Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers) (12 page)

“Granted it’s not normal, but what makes you think it’s a curse?” Kendall asked.

“What the hell would you call it?” he asked.

“She has a point,” Jake said. “It happens when your adrenaline kicks in, when you’re angry or scared.”

Kendall felt Nathan balk at Jake’s use of the word
scared
.

“So you’ve been studying me?” Nathan asked.

“I pay attention when there’s something next to me that can rip my head off.”

“How long has this been happening?” Kendall asked.

“I haven’t felt normal for as long as I can remember, but it’s just the last few months that the change has been happening. It’s getting worse.”

“Are you aware of your surroundings when it happens?” Kendall asked.

“You mean, am I going to not recognize someone and rip his head off?” Nathan asked, his voice dry.

Kendall shrugged. “You could hurt someone with that kind of strength, but so far we haven’t seen any sign that you’re dangerous, just protective.”

“I know what’s going on,” Nathan said. “I just can’t control my strength. Something must have happened when I was a kid.”

“Like what?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember my childhood. Nothing before Fergus.”

“That’s odd. Damned odd.” Jake seemed troubled by the admission.

“I have a dream,” Nathan said. “Maybe it’s a memory, I don’t know. There are two men talking. One of them mentions a curse that must be removed.”

A curse. Like the one she might have brought on her father and Adam? “They didn’t say where the curse came from?”

“No,” Nathan said.

“Did you recognize the men?” she asked. “Was one of them Fergus?”

“I didn’t see their faces, but their voices were familiar. If I knew them, I can’t remember.”

“Did they mention a way to get rid of it?” Jake asked.

“No, but I think it’s connected to the Protettori’s relics.”

“How’s that possible?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ve dreamed of them all my life.” His light came on, and he pulled something from his pocket.

“How do you know it’s their relics?” Jake asked. “You don’t even know what they are.”

Nathan opened a small black book and pulled out a loose page. “These. I’ve dreamed of these.”

It was the paper with the sketches Kendall had seen in Jake’s pack.

Jake turned on his light and looked at the paper. “That’s mine. You’re the one who took it.”

Kendall’s head was buzzing. Nathan had been dreaming about relics the Protettori were protecting?

“When did you take it?” Jake asked.

“When I left the inn.”

“Where did you get this?” she asked Jake.

“I found it in Iraq.”

“Iraq,” Kendall echoed. “This makes no sense.”

“Maybe it does,” Nathan said. “The page came from this.” He held up the black book. “It’s a journal I found on Thomas after he died.”

“You found a journal on Thomas? My God, Nathan, what else are you hiding?” Kendall asked.

“I didn’t want anyone to know about the curse. I wanted to find the relics and see if they cured me.”

“How do you know the page came from the journal?” Jake asked.

“I matched it,” Nathan said. He opened the journal and showed them the matching tears on the page. “It’s exact.” His light went out, leaving only Jake’s.

“There’s the Iraq connection,” Kendall said. “Thomas had the journal and Jake saw Thomas in Iraq. It must have belonged to Thomas.”

“Or the journal belongs to the Reaper. If it does, I’d bet he wants it back,” Jake said, ever the pessimist. “It would make sense that the Reaper sketched them if he’s been searching for them as long as Marco said.”

“What’s inside?” Kendall asked.

Nathan flipped through the pages while Jake shone his light. “There’s writing in some kind of code, and these sketches. Four objects. They must be the Protettori’s relics. This one,” Nathan said, pointing to the one Kendall had thought was a knife, “must be the Spear of Destiny. Two others could either be cups or bowls. I figure one of them might be the Fountain of Youth.” He tapped on the smallest of the cup sketches. “This one seems familiar.”

Kendall looked closer at the drawing and thought that it looked familiar to her too. How was that possible?

“Do you want to hold the journal and see if you can pick up anything?” Nathan asked Kendall.

She stared at the journal, afraid to touch it. What if it proved her father was the Reaper? She swallowed and took the journal in her hands. She closed her eyes and felt the leather, opening her mind to the impressions seeping from the journal.

She expected greed, evil, but the strongest impressions were desperation, loss, and love. Family. She let go of the journal, breathing hard.

“What did you sense?” Nathan asked.

