Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “Vision or not, that sword looks real,” Jake said. “I think we’d better head for the trees.” They all got to their feet.

  “We can’t outrun that horse,” Kendall yelled.

  “Take Kendall,” Nathan said. “I’ll hold him off.”

  “No.” Kendall saw Jake hesitate. Then Nathan turned, and she saw his eyes.

  “Come on, Kendall.” Jake gave her a nudge, and they started running toward the forest at the edge of the field.

  “My legs feel like paper.”

  “Mine too, but we can’t stop.”

  A roar sounded behind them and Kendall slowed. “Was that Nathan or the knight?” she yelled.

  Jake grabbed her arm. “Keep moving.”

  Once they reached the forest, they turned to look back. Nathan was standing still as the black knight rode straight toward him. “What’s he doing?” Kendall said. “He’s going to get killed. We have to help him.”

  “I’ll go.” Before he could start back, Nathan let out a roar and started running toward the horse. It reared on its hind legs, pawing the air. The knight yelled something. He appeared to be trying to control the horse. It turned, throwing the knight on the ground, and ran off.

  “It recognizes a more dangerous creature,” Jake said.

  The knight leapt to his feet and faced Nathan. The two men stared each other down. Then the knight backed away. Kendall watched to see what Nathan would do. “Don’t kill him,” she whispered. “Just run.” He already believed he was dangerous. Killing someone else would just feed that fear. Then she saw the cross in her head. “Nathan! Show him your cross.”

  Nathan turned and looked at her. His eyes still glowed. He pulled the cross from under his shirt and held it up. The knight bowed his head and backed away.

  Nathan ran toward her and Jake. He moved faster than anything humanly possible.

  “How can anyone run like that?” she asked.

  “Told you he was fast. I don’t know what the hell he is, or how we got here, but I think he just saved our asses.”

  Nathan’s eyes were almost normal by the time he got to Kendall and Jake. “You all right?” he asked Kendall.

  She nodded. “We have to get out of here and back to the tunnel.”

  “How do we do that?” Jake asked. “We don’t even know how we got here.”

  “I saw that black knight in the tunnel. He ran through us and I was touching you both. I think it… transported us.”

  “That’s a hell of a thing,” Jake said. “We see the ghost and then the real man. If that was the same knight.”

  “I think it was,” Kendall said.

  “The battlefield was the same as the one in the vision from the abbey.”

  “Wait a minute. You’ve both seen this before now?” Nathan asked.

  “Jake has been dreaming of King Arthur since he was a kid,” Kendall said.

  “Bloody hell. I have too.”

  They all shared a look that must have been comical. “That’s screwed up,” Jake said.

  “Maybe not,” Kendall said. “I think we’re meant to be here, to find this chalice.”

  “Fate,” Jake said.

  “I think so,” Kendall said. “Let’s hold hands. That seems to connect us. We’ve got to get back and stop the Reaper.”

  Nathan frowned and took their hands.

  “Now what?” Jake asked.

  “Focus. Think about the tunnel.”

  “How about we think about a fishing lake?” Jake said.

  “If the Reaper has the chalice, he’ll take it to the fountain. That has to be the room where I saw the statue,” Nathan said. “We could concentrate on the room, skip the tunnel altogether.”

  “We don’t know how this traveling thing works,” Kendall said. “I think we need to think about something familiar to all of us or who knows where we’ll end up. We were in the tunnel when this happened, so let’s think about the tunnel.”

  As they held hands, Kendall tried to focus on the moment before she’d seen the black knight. “It’s not working,” she said.

  “I could kiss you,” Jake said.

  “That won’t be necessary.” Just the mention of Jake kissing her and the resulting scowl on Nathan’s face had done the trick. “Concentrate on the tunnel, the exact spot where we left.” They closed their eyes and focused. It was difficult with the sounds of battle so close, but Kendall cleared her mind and tried again to recall the moment before the knight appeared. She felt something change in the air and a hollow feeling inside. It was happening. A moment later they were lying in the tunnel. It worked. She tried to move, but her muscles wouldn’t cooperate. She turned her head and didn’t see Nathan or Jake.

