The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3)

by Anita Clenney

  They stepped inside. “I think we’ve found your chalice room,” Nathan said.

  The room was glorious. Rare objects filled every space, and one entire wall was covered in shelves that held chalices, cups, and vases. “I saw this room in a dream,” Kendall said. Some of the chalices were ornate, and some were simple. She quickly searched for the one from the painting, even though she knew it wasn’t there. If the Reaper had it, he wouldn’t be after her. He would be at the fountain trying to drink.

  “I recognize this,” Nathan said.

  He held a small obsidian knife. A ceremonial knife the Aztecs used for sacrifices. She remembered when Uncle John found it. “It was your father’s,” she said. “This must be his lost collection.”

  His eyes bore a spark of regret, followed by hatred. “I guess the Reaper did kill him.”

  Kendall touched his hand. “I’m sorry, Nathan. But at least you know why he died.”

  He nodded and stuck the knife in his pocket. “I’ll kill him,” Nathan said calmly.

  Kendall squeezed his fingers lightly. “I know.” As Raphael hurried them along, Kendall recognized several objects that had belonged to Uncle John. “I’m sure there are lots of collections here.”

  Jake’s lips thinned. “Too bad we can’t take everything.” He looked at Raphael. “You can’t move all this like you moved the treasure under the chapel can you?”

  “I didn’t move it.”

  “You said you did.”

  “I didn’t really move it,” Raphael said.

  “It’s some kind of mind trick?” Nathan asked.

  He smiled. “I’ll show you when we get back.”

  “I’ve seen enough treasures,” Jake said. “We need to get out of here. After the Reaper is dead, we can come back and explore the place from top to bottom.”

  Raphael walked them out. One of the guards was mumbling and trying to move. Raphael waved his hand, and the guard fell back to the ground. “Go on. Get Kendall out of here. I’ll look for Marco.”

  “Do you want one of us to stay with you?” Jake asked.

  “I’m fine. I can move faster without you.” Raphael looked worried. “I’ll meet you somewhere.”

  “We’ll be at my hotel,” Nathan said, and he told Raphael the address.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I find him,” Raphael said.

  Kendall, Nathan, and Jake hurried past the sleeping guards and out the gate to the car. “That was too easy,” she said when she got inside.

  “Don’t question it,” Nathan said. “We’ve been through a lot of strange things in the past week.”

  The drive to the hotel should have been amazing. The lights of the city twinkled like jewels in the night, and old churches and cathedrals sparkled like diamonds. But architecture that normally would have engrossed Kendall for hours paled and became nondescript buildings. History that would have whispered to her, luring her with its tales of romance and grief, whizzed by in a blur.

  Nathan and Jake questioned her about the Reaper. Kendall told them everything she remembered. “I only saw him for a few minutes when I was awake. It’s frightening how he changes his appearance.”

  “Has to be mind control,” Jake said. “No way he can actually change his appearance from minute to minute.”

  “We’ve witnessed a lot of impossible things,” Nathan said.

  “He looked older,” Kendall said. “Drinking from the wrong chalice wounded him.”

  “I wish it had killed him,” Jake said.

  “I’m surprised he wasn’t angrier,” Nathan said. “You did trick him.”

  “I’m sure he would have been if he didn’t need me,” Kendall said.

  “He’ll be angry now,” Jake said. “You realize this is serious. You can’t go anywhere without us. He’ll be looking for you.”

  “Is the hotel a good idea?” she asked. “I’m sure he knows about it. He probably knows everything about you.”

  “We won’t be registered,” Nathan said. “We’ll sneak in.”

  “You gonna break in to your own hotel?” Jake asked.

  “No. You are.”

  “Still doing your dirty work.”

  “You’re good at it. I could get the manager to let us in, but I’d prefer no one know we’re there.”

  “Won’t they figure it out?” Kendall asked.

  “I have a suite that’s always available,” Nathan said. “I just don’t have the key. We’ll have to steal it or break in.”

