“Nearby. Will you do this for me?”
Kendall nodded.
“Very good. I’m afraid Nathan and Jake will have to join Marco and Brandi while we work.” The Reaper did something with his hands and Jake flew against the wall, pinned like he had been by her father in the chapel in Italy. Nathan wasn’t so easily moved. His eyes instantly changed. He let out a roar and ran toward the Reaper.
The Reaper put up a hand as if to say hello, and Nathan stopped in midstride. He appeared to be blocked by some kind of wall. “What… is… this?” the Reaper asked, enunciating each word with awe. He stood with his hand raised, expression stunned, studying Nathan like a rare specimen at a zoo. “It can’t be.” He blinked and the shock faded from his face. His expression took on a look of delight, and Kendall started to pick up something familiar. Then he changed again.
While Nathan was stuck there, his eyes went back to normal. The Reaper raised his hand and sent him into the wall beside Jake. “For now,” he said. He walked close and studied both men, staring at them for the longest time.
“Is it possible, Marco?”
Marco didn’t answer. He watched the Reaper calmly, as if waiting for a hand of cards to be dealt. “Well now. That changes things.” The Reaper appeared almost shaken as he walked over to a table near one of the statues. He looked up at the stone sentinel as he approached. A look crossed his face, perhaps arrogance, perhaps fear.
He removed a chalice from the box. It was wide, metal, bluish tinged, with engravings on the side.
“I envy your gift,” he said. “I have many abilities, but not this.” He handed the chalice to Kendall. “Tell me what you see and I’ll release… your friends.”
Kendall took the chalice in her hands. It was cold, but she felt energy coming from it. She closed her eyes. It was hard to focus, hard not to think about the others trapped against the wall. She had to do this for them. The Reaper might kill them all, but there was a chance he wouldn’t if she cooperated. If she didn’t, she was certain they were all dead.
She let the sensations move from her fingertips to her mind. The chalice was old. There was energy radiating from it, but it wasn’t the chalice she’d seen at the well. This wasn’t the Holy Grail. She dreaded to tell the Reaper for fear he would kill them in anger. Then she saw the Reaper drinking from the chalice. The image was so clear. If she hadn’t held the chalice in her own hands, she would have believed she was seeing the Reaper drinking from it for real. She saw him cry out and fall to the ground, and when his face turned up to curse her, he looked older.
Kendall kept her eyes closed, pretending to examine the chalice while she decided what to do. The Reaper feared using the chalice if it wasn’t the Holy Grail. He had said there were consequences if he used the chalice and it wasn’t authentic. Would it kill him or just weaken him? If the Reaper could be weakened, perhaps Nathan could defeat him.
She opened her eyes. “It’s very old and powerful. I can feel the energy coming from it.”
“Is it the Holy Grail?”
“Yes. Please don’t do this,” she said, trying to make her lie seem authentic.
“There is no choice, really.” He moved closer to her and touched his hands to each side of her face.
She heard Jake shouting curses at the Reaper, and growls that must have been coming from Nathan. She felt her mind slipping and knew he was searching her to see if she told the truth. She grabbed for something to think about, something that might block him or distract him. The first thing that came to her mind was Raphael. He had been close to the Reaper. She kept her eyes on the Reaper and her thoughts on Raphael. The Reaper frowned and lowered his hands. He took the chalice from her and held it in front of him. “Then I will drink. Finally.”
He glanced at the wall where Nathan and Jake were still struggling to get free. Nathan’s eyes were like flames again, and he seemed to be making some progress at pulling away from the wall.
Kendall shook her head. “Please,” she mouthed to Nathan and Jake. “Don’t.” She moved her hand quickly over her heart. Anyone else would assume it was just a movement. For her and Adam it meant trust me.
Nathan stopped moving, watching her with those fiery eyes. He said something to Jake who was watching her as well. His eyes were full of anger, fear… and something else. Love.
The Reaper walked over to a stone on the wall that looked like a wheel, like the marking on the cave wall. He turned the wheel, and Kendall heard a grinding noise. “You should step back.”
Kendall moved, and a large section of the floor began to open, revealing steps. The light grew brighter and she heard running water. She hadn’t heard it before. The humming of the statues had disguised it. Kendall walked to the edge of the steps and looked down. The steps descended to a pool of water. A path divided the pool and led to two streams flowing side by side from the wall. One left a red stain; the other white. The water flowed into a stone bowl, like the one in the sketch from the black journal. A warm light emanated from the bowl. It should have been blinding since it was the source of light for the entire room, but it was soft, enchanting. The Fountain of Youth.
It was simple, not elaborate as she might have expected, other than the light. But she could feel its power from here.
“Would you like to touch it?” he asked.
She glanced at Nathan and Jake and nodded. She walked down the steps with the Reaper and sat beside him, wondering if he was her father, afraid to ask. She was torn between a desperate wish that he was, so she could see him again, and a prayer that he wasn’t, because he was evil. He had hurt people. She dipped her fingers in the water. Her skin tingled, and she felt an urge to step inside the pool.
“Marvelous, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you want to taste it?”
She dipped her fingers in again and looked back at the wall where the others were still trapped. She shook her head.
“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.