Nausea rolled through Tony’s gut. He staggered over to a bucket and rested his hands on his knees as what little food he’d been able to consume earlier came back up.
When Tony could dry heave no longer, he straightened and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “There has to be something that I can do. She will never make it back from my memories. The things I’ve seen… The things I’ve done.”
Zaureth offered Tony a cup of water, which he readily drank.
“I will leave you now, Anthony Vaughn. There is nothing more I can do here. Take Naura to her room and make her as comfortable as you can. It is your sickness that resides in her. Only you will know how to rid her of it.”
The strange Bracadyte left without another word.
Tony gently turned Naura over, removed the sheet covering her, and scooped her nude body up into his arms.
Holding her high against his chest, he kissed her forehead, grabbed a towel to drape over her for modesty, and stumbled from the infirmary toward her apartment.
He would make her better if it was the last thing he did, he silently swore as he strode down the hall. Even if it killed him.
A few minutes later, Naura’s apartment came into view. Tony breezed through the foyer into her bedroom and laid her gently onto the bed.
He pulled a blanket over her to hide her nakedness from anyone that might enter. Specifically Braum.
After making sure that she rested, he hurried from the room in search of food. She would surely be hungry when she awoke. And she would awaken, he vowed, coming to a stop in front of Abbie’s door.
“Hauke? Abbie?” Tony bellowed from the opening.
Abbie appeared with her finger to her lips for quiet. “You’ll wake the baby.”
“I need food for Naura.” He realized that he had no idea what Bracadytes ate. “Whatever you think she would like.”
“She is better then?”
Tony debated on how much to divulge to his niece. He decided to be truthful.
Ten minutes later, he sat on a stool in Abbie’s kitchen and watched her expression as he finished explaining what had happened between Naura and him.
“She healed you? But from what?” Abbie stood at a giant makeshift stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious.
Tony shook his head. “I don’t rightly know.” But he did. And if the look in Abbie’s eyes was any indication, she did as well.
“I see.” Abbie poured the amazing-smelling soup into a bowl and grabbed a spoon. “She loves you, Uncle Tony.”
Tony’s heart squeezed. “She can’t love me, Abbie. She barely knows me.”
“My guess is she knows you better than anyone ever has. The Bracadytes have the ability to see inside a person. To know their innermost thoughts and feelings. But I’m sure that you’re more than aware.”
He was. And from the exchange he’d had with Naura in the infirmary, it was clear she knew things about him that he’d long since forgotