Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “Where is Nathan?” Jake asked.

  Hank’s jaw clenched. “Dammit, just go.”

  “Jake. Kendall.” Fergus hurried toward them, his face tight. “What are you doing here?”

  “What’s going on, Fergus?” Kendall asked.

  Fergus straightened his perfectly straight jacket. “He’s gone too far.”

  “Look out!” Someone yelled, and a wall of guards rushed toward the room.

  “Don’t hurt him!” someone else called out. It sounded like Hank. “Get the Taser.”

  “What the hell?” Jake hurried toward the commotion. “Stay here,” he told Kendall, and he pushed his way through.

  Kendall didn’t stay. She followed him. One of the guards flew through the air, knocking down several others.

  Jake turned and saw her. “Dammit.” He pushed her into a corner where they were out of the way but could still see the guards. They looked frightened, and that made the hair on Kendall’s neck stand up. Jake positioned his body in front of hers.

  “I’m not leaving,” she said. “I want to know what’s happening.”

  “So do I, but I don’t want you getting in the middle of it.” A streak of light flashed by them.

  “What was that?” Kendall asked, peering around Jake. “A flashlight?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Look at that guard. Is he dead?” She pointed to a guard who was lying on his back.

  Jake frowned. “I think he’s snoring.”

  Nathan ran up beside her. “Get Kendall out of here now,” he yelled to Jake.

  “What’s going on, Nathan?” Kendall demanded.

  “I can’t explain now. Just go. Please, Jake. Get her away from here. I’ll talk to you both later.”

  Jake nodded and pulled Kendall back.

  “I’m not leaving. Are you OK, Nathan?”

  His eyes were dark as he touched Kendall’s hand. “I’m fine. Go.”

  “How did he escape?” Nathan asked. “Did he steal a key to the lock?”

  “The lock isn’t the issue. Take a look at what the camera caught.” Hank pointed to a monitor. “I warn you, you’re not going to believe what you see. Look at that. He just appears outside the door to his room. Like he walked through the wall.”

  No one could walk through walls. “How the hell did he do that? Is the equipment working?”

  “Checks out fine,” Hank said.

  “Slow the speed down,” Nathan said.

  “That’s regular speed,” Hank said. “I’ve never seen a human move that fast.”

  Maybe he wasn’t human. Bloody hell. “The guards didn’t stop him?”

  “They fell asleep.”

  “Did he drug them?” He could have stolen meds from the medical room.

  “No. He went straight to the garage and took the Mercedes. I’m trying to locate the car now.”

  Nathan didn’t care about the Mercedes. He was worried about Kendall and Jake. He was almost certain Raphael would go back to Italy, to the treasure. He had to warn Kendall and Jake. There was no doubt Raphael could be dangerous. Whether he actually was or not remained to be seen. Raphael hadn’t revealed anything during his time here, only sleeping or refusing to talk, watching everything with those strange eyes so similar to Nathan’s when he changed. Was he turning into whatever Raphael was? At least Raphael didn’t look like a monster.

  “Double security and keep looking for him. I’m going to Italy. I have a feeling that’s where he’s headed.”

  “I’ll get the helicopter here and have the other jet waiting at the airport.”

  “Keep a watch on the airports and check in with me if anything changes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He walked toward Marco’s room. He needed to talk to him before he left. If necessary, he would wake him. If that nurse tried to keep him out again, he’d fire her. Nathan’s head was pounding so hard he stopped in the bathroom first and splashed cold water on his face. Sometimes a distraction could stop the change. He didn’t want anyone to witness it. His security team was trusting, but there was no way he could explain that.

  Only Fergus had seen him change. And Kendall and Jake. They didn’t believe his excuses, but he couldn’t tell them the truth. Hell, he didn’t know what the truth was, but it had to be connected to his recurring dream of two men whispering about a curse and the relics that would cure it. They must have been talking about his curse, since one of the men was holding the journal that included sketches of the relics he’d dreamed of for as long as he could remember.

