Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers) (10 page)

“I know about the girls,” Nathan said. “How many of them were there?”

’Course he would know. “Ten.” He still remembered their terrified eyes and their screams.

“You got them out.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Not all of them.”

“Most of them. Maybe that was why I rescued you,” Nathan said. “You ever think of that?”

“No.”

“I’m not a monster. Not yet,” he muttered.

“I never said you were a monster.”

“What do you think I am?” Nathan sounded oddly unsure.

“I’m hoping you’re a mad scientist.”

That made Nathan laugh. Jake didn’t think he’d ever heard Nathan laugh.

“That’s good?” Nathan asked.

“Better than a vampire or a werewolf. You do have the glowing eyes.”

“Why a mad scientist?”

“You have some serious adrenaline issues. I know it’s adrenaline that controls whatever happens to you. Like when you thought Kendall was dying in that coffin and when she was attacked at the castle. I’ve seen a rush of adrenaline give a man strength, but I’ve never seen it change his eyes. You must be experimenting with
drugs to create superhuman strength. What’d you do? Use it on yourself?”

“It’s a long story,” Nathan said. “But I’m not the Reaper, a mad scientist, or a vampire.”

“You didn’t rule out werewolf.”

“I’m not a bloody werewolf.”

“I’d feel better if you sounded sure.” They hurried toward the garden Raphael had reluctantly shown Jake when he and Kendall first arrived. There was no sign of her here. “Knowing Kendall, she’s gone inside the maze.” They called her name, but she didn’t answer.

“Guess we’re going in,” Nathan said.

The maze was eerie in the moonlight. Quiet as a mausoleum. Jake didn’t like the feeling in his gut. They searched the maze for several minutes, splitting up and going down one turn after another as they called her name. Their voices sounded strange, as if they were in a larger, quieter place than the maze, and the feeling in Jake’s gut worsened. They met back in the center. “I don’t think she’s here,” Jake said.

“We didn’t try this one,” Nathan said, pointing to one of the turns.

They followed it, the sounds of their voices still falling like dampness in a deep forest. Jake’s head began to feel heavy, and his whole body felt as if he’d walked through a wall of metal cobwebs and then floated away in pieces. “Damn, I feel strange.”

“Me too,” Nathan said, but his voice sounded like it was floating above the maze; then the ground disappeared from under Jake’s feet.

T
HE NEXT THING
Jake knew, he was lying on his back. “What the hell?” He tried to stand, but his head and body still felt disconnected. Managing to get to his feet, he saw Nathan was also rising and his eyes were pale. “Whoa.” Jake took a step back, but Nathan had bent over and was pulling in long breaths.

“Breathe through it.” Jake kept his voice low.

When Nathan straightened, his eyes were normal. “Where the hell are we, and what’s wrong with my head? I feel like I’m going to black out.”

“Guess we found a booby trap,” Jake said. He aimed his light around the space.

“We fell for a good ten seconds. The impact should have killed us.”

“What impact?” Jake asked. “I didn’t feel anything except this sensation of coming apart. Maybe we’re trapped in one of Kendall’s visions. They feel kind of like this.”

“How do you know what her visions are like?” Nathan asked.

“I shared one with her. Not something I’ll forget.”

“What were you doing?” Nathan asked.

“Not what you think.” It took them both a minute to get oriented. Then they examined the dark space.

“We’re underground,” Nathan said. “We must be underneath the maze. Looks like a cave.”

“Where’d we fall from?” Jake asked, looking at the ceiling above them. “I don’t see any holes or doors.”

“Look at these markings on the walls.”

“Circles, of course. The Protettori love those damned circles.” They checked the area thoroughly but couldn’t find any sign of where they’d fallen from.

“If it’s a hidden door, they’ve hidden it well,” Nathan said.

Jake aimed his light farther into the cave. “We’ll have to find another way out. I guess we’d better start walking.”

The cave was large in places, smaller in others, but the floor wasn’t uneven as might be expected. It was smooth, as if it had been leveled.

