“It can’t be replaced,” he said.
“Don’t tell me it’s as old as you,” Jake said.
“Close,” Raphael said.
“Jesus,” Jake said.
Raphael’s hand flew out and slammed into Jake’s chest. “Don’t say his name in vain,” the guardian said with a growl.
Jake couldn’t say anything for a few minutes. He was trying to catch his breath. He didn’t retaliate, since Raphael had good reason to feel that way after presiding over the crucifixion of Christ, watching him die. Jake rubbed his chest and considered that he may need to clean up his language. He didn’t want to antagonize the guardian. They needed to be unified if they were going to take on the Reaper and rescue Kendall and Brandi.
This trip was longer than the one he’d taken with Raphael, but it should have been more comfortable thanks to Nathan’s money, which allowed them to travel first class. They had more leg room, which they all needed, particularly Raphael, but the attention he drew made discussing their plans to find the Reaper impossible. Even dressed in jeans, Raphael looked frightening with his tattooed face and frustrated frown. Nathan wasn’t helping matters. He was trying to hide his face so he wouldn’t be recognized, which drew even more attention. One flight attendant dared approach him with a smile, but she made herself scarce after she got a glimpse of his scowl.
When things settled down, Raphael quietly told them what he remembered of his “landing” in Prague when he’d followed the Reaper through the gateway, but there was very little to go on. “I saw him walk inside a tall building. A church, maybe.”
“Bloody hell. That’s all you remember?” Nathan asked. “There are hundreds of churches in Prague.”
“I was lying on a street corner, near death. I could hardly see straight,” Raphael hissed, his face dark. A small child who’d been staring at him curiously quickly vanished below the back of his seat.
“I thought you could extract memories,” Nathan said. “I’m sure you did it to me. Can’t you do it to yourself?”
“No.”
“Don’t suppose that’s also one of Nathan’s newfound talents that you could give him a quick lesson in? Let him read you?”
“I don’t yet know what he’s capable of,” Raphael said. “If we get the Reaper out of the way, we might have time to find out.”
“We can’t do that if we can’t find him,” Nathan said, his tone harsh.
“And you blame me?” Raphael said. “If it weren’t for me, you’d still be back there stuck in the Reaper’s invisible chains like flies in a spiderweb.”
“So we’re just going to get a car to drive us around to look at churches until we find one that looks familiar?” Nathan barked out a laugh. “That’s a rotten plan. Why didn’t you have someone else kill him when you had the chance? Then we wouldn’t have to worry about his abilities.”
“It’s not time.”
“Not time? What are you waiting for?” Nathan said. “He’s already found the Fountain of Youth, and now he has Kendall. What more do you want?”
Raphael looked suspiciously secretive. “He has something I need.”
“He has something I need too!” Nathan yelled. “Kendall!”
After they convinced the flight attendant that Nathan and Raphael weren’t fighting, Jake leaned close and growled in Nathan’s ear. “If you don’t calm down,” Jake whispered, “your eyes are going to start glowing and people are going to start screaming. Then you can forget finding Kendall. They’ll lock you up in a lab and study you like a rat. Chill. Your team will keep us informed where the Reaper’s jet lands.”
“I can’t let anything happen to her.”
“We won’t,” Jake said. “I’ve got as much to lose as you. Maybe more.”
Nathan frowned. “You’d better not be playing with her heart. I’ll rip yours out and feed it to you.”
“I’m not playing at anything. And the same goes for you. She believes you’re Adam. If you’re not, you’d damned well better let her know now. I don’t want her hurt over him more than she already has been.”
“Can you two shut up so I can rest?” Raphael said.
“Try not to snore,” Jake muttered.
“I don’t snore.”
“You don’t think the Reaper would hurt her . . . ?” Nathan asked.
Jake pushed away the dark thoughts pressing in on him. “No. He needs her healthy.” For now.
Nathan looked out the window, his face tense. “Hank’s sending some of my hotel security guards to the airport in Prague to see if they can spot them.”
Raphael cracked one eye. “You have a hotel there?”
“He has hotels all over the world,” Jake said.
“Hmmm . . .” Raphael closed his eyes again, and in minutes he was softly snoring.
“We don’t have anything to go on,” Nathan said, and then pointed to the dozing guardian. “He must have seen something he can identify?”
Jake could feel his frustration. “Raphael’s our only chance,” he said in a whisper, “unless your hotel security guard catches sight of Kendall. So don’t piss him off. We don’t want him vanishing from the plane.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I hope he hasn’t either.”
Ten minutes later, Raphael gave a loud snore and bolted upright. “I know where it is,” he said loud enough to startle everyone near him, as well as a few of the sharper hearing passengers in coach. He lowered his voice. “It wasn’t a church. It was a town hall.”
“A town hall? That’s where the Reaper went?” Jake asked.
“I’m almost sure it was. I heard a clock chime. It had a distinctive sound. The place is a historical landmark. The clock in the tower has the twelve apostles on it.”
Jake shoved at Raphael’s arm, which was digging into Jake’s elbow. “I’ve heard of cuckoos in a clock, but never apostles. Where is it?”