  “Nathan? Jake?”

  “Yeah,” Jake said.

  “Are you OK?”

  “I’ll let you know when my head reattaches itself to my body,” Nathan said. He groaned and sat up.

  “I don’t know what the hell happened,” Jake said, also sitting. “But I can live without it happening again.”

  Kendall slowly sat up, her head light and heavy at the same time. It took a minute before any of them could stand.

  “Which tunnel do we take?” Jake asked, looking at the two tunnels.

  “The one where I saw the knight,” Kendall said. “He must be guarding something. Remember the legend of the ghost of a black knight guarding the abbey’s treasures? And the ghosts I saw in the cave were knights. That’s what they were doing, guarding the fountain.”

  They chose that tunnel and kept walking. The ground became more inclined as they went. “We’ve got to be getting close,” Kendall said. “We’ve been walking for a mile.”

  A few minutes later they came to a wall.

  “A dead end,” Jake said. “Imagine that.”

  “The markings look like those on the cave wall,” Kendall said. “Look, there’s a nice fat circle.”

  “Circles are good,” Jake said, shining his light on the mark.

  “Try pushing it,” Nathan said.

  Kendall felt the warning, but it was too late.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  LOOK OUT!” SHE yelled as a rumbling noise filled the tunnel. Something slammed into her. When the dust cleared, she saw Jake and Nathan both above her. They moved aside and she slowly sat up. “Next time you decide to knock me clear of danger, take turns. I think you broke my ribs.” She regretted saying it, because they lost a full two minutes of valuable time with her trying to convince them she was being sarcastic.

  “I knew we’d find booby traps sooner or later,” Jake said. “Guess we shouldn’t have pushed the circle.”

  The noise had come from a solid wall crashing down from the ceiling, blocking them in.

  “This trap proves this is the right way,” Kendall said.

  “There must be a way to get out. We could push the circle again,” Nathan said.

  “The wall will probably start closing in and crush us,” Jake said.

  “Look for a keyhole,” Kendall said.

  “Is this one of your hunches?” Nathan asked.

  “Hunches?” Kendall turned and looked at Nathan. “Why do you call them hunches?”

  Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

  “Adam called them hunches.”

  Nathan’s jaw clenched. Kendall saw something flash in his eyes before he looked away.

  “Nathan, what did you remember when Raphael touched you?”

  “A plane crash,” Nathan said. “There was a fire. A man grabbed me and pulled me off the plane. Then it exploded.”

  “Who was the man? Did you recognize him?”

  “No. I couldn’t see.”

  “It was dark?”

  “I was blind, I think. I couldn’t remember anything. I don’t think I knew who I was. He took me somewhere. I remember being in the woods. He pressed the cross into my hand, and then he fell. I think he died.”

  “I thought you found the cross,” Kendall said.

  “I’ve always h
ad it. I never knew where it came from,” Nathan said.

  “How could you have gotten a Protettori cross?” Jake asked.

  “From my father,” Kendall said. “He must have given it to you. To Adam.”

  “You think I’m Adam?”

  “I’m not sure, but I believe you might be,” Kendall said.

  Nathan seemed troubled by this.

  “If your father died, he can’t be the Reaper,” Jake said.

  “Raphael came back alive.”

  “We’ll have to sort out Nathan’s past later,” Jake said, “or we’re going to run out of air.”

  They examined the four walls, but it was taking too long and the air was getting thinner.

  “If we don’t get out of here soon, we’re not gonna get out.” He was looking at the wall where they’d found the circle. “There’s a crack here on the side of the wall. It must be a door.”

  “A door isn’t any good without a knob,” Kendall said.

  “We can break through it,” Jake said.

  “It’s solid stone,” she said.

  “And Nathan has superhuman strength.” Jake turned to Nathan. “You’re the only one strong enough to move that wall. But you’re gonna have to put some adrenaline behind it.”

