Quests by Numbers (Rogue Spotter Book 5) Read online

  Quests by Numbers

  Rogue Spotter

  Book Five

  Kimberly A. Rogers

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people or entities, living or dead, business establishments, locals, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Kimberly A. Rogers

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed or electronic reviews, without the prior permission of the author and copyright holder.

  Cover design by Rachel Rossano

  http://rossanodesigns.weebly.com

  Dedication

  To Tom Hiddleston again

  because he’d still make the perfect Mathias.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Note from the Author

  Rogue Spotter

  You May Also Like . . .

  Also by Kimberly A. Rogers

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you as always to my family who support my efforts.

  I also want to thank my early readers who have been cheering for this story since I first started working on it and introduced them to Mr. 10. And who were among the first to cheer when I started expanding the Rogue Spotter universe. Thank you all!

  Additional shout out to Rachel Rossano for creating yet another magnificent cover!

  Finally, thank you to my Lord and Savior without whom I am nothing.

  Chapter One

  Lauren

  “Run!”

  The call was almost buried beneath the screeching roar echoing around us. I scrambled to get over the same man-sized boulders we climbed over only a short time earlier. Hands wrapped around my waist and tossed me forward. I landed on my hands and knees in centuries old dust.

  Boots landed beside me and then I was hauled back to my feet. I caught a glimpse of a 10 blazing golden in the shadows of the light cast by our flashlights before Mathias propelled me forward again. “Keep going,” came his terse command.

  Risking a glance behind, my heart jumped into my throat as I caught a glimpse of the griffin’s blazing 8. And, it wasn’t alone anymore. “Mathias, there’s more of them.”

  “Yes. I know. Keep running.” Even the delicious sounds of his British accent couldn’t hide the hint of worry in his clipped words.

  Another screeching roar sounded behind us. It was joined and amplified by at least three more. I winced at the almost overwhelming sound even as I desperately tried to urge my legs to move faster. We had to get aboveground and fast. Mathias could have outrun me easily, but he stayed on my heels pushing me to keep going even as my lungs screamed and my legs burned.

  Coming to Rhodes may have been a bad idea. As the griffins roared again, I flinched. Scratch that, coming to Rhodes was mostly definitely a bad idea. The worst actually.

  The smooth floor grew slick with moisture. If I had any breath to spare, I would have cheered. We were close to the way out now. Out of the tunnels and chambers that were built around the one time Colossus and away from the angry guardians we had disturbed. Finally.

  My cheer vanished as soon as I rounded the bend and my bouncing flashlight caught on the door. Or where the door should have been. Oh no. I skidded to a halt in front of a collapsed segment of rock. The faded carving of an eye almost as tall as me stared mockingly.

  Mathias slid to a halt beside me, bracing a hand against the faded eye as he lifted his flashlight to pan across the obstruction. I joined him, hand and light shaking, as I struggled to catch my breath. Stone was all I could see, then Mathias raised his arm. “There! There’s still room at the top. We can wriggle through.” The griffins screeched again and a look of annoyance skittered across his face as he glanced behind us. “We need to hurry. Come on.”

  I was not looking forward to the climb. The eye itself was as tall as my own five foot two height and the stone surrounding it was easily another two feet up. And the gap Mathias had pointed out appeared to be extremely close to the tunnel’s ceiling. A griffin screeched and I put my foot in Mathias’ cupped hands, allowing him to boost me up.

  Scrabbling for handholds, I ignored the way the flashlight bounced on my wrist banging into my arm. I could hear the rustle of the griffins’ feathered wings as they brushed against each other and the walls of the tunnel. I hauled myself up the stone, using the shallow divots and slashes to pull myself closer to the top. I had almost reached the gap when my right foot slipped. I gasped and then hissed as I banged my chin against the stone.

  A hand braced against my backside and shoved me up. I scrambled to find a handhold in the gap as my boots kept slipping. The helping hand moved from my backside to gripping the back of my shirt and jacket. Mathias grunted as he hauled us both up. For some insane reason, I looked down.

  My breath caught in my throat as two griffins leaped at us. Their talons just missing Mathias’ feet. Their round yellow eyes fixed on me like a hawk on some hapless field mouse. They leapt again, beating their wings slightly. Mathias’ grip on my jacket tightened, and he pulled just as the toehold I’d managed to find crumbled. An involuntary cry ripped from my throat as my right hand slipped. I was dangling by a hand and Mathias’ hold on my jacket and shirt, which were bunching rather uncomfortably and leaving most of my torso completely exposed.

  The griffins leaped only to be knocked down by the overenthusiastic arrival of their brethren. As the griffins snapped their beaks and hissed at each other, Mathias let go of my jacket and grasped my free arm. At his nod, I let go of my crumbling handhold. Bracing my feet against the stone, I bounced up as hard as I could while Mathias pulled me by the arm.

