The Lost Chalice (The Relic Seekers Book 3) (21 page)

“We’ll be at my hotel,” Nathan said, and he told Raphael the address.

“I’ll be there as soon as I find him,” Raphael said.

Kendall, Nathan, and Jake hurried past the sleeping guards and out the gate to the car. “That was too easy,” she said when she got inside.

“Don’t question it,” Nathan said. “We’ve been through a lot of strange things in the past week.”

The drive to the hotel should have been amazing. The lights of the city twinkled like jewels in the night, and old churches and cathedrals sparkled like diamonds. But architecture that normally would have engrossed Kendall for hours paled and became nondescript buildings. History that would have whispered to her, luring her with its tales of romance and grief, whizzed by in a blur.

Nathan and Jake questioned her about the Reaper. Kendall told them everything she remembered. “I only saw him for a few minutes when I was awake. It’s frightening how he changes his appearance.”

“Has to be mind control,” Jake said. “No way he can actually change his appearance from minute to minute.”

“We’ve witnessed a lot of impossible things,” Nathan said.

“He looked older,” Kendall said. “Drinking from the wrong chalice wounded him.”

“I wish it had killed him,” Jake said.

“I’m surprised he wasn’t angrier,” Nathan said. “You did trick him.”

“I’m sure he would have been if he didn’t need me,” Kendall said.

“He’ll be angry now,” Jake said. “You realize this is serious. You can’t go anywhere without us. He’ll be looking for you.”

“Is the hotel a good idea?” she asked. “I’m sure he knows about it. He probably knows everything about you.”

“We won’t be registered,” Nathan said. “We’ll sneak in.”

“You gonna break in to your own hotel?” Jake asked.

“No. You are.”

“Still doing your dirty work.”

“You’re good at it. I could get the manager to let us in, but I’d prefer no one know we’re there.”

“Won’t they figure it out?” Kendall asked.

“I have a suite that’s always available,” Nathan said. “I just don’t have the key. We’ll have to steal it or break in.”

“Let me check the lock. What about cameras?” Jake asked.

“No cameras,” Nathan said. “I don’t want everyone to know my business.”

“You don’t want your staff to see you sneaking women in,” Jake said.

Nathan frowned. “I think you’re confusing me with yourself.”

The room was on the top floor. After inspecting the lock, Jake declared it was a decent one, but it was probably easier to break in than slip down and take the key. Kendall and Nathan kept watch to make sure no one came up to the floor.

“Being rich does have it perks,” Jake said, when they’d gotten inside.

It was a suite of rooms, not terribly fancy but very comfortable. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bath.

“Let me guess,” Jake said. “I’m sharing a bed with Nathan.”

Nathan almost smiled. “Unless you want the floor.”

“I’d rather—” He stopped at Kendall’s warning glance.

“I call the bath,” she said. “I’m filthy, and my whole body aches.”

She took a hot bath, not as long as she would have liked since Nathan and Jake would need to take a turn. She tried not to think about how they would look soaped up and naked, but in spite of her attempts, a few images made it through. She finished and redressed in her old clothes and pulled her hair back in a tie. When she left the bathroom, Jake and Nathan were smiling.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you both smile at the same time. What’s so amusing?”

“We were talking about Fergus and the rogues,” Nathan said.

Kendall couldn’t help a smile herself. “He did look out of his element.”

“You dropped something.” Jake reached down and picked up the photo Kendall had put in her pocket. When he looked at it, his face went pale.

The woman hadn’t known the camera was focused on her. The expression on her face was fear. And then Jake remembered who she was.

He was afraid. She pulled at his hand, urging him to run faster. “Hurry, Jake. You have to hide.”

“But why?”

“I can’t explain now. There, behind those trees.” She helped him into the bushes and made him sit. “Don’t come out until he’s gone. Promise me.” Her hands were like ice on Jake’s face, but her touch was soft.

He nodded.

She bent and kissed his forehead, and then squeezed him tight. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mama.”

The voices were closer now. Jake’s mother looked over her shoulder and then looked at Jake again. Her eyes were glistening like they did when she cried. She didn’t like him to see her cry, but she cried a lot. Sometimes she cried when she watched him. Like her heart was broken. He knew she wasn’t mad at him. She loved him more than anybody in the world. But even though Jake was only four, he knew his mama had dark secrets.

