She cried out softly against Oz’s exposed wrist and rolled to her side in the fetal position, her body shaking with tremors.
“It’s going to be okay, love,” Oz murmured, snatching up the washcloth to wipe at the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Oz had never felt more helpless than he did in that moment. Watching the woman he’d come to love writhing in agony was more than his heart could take.
Jumping to his feet, he hurried to the bathroom to wet a clean washcloth when a thought struck him. Abbie’s blood.
“Vaulcron?” Oz mentally sent, racing back to the bed to place the cool cloth on Maria’s forehead.
“I am here,” Vaulcron immediately answered back.
“Will you contact Hauke for me? I need to get a message to Abbie.”
There was a brief pause. “Zaureth has already spoken with Hauke.”
“And?” Oz mentally growled, fear for Maria’s life, riding his back.
“Abbie is sending antibiotics for Maria. Zaureth has left through the Pool of Enlightenment to meet with Hauke in the gulf.”
Hope instantly took root inside Oz’s heart before doubt trickled through. “Is she also sending blood? I mean, I’m no doctor, and I have no idea if the two of them are even a match, but I do know that Abbie is immune to the Incola virus. Perhaps her blood will help Maria as well?”
“I know nothing of blood types,” Vaulcron responded. “But if her blood is something that will help Maria, I am certain that Abbie will send some. You will have to discuss that with Zaureth when he returns.”
“Thank you, Vaulcron.”
Vaulcron sighed through their link. “I only wish that I could do more. I feel quite helpless, standing around in the hall while your mate suffers with a sickness.”
Mate, Oz thought, staring down at Maria’s pale face. Something he never imagined having in his life. Yet there she lay in front of him, pale and weak, and still the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.
Shaking off his thoughts, Oz returned his attention to Vaulcron. “Actually, there is something you can do for me.”
“Anything,” came the Bracadyte’s soft reply.
“Go to the storage room and grab me whatever you can find that reduces a fever. Also, a thermometer, if you have one. And leave it outside the door.”
“I will be back as quickly as possible.” Vaulcron severed the connection.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Maria couldn’t remember being as cold as she was right then.
She could hear Oz moving around the room as surely as she’d felt him curled up beside her only minutes before.
Oz never left her alone. His presence had been the only comfort Maria had felt in what seemed like days of never-ending torment.
A woman’s voice penetrated the silence. “The blisters will form soon. If the blood doesn’t work, she won’t have long left, Oz. I’m so sorry.”
Are they talking about me? Maria wondered, wanting to ask but unable to open her mouth or eyes.
“I won’t let her die, Abbie. That’s not an option. There has to be something else we can try?”
If what Maria had heard was correct, Doctor Abbigail Sutherland was the owner of the feminine voice. Which meant that things had gone from bad to worse.
The last thing Maria remembered was becoming sick while in the bath house with Oz.
She wondered how it was possible that Abbie Sutherland stood in her room. The last thing Maria recalled about the doctor was her going ashore with Hauke to assist the CDC in finding a cure for the Incola virus.
Terror suddenly penetrated Maria’s fever-ravaged mind. Had she contracted the Incola virus?
Visions of the infected people she’d seen on the television immediately skated behind her closed eyelids. The blisters on their skin, the way they’d bled from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths while drowning on their own blood. The rabid behavior they had exhibited only hours before their deaths.
“Oz!” Maria silently begged, clawing her way through the fog. “What’s happening to me?”
Apparently, Oz couldn’t hear her. He continued speaking to Abbie as if Maria wasn’t mentally screaming his name.
“Maybe you didn’t give her enough?” Oz suggested, his tone laced with impatience.
Abbie’s weary sigh echoed through Maria’s skull with painstaking finality. “I gave her enough, Oz. I even gave her some of Arcanum’s, just in case. There are no guarantees that it will work. Especially on someone as far gone as Maria is.”