  I heard talons scratching stone as I was unceremoniously shoved through the narrow gap headfirst. The stone scraped against my still exposed belly and damp soil crumbled against my back. I yelped as the stone abruptly gave away, and I fell into empty air. The yelp was beaten out of me as I landed on my back in dirt and a puddle. Just to add insult to injury, no doubt. There was a scrape and then I rolled to the side as Mathias landed on his feet . . . in the puddle, succeeding in splashing me. As the beam from his flashlight landed on me, I raised a hand. “Not one word.”

  He coughed and then cleared his throat as he dropped into a crouch beside me. “All right, love?”

  I managed a nod. “Just peachy.” I groaned as Mathias helped me to my feet. My clothes were soaked, stomach and back both scraped, and every fiber of my body ached. I shone my flashlight up at the gap only to jump when a griffin’s talons flashed into sight. Turning back to Mathias, I said, “Let’s get out of here.”

  I leaned against Mathias who must have been at least a little worried about that last fall since he had shortened his stride considerably. For the moment, I didn’t need to take three steps to his every one. Something that was usually the norm considering the fact that Mathias’ long lean frame towered over mine by a foot. I drew a breath as I kept an eye out for any more numbers, as unlikely as it seemed that th
ey would appear since we had left the griffins behind.

  My name is Lauren Hope . . . and I’m what’s called a Spotter. I spot the people who are or can be threats because I see numbers floating over their heads that indicate their threat potential. The higher the number, the more dangerous the person and the greater the threat. No other type of paranormal had this ability and that made it a very dangerous gift to have given the fact that there were just as many people who would love to control me as there were those who would kill me to keep their deadliness secret. I spent my life in hiding, keeping my head down, until the day Mathias had shown up at Halliman’s, the premier PR firm for the paranormal community, on loan from Weard Enterprises the preeminent security company in both paranormal and norm society.

  Technically, he had been sent there to flush me out of hiding since Weard was now in the business of openly hunting innocent paranormals for their unique abilities. We had been on the run almost a full year, fleeing across the States and then to Scotland where I learned the truth about Mathias’ own unique abilities. He was the last of the Myrmidons, meaning Mathias shouldn’t even exist, and there were many who would kill him out of fear if they knew he was of the same species as the infamous Achilles. But, the only Ten I’d ever met was also the only man who had seen anything of worth in me.

  When Mathias’ heritage tried to claim a deadly price on him, I ended up returning the favor by participating in the Trials of Achilles to save his life. And, becoming his bride. It might have started as two people on the run, but somewhere along the way attraction turned to love. Love and marriage to a Ten was something I would have said was absolute lunacy to suggest when I was living and working in Olympia, Washington.

  “There’s the opening.” Mathias’ voice was low and I felt him squeeze my shoulder before he asked, “Where were you just now?”

  “Wondering how I ever would have survived this last year without you around,” I murmured.

  He turned off his flashlight but didn’t move away as he said softly and with complete confidence, “You would have found a way, Lauren. You survived just fine before we crossed paths.”

  Brushing damp hair out of my eyes, I swallowed a retort as Mathias slipped ahead of me. Sure, I had survived but I hadn’t been living until I went on the run with him. No doubt, one of the worst ways to get to the point of actually living instead of just surviving and I wouldn’t trade it if it meant giving up Mathias. After a tension filled minute, I heard him call my name. I kept my flashlight on and pointed directly toward the ground until I found Mathias’ shadow.

  Only then did I turn off the light and reach out blindly. Mathias’ warm hand swallowed mine, and I let him guide me through the broken bits of stone and pottery that littered the tunnel’s mouth. Finally, I could feel the salt-laden breeze from the ocean and then the sweeping light from the lighthouse overhead cast ribbons of light across the dark waves. The rocks were slick from the growing waves, and it took some effort to avoid twisting my ankle or falling again. The Fortress of St. Nicholas with its lighthouse towered above us as we continued creeping along the base of its walls facing the ocean instead of Mandraki port proper. The city and island of Rhodes drew tourists even as summer neared its end.

  Mathias pulled me to a halt and we waited for the lighthouse’s lantern to pass over us before we climbed down to the waterline. The small motorboat we’d borrowed earlier still bobbed on the rolling waves. Mathias helped me in and then followed, steering our little boat out from the rocks and around the harbor point to enter the mouth. My hair whipped around in the breeze, threatening to blind me and making me wish I hadn’t lost my head shawl when we first started running from the griffin.

  My Turkish heritage gifted me with dark features and an olive-toned complexion, which allowed me to blend in with countries all over Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Adding a head shawl had become a habit, especially when we were so close to Turkey, and it was especially useful when Weard Enterprises spread pictures of me on the paranormal news outlets while labeling me as a rogue Spotter and offering a reward for my capture. Fortunately, I had a few tricks to keep from being too noticeable. I glanced back at Mathias and the 10 floating above his head. He noticed my gaze, and then nodded to the dock as he angled for one of the boat slips.