“Jake?” Kendall’s brows were drawn as her hand touched his. “What’s wrong?”

“I remember her now.” Jake’s voice was a stunned whisper. “She’s my mother.”

“Your mother?” Kendall hadn’t had a chance to look at the picture, but now she recognized the woman she’d seen in Jake’s house. The same woman in the picture they’d found at Thomas’s town house. Maryanne. “I thought you didn’t remember your parents.”

“I didn’t. I only remembered her grave.”

“You remember her funeral?”

“No. Her murder. I was hiding. She made me hide. He was coming, and she said I couldn’t come out until he left. She made me promise. When I finally came out, she was dead.” Jake swallowed, his face pale. “When I saw her picture at Thomas’s town house, I knew she looked familiar, but I didn’t know who she was. I . . . I don’t think I wanted to.”

“That explains why she was in your house. She’s been watching over you.”

Nathan had walked up behind them. He wore a frown. “I guess this eliminates any doubt that you’re the Reaper’s son.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

W
HAT ARE YOU
thinking?” Kendall was sitting on the sofa in the hotel suite, watching Jake worry.

“You don’t know?” he asked. His tone was a little harsh.

The lines of his forehead were deep. She wanted to hold him and make him understand that he was all right, no matter who his father was, no matter who his mother was. “I don’t pry, you know that.”

“Maybe you should.” He looked weary. “Do you think you could tell . . .”

“If you’re the Reaper’s son? I didn’t sense it before when we were touching.” She gave Nathan an awkward glance and saw his face was tight. If Jake were the Reaper’s son, wouldn’t she have picked something up? They had been as close physically as two people can be, more than once. The only thing she’d sensed was the couple in the woods who may or may not have been Guinevere and Lancelot. “He may have just been obsessed with your mother. The room I was in looked like a memorial. And she was afraid. I could feel it.”

“I remember her fear.” Jake rubbed a hand over his eyes. “She tried to hide it, but I remember the fear in her eyes. And the sadness. She was so sad. She would hug me and whisper,
what have I done?
. . . Don’t look at me like that,” he said to Nathan who was sitting on a plush chair, his dark eyes fixed on Jake. “You know I’m not working with him. If he’s my father, I want no part of him. He killed my mother.”

“But I think he loved her,” Kendall said. “I sensed something in him when he had me in her room. He cared for her.”

“Lots of murderers care for their victims in a sick way,” Jake said.

“We can sort that out later,” she said. “Now we have to get the chalice.”

“Maybe you and I should go to your Aunt Edna’s alone,” Nathan said.

Jake turned on Nathan. “You’re gonna use this as a wedge between us. You just want her away from me.”

“Damn you both. Stop it!” Kendall yelled. “Nathan, you know Jake’s on our side.”

He looked slightly ashamed. “I don’t know anything right now. I’ll be watching you,” he said to Jake.

“Like you haven’t been already. I’ll be watching you too.”

“Damned pissing contest,” Kendall muttered. “Sometimes I think having a penis is detrimental to one’s mental health.”

Nathan’s phone rang. “It’s Hank.” Frustration crossed his face as he listened. “They can’t find Brandi.”

Brandi woke in a closet. After a moment, she realized it was Thomas’s closet, and when she remembered how she’d gotten there, she ran to the bathroom where she and Kendall had hidden. She wasn’t there. Brandi checked the entire town house and even the yard. She was alone. Had the Reaper taken the others? She was certain he was the one who’d knocked her out . . . with his mind. His dark eyes had locked on hers and sucked her mind dry, like a spider consuming a fly. She reached for her phone, throat tight. It wasn’t in her pocket. She ran back and checked the closet to see if it had fallen out, and then retraced her steps to the bathroom where she and Kendall had hidden, but the phone wasn’t anywhere. The Reaper must have taken it. She thought about his dark eyes, locking on hers, sucking the life from her soul, and for a moment she wanted to leave and forget about the Reaper and relics and all this craziness, forget she’d killed a man—even though he was evil and she’d only been protecting herself.