  “Let me check the lock. What about cameras?” Jake asked.

  “No cameras,” Nathan said. “I don’t want everyone to know my business.”

  “You don’t want your staff to see you sneaking women in,” Jake said.

  Nathan frowned. “I think you’re confusing me with yourself.”

  The room was on the top floor. After inspecting the lock, Jake declared it was a decent one, but it was probably easier to break in than slip down and take the key. Kendall and Nathan kept watch to make sure no one came up to the floor.

  “Being rich does have it perks,” Jake said, when they’d gotten inside.

  It was a suite of rooms, not terribly fancy but very comfortable. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bath.

  “Let me guess,” Jake said. “I’m sharing a bed with Nathan.”

  Nathan almost smiled. “Unless you want the floor.”

  “I’d rather—” He stopped at Kendall’s warning glance.

  “I call the bath,” she said. “I’m filthy, and my whole body aches.”

  She took a hot bath, not as long as she would have liked since Nathan and Jake would need to take a turn. She tried not to think about how they would look soaped up and naked, but in spite of her attempts, a few images made it through. She finished and redressed in her old clothes and pulled her hair back in a tie. When she left the bathroom, Jake and Nathan were smiling.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you both smile at the same time. What’s so amusing?”

  “We were talking about Fergus and the rogues,” Nathan said.

  Kendall couldn’t help a smile herself. “He did look out of his element.”

  “You dropped something.” Jake reached down and picked up the photo Kendall had put in her pocket. When he looked at it, his face went pale.

  The woman hadn’t known the camera was focused on her. The expression on her face was fear. And then Jake remembered who she was.

  He was afraid. She pulled at his hand, urging him to run faster. “Hurry, Jake. You have to hide.”

  “But why?”

  “I can’t explain now. There, behind those trees.” She helped him into the bushes and made him sit. “Don’t come out until he’s gone. Promise me.” Her hands were like ice on Jake’s face, but her touch was soft.

  He nodded.

  She bent and kissed his forehead, and then squeezed him tight. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mama.”

  The voices were closer now. Jake’s mother looked over her shoulder and then looked at Jake again. Her eyes were glistening like they did when she cried. She didn’t like him to see her cry, but she cried a lot. Sometimes she cried when she watched him. Like her heart was broken. He knew she wasn’t mad at him. She loved him more than anybody in the world. But even though Jake was only four, he knew his mama had dark secrets.

  “Jake?” Kendall’s brows were drawn as her hand touched his. “What’s wrong?”

  “I remember her now.” Jake’s voice was a stunned whisper. “She’s my mother.”

  “Your mother?” Kendall hadn’t had a chance to look at the picture, but now she recognized the woman she’d seen in Jake’s house. The same woman in the picture they’d found at Thomas’s town house. Maryanne. “I thought you didn’t remember your parents.”

  “I didn’t. I only remembered her
grave.”

  “You remember her funeral?”

  “No. Her murder. I was hiding. She made me hide. He was coming, and she said I couldn’t come out until he left. She made me promise. When I finally came out, she was dead.” Jake swallowed, his face pale. “When I saw her picture at Thomas’s town house, I knew she looked familiar, but I didn’t know who she was. I . . . I don’t think I wanted to.”

  “That explains why she was in your house. She’s been watching over you.”

  Nathan had walked up behind them. He wore a frown. “I guess this eliminates any doubt that you’re the Reaper’s son.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  WHAT ARE YOU thinking?” Kendall was sitting on the sofa in the hotel suite, watching Jake worry.

  “You don’t know?” he asked. His tone was a little harsh.

  The lines of his forehead were deep. She wanted to hold him and make him understand that he was all right, no matter who his father was, no matter who his mother was. “I don’t pry, you know that.”

  “Maybe you should.” He looked weary. “Do you think you could tell . . .”

