The Jewels of Jezebel (The Reluctant Hero Series Book 2) Read online

  Yasmeen looked like she was having some sort of internal struggle. She stuttered and stammered. “I’m… a…”

  “I appreciate your hesitancy. But I do need to know who you are. You are connected with the Jewels of Jezebel. Specifically, the ones she wore when she was murdered. You are in contact with Sir Edmund Carlton, aren’t you?”

  Magena glanced at Daniel, and it looked like the wheels were beginning to turn in his head. They both knew the only way that Yasmeen could have known about their mission, was if the Sabotinis of Sir Edmund informed her through Adana. Since both parties knew what they were doing, Yasmeen was a plant.

  She then finally said, “I am the latest avatar of one who died too young. I represent the future Queen… Jezebel.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Yasmeen reacted the same way that Magena had when she spilled out something she was unprepared to say. Magena smirked as she made an important realization.

  Her new gift worked both ways.

  “Holy cow!” Daniel exclaimed, as he shook his head in disbelief. “How do we know that’s true? I mean… okay. I’m not sure what I mean.”

  Yasmeen stood up and with a grunt, pulled her legs one at a time, away from the wall. The shackles dangled behind her. She then bent down and rubbed her ankles. “So now you know. What will you do about it?”

  Magena looked at the Shroud which was still out of the tube. It didn’t look like it was disintegrating anytime soon. “You lied about that. Why wouldn’t you lie about who you are?”

  Yasmeen tilted her head as she dusted herself off. Her grin was terrifying as she spoke. “Shadows foretold will block the view. The oldest one will now be new. I am the oldest one here, but am new again.”

  “Oh my gracious!” cried Magena.

  Daniel again shook his head. “Why does that sound so familiar? I know I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

  “Of course you have.” Magena rolled her eyes as she smirked. “It’s part of the poem that the Hive of Baal gave us.”

  At the mention of Baal, Yasmeen’s smile widened.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Magena continued. “Jezebel… I mean, you tried to get all Jewish religion changed to the one you preferred in your time.”

  “So you believe me then?” Yasmeen cooed.

  “Partly.” Magena waited for a moment with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

  Daniel just stood wide-eyed. “I have nothing to say.”

  “If you are Jezebel…” Magena started, “…you shouldn’t have any problems knowing the location of your jewels.”

  Yasmeen’s smile faded. She cocked her head to one side, as she headed for the huge pillar in the middle of the room. She rubbed her hand over a specially jagged area which caused her to bleed. She then used her blood to draw some kind of symbol on the smoother part of the pillar.

  All the while that was happening, Magena couldn’t believe that Yasmeen was so cooperative. “Did you set this whole thing up? Did you put yourself on the wall?”

  “Of course not!” Yasmeen answered while still keeping her attention on the pillar. “Members of the Hive pursued and captured me when I stole the Shroud from them.”

  “Were you the one that was following us?”

  “I actually have been following you two for quite some time. That’s how I found the Hive.”

  “There’s a couple of problems with that story,” Magena replied, shaking her head. “First. I would have figured that you and the Hive had the same agenda since you both serve Baal. Second. How did you get here before us? According to your story, we would have left the Hive before you got there to steal the Shroud.”

  Magena could tell that Yasmeen was struggling not to talk. She was about to lie.

  Before Magena could say anything else, the sound of rock scraping against rock filled the air. It could be heard by all. A doorway that was made apparent in the pillar, opened up to reveal a secret storage area.

  Yasmeen stepped back and held her open palm out toward the newly exposed area with an evil grin on her face. Daniel clasped Magena’s hand, and they each carefully stepped up to the pillar and peered inside.

  A brilliant, glistening light shone out.

  The golden glow was almost blinding. There were chests and old wooden boxes piled up to about four feet off of the ground.

  Magena reached for one of the chests and opened it without any fear. There were necklaces, pins, bracelets and all sorts of baubles. She reached out and touched one of the necklaces. When she realized it was real, she picked it up and grasped it firmly in one hand.

  “Seriously?” Magena said as she faced Yasmeen. “We now have the Shroud and the Jewels of Jezebel just like that? What am I missing in this situation?”

  Daniel and Yasmeen looked wide-eyed at Magena.

  “Uh… Mags… Magena,” Daniel said with fear in his voice.

  “What is it Daniel?” Magena returned, as she noticed everything around her was starting to get blurry. The air became thick. “Okay. Seriously! What’s going on?”

  Yasmeen clasped Daniel, wrapped her arms around to his back, and interlocked her hands behind him. She placed her chin on his shoulder and squeezed. Glaring at Magena, she said, “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of him.”

  “What?” Magena could barely breathe, as her feet got heavy. She felt like she was walking underwater.

  Her movements were stiff, as she reached out to Daniel. The last thing she saw, before darkness overtook her, was Yasmeen waving goodbye with a know-it-all grin.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Daniel stood for several moments without uttering a word. His mind could not comprehend anything he just saw.

  His traveling companion and only trusted friend for all intents and purposes, faded out of existence right in front of him. She was there one minute and gone the next, leaving him with Yasmeen, posing as Jezebel.

