Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “Are you all right, Nathan?” Fergus asked. “You don’t look well.”

  “I’m confused and I’m hungry,” he said, looking at Kendall. He’d been doing that a lot since their kiss.

  Nathan had never kissed her. It must have been to prove that he wasn’t a ghost, but the kiss had taken her by surprise. It had felt good. What was wrong with her? The bed was barely cold from making love with Jake.

  “I heated up some soup,” she said, pointing to the cup on the table. “It should still be hot. The drinkable kind is all they had. This one’s pretty good.”

  He moved to the table. “Thank you.” Usually, she couldn’t read anything except his body language, and Kendall was certain he guarded even that. But this time she felt his hurt.

  She looked away so he didn’t see her eyes. “You have a cut on your neck. I’ll get the first aid kit.” It wasn’t deep, but no telling where he’d gotten it. While he drank the soup and Fergus fussed over him, Kendall got the small kit she’d seen in the bathroom. She carried it to Nathan and pulled up a chair beside him.

  “What are you doing?” Jake asked.

  “Putting a bandage on his cut.” And studying his tattoo. It looked like a circle with lines crisscrossing the middle. She was certain she’d seen that design somewhere before. After a moment, she realized why it was familiar.

  “Can’t he do that?” Jake muttered.

  She clenched her jaw and touched Nathan’s neck to examine the wound. She and Nathan both jumped. “Sorry, I’m jumpy.”

  “If you’re jumpy, let Fergus take over,” Jake said, still scowling.

  “I’ll manage,” she said. The cut was small, but given the location, just above his jugular vein, she wondered if his attacker had been trying to slit his throat. He tilted his head so she could work on the cut. Jake stood by while she finished the job, brows drawn together like a disapproving chaperone. There was no denying that she was drawn to Nathan. Up close, his body was as sexy as Jake’s. In fact, their bodies looked a lot alike. That sent her thoughts to places they didn’t belong. She felt a blush flood her cheeks. I am not a floozy. They just both happen to be very good-looking men. Any woman would be attracted to them. Even if she was already halfway in love with Jake.

  In love with Jake. That was the first time she had really admitted it to herself.

  She jumped up as soon as she was finished and took the first aid kit back to the bathroom. She examined her reflection to see if she was as flushed as she felt. She was. She wet a cloth and pressed it to her cheeks. She walked back into the room, grabbing a bottle of water she’d brought from the kitchenette. She unscrewed the lid and took a long drink.

  “You look overheated,” Jake said, appearing at her side.

  Kendall almost choked. “It’s been an emotional hour,” she said, wiping her mouth where the water had spilled down her chin.

  “I know. I saw you kissing him.”

  “He was just proving that he wasn’t dead. I thought he was dead. He kept saying he wasn’t. Ghosts don’t kiss.”

  Jake’s jaw got even tighter. “They also don’t shake hands. Guess that wasn’t good enough.” He picked up Nathan’s bag by the door and walked across the room. “I’m sure you wanna get dressed,” he said, dropping it on the table.

  He and Nathan shared one of their testosterone-loaded looks. Nathan took the bag and went to the bathroom. Kendall glanced at Fergus and thought he rolled his eyes. He caught her looking and put on his butler face.

  “I should get back and check on Marco,” Fergus said. “I don’t like leaving him alone for long.”

  “I’m surprised how well he’s doing,” Kendall said.

  “He improved right after you left.”

  “Maybe he was faking,” Jake said.

  Fergus shook his head. “I don’t think so. He seems to heal quickly.”

  “Something in the water, I guess,” Jake said.

  “He talked about drinking a lot after you left. I thought he was asking for water, but he didn’t want water. Then he mentioned something about the fountain. I thought he was rambling.”

  “He didn’t have anything unusual to drink, did he?” Kendall asked.

  “I found a small vial under his bed. I asked the nurse about it. She hadn’t seen it. It looked old, like something in one of Nathan’s collections, but Marco hadn’t left the bed.”

  “Where could it have come from?” Kendall asked.

