The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3)

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The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3) Page 17

by Anita Clenney


  Kendall covered her face, but before she could follow Jake, Nathan scooped her up and streaked past the others. In the time it took her to blink, he was putting her down in the hallway. Jake and Brandi joined them.

  Brandi’s eyes were wide above her shirt. “We can go out the back.”

  “Whoever threw that canister will be waiting,” Jake said.

  “But we can’t stay here,” Nathan said.

  They moved into a back room farther away from the tear gas. “What’s back there?” Jake asked.

  “A small yard and another row of town houses behind this one,” Brandi said.

  Jake used a window and made a quick scan of the back. “Two guys with guns, one on each corner. Probably the same in the front. We can put the women in a room away from the gas, and we can take them out.”

  “I don’t like splitting up,” Nathan said. “I’m sure they’re after Kendall.”

  “You don’t want her to be alone with me, but I’m not working with the Reaper,” Jake said. “You’re going to have to trust me.”

  Nathan’s jaw was hard. “What’s your plan?”

  “We can do two things. First option, you can get her past the guys in the back. If you move like you did a minute ago, you’ll be two blocks away before they see you streak past—”

  “That leaves you to fight them alone,” Kendall said to Jake.

  “They want you, Kendall. We have to keep you safe. Second option is you and Brandi stay in here, far away from the gas. Nathan and I will disable the men outside.”

  “You’re not fighting them alone,” Kendall said. “Nathan can help you. Brandi and I will stay here.”

  “Go upstairs into the bathroom and close the door,” Jake said. “Don’t come out until one of us comes to get you.” He squeezed Kendall’s hand and moved to the back door.

  Nathan looked at her, an eerie sight with his lower face covered and his eyes in flames. Kendall shivered. He lowered his shirt. “Don’t come out for anyone except me.” He glanced at Jake. “Please.”

  Kendall knew he was shaken by the revelation that Jake could be the Reaper’s son. Rather than argue now, she nodded, and she and Brandi started up the stairs. The gas cloud was moving closer, and her eyes were stinging. She remembered the vial of water but didn’t want to use it for something as trivial as stinging eyes. And she didn’t want Brandi to see the vial.

  Brandi showed her the bathroom, and they hurried inside and closed the door. Brandi threw a towel against the crack under the door. “I don’t know much about tear gas, but just in case.”

  They hadn’t turned on the light, and the bathroom was dark. A window looked out over the backyard. Kendall eased the curtain aside and peeked out.

  “Should you do that?” Brandi asked.

  “It’s dark in here. No one can see me. There they go.” Brandi hurried over beside her and looked. Both women held their breath as Nathan moved like a dark blur across the yard. One of the men flew backward as if he’d been hit by a wrecking ball. The other man watched, his attention diverted. Jake came up from behind, hit the man across the back of the neck, and he went down like a rock.

  “They’re handy in a fight,” Brandi said.

  Jake turned and looked at the window as if he sensed exactly where she stood. Nathan emerged from the bushes, his eyes still burning.

  “And kind of terrifying too,” Brandi added.

  Both men split and went around the side of the house. “I can’t see them,” Kendall said.

  “We can’t leave. They’ll kill us both.”

  They sat for a few minutes that felt like it stretched to an hour. “This is driving me crazy,” Kendall said.

  Brandi froze. “That sounded like Thomas.”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Kendall said.

  “It sounded like Thomas’s voice. What if Jake’s right and he faked his death? He would do anything to destroy the Reaper.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Kendall said, looking out the window for some sign of activity. She saw Nathan and Jake coming back. Two men were creeping up behind them holding guns, but Nathan and Jake hadn’t spotted them. Kendall threw open the window. “Behind you!” She was already throwing up her hands, not considering whether her powers would work from this distance, when Nathan and Jake whirled.

  The men didn’t fly backward as had happened when she did this before. They fell to the ground, guns dropping from their unmoving hands. Paralyzed like the rogues had been. How had she done that without even fully lifting her hands?