  Once I was standing on the dock, every ache and scrape I had gained decided to announce their presence loudly. The skin on my stomach stung with enough force that I probably scraped some skin off. Mathias hooked his arm around my shoulders pulling me close as he whispered in my ear, “Keep walking, sweetheart. We need to get to camp. Can you make it?”

  The thought of hiking thirty minutes to the glamoured safe house on the acropolis was unpleasant. But, I nodded. “I can make it. It’s just bruises.”

  He must not have believed me because when we left the harbor he immediately hailed a cab. The driver was only a 3 and apparently spoke only Greek, which was not one of the languages I had ever practiced. Mathias gave him instructions of some sort, and the cab started wending its way down the streets and through the medieval Old Town. I glanced out the window to look at the square towers of the gothic castle looming over us. The Kastello or the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes kept silent vigil over both the medieval portion of Rhodes and the former military port of Mandraki. It also happened to stand over the final resting place of the Colossus of Rhodes. Unfortunately, the only way in was through a tunnel opening under the harbor fortress and then beneath the water to long buried and mostly forgotten shrines that were built around the Colossus after it collapsed due to an earthquake. This was the main reason I hadn’t expected to run across a griffin down there, much less an entire clutch of them.

  The cab stopped far too soon and then Mathias was helping me out. We stood in front of the Kastello. I stared up at it with confusion and wariness churning in my gut. As the cab drove away, I glared up at Mathias. “I am not going in there.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched and I could hear the barest trace of amusement in his voice as he asked, “Why not?”

  “There’s probably a dragon prince in there, and I have met too many of them already.”

  “You’ve only met three.”

  Three dragon princes who, by virtue of being royal dragons, had been able to identify me as a Spotter as soon as they laid eyes on me. Not to mention the fact that every single one of them had been a 9. I frowned at Mathias. “The first one was one too many dragons for me. Where are we going?”

  Mathias chuckled. “To catch another cab.” His amusement faded as he glanced down at me, then reached out to straighten my jacket. “I want to get a bit closer before walking.”

  There was apparently a strategy to taking a total of three cabs before walking the remaining way up the terraces that made up the Acropolis of Rhodes. Our safe house was tucked unseen between the terraces and stone steps leading from the smaller theater or odeon to the restored temple of Pythian Apollo. We stepped through the glamour to find the small house that had been partially constructed around a shallow cave. The amenities available were certainly better than one might expect from such accommodations, including a tub that was carved into the rock itself along with water from underground thermal springs.

  I was still in the tub when Mathias called my name. I opened an eye as he perched on the wide edge of the tub. For once he didn’t tease or flirt. If anything, he looked . . . worried. “That did not go as planned.”

  “The griffins were a surprise,” I murmured. “And, still nothing of the crown.” I opened both eyes as a horrible thought occurred to me. “What if Weard has them?”

  “I don’t think they do.”

  Somehow even the comfortable heat of the thermal waters wasn’t enough to keep a chill from running down my spine at the thought of Weard and the rogue dragon we believed was now in command getting their hands on any of the crown pieces. It would be a disaster. The Crown of Nimrod was some sort of ancient artifact and weapon originally crea
ted by both the Fae and the dragons and wielded by a Spotter against Nimrod, the first known Ten of the ancient world. Weard had captured several older Spotters just before we went on the run, which meant all they needed was the crown. And allowing Weard, an organization that now spoke openly of war with the dragon princes, to have access to such power . . . It was not an option.

  My mind churned, offering scenario after scenario of the potential destruction. It was bad enough that Weard found out about the crown and the fact that the pieces had been scattered and hidden in the seven wonders of the ancient world because of my hunt for answers regarding my past. If that mistake led to war . . . Then the seer we had met in Venice would be right, after all. I would be the Destroyer.

  I blinked as water splashed me in the face. “Hey!”

  Swiping the water away, I glared at Mathias. “Why did you do that?”

  “I’m sorry, but you had the look where you’re blaming yourself for things beyond your control.” His mouth twitched. “I had to get your attention somehow.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re such a bratty Ten.” Sighing, I dropped my head to rest against the tub as water lapped at my chin. “We’ve been to four of the wonders now, and we have found nothing. We haven’t even been able to find signs of the clues or that the crown pieces were ever there. We can’t ask the local Lore keepers for help because they might be working for Weard or they could turn into a target.”

  I didn’t add that the blood of the two Lore keepers who had died in Herculaneum as a result of even sharing this information was already on my hands. Weard’s hunters had an alarming penchant for killing innocents. Something Mathias knew even better than I did. Raising my hand to rub at the growing ache squeezing my forehead, I caught Mathias’ gaze again. His blue-green eyes were . . . worried. I lowered my hand slightly, then rested it on the edge of the tub. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”