  “If you’re the Reaper’s son? I didn’t sense it before when we were touching.” She gave Nathan an awkward glance and saw his face was tight. If Jake were the Reaper’s son, wouldn’t she have picked something up? They had been as close physically as two people can be, more than once. The only thing she’d sensed was the couple in the woods who may or may not have been Guinevere and Lancelot. “He may have just been obsessed with your mother. The room I was in looked like a memorial. And she was afraid. I could feel it.”

  “I remember her fear.” Jake rubbed a hand over his eyes. “She tried to hide it, but I remember the fear in her eyes. And the sadness. She was so sad. She would hug me and whisper, what have I done? . . . Don’t look at me like that,” he said to Nathan who was sitting on a plush chair, his dark eyes fixed on Jake. “You know I’m not working with him. If he’s my father, I want no part of him. He killed my mother.”

  “But I think he loved her,” Kendall said. “I sensed something in him when he had me in her room. He cared for her.”

  “Lots of murderers care for their victims in a sick way,” Jake said.

  “We can sort that out later,” she said. “Now we have to get the chalice.”

  “Maybe you and I should go to your Aunt Edna’s alone,” Nathan said.

  Jake turned on Nathan. “You’re gonna use this as a wedge between us. You just want her away from me.”

  “Damn you both. Stop it!” Kendall yelled. “Nathan, you know Jake’s on our side.”

  He looked slightly ashamed. “I don’t know anything right now. I’ll be watching you,” he said to Jake.

  “Like you haven’t been already. I’ll be watching you too.”

  “Damned pissing contest,” Kendall muttered. “Sometimes I think having a penis is detrimental to one’s mental health.”

  Nathan’s phone rang. “It’s Hank.” Frustration crossed his face as he listened. “They can’t find Brandi.”

  Brandi woke in a closet. After a moment, she realized it was Thomas’s closet, and when she remembered how she’d gotten there, she ran to the bathroom where she and Kendall had hidden. She wasn’t there. Brandi checked the entire town house and even the yard. She was alone. Had the Reaper taken the others? She was certain he was the one who’d knocked her out . . . with his mind. His dark eyes had locked on hers and sucked her mind dry, like a spider consuming a fly. She reached for her phone, throat tight. It wasn’t in her pocket. She ran back and checked the closet to see if it had fallen out, and then retraced her steps to the bathroom where she and Kendall had hidden, but the phone wasn’t anywhere. The Reaper must have taken it. She thought about his dark eyes, locking on hers, sucking the life from her soul, and for a moment she wanted to leave and forget about the Reaper and relics and all this craziness, forget she’d killed a man—even though he was evil and she’d only been protecting herself.

  She was tired of the violence and danger, not knowing where she would sleep because she was so busy chasing clues, following Nathan, Jake, and Kendall, searching for these damned relics. She had become as obsessed with the Reaper as Thomas. Then she thought about her parents, their senseless deaths, the pain and loss she and Thomas had suffered, and how Thomas had died fighting this battle. She couldn’t run away and forsake him. She was going to see the Reaper dead and the relics destroyed if it killed her. But she couldn’t do it alone. The landline in the town house had been disconnected after Thomas had died, so there wasn’t a way to call the castle to warn them or get help. She ran to the nearest busy street and hailed a taxi.

  “This is like being a prisoner,” Jake said, pacing the suite. “We can’t leave or even order food.”

  “We can sleep,” Nathan said.

  “You have all that adrenaline for fuel, but some of us need food.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the room,” Nathan said. “The Reaper must know by now that we broke into his château. I’m sure he knows everything about me, including that I own this hotel. He’ll look for us here.”

  “I’m not going to sit here and starve to death while we wait for Raphael.”

  “Don’t go, Jake.” Kendall put her hand on his chest. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Jake pulled her close. “I do like it when you worry about me.” He smiled and kissed her hair.

  It would have felt good if Nathan hadn’t been watching. She stepped away and Jake sighed. “He knows,” he whispered.

  “I just don’t feel comfortable.”