  “It was right after Raphael vanished,” Fergus said. “Perhaps he gave it to Marco.”

  “Nathan said Raphael saw Marco,” Jake said.

  Kendall nodded. “And Raphael told us that the water from the fountain is how he recovered.”

  “You mean how he went from being dead to being alive,” Jake said.

  “You think it was water from the fountain?” Fergus asked.

  “It could have been,” Kendall said. “Marco is certainly doing better now. When I was in the room in the castle with the mural and the round table, I saw some vials and cups. That must have been water from the fountain.”

  “Oh my. There was a bit left in the bottom and I dumped it out.”

  “I wish you’d kept it,” Kendall said.

  “I wish I had drunk it,” Fergus said.

  Nathan came out of the bathroom dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and boots. What was up with him? A tattoo? Jeans? She had thought for a while that he might be hiding behind his money, suits, and no-nonsense manner. Now she was even more suspicious.

  Fergus stood. “Will I see you in the room later?” he asked Nathan.

  Nathan shook his head. “No. I’m sleeping here.”

  Jake lifted a brow. “You are?”

  “I am.” Nathan sat down at the table.

  Fergus frowned as he passed Kendall. “Will you keep an eye on him?” he whispered.

  Kendall nodded. When the door closed behind Fergus, she sat at the table. “This has been a crazy, intense night, but we have work to do and not much time. Raphael said those lights over the Tor are the Reaper trying to come through. We have to stop him before he gets the chalice to the Fountain of Youth.”

  “Isn’t this the Protettori’s job?” Jake asked.

  “I think the Protettori need help,” Kendall said.

  Jake leaned on the table, his brow furrowed. “We need a strategy and weapons.”

  “First, we need knowledge.” She opened the journal.

  “Did you make sense of it?” Nathan asked.

  “It seems to be a mix of Latin, Italian, and Old English. I think I’ve found references to the Fountain of Life, hidden within sacred ground, and Beacon at Sea. Long ago, the Tor was surrounded by water. The mountain was referred to as a beacon. And it was considered a sacred place by ancient civilizations. I think we all agree that the Tor is probably where the fountain is hidden.”

  “We just have to figure out how to get inside,” Nathan said.

  “Easier said than done,” Jake said.

  “Not necessarily.” She turned the journal to another page and pointed out a tiny sketch. A circle. “I think I’ve seen this symbol on the cave wall.” She touched Nathan’s shoulder. “And on your arm. Your tattoo.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  DON’T TELL ME you dreamed about the wheel too,” Jake said.

  Nathan looked almost embarrassed. “OK.”

  “Hell, is there anything about this stuff you haven’t dreamed?”

  “You did dream about it, didn’t you?” Kendall asked.

  Nathan nodded. “A lot. In a… disturbed moment, I had it tattooed on me.”

  “I’ll translate that to a drunken moment,” Jake said. “So you’re a walking map.”

  “I think if we can find that symbol again, we’ll find the entrance to the Fountain of Youth,” Kendall said. “The second part is the chalice.” Kendall turned to the sketches. “We know these four sketches are probably the relics.” She pointed to one that resembled a bowl. “This one… I think this is the Holy Grail.
In fact, I saw it in a vision, and I’m almost certain that’s what it is.”

  “You saw it?” Nathan asked.

  She nodded. “It was amazing. I’ll tell you all about it when we have more time.”

  Jake looked so sullen she would have slapped him, but she was so glad they were both sitting at the table alive and well that she ignored his bad humor.

  “Also, Raphael looked shocked when I told him King Arthur said to find the chalice. And we know what King Arthur’s quest was.”

  “The Holy Grail,” Nathan said. “Brandi said the Reaper was searching for it.”

  “I think that’s proof. We’re looking for the Holy Grail. What we don’t know is whether the Blue Chalice is the grail. We haven’t seen it. But people are dying over it, so we have to assume it is.”

  “We have to find the chalice before he does,” Nathan said. “If it’s not too late.”

  “Assuming your attacker stole it, I’m surprised it wasn’t with the body,” Kendall said.