  She turned around and Brandi was gone. A feeling of unease settled along the back of Kendall’s neck. She went to the bathroom door and looked outside. “Brandi?”

  “Here.” Brandi appeared at the bedroom door.

  “Who was it?” It couldn’t have been Thomas, unless he was back as a ghost or really had faked his death. Neither was entirely out of the question.

  “No one. Just my imagination, I guess. Probably because it’s his house.”

  “We should go back to the bathroom and wait.”

  “I think it’s safe now.”

  “I just saw Nathan and Jake outside with two more men. I think I paralyzed them.” Kendall looked at Brandi and felt a chill. Brandi’s face seemed to shift. Kendall felt as if she were being sucked into a vacuum. Was it the gas? As she fell, she thought she heard a voice. But not Brandi’s.

  “It’s OK, Kendall. Sleep now.”

  Jake bent over the fallen man. “Where is the Reaper?”

  “I can’t tell.”

  “If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”

  The man’s eyes flickered. “Prague.”

  “Damn,” Nathan said.

  “Where in Prague?” Jake pushed the barrel of his gun harder against the man’s forehead. But he slumped. He was going to pass out. “Where is he?” Jake asked, one last time.

  “Here. He’s here.”

  The bottom dropped out of Jake’s stomach. “Kendall.” He jumped up and ran toward the house. Nathan did his speed thing and got there first. He was up the steps before Jake climbed the first one.

  “She’s gone,” Nathan said, eyes on fire. “They’re both gone.”

  “Dammit. How did he get past us?”

  They heard a car start, and both men raced outside and down the street. A black Porsche pulled away from the curb. Jake caught a glimpse of light hair. “Get the car!” He started to move toward their rental, which was parked in front of the town house, but his feet wouldn’t move. His entire body was stuck in place.

  Beside him, Nathan was in full change, growling and straining like a wild beast against his invisible chains. They watched helplessly as Kendall and Brandi were taken away.

  Jake cursed as the car’s taillights vanished around a curve. “This isn’t working.” They were stuck. Nathan’s eyes looked like they were on fire, and his face was red with exertion. “Stop struggling before you explode. Strength isn’t working. We have to use our heads to get out of this. The water. Damn, I can’t reach it.”

  Nathan stopped moving, and his eyes started to dim. “We have to get free.”

  “Don’t you have some other secret ability that can get us out of here?” Jake asked.

  “You’re the one who could be the Reaper’s son. You must have inherited something from him.”

  “Don’t start with that now. You’re the one with the superpowers.”

  “Superpowers that I don’t know how to control or use,” Nathan said. “Raphael still hasn’t explained it.”

  “I wish he was here,” Jake said, and just like that, the guardian appeared. “What the hell are you, a damned genie?”

  Raphael did something with his hands and Jake and Nathan fell free. “I’m not a genie,” he said, as though insulted.

  “Follow them,” Jake said. He was going to see her safe or die
trying. “Do your vanishing trick. Can’t you appear in his car?”

  “No. I’m not strong enough. I transported here.”

  Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out his vial of water. “Here, drink this. Nathan, give him yours.”

  “You might need it,” Raphael said, looking at the vials hesitantly.

  “We need to get Kendall back,” Jake said. “Now.”

  Raphael drank both vials.

  “Well?” Nathan asked.

  Raphael closed his eyes, then opened them. “It’s not working yet.”

  “Dammit,” Jake said. “Then get in the vehicle.” He ran toward the car. “I’ll drive.”

  “I will,” Nathan said.

  “Why you?” They had to hurry. There wasn’t any time to lose.

  “Do you own a race team?” Nathan asked.

  “No.”

  “I do. I’m driving.”

  “Someone drive the car,” Raphael yelled.

  Jake climbed into the backseat because he doubted Raphael would fit. “Hurry, or we’ll never catch up.” The Reaper was in a Porsche and they were in a Honda. It’d be a miracle if they caught up.

