The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3)

by Anita Clenney

  Nathan reached around Kendall and knocked Jake’s arm out from under him. “That answer your question?”

  Kendall was afraid he’d hit Nathan back, but instead he snorted. “Thanks, Arthur. I guess if it’s a dream, we’re all in it.”

  Nathan leaned back in his chair, his brow in a puzzled frown. “I still don’t see the whole King Arthur thing. And Guinevere and Lancelot. It’s too far-fetched.”

  Jake and Kendall shared a quick, knowing glance. They had both seen King Arthur in Kendall’s vision, and each had commented on his resemblance to Nathan. Jake ran a finger along a scar on the table. He almost seemed to follow it without looking. Had he made it? Kendall wondered.

  “Like statues that used to be alive and a guardian who’s two thousand years old,” Jake said.

  Kendall ignored the intoxicating male scents wafting from either side of her and focused on the smell of old leather. She knew some things about the journal. It had belonged to a man, but that was no surprise. It was high-quality leather, handmade. She knew the shop where it had been purchased. Not where, but she could see the interior of the shop. She could even glimpse handwriting at times and smell the ink. But those things didn’t tell her who the Reaper was or where the chalice was hidden.

  Jake and Nathan watched her, their faces anxious, waiting for her to find some clue. She’d just drunk the water. Raphael said that would help her sixth sense, but it hadn’t revealed the journal’s secrets so far. Maybe she needed more water. Turning to the sketches, she studied them again. There were four drawings, four relics. The first one was the Spear of Destiny. The second one was the bowl from the Fountain of Youth. The third one was also a bowl or a cup, but smaller. This was the chalice, the Holy Grail that she’d seen cradled in Christ’s hand at the Last Supper, and later, clutched in Joseph’s as he knelt at the foot of the cross, catching drops of Jesus’s blood. Like the bowl in the Fountain of Youth, the chalice wasn’t fancy. Just an old wooden cup.

  The fourth sketch was faded, hard to make out. One thing at a time. Kendall looked at the third picture again. She put her fingertip on it and tried to concentrate, to pick up a hint of anything that might help. She flinched.

  “Did you get something?” Nathan asked.

  “I saw you.”

  Nathan’s brows rose. “Me?”

  “Adam.” Just a quick flash of him as a boy. “Maybe you’re supposed to figure it out.” She handed him the journal. “You were good with languages. Part of this is written in Latin, some Italian, some very old English, and some in code.”

  Nathan didn’t deny that he was Adam. After his memory at the grave, maybe he was beginning to believe it. Nathan took the book. He had nice fingers, and Kendall found herself trying to picture Adam’s hands. They had usually been dusty.

  Nathan sniffed the journal.

  “What are you doing?” Jake asked.

  Nathan shrugged, and a hint of smile touched his lips. “I’m not sure.” He flipped through the pages of writing and sketches. “I think the answers are in here if we could figure them out. The Reaper must have found clues about who stole the chalice from him.”

  “I can’t imagine anyone powerful enough to steal from the Reaper,” Kendall said.

  “It doesn’t take power,” Jake said. “The Reaper couldn’t have kept it with him all the time, and half the world is searching for it. What do you know about the chalice, Nathan? You must have looked for it. Every other collector has.”

  Nathan turned another page. “I checked out the common legends, explored a couple of them, but never found anything that seemed legitimate.” He frowned at the page. “There’s an indention here.” It was on one of the pages near the sketches. He tilted it to the light. “I can’t make it out. Anyone got a pencil and paper?”

  Kendall found a pencil and scrap of paper. Nathan laid it over the page and softly began to make a rubbing. Shapes started to emerge. “Those are letters,” Kendall said.

  When he was finished, he held it up, and they all studied it. “It’s a name,” Nathan said. “Maryanne.”

  “Who’s Maryanne?” Kendall asked. She touched the rubbing, trying to pick up something. She didn’t see anything, but she felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

  “Get anything?” Nathan asked.

