Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) (29 page)

“No, I’m sorry.”

He sighed and sat on the bed, as if his legs had given out. “No one does.”

“How do I know you?” Kendall asked.

He smiled and measured chest high with his hand. “You were this big when you came to the castle.”

“You’re from the castle...Were you singing?”

“I like to sing.”

“I don’t remember being at the castle before.” Or did she? She had seen the castle and the statues in her vision. Maybe it wasn’t a vision but a memory.

“You weren’t supposed to be. Women aren’t allowed.”

“But someone gave birth there. In the tower room.”

“There was one before you, but we don’t speak of her.”

“What was she doing there?”

Marco frowned. “She wanted the treasure, but she fell in love. She became with child. He didn’t know and sent her away. She grew ill—she was dying—so she came back to the castle to tell him so that he could protect the child. He kept the secret from the others. The same as I did for him.”

“Him?” Kendall asked, confused.

Marco blinked. He appeared to be confused as well. “She gave birth there and died.”

“What happened to the child?”

“I don’t know.”

The secret. Was this what the scrap of letter referred to? “Why was I at the castle?”

“Your father had business there. You wandered away and found our sacred place. Your father was angry,” Marco said, shaking his finger, “and rightfully so. It was a serious matter. Could even bring a curse of death.”

“What could bring death?”

“Taking the vow. It isn’t a game.”

Kendall felt her legs sinking under her. The voices of the boy and girl came back to her, the whispered words as light emerged from the stones, swallowing her and Adam.

“Kendall?” Jake crouched in front of her where she sat on the bed.

“I just remembered something.” They had been in Egypt when she and Adam noticed their fathers’ increasingly strange behavior. There were secret conversations and the relationship seemed strained. When she asked her father what was wrong, he told her they had to go to Italy to clear up a problem. Adam was disappointed that they were leaving Egypt, because he thought he’d found a hidden tomb in a cliff. Other than the statues, she couldn’t remember anything of the visit except for Adam, the stones, and a bright light.

“What happened after that?” she asked Marco.

“Everyone was upset. The penalty for breaching the sacred chamber is harsh. I worried what the others might do. I helped your father take you away in the middle of the night.”

Adam died right after they visited the castle. So did her father. And Adam’s father. Had some kind of curse killed the people she loved? Then why was she still alive? “Why can’t I remember?”

“We made you forget. But I believe the memories are coming back. It will be OK now. It will be saved.”

“What will be saved?”

“The spear.” He leaned forward.

“Spear?” Jake asked.

Marco frowned, as if they should know. “The Spear of Destiny.”

“Then it
is
real,” Kendall said.

“But of course.”

“How do you have the real spear?” Kendall asked.

“We switched them.”

“When?” Jake asked.

“A long time ago.”

“Wasn’t that dangerous?” Kendall asked.

“Yes, but it had to be done. Evil men can’t be allowed to find these powerful relics.”

“There’s more than one of these relics?” Jake asked.

“There are many, but these four, they are the most powerful. They must be kept apart.”

“Why?” Kendall asked.

“If someone possessed all four there would be no limit to their power.”

“Where are the relics?” Jake asked.

“We have them hidden.” Marco’s eyes dimmed. “There used to be many of us, but there was an attack after you left. Evil tried to destroy us.” He frowned. “So much blood and death. But the relics are safe.”

The door rattled again and Fergus appeared, his expression alarmed. Two guards stood behind him. “Marco, you mustn’t be here.”

“I was reacquainting myself with the girl.”

“You must come with me, please.”

“Then I will say good-bye.” He took Kendall’s hand and leaned in close. “I’ll come back,” he whispered. When he stepped away, there was a twinkle in his eye, and Kendall had a flash of a young boy with black hair and an impish grin. “Good-bye.” The
old man started humming a song as Fergus ushered him out the door.

Jake shook his head. “If he’s telling the truth, why reveal all this? What about their secrets? We could be evil.”

“He knows we’re not,” Kendall said.

“I think Marco’s missing a few marbles.”

“He does seem to come and go. Probably Alzheimer’s.”

“This just gets stranger. Nathan sends us to this castle to find the Spear of Destiny and now we find out you were there as a child but don’t remember it.”

“How is it possible that they could block my memories?”

“How is it possible that you can look into someone’s eyes or touch an object and read secrets?”

Kendall sighed. “Do you think Nathan knew I’d been there before?”

“Seems a big coincidence if he didn’t.”

The door opened and five guards came to take Jake away. Even though he was outnumbered and outgunned, they watched him like a fox in a henhouse. They didn’t tell Kendall where they were taking him. He paused at the door, pulling free long enough to look back at her. He didn’t speak, but the promise in his eyes said he would come back.

Other than the dim light coming from the window in the door, it was dark when Kendall heard the rattle. She lay still and watched the sliver of light expand as the door opened. Had Jake escaped? A shadow moved toward her and she didn’t know whether to welcome it or scream. A candle flared, and she saw the old man. Kendall sat up as he approached the cot, wondering if Nathan knew Marco was moving in and out of the rooms like Houdini.

Marco stared at her face in the flickering light. “There is something I need to tell you.”

“What?”

“Something important.” He frowned. “I can’t seem to remember. It came to me in a dream and I hurried here before I forgot. My memory isn’t what it used to be,” he said, waving a gnarled finger in vague circles. “Something about the vow, perhaps.” Sighing, he rose. “I’ll sleep on it, and when I remember, I will come back.”

“Wait. Tell me more about what my father was doing at the castle. You said he had business there.”

“It concerned the relics. Ah yes, I remember now why I came. I wanted to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For what we did to your father and to you. Our society is ancient and traditions can be unforgiving.”