  He’d tried everything, but even hypnosis didn’t help him remember anything. He hoped Marco could tell him where to find this Fountain of Youth. He was running out of time. He could feel whatever was inside him growing stronger. He was afraid he was going to hurt someone. More afraid it was going to be Kendall. It seemed stronger when he was near her, and he couldn’t avoid her forever.

  Nathan glanced at the worn silver watch on his arm. Kendall and Jake would arrive a few hours ahead of him. He didn’t like sending Jake with her, but he could keep her safe. He’d have to warn them about Raphael. They were both going to be pissed that he’d kept another secret.

  The nurse wasn’t in. Fergus was there, sitting by Marco’s bed. His head was bent over and he was whispering. “I must,” Fergus said.

  Marco’s reply was weak. “Not yet. It’s not time.”

  Both men looked up as he entered the room. Fergus looked guilty as a whore in church and hurried out. Nathan watched him go and then sat in the chair he had so quickly vacated.

  “Marco, I need to find the fountain. Please, can you tell me where it is?”

  “Raphael is the only one left who knows. I don’t remember.”

  And Raphael was gone. Damn. “I have something to tell you.” He didn’t have time to waste. The helicopter was waiting and that damned nurse could come back anytime. “Raphael isn’t dead.”

  “I know.”

  Nathan frowned. “Damn Fergus.”

  “Fergus didn’t tell me. I saw Raphael.”

  “He came here?”

  “Yes. He told me to stay here. It would be safer.”

  “Where did he go?”

  “To move the treasure and to find Kendall.”

  Nathan’s pulse quickened dangerously. “Why does he want to find Kendall?”

  “She has his cross.”

  “It’s in my study.”

  “No. She took it. She took mine too. And yours. But it’s not yours, is it?”

  The blood rushed through Nathan’s veins. His eyes burned. Kendall wouldn’t stand a chance against Raphael if he thought she’d stolen his cross, and Jake wouldn’t be able to stop him alone. Nathan had to get to them before Raphael did. He tried to steady his breathing. He couldn’t let it happen here.

  “Maybe I should come with you,” Marco said. “Raphael isn’t happy with either of us. But I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t tell any of them. They didn’t understand the things I saw, the things I knew.”

  Knew what? “No. You stay here and rest. I’ll find Raphael.”

  “I am tired,” he said. “I don’t like getting old. I haven’t had a drink for a long time.”

  “Do you need more water?”

  “Not that kind.” Marco closed his eyes. “Go to Kendall. She needs you.”

  Raphael put his foot on the accelerator and the Mercedes shot around a truck. He knew Nathan was sending Kendall and Jake to Italy to move the treasure. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to get there first. The only way to do that was by finding the gateway. If it was still there. He was furious with Nathan Larraby, and with Marco. If what he had admitted was true, then Marco had lied to the Protettori. He had betrayed them all.

  “We shouldn’t have left,” Kendall said for the tenth time since the jet had taken off for Italy two hours before. The threats against Nathan had increased in the past few weeks. One intruder might not pose a threat to all those guards, but something wasn’t right. Even
Fergus was acting weird. Not to mention Marco. Why did he keep talking about Adam? “I think Nathan’s in trouble,” she said to Jake.

  “You have a short memory. I think Nathan can handle anyone he has locked up in his fancy prison.”

  “Locked up? You think he’s holding the intruder?”

  “I don’t think he had an intruder,” Jake said.

  “Then who was down there?”

  Jake tore off a piece of beef jerky he’d produced from his backpack. “I think he’s experimenting down there, creating some kind of superhuman.”

  “You really think he’s working on people down there? Like some kind of mad scientist?”

  “Normal people don’t roar. Not even intruders. Not without good reason,” he said. “That means one of two things. Torture or sex.”

  “Speaking of intruders, I wonder who the woman was in your house?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t believe you didn’t mention her.”

  “I thought you were hiding her.”

  “From you?” He lifted one brow, an expression she was finding far too frustrating and sexy. “She must have been hot.”

