The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3) (9 page)

They’d waited a few minutes and then slipped out of the hotel, hiring one of the taxi drivers they knew to take them to the site. He hadn’t known they were disobeying orders.

They crept toward the entrance of the tomb. Even the men standing guard had eased inside to see what was happening. Their parents always had guards now that Uncle John was being followed.

Kendall and Adam slipped in behind the men. The tomb hadn’t been looted. There were lots of treasures left here. Kendall’s blood pounded with excitement as she looked around, trying to see it all. Who needed dolls and toys when she could have all this?

“Look,” Adam whispered. “There’s a sarcophagus.” It was standing against the left wall, well back from where the men were gathered. The door to the sarcophagus was open. “Is there a mummy inside?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s get closer. Maybe you can tell.”

They had almost reached it when one of the men called out for the guards to get back on duty.

“Quick. We have to hide. They’re gonna come this way,” Adam said. “Get inside.”

“There?” Kendall asked in shock.

But Adam didn’t stop. He pushed her inside—there was a mummy inside—and then climbed in behind her, easing the door closed. It didn’t shut all the way, but enough to hide them. Kendall’s head exploded with memories from the mummy, but she couldn’t escape or they’d get caught and maybe sent home. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe quietly in spite of her panic. She could feel Adam’s chest pounding, and then his hand grabbed hers. A strange image passed through her head. A man and a woman, hiding just as Kendall and Adam were now. Then she saw their faces. It was them, but they were grown.

Shock stunned her for a moment. She’d forgotten about that strange vision she’d had when she was hiding in the sarcophagus with Adam.

The voices were even closer now. A glimpse of swords and ancient clothing flickered through Kendall’s head. Nathan’s body tensed, distracting her from the vision. He was hot, and a rumbling sound came from his chest. Kendall had never been afraid of Nathan or Adam (though maybe there was a slight tinge of fear when Nathan changed), but she was scared now. Being trapped inside a confined space would probably make him panic and intensify his change, which he still hadn’t learned to control. If he accidentally hurt her, he would never forgive himself. The heat was getting uncomfortable. Her hands were trapped at her sides, but she stretched her fingers until she found his. They were too hot.

“Nathan. It’s OK.” But it wasn’t OK.

“Stay here,” he whispered. His voice was different. Raspier. Someone started to open the cover. Nathan let out a roar and sprang out, flinging aside the person who’d been trying to get in. He let the cover close behind him, leaving Kendall alone in the dark.

The sounds were terrible. Yells and roars. And then complete silence, which was even more frightening. Had he escaped? Led them away? Or was he dead? Kendall slipped quietly out of the sarcophagus and saw Nathan standing in the middle of the room surrounded by several men. True to her earlier impressions, the men wore ancient clothing and carried swords.

Nathan’s eyes were glowing as he watched her, but he didn’t move. A sword was pressed against his throat. Kendall had seen him fight, and she didn’t question whether he could get rid of the man and his sword. Then she felt the cold blade at her throat and knew why he was holding back. More men had caught sight of her and started speaking quickly in theatrical-sounding voices. Their clothing was strange too, as if they’d stepped off a medieval movie set. A sense of panic struck. Had she and Nathan gone back in time again to Camelot?

Kendall didn’t know who the men were, but she was terrified that Nathan would try to rescue her and get himself killed. “Please,” she said, giving the men a stiff smile. “Don’t hurt us. We don’t mean you any harm.”

“And who would you be, dressed like a bloody boy?” said the man who had his sword at Nathan’s neck. He was big and thick with a mess of red hair. He appeared to be their leader. He didn’t look like the men they’d encountered who worked for the Reaper.

“I’m Kendall and this is Nathan.”

“What are you doing here?”

She swallowed and felt the blade pinch. “We’re lost.” She glanced at Nathan. His eyes weren’t as fiery now. “What’s your name?” Kendall asked, hoping if they had been introduced, he would be less likely to slaughter them.

“Gregor.” He looked around the place. “Where are we? Where’s the door?”

Kendall glanced at Nathan in surprise. “You don’t know?” Nathan asked.

“I wouldn’t ask now if I did, would I? I’ll ask again, where are we, and how did we get here?” He pressed the sword harder against Nathan’s neck. “Have you put a spell on us? Is she a witch?”

