Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) (2 page)

“And you’ll need this.” Nathan handed Jake the satchel.

Jake frowned. “She’s not going with me. I work alone.”

“You’re sending him with me?” Kendall said at the same time.

“Hold on.” Jake threw up a defiant hand. “I don’t have time to babysit a skirt.”

A skirt? Arrogant jerk.

“I need both of you for this job,” Nathan said, returning Jake’s glare. “Follow orders, or you can go back.”

A look crossed between the two men. Kendall didn’t need her sixth sense to feel the testosterone seething underneath. Both men were over six feet, muscular, probably an even match strength-wise, but Jake’s collar-length hair, worn jeans, and boots made him look like a badass, while Nathan looked like more like Batman hiding behind Bruce Wayne.

Jake glanced at Kendall, his eyes flat. “Let’s get it over with, then. Why are we going to Italy?”

“I’m looking for a box,” Nathan said.

Kendall tried to see inside his head, but as usual, it was like hitting a wall. “What kind of box?”

Nathan hesitated before answering, and she knew it would only be a half-truth. “An old one.”

“That’s all? An old box?” Jake leaned a hip against the sofa. “You gotta have more than that.”

“It contains something powerful,” Nathan said.

“A relic?” Kendall asked. This was where her expertise came in.

“I can’t say yet.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You and your damned secrets.”

Who was this guy? No one talked to Nathan like that.

Nathan motioned to the sofa. “Both of you, sit.”

Jake set the satchel on the table and dropped onto the sofa, knees spread wide. He folded his arms across his chest and lifted a mocking eyebrow. Kendall held his gaze and sat, not far away from him, as she knew he expected, but in the middle of the sofa. She regretted her decision immediately when the cushion dipped, putting them shoulder to shoulder. His scent slithered up her nose. She scooted back a few inches and tugged at her dress, ignoring his leer. Bastard.

“The box is ancient,” Nathan said. “It was guarded for centuries by a secret order.”

“A secret order?” Kendall’s pulse kicked up a notch. “What kind of order? Like Templars?”

“I don’t know what they were. Monks? Knights? No one seems to know much about them.” Nathan pulled a cross from his pocket. It was silver, a couple of inches long, and hung from a chain. Kendall’s senses started buzzing. “I think this is connected to them,” he said, handing it to her.

She took the cross and the buzzing grew louder. The metal felt cold. There was an opening in the center, and the edges were rounded. Or perhaps just worn with age. It was ancient. She could tell from the saturation of emotions attached to the piece. Sadness, betrayal, fear. There was something else she recognized, but the sensations flying at her like shrapnel came too fast to make sense. Sometimes it took awhile to get a clear picture. Sometimes it never came at all. She turned it over and saw a worn mark. A circle perhaps. A memory flashed through her mind, as if there were something she should know. “Where did you get this?”

“I’ve had it for a while.” He didn’t offer more but surprised her by kneeling in front of her. His eyes met hers, dark with secrets. He took the cross from her hand and placed it around her neck, his fingers as warm against her skin as the cross was cold. “Keep it,” he said, his voice low.

Goose bumps covered her arms. She wasn’t sure whether her reaction was caused by the cross or his fingertips. She looked over and caught Jake’s insolent stare.

“So where in Italy do we start looking for this mysterious box?” he asked.

Nathan rose and walked to the credenza. He unlocked a drawer and took out two thick envelopes. “I’m still working on the precise location, assuming the place still exists. We’ll start at Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City. I’ve found someone who claims he knows something about the group. You’re meeting him there.”

“Vatican City?” A thrill ran through Kendall, followed by immediate dread. She’d visited once as a girl. The trip hadn’t gone well. The vast amount of history and relics had given her sensory overload. She hadn’t been back since. Hopefully, it would be a better experience as an adult. It might be smart to drink a couple of glasses of wine first to dull her senses.

“I don’t know how much this guy knows,” Nathan said, “or if it’s accurate, but we have to start somewhere.”