  Nathan knew how to drive, Jake would give him that. And for someone who could fly without an airplane, Raphael was paranoid about riding in an automobile. He cursed and gripped the seat as Nathan darted around cars and made illegal turns.

  “No sign of them,” Nathan said. “Where would he take her? Back to Prague?”

  “It has to be Prague,” Jake said. “The Reaper’s man said he lived there.”

  Nathan gripped the wheel as the car screeched around a turn. “He could be taking her somewhere else. He seems to get around easily.”

  “He probably has as many homes and hotels as you do. They headed west,” Jake said. “They could be going to Reagan National Airport or Washington Dulles.”

  “I’ll call Hank and have him check flights.”

  “Find out if Marco took a flight,” Raphael said.

  After a minute, Nathan hung up. “There’s a private jet from Prague scheduled for a return flight at Reagan National.”

  “I’m surprised he’s taking her there if he just wants information,” Jake said. “Unless he believes the chalice is in Prague.”

  “At one time, we had many relics in Prague,” Raphael said. “What about Marco?”

  “Yes, he flew to Prague earlier.”

  “That fool,” Raphael said. “He’ll get killed.” But his voice was filled with worry.

  “Pedal to the floor,” Jake said. “We can’t let him get her on that plane.”

  “I have a contact at TSA. A guard who used to work for me. He can get someone out there.”

  “He doesn’t know what the Reaper looks like. Hell, nobody really knows what he looks like.”

  “He knows Kendall.” Nathan shifted in his seat. “He was . . . close to her. That’s why I let him go.”

  “Another man with the hots for her?” Damn. “Is he going to intercept them?” Jake asked. “That could be dangerous.”

  “Don’t try to stop him,” Raphael said. “We need to know where Luke is taking her.”

  “Call him the Reaper,” Jake said. “The man you knew isn’t the same. I don’t care where he’s taking her. I plan on stopping him.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the best thing to do,” Raphael said.

  “I’m sure,” Jake said. “We can’t let him get away with her.”

  “Stop thinking with your hearts,” Raphael said. “We have to play this smart. We have a chance to find out where he’s been hiding. We don’t know where he is going in Prague. If we follow at a discreet distance, we can find out exactly what he’s doing and kill him there.”

  “Why wait to kill him there?” Jake said.

  “You’re not telling us something,” Nathan said.

  Raphael was silent. “He has something I need. Something that belongs to the Protettori.”

  “What?”

  “A relic. I believe it’s the fourth relic sketched in the Reaper’s journal.”

  “The fourth relic is missing?”

  “Yes. I believe Luke—the Reaper—has it.”

  “What is it?” Nathan asked.

  “The Tree of Knowledge.”

  Nathan turned to look at Raphael, and the car drifted toward the guardrail. He jerked it back. “From the Garden of Eden?”

  “Yes.”

  “That makes sense,” Jake said. “The Spear of Destiny gives him power. The Fountain of Youth and the Holy Grail give him eternal life, and the Tree of Knowledge gives him wisdom.”

  “He has the whole tree?” Nathan asked.

  His expression of awe disturbed Jake. Who cared what part of the tree he had. They had to destroy it or destroy the Reaper. God, now he was thinking like Brandi.

  “Not the whole tree,” Raphael said. “A piece. We’ve had it for many, many centuries. It was one of our most valuable relics. We only recently realized it was missing. We discovered that the box our portion was kept in was empty. We don’t know who took it or when it went missing, but I believe the Reaper is somehow connected to its disappearance.”

  “So you can’t kill him until he tells you where he’s hidden it,” Jake said. “I wondered what the fourth sketch in the journal was.”

  “The Tree of Knowledge,” Nathan said. “Imagine that. I can’t wait to tell Kendall. She won’t believe it.”

  They had to find Kendall first. Jake pushed aside the grip of fear. “I’m surprised he was alone. Seems he usually has his minions do his dirty work.”