She was tired of the violence and danger, not knowing where she would sleep because she was so busy chasing clues, following Nathan, Jake, and Kendall, searching for these damned relics. She had become as obsessed with the Reaper as Thomas. Then she thought about her parents, their senseless deaths, the pain and loss she and Thomas had suffered, and how Thomas had died fighting this battle. She couldn’t run away and forsake him. She was going to see the Reaper dead and the relics destroyed if it killed her. But she couldn’t do it alone. The landline in the town house had been disconnected after Thomas had died, so there wasn’t a way to call the castle to warn them or get help. She ran to the nearest busy street and hailed a taxi.

“This is like being a prisoner,” Jake said, pacing the suite. “We can’t leave or even order food.”

“We can sleep,” Nathan said.

“You have all that adrenaline for fuel, but some of us need food.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the room,” Nathan said. “The Reaper must know by now that we broke into his château. I’m sure he knows everything about me, including that I own this hotel. He’ll look for us here.”

“I’m not going to sit here and starve to death while we wait for Raphael.”

“Don’t go, Jake.” Kendall put her hand on his chest. “It’s too dangerous.”

Jake pulled her close. “I do like it when you worry about me.” He smiled and kissed her hair.

It would have felt good if Nathan hadn’t been watching. She stepped away and Jake sighed. “He knows,” he whispered.

“I just don’t feel comfortable.”

His gray eyes were troubled. “Is that why?” His jaw set with determination. “I’m going to get food. I’ve gotten behind enemy lines more than once. Surely I can sneak into a snack shop.”

Jake left, and Kendall turned to Nathan. He was studying the picture with a frown. “Don’t tell me you recognize her too?”

“No, but I recognize the cup behind her.” Nathan handed Kendall the picture.

They had been so focused on the woman that they hadn’t noticed the objects in the photo. “It’s the chalice in the painting. I wonder if she knew it was the Holy Grail?”

“So much power in something so plain.” Nathan grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Headache?” She was surprised he hadn’t had another episode.

“Yeah. These bloody memories are splitting my head apart.”

Kendall put the picture down and moved behind Nathan. She started massaging his shoulders. They were tight. “Maybe you should stop trying to remember.”

“I can’t. I need to know.”

“But I don’t want you . . . hurt. I would rather have you not remember the past.”
Not remember us
. “If that’s what it takes to make you well.”

Nathan turned, his eyes warm as he brushed back Kendall’s hair. “I need to remember you. Everything about you, not just the pieces.” He smiled, a soft smile that tugged at her soul. “He’s a lucky man.”

Jake walked in as if he’d heard them talking. He paused, eyes narrowed as he saw them standing close. He was holding three bottles of water, and his pockets were full. “We won’t starve.”

“Did you see anyone suspicious?” Nathan asked.

“No.” Jake put the food down. “If we’re lucky, he won’t figure out we’re here.”

They ate their stash from the vending machine and went to bed. As soon as Raphael arrived with Marco, they would have to leave. It wasn’t safe to stay any longer than necessary.

Jake ended up sleeping on the couch. Kendall heard him moving around after Nathan had gone to bed. She knew he wanted to come to her bed, but it didn’t feel right with Nathan there. They needed sleep anyway, and she and Jake in bed together would probably end up in sex.

Today was her birthday. Adam held his gift carefully, smiling as he imagined Kendall opening it. Bea, the housekeeper, was the one who’d wrapped the present. She was the only person on the staff who he felt comfortable with. She was kind, always trying to make him eat, and fussing at his father, and Kendall’s, for traveling so much. A boy needed to be home where he could play, she said. Bea loved Kendall too. Kendall didn’t have a grandmother either. Adam saw Bea watching him and Kendall sometimes and her eyes looked sad.

“You need to make the gift look nice,” Bea had said. “Kendall’s turning into a young lady now.”

Adam had grinned. “Kendall, a lady?” She could run almost as fast as him. She was tougher than most boys he knew. Then he remembered that he really didn’t know any boys.

Adam felt his smile growing goofier as he walked to the table Bea had prepared with girly ribbons and balloons. It was only the four of them, and the staff. Adam and Kendall didn’t have other close friends.

