to conjure him. Help us, Jake.

  Her scent filled his head, the sweetness of Kendall’s warm, female flesh. Since his curse had come into effect, Nathan’s sense of smell had intensified, making nearness to her sometimes like torture. It was all he could do to keep his hands off her. Through the pleasant drowsiness, he realized her scent was very close and there was a firm bum pressed against his groin.

  Nathan opened his eyes. Kendall was lying in his arms, her blond hair tickling his nose. He couldn’t recall how they’d gotten in this position. The last thing he remembered was seeing Kendall fall and him reaching for her. Then that awful light-headed heaviness, as if his head were being separated from his body. They must have fallen through another portal. Damn the Protettori.

  “Kendall?” He touched her shoulder.

  She sat up with a start and turned, her startled eyes soft with sleep. “Nathan. Are you OK?” she asked.

  He sat up beside her. “You?”

  “I think so. You scared me. You got stuck in your adrenaline mode.”

  He felt a shiver of fear. “Did I . . .”

  “No. You weren’t dangerous. I was just worried for you. You felt so hot.” A blush started creeping across her cheeks. “Warm, your skin felt too warm.”

  “The monster was trying to come out.” What if it had? What if he’d hurt her?

  “You’re not a monster. Raphael is like you. He’s not a monster.”

  “We don’t know much about what Raphael is or isn’t, and whatever he is, he’s had a long time to learn to control it. Where are we?”

  “I don’t know. Under the temple, maybe. I touched the wheel.” Kendall said. “Maybe I accidentally opened a trapdoor. Remember the rumors about a labyrinth underneath the Tor? It would make sense for the Protettori to have something to stop a person if they got too close to the fountain.”

  “My head feels like it did when Jake and I fell through the portal in the maze.”

  Kendall looked dismayed but nodded. “Mine too. I would rather it be a booby trap.”

  Nathan stood and helped Kendall to her feet. “How long was I out?”

  She glanced at her watch. “It’s not working. A couple of hours, I think.”

  Nathan glanced at his beat-up watch. He could afford a thousand Rolexes, but he couldn’t part with this watch. It was the only link to his father. It wasn’t working either. “Blimey.”

  “Are you
sure you’re feeling OK? I’ve never seen you like that before. I was afraid I would lose you . . . again.”

  A thrill went through him to know she cared, that Jake didn’t consume her thoughts. “I feel OK, other than my head. But we do need to find a way out. Raphael needs water.”

  Kendall touched her pocket. “The vial’s gone. I must have lost it when I fell.”

  “Or else it’s floating around in some kind of time warp.” Nathan pulled his cell phone out and cursed. “No signal.”

  “I already checked.”

  He put it back in his pocket. “There has to be a door out of here.”

  “I checked that too. I couldn’t find one.”

  “There’s always a door.” Nathan looked back at the ceiling. “Unless we just fell through the only one.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Do you sense anything? Any clue to where we are?”

  “No.”

  “We’d better start exploring.” They were good at that. The quick memory didn’t startle him as much as the earlier ones had. But he didn’t tell her. She was already sure he was Adam. He still wasn’t certain he hadn’t gotten the memories from Kendall and Raphael. They both had the ability to share things they sensed with others, and most of Nathan’s memories of Adam had come when he was touching one of them. He needed more proof.

  He conducted his own search, briefly admiring the amazing paintings and sketches on the walls, but Kendall was right, there wasn’t a door. “Did you light the torches?”

  “No. They were on when I woke up,” she said. “Someone must have been here recently.”

  They checked the room, carefully prodding each stone. They fell into a rhythm, methodically tapping and listening, studying surfaces. Occasionally he would turn and catch her looking at him. “Is something the matter?” he finally asked.

  “No,” she said, smiling. “Nothing at all. Other than falling through a portal and getting trapped.”

  Nathan smiled in return. “Business as usual.”

  Kendall looked as if he’d said something impressive. “You’re different now,” she said. “You smile, and you’re more . . . open. I can sense more about you. You were blocking me when we first met, weren’t you?”

  He took a moment to answer. “I didn’t want to frighten you off with my thoughts.”

  “You were worried that I’d sense your curse?”

  He was worried that she would see herself in his thoughts. Bloody fool, he chided himself. How could he not be Adam if he’d had memories of her as a child before he even knew anything about Adam? She hadn’t been touching him then. Why the devil was he fighting it so hard? He didn’t want to explain, so he nodded.

  As they searched the room, Nathan grew more concerned about Raphael. Kendall’s wrinkled brows indicated that she was having the same thought.

  “What will we do if we can’t find a way out?” she asked.

  “Jake will find us.” God knows he wouldn’t let Kendall out of his sight for long. That relationship wasn’t something Nathan had expected. If he’d known, he never would have hired Jake to guard her. Nathan looked up at the place from where they’d fallen. “We should check the ceiling for a catch. The Protettori are good with their traps, and someone has obviously been taking care of this place, as they have the temple. This could just be a booby trap.” Though it hadn’t felt like one when he and Kendall had fallen. It hadn’t felt like anything normal.

  “It’s got to be ten feet high,” Kendall said, still kneeling where she’d been checking a stone on the floor. “We’ll never reach it.”