  “No.” Nathan looked at Kendall. “There has to be another way.”

  Jake shook his head. “There’s no other way. We’ll run out of air before we find the keyholes or whatever it takes to get out of here. You have to remember, they’re guarding the Fountain of Youth. They’re not going to make it easy to find.”

  “I can’t just make it happen,” Nathan said.

  “I know. I’m going to hit you, get your adrenaline going. You have to focus your anger on that wall. We’ll all die if you don’t. Kendall will die.”

  “Then hit me and get the bloody hell out of the way.”

  “You can’t hit him,” Kendall said. “He’ll kill you before you can get out of the way.”

  “You have a better idea?”

  “Yes. Nathan, stand by the wall. Jake, come over here.” She led him to the far corner of the closed-in space.

  “What good is this going to do?” Jake asked.

  “Nathan, focus on the wall.” Kendall moved closer to Jake. Reaching up, she pulled his head down and kissed him.

  “What the hell?” he mumbled against her mouth.

  “Kiss me.”

  She opened her mouth against Jake’s and nibbled at his lips, watching Nathan’s reaction. His face was tight. He was getting upset, but she didn’t know if it was enough.

  Jake wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeper. He lifted his head a little. “Is it working?”

  “I don’t know. He’s upset, but he knows it’s just an act.”

  Jake swiveled Kendall around so that he was facing Nathan. He moved his hands down to her butt and started pulling her against him.

  Nathan’s hands clenched. “Stop,” he growled. His voice was different. Deeper.

  “I’m sorry I had to do that,” Jake whispered in Kendall’s ear. “But I think it’s working. His eyes are turning.”

  She glanced back and saw Nathan’s body tense, his eyes fully changed now. They were amber but looked like a light was behind them, almost as if they were on fire as Brandi had said. He was magnificent.

  He took a step toward them, fists clenched.

  Kendall darted out of Jake’s arms and stepped closer to Nathan, her eyes locked on his. She felt Jake grab for her, but she was too quick. “Nathan, please listen to me. You have to move the wall.”

  He stared at her for a moment longer, eyes bright as a flame, and Kendall understood the saying like a moth to a flame. Nathan could be dangerous in this condition, but she wanted to get closer to him.

  He blinked once, then turned and slipped his hand in the crack along the edge of the door and started pulling. The door started to move, but it was slow. Nathan let out a roar that sounded deafeningly loud in the small space and pulled harder. It had only moved a few inches. Not enough for them to get through yet. They could get enough air to survive, but it wouldn’t matter if they couldn’t stop the Reaper from drinking from the chalice.

  Jake slowly approached Nathan and knelt near the widening crack. Nathan turned and looked at Jake, and a shiver moved over Kendall’s skin at Nathan’s glowing eyes. What if he killed Jake?

  “I’m going to help,” Jake said. He sat down and put his back against the wall. He wedged a boot against the crack in the door, and he pushed while Nathan pulled.

  “It’s opening,” Kendall said, starting toward them.

  “Approach him slowly,” Jake said softly.

  “I can hear you,” Nathan said. He turned and looked at Kendall. His eyes were still amber and he was panting.

  “You’re controlling it,” she said.

  He kept looking at her as the amber darkened until his eyes were their usual stormy gray.

  “You did it, Nathan.”

  “Time for congratulations later,” Jake said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  They stepped through the doorway into the cave underneath the Tor. “I had hoped I wouldn’t see this place again,” Jake said. “Any idea how to get to the room Raphael kept you in?”

  “No. He’d knocked me out,” Nathan said.

  “We need to find the mark on the wall like the one in the journal and on Nathan’s arm,” Kendall said. “I think it was closer to where we exited the cave.”

  “That should be this way,” Jake said, pointing. “I can hear the statues humming. Everybody look for a wheel. And be quiet. He’s probably got company.”

  His company found them sooner than Kendall expected. Several men rushed toward them. While Nathan and Jake fought them, two came around and grabbed Kendall, then dragged her off. She tried to dig in her heels, but it wasn’t working. She bit the finger of the man who had his hand over her mouth. He yelled and let go. She whirled and kicked him in the crotch, then smashed the second man in the head with her flashlight.

  She heard a roar as she ran back toward Nathan and Jake, but it was hard to tell what was happening in the dark. Flashlights cut haphazardly through the darkness as the men fought. Two bright orbs turned toward her. Nathan.

  There were only two men left. Nathan threw one against the wall while Jake took on the other one. Kendall was close enough now to clearly see what was happening. Jake pinned the man on the ground, facedown with his arm twisted behind his back. He pressed his blade against his throat. “Where’s the Reaper?”

  The man laughed. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. He’ll win.”

  Jake raked the blade lightly across the man’s neck, and the laughter stopped. “I can cut your head off quick, or a little at a time. Where’s the Reaper?”

  “In there. Behind the wall.”

  “How do we get in?”

  “You can’t. It’s those damned statues. He said to stay out here, keep everyone away. Except her. He wants her.”

  “Kendall?” Jake asked.

  Nathan moved up beside them so quickly, he appeared to be gliding. With his glowing eyes, Kendall could almost believe he was a vampire or werewolf.

  “What the hell is that?” the man asked, looking at Nathan.

  “I’ll let you find out if you don’t tell us what you know,” Jake said. “Why does the Reaper want Kendall?”

  “He wants her gift. He needs to know if the chalice is the Holy Grail.”

  Nathan moved beside Kendall and looked at her with those fiery eyes. She could feel some kind of energy coming from him. Slowly, she reached for his hand. He jerked, but he didn’t pull away.

  “Don’t let him near me,” the man said.

  Jake pressed the knife harder. “Don’t worry about him. Worry about my knife. How did the Reaper know Kendall would be here?”

  “He knows things. He said she’d come.”

  “How are you supposed to let him know she’s here?”

  “He said bang on the wall three tim
es and he’ll let her in, that she has a cross, whatever the hell that means.”

  “You’d better start knocking,” Jake said, pulling the man to his feet. “One sound out of you to warn him and forget slitting your throat. I’ll turn Nathan loose on you.”

  “The Reaper will kill me.”

  “You’re already dead,” Jake said. “You’re just deciding whether it’s fast or slow.”

  He shoved the man in the direction he pointed. The others were dead, lying behind them. They walked for a minute and the humming grew louder. “Hear that noise?” the man asked in a shaky voice. “The entrance is here somewhere. I have to look for a mark.”

  “Is this it?” Kendall asked, pointing to the circle that looked like a wheel, like the one in Nathan’s journal and on his shoulder.

  “Yeah. That’s it.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. It looks like a wheel.”

  Jake did something really fast, and the man slumped to the floor.

  Kendall jumped back. “Did you kill him?”

  Jake didn’t answer. “Nathan, get her out of here.”

  “No,” Nathan said. “You take her. I’ll go.”

  “Damn you both.” Kendall picked up a rock and banged on the wall three times. “He wants me. He’s probably my father. You two stay back.”

  There was a grinding noise, and a section of the wall began to open. A beautiful light emerged from the widening crack. A dark figure stood in the middle, shrouded by the glow.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  THE STATUES HUMMED louder as the shadow moved toward Kendall.

  “You came.” His voice was smooth, sharp, quiet, forceful. It was everything. It was nothing.

  She touched the cross around her neck and stepped through the opening in the wall. She glanced back and saw Jake step through, then take off his cross and toss it to Nathan, who followed.

  “That’s not necessary,” the Reaper said. “As long as you’re touching someone who’s wearing a cross, you’re safe. Brandi came with Marco.”

  Brandi and Marco were pinned against a wall, but no constraints were visible. Brandi struggled, glaring at the Reaper with hatred. Marco just watched everything. It was impossible to tell if he was cognizant or not.