Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  The ghost monk stood there, his face covered by the cowl, the chapel wall visible through him. Edward gasped, and the ghost moved toward them.

  Kendall jumped up. “Get out of the way,” she yelled at Nathan and Jake. They were all standing between Edward and the ghost. All three of them hurried toward the door, watching as the monk moved closer to Edward, who was cowering on the floor. He threw the box toward Kendall, probably hoping the ghost would follow. He didn’t. He continued toward Edward and didn’t stop, passing all the way through him. Edward gave a terrified scream and fell.

  The monk turned and looked at the box lying open on the floor at Kendall’s feet. The tip of a spear could be seen wrapped in a white cloth. Perhaps it was a dagger or a sword, but after what she’d witnessed, she believed it was the real spear that the Roman centurion had used to pierce Christ’s side.

  The monk started toward them. Nathan and Jake each moved in front of Kendall. She stepped around them and bent to pick up the box.

  “What are you doing?” Jake hissed.

  “Don’t move,” she said. She slid the spearhead back inside the box, covering it with the cloth and turned each key. Three clicks and the lid closed. She started walking toward the monk.

  Jake and Nathan came after her, but the monk raised his hands and both men were thrown backward and pinned against the wall. They struggled, but they couldn’t break free.

  “Stop,” Nathan yelled as Kendall kept walking. “Don’t hurt her. Take me.”

  “Dammit. Come back here,” Jake yelled, struggling.

  The monk watched as she approached. His face was still shadowed, but she could see his eyes. Green, she thought, and wise, reminding her of her father’s. The man this ghost had once been had suffered betrayal and heartbreak. Kendall stretched out her arms, offering him the spear. He continued to watch her until her arms started to hurt from the weight of the box. Then he held out his hands and she felt a rush of air as they brushed over hers. For one second, flesh and apparition were joined as they held the box. He nodded once and disappeared.

  She stood for a second, shocked, the box still in her arms. She turned and saw Jake and Nathan fall free from the wall. Both men rushed to her side.

  “Believe me now?” she said to Jake, and then she collapsed.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A RUMBLING NOISE woke her and she opened her eyes to two anxious faces hovering over her, wearing matching frowns. “She’s coming out of it,” Jake said.

  Nathan nudged him. “Move back so she can breathe.”

  “You’re the one suffocating her,” Jake said.

  The past minutes—hours?—came rushing back. The box? Edward? The ghost?

  Jake and Nathan moved back as she sat up, and she saw that she was lying on the altar. “Oh my God.” She jumped up and moved quickly away.

  “What’s wrong?” Jake asked.

  “The altar...” She looked at the three stones and the words engraved there. She remembered a hushed voice repeating strange words as light exploded from the stones, enveloping her and Adam. “Where’s Edward?”

  “Dead,” Jake said.

  “What about the box?”

  “It’s safe,” Nathan said, pointing to Kendall’s backpack nearby.

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “Keep it safe,” he said, not meeting her eyes.

  “Where? Not with the rest of your collection, I hope.”

  “No. I’ll put it somewhere no one will find it.”

  Jake glanced at Edward’s body. “So, according to your vision, Nathan and I would have died at the hands of a ghost if you hadn’t been here.”

  “I think the ghost would have killed you inadvertently to get to Edward. Killed all of us if we hadn’t moved. All he was worried about was protecting the box.”

  “Is that why you thought you needed to be here?” Jake asked. “To warn us to move out of the way? Hell, you could’ve done that from Virginia.”

  “If she hadn’t been here, I think he would have killed anyone who happened to be in the chapel,” Nathan said.

  “Maybe he knew she wanted to protect the spear,” Jake said.

  Nathan shook his head. “It’s almost as if he recognized her.”

  “I think he did,” Kendall said. “And the strange thing is that I felt like I knew him too.” That sometimes happened with her visions.

  “Our ghost could have seen you here when you were a kid,” Jake said. “It’s not like there were many females around.”