“It’s near the Old Town Square.”
“I know that area,” Nathan said. “I could see the Reaper having a place there. It’s old and full of history.”
“Just like him,” Jake said. “What would he do inside a town hall? I expected a castle or something grand.”
“The tower is old,” Raphael said. “Maybe there’s some significance.”
“I can’t see him taking Kendall to a town hall. He must have a place there. He’ll have to convince her to help him.” Jake’s stomach turned just saying the words.
When they landed in Prague, it was evening. Nathan touched base with his team and learned that the private jet they believed Kendall was on had already landed, but the guard hadn’t seen any sign of the woman.
“We have a starting point anyway,” Nathan said. “Assuming you’re right about the clock.”
They hired a car to take them to the tower. This wasn’t the first time Jake had been to Prague, and the other trip hadn’t been fun either. It had involved chasing a jewel thief. The owner had paid Jake well to find it. Jake hadn’t told the man that it was his mistress who’d taken it. She was a pretty thing with way too much charm, and she’d made him feel sorry for her. But he’d given his word to recover the jewel, so he returned it without exposing the mistress’s secret, for which she had been very appreciative. Foolish of him. If the jewel’s owner had found out, Jake would probably be missing some important parts of his anatomy. The man was very powerful and had a violent temper.
He supposed he’d have to tell Kendall about that one day. He had a lot of past sins to confess. If he was around long enough. The hug he’d witnessed at the graveyard crept into his head again. Nathan had a bond with Kendall that would never break. Not even death had stopped it before. Now that Adam was alive, nothing would separate them. And now there was a possibility that Jake could be the Reaper’s son. What chance did he have with her?
He felt the nausea coming
and put the thought out of his head, focusing on the ancient city with its beautiful buildings and grand churches. But the sights just reminded him that this wasn’t a vacation. It was a rescue mission. He could only pray that the Reaper wouldn’t hurt her until he got what he wanted. The chalice. Thank God she didn’t know where it was.
He looked at the woman lying in the bed, her bed, and he felt the loss as fresh as he had that terrible day. After all this time he still loved Maryanne. No matter how many centuries he would live, even until the end of time, he would always love her. Some souls were meant for each other. They had been, until she found out about him. He had many regrets, so many things he wished he had done differently. Perhaps if he had explained, she would have understood. Perhaps not.
He touched his cheek, feeling the rough texture of skin that had aged the instant he had used the wrong chalice to drink from the Fountain of Youth. Kendall had known it was the wrong chalice. She had lied to him. He should be angry with her for tricking him. He should kill her, but he needed her to find the real chalice, and in spite of her deception, he admired her spirit.
He limped to the bed, his bones aching. And the aging wasn’t limited to the outside. He had grown older inside, his organs and tissues and bones. His mind and his abilities weren’t as sharp. For the first time in his life, he felt like an old man. He needed the chalice quickly, before more damage was done. He placed his hands on Kendall’s head, softly so as not to wake her. He closed his eyes and sank into her mind.
He didn’t find out where the chalice was. She didn’t know yet, but he was confident it would come. Her gifts were extraordinary.
“Time to wake up, Kendall.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KENDALL WAS IN a room filled with chalices. Big ones, little ones, gold, silver, wood. Each was beautiful in its own way. As she explored, she heard someone call her name, and she looked around for Adam.
It must be Adam. She wouldn’t be exploring a room like this without him.
Then she felt darkness closing in around her, and she was afraid.
“Adam!”
Kendall awoke to find she was in a large room. Not the chalice room. The bed she lay in was quilted, an odd design, kind of retro. Her thoughts were foggy as she tried to remember how she’d gotten here. The last thing she remembered was being at Thomas’s town house and going to look for Brandi. Kendall sat up, alarmed. Brandi had told her everything was all right, and then her face had changed. Had Brandi done this? No. She hated the Reaper.
“You are awake, finally.”
Kendall spun around and saw him sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed. His face looked different than it had in the temple, but she knew he was the Reaper. He was dressed elegantly, his hair short, his eyes kind. But those weren’t his real eyes. Nothing about him was real. “Where am I?”
He sat back, casually, as if they were just visiting. “You’re in my home.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you that. Unless you help me.” He spread his hands, which were wrinkled. “Then I’ll not only tell you where you are, I’ll share my home with you. I’ll share everything with you, Kendall. Power . . . knowledge . . . the world.”
Her head felt thick. She needed the vial of water Raphael had given her, but she could feel her pocket was empty. The Reaper must have taken it. “What if I don’t want it?”
He laughed, a soft rolling sound like water in a stream. “You may be surprised to find what you like. I wasn’t always like this.” His face changed slightly, then he shrugged and sat forward with a look of calculation behind his brown eyes. Brown? Or were they blue? “What do you want, Kendall?”
“I want to go home.”
“Would you rather have your friends?”
“Where are they? Did you take them too?”
“Perhaps. But what if I offer you their lives in exchange for your help? You find the relics for me, I spare your friends.”
He said it in such a calm way, it made her fear worse. This man was old, probably more than a thousand years old. How could she fight him? She twitched her fingers, wondering if she could do her trick again. She’d done it twice. Once she’d knocked the Reaper down, the other time, Raphael.
