Zaureth
By Ditter Kellen
www.ditterkellen.com
Copyright © by Ditter Kellen
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from Ditter Kellen. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
Published in the United States of America
Ditter Kellen
P.O. Box 1764
DeFuniak Springs, FL. 32435
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Warning
This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. This e-book is for sale to adults ONLY as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers
Dedication
For my dear friend, Amy Bingham, who makes me laugh on a daily basis. She’s a lover of all things romance, particularly paranormal and sci-fi romance.
Amy fell in love with Zaureth from the beginning of the Enigma series, and she’s stayed faithful to him throughout every book. I felt it only fair that she experience a happy ever after with the Bracadyte of her dreams.
I love you, Amy girl…I hope you enjoy!
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my dear friend and beta reader, Cathe Green, for always being there and holding my hand through the writing process. She’s one of the dearest friends I’ve ever had, and I love her with all my heart.
A special thanks to Nita Banks and Tanya Allen for taking the time to read Zaureth and give an honest opinion as well. I love both of these ladies beyond words.
Chapter One
Zaureth emerged from the pool of enlightenment and gingerly laid the large grouper he’d recently caught on a nearby rock.
He plucked up the towel he’d left lying by the water’s edge and quickly dried off.
Blood dripped from a cut on his arm that slightly stung from the exposure to air.
Zaureth lifted his arm and licked the wound. Energy flowed from his tongue, sending heat through the open gash.
A tingling sensation soon replaced the uncomfortable sting, telling Zaureth that the healing process had already begun.
The bleeding stopped within seconds, and Zaureth picked up his meal and strode off toward his room.
He didn’t bother with clothes before entering the gulf in search of food. He’d been alone in Aukrabah for nearly three months. Three months without Amy’s company or her gentle touch on his arm as he would guide her from place to place.
Zaureth wondered if she’d remained in Playa Pilar or if she’d returned to the States.
He shook his head at the direction of his thoughts. The best thing for him to do would be to forget Amy Brighton and everything about her.
A strange sensation abruptly overtook him, causing his steps to slow.
“Zaureth…” a soft voice beckoned, catching him off guard.
Coming to a complete stop, Zaureth closed his eyes and opened his mind, needing to hear the voice once again. He was met with silence.
After several minutes of quiet, Zaureth convinced himself he’d imagined the sound and continued on to his room.
He’d been alone for weeks without contact from anyone other than Vaulcron. And that had been only when Zaureth allowed the mental intrusion.
Three months of searching and seeking had leveled out Zaureth’s insecurities. He felt stronger than ever and more in tune with his gifts.
Zaureth wasn’t sure what the young blind girl possessed that affected him so; he only knew that the urge to flee had overpowered the urge to find out.
In all his thirty summers since his birth, he’d never known another being to throw him off balance the way Amy Brighton did.
Perhaps an overabundance of empathy was to blame, draining him of energy and threatening his control? Zaureth wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, he’d done the right thing by returning home.
Then why were thoughts of Amy Brighton still plaguing him? he wondered, stepping inside his apartment and laying the grouper on his small table.
He snagged a knife and removed the fish’s head before fileting it down the center and sinking his fangs into its heart.
Once Zaureth drained the grouper of blood, he ate what he wanted and cut up the remaining meat into small bites before storing it in a bowl of gulf water to have at a later time. The salty water would keep the meat fresh for a couple of days.
After cleaning up his small mess, Zaureth tugged a blanket from his bed, folded it into a square, and placed it on the floor.
He lowered to his knees in the center while extending his arms out to his sides.
Zaureth bowed his head and called upon the being that he knew dwelled above him. An entity much larger than anything his mind could comprehend.
His hands began to tremble, heat warmed his palms, and energy coursed through his body, powerful enough it bowed his back.
Zaureth’s lips peeled back over his teeth as he fought to control the power now coursing through his veins.
Objects around the room began to vibrate. The air crackled around him as if electrically charged.
He forced his eyes open, marveling at the sight of his bed elevated off the floor.
Zaureth pushed harder, forcing the energy to rise, taking the bed higher.
“Zaureth…”
The soft sound of the voice penetrating his mind shattered his concentration, sending the bed crashing heavily to the floor.
Remaining on his knees, Zaureth sought the voice, opening his mind to it, summoning it with everything he had.
A sadness seeped inside him, circling his heart in suffocating despair.
“Open for me,” Zaureth mentally sent, calling to the one who’d breached his defenses.
“I can hear you,” came the soft yet fearful reply. “How is it that I can hear you?”
Zaureth’s breath caught as the voice became clear in his mind. He pushed to his feet and staggered back a step, disbelief replacing his confusion. “Amy?”
Chapter Two
Amy Brighton stumbled forward, staggering over the uneven sand of the beach in her attempt to reach the water. Zaureth was near. She’d heard him as clearly as if he’d been standing directly in front of her.
“Open for me…”
Her heart lurched at the sound of his voice. She scrambled into the water, her arms out in front of her. “Where are you?”
“I am in Aukrabah,” came his quiet response.
The water splashed against her thighs, telling her she’d gone deeper. “How is it that I can hear you?”
She could feel Zaureth’s confusion. “I do not know. Perhaps your lack of sight has strengthened your senses somehow.”
Amy had hoped the obsession she’d formed for the Bracadyte healer would somehow dispel over time. She was wrong. If anything it had grown stronger, more intense.
“I miss you,” she mentally blurte
d before she could stop the thought.
“I think of you often as well,” Zaureth replied. “But you must forget me, for I am not free to feel as others do.”
Amy’s heart ached from his words. “What does that mean? How are you not free?”
“I am a healer, Amy. I have no understanding of how I came to be this way. I only know that I have been given a gift most could never comprehend. And that gift comes with a price.”
Dread filled Amy’s chest. She slowly drifted forward, vaguely aware that the water had reached her neck. “What price is that?”
A wave crashed over the top of her, taking her under and stealing her breath. A cry trapped in her throat as the current sucked her down and dragged her along the sandy floor of the gulf’s bottom.
“Amy?” Vaulcron’s voice inside her head was full of anxiety and desperation.
Her arms flailed around, and she kicked with everything she had, but the pull of the gulf was far superior.
Amy had no sense of balance, no idea which way was up. Her lungs began to burn, and fear gave way to panic as something grabbed onto her arm.
She screamed beneath the water, jerking anxiously to free herself from its hold.
The need to breathe became too strong. She instinctively inhaled, terrified as water filled her lungs, and she lost the battle with consciousness.
* * * *
Fire flew through Amy’s chest and throat as great, racking coughs consumed her. Had she drowned and woken up in hell?
“Easy,” a muffled voice crooned from above her. “Let’s get you onto your side.”
No, not hell. Amy was fairly sure that Satan wouldn’t sound so welcoming.
A hand slipped beneath her and rolled her to her side. “Get it all out.”
Salt water and more than a few grains of sand trickled from Amy’s mouth to slip down her cheek. Her retching seemed to go on forever.
It took several minutes for Amy to draw a breath without coughing. “You saved my life,” she wheezed, turning her head in the direction of her savior.
“It’s starting to become a habit with you,” came the teasing reply.
Amy would have laughed if it didn’t hurt to do so. “Glenn?”
“The one and only. Now let’s get you back to your room and have Doctor Sutherland check you over.”
“No,” Amy insisted, allowing him to lift her into his arms. “No doctors. I’ll be fine once I take a hot shower.”
Glenn’s sigh tickled her forehead. “What were you doing in the damn gulf to begin with?”
Amy wasn’t about to tell him she’d been searching for Zaureth, willing to go anywhere to feel close to him. She’d sound like an idiot. “I felt like a swim.”
“Liar. You told me that you’d never learned how to swim.”
She shrugged and laid her head against his shoulder, exhausted beyond words.
The cool air of the hotel lobby touched her skin as Glenn carried her inside. He stopped and adjusted her in his arms. “May we get a new keycard for Miss Brighton’s room?”
A woman’s voice softly responded. “Absolutely, Glenn. Will you be needing anything else?”
“Not at the moment, Carmen. But I appreciate it.”
Glenn didn’t speak until they were safely inside the elevator. “He’s gone, you know.”
Amy knew exactly who Glenn referred to. “Who’s gone?”
“Your healer. Zaureth.”
“I know that,” she mumbled, listening as the door dinged and slid open. “He left months ago. And he’s not my healer.”
“If you say so.” Glenn strode down the hall and opened the door to Amy’s room. It slammed shut behind him. “Can you stand?”
Amy nodded, allowing him to set her on her feet. The floor tilted beneath her.
Glenn’s arms were instantly around her once again. He guided her to the bed and helped her lie down. “I’m calling Doctor Sutherland, whether you like it or not.”
Amy could hear Glenn snatch up the telephone and speak to the front desk. “I need Hauke and Abbie Sutherland’s room.” There was a long pause and then, “Amy Brighton needs Doctor Sutherland’s help. Yes, she’s in her room. That won’t be necessary. I’ll stay with her until the doctor arrives.”
“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” Amy insisted. “When Mallory gets wind of this, I won’t be able to run her off with a shitty mop.”
Glenn laughed. “Is she that bad?”
“You have no idea. She’s very overprotective where I’m concerned.”
Glenn laid his hand on Amy’s upper arm. “I’m sure it’s only because she loves you.”
“I know. It’s just that—” A knock on the door interrupted Amy’s thoughts.