I’m going to die, Maria thought in panic, her heart beating painfully inside her aching chest. And I’ll never get the chance to tell Oz how I feel about him. How much I love him…
Maria’s entire life flashed before her eyes. The years she’d spent seeking her father’s love. The torment she’d experienced at the hands of her brother. Her mother’s sad eyes and calloused hands. The resentment Maria had carried in her heart for Oz for the death of her father.
None of that mattered any longer. Nothing mattered more to Maria in that moment but making sure that Nicho Ozele understood how much she loved him.
Maria relaxed her body as much as the pain would allow and fought with every ounce of strength she possessed, seeking the mental connection she had with Oz. “Please hear me…”
The bed suddenly dipped next to her. “Maria?” Oz sent back, his voice hoarse with desperation. “I hear you, baby.”
Maria inwardly cried in relief as the sound of Oz’s voice filled her very soul. She focused on the memory of his eyes. “I have to tell you something.”
“No,” Oz vehemently returned. “Don’t you dare say goodbye. I won’t let you leave me. Fight, baby. Fight with everything you have. Abbie is here now. She’s given you some of her blood, and—”
“Please hear me out,” Maria pleaded, effectively cutting him off. “If I don’t make it…I want you to know something.”
Oz gently squeezed her hand. “Don’t talk like that. Whatever it is, you can tell me when you’re better.”
“I love you, Oz…” Maria’s connection with Oz severed as pain exploded inside her chest and her world turned to black.
* * * *
Oz felt the moment he lost connection with Maria.
“Noooo!” he howled, releasing her hand to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He pulled her limp form up tightly against him, rocking her back and forth.
Tears dripped from his eyes to spill into her hair. “Don’t you leave me, damn you. Not now. Not when I just found you.”
Abbie’s soft voice suddenly penetrated Oz’s grief. “Stay strong, sweetie. She’s only had the blood in her system for a half an hour. If it’s going to work, it’ll take some time.”
Oz clung to Abbie’s words. A lifeline of hope amidst a churning sea of despair. “Do you know how much time she has left if the blood doesn’t work?”
“No one can predict that, Oz. But from what I hear, Maria’s a fighter. And it’s going to take every ounce of strength she has left to pull through this. If it’s possible to pull through.”
Oz swallowed around the lump in his throat. “How many have survived the Incola virus?”
Abbie glanced away before meeting Oz’s gaze once more. “None that we know of.”
“None?” Oz rasped, unable to prevent the damnable moisture from gathering in his eyes.
“I’m afraid not.” Abbie touched him on the shoulder. “But Maria is the first one to receive the blood of one immune to the virus. That gives her slightly better odds in my opinion.”
Oz kissed the top of Maria’s head but kept his gaze on Abbie. “So what do we do now?”
“Wait,” Abbie murmured. “And if you’ve ever been a praying man, I’d say a prayer as well.”
Zaureth called out from the doorway. “May I come inside?”
“Of course,” Oz practically growled, glancing over his shoulder at the giant Bracadyte.
The healer strode i
nto the room, stopping next to the bed and placing a small stone bowl containing a foul-smelling concoction on the bedside table.
Oz eyed the greenish-black liquid nestled in the bottom of the bowl. “What the hell is that?”
Zaureth took a seat in the closest available chair. “A few of the things I could gather from the gulf. Healing herbs I read about while growing up in the catacombs. It is viler tasting than one can imagine, and I am not even certain of its effects on the human body.”
Oz was horrified. “You can’t give her something that might have an adverse effect on her. She’s not strong enough to handle it if it backfires on her.”
Zaureth’s gaze softened. “We do not have many choices here, my friend. If we do nothing, she will surely die.”
“He’s right, Oz,” Abbie chimed in, moving to stand next to Zaureth. “If there’s even the slightest chance it will help her, we should do it.”
