Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “Come in, please.” He was still shadowed, with the compelling light behind him.

  He turned, and Kendall saw his face for the first time. Maybe the second time, maybe the hundredth. She didn’t know. He didn’t look like her father or the man from the Italian inn or the historian he’d impersonated, but he did have on that red ring.

  Kendall glanced quickly around the room. Nathan was right when he said it looked like a Roman temple. There were beautiful columns and a vaulted ceiling, beautifully painted as Nathan had described. The light in the room was warm. The source seemed to come from an opening in the floor. One statue stood a few feet away. Its presence might have been comforting if not for the Reaper standing in front of her. Obviously, he had found a way through the middle of the statues as Raphael feared he was trying to do. Where was Raphael? Had the Reaper killed him?

  Nathan and Jake stood close beside Kendall. She could feel the tension radiating off them, but the Reaper seemed to be ignoring them for the moment. She knew from the power emanating from him that it was only an illusion. He was aware of everything happening in the room. She hoped he didn’t know about Nathan. She could feel that he hadn’t changed. Shocking, since even her adrenaline was surging, but she was glad he was controlling it, because she was certain it would be a very bad thing for the Reaper to see Nathan change.

  “I’m sure you’re here for the same reason I am. The chalice and the fountain. With your remarkable gift, I imagine you’ve discovered what happens when I combine the two.”

  “Eternal youth?” Kendall said.

  “Yes.” The Reaper studied her, his eyes roving over her face.

  What color were they? She couldn’t tell. She had been looking for some signs of her father, but she couldn’t get anything from him. Not even the glimpse of familiarity she had gotten before. He was like a holographic image, appearing one way, but different from another angle.

  “You must think me greedy. Evil.”

  “You’ve killed for this. What would you call it?” Kendall asked.

  “Necessity,” the Reaper said. “Sometimes terrible things are necessary for the better good.”

  “Whose better good? Not the men you’ve killed.” Kendall glanced at Brandi, still pinned, her eyes burning with hatred. “Or the families you’ve destroyed.”

  The Reaper glanced at Brandi. “That is unfortunate. I wish I hadn’t taken Brandi’s father. I did not intend to destroy her family. I simply needed the relics he possessed.” He held up his finger, showing the ruby ring. “This ring is powerful. It gives me health and strength.”

  “Why do you need them if it’s not for greed? What is so necessary?”

  “I don’t know that I could explain my motives. You, of all people, might understand, but I won’t go into detail now. I will ask a favor of you. I would like for you to touch the chalice and tell me if it’s real.”

  “Why?”

  “There are consequences that I would prefer to avoid if it isn’t the Holy Grail.”

  “Why would I do this?”

  “For your friends. If you do this for me, I will let them live. If you don’t, I will kill them.”

  “Where is the chalice?”

  “Nearby. Will you do this for me?”

  Kendall nodded.

  “Very good. I’m afraid Nathan and Jake will have to join Marco and Brandi while we work.” The Reaper did something with his hands and Jake flew against the wall, pinned like he had been by her father in the chapel in Italy. Nathan wasn’t so easily moved. His eyes instantly changed. He let out a roar and ran toward the Reaper.

  The Reaper put up a hand as if to say hello, and Nathan stopped in midstride. He appeared to be blocked by some kind of wall. “What… is… this?” the Reaper asked, enunciating each word with awe. He stood with his hand raised, expression stunned, studying Nathan like a rare specimen at a zoo. “It can’t be.” He blinked and the shock faded from his face. His expression took on a look of delight, and Kendall started to pick up something familiar. Then he changed again.

  While Nathan was stuck there, his eyes went back to normal. The Reaper raised his hand and sent him into the wall beside Jake. “For now,” he said. He walked close and studied both men, staring at them for the longest time.

  “Is it possible, Marco?”

  Marco didn’t answer. He watched the Reaper calmly, as if waiting for a hand of cards to be dealt. “Well now. That changes things.” The Reaper appeared almost shaken as he walked over to a table near one of the statues. He looked up at the stone sentinel as he approached. A look crossed his face, perhaps arrogance, perhaps fear.