  “No, but I felt something. Fear. What do you think that means?” She looked at Jake and saw him staring as if in a trance. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I think we need to get out of this room. Feels like it’s closing in.”

  “Why don’t you go down and get some drinks,” Nathan said. “We’ll keep working.”

  Jake nodded, which surprised her after the scene at the graveyard. He seemed to be watching her closer than usual.

  He left the room, and Kendall and Nathan bent back over the journal. There were references to the Fountain of Life, which they assumed was the Fountain of Youth. What they needed was some reference to the Holy Grail.

  Jake came back with refreshments a few minutes later. “Any luck?”

  “No.” Nathan blew out a sigh and rubbed his shoulders.

  “Too bad we can’t just blink and go where we want like Raphael. We’re stuck with flying or using outdated portals—” Jake stopped, and a half grin touched his lips. “Hell, I can’t believe I said that.”

  They all chuckled, and she and Nathan continued poring over the journal. Jake started exploring the room. He was examining a particularly valuable parchment, which was making Kendall nervous. “Don’t touch that. You might accidentally destroy something.”

  “Want me to go blow something up while you two play with the journal?” His sarcasm was a cover for frustration. He didn’t have the same appreciation for rare objects that she and Adam—Nathan—had. Jake was a great treasure hunter, she had no doubts, but he didn’t have the patience for the small details.

  “No, we need you here.” She smiled and let her eyes tell him that she needed him here.

  His face relaxed, and he continued to wander the room as she and Nathan studied the journal.

  “What do you make of this?” Kendall asked. It was a word. The first letter was faded. The last three were u-l-a.

  Nathan studied the word. “Maybe an a. A-u-l-a. That’s Latin for palace.”

  “Palace?” As in the palace of a prince. Kendall looked at Jake, who was studying a crown that she seriously hoped he wasn’t considering trying on.

  “Palace.” Jake frowned and put the crown back. His face looked stiff. “The one in Iraq, I would assume.”

  Kendall tapped the pencil on her jaw. “We know the Reaper was in Iraq looking for relics, and Thomas told Brandi the Reaper was really searching for the Holy Grail. So he must have had reason to believe the prince had the chalice.”

  “Didn’t the Iraqis accuse you of stealing the relics?” Nathan asked, eyeing Jake with a suspicious gleam.

  Jake sat down next to Kendall again. “What now? You think I’ve had the Holy Grail all this time. You remember I was in prison.”

  “Of course he doesn’t have the Holy Grail,” Kendall said, daring Nathan to say differently. “But if the Reaper didn’t find the chalice, either the prince didn’t have it or someone else took it.”

  “Who?” Nathan asked.

  “Thomas?” Jake said.

  Nathan rubbed his chin, which Kendall noted that, like Jake’s, needed a shave. “Wouldn’t he have told his sister that he had the Holy Grail if that’s what he and Brandi spent so many years searching for?”

  “Maybe Thomas didn’t know what he had,” Kendall said. “Was there anyone else who could have stolen it?”

  “As far as I know, the Reaper and Thomas were the only ones who came out alive,” Jake said.

  “And you,” Nathan added.

  “Well, I don’t have the chalice, and the Reaper doesn’t seem t
o either. That leaves Thomas.”

  “We need to find Brandi,” Kendall said.

  “I have her number,” Nathan said.

  “How’d you get her number?” Kendall asked.

  “I had my research team retrieve it.”

  “Is that legal?” Kendall asked.

  “Legalities aren’t on my radar right now,” Nathan said.

  Jake nodded. “This is about—”

  “Survival,” Kendall finished with him. “Well, let’s call Brandi and tell her that her brother may have been hiding something from her.”

  “You’d better call,” Nathan said. “She freaks out around me.”

  “I’ll call,” Kendall said.

  “Let me.” Jake pulled out his phone. “I think Kendall freaks her out too, after that episode in the temple. I can put the fear of God into her, but in a more human way.” Jake called Brandi’s number and told her that they needed to meet. “You won’t believe where she is,” he said after he hung up. “The inn.”