  “Someone broke into your house and you’re worried about whether she was hot?”

  “I’m just surprised.”

  “She was… beautiful. Probably sent in to distract you. She was wearing a gown or some kind of robe.”

  “Like a nightgown?”

  “I don’t know.” Kendall frowned. “And she was dirty, like she’d been digging in the dirt. What did the guy look like?”

  “Dark hair, not bad looking.”

  She gave him her best coy look. “Was he hot?”

  His look was anything but coy as he picked up the phone to call Clint. The call didn’t go well. He slammed the bag of jerky on the table. “Damn it to hell. Someone trashed the place.”

  “What could they be after?” Kendall asked. “Do you keep anything valuable at the house?”

  “Weapons. Some cash.”

  After a lot of speculation about whether it was a random robbery, something from Jake’s past, or this Reaper business, Jake tossed his empty beef jerky bag in the trash and reclined his seat. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when the jet lands.” After a minute, he cracked one eyelid. “How hot was she?”

  Kendall got up and walked off.

  Nathan had a helicopter waiting at the airport in Italy. “At least we won’t have to deal with a nosey tourist like last time. I’d rather run past one of those statues than have a conversation with Loretta.”

  “But you’d like a conversation with Brandi,” Kendall said. The redheaded nurse had been part of the tourist group they had stayed with at an inn in Italy. She was after the same thing they were. The relics. But Brandi was as determined to see the artifacts destroyed as Nathan was to save them. And she wanted the Reaper dead. He had stolen her father’s collection and killed her parents, leaving her and her brother, Thomas, alone. They had been working ever since to discover the Reaper’s identity and the location of the relics.

  “I think she has the answers to what happened in Iraq.”

  “You don’t still believe Nathan was involved? I mean, it had to be the Reaper behind it. Thomas was there and he working undercover for the Reaper.”

  “I think Nathan knows more about it than he’s saying, but I don’t think he was behind it. Brandi may be the only person besides the Reaper who knows why he requested me for a cover-up mission.”

  His face clouded, and Kendall knew he was thinking about the young girls he’d discovered at the prince’s palace. There weren’t any terrorists or weapons, just young sex slaves and a bunch of relics.

  “Maybe you were simply hired because of your expertise,” Kendall said. “Even Nathan says you’re the best.”

  Jake shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I’m surprised Nathan is letting us do this alone,” Kendall said.

  “I’m not. Nathan cares about two things right now.” Jake looked at Kendall and narrowed his eyes. “Make that three. First, he wants what the Protettori are protecting. Second, he wanted us away from the mansion so we wouldn’t know what he’s up to. Whatever he’s got going on in his dungeon is dangerous. Sending us to Italy to get the treasure killed two birds with one stone.”

  “What’s the third thing?”

  “You,” Jake said, watching Kendall. “He wants you.”

  “I work for him. That’s all.”

  “Right,” he said dryly.

  It was getting dark when they arrived, but the castle looked like a different place than it had a few days ago. Nathan had sent a team to the castle as soon as they left. The airstrip had been cleared and guards posted throughout the woods surrounding the castle and along the wall.

  The head of the security team met them at the helicopter as soon as it landed and brought them up to date on things. “No sign of trouble. The guards and staff have taken up most of the rooms on the second floor and part of the third.”

  “We’ll find something,” Jake said. “We’ll sleep in the tower if we have to.”

  “Dinner’s ready in the dining hall,” the guard said. He left, and Jake and Kendall walked slowly, taking it all in. Kendall stopped when the castle came into view. It didn’t look as imposing now, probably because she knew there were so many armed guards protecting the place.

  Jake stopped beside her. “You OK?”

  “We’re missing something.”

  “This time you have my permission to explore all you want. A rat couldn’t get through all those guards and statues.”

  “Thank you for your permission, my lord. Any other instructions?”

  “My lord, I like that.”

  “You would.” She walked toward the castle without waiting for him. In the distance she saw the statues. She noticed the one with the sword tip she’d broken off on her first trip to the castle. It was watching, almost as if it were alive. And then she thought she saw it move. Marco and his wild ideas. Jake was probably right about the old man being on too many pain meds.