“Desperation.” She didn’t tell them everything, because she couldn’t make sense of it herself. As far as she knew, her father died in a plane crash. Unless he was like Raphael and hadn’t stayed dead.

“How the hell have you dreamed about the relics drawn on these pages?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know.”

If he was Adam, and if Marco was right about the vow causing a curse, that might be reason for Nathan to dream of the relics. The men he’d heard talking in his dream could be the Protettori discussing what to do with them. But she didn’t voice her theory. It just seemed too ridiculous. Nathan’s hair was darker than Adam’s
had been, though kids’ hair usually darkened as they grew older and Adam’s had always been bleached by the sun. Both of them had dark eyes, but lots of men had dark eyes. Jake did. As far as personalities went, neither Nathan nor Jake was like Adam. Adam had been outgoing, mischievous, full of laughter. Nathan and Jake were full of secrets. But they were both protective like Adam. “Tell us about the dreams,” she said.

“I don’t see the relics clearly, just enough to know that their shapes resemble these. And in the dream, I hear the men talking about a curse and that it must be removed. One of them is holding this journal.”

“There’s nothing in the journal to identify Thomas as the owner?” Kendall asked.

“No name that I could find, unless it’s written in code too.”

“Give Kendall some time with it. Maybe she can break the code with her voodoo stuff,” Jake said.

“There’s more,” Nathan said.

“What else can there be?” Jake asked.

“I found another paper in the treasure room just before we left the first time. It has the same four sketches.”

She thought she’d seen him put something in his pocket when they discovered the room.

Jake grunted. “I don’t know about any curse, but you’ve got so many secrets I don’t know how you keep them straight.”

“No wonder you’re so desperate to find these relics,” Kendall said.

“I have to get rid of it,” Nathan said. “I don’t want to live like this. I don’t know if there really is a Fountain of Youth, but if anything could cure a curse, I think the Fountain of Youth would do it. I want to be normal, do normal things.”

“I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you were normal too,” Jake said, flipping off his flashlight. “I don’t like sleeping next to the
Hulk, but I’m so tired right now I’d sleep next to the devil himself.”

“We’ll help you find it,” Kendall said. She shivered, and Jake took her hand and rubbed it between his. It felt so good she didn’t pull away. “Did Raphael say anything that might explain a connection between you two?”

“I didn’t get a chance to ask,” Nathan said.

“I think you need to talk to him,” Kendall said.

“Maybe Raphael’s cursed too,” Jake said.

Nathan didn’t answer, and Kendall knew he was considering the possibility.

“That was a joke,” Jake said. “Lighten up. We’ll find the Fountain of Youth, if it exists, and see if it removes your curse. Then you can hide it wherever you’ve hidden the Spear of Destiny.… Where is it?”

“Safe.”

“That’s what I figured. I assume you tried the spear to see if it would cure you?”

“It didn’t do anything.”

She heard a rustling noise that she thought must be Nathan returning the journal to his pocket. “Maybe you need all four relics.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Nathan said. “Damn, it’s cold in here.”

The temperature had dropped several degrees. What she wouldn’t give for her new thermal blanket, which was in her pack in the castle. “It is freezing.”

“I’d give you my jacket if I had one.” Jake relinquished her hand and leaned back. “I’d give my house for a pillow right now.”

“I think I would too,” Kendall said, trying to get comfortable. Were they going to sleep sitting up?

“I own a company that makes pillows,” Nathan said dryly.

“You own half the companies in the world,” Jake said. “Lot of good it’ll do you in here.”

“I’ve got to sleep,” Kendall said. And she wasn’t going to do it sitting up. She lay down on her back, staring at the blackness, awkwardly aware of Jake and Nathan sitting on either side of her like bookends. “Are you going to sleep sitting up?”

“Guess I’ll be the one to state the obvious,” Jake said. “We’re going to have to sleep close enough to share body heat.”

Nathan made a grunting sound that could have been an agreement or not. “It is bloody cold in here.”

“Question is,” Jake said, “who gets the girl?”

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“Damned if I’m going to cuddle with Nathan, and I doubt he wants to cuddle with me. I guess you’re sleeping in the middle.”

Kendall had spent enough time outdoors to understand the practicality of the situation. It was about staying warm. But when Jake and Nathan scooted close on either side of her, it gave her a tingle she wasn’t comfortable with. They each lay stiffly on their back, not talking.