  He removed a chalice from the box. It was wide, metal, bluish tinged, with engravings on the side.

  “I envy your gift,” he said. “I have many abilities, but not this.” He handed the chalice to Kendall. “Tell me what you see and I’ll release… your friends.”

  Kendall took the chalice in her hands. It was cold, but she felt energy coming from it. She closed her eyes. It was hard to focus, hard not to think about the others trapped against the wall. She had to do this for them. The Reaper might kill them all, but there was a chance he wouldn’t if she cooperated. If she didn’t, she was certain they were all dead.

  She let the sensations move from her fingertips to her mind. The chalice was old. There was energy radiating from it, but it wasn’t the chalice she’d seen at the well. This wasn’t the Holy Grail. She dreaded to tell the Reaper for fear he would kill them in anger. Then she saw the Reaper drinking from the chalice. The image was so clear. If she hadn’t held the chalice in her own hands, she would have believed she was seeing the Reaper drinking from it for real. She saw him cry out and fall to the ground, and when his face turned up to curse her, he looked older.

  Kendall kept her eyes closed, pretending to examine the chalice while she decided what to do. The Reaper feared using the chalice if it wasn’t the Holy Grail. He had said there were consequences if he used the chalice and it wasn’t authentic. Would it kill him or just weaken him? If the Reaper could be weakened, perhaps Nathan could defeat him.

  She opened her eyes. “It’s very old and powerful. I can feel the energy coming from it.”

  “Is it the Holy Grail?”

  “Yes. Please don’t do this,” she said, trying to make her lie seem authentic.

  “There is no choice, really.” He moved closer to her and touched his hands to each side of her face.

  She heard Jake shouting curses at the Reaper, and growls that must have been coming from Nathan. She felt her mind slipping and knew he was searching her to see if she told the truth. She grabbed for something to think about, something that might block him or distract him. The first thing that came to her mind was Raphael. He had been close to the Reaper. She kept her eyes on the Reaper and her thoughts on Raphael. The Reaper frowned and lowered his hands. He took the chalice from her and held it in front of him. “Then I will drink. Finally.”

  He glanced at the wall where Nathan and Jake were still struggling to get free. Nathan’s eyes were like flames again, and he seemed to be making some progress at pulling away from the wall.

  Kendall shook her head. “Please,” she mouthed to Nathan and Jake. “Don’t.” She moved her hand quickly over her heart. Anyone else would assume it was just a movement. For her and Adam it meant trust me.

  Nathan stopped moving, watching her with those fiery eyes. He said something to Jake who was watching her as well. His eyes were full of anger, fear… and something else. Love.

  The Reaper walked over to a stone on the wall that looked like a wheel, like the marking on the cave wall. He turned the wheel, and Kendall heard a grinding noise. “You should step back.”

  Kendall moved, and a large section of the floor began to open, revealing steps. The light grew brighter and she heard running water. She hadn’t heard it before. The humming of the statues had disguised it. Kendall walked to the edge of the steps and looked down. The steps descended to a pool of water. A path divided
the pool and led to two streams flowing side by side from the wall. One left a red stain; the other white. The water flowed into a stone bowl, like the one in the sketch from the black journal. A warm light emanated from the bowl. It should have been blinding since it was the source of light for the entire room, but it was soft, enchanting. The Fountain of Youth.

  It was simple, not elaborate as she might have expected, other than the light. But she could feel its power from here.

  “Would you like to touch it?” he asked.

  She glanced at Nathan and Jake and nodded. She walked down the steps with the Reaper and sat beside him, wondering if he was her father, afraid to ask. She was torn between a desperate wish that he was, so she could see him again, and a prayer that he wasn’t, because he was evil. He had hurt people. She dipped her fingers in the water. Her skin tingled, and she felt an urge to step inside the pool.

  “Marvelous, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Do you want to taste it?”

  She dipped her fingers in again and looked back at the wall where the others were still trapped. She shook her head.

  “You are strong willed. And wise. The water is deadly unless drunk from a holy vessel.” He patted the chalice, and Kendall hoped like hell that it wasn’t holy.

  “You were testing me?”

  He smiled, his face changing without ever changing. It must be some kind of mind control, she thought.

  “Perhaps.” He stood and walked up the path to the bowl of light. “This is the strongest source. The light and the water.” He dipped the chalice in the water and held it up.

  Kendall wondered if it was possible to drown someone in the Fountain of Youth. He was too powerful for her. He would kill her and she knew, without vanity, that that would kill Nathan and Jake. So she waited, hoping her vision proved true.

  The Reaper turned and looked at her. “I would ask you to join me, but I know you won’t.” He looked wistful, and she felt the sense of familiarity again.

  She shook her head. “I can’t.”

  He nodded and lifted the cup. “To the past and the future.” He put the chalice to his mouth and drank.

  Kendall quickly hurried up the steps. She didn’t know exactly what would happen if her vision proved true.

  The Reaper closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He frowned and touched his stomach. “What have you done?” He bent over and groaned. “No.” His body twitched. “No!”

  “Run, Kendall. Get away from him,” Nathan yelled. He was struggling hard to get free, as was Jake.

  “Get out of here,” Jake yelled. “Run into the cave.”

  The Reaper came up the steps toward Kendall. “You’ve deceived me,” he said, looking at his hands, which already looked older. He let out a terrible cry and lifted his hands toward Nathan, Jake, and Brandi.

  “No!” Kendall threw out her hands, and the Reaper flew backward. He lay on his back, staring at her, stunned.

  Kendall looked at her hands. What had just happened?

  The Reaper sat up, his face almost recognizable in his shock. Then his features shifted again. “I didn’t expect that. I think you didn’t either.” He looked older than he had when they arrived, but his eyes were still powerful. He glanced at the wall where Nathan and Jake yanked at their invisible bonds. He began moving slowly toward her.

  Kendall wiggled her fingers, wondering if she could make the thing happen again. She didn’t have to try. Before the Reaper reached her, something dark flew across the room and moved between them. Raphael.

  He was dressed in his dark robes again. His hair was pulled back, and two braids hung on either side of his tense face. His eyes were glowing like Nathan’s.

  “My old friend,” the Reaper said. “I wondered when you would show up.” He took a slow step backward and studied Raphael. “I have missed you. I would hope that you’ve reconsidered my offer, but the anger in your eyes tells me no.”

  “The answer will always be no. You betrayed us all, especially me,” Raphael said.

  “I have made mistakes,” the Reaper said. “Many mistakes. It would be useless to explain the reasons to you now.”

  “You’ve destroyed the order, forsaken sacred vows.”

  “I did not intend to destroy the order. I’m quite fond of it, in fact, and quite fond of you, my brother, but it was necessary.”

  “I don’t want to kill you,” Raphael said, “but you leave me no choice.”

  “Nor I you,” the Reaper said, his eyes sad. He stretched out his hands, and Kendall felt a vibration under her feet as the air surrounding the Reaper thickened like a mist.

  Raphael ran toward the Reaper and grabbed hold of him. Both of them disappeared.

  Kendall heard thuds and saw Nathan, Jake, Marco, and Brandi getting up from the floor.

  “Where did they go?” Kendall asked.

  “I don’t know,” Marco said, looking at the spot from which the Reaper and Raphael had disappeared. “It could be good. Or very bad.”

  Nathan and Jake hurried over to Kendall. Jake pulled her into his arms. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  Kendall hugged him back. She’d almost lost him. And Nathan. Nathan stood beside them, his expression blank. She reached for his hand. Nathan took hers but kept his distance. Kendall stepped out of Jake’s arms and faced Nathan. She studied his dark eyes, somber, not laughing, hair short, not wild and carefree as it had been then. Tears welled in her eyes. Nathan’s jaw clenched, and for the first time since she had known him, she saw something in his mind. Herself… as a young girl.

  She wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve missed you, Adam.” Tears slid down her cheeks as he slowly put his arms around her. She laid her head against his chest and listened to his heart thumping. Alive. Adam was alive.

  “I don’t know if I am Adam,” he said quietly, arms tightening around her shoulders.

  “I do.” She leaned back. “What does this mean?” She placed her open hand over her heart.

  “Trust me,” Nathan said.

  “Only Adam would know that.” She smiled and felt another rush of tears. “I can’t believe I found you again. Or you found me.” She wiped her tears and glanced over at Jake. “I found Adam.”

  Jake’s face looked like a mask. She knew that in his mind Adam would be a threat to this thing between them. She didn’t know how, but she was sure there was room for both men in her life. In fact, she couldn’t imagine not having both of them around. The details would have to be sorted out later. For now, they were both alive. Kendall stepped out of Nathan’s arms but held on to his hand. She reached for Jake’s and squeezed it.

  “So this isn’t the Holy Grail,” Brandi said, picking up the fallen chalice from the bottom of the steps.

  “Trust her to go straight for the relic,” Jake said.

  Brandi’s words brought them back to the present. Kendall wiped her eyes again. “No.”

  “You sensed it?” Brandi asked.

  Kendall nodded. “I saw a vision of him aging.”

  “You’re the real deal,” Brandi said.

  “You were very smart to trick him,” Marco said. “Drinking from the wrong chalice has aged him, made him weaker, perhaps enough for Raphael to destroy him.”

  Brandi shook her head. “This is some seriously crazy crap. What are you? What is Nathan?” She looked at Jake and wiggled her fingers. “Do you have weird talents too?”

  “No. Just guns.”

  “I think I’ll get one myself. All I have is my brother’s knife.” A look of sadness crossed her face.

  “You saved us,” Nathan said to Kendall. “The Reaper would have killed us all if you hadn’t stopped him.”

  “Arthur would be proud,” Marco said.

  “Who is Arthur?” Kendall asked.

  “King Arthur. He was the first guardian.”

  “King Arthur was one of the Protettori?” Kendall asked.

  “He was. As were many of his knights. That’s why they searched for t
he Holy Grail. To protect it. And they still do.”

  “The black knight and the ghosts in the cave,” Kendall said. “They were knights.”

  Nathan ran a hand over his head. “Bloody hell.”

  “I knew he must be connected when he told me to find the chalice. Obviously not this chalice.”

  “Not this one,” Marco said. “But there is another one, the real chalice. We must keep it from the Reaper.”

  “Let’s hope he’s dead,” Jake said.

  “He’ll be very difficult to kill,” Marco said.

  “Kendall knocked him on his ass,” Jake said. “How did you do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Kendall said. “It just happened.”

  Marco’s eyes looked bright as he studied Kendall. “I knew you were strong, but I didn’t expect this from you. Perhaps from Adam, since he’s the one who took the vow.”

  “Adam didn’t take the vow,” Kendall said. “I did. Adam tried to stop me.”

  Marco looked puzzled. “He said he had done it.”

  “Adam was trying to keep me from getting in trouble. He always looked out for me.” Kendall looked at Nathan. “Do you remember that?”

  “I remember seeing the statues and the castle. I don’t remember any vow.”

  Marco looked at Kendall and his face brightened. “If you took the vow, then you’re the one.”

  “I’m the what?” Kendall asked.

  “The new Keeper.”

  “Keeper?”

  “Of the relics.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  YOU MEAN SHE’S one of the Protettori?” Jake asked.

  “Yes. She took the vow to protect the relics. I knew the Keeper would come again, when it was time, but I thought it would be Adam.”

  “Adam was there too. He got caught in the light,” Kendall said, looking at Nathan. “I thought I caused his death. You said the vow couldn’t be taken lightly.”

  “The others were angry. He would have died, but I knew it was destined. That’s why I sent Adam away to be protected.”