“I’ll get that.”
Amy could hear Glenn’s footsteps rush across the room. “Thank you for coming, Doctor Sutherland.”
“What happened?” Abbie demanded, hurrying into the room.
Amy could hear the dislike fairly drip from Abbie’s words.
It was no secret that neither Abbie nor Hauke were particularly fond of Glenn. They tolerated him simply because he’d saved Amy’s life.
“I saw her go under in the gulf. She was unconscious by the time I got to her,” Glenn murmured, hovering nearby. Amy could hear his agitated breathing.
“Mister Anderson? I’m going to need you to step out,” Abbie demanded, moving to sit next to Amy on the bed.
Glenn squeezed Amy’s hand. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
Amy turned her face in the direction of his voice. “Thank you for everything, Glenn.”
Abbie waited for the door to close behind him before she spoke. “I don’t trust him.”
“He really isn’t such a bad guy,” Amy admitted, listening as Abbie rummaged through a bag. “He’s saved my neck more than once.”
Abbie made a sound in her throat. “And that’s the reason he still possesses a head. Hauke still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Glenn shot him. May I open your shirt?”
Amy nodded, sucking in a breath as something cold touched her chest.
“It’s only a stethoscope,” Abbie assured her, moving the object lower. “Take a deep breath for me.”
Doing as she was told, Amy breathed slowly as Abbie continued her ministrations.
“You still have a little water in your lungs. I’m going to give you some steroids to help with the swelling and irritation. I’m also going to give you something to help you sleep.”
“I really don’t want to sleep,” Amy grumbled, wanting to be alone in hopes of contacting Zaureth again.
“It’ll help aid in the healing process. Now pull your shorts down a bit. I’m going to give you a couple of shots in your hip.”
Amy unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down, flinching as Abbie quickly popped her with first one needle, then another.
“There. All done. I’m going to see if Oz can get me some antibiotics. It wouldn’t hurt to get you started on something to prevent infection from setting in.”
Amy could hear the sounds of Abbie packing up her supplies. “Doctor Sutherland?”
“Hmmmm?”
“Please don’t tell my sister about this. She would be in here running me crazy with worry. I honestly don’t think I can handle that right now.”
Abbie reached up and brushed Amy’s damp hair back. “Why were you out in the gulf by yourself?”
Amy hesitated, not sure how much to tell the sweet doctor.
“It’s okay,” Abbie softly murmured. “You can trust me.”
“Talking to Zaureth.”
Abbie sucked in a breath. “Zaureth is back?”
“No,” Amy quietly confessed, “I could hear him inside my mind.”
“What?” The shock in Abbie’s voice wasn’t lost on Amy. “You telepathically conversed with Zaureth?”
“I don’t understand it either,” Amy slurred, sleep pulling her under. “But he was there…”
“Amy?”
The soun
d of Abbie’s voice resonated in Amy’s mind, full of curiosity and concern, but Amy had one thought on her brain as her eyes drifted heavily shut… Zaureth.
Chapter Three
Zaureth swam with everything he had. He’d felt the panic racing through Amy’s psyche seconds before her link with him severed.
Something had happened to her. Of that, Zaureth had no doubt.
He’d thrown his clothes on in record time and raced to the Pool of Enlightenment as fast as his legs could carry him, before sailing headlong into the gulf and leaving Aukrabah far behind.
Zaureth had been reaching out to Amy since the moment he’d fled his home, only to be met with silence.
Switching his energy to a different direction, Zaureth called upon his closest friend.
“I am here,” Vaulcron sent back, relief lining his voice. “It is good to hear from you.”
“I am in need of your help, Vaulcron.”
Zaureth could feel Vaulcron’s emotions pouring through him like warm water. “Anything, my friend.”
“Amy is in trouble. I cannot tell you how I know this. I am asking you to trust me.”
“In trouble, how?”
“I do not know,” Zaureth sent back, frustration riding his back. “Find her, Vaulcron. And hurry.”
Zaureth pushed himself harder, faster than he’d ever swam before, unsure of what he’d find when he reached Playa Pilar.
“Amy?” Zaureth called out to her once more. Again he was met with silence.
Hours seemed to tick by as Zaureth sluiced through the water with the speed of a dolphin.
Thoughts of Amy tormented his every moment. He should have never left her side. She had no sight, no way of avoiding all the terrible things that could happen to her at any time. And apparently, something had.
Zaureth prayed he wasn’t too late, that Vaulcron would find her, and soon.
“Zaureth?”
The sound of Vaulcron’s voice spiked Zaureth’s adrenaline. With dread squeezing his heart, Zaureth answered him back. “Did you find her?”
Zaureth: A SciFi Alien Romance (Enigma Series Book 4) Page 1