Oz reluctantly eased Maria’s body back against the pillows and retrieved the small bowl sitting on the nightstand. He placed his arm behind her neck and lifted, holding the foul-smelling concoction to her lips.
Pouring a little at a time into Maria’s mouth, Oz tilted her head back to be sure she swallowed.
A moan escaped her with the first taste of the vile liquid. She twisted her face to the side, gagging and fighting with what little strength she possessed.
Oz’s heart broke all over again.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Doug Jefferies paced in front of President Pratt’s desk, attempting to control his expressions. The last thing he needed was for Pratt to detect the rage consuming his thought. “Those rebels that attacked the Cuban’s yacht were not under my command, sir.”
Pratt leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. “Henagar has assured me that you were behind the attack. That some of the men onboard that vessel have been linked to you in the past.”
Jefferies ground his teeth in anger. Damn Fiona for betraying her country. “Henagar was once linked to me as well. Yet you trust her to reside below with the Bracadytes. If anyone’s loyalty is up for questioning here, it should be hers. Sir.”
“Henagar has proven herself, Jefferies. Which is more than I can say for you. You might have gotten off on the charges brought against you while serving under Howell, but I’m president now. And I feel it would be in the best interest of the United States if you no longer held the position of secretary of Homeland Security.”
Doug could feel his face heating up with suppressed rage. How dare this dimwit of a president think he can replace me with someone probably even more dimwitted than he is! “And there’s nothing I can do to change your mind about this?”
“I don’t believe so, Doug. And if at any time, another attack is assembled against the Bracadytes, I will hold you personally responsible. You will lose more than just your position. You’ll lose your freedom as well.”
Doug’s body tensed. He had to force his jaw open in order to speak. “Are you threatening me, sir?”
Pratt could threaten all he wanted, Doug thought with disdain. But Fiona Henagar would play the part he intended for her to play. The wheels had already been set into motion, and there was nothing Pratt could do about it.
Pratt gained his feet, flattening his palms on his desktop. “It’s not a threat, Jefferies. It’s a promise. Now close the door on your way out. I’ll be in touch.”
Jefferies spun on his heel and left without a backward glance. He didn’t need Pratt’s approval to do what needed to be done. Doug loved his country and would do anything to protect it. Even if it meant eliminating its greatest threat…the Bracadytes.
* * * *
Maria took an exhausted breath, listening to the sounds of Oz’s even breathing. He slept behind her with his arm thrown across her middle.
Her eyes fluttered open to stare at the rock ceiling above her. She was still alive.
Easing her overheated foot out from under the blanket, Maria turned her head in Oz’s direction.
Dark circles rested beneath his eyes, nearly hidden by the long dark hair falling across his face. A few days’ worth of growth shadowed his jaw, telling Maria she’d been out for quite some time.
“Oz?” she croaked, her throat feeling as if it were lined with sandpaper.
His eyes shot open, and he sat up so fast it sent Maria’s head spinning. “You’re awake!”
Immediately moving his hand to her forehead, a grin split his face. “And your fever is gone.”
Maria attempted to smile in return, but her lips were too cracked to cooperate. “How long have I been out?”
“Three of the longest days of my life.”
“I’m so thirsty,” Maria wheezed, trying to swallow around a parched throat.
Oz was on his feet in in instant, water in hand. He lifted her head and brought the cup to her lips. “Don’t take too much. It might make you sick.”
Maria didn’t care how sick it made her. She felt near to dying from thirst.
“Small sips,” Oz coaxed, slightly tugging back on the glass.
Once Maria had drunk as much as Oz would allow, she lay back against the pillows and stared up into his handsome face. “What happened to me?”
“You’d somehow contracted the Incola virus. I’m assuming from one of your brother’s men.”
Maria let that sink in. “Incola?”
Oz nodded, brushing some of her damp hair back from her face. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“How am I alive?”
“Zaureth contacted Hauke the day you fell ill and told him of your symptoms. Abbie was going to send you some of her blood but changed her mind and showed up here with some powerful antibiotics instead.”
