by Brooke Dark
Veronika’s eyes close. She drifts in and out of consciousness.
Amber hefts Veronika into her arms. She carries her back to the cave mouth lying concealed beneath the reef. Before she drags her into the ocean she puts her mouth on Veronika’s and gently fills her lungs with air.
At the surface, Amber cradles Veronika’s head against her shoulder and swims her to shore.
♥
~ CHAPTER SIXTEEN ~
LAST KISS
THE beast of Sanur is dragged out of its den before sunrise. Brata wants it lifted out of there under cover of night. He does not want to raise the curiosity of locals nor tourists. It is driven away to Denpasar’s Ngurah International Airport and flown via military aircraft to a government forensics laboratory in Jakarta.
Brata will follow later that day after he’s wrapped things up down here in Bali.
He and Amber sit on hotel deckchairs, gazing out at the surf. It’s 9am. The tropical sun shines down. White clouds drift. The sea breezes blow in off the ocean. The air is heavy with humidity and the scent of frangipani and incense. Somewhere out there, between them and the reef, lies the underwater grotto.
‘So,’ Brata says, smiling, mopping his brow. ‘You believe dat woss its motive. To reproduce?’
Amber’s uncertain. ‘Those are the conclusions I have drawn. The dead foetuses. The extraction of wombs from its victims. A warped idea of reproduction, yes, but an idea nonetheless.’
‘You have seen dis before?’ Brata asks her, searching her eyes.
Amber shakes her head. ‘I have not. A first for me.’
Brata stands. Amber follows. ‘Well, I thank you,’ he says. ‘Terima kasih. You have prevented any further deaths. You have help preserve our tourist trade.’ He smiles at her. ‘And my daughters are now safe.’
They do not need talk about the specifics of Amber’s fee. She has already been informed by her office in Oxford that funds have been transferred from the funding department of the Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, the national police force. A little bit extra has been added. Brata citing a specialist’s tip for Amber.
‘I watched you change shape,’ he tells her. ‘Dat day near da school. I feared for myself, I must say. I thought maybe you were leyak. Now I believe you are Bidadari. An angel.’ He smiles. They shake hands and away walks Brata. Back to his own life. Back to his wife and daughters.
Amber has lunch. Swims in the pool. Even takes time out for a stroll up the street. For the first time she is able to relax and enjoy her surroundings. She watches young women, tourists, holiday makers, back packers. She feels relaxed knowing they will not end up murdered with their wombs torn free. She is flying out tomorrow. With her work here wrapped up she has brought forward her departure date.
One last thing remains to do.
Check on Veronika.
Sam’s not present when Amber drops by Veronika’s hotel. He’s off fetching Veronika some lunch. Veronika lies on her bed. Watching TV. She looks somewhat distracted when Amber knocks on the open door.
‘Hi,’ Amber says, ‘Mind if I come in?’
She’s surprised to find Veronika as well as she is. She had been ferried to Bali’s Sanglah Hospital for observation. However she was released a short time later in good health.
Veronika smiles tiredly and gets up. She embraces Amber. At length. Amber holds her in return.
Veronika gazes into Amber’s eyes. ‘You saved me. I owe you my life.’
‘Honestly, you owe me nothing,’ Amber says. ‘Your friendship while I have been here has been more than enough.’
Veronika weeps. Amber holds her. ‘Come on now,’ Amber says sweetly, ‘you’re safe now.’
Veronika wipes her eyes. She sits down. ‘So, what was that thing?’
Amber sits beside her on the bed. ‘A lonely old hag. Nothing more.’ She leaves out the other details. What that thing did. The way it killed. Veronika would have enough nightmares to deal with without hearing that stuff.
‘When do you leave?’ Veronika asks almost sadly.
‘I fly out in the morning.’
‘Where to? London?’
‘Yes. Unless I’m posted elsewhere. You?’
‘Two more days.’
‘And Sam? What is the future?’
Veronika looks distant. ‘I don’t know. I just don’t know. I don’t know if I can stay with him after… you know, everything.’
Amber nods. ‘It’s probably not my place to say this, but he doesn’t deserve you.’
Veronika smiles sadly. ‘No. I… you are right, of course… I just feel confused.’
Amber takes her into her arms. ‘Of course. I… I hope I have not ruined your holiday.’
Veronika laughs. The first joyous laugh Amber has heard from her in days. ‘It will not be a vacation I shall forget quickly. I promise you dat.’
Amber smiles.
Veronika watches her. She takes her hand. ‘I’m not sure what I will make of it all. You know, me and you. But I want to say you opened me to… things… I did not think possible.’
Amber smooths a wayward lock of hair behind Veronika’s ear. ‘Was it the right thing to do? I don’t know.’
They watch each other. Then gently, Veronika brings her mouth to Amber’s. They kiss for the last time.
♥
~ EPILOGUE ~
THE following morning, a police vehicle arrives at the Villa Apsara to escort Amber to the airport. A porter helps with her luggage—the elderly man Amber met on her first day. He carries her case to the waiting car. There without saying a word he reaches for something in his pocket. He hands her something. When she takes it she finds that it is the enchanted stone. As his fingers touch hers, she receives a mental image. Of his daughter. She recovers in hospital. Her condition has improved. Doctors don’t know how, but her blood disease, whatever it was, has gone.
The old porter presses his palms together. Puts his thumbs to his brow. He dips his head in a humble gesture of gratitude.
The Domino Café at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai airport. Amber sips English Breakfast tea. Her flight is due to fly out in an hour or two. She is on her laptop. Another job has come in from Oxford. Her return flights have changed. She has been booked to stop over Singapore.
No rest for the wicked then, she muses.
She shuts her laptop and watches a group of smartly dressed female flight attendants stroll by, wheeling their cabin luggage behind them. She senses they are the air crew for her flight.
One of the female crew members, a beautiful olive skinned woman with black hair chatting with her fellow crew members, watches Amber briefly. They walk on by. Amber continues to eye her. Taking in her long, shapely legs. Her slim figure. The curve of her buttocks.
Amber waits to see if the air hostess will glance back at her.
If she does, Amber thinks, my flight to Singapore might hold some sweet distractions.
At the last moment before the flight crew moves out of sight, the air hostess in question looks back at Amber… and smiles.
____________________________________________
THE MYSTERIOUS AMBER StCLAIRE
WILL REAPPEAR
IN
THE CURSE OF THE SCARLET RAVEN
___________________________________________
Dear reader, thanks so much for purchasing this book. If you enjoyed it, if you have a few moments to spare, please feel free to leave a review,
Thank you,
BD
AMBER STCLAIRE AND THE BEAST OF SANUR BROOKE DARK
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