  Kendall looked surprised. “Our inn?” she said, and then caught Nathan’s frown. “The inn where we stayed?”

  “The very one,” Jake said.

  “You think she’s been following us?” Kendall asked.

  “I’d bet my stock in Microsoft that she has,” Nathan said.

  Brandi didn’t wait at the inn as she’d been told to do. She waltzed right up to the castle’s railroad tunnel and demanded to see Nathan. Six armed guards escorted her at gunpoint to the library and waited until Nathan, Kendall, and Jake arrived. Unfortunately, Raphael got there first. He was looming over Brandi, who was backed up to the wall. She was wearing a pair of jeans that looked like she’d slept in them, and the sleeve of her purple shirt was torn. The guards looked undecided about who they should protect.

  “What the hell?” Nathan said to the frightened redhead. “My guards could have shot you.”

  “Raphael could have squashed you like a bug,” Jake added.

  “What is she doing here?” Raphael demanded. “She refuses to speak to me.”

  “We called her,” Kendall said quickly. “She has information we need.”

  “This is unacceptable,” Raphael said. “This castle isn’t a Holiday Inn.”

  “Why didn’t you stay at the inn?” Jake asked.

  “I had to get away,” Brandi said. “Someone’s been following me.”

  “It’s usually the other way around,” Nathan said.

  Jake scratched his head. “So what, you led them to us?”

  “No. I lost them.”

  “Who were they?” Nathan asked.

  “There were two men. But one of them looked familiar.” Brandi hesitated, as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say. “I think it was Thomas.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THOMAS IS DEAD,” Kendall said.

  “I know. I buried him, but I swear it was him. Can that be possible?” Brandi looked both frightened and hopeful.

  Kendall thought about the rogues who had been stone for centuries and were now breathing, flesh and blood . . . and wandering around God knew where.

  “Things don’t always stay dead,” Jake said, as if he’d read her thoughts.

  “What are you saying, that he’s some kind of zombie?” Brandi looked horrified.

  “He could have faked his death.”

  “Oh no, he wouldn’t do that to me after what happened to our parents,” she said.

  “Maybe he had no choice,” Jake said. “You said his cover was blown. The Reaper knew who he was. Maybe he wanted the Reaper to think he was dead. Dead men can’t be killed.”

  “No.” Brandi shook her head, but she looked unsure.

  “Where were the two men?” Nathan asked.

  “At the inn. I saw them watching the place. They weren’t being obvious, but I’ve learned a few things about tracking someone.”

  “You’ve gotten a lot of practice following us,” Nathan said.

  Brandi scowled at him. “I’m in this just as much as you are.”

  “But with different goals,” Nathan said.

  “Don’t you two start fighting over the relics,” Kendall said. “Let’s find them first. Then we can figure out whether to save them or destroy them.”

  Jake scratched his head. “You two should be a little more sympathetic. The Reaper probably killed both your fathers.”

  Brandi gave Nathan a surprised glance. “He killed your father?”

  “I suspect he did,” Nathan said. “My father’s collection was one of the best in the world. I’m sure the Reaper knew about it.”

  “Your fathers must have known each other,” Jake said. “They probably fought over relics.” He gave a short laugh. “Guess you’re carrying on in their stead.”

  “Did Thomas say anything more about the Holy Grail?” Kendall asked Brandi. “He must have heard the Reaper mention something.”

  “The last time I spoke to him, he was frightened. He said this thing with the Reaper went deeper than he had thought. He must have discovered something else.”

  “Like the Holy Grail,” Jake said. “Maybe the reason the Reaper couldn’t find it was that Thomas had already taken it.”

  “No. He would have told me if he’d gotten hold of something that important.”

  “I don’t think he told you a lot of things,” Jake said.

  “He may not have known what he had,” Kendall said.