“That’s a forty-five-mile walk,” Maria breathed, her eyes growing huge in surprise. “She walked that far to bring me medicine?”
Oz grinned. “Actually, she brought a four-wheeler. She got here in half the time.”
“A four-wheeler?”
“She’s obviously smarter than us.” Oz chuckled, leaning down to kiss Maria on the forehead.
Maria basked in the feel of Oz’s lips on her skin. “So, she dosed me with antibiotics?”
“And her blood,” Oz corrected.
“Does that mean her blood is the key? It really works?”
“It looks that way,” Oz admitted, reaching for the washcloth on the nightstand. He gently wiped the sweat from Maria’s brow.
“Do you know what that means?” Maria rasped, a shudder passing through her with the first swipe of the cool cloth.
Oz nodded, continuing his ministrations. “It means that her blood can be used to create a vaccine against the virus. If not a cure.”
“Yes,” Maria admitted in relief. Then a thought struck her. “Oh my God, Oz. Fiona was exposed to me the entire trip here.”
Oz dipped the washcloth in a nearby bowl, squeezed out the excess water, and returned it to Maria’s face. “Abbie has already given Fiona, Amy, and Tony a small injection of her blood. As well as Anderson. They should all be fine.”
“And Vaulcron’s mate?” Maria asked anxiously.
Pausing in his cleansing, Oz met Maria’s gaze. “Abbie feels that the child Mallory carries has assured her immunity against the virus.”
“Thank you for saving my life,” Maria whispered, reaching up to touch Oz’s hand.
Oz shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. Abbie’s blood, along with Zaureth’s healing energy and the concoction he cooked up, are responsible for you being alive now. I did nothing but sit helplessly by and pray.”
“You prayed for me?”
Oz averted his gaze. “It was all I could do.”
“Thank you, Oz. I don’t know if I’ve ever had anyone intercede for me before.”
Clearing his throat, Oz pinched the bridge of his nose. “Abbie and Zaureth are the true heroes.”
Maria tried to sit up. “Where is Doctor Sutherland? I would like to thank her for everything.�
�
Oz gently pushed her back against the pillows. “She returned to the surface yesterday to start working on a vaccine.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Oz watched Maria battle with her emotions. Hell, he knew a little something about battling emotions. He’d spent the past three days fighting demons he never knew he had.
Maria’s illness had taken the fight right out of him, leaving him broken and begging a God he’d never known before to take him instead of her.
It had taken Oz nearly losing Maria to come to grips with the fact that he loved her. An eternal love that robbed him of the will to live in a world where she didn’t exist. And she’d nearly died without knowing the depths of his feelings for her.
Pride be damned, Oz silently swore, allowing a lone tear to spill from his eye. He simply had no pride left where Maria was concerned.
“Oz?” she gasped, searching his gaze. “Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
“I love you, Maria,” Oz rasped, his voice breaking. “I love you from my very soul. I can’t live without you. Please don’t ever make me live without you.”
Maria’s own eyes teared up. “I love you too, Oz. And I’m grateful that I have the chance to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
Oz leaned down and buried his face in her damp hair. “You’ve made me the happiest man alive.”
“May I come inside?” Zaureth called from the doorway.
Laughing against Maria’s neck, Oz lifted his head. “Come in, my friend.”
Zaureth trailed into the room, carrying a tray of delicious-smelling food before setting it on the nightstand and taking a seat next to the bed. His gaze touched on Maria. “How are you feeling this evening?”
“I’m alive, and that’s all that matters,” Maria responded, a hint of a smile on her cracked lips.
Zaureth returned her smile. “You are severely dehydrated. Once you have taken food and drink, you will begin gaining back your strength.”
“I would very much love a bath,” Maria confessed, holding the sheet against her naked chest.
Oz: A SciFi Alien Romance (Enigma Series Book 5) Page 13