“She’s not a witch,” Nathan said, trying not to move his head.

“Better keep them prisoner until we know for sure,” a sharp-faced man said.

“This looks familiar,” a short bald man said as he looked around
the room. “I believe I know this place.”

“Do you know how to get out?” the leader asked.

“There’s a bolt-hole in the floor.”

“Then you best be finding it before this one turns us into toads.”

“She’s not a witch,” Nathan said. “If you remove your sword, we can help you find a way out.”

The man gave a harsh laugh. “You, with your eyes glowing like a dragon. I think not.” He maneuvered Kendall next to Nathan and kept both of them under guard while the others searched for the bolt-hole.

Kendall tried to talk to the leader, but she didn’t get far.

“Stop talking. I can’t understand your words, and I need to think.”

A shout finally came from the corner. “I’ve found it,” the short bald man said.

Kendall and Nathan were herded toward the hole in the floor. A big blond who looked like a Viking descended first, followed by two others. “The prisoners next,” the leader said.

Nathan was forced to go before Kendall. “Stay close to me,” he whispered as he brushed past her. “As soon as I get a chance . . .”

“No talking to the witch,” the leader said.

Kendall went next, maneuvering the steps carefully as she climbed into the dark hole. At the bottom there was a tunnel with a dirt floor. Without light, it was impossible to see anything. She could hear the men ahead of her and the ones crowding in from behind and tried to guess which one was Nathan. Then she saw two specks of light. Nathan’s eyes. Her captor who was holding the sword couldn’t see well either, and his blade eased away. Following the glow of his eyes, Kendall moved closer to Nathan.

The trip through the tunnel didn’t last long. Within minutes, Kendall smelled fresh air, and she was shoved through an opening. It was dark, and the only things she could identify were trees. A shout sounded in the distance.

“Someone’s coming,” the leader said. “Prepare for attack.”

In the commotion, someone grabbed her hand. “Stay with me.” Nathan pulled her back from the men who had tightened into a group, holding their swords in front of them. With this new threat, they seemed to have forgotten their prisoners.

A cry arose, and Kendall looked back to see something dark rush through the wall of men and scatter them like bowling pins.

The Reaper.

Nathan tightened his grip on her hand and they started to run, but two men appeared in front of them, blocking the way. Nathan growled and lunged at them, but the men had already been flung away. At first she thought Nathan had done it, but she turned and saw another set of glowing eyes beside her. He smelled different than Nathan. He smelled wild.

She tried to lift her hands to fight, but she couldn’t move them. She couldn’t move any part of her body. Around her, men were dropping to the ground like flies. She heard Nathan growling beside her, but he was also paralyzed.

Raphael opened a door Jake had never seen and then another that led to a set of winding steps. “Hurry!” Raphael yelled. “If it’s the Reaper, we can’t let him get loose in the castle.”

“Don’t we need the guards?” Jake asked, trying to keep up. Raphael was hell on wheels, but the more the better.

“We can’t let them see inside this room.”

“I don’t hear the alarm now,” Jake said.

“You can’t hear it down here. Only upstairs. If someone breaks into the circle room, we don’t want the intruder to know we’ve caught him until it’s too late.” Raphael reached a door with a large stone disk in the center. He pushed something and the disk began to turn. A door opened quietly, and Jake followed Raphael inside. The room had a high ceiling. Statues lined the walls, tucked into alcoves. There were several of them, although a few of the alcoves were empty.

Jake felt for his cross and remembered it wasn’t there. “I don’t see anything. Maybe the alarm malfunctioned.” Raphael didn’t answer. He was standing as still as the statues, his expression so shaken Jake felt a tinge of alarm. He followed Raphael’s gaze to the empty spaces on the wall.

“They’re gone,” Raphael whispered.

“Someone stole some of the statues?”

Raphael walked toward the empty alcoves, muttering to himself. He squatted and examined the space. “Marco. What have you done?”

They heard yelling from outside. Raphael and Jake hurried to the door and found Hank waiting. “Intruders have been spotted behind the castle.”

Raphael ran back up the steps, followed by Jake and the guards. When they got outside, Raphael went ahead. Jake was close on his heels, and the guards fell behind. More benefits of the fountain water, Jake thought. He could make a fortune selling this stuff.