  “He’s desperate,” Raphael said. “He can move faster if he works alone.”

  Jake pushed aside the fear gnawing at his guts. “You should have killed him anyway. He wouldn’t have Kendall now. Forget about the tree.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “I don’t see why not. You’re powerful, older than him, and you’ve been drinking from the Fountain of Youth. If anyone can kill him, it should be you.”

  “I can’t kill him. Members of the brotherhood can’t kill each other.”

  “Can’t?” Jake asked.

  Raphael brushed a knuckle across his cheek. “I’ve never seen it happen, so I can’t say it’s impossible, but if it weren’t, it would be very difficult and carry great consequences.”

  Nathan scowled. “That’s bloody insane. Didn’t the Reaper kill most of the Protettori?”

  “He had others do it for him,” Raphael said.

  “So you can mastermind the destruction, but can’t personally carry it out,” Nathan said. “Here I was thinking you were the one who would finish him off.”

  “It won’t be me.”

  “I guess we can draw straws,” Jake said to Nathan.

  “I’ll kill him,” Nathan said. “I’m not officially Protettori yet.”

  He’d have to get to him first. No one was going to threaten Kendall and live.

  Nathan navigated a turn, taking them off I-95 near the Pentagon. He accelerated at an alarming speed.

  “There’s the car,” Jake said. The black Porsche was parked on the side of the road that led to the airport. Nathan slammed to a stop behind the car. His eyes were alight before he opened the door and got out. “Careful.”

  Raphael got out just as quickly, and they sped toward the car. Jake followed, holding his gun. The car was empty. “They’ve ditched it,” Jake said.

  “He could have taken them anywhere,” Nathan said. “Can he fly around like you can?”

  “Once he had similar abilities, but I thought he had lost some. It appears he’s regaining those powers in spite of being injured in the temple. I found him at the Abbey House in Glastonbury.”

  “What were you doing there?” Nathan asked. “I thought you went to Prague.”


  “I went to get more water from the fountain first. Since I was already there, I decided to check in the Abbey House. That’s where he thought Kendall was staying. He was watching for her. I waited and followed him to Washington, DC.”

  “You can’t track him now?” Jake asked.

  “No. But if he’s injured, and he’s already gone from England to DC, he must be getting too tired to teleport,” Raphael said. “He’s probably had someone pick them up.”

  Nathan called Fergus and had him make arrangements for a flight. There weren’t any private jets available, so they would have to fly commercial. Again.

  Nathan hung up, frowning. “They found one of the rogues.”

  “Where?” Raphael asked.

  “He was in jail for urinating in public. Fergus just got back from bailing him out. The others are still missing. Hank thinks some of them may be hiding in the catacombs. They seem to think we’re sorcerers. They don’t understand the change in time. What was Marco thinking?”

  “He didn’t know they were the ones who had gone rogue,” Raphael said. “I’m the one who put them there. I believe he thought we needed more help to fight the Reaper.”

  Jake shook his head. “And now Marco’s on the way to Prague to find the Reaper.”

  Marco didn’t particularly like flying, but he didn’t like using the gateways either. They were hard on an aging body. He settled back in his seat and watched the people around him. Times had changed so much in the centuries that he’d been alive. He remembered traveling on horseback or taking a carriage. It was a simpler time. Things were complicated now. So much technology and new ideas, but humans were much the same.

  He knew that what he was undertaking was a dangerous thing, but what else could he do? He had tried to wake the sentinels so the Protettori would have more help, but when he left the room, they were still stone. After that failure, it was up to him to stop Luke. The Reaper. Marco closed his eyes, feeling every year of his great age. He was aware that he might lose his life, but if he could keep Kendall, Nathan, and Jake from danger, it would be well worth it. And he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

  Raphael wasn’t happy about leaving his dagger in the car. Jake supposed he was used to traveling by portal, but Nathan promised him he’d replace it if something happened to the weapon.

 

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