  “He saw me in the tower room where the woman gave birth. I think he loved her. Maybe I reminded him of her. At least now you believe I saw the ghost,” she said to Jake.

  “I’ve seen a lot of unbelievable things tonight,” Jake said, giving Nathan a pointed look. “Not just ghosts.”

  “That was just adrenaline,” Nathan said.

  “Adrenaline doesn’t make a person’s eyes glow.”

  “Must have been your imagination or a reflection from your flashlight,” Nathan said.

  “Flashlight, my ass. You sure you don’t have a secret lab where you’re creating a drug that gives super powers?”

  Nathan didn’t answer. Clearly he either didn’t know what was happening or wasn’t ready to share his secrets. Kendall didn’t buy his explanation any more than Jake did, but she had an open mind, and after the things she’d seen at this castle, it was even more open.

  “How long was I out?” Kendall asked. “Has anyone checked on Marco?”

  “You weren’t out long. Fifteen minutes. The helicopter just took them.”

  That was the rumbling she’d heard. “Is he alive?”

  “For now,” Nathan said. “He doesn’t look good. Fergus is with him.”

  “He took that bullet to save me. Did he say anything before he left?” She wanted to ask if he’d mentioned seeing ghosts. Particularly one named Adam.

  “He was unconscious,” Nathan said.

  “What about Brandi? Where did she go?”

  “Disappeared,” Nathan said, looking at the stones behind the altar again.

  “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her,” Jake said.

  Kendall suspected that he hoped for another encounter so he could find out more about Thomas’s connection with his assignment in Iraq.

  “She has her brother’s death to avenge,” Jake continued. “And I’m sure she blames the Reaper. If she wants him, she’ll have to get in line.”

  “You’re not to go after him,” Nathan said. “He’s too dangerous. I’ll handle it.”

  Jake’s eyes narrowed. Time to change the subject, Kendall thought. “What are we going to do with Edward’s body? We can’t leave it here.”

  The body was still on the floor, but its face had been covered by a cloth that looked remarkably like a scarf Kendall had in her bag. She hoped it was still in her bag.

  “I’ll have the body removed,” Nathan said. He walked toward the stones.

  “What are you doing?” It made her cringe to see him so close to the altar. She wasn’t really superstitious, but those stones elicited sensations that she couldn’t explain.

  “There’s something strange about these stones,” Nathan said.

  He was right about that, Kendall thought. She couldn’t remember exactly what happened to her and Adam all those years ago, but it had something to do with this altar.

  “Strange to see stones this big inside a chapel. They look like the ones near the catacombs. Except there are symbols on these.”

  “Writing,” Kendall said, earning a surprised look from the men.

  “You know what they say?” Jake asked.

  Kendall touched her head, which was beginning to ache. “No.”

  “The stone in the middle looks different than the other two,” Nathan said. “Looks like there’s a disk embedded inside.”

  Jake added the beam from his light to Nathan’s. “I think you’re right. Another circle. I think they’re obsessed with them.”

  Kendal
l grabbed a flashlight and joined them, trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped when she neared the stones. “It does look like a disk.” With all the writing covering it, she hadn’t noticed until she was up close.

  “The symbols are in rows,” Nathan said. “Like rings.”

  “None of them make sense,” Jake said. “Except this one.” He pointed to one of the small inner rings in the middle of the disk. “It looks like a C. It’s cut deeper than the other symbols.”

  “There’s one here as well.” Nathan rubbed his finger over a symbol on the opposite side of the ring. “But the C is backward.”

  “It almost makes a circle,” Kendall said. “Wait a minute. This center of the disk has a curved line on the top and the bottom. If we could turn the rings and line the symbols up, it would make a circle.”

  “And that’s why she’s my relic expert,” Nathan said. He pressed his forefinger and thumb against the ring and attempted to turn it. “It’s moving.”

  They aligned the rings so that the two parts faced. Kendall turned the center, filling in the rest of the circle.

