Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers) (37 page)

“You are strong willed. And wise. The water is deadly unless drunk from a holy vessel.” He patted the chalice, and Kendall hoped like hell that it wasn’t holy.

“You were testing me?”

He smiled, his face changing without ever changing. It must be some kind of mind control, she thought.

“Perhaps.” He stood and walked up the path to the bowl of light. “This is the strongest source. The light and the water.” He dipped the chalice in the water and held it up.

Kendall wondered if it was possible to drown someone in the Fountain of Youth. He was too powerful for her. He would kill her and she knew, without vanity, that that would kill Nathan and Jake. So she waited, hoping her vision proved true.

The Reaper turned and looked at her. “I would ask you to join me, but I know you won’t.” He looked wistful, and she felt the sense of familiarity again.

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

He nodded and lifted the cup. “To the past and the future.” He put the chalice to his mouth and drank.

Kendall quickly hurried up the steps. She didn’t know exactly what would happen if her vision proved true.

The Reaper closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He frowned and touched his stomach. “What have you done?” He bent over and groaned. “No.” His body twitched. “No!”

“Run, Kendall. Get away from him,” Nathan yelled. He was struggling hard to get free, as was Jake.

“Get out of here,” Jake yelled. “Run into the cave.”

The Reaper came up the steps toward Kendall. “You’ve deceived me,” he said, looking at his hands, which already looked older. He let out a terrible cry and lifted his hands toward Nathan, Jake, and Brandi.

“No!” Kendall threw out her hands, and the Reaper flew backward. He lay on his back, staring at her, stunned.

Kendall looked at her hands. What had just happened?

The Reaper sat up, his face almost recognizable in his shock. Then his features shifted again. “I didn’t expect that. I think you didn’t either.” He looked older than he had when they arrived, but his eyes were still powerful. He glanced at the wall where Nathan and Jake yanked at their invisible bonds. He began moving slowly toward her.

Kendall wiggled her fingers, wondering if she could make the thing happen again. She didn’t have to try. Before the Reaper reached her, something dark flew across the room and moved between them. Raphael.

He was dressed in his dark robes again. His hair was pulled back, and two braids hung on either side of his tense face. His eyes were glowing like Nathan’s.

“My old friend,” the Reaper said. “I wondered when you would show up.” He took a slow step backward and studied Raphael. “I have missed you. I would hope that you’ve reconsidered my offer, but the anger in your eyes tells me no.”

“The answer will always be no. You betrayed us all, especially me,” Raphael said.

“I have made mistakes,” the Reaper said. “Many mistakes. It would be useless to explain the reasons to you now.”

“You’ve destroyed the order, forsaken sacred vows.”

“I did not intend to destroy the order. I’m quite fond of it, in fact, and quite fond of you, my brother, but it was necessary.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” Raphael said, “but you leave me no choice.”

“Nor I you,” the Reaper said, his eyes sad. He stretched out his hands, and Kendall felt a vibration under her feet as the air surrounding the Reaper thickened like a mist.

Raphael ran toward the Reaper and grabbed hold of him. Both of them disappeared.

Kendall heard thuds and saw Nathan, Jake, Marco, and Brandi getting up from the floor.

“Where did they go?” Kendall asked.

“I don’t know,” Marco said, looking at the spot from which the Reaper and Raphael had disappeared. “It could be good. Or very bad.”

Nathan and Jake hurried over to Kendall. Jake pulled her into his arms. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Kendall hugged him back. She’d almost lost him. And Nathan. Nathan stood beside them, his expression blank. She reached for his hand. Nathan took hers but kept his distance. Kendall stepped out of Jake’s arms and faced Nathan. She studied his dark eyes, somber, not laughing, hair short, not wild and carefree as it had been then. Tears welled in her eyes. Nathan’s jaw clenched, and for the first time since she had known him, she saw something in his mind. Herself… as a young girl.

She wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve missed you, Adam.” Tears slid down her cheeks as he slowly put his arms around her. She laid her head against his chest and listened to his heart thumping. Alive. Adam was alive.

“I don’t know if I am Adam,” he said quietly, arms tightening around her shoulders.

“I do.” She leaned back. “What does this mean?” She placed her open hand over her heart.

“Trust me,” Nathan said.

“Only Adam would know that.” She smiled and felt another rush of tears. “I can’t believe I found you again. Or you found me.” She wiped her tears and glanced over at Jake. “I found Adam.”

Jake’s face looked like a mask. She knew that in his mind Adam would be a threat to this thing between them. She didn’t know how, but she was sure there was room for both men in her life. In fact, she couldn’t imagine not having both of them around. The details would have to be sorted out later. For now, they were both alive. Kendall stepped out of Nathan’s arms but held on to his hand. She reached for Jake’s and squeezed it.

“So this isn’t the Holy Grail,” Brandi said, picking up the fallen chalice from the bottom of the steps.

“Trust her to go straight for the relic,” Jake said.

Brandi’s words brought them back to the present. Kendall wiped her eyes again. “No.”

“You sensed it?” Brandi asked.

Kendall nodded. “I saw a vision of him aging.”

“You’re the real deal,” Brandi said.

“You were very smart to trick him,” Marco said. “Drinking from the wrong chalice has aged him, made him weaker, perhaps enough for Raphael to destroy him.”

Brandi shook her head. “This is some seriously crazy crap. What are you? What is Nathan?” She looked at Jake and wiggled her fingers. “Do you have weird talents too?”

“No. Just guns.”

“I think I’ll get one myself. All I have is my brother’s knife.” A look of sadness crossed her face.

“You saved us,” Nathan said to Kendall. “The Reaper would have killed us all if you hadn’t stopped him.”

“Arthur would be proud,” Marco said.

“Who is Arthur?” Kendall asked.

“King Arthur. He was the first guardian.”

“King Arthur was one of the Protettori?” Kendall asked.

“He was. As were many of his knights. That’s why they searched for the Holy Grail. To protect it. And they still do.”

“The black knight and the ghosts in the cave,” Kendall said. “They
were
knights.”

Nathan ran a hand over his head. “Bloody hell.”

“I knew he must be connected when he told me to find the chalice. Obviously not this chalice.”

“Not this one,” Marco said. “But there is another one, the real chalice. We must keep it from the Reaper.”

“Let’s hope he’s dead,” Jake said.

“He’ll be very difficult to kill,” Marco said.

“Kendall knocked him on his ass,” Jake said. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Kendall said. “It just happened.”

Marco’s eyes looked bright as he studied Kendall. “I knew you were strong, but I didn’t expect this from you. Perhaps from Adam, since he’s the one who took the vow.”

“Adam didn’t take the vow,” Kendall said. “I did. Adam tried to stop me.”

Marco looked puzzled. “He said he had done it.”

“Adam was trying to keep me from getting in trouble. He always looked out for me.” Kendall looked at Nathan. “Do you remember that?”

“I remember seeing the statues and the castle. I don’t remember any vow.”

Marco looked at Kendall and his face brightened. “If you took the vow, then you’re the one.”

“I’m the what?” Kendall asked.

“The new Keeper.”

“Keeper?”

“Of the relics.”

Y
OU MEAN SHE
’
S
one of the Protettori?” Jake asked.

“Yes. She took the vow to protect the relics. I knew the Keeper would come again, when it was time, but I thought it would be Adam.”

“Adam was there too. He got caught in the light,” Kendall said, looking at Nathan. “I thought I caused his death. You said the vow couldn’t be taken lightly.”

“The others were angry. He would have died, but I knew it was destined. That’s why I sent Adam away to be protected.”

“Does that mean I should have died too?” Kendall asked.

“Perhaps.” Marco’s blue eyes met Kendall’s, and she knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Not all of it anyway.

“Marco, am I Adam?” Nathan asked.