  He knew he relied on Magena for just about everything, but now he was left to his own devices. He didn’t feel he could trust his new companion.

  Daniel couldn’t even revel in the fact that the Shroud of Turin, Jezebel’s jewels, and allegedly Jezebel herself, were gathered in the same room with him.

  All he could think about was where Magena went.

  The tightness in his gut strengthened his resolve to find her before anything else. The other things around him were just too much to take in.

  He turned to Yasmeen. “I… need your help.”

  She looked angry and confused, as she closed up the secret area within the large pillar. She looked like she had just been somehow mentally violated. “What did that she-witch do to me? You need my help? Are you insane?”

  Daniel looked surprised by her outburst. “What? Just a few minutes ago you were our best friend! You even showed us where Jezebe… your jewels are! Magena is a good person and deserves better than to be called anything bad by you! If you are who you say you are, then that would make you a lot worse than any woman I’ve ever met!”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere, peasant,” she said calmly, as her eyes started to turn black as coal. “I wouldn’t worry about your lady love, because you have so much more to be concerned about.”

  She threw her head back and laughed maniacally, which sent a cold chill down Daniel’s spine. His frustration with Magena’s disappearance and the way she disappeared, plus everything that had happened to them so far, pushed him over the edge.

  “I don’t care who you are, I’m getting out of here!” He rushed toward the hole in the wall.

  He felt a hand grab the back of his shirt, which jerked him to a complete stop. He coughed as the front of his shirt tightened, almost strangling him.

  When he was released, he dropped to the ground on his hands and knees. He gagged, as he realized there had to be a lot of strength behind that grab, in order for him to feel that way.

  He knew he was in for the fight of his life.

  ***

  Magena gasped and coughed, as she attempted to bring
herself back among the living. Her breathing was rapid, and she realized she couldn’t see. Panic set in, as she also realized that she appeared to be lying on a bed. She felt the softness underneath as well as the pillow under her head.

  She blinked her eyes. The reason she couldn’t see was because there was something covering her eyes. She also felt a tingling sensation in her arms and legs. It was almost as if her limbs had been asleep.

  She reached up to feel what was covering her eyes, but her arms felt like they were caught on something. She felt a tugging sensation. Letting out a frustrated groan, she pulled up one hand far enough to touch something metal covering her eyes. Holding her breath, she gave a quick tug. The object popped right off.

  Even though she had her eyes open, her vision was extremely blurry. She was thankful that she seemed to be somewhere where it was dark. The light would have made it much worse.

  She tried to sit up, but every muscle ached as if she hadn’t used any of them in quite a while. Feeling groggy and sluggish, she rubbed her eyes and blinked several times to try to give her some indication of where she was. She had to see… something.

  ***

  “I don’t hit women!” Daniel exclaimed, as he took a punch to the midsection. “Seriously! Why are you beating me up?”

  Yasmeen was more than furious. “You two did something to my mind! I don’t know what you did yet, but when I do, I will make sure that I can’t be manipulated again!”

  He fell backwards, trying to dodge a left hook. “What did we do to make you think that we manipulated you? We don’t have that kind of power! We’re just normal humans, not some reincarnated evil queen!”

  Once on the ground, she kicked him a few times in the side. Then she stopped, as if she just realized something. “You’re right,” she said, calmly. “It wasn’t you at all. Your girlfriend was the one. When I was near her, something compelled me to tell the truth. I would have never normally told you both who I really was. It was far too soon for that proclamation.”

  Daniel made no attempt to get up. He didn’t understand what she was talking about and then he glanced over at where the Shroud was. He then glanced at the large trunk that contained the Jewels of Jezebel.

  “Yasmeen? Or Jezebel. Whatever you answer to.”

  She narrowed her eyes, as if she tried to figure out what he was trying to do. She kept her guard up just in case. “What, peasant?”

  Daniel nervously chuckled. “Okay. First of all, I don’t like being called a peasant. Second of all, I really didn’t know Magena that well, but maybe she did have some weird powers.”

  “So?” Yasmeen returned.

  “So… why didn’t she take me with her when she disappeared? I mean, if she has some weird powers, she could have easily taken me as well. Right. Yaz?”

  “What did you just call me?” she huffed.

  Daniel slowly got to his feet, making sure that she wasn’t going to hit him again. He held his open palms out to her and realized it was time to pour on the charm. “I’m not a threat, Yaz. I’m on your side. You know, honestly, I have no clue as to what’s going on around here. Some people tell me to go here, so I go here. They tell me to go there and I’m there.”

  She backed a few steps away from him and crossed her arms in front of her.

  He smiled, believing that she was ready to listen. “It makes sense. Doesn’t it?”

  She glared at him for several moments and then forced a smile. “Perhaps. Perhaps you really are at a disadvantage and came up with that to get me to lower my guard. Perhaps this is a ruse concocted by both of you, and she disappeared with smoke and mirrors.”

  He shook his head and sighed. “Really? After everything I’ve been through? You think I’m going to play a trick on you now? If I was going to do something like what you said, I would have done that back in Italy, when all of this started. Look, Yaz. I’m not very bright and I’ll be the first one to admit that, but I just want off of this ride, man. I realized since this thing started, that telling the truth is the only way out.”