  “But what does it do?” Nathan asked.

  “The other circles opened something,” Kendall said. “Maybe this is where the four relics are hidden.”

  “Four relics?” Nathan asked.

  Kendall studied the circle. “Marco said the Protettori protected four relics that were so powerful they had to be separated, so they’re probably not here. Maybe there’s something else hidden.”

  “When did he say that?” Nathan asked.

  “When you were holding us as prisoners,” Jake said.

  “Are you going to remind me of that every thirty minutes?” Nathan growled.

  Jake shrugged. “I might.”

  “Let it go,” Nathan said. “I could bring up every mistake you’ve made.”

  “You’re admitting kidnapping us was a mistake?”

  “Can we get back to the task at hand?” Kendall asked. “Edward’s ancestor thought there was treasure hidden in the chapel. Maybe this is it.”

  “Hidden treasure. Works for me,” Jake said. “Let’s give it a push and see what happens.”

  “We’ll draw straws in case there is a trap,” Kendall said.

  “I’ll do it,” Jake offered.

  Nathan shook his head. “I will. You stay with Kendall.”

  “We’ll all draw straws,” Kendall said. “The shortest one pushes the circle.” Both men were scowling but they agreed. She dug in her bag and found a small tube of mascara and two tubes of lipstick. Disguising their size, she held them out and let Nathan and Jake choose first. Nathan and Jake each chose a tube of lipstick. Kendall opened her hand and showed them her tube. It was shortest.

  “Best of three,” Jake said.

  “No.” Kendall grabbed all three items and dropped them back in her bag. “Wait by the door.”

  They stood mutely, staring at her.

  “Go to the door,” she said, louder this time.

  Reluctantly they moved, but their faces were tight as they walked away.

  She approached the stone and let her hands hover over the mark on the disk. She looked back at Nathan and Jake. Both men had moved a few steps closer and were staring at her, their gazes dark, though Nathan’s eyes seemed to be lightening. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the circle. The ring closest to the circle turned slightly, but nothing else happened.

  “I guess it doesn’t work,” Kendall said.

  The men moved behind her and they all studied the stone in disappointment. “This wasn’t here before.” Jake touched a small hole, which had been exposed after the ring turned.

  “It looks like the keyhole in the door to the catacombs and the chapel,” Kendall said.

  “There’s one here too,” Nathan said.

  “The box needed three keys,” Kendall said. “What do you want to bet this does too? Look for another keyhole.”

  Jake scratched at something with his knife. “Bingo.”

  “OK, we have three.” Kendall took an excited breath. “Where’s my cross? Sorry, your cross,” she said to Nathan.

  He pulled it out of his pocket. “Try it.”

  She took the cross and stuck it inside the tiny hole. “It fits. We need the others.”

  Nathan put Marco’s cross in one of the keyholes, and Jake put Raphael’s in the third keyhole.

  “On three,” Nathan said. “One. Two. Three.” They turned the keys together and light shot out of the keyholes, like it had in the catacombs.

  “Get back!” Kendall yelled, but Nathan and Jake had both already jumped clear. There was a scraping sound and the entire disk started to turn. The center stone began to slide backward, revealing a set of steps leading below the chapel.

  “Bloody hell,” Nathan said.

  “Another secret room.” Kendall held her light up, trying to see where the steps led. The beam cut through the darkness, picking up flashes of gold. “Edward’s ancestor was right,” she whispered. “I think we’ve found the treasure.”

  “Let us go first this time,” Nathan said.

  “We go together.” She took a step. Nathan and Jake stayed beside her, each movement from their flashlights picking up the glint of silver and gold. At the bottom of the steps, they stopped, frozen in awe. “The treasure.”

  “There must be a light switch in this place.” Jake pointed his light at the wall then pushed something. Massive torches on each side of the room flared to life. “That’s cool. A fire hazard, but cool.”

  “The torches must burn on gas,” Nathan said.