The Reaper looked at her fingers. “That won’t work again. You caught me unprepared last time. So, do you want to hear me out?”
What else could she do? “Tell me what you want.”
“I want the spear and the chalice, for now.”
“I don’t know where the spear is.”
“I daresay you could find out. You have a lot of power where Nathan Larraby is concerned.” Nathan’s name sounded strange rolling off the Reaper’s tongue.
“He won’t tell me,” she said, and then immediately worried that she had focused the Reaper’s attention on Nathan.
“Then let’s start with the chalice. We’ll deal with the spear later.”
“And if I won’t?”
He leaned closer. Kendall didn’t know what color his eyes were this time, but they weren’t kind. “Your friends will suffer.”
Kendall licked her lips and wiggled her fingers.
Before she could attempt to blast the man, the Reaper moved his hands, and she felt herself falling asleep. “No—”
She stood at the window looking over the estate. Her stomach was a knot of nerves as it had been ever since she’d discovered his secret. How had she not known what evil lay hidden beneath that beloved exterior? And now, now there was so much at stake. She closed her eyes. So very much at stake. She had to get away before it was too late. There was no way around the agonizing decision. This is what must be done.
Kendall woke up in the same bedroom as before, but this time she was alone . . . except for the woman who had been in her head. The frightened woman. She had been a prisoner here too. Not locked up, but something had held her here. Who was she? Maryanne?
There was a tap at the door, and someone called Kendall’s name. A man stepped in. He was young and muscular. He wore a suit and a gun holstered at his waist. “I am Aaron. I have brought your food.” He carried a tray to the bed and set it down.
Kendall reached for the tray and deliberately touched his hand. “Can you tell me where I am?” she asked.
He pulled his hand back and looked toward her, but didn’t meet her eyes. “No.”
He’d been warned about her gifts. So much for reading him. She raised her hands a few inches off her lap, but her fingers felt numb. Had the Reaper done something to them? “I just want to know where I am,” she said, trying to sound nonthreatening. “Are we in Prague?”
His eyes flickered. “I can’t tell you.”
But he already had. She was in Prague, in the bedroom of a woman who had been terrified of the Reaper. Were Jake and Nathan here too? Brandi? Had he hurt them? They must be alive if the Reaper was using their lives as a bargaining tool. But for how long?
“Can you tell me if a woman stayed in this room before?” Kendall asked Aaron.
“I think his . . .” He stopped. “I don’t know. But I would make a suggestion. Do what he says. Tell him what he wants to know. You should eat something. He’ll be here soon to talk to you again.” He closed the door.
Kendall didn’t plan to be here when he arrived. She had nothing. No weapons, mental or otherwise, but she had one thing that could help her. She was certain the woman who’d been here before had known a way out. If Kendall could connect with her, she could find it. She got up and started moving around the room. She grabbed handfuls of the rich, feminine covers, touched the retro furnishings, walked barefoot on the shag carpeting, and tried to connect with the woman. If she ever needed a vision, it was now.
She got brief glimpses of the woman from the items in the room. She was probably in her thirties, very intelligent. Kendall needed more than that. She tried the first of two interior doors and found a bathroom
, which she quickly made use of since she didn’t know when she’d have the chance again. The second door was locked. She sensed the woman’s presence stronger near that door. Working with the butter knife from the tray, Kendall fiddled with the lock until she heard a click.
She’d hoped she would find a way out, a back entrance, but it was a closet. A huge, walk-in closet filled with clothes, gowns, shoes, and handbags as if the woman still lived there. Kendall saw a pair of wooden clogs. Everything was old, not today’s style, from twenty years ago or more. As Kendall touched the items, she felt the woman’s presence so vividly she almost glimpsed a face. The woman had loved someone, fiercely, and she was terrified. Not for herself, but for someone else. That was why she needed to leave. Kendall strained for more, but she couldn’t see her face or get a name. She knew that the woman was dead. Had the Reaper killed her?
Kendall dug through a dressing table looking for something else to touch. Jackpot. She found brushes and combs lying as if they had just been placed there minutes before. Had he kept it this way to honor her memory? She had just found a small photo when the door to the room opened.
Without looking closely at the image, Kendall shoved the photo into her pocket. She needed a weapon, but there wasn’t time to search for scissors or something sharp. Her eyes swept over the handbags and shoes, and she grabbed the wooden clogs. They might put a dent in someone’s head, unless it was the Reaper. One in each hand, she quickly moved behind the closet door, heart thudding so loud she knew the visitor must hear it.
It wasn’t the Reaper. Aaron stepped inside, and Kendall hit him on the head with all of her strength. The wooden clog made a solid thunk, and Aaron dropped with a groan. Kendall rolled him over until she could reach his gun. She removed it and looked for something to tie the guard up. She had to settle for stockings. Not the best, but Adam had shown her lots of things about knots. After securing the guard’s hands, she gagged him with a silk blouse. His eyes were still closed, so she checked his wallet and saw his ID. Czech Republic.
The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3) Page 18