“When did you share one of Kendall’s visions?” Nathan asked after a few minutes.

“At the castle. She touched Raphael’s body to see if she could sense anything, and I was touching her.”

“What did you see?”

“Warriors, swords, shields. I think Marco’s right about Raphael. He’s not as young as he looks. You had a lot of balls to take him prisoner. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to keep him locked up in my dungeon. But then I can’t do the glowing eyes thing.”

“Stop calling it a damned dungeon,” Nathan said. “I didn’t have a choice. I need answers. Raphael has them.”

“You want to know why he’s not dead. I’d like to know myself, because he was dead as sure as I’m alive.”

“I took him because we need the relics. Raphael must know where they are. Marco’s memory isn’t reliable.”

“
You
need the relics. What you haven’t explained is why you’re so desperate to find them. And it’s not to add to your collection, or even to protect them from the Reaper. You want them for another reason.” Jake grabbed his shoulder. “What’d you do that for?”

“Do what?”

“You poked my shoulder.”

“Not me,” Nathan said. “Must have been a rock falling or bat droppings.”

“What does a billionaire know about bat shit?” Jake asked.

“I could write a book on the stuff.” Nathan grew quiet, as if his words had surprised him. They walked for a few minutes without talking. “What was that?” Nathan asked, sounding irritated.

“What was what?”

“You hit me.”

“Wasn’t me,” Jake said. “If I had hit you, you wouldn’t be standing.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Bat shit? Speaking of hitting, what were you and Fergus fighting about at the mansion?”

“What do you mean?” Nathan asked.

“Fergus looked like he wanted to hit you when Kendall and I got there.”

“He was afraid I was trying to wake Marco. You’d think Marco was his father. They’re both acting weird.”

“Marco must be rubbing off on him,” Jake said.

“They’re up to something. They’re always whispering like they’re conspiring. It’s starting to piss me off.”

“Sucks to be out of the loop, doesn’t it?” Jake said.

“Shut up and look for Kendall. She could have fallen down this hole too.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” The farther they went in the cave, the more tired Jake felt, and more anxious. “I don’t like this cave.”

Nathan flashed his light behind them and into the encroaching darkness. “You get the feeling we’re not alone?”

He hadn’t wanted to mention it, thinking it might be his foggy brain. “Yeah. I was hoping it was your lousy company. Probably trolls or giants with one eye.” The Fountain of Youth wasn’t looking as farfetched now.

“I hear something,” Nathan said.

Jake listened, and then he heard a faint humming sound. “That’s what the statues sound like. We must be under them.”

Nathan touched his head. “Hell, I feel like shit. Maybe it’s the statues. You walked past them. Did they make you feel strange?”

“Yes, but not like this. I feel like I could sleep standing up. It almost feels like there’s not enough oxygen.” Maybe that explained the prickle crawling up Jake’s back. But he didn’t think so.

Nathan stopped, head tilted. Shadows from the flashlight made him look frightening. He sniffed the air. “I smell blood.”

“Blood?” Jake’s heart thudded.

“It’s Kendall.”

Jake was thinking about what Raphael might do when he found Kendall, when they heard the scream. Jake saw the change happen. Nathan’s body jerked as if he’d been hit in the stomach. When he straightened, he looked bigger. Jake didn’t need to see Nathan’s eyes to know they had changed to amber. Nathan took off running with Jake on his heels.

Jake knew from experience that he couldn’t keep up, but that didn’t stop him from trying. In seconds, Nathan moved ahead. Jake was starting to believe Kendall might be right about otherworldly creatures. Whatever was happening to Nathan didn’t feel like an experiment in a lab. Jake’s flashlight showed something pale against the blackness of the cave. Clothing. Blond hair. Kendall!

A black shadow hovered over her. It appeared shapeless, just a black mass, but when they got closer, it vanished. Nathan reached her first. When Jake got there, Nathan was checking her pulse.

“She’s alive, but unconscious.”

Jake knelt beside him. “What the hell was that shadow?”