  “This is unbelievable,” Kendall said, walking deeper into the room. “It’s like something out of a movie.” The hidden room in the castle had appeared to be more of a museum, but this was a treasure hunter’s dream. Trunks and shelves of treasure. Gold and jewels and coins. Very old coins. There were statues, figures of solid gold, ancient papyruses and scrolls.

  The room was larger than the chapel, which appeared to have been built as a disguise. They walked around, afraid to touch anything but unable to stop themselves. Kendall picked up a wooden box filled with pieces of gold. She found another box beside it with coins and jewels that she believed to be from a shipwreck in the thirteenth century.

  “Where did they get all this stuff?” Jake held a dagger embedded with a huge ruby. He took a couple of practice swings that made Kendall’s stomach clench.

  “Careful with that. It looks ancient.” Everything in here was probably ancient.

  “What are you?” Jake asked. “Some kind of Protettori proxy?”

  “I would hate to see anything damaged. I doubt there’s ever been a find like this.”

  “I’m starting to wonder if they were protectors or pirates,” Jake said. “We have to get this stuff out of here before someone finds it. We got rid of the men outside, but they were just pawns.”

  “We’ll see what Nathan wants to do.”

  Jake put the dagger away. “Where is he?”

  Kendall looked around the room and saw him standing by a table with books in glass cases. “There. He’s been quiet since we came down here.”

  Jake looked at Nathan, and a shadow darkened his eyes. “He’s probably fighting his demons.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s killed a lot of men today. That’s not an easy thing to have on your conscience.”

  And he’d killed at least one of them to save her. As if he’d known they were talking about him, Nathan looked up, meeting Kendall’s gaze. She felt a tingle run over her arms.

  “Did you find something?” she asked.

  “Just some old books.” Nathan put one of the books down. Kendall thought she saw him put something in his pocket as he walked away.

  “What will we do about all this?” Kendall asked after he joined them.

  “We’ll have to see if Marco recovers enough to tell us more about the group,” Nathan said. “We need to know if there are others.”

  Jake picked up a goblet th
at appeared to be made of gold. “The treasure can’t stay here.”

  “It’s not ours to move,” Kendall said.

  “Too many people know about the place now,” Jake said. “Edward and his men, Thomas and Brandi. The Reaper.”

  “Those last men must have been working for him,” Kendall said. “Edward said they weren’t his.”

  “Who knows how many others any one of them might have told,” Jake said.

  “If Marco dies, we’ll have to move this treasure ourselves,” Nathan said. “Jake’s right. It’s too risky to leave it here for long.” He pulled in a long, steady breath. “We don’t breathe a word about this.”

  “I thought I’d write a book,” Jake said, his voice droll.

  Nathan didn’t smile. “If anyone found out about all this, we’d have every treasure hunter, every lunatic and every criminal in the world descending on this place.”

  “I think we should swear an oath of silence,” Kendall said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the pain hit her skull. She closed her eyes until it eased. When she opened them, she saw Nathan and Jake staring at her.

  Jake scowled. “An oath? Are you kidding?”

  “No, I’m not.” She stretched her hand out, palm down. “I swear I won’t mention the treasure, the spear, or anything else I’ve seen here,” she said.

  “This wasn’t exactly what I meant.” Nathan rolled his eyes, but he put his on top of hers. “I swear,” he said.

  Jake shook his head and put his hand over Nathan’s. “Like the damned Hardy Boys. Do you know how stupid we look? I swear I won’t breathe a word.” Jake yanked his hand back.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  KENDALL SANK DEEPER into the dream. Hands slid down her arm, moving across her stomach. A kiss brushed her shoulder and she felt the tip of a warm tongue. The hand slid lower and she heard a moan. It must have been hers. She was going to take these sleeping pills more often, she thought, and then wondered how she was conscious enough to think about sleeping pills if she was really dreaming. Her eyes flew open. The hand was still there. She scrambled up and turned.