Jake muttered something about needles in haystacks, and then said, “I guess we’re going to Italy, Ms. Morgan. Try not to slow me down.” He looked at her legs again and lifted a mocking brow. He was trying to intimidate her.

“Do you always stare at women’s legs, Mr. Stone?” she whispered.

“Only when they’re worth looking at.”

Nathan walked back to the sofa and placed the envelopes on the table in front of them. He took the opposite seat in an ornate chair that once belonged to a king. Kendall had found it for him a month ago. In addition to his relics, at Nathan’s request, she had taken charge of his antiques.

“You’re pretty certain this box is in Italy?” she asked, picking up her envelope.

“All the clues lead there, and I believe if we locate the secret order, we’ll find the box.” Nathan watched as she opened her envelope. Inside were maps, euros, dollars, a black AMEX card, and two passports under fake names. Jake slit his envelope and Kendall saw that it appeared to hold the same. Next, he opened the satchel, and Kendall glimpsed the handle of a gun. His eyebrows rose in surprise.

Strange. Nathan didn’t like guns.

“Anything else we should know about this trip?” Jake asked, examining the contents of the satchel, which he didn’t appear inclined to share.

“We might not be the only ones looking for the box,” Nathan said. “Someone has been buying up valuable relics.”

“Someone besides you?” Jake asked.

Nathan ignored the gouge. “I believe he’s involved in the black market...among other things.”

It was the “other things” that caught Kendall’s attention. Jake’s too, judging by his narrowed eyes.

“Is he dangerous?” Jake asked.

“Anyone can become dangerous if given the right motivation,” Nathan said. “We don’t know for sure if this man even
exists, but some of the rarest relics in the world have disappeared. The owners usually disappear too. Everyone with a collection worth having fears him. He’s like the Grim Reaper of relics. That’s how they refer to him, the Reaper.”

“Sounds like a comic book villain,” Jake said.

“I’ve heard about the relics that have disappeared,” Kendall said. Anyone involved with artifacts and antiquities was familiar with the thefts.

Nathan studied Kendall and Jake, his expression serious. “If you do find this box, don’t try to open it. It can’t be opened unless it’s on holy ground.”

Jake gave a derisive snort. “Anything can be opened with a crowbar and some dynamite.”

“Don’t try to open it. That’s an order.” Nathan’s voice was sharp.

A wave of hostility rolled off Jake. He didn’t appear to care for orders, which was unfortunate since Nathan was good at giving them.

“What the hell’s in this box?” Jake asked. “A demon?”

Nathan rubbed a knuckle across his chin, something he did when he was troubled. It was one of the few things about him that she could read, and for some reason it disturbed her. “I can’t say, but we have to find it before anyone else does.”

The fact that he didn’t discount Jake’s demon theory had her and Jake sharing the closest thing yet to a commiserating glance.

“So we’re looking for an old box that may or may not be somewhere in Italy. We have no idea what’s inside it, but we might have to fight someone called the Reaper to get it. And it can’t be opened except on holy ground. Nice.”

“Just find the damned box as quickly as possible. I’m running out of time.”

“Why the urgency?” Kendall asked. She was used to Nathan’s spontaneous trips, but this trip was unusually rushed.

“Timing is crucial,” Nathan said. “I think someone else is close to finding it.”

“Maybe it’s a demon with a time bomb,” Jake muttered, his weight shifting as he stretched long, muscular legs.

Kendall scooted over to keep from sliding toward him. “When you say holy ground, do you mean a church?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I’m just going by rumors.” Nathan rubbed his eyes. He looked tired. Again.

He always seemed tired lately. Last week, when she went to his office to show him a new amulet that had come in, she found him asleep at his desk, in the middle of the day. She knew something was troubling him. It must have been this.

Nathan slid a drawing across the table. “This is what I believe we’re looking for.” The sketched box appeared to be made of wood, with a circle engraved in each corner.