Marco smiled. “It’s not for me to say.” Claiming he needed rest, although he seemed to have more energy than Kendall had seen before, he asked Brandi to help him. His cross got them both safely past the statues.

Things were awkward with just Kendall, Nathan, and Jake there. They were quiet at first, each of them grappling with the events of the night and the discovery, or doubt, that Nathan was
Adam. Slowly, as in the way that the present always supersedes the past, their relationships fell back into place as they explored the temple. It was an astonishing place. They found seven statues, placed at intervals along the edges of the room. Kendall studied each one, wondering who was inside the stone, who the guardian had been before becoming a sentinel. She touched several of them and saw glimpses of lives lived and lost. The sensations were so strong they could have been overwhelming, but they weren’t. She felt calm. Controlled. Then they made another astonishing discovery. In a small room behind an ornate, iron door they found three marble tombs.

“No names,” Jake said, running his hand over the middle tomb. “Who do you think is in there?”

“I think we’ve found King Arthur and Guinevere,” Kendall said.

“So the monks hid the bodies,” Nathan said. “What about the third tomb?”

Kendall touched the cold marble and felt an ache in her heart. “One of the other knights? I don’t know.”

“Something about this place is eerie,” Jake said. “Let’s get back to the fountain.”

Nathan frowned, his expression troubled. “Yeah. Let’s leave them in peace.”

Afterward, Kendall, Nathan, and Jake sat on the steps, staring at the Fountain of Youth.

“The red stream looks like the Chalice Well,” Jake said.

“I think it’s a combination of both the Chalice Well and the White Spring,” Kendall said. “Two sources, both powerful.”

Jake looked at Nathan. “You thinking about taking a swim?”

“Tempting,” Nathan said.

“Don’t risk it. We don’t know how the fountain works,” Kendall said. “The Reaper said it’s deadly to drink from anything
but a holy vessel. I saw a cup and a vial in the castle, in the room with the mural. The Protettori drink water from the fountain in a ceremony. I don’t know if getting in the water would work.”

“I guess the question is, would it hurt?” Jake said. “The Protettori do like traps. Look what happened when the Reaper drank from the wrong cup. He’s going to be pissed.”

“Pissed, or intrigued,” Nathan said. “Neither one is a good prospect for Kendall.”

“I don’t like how he looked at her,” Jake said. “If he isn’t dead, he’s going to come for her.”

“You have to stay at the mansion where we can protect you,” Nathan said.

“If I’m a Keeper, you two have to stop giving orders,” Kendall said.

“Just because you’re part of the Protettori doesn’t mean someone can’t hurt you,” Jake said. “Even with that superpower thing you did to the Reaper. I doubt you have any control over it any more than Nathan does. Hell, I feel like the nerd here. I’m the only one without any superpowers.”

Kendall patted Jake’s leg. “You have guns and two of the best fists I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s not much compared to the Hulk here, and you, what are you, Wonder Woman?”

“Don’t pout,” Kendall said. “Who knows, you might have some kind of superpower too. I had no idea I could do anything like that. I think I’m going to have to try to read Marco. There are still a lot of loose ends to figure out. He isn’t telling us everything. Raphael is hiding something too.”

“What are we gonna do about Brandi? She’s determined to destroy the relics, and now she knows where the Fountain of Youth is.” Nathan scratched his chin, shadowed with two days’
growth of beard. Kendall still couldn’t grasp that he was Adam. After she had spent a lifetime being haunted by him, missing him every day, feeling like a piece of her soul was missing, that she had failed him, now he was here. Alive.

“She’s probably plotting a way to blow up the temple as we speak,” Jake said. “She knows too much.”

“We’re not killing her,” Kendall said.

“I didn’t say we should,” Jake said. “But you know she’ll try to destroy the relics. She’s not going to care that you’re the Keeper.”

“If Raphael kills the Reaper, Brandi won’t need the relics,” Kendall said.

“I don’t think the Reaper is dead,” Nathan said. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”