“I don’t know, but we have to get her out of here. Kendall, can you hear me?”

“I’ll carry her,” Jake said.

“I’ll do it. I’m stronger.”

“Only in Hulk mode. I’ll take her first. You watch out for whatever that black thing was. I have a feeling your talents might be more suited for fighting it.”

Jake picked Kendall up in his arms. Her head fell against his chest. “We’ll have to keep going ahead.” Jake carried her while Nathan kept watch. He was feeling so weak, he was about to see if Nathan wanted to switch, when Kendall roused in his arms. “She’s waking up.” He stopped and sat down, cradling her on his lap. Nathan bent down in front of them and brushed back her hair.

Kendall woke up with a yell and punched Nathan in the stomach. He grunted and Kendall leapt to her feet. Jake jumped up and grabbed her. “Kendall, it’s us. Jake and Nathan.”

“Jake? Nathan?” She glanced at Nathan, hunched over, trying to get his breath. “Oh my God.” She hurried back to him. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were… What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you?” Jake said, since Nathan was still wheezing.

Nathan rubbed his stomach. “Bloody hell. You hit hard.”

“I’m so sorry. There was something hovering over me.”

“We saw it. It vanished when we got close. One of your ghosts?” Jake asked.

“I think it was something else.”

“What?” Jake asked. “Fairies, dragons?”

“I don’t know, but it was powerful.”

“Did it hurt you?” Nathan asked. His eyes flared but didn’t start glowing.

“I don’t think so. I blacked out, so I’m not sure. My head feels strange.” Like a sponge that had been squeezed dry.

“You’re bleeding,” Nathan said, shining his light on her wrist.

“I am?” She looked down at her arm and saw a small gash. “I must have cut it when I fell.” She didn’t recall hitting her arm, but she remembered it stinging.

“It’s not deep,” Nathan said, examining it. “Just a scratch.” The warmth of his hand on her arm made her realize how cold she was.

“Looks like it was cut with a knife,” Jake said, squatting beside her.

Nathan nodded. They both gave her a thorough inspection, running their flashlights over her, inquiring about scrapes and even old scars she’d had since she was a kid, until she felt like she’d had a physical. She kept glancing over her shoulder.

“What’s that?” Nathan asked, frowning. Her pajamas had a small tear, revealing the ridge of an old scar on her thigh.

She didn’t know how her pajamas had torn. It must have also happened when she fell. “I got that in Egypt when I was a kid. I fell into a tomb.”

She’d been with Adam. Adam. Now she knew it was her fault he had died, her fault her father and Uncle John had died. Marco said breaching the sacred chamber could cause a curse of death.
She was the one who had trespassed. Adam had tried to stop her, but she hadn’t listened. He had looked out for her for years, and she had repaid him with a curse.

The events leading up to the childhood incident in the chapel were vivid, but the events afterward were vague. She recalled several men in robes whispering, their voices angry. Then another man leading them to a tunnel… to the railcars. They’d left the castle by the railcars. She remembered being sleepy. Even with all the excitement, it had been hard to stay awake. The events after they left the castle were even cloudier. Adam was there. She remembered him asking for his father, but he hadn’t returned from his trip. Her father had been nervous, afraid. That was all she remembered until she woke at Aunt Edna’s and was told that they were all dead.

She realized Nathan was still staring at the scar, but he didn’t move his hand. “Egypt.” He seemed disturbed by the scar. Was that some kind of sign that he could be Adam? They’d spent a lot of time in Egypt.

“A little to the right and you’ll be at third base,” Jake said.

Nathan jerked his hand back. “Her pajamas look like they’ve been cut as well.”

Now wasn’t the time to solve the mystery about Adam. She needed to get out of here, or she was going to embarrass herself and collapse. “Did you find a way back to the maze?”

Jake shook his head. “We couldn’t find any openings or hidden catches. We figured there must be another way out. We need to get moving in case that shadow thing comes back.”

“Kendall looks pale,” Nathan said. “Maybe we should rest.”