  Nathan reached out a hand to her as she got to her feet. “We might, if you sit on my shoulders like you did in that Mayan pyramid—”

  Kendall squeezed his hand. “You remembered?”

  “You’re touching me. It could be your memories I’m sensing,” he said. “I bet you were thinking about that time, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening.” She looked at the ceiling. “Let’s give it a try. We’re running out of options.”

  Nathan bent down so she could climb onto his shoulders. When she didn’t move, he turned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. It’s just . . .” Her gaze went to his mouth, and moved quickly down his body. “We’re not kids now.”

  “You think I can’t lift you?” he asked, knowing full well that wasn’t her concern. He knew exactly what she meant. She wasn’t a little girl either. She was a grown woman, a beautiful, sexy woman, and she was getting ready to wrap her legs around his neck. “Come on. Let’s do this. Raphael’s waiting.”

  She put one leg over his shoulder—a very nicely shaped leg—which made him remember the nickname Jake had first given her . . . Legs. He frowned, but the irritation didn’t last a moment, as he was distracted by her other leg settling over his left shoulder and her crotch pressed against his neck.

  He was feeling overheated, and not from exertion or his bloody curse. “Ready?” he asked, hoping to get this done before he did something stupid.

  “I suppose.”

  He stood, but Kendall was still a few feet from the ceiling. “I can’t touch it.”

  “Try standing. Can you manage that?”

  “I’ll try. Back up to the wall so I’ll have something to balance against. I don’t want to rip out your hair.” She ruffled his head. “It’s nice hair.”

  “My hair thanks you.” He put his back a few inches from the wall, enough for her to maneuver into a standing position. “Will that work?”

  “I think so.” Holding on to his head and using the wall for balance, she pulled one leg up at a time, until she was standing on his shoulders. “I can touch the ceiling,” she said. He balanced her weight while she checked the area for a catch or an opening. They slowly worked their way around the corner, wobbling as they searched, until it was apparent they were wasting their time. “I don’t see anything. I don’t think there’s a door.” She sighed. “Which means . . .”

  “It was a portal,” he finished.

  “I think so. That may explain why you were so affected by the fall.”

  “You ready to get down?”

  Without warning, she jerked, causing him to lose his balance. She teetered for a moment before slipping. Nathan grabbed her and they ended up on the floor again. “Kendall?”

  “I’m OK,” she wheezed.

  “What happened?” he asked, rolling off her.

  “Something hit me.”

  “A loose stone?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I don’t see anything,” he said, looking around them.

  “I think I’m sitting on it.” Kendall moved aside and saw a cross on a chain.

  Nathan picked it up. “Your cross? You must have lost it in the portal.”

  Kendall touched the cross under her shirt. “It’s not mine.”

  Nathan frowned and pulled his cross from under his shirt. “Not mine either. Then who does it belong to?”

  Kendall’s eyes widened with fear. “I think it’s Jake’s.”

  For a second Jake felt like he was on fire. He heard sizzling and smelled ozone again, and then he fell hard. For the second time in the past hour, he thought he might be dead. Then he caught his breath, and it hurt so much he knew he was alive. Unable to move, he lay there for a minute, trying to concentrate on the cool stones of the floor to get rid of the burning pain in his body. It didn’t work. Water. He needed more water from the fountain, but he didn’t know if he had drunk all the water in the vial or if it had even made it past the statues. He tried to move, but it came out as a twitch. After a minute, the pain eased enough that he pulled himself up and leaned against the wall. He’d done it. He’d passed the statues without a cross.

  His gaze fell on the vial lying near his feet. He picked it up and shook it. Ther
e was a little water. He needed it, but so did Raphael. At the moment, the guardian’s survival was more important to Kendall than Jake’s. Raphael had answers. Jake didn’t know what the hell was going on.

  He put one foot in front of the other and took a few lumbering steps. He wasn’t sure how he made it outside the mountain or down the long path to where he’d parked his car. Nathan’s was still there. Where were they? He caught a blurry glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror as he started his car. His hair was standing on end, and his skin had a slightly smoldered sheen as if he’d been cooked. He managed the drive back to the Abbey House without crashing, though he couldn’t see anything but large shapes. He saw one car, and quickly realized he was driving on the wrong side of the road. Swerving, he held on to the steering wheel to keep from collapsing.

  He parked as close to the house as he could and stumbled out of the vehicle. His vision was fading in and out. He didn’t know if he had enough strength to make it inside, so the figure standing before him was a welcome one.

  “Have you been fighting?” Art asked as he hurried toward Jake.

  Fighting statues. “Art . . . get Marco. I mean Merlin. Get Merlin.”

  “You look kind of scorched. Are you dying?”

  “I might be if I don’t get help.”

  “I’ll help you.” Art was surprisingly strong for his age. He put a stout arm around Jake’s waist and took on some of his weight.

  Jake was embarrassed by how much he was leaning on the boy. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

  Art was heaving with exertion. “Waiting for you. I thought you’d never get back.”

  “Did you find . . . Merlin and Fergus?”

  “I did,” Art said, looking offended that Jake would even question that he had. “And they went to check on the wounded knight.”