  Telling the truth.

  Something about that statement he had just made sparked a chill. With what he saw and how Yasmeen acted, it had definitely something to do with the truth. He strained to remember exactly what Magena did or said, before she disappeared.

  He also had to keep Yasmeen occupied, so he wouldn’t make her impatient. It was difficult for him to try to do two things at once. Especially mentally.

  “What did she do?”

  He felt nervous. “I just have one question. It’s been bugging me. If you don’t mind?”

  She took several small steps closer to him while keeping eye contact. She was extremely intimidating. “Of course not. Why would I mind? Nobody is here but you and me. What could possibly go wrong?”

  Daniel really didn’t like that. The familiar chill went up his spine again, as her eyes slowly turned black.

  Wait! Magena examined the Shroud of Turin! Did that make her disappear?

  Daniel gulped in a large breath, but was starting to get entranced by Yasmeen’s eyes. “I… uh… have a question.” He shook himself out of it. “I think Magena brought it up. Why would you need to steal the Shroud of Turin from the Hive of Baal if both of you kind of worship the same god? I mean, it really doesn’t make much sense.”

  “You’re absolutely right, peasant,” she replied with a Cheshire smile. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. I’m sure if your girlfriend who commanded the truth was still here, she would have brought it all out of me.”

  She then giggled in a sinister way, which scared Daniel even more.

  She moved slowly up to Daniel and started to run her fingers through his hair. “You’re almost cute enough to be a squire, but never a king. You were put on this earth to be used for those meant to command. Our pleasure is your duty. I can smell it all over you. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you though. You knew it from when you were young.”

  Daniel’s eyes widened, as he sensed a hideous evil spirit within her. He started to sweat and tried to step back from her.

  She narrowed her eyes and sneered. “I really wish I had more time to unfold my plans, peasant. It looks like I’ll have to move forward ahead of schedule.”

  “Plans?” he asked nervously. “I can help you with whatever it is you’re doing. I’ve got a lot of talents, in spite of the fact that you think I’m completely useless. I’m really not! Ask anyone. My… or… maybe… Magena! Yeah! You can ask her, if we ever see her again.”

  She tilted her head, as if she was looking at a puppy who was trying to beg for table scraps at dinner. “Aww. Isn’t that precious? Do you really think that you could be of any use to me, especially when I have an army of devoted followers?”

  Daniel looked around and tried not to laugh. “An army of what? Sand? Ha ha! I mean, come on! Let’s get real here. I know I’ve lied before, but I always make sure that I have some kind of truth in there somewhere to make it believable. Ha ha! You’re a riot!”

  Yasmeen’s expression didn’t change as Daniel’s laugh echoed throughout the room.

  “Are you quite finished?” she asked confidently.

  He rubbed his eyes and calmed down to a mild chuckle. “Yeah. I guess I’m good. Heh. So can we work together now and stop with the nonsense?”

  Her smile widened. “I assume that your girlfriend’s power of truth must have left some residual. That was the truth, peasant.” She whistled loudly.

  Several men and women dressed in robes with gray skin and no hair poured in through the hole in the wall. The Hive of Baal.

  Daniel moved quickly and pressed his back up against the furthest wall he could, as Yasmeen stood her ground. The Hive members surrounded her with more numbers than Daniel could count. Packed in like sardines, there were more people than available space. He was speechless.

  She took one step toward him. “I don’t need you. You wanted to see my army. I do believe it will be the last thing you ever see… peasant.”

&n
bsp; He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. Something was wrong. He studied Yasmeen closely. It was as if she was not real, but a hologram. Could he possibly be a chess player on a chess board? Or was he being controlled by players on a computer game? He had no idea how or if he was going to get out of this predicament alive.

  At least Magena was safe.

  Maybe.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Magena felt extremely nauseous as her vision slowly returned.

  It didn’t come fast enough. She hoped that Daniel was doing alright with the supposed reincarnation of Jezebel. She was afraid that this Jezebel would use her feminine wiles to make him do whatever she wanted him to do.

  As much as she would like to create scenarios for Daniel in her mind, she had one of her own that she had to figure out. Where was she, and how could she get back to help her partner?

  With the time that she waited for her vision to return, she played out all of the possible scenarios about how she had been transported. The truth thing seemed to come as a surprise, not only to her, but to Jezebel as well. That meant that Jezebel had nothing to do with it. It was someone more powerful.

  Her mind was filled with more questions than anything else. No answers. She could now make out shapes and objects in the room. Once she could see those things, it was only a matter of moments before her visions was restored.

  She would have preferred to remain blinded, once she saw where she was.

  None of that was covered in the poem that she and Daniel received from the Hive of Baal.

  Her left arm was connected to two separate IVs. Her right arm had several round pads attached with wires going to several different machines. Her medical background was limited to where to put the bandage, but she knew that she was inside of a hospital room.

  It looked like a high tech hospital room. The metal item she took off of her eyes was still in her right hand. It appeared to be some kind of visor that covered the eyes and about half of the nose. It reminded her of a futuristic pair of sunglasses.