  “I didn’t know it was missing, so I wasn’t looking for it,” Nathan said. “I didn’t have much time to look at anything. As soon as I saw his body, I heard the police coming. I almost didn’t get away in time.”

  “We need to go back and search the area,” Kendall said. “If it’s not there, then the cops found it, or the killer already gave it to the Reaper.”

  “Or Brandi accomplished her goal,” Jake said. “After what Marco said, I think Brandi might be right about destroying the relics. If they’re destroyed, there’s no threat of some egotistical maniac trying to use them.”

  “We can’t destroy them,” Nathan said.

  “We won’t,” Kendall said. “At least not until we see if they’re your cure.”

  Nathan looked tired. “I don’t think it will be. Raphael said there was a way to get rid of this thing, but it would be complicated. It’s not likely I’ll just drink from the fountain and be cured.”

  “But it keeps them young for… centuries,” Kendall said. “And Fergus thinks Raphael gave Marco some to drink before he escaped the mansion. He found a strange vial under the bed. Maybe it’ll cure you.”

  Nathan’s face brightened. “Marco told me he hadn’t had the drink in a long time. I asked if he needed water, and he said not that kind.”

  “You’ll be taking a risk,” Jake said. “We don’t know what the side effects might be.”

  “Can they be any worse?” Nathan asked.

  “Hell yeah. There are people who would kill to have what you have,” Jake said. “You’re like a superhero.”

  “Superheroes don’t hurt people they…” He glanced at Kendall. “They don’t hurt their friends.”

  “Maybe you need to control it. Like Kendall needs to control her gift.”

  “Don’t look so self-righteous,” Nathan said. “You have your own issues, your own secrets too.”

  “And we’re back to fighting.” She threw up her hands. “If you two don’t stop this pissing contest, I’m going to walk out of here and let you find the damned Fountain of Youth by yourselves. I could be at home on a date right now with a really hot guy instead of listening to you poke at each other like kids.”

  Nathan and Jake turned their glares on her. “What hot date?” Nathan asked.

  “The neighbor I told you about, the one who’s trying to get in her pants. Todd.” Jake made it sound like a curse word. “You want to date him after what we…” Jake looked at Nathan and stopped speaking.

  “I didn’t say that—”

  “You can’t date him,” Nathan said. “I haven’t finished checking him out.”

  “My God. I don’t need you to do background checks on my dates,” Kendall said.

  “Someone with your gift would be a target for crooks all over the world,” Nathan said. “If they find out what you can do, you’ll be on the run for the rest of your life.”

  “He’s right,” Jake said. “Dating isn’t safe.” They were both looking at her with identical frowns, and she’d noticed for the first time that they looked a lot alike when they were both scruffy and wearing jeans. Maybe that explained her attraction to both. That thought just made her more irritated.

  “Are you actually sitting there telling me that I’m not allowed to date?”

  “Why do you need to date?” Nathan asked. “You haven’t been dating before.”

  Kendall shook her head in bewilderment. “I can’t. You interrupt every date I try to go on.”

  “Me?” Nathan asked, looking blank.

  “Yes, you do. I want to date for the same reason everyone in the world dates.”

  “Sex,” Jake said, his face set like stone.

  “Not sex.” Not just sex. “Male companionship. Someone to talk to.”

  “You have us… me,” Jake corrected, frowning at Nathan.

  “You two don’t talk. You order,” she said. “You demand. I don’t like taking orders any more than you do, but I tolerate it because I lo… I respect you. I need more from a man than orders and demands disguised as protection.” She turned and walked toward the bathroom.

  “Well hell,” Jake said as she closed the door. “She’s cranky. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was that time of the month.”

  “How the bloody hell do you know it’s not?” Nathan asked.

  Kendall opened the door and stuck her head out. “If you’re going to talk about someone behind her back, at least have the decency to whisper.” She slammed the door. If there were a window in here, she’d climb out and find the priest hole herself. When she’d calmed down enough to realize her outburst came just as much from frustration with the situation as from frustration with Jake and Nathan for their bickering, she walked out of the bathroom.