As Kendall watched, the lines of each circle began to move, coiling like snakes. The room faded. She heard Nathan and Jake talking, but their voices sounded far away. She saw a castle covered in vines as if forgotten by time. It was guarded by a line of giant warriors. A shadow crept up the castle walls and over the towers until the place was drenched in darkness. The darkness was blood. Bones rained from the sky, covering the ground. Whole skeletons, arms, legs, skulls. She dug her nails into her palms and tried to breathe.

“Kendall, what’s wrong? Did you see something?” Nathan leaned toward her, concerned, while Jake watched with narrowed eyes.

Kendall swallowed. “Blood and bones.”

Bones, Jake thought. It figured. He could handle blood, but he despised bones. Give him a fresh corpse any day. But how the hell could she see blood and bones from a picture of a box? She must be the psychic he’d heard worked for Nathan. She looked ready to faint. Her hands gripped the drawing so hard that Nathan
eased the paper away. He looked as shaken as she did. She was probably just a good actress. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to con their way into Nathan’s money.

“Excuse me.” She jumped up and hurried from the room. Nathan stood, and both men watched her go.

She might be a fraud, but she had killer legs. And breasts. In fact, the whole package was hot. Blonde hair, the color of wheat, just below her shoulders. Long enough to be sexy, not so long that it got in the way. Green eyes, slanted like a cat’s, and a mouth made for kissing...and other things. He looked up and saw Nathan watching him. It didn’t take a psychic to know his boss had the hots for his relic expert. And that he was hiding something dark. Jake knew danger when he saw it.

“So I’m babysitting a nut job?”

“Watch it, or I’ll send you back where I found you.”

Where he’d found him or where he’d
put
him? “Then who’ll find your treasures?”

A flush appeared above Nathan’s collar. “Kendall can sense things you and I can’t begin to understand.”

“Or she could be after your money.” It must be the money. She didn’t have that starry-eyed look most women got around Nathan.

“Keep your bloody opinions to yourself. And that goes for your hands and everything else. Just do your job and keep her safe.”

So that was how it was. “Guess I’m playing bodyguard?”

“You’re more than a bodyguard. You have talents. So does she. I need both of you.”

If her abilities were real, she could weed out the scum before they got near Nathan’s money or his bed. Eliminating her competition?

“What’s with this?” Jake asked, taking the Glock out of the satchel. He jammed the clip in the gun and put a round in the chamber. “Thought you didn’t like weapons.” That was one of
the reasons Nathan’s security guards were so well trained in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. Jake tucked the gun in the back of his jeans, covering it with his T-shirt.

“The circumstances call for extra measures.”

“You mean we might end up dead.”

Nathan stared in the direction Kendall had gone. “I don’t anticipate trouble, but stay alert. I expect you to keep her safe.”

Not a bodyguard, huh?

Nathan watched Kendall step back into the room.

“Sorry.” She returned to her seat, this time farther away from Jake.

Nathan moved closer and sat on the edge of the heavy table. Jake could tell he wanted to touch her, but didn’t. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, but she still looked pale.

“What else did you see?” Nathan asked, his eyes scouring her face. Boss man was uptight for someone who didn’t expect trouble.

Kendall licked her lips and took a deep breath. “Darkness.”

Jake gave a harsh laugh. “That’s about as clichéd as a psychic can get.”

“I’m not a psychic,” she said, glaring at him. “I find things.”

“What are you, a bloodhound?” Jake asked. He knew he was being an ass. Must be sexual frustration. Nathan’s call had come at a bad time. Jake had been so busy worrying about his freedom he hadn’t had time for women. Until tonight that is, and Nathan had ruined that.

“She’s better than a bloodhound,” Nathan said. The blank look he kept on his face slipped for a second, revealing something close to reverence. “She can sense the history of things. Sometimes even the location.”

“Better not let the government find out.” Jake didn’t want to be impressed, but if she was for real, that was one hell of a gift.