  “Should we check on the treasure first?” She looked toward the woods where the chapel was hidden.

  “Wait until morning. It might look a little suspicious if the guards see us there in the dark.”

  “We’ll have to work quickly in the morning.”

  “Won’t it take a while to catalog everything?” Jake asked. “I’m not the expert, but there were some amazing things in that room.”

  “Beyond amazing. I doubt there’s a treasure its equal anywhere. We’ll have to catalog it quickly for now. We can finish when we unpack it.”

  “Wherever that is. Nathan will probably do it himself so we don’t know where he’s hiding it. He doesn’t seem inclined to share where he’s hidden the Spear of Destiny.”

  Kendall didn’t like that either. Nathan obviously trusted her and Jake, or he wouldn’t have sent them to pack up something as valuable as this treasure. But Jake’s blatant attempts, and even Kendall’s subtle hints, hadn’t gotten him to divulge the spear’s location. “I’m sure he has his reasons.”

  Jake shook his head. “If he stabbed you, you’d say he had a good reason.”

  “You need food. You’re getting cranky.”

  Dozens of people were at the castle. Security guards, cooks to feed the guards, maids to handle laundry and cleaning. Kendall wondered if the castle had once looked like this, bustling with activity. Nathan hadn’t wanted to let more people know where the castle was located, but he’d decided that it was more important to have heavy security in place.

  They found rooms on the third floor. Kendall expected Jake to make some smart remark about sharing, but he didn’t. After they put their things inside, they went down to the dining hall to find something to eat. The security guards had changed shifts and were gathered in small groups eating and talking about the castle. Kendall overheard bits of conversation about statues and the strangeness of the place. Nathan had apparently warned them of the dangers without giving away to
o much. Jake excused himself and went to talk to the head of security again.

  Kendall took the opportunity to explore, hoping something would click. Some message from the stones or something to reveal what she was missing. She found herself wandering the floors and discovered another entrance into the mural room where they’d found the round table and the relics. The treasure room underneath the chapel surpassed this by far, but there were enough relics in here to keep a museum busy for a long time. Suits of armor, chain mail, weapons, scrolls, gold figures… There was even a crown.

  The round table in the middle of the floor was huge. Thirteen ornate chairs surrounded it. They were old, she suspected. When she touched the back of one, she was certain. They were beyond old. She heard whispers that she couldn’t identify. English, she thought. Not as it was spoken in this time. Old English? She heard shouts and a ringing sound like the clash of swords. Both Marco and the Reaper—posing as the historian—had said the Protettori were an ancient order. How ancient?

  Kendall moved around the room, touching and feeling until the impressions became too strong. She backed off for a few minutes, letting her senses calm before starting again. A fascinating oak cabinet revealed a hidden catch that opened a door in the top. A golden cup and a vial sat on the shelf. The sensations and whispers began to overwhelm her. If she didn’t leave, she’d be useless tomorrow. She trusted Jake, but she didn’t know how much he knew about properly packing up artifacts.

  Back in her room, she took something for a headache and climbed into bed. After she finished crating up the treasure, she would go back to the mural room and explore some more. That golden cup intrigued her. In the middle of the night she woke up. She’d been dreaming about the tower room and the blood on the bed. The dull throb was still knocking at her head, but there was a sense of urgency so strong she worried that Jake was in trouble. She left her room and climbed the stairs to the tower room. Jake wasn’t here. No one was.

  She stood at the foot of the bed where she and Jake had slept, unsure what had drawn her here. Was she subconsciously hoping to see the ghost? Or looking for answers about the portion of a letter she’d found underneath the desk the last time she was here? She looked at the faded brown covers and remembered the blood she’d seen. She walked the room, trying to connect with the feeling that had drawn her here. After a few minutes without getting anything, she started to leave, when she heard a cry. Whirling, she saw a woman lying on the bed, her belly large with pregnancy.