  Nathan grabbed her and pulled her against the wall. She gaped at him. “There’s someone at the door,” he whispered.

  “It’s probably Fergus,” she whispered back.

  “No, he knows to knock once, then twice. Stay here.” Nathan eased toward the door, where Jake was already in place beside the door, gun drawn. On Jake’s signal, Nathan turned the knob and yanked the door open. Moving fast, Jake whirled, gun pointed.

  “Hell.” He disappeared for two seconds and then appeared again, dragging Brandi with him, hand clamped over her mouth as she struggled. Then she saw Nathan, and her eyes widened with shock. She bit Jake’s hand. He cursed and let go.

  Brandi tried to get to the door, but Jake stopped her. She stared at Nathan. “You’re dead.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Nathan said.

  “What are you?” She stepped behind Jake. “A vampire. Oh my God.”

  “He’s strange,” Jake said. “But he’s not a vampire. I hope.”

  Brandi stopped struggling. “But I saw you dead.”

  “Were you dead?” Jake asked Nathan.

  Nathan scowled. “Of course I wasn’t dead.”

  “You never know. Raphael came back from the dead, and you both have the same eyes,” Jake said.

  “Then who did I kill?” Brandi asked.

  “The guy who attacked me,” Nathan said. “He hit me over the head with a bag.”

  “The neighbor. It must have been him,” Brandi said. “He’s tall. And I couldn’t see his face in the dark.”

  “Whose neighbor?” Kendall asked.

  “Yours,” Brandi said. “Todd.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  TODD’S HERE? HE’S dead?”

  “He works for the Reaper,” Brandi said. “That’s who I warned you about.”

  “Oh my God.” Kendall was stunned.

  “Why didn’t you put that in the note?” Jake asked.

  “I was in a hurry,” Brandi said. “And I wasn’t positive until afterward.”

  “How do you know Todd?” Jake asked.

  “I saw him at her apartment. He was watching her. Then I saw him here watching the house where you were staying.”

  “I had no idea,” Kendall said. Maybe she should have. With her usual luck in t
he romance department, she should have known that his persistence was more than attraction. “That’s disappointing.”

  “We told you dating was dangerous,” Nathan said.

  Jake started to agree; then he frowned, probably recalling his request that she date him.

  She’d never have a private life now. Heck, she wasn’t sure she wanted one.

  “Must have been his camera outside your apartment,” Jake said.

  “That means the Reaper is watching her,” Nathan said, his brows knitted together.

  “That’s why I sensed something about my apartment when I touched Brandi’s letter.”

  “Have you seen the Reaper?” Nathan asked.

  Brandi shook her head. “No, but I heard Todd on the phone with him. He’s coming here, and he’s sending more men. He wants the chalice.”

  “Did Todd have it?” Nathan asked. “It was stolen earlier.”

  “I didn’t see it,” Brandi said.

  “If he didn’t have it, the Reaper must have it,” Kendall said. “We’ve got to stop him. We’ll have to go to the priest—” She stopped. She didn’t trust Brandi yet.

  “Exactly why did you come here?” Jake asked Brandi. “To confess to Nathan’s murder?”

  She brushed at a smudge of dirt on her shirt. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. Someone broke into my room and took everything. I think it was Todd. I don’t even have my wallet.”

  “You need a place to sleep?” Kendall asked. “You can sleep here.”

  “Here?” Brandi looked at Nathan and frowned.

  “He’s safe,” Jake said, “if you don’t startle him.”

  Nathan gave her a dry look. “I promise I won’t kill you. Not tonight. I’m the one who should be worried. You said you’d kill anyone who gets in your way. I don’t want to be your second victim tonight.”

  “I’m not going to kill you.” She gave Nathan a sarcastic smile. “At least not tonight. Besides, what chance would I have against a man with Jake’s skills and your and Kendall’s abilities?”

  “Well, we have an agreement,” Kendall said. “No one kills anyone.”

  “If you do,” Jake said to Brandi, “Raphael will hunt you down. He’s grown protective of Nathan.”