Adam put his gift with the others. Kendall was smiling, happy. Her father hadn’t expected to make it back in time for the party. He’d had to stay behind and finish up some things on the dig. But he had rushed back. His gift was the first she opened. It was a new pair of boots and a cool backpack loaded with clothes and things to pull back her hair. Maybe Bea was right about her becoming a lady. Usually Kendall just used rubber bands.

Her Aunt Edna had sent some bracelets and a diary. Adam smiled and handed Kendall his gift. She tore off the paper and looked at the box.

“Open it,” Adam said.

Kendall opened it, and her eyes widened like green marbles. “Wow.”

“Where did you get that?” Adam’s father demanded.

Kendall looked startled.

“I found it in your study,” Adam said. “In a crate. The cup wasn’t fancy, and it had a nick on the top, so I didn’t think you would mind since it wasn’t on the shelf.”

“Kendall, give John the cup,” her father said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said. He’d wanted the gift to be special, but all he’d done was embarrass her.

His father’s face relaxed a bit. “I understand, but you must ask before you take any of my things.”

“Here, Uncle John.” Kendall handed him the box.

“I’m sorry, Kendall. It’s very old. Let’s go find you something else. Come along. You too, Adam.”

Adam pressed his lips together and shook his head. His father spent almost every waking minute building his collection. He spent more time with those old things than he did with his own son. He could give up one stupid relic for a little girl who was almost like a daughter.

Kendall’s father left, muttering that he had something to do. When Adam’s father and Kendall came back, she held up a turquoise necklace. “Look. This is the one we found in New Mexico.”

He and Kendall had both been there when their fathers discovered the Pueblo dwelling.

“I’m going to find a mirror,” Kendall said and ran off.

Adam watched her go but didn’t follow.

“You’re angry,” his father said.

Adam hunched his shoulders. “You care more about your bloody artifacts than you do me.”

A strange look came over his father’s face. “That’s not true.”

“You spend more time with them.”

His father rubbed his hands over his face and for a moment, he looked old. “You must know that I love you more than anyone. You’re all I have left. But you’re always busy with Kendall. I thought you were happy hanging out with her. I know she’s younger, but she’s always been your best friend.”

“She’s my only friend. No other kids live in the deserts and jungles. Her father spends more time looking for relics than he does with her too. We don’t have anything but each other.”

“I thought you liked this life. You said it was like a treasure hunt.”

It was, but sometimes he missed normal things that other boys his age did. Baseball, football, girls.

“Bloody hell.”

Kendall was awoken from her sleep by Nathan’s cry. She jumped up and ran from her room. The couch was empty, so she hurried toward Nathan’s room, half expecting to see him and Jake fighting the Reaper’s men. She bumped into Nathan, just inside his door.

“Are you OK?”

“Better than OK.” He smiled and grabbed her in a hug.

Startled, she put her arms around his waist and returned the hug. He leaned back and his eyes locked on her mouth. Still smiling, he lowered his head and gave her a quick kiss. He lifted his head slightly, lips still hovering over hers, and then kissed her again, this time not as quick. His hands cradled her face, and the kiss became more demanding. The sensations caught her breath. His body pressed closer, hands sliding down her back to her hips, pulling her tighter against him until she felt like she was coming out of her skin. Her head started to swim and she felt the room change.

The heavy fabric of her gown brushed her legs. His hands were firm on her back, working the catch of her gown. He had been waiting for this all day. She had seen the longing in his eyes, felt it in his touch, the casual stroke of a finger along the inside of her wrist as she handed him a cup of wine. She let him pull her closer and his mouth teased hers. His lips were sweet from the honey he’d eaten earlier. His hips pressed closer, and she felt the promise there. There was a fleeting moment of guilt as she envisioned another face and another set of lips, just as dear. She brushed the feeling aside and let herself revel in the warmth of her lover. Her champion. Her husband. Her king.

A presence crashed into her like a gale, and Kendall knew Jake had entered the room. By the time she disentangled herself, she heard Nathan’s bedroom door close. Kendall’s head was spinning. She wasn’t sure where she was. But she knew who had left the room.

Oh, Jake.