They went around behind the castle. Thick trees stood between the castle and the airstrip. One of the trees appeared to be moving, and then Jake saw it was a man. Several of them rising from the ground like demons from hell.

Raphael rushed at them as Jake pulled out his gun and followed. In the chaos and darkness, Jake saw a pair of glowing eyes. Raphael? But Raphael was on his left. Who was this? Jake’s stomach curled into a tight knot. The Reaper?

He was moving fast, a dark blur with those two pinpoints of light. Someone came at Jake with a sword and he ducked to avoid the swing. He knocked the man down and ran onward toward the dark blur. When he got close, he saw a flash of light hair. Blond. Then he recognized her.

Kendall.

CHAPTER NINE

S
HE WAS HERE
. Safe. Jake’s relief was short-lived. She wasn’t safe. Something was moving toward her like a train. Jake didn’t know if it was Raphael or one of the other men. He was too far away to help her. As he ran toward her, something rose inside him, filling him, until he felt like he’d been pushed out of his body and was watching from outside himself. The men—guards and intruders alike—dropped to the ground. Even Kendall couldn’t seem to move.

Thank goodness for Raphael and his strange abilities, Jake thought as he reached for Kendall. She looked stunned as he pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. The feel and smell of her seemed more important at the moment than the men who lay paralyzed on the ground.

Kendall returned his hug, a little desperately, he thought with relief. “I’m glad to see you. I thought you were . . . hurt.”

“Me?” He closed his fingers softly around a handful of her hair, afraid she was a dream. “You’re the one who vanished. God, I was worried about you.”

“How did you get here without the Reaper or his men seeing you? Did you find the portal?”

“The Reaper?” Jake frowned. “Where do you think we are?”

“Wherever the Reaper is. We fell through his portal.”

“If it’s the Reaper’s, the Protettori is doomed. You’re in the castle in Italy.”

Her eyes flashed with surprise. “It wasn’t the Reaper’s portal?”

“Bloody hell,” Nathan yelled. “Raphael, let me up.” There were several similar requests, and some threats.

Jake loosed his grip on Kendall and turned to see Raphael frowning. “Another gift he hasn’t told us about?” Jake said as the men began rising to their feet.

“Don’t release them,” Kendall warned. “They were kidnapping us.”

“They’re not a threat,” Raphael said.

Nathan jumped up and hurried over to Kendall and Jake. “How did you get here?”

“We flew. Coach. Not something I’d recommend with Raphael.”

“We’re in the castle in Italy,” Kendall told Nathan.

“Italy? How many bloody portals are there?”

“Too many,” Jake said. “We thought the Reaper took you. We came to the castle to get water so Raphael could remember where he followed the Reaper. And . . . uh-oh, I think we’ve got a problem.”

The guards and the strange men had risen and were challenging each other to halt, guns and swords ready for a fight.

“Everyone halt,” Raphael roared. “No one is a threat. Guards, leave us.”

“Nathan?” Hank looked at Nathan for direction.

“Not a threat?” Nathan’s voice rose. “They grabbed us in there and tried to kidnap us.”

“Inside?” Jake looked closer at the grumbling men who resembled characters from a movie. “Oh hell no . . . they’re the—”

From the corner of his eye he saw Raphael raise his hand, and the next thing Jake knew he was waking up on the ground. “Dammit.” He jumped up and stalked toward Raphael, who was off to one side talking to the men while Nathan and Kendall were explaining their sudden appearance to Hank and the guards. “We didn’t want to bother anyone while we explored.”

Hank didn’t seem satisfied with the explanation. Jake had been around him enough to know that he was good at his job, and he took protecting Nathan and his assets very seriously.

Nathan assured Hank that everything was all right, and that they could go back to their posts. “If Raphael vouches for them, it’s all right,” Nathan said. “They’re just some friends of his.”

“Strange friends,” Hank said, giving Raphael a look that said he was strange himself. “I don’t like this.”

“Go on,” Nathan said. “I’ll brief you later.”

Reluctantly, the guards walked back toward the castle.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Jake asked Raphael.

Raphael pulled Jake aside. “I had to stop you from revealing something Nathan’s guards didn’t need to know—” Raphael stopped, jaw dropped, staring over Jake’s shoulder at the men. Jake turned to see what had surprised the guardian.