  His gray eyes were troubled. “Is that why?” His jaw set with determination. “I’m going to get food. I’ve gotten behind enemy lines more than once. Surely I can sneak into a snack shop.”

  Jake left, and Kendall turned to Nathan. He was studying the picture with a frown. “Don’t tell me you recognize her too?”

  “No, but I recognize the cup behind her.” Nathan handed Kendall the picture.

  They had been so focused on the woman that they hadn’t noticed the objects in the photo. “It’s the chalice in the painting. I wonder if she knew it was the Holy Grail?”

  “So much power in something so plain.” Nathan grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Headache?” She was surprised he hadn’t had another episode.

  “Yeah. These bloody memories are splitting my head apart.”

  Kendall put the picture down and moved behind Nathan. She started massaging his shoulders. They were tight. “Maybe you should stop trying to remember.”

  “I can’t. I need to know.”

  “But I don’t want you . . . hurt. I would rather have you not remember the past.” Not remember us. “If that’s what it takes to make you well.”

  Nathan turned, his eyes warm as he brushed back Kendall’s hair. “I need to remember you. Everything about you, not just the pieces.” He smiled, a soft smile that tugged at her soul. “He’s a lucky man.”

  Jake walked in as if he’d heard them talking. He paused, eyes narrowed as he saw them standing close. He was holding three bottles of water, and his pockets were full. “We won’t starve.”

  “Did you see anyone suspicious?” Nathan asked.

  “No.” Jake put the food down. “If we’re lucky, he won’t figure out we’re here.”

  They ate their stash from the vending machine and went to bed. As soon as Raphael arrived with Marco, they would have to leave. It wasn’t safe to stay any longer than necessary.

  Jake ended up sleeping on the couch. Kendall heard him moving around after Nathan had gone to bed. She knew he wanted to come to her bed, but it didn’t feel right with Nathan there. They needed sleep anyway, and she and Jake in bed together would probably end up in sex.

  Today was her birthday. Adam held his gift carefully, smiling as he imagined Kendall opening it. Bea,
the housekeeper, was the one who’d wrapped the present. She was the only person on the staff who he felt comfortable with. She was kind, always trying to make him eat, and fussing at his father, and Kendall’s, for traveling so much. A boy needed to be home where he could play, she said. Bea loved Kendall too. Kendall didn’t have a grandmother either. Adam saw Bea watching him and Kendall sometimes and her eyes looked sad.

  “You need to make the gift look nice,” Bea had said. “Kendall’s turning into a young lady now.”

  Adam had grinned. “Kendall, a lady?” She could run almost as fast as him. She was tougher than most boys he knew. Then he remembered that he really didn’t know any boys.

  Adam felt his smile growing goofier as he walked to the table Bea had prepared with girly ribbons and balloons. It was only the four of them, and the staff. Adam and Kendall didn’t have other close friends.

  Adam put his gift with the others. Kendall was smiling, happy. Her father hadn’t expected to make it back in time for the party. He’d had to stay behind and finish up some things on the dig. But he had rushed back. His gift was the first she opened. It was a new pair of boots and a cool backpack loaded with clothes and things to pull back her hair. Maybe Bea was right about her becoming a lady. Usually Kendall just used rubber bands.

  Her Aunt Edna had sent some bracelets and a diary. Adam smiled and handed Kendall his gift. She tore off the paper and looked at the box.

  “Open it,” Adam said.

  Kendall opened it, and her eyes widened like green marbles. “Wow.”

  “Where did you get that?” Adam’s father demanded.

  Kendall looked startled.

  “I found it in your study,” Adam said. “In a crate. The cup wasn’t fancy, and it had a nick on the top, so I didn’t think you would mind since it wasn’t on the shelf.”

  “Kendall, give John the cup,” her father said quietly.

  “I’m sorry,” Adam said. He’d wanted the gift to be special, but all he’d done was embarrass her.

  His father’s face relaxed a bit. “I understand, but you must ask before you take any of my things.”