by Ben Zackheim
“But why?” I asked. “Why are we cheating death?”
“Sorry kid. That’s above my pay grade.”
“Where is she?” I asked. “Is she okay?”
“That depends on how you define okay.”
I wondered if I should give him another gut shot.
“She’s fine,” he said, realizing he was pushing his luck. “She’s being… rash.”
“Rebel? Really? That’s weird.”
“Let me rephrase that,” he said. “She’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone? How does ‘she’s fine’ and ‘she’s gone’ go together?”
“She’s fine,” he said, angling his head to one side. “But she’s also gone.” He moved his head to the other side.
I aimed the gun at his dick.
He held his hands out. “Okay! Okay, she’s going to find Fox. Or she’s going to find something to help Fox.
“Fox is dead,” I said.
“I know that. Look, kid, I’m not really sure what she’s doing but I gather that Fox told you a story about how he met Baldr. She told me that much before she vamoosed. Something in the story made her leave. I don’t know what. I don’t understand it.”
But I knew what she was doing.
I don’t know why I told Skyler. Habit maybe.
“She’s looking for the Holy Grail,” I said. “Baldr used it to heal Fox or bring him back to life. Baldr gave it to Fox to give to King Arthur.”
“Ah, I see. But she can’t use the Holy Grail on a Vampire, for fuck’s sake.”
“I’m just telling you what she’s doing, old man.”
“Fine, maybe she has some kind of plan. Clever girl, Rebel. Not as clever as she thinks she is, though.”
“What do you mean?”
He didn’t hesitate. He spoke as if he’d wanted to tell me a secret for years, and now was his chance. “Do you remember Poland?” he asked. The grin that crossed his face was borrowed from the devil.
I stood over him and looked down, just to remind him that I was in charge. It didn’t have any effect. His little black eyes were as giddy as his smirk.
“I remember,” I said. Who could forget the decimated village? The stench of death everywhere. The girl’s head hanging from a coat rack.
The relic.
“What is it, Skyler?” I asked. “What did you have me put in the Vault Portal?”
“Oh, come on, kid,” he said. Every word was filled with some dark fucking glee. “I throw you a softball and you come back with that?”
“That was the grail?”
“That was the grail.”
I felt the distance between Rebel and me more than ever.
I needed to have her there.
I needed to know she was okay.
“I have to find Rebel,” I said.
Skyler shifted his arms around and got his feet under him.
He stood slowly, walked up to me and poked his bloody finger in my chest with each word out of his mouth.
“You have to find Rebel.”
How will Kane handle a rogue Rebel?
Find out in Relic: Grail! Go grab your copy now to see how messed up things get. Fun stuff! Well, not for Kane, but…
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Also by Ben Zackheim
Relic: Grail
Relic: Sceptre
Relic: Scroll
Relic: Mask