Kendall had gotten a flashlight from somewhere, and was inspecting Nathan’s face. For injuries? One of the men, an older man with gray streaks in his dark, cropped hair, was kneeling before Nathan. He said something hushed to the others, and slowly, they all began to kneel until each of them was bowed before Nathan.

“My lord,” the older man said. “I beg your mercy. I thought you were dead.”

Nathan gave the man a blank look. “Excuse me?”

“Why are they doing that?” Kendall whispered, looking at the first man, who Jake noted was staring at Nathan with a look of adoration on his face. “Who do they think you are?”

Raphael hurried over. “Rise,” he said to the men. “We need to get inside. Back the way you came. Quickly.”

“We’re going through the bolt-hole?” Nathan asked. “What’s wrong with the front door?”

“I don’t want them to be seen,” Raphael said. “Come with me.”

The men kept looking at Nathan, but they seemed to know Raphael, and were almost hostile toward him. But they followed, asking him questions that Jake couldn’t make out.

The bolt-hole was an opening in the woods behind the castle, leading to an earthen tunnel that ended inside the room Jake and Raphael had gone to earlier when the alarm sounded.

Kendall motioned to the men. “Why are they calling Nathan ‘my lord’?”

“They’re confused,” Raphael said.

“With good reason,” Jake said. “Do you want to tell them, or shall I?”

“Tell us what?” Kendall asked.

Raphael’s eyes were closed. He looked like he wanted to be someplace else, so Jake explained. “Your kidnappers are statues.”

“Statues?” Nathan asked. “Someone tell me what the hell’s going on?”

Raphael opened his eyes and sighed. “Until today, they were statues. Marco must have awoken them.”

Nathan’s eyes widened with surprise. “How can he do that?”

“That’s what I want to know.” Raphael’s shoulders were stiff. “I didn’t know he remembered how to get into this room.”

“I think Marco is a cunning old man,” Jake said.

“Exactly how old are these men?” Kendall asked.

“Different ages when they were put to rest.”

“That means turned into statues,” Jake said.

Raphael nodded. “Yes,” he muttered, obviously displeased to find them no longer stone.

“What are we going to do with them?” Kendall asked.

“We can’t let them out in public,” Raphael said. “They will have to be acclimated until we can . . .”

“Can what?” Nathan asked.

The men were watching, their expressions suspicious. Raphael lowered his voice. “Attempt to restore the situation.”

“Does he mean put them back?” Jake said. “You can reverse the process?”

Apparently the men had excellent hearing even though they had spent the last many centuries as stone. They surrounded Raphael, protesting that they did not want to be restored as sentinels.

Raphael calmed the men down. “Wait here until we make sure the castle is ready to receive you. We have guests who may be shocked at your appearance. Times are different now.”

“Most assuredly. You allow whores among you?” a big blond asked.

“A whore?” Jake felt Nathan bristling beside him. “She is not a whore.”

The blond frowned. “Honorable women do not dress as such.”

The older man stepped forward, his face stiff. “You dare speak to her in that manner? Do you not recognize your queen?”

Jake grabbed Raphael’s sleeve. The guardian had changed from his Glastonbury sweats to his usual ninja robes. Raphael must have a closet filled with them, Jake thought. “Your queen? What the hell is he talking about?”

“They have been sleeping for a long time.” Raphael’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They are confused.”

“Bullshit. Who do they think Kendall is?” Jake nodded toward Nathan. “And why are they calling him ‘my lord’?”

“Are you ill, my brother?” the older man asked him.

Jake frowned. “Me? No.”

“Why would you ask such a thing? You of all men. Have you forgotten your king?”

The hair on Jake’s neck rose. “Raphael, you want to explain?”

The guardian looked as if he wanted to vanish through the wall. He pulled Kendall, Nathan, and Jake aside, farther away from the men. “They think he’s King Arthur and she’s Guinevere.”

Kendall let out a crazy laugh that ended on a squeak. “You’re kidding?”

“Raphael doesn’t kid,” Jake said.

“Bloody hell,” Nathan said.

“And Jake?” Kendall asked. “Who do they think he is?”

