Page 99 of Mysteries, Menace, and Mates

“When we opened the caskets, all the sheets, documents, whatever, they were lying on layers of fabric. You know, to protect them from the stone. Then Orsini and his team started removing each document, putting them between sheets of glass so they could be studied.” Jake paused. “Except then he thought to peekunderthe fabric. None of us had done that. Because who would do that, right?”

Dellan gaped. “There was another document hidden under there?”

He nodded. “Not in every casket, just the one that contained theChronicles. And no text this time, but another painting.”

Rael arched his eyebrows. “Let me guess. A gorilla and two humans? A polar bear, a tiger, and a kitty? Or maybe a Greenland shark with two humans riding on its back?” He stared at Jake. “I’m right, aren’t I? We’re not the only ones mentioned after all.”

“I only have Orsini’s description to go on, but it didn’t sound like that. He’s sending me a picture.” Jake’s phone beeped, and he clicked on the screen. “Holy fuck,” he croaked.

“Dad? What is it? This is torture.”

“Don’t do this to us,” Rael pleaded. “Show us what he sent you.”

Jake swallowed and handed Rael his phone.

Rael gazed at the screen, and his first thought was that he was thankful to be sitting down. “Oh fuck.”

The painting was in two halves. At the top were the lion, tiger, and bear from the previous painting, the one Jake had shown all of them, though this was obviously a different piece. But below it….

He was staring at portraits of three men—men who could only be himself, Horvan, and Dellan.

It was like looking in a mirror.

Chapter Twenty-Six

IN SILENCE,Rael passed the phone to Dellan, and Horvan inched in to take a closer look. Dellan made a choking sound, and Horvan dropped the phone onto the desk as if it had burned his fingers.

“This is getting too fucking weird,” Horvan muttered as he handed the phone back to Jake.

“I’m with you on that one,” Jake murmured. “But once you see this, there’s no choice but to accept the rest of it. Seth was right. When you read that line,When he who can see is freed from his shackles, and then you see this? Itcouldbe me they’re talking about.”

Dellan gazed at Jake. “Please, tell me that’s all of it. I don’t think I can take any more shocks.”

“You and me both. Of course, the Gerans might claim it’s a forgery—well, they’d know all aboutthat, wouldn’t they?—but I think once it’s undergone tests, they’re going to have a hard time explainingthisaway.” Jake stared at the image.

“Do you think Theron hid it under the fabric? Because if he’d seen it, he’d know straightaway it was us.” Rael huffed.

“I have no idea.” Jake sighed. “This makes my head ache just thinking about it. I have to believe if he knew of its existence, he would have destroyed it so it could never be used against him.”

Dellan shook his head. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

Horvan’s eyebrows shot up. “What is? That we’re all part of some mystical prophecy? That me and Rael saving Dellan has somehow started something? Because I gotta tell ya, I’m having a hard time getting my head around this. I ain’t no legend.”

Rael managed a smile. “Oh, I don’t know. You’ve always been a legend in my mind. Now everyone knows it’s true.” He took a deep breath. “We need to get used to it—fast. Once word gets out, there’s going to be a long line of people wanting to gawk at us, like we’re in—”

“A zoo?” Horvan flung at him.

“I was thinking more along the lines of an exhibition, but yeah, something like that.” He held out his hands to Dellan and Horvan. “And we’re going to need each other, more than ever.” Rael gazed at them, his heart full of love. “As long as I have you, that’s all that matters to me.”

Their arms around him had never felt better.

“So does this mean I’m holding a couple of legends?” Horvan murmured.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure a legend has his arms round me right now.” Then Rael remembered they weren’t alone. He broke the embrace.

Jake stood by the office window, gazing out at the lake.

Rael went over to him and touched him lightly on the arm. “You need to rest. And decompress. Go find Doc. He needs you right now.”

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