  “He didn’t have it on him when he died,” Nathan said. “He had the journal in his bag, but nothing else.”

  “The Spear of Destiny had already been stolen from his bag,” Jake said. “Who’s to say he didn’t have the Holy Grail too?”

  “We’re still at square one,” Kendall said.

  “We need to go back to the source,” Nathan said.

  “Please tell me we’re not going to Iraq,” Kendall said.

  “We may not need to,” Nathan said. “Do you have Thomas’s bag?” he asked Brandi.

  “Not with me, but I still have it. Why?”

  “For Kendall.”

  “Ah, she’s going to play bloodhound,” Jake said, catching on to Nathan’s train of thought. “It’s about time your sixth sense astounded us.”

  “There’s a problem,” Brandi said. “The bag’s in Washington, DC.”

  “No problem,” Jake said. “Billionaire boy has a jet.”

  “So this is how the other half travels?” Brandi said, touching the plush leather of the seat.

  “You think his jet is nice, you should see his mansion,” Jake said, dropping into a seat next to Kendall’s.

  Nathan frowned and sat opposite them. Brandi gave him a wary look. “I don’t bite,” he said.

  “But don’t startle him,” Jake said.

  Kendall reprimanded him with a playful slap on his hand, and then let her hand rest next to his. He could feel the warmth from her fingers and couldn’t stop his from slipping over hers. She didn’t pull away. Ignoring Nathan’s solid stare, he started forming a battle plan.

  They would go to DC and search Thomas’s house. No one was certain that Thomas had the chalice, but he had stolen the Reaper’s journal, and he had taken the Spear of Destiny from the Reaper’s thieves in Italy. It was as good a place to start as any. Better than most, considering they had squat to go on. Kendall and Brandi fell asleep on the way. Better to rest now, Jake thought. Sleep could be a rare thing until they found the chalice.

  Nathan left to talk to the pilot. Jake could hear him talking to his security guards and tech team. They were trying to identify where in Prague the Reaper may be living since Raphael still couldn’t remember much about his trip through the portal with his former comrade. The guardian had been ready to collapse and had used all his mental focus to get back to the fountain.

  Jake called Clint, his
military buddy who was house-sitting for him after a recent break-in. No one had come back, but Clint said he felt like someone was watching him.

  Jake turned to Nathan, who had returned to his seat while Jake was on the phone. “Did you bug my damned house?”

  “No.”

  “Nothing inside at all?” Jake asked.

  “Nothing.” Nathan closed his eyes.

  “It’s not bugged,” Clint said. “I checked that. Couldn’t find anything, but this place makes my hair stand. I’d rather be back in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.”

  “Maybe the house doesn’t like you.” Jake laughed, but Clint didn’t.

  “Damn place is messing with my head. Either you’ve got a carbon monoxide leak—didn’t think to check that—I’m losing my mind, or you’ve got a ghost.”

  A ghost? Who the hell would be haunting him? Unless his grandmother was still there. But he wasn’t going to admit that to Clint. He told him to leave. If the Reaper was watching his house, he didn’t want Clint anywhere around. If the house was vandalized or destroyed, so be it. With everything else going on, his house didn’t seem so important. Jake put his phone away and looked at Kendall, who was still sleeping. He needed a few hours’ rest himself, so he could be up to this task. Taking on a two-thousand-year-old man wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE DRIVE FROM the airport into Washington, DC, passed quickly, and the stately buildings lining the streets faded behind them as they headed into a residential area of town houses.

  “Turn here.” Brandi pointed out a small one-way street. “Thomas’s town house is at the end. I have a spare key. I used to visit him sometimes when he wasn’t traveling.”

  “We’d better park down the street,” Jake said. “The Reaper could be watching the house.”

  “I don’t think he knows about it. It’s not in Thomas’s name. He was paranoid about that stuff. He used a fake name, no lease, paid cash. The landlord was probably some kind of drug lord, but Thomas needed somewhere private and safe. Damned relics.”