“Lancelot,” Raphael said. “They think he’s Lancelot.”

Jake met Kendall’s shocked gaze and knew she was also remembering the couple in the vision. And how she had called Jake Lancelot.

“This is insane,” Nathan said. “It’s some kind of trick.”

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Jake said. “When I lost my cross in the temple, I opened the tombs to see if one of the corpses had a cross. I figured if King Arthur was buried there, he might have one.” He stopped and pulled in a hard breath. “King Arthur wasn’t in the tomb. Nathan was in the first tomb, and Kendall and I in the other two.”

Nathan shook his head. “You must have been hallucinating. Some mind trick of the Protettori.”

“At first I thought it was really Nathan, that the Reaper had come back through the portal and killed him. Then I saw the clothes were different. And you . . .” Jake looked at Kendall. “The woman looked like you, but there were slight differences. I think it was the woman in the vision.”

“What vision?” Nathan asked.

“Kendall and I had a vision of a woman . . . and a man. She looked like Kendall.”

“I won’t ask what you were doing to have a vision together, but what does this have to do with King Arthur and Guinevere?”

“Kendall thought the man was Lancelot.”

Nathan’s eyes lightened a shade underneath his frown. “Whose tombs are those, Raphael?”

Raphael looked like he was wrestling with himself, and then he shook his head and sighed. “Arthur’s, Lancelot’s, and Guinevere’s.”

“So they really existed?” Nathan asked.

“Yes. Part of the legend is true.”

“What does this mean?” Kendall asked. “How do they look like us? Or we look like them? Are you saying we’re some kind of . . . reincarnation?”

“I don’t know,” Raphael said. “Not for certain.”

“Then tell us what you do know,” Jake said.

“It was foretold that King Arthur would return when the world needed him. Many still believe it today.”

“You’re saying Nathan is King Arthur?” Jake ran a tense hand through his hair. “Well hell.”

Raphael shrugged. “You saw the tombs for yourself.”

“I was hoping Nathan was right, and it was a mental booby trap designed to drive a person insane.”

“I knew Arthur. I knew all three of them,” Raphael said.

“And they looked like us?” Kendall asked.

“Very much,” Raphael said.

Kendall chewed on her lip, eyes narrowed in thought. “I saw King Arthur in a vision, and he reminded me of Nathan.”

Jake had seen King Arthur too. Twice. Each time, he had thought the same thing.

Kendall stopped chewing her lip and looked intrigued. “So King Arthur really was a king?”

Just like her to focus on the historical side of things and not that they were some kind of damned doppelgangers.

“Some recognized him as a king,” Raphael said.

Jake scratched his bristly jaw, which needed a shave. “If they think Nathan is King Arthur, it shouldn’t be hard to order them to stay here out of sight. Perks of being a doppelganger.”

“Doppelganger?” Nathan scowled. “You think we’re bloody doppelgangers?”

“Is it really any stranger than reincarnation, or any of the other crazy stuff we’ve seen?” Jake asked.

“Sounds odd coming from you,” Nathan said.

“Will all the men know King Arthur?” Kendall asked.

“No,” Raphael said. “But if they didn’t know him personally, they knew his name. They’re all old. That was part of their problem. They were bored. Living so long sometimes takes a toll.”

“If you knew I was Guinevere’s . . . double . . . doppelganger . . . whatever, why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her,” Raphael said. There was a strange timbre to his voice. “A very long time. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“We have to do something with them,” Nathan said. “They look like they’re ready for a mutiny.” The men were whispering and scowling. And the big blond was testing his sword.

Raphael nodded. “Ask them to wait here for further orders. Tell them they must rest so they can regain their strength.”

“Why don’t you tell them?” Nathan asked. “They must have known you.”

“They aren’t very fond of me,” the guardian said. “I’m the one who put them to rest.”

“Why is that a problem?” Nathan asked.

“It was against their will.”

Raphael tapped his dagger hilt against the wall to get everyone’s attention. Nathan stood tall before them and cleared his throat before repeating the message Raphael had given him.

The men nodded, and it was clear from their reactions that those who knew Arthur had loved their king. If he was their king. Jake still wasn’t sure who King Arthur really had been. A king? A knight? Just a member of the Protettori? As usual, Raphael hadn’t really answered anything.