“This isn’t working,” Jake said. “I have to roll over.” He did, facing her, and slipped a hand over her stomach. “Wanna spoon?”

Kendall felt her cheeks warm as she remembered how much she’d wanted to spoon with him earlier in the tower. It would be awkward facing him, so she rolled over and bumped into Nathan’s shoulder. “Sorry.” Her head was at an uncomfortable angle. She tried putting her arm underneath to cushion it.

“Lift your head,” he said. Kendall did, and Nathan slipped his arm under her neck and pulled her into his chest. His arm circled her shoulders. “It’s not a pillow, but it’s better than a cave floor.”

Much better. Kendall let her head settle against him. All sorts of strange sensations zinged through her as she felt his strength and the warmth of his skin. She’d never been this close to him,
except when he’d hugged her in the inn, but this was more intimate. She could feel the muscles in the arm holding her, smell his scent. It felt awkward, but nice. The warmth of another human body was a beautiful thing. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. Usually, in this position, a woman’s hand would rest on the man’s stomach or chest. It wouldn’t be appropriate here, so she curled it in front of her, against his side. There was a nice hard line of muscle there too. She pulled her hands closer to her chest.

What was wrong with her? She’d almost made love to Jake earlier. She wasn’t fast and loose. She’d known girls who slept with any guy they were attracted to. Both Jake and Nathan were good-looking, decent men, secrets and flirting aside. But Kendall didn’t sleep with whatever guy she wanted. She hadn’t slept with many at all.

“When I said cuddle, I was being sarcastic,” Jake said.

Kendall felt a low rumble in Nathan’s chest and knew he was laughing.

“Stop complaining,” she said, feeling her lips brush Nathan’s soft button-up shirt. He hadn’t been wearing his usual suits lately. “I’m tired.”

Jake muttered something and lay back down, tucking his body closer to hers. So close she could feel parts she shouldn’t be feeling, but she couldn’t move or she’d be on top of Nathan.

“Your arm’s in my face,” Jake said to Nathan.

“Move your face,” Nathan said.

Jake grumbled and draped his arm over Kendall’s hip, just below Nathan’s, effectively covering her like a blanket. She lay there sandwiched between the two of them, warmth seeping in from both sides, and thought that if they couldn’t find their way out, this might be a good way to die.

Of course she dreamed about Adam, and she woke once when she felt lips brush the top of her head. She didn’t know whose, and
she didn’t care. She didn’t even care that her hand was resting above Nathan’s belt and that Jake’s hand had found its way under her shirt and was against her stomach. Warmth. There was nothing better. Not food. Not even sex.

Her dreams continued, not of Adam, but of the cave, and the darkness she’d felt, and men on horses with swords. She felt them watching. Warning her. In the dream, she rose and followed them deeper into the cave. The markings on the wall were glowing. They led to a tiny opening in the wall. She immediately felt a stir of fresh air. When she woke next, she was still lying between Nathan and Jake, but they had all rolled. Now her cheek was pressed to Jake’s back, her arm around his waist, hand over his stomach. Nathan was close behind her. Her head still rested in the crook of his arm, which was draped across her breasts. The other hand was on her stomach. She could feel his breath stirring her hair and his erection nudging her hip.

She lay there, feeling both men breathing—in unison, oddly enough—and wondered if she was turning into a floozy. Her feelings for each of them were strong. Not
love,
but something very real. They both irritated her. Jake and his male ego. Nathan and his secrets. The attraction between her and Jake was obvious. Whatever was between her and Nathan was subtle, seething beneath a surface neither of them was willing to crack.

She felt someone watching and thought it must be Nathan behind her. But a deep breath of sleep sounded at her ear. She snuggled deeper into the warmth, shifting her head slightly on Nathan’s arm. She happened to glance up and saw a man poke Jake in the stomach with his sword. Not a man, a ghost. She jumped in alarm.

“That better be Kendall’s hand on my stomach,” Jake muttered. He sat up and turned on his light, scowling at Nathan who was untangling his arms from around her.

“I’m sorry, I…” She looked at the curious eyes watching them from faintly luminescent faces. Ghosts. No wonder it was so cold in here. There were dozens of them. The same ones from her dream. Some of them were on horseback; others on foot. They all carried swords. Warriors? Some wore chain mail. Knights?