Why apologize for sending them away? Considering the Protettori were a society that didn’t allow women on the premises and the penalty for trespassing on sacred grounds could have been death, Marco’s actions probably saved them. “Tell me about the society...”

Footsteps sounded in the distance. The old man scurried toward the door with a speed that defied his age. “I must hurry before he comes.” He inserted a key in the lock and was out the door before Kendall could get within reach.

A few seconds later, the door rattled again. It opened and this time Fergus appeared with a tray. There weren’t any guards. Kendall considered jumping him. If it were Nathan she would have, but she couldn’t bring herself to attack Fergus.

He set down the tray and flipped a light switch on the wall. “Here you are, Miss Kendall.” The tray held a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of iced tea. Her favorites.

“Why is he doing this, Fergus? He
kidnapped
us? That’s insane.”

“I don’t agree with his methods, but he had good reasons.” Fergus placed a newspaper beside the tray. “Very good ones, I might add.”

A commotion sounded in the corridor accompanied by feet pounding, yells, and then there was silence. Before either of them could react, the door opened and Jake appeared, pointing a gun at Fergus’s chest. “Don’t try to stop us, Fergus. Let’s go, Kendall.”

“Where are we going?” Kendall asked.

“To find Nathan.”

Fergus folded his hands. “Before you do anything rash, and I suspect it’s too late for that, I ask you to consider this from Nathan’s perspective.”

Jake let out a stream of curses. “Nathan’s perspective? He kidnapped us and he’s holding us as prisoners.”

“He brought you here to protect you.”

“Protect us?” Jake scoffed.

“He was afraid you were going to die.”

Jake snorted. “He doesn’t care about anything but her. Although kidnapping’s a strange way to show it.”

“He cares about you too,” Fergus said, drawing his brows into a dignified frown. “You two are like brothers, but you’re both too stubborn to see it. Put yourself in his shoes, Jake. If you thought Kendall was going to get hurt, you would do whatever it took to keep her safe, even if it was against her will.”

“Like putting me on a jet and sneaking away,” Kendall said.

“That’s different,” Jake said.

“Not much.” She thought about Nathan holding her hand in the inn and how worried he’d been. He never hugged her. Maybe Fergus was right. Anyone would do desperate things to protect someone they cared about. Nathan caring about her—that left her with an odd feeling.

“He was desperate,” Fergus said. “Someone is trying to destroy him. One of his guards was recently killed. The three of us are the only family he has. He’s alone in this world, and that money he has just makes the wall bigger. He can’t trust anyone. He keeps everyone at arm’s length, except us. Please consider that
before you react.” Fergus directed this last statement to Jake, and then he frowned. “Are you feeling well, Jake?”

Jake was staring at the picture on the front page of the newspaper. “Look at this.”

Kendall knew enough Italian to know that the man in the picture had been murdered. He was a historian in Rome and ironically had the same name as the historian they had visited, but this wasn’t the man they’d met. “Oh my God. Who did we meet?”

“The Reaper, I think,” Jake said. His face was grim.

“What are you talking about?” Fergus asked.

“We went to meet this historian who knows about the Protettori, the ones who were protecting the box that Nathan wants, but this,” she tapped the man’s picture, “wasn’t the man we met. I kept getting these strange feelings about him.”

“He had on thick glasses probably to hide his eyes,” Jake said. “He must have known about your abilities.”

“If he killed Thomas, he must have the box. Why not just kill us?”

“Either he doesn’t have it or he still needs something else. Which means there could be more than one person looking for the box.”

Fergus looked alarmed. “We have to tell Nathan.”

“Where is he?” Kendall asked.

“He’s not here. He left earlier.”

Kendall’s heart started to thump harder. “For Virginia?”

“No, he went to the castle.”

“He can’t go to the castle. He’ll die.” She told Fergus about her vision of Nathan and Jake’s death.

He sank onto the cot, the last of his dignified manner gone. “You have to go after him,” he said.

“What is he doing?” Jake asked. “Does he think the box is at the castle?”

“He wants the box. He also wants answers. There are things you don’t understand.”

Jake snorted. “Thanks to Nathan, there are a lot of things we don’t understand.”

“I can’t explain. It will have to come from him, when the time is right.”

“He’ll be furious to see us there,” Kendall said.

Fergus straightened and squared his shoulders. “Better that he’s furious than dead.”

Jake looked torn. “Personally, I’m considering letting him take his chances with the statues.”

“The statues,” Kendall said, looking at her watch. “If they’re activated at night, Nathan is in trouble.”

“He knows about the statues, and he knows another way in—the railroad,” Jake said.

“But what other horrible things are there that we don’t know about? We need to talk to Marco.”

“He won’t be coherent,” Fergus said. “His medication...”

“We can’t leave Nathan there,” Kendall said. “I’m mad too. I want to hit him with something, and then resign, and I may do it yet, but I won’t let him die.”

“I’ll find him,” Jake said. “You stay here.”

“I’m not staying here.”

“I can move faster and quieter without you.”

“Maybe, but I can sense things you can’t, and after that vision I think if I’m not there, you and Nathan will die. So I’m going, with or without you.”

Jake glared at her, and then shook his head in defeat. “We’ll need a vehicle,” he told Fergus. “You don’t have a helicopter, do you?”

“It would take too long to get it here. You can take one of Nathan’s cars.”

“We don’t even know where we are,” Kendall said.

“You’re in Rome at one of Nathan’s properties. Please hurry.” Fergus led them from the room. Three guards lay in the hall.

“Did you kill them?” Kendall asked.

Jake shook his head. “No. The worst they’ll have is a headache when they wake up.”

“I’ll call for more guards,” Fergus said. “You’ll need help.”

“No. We go alone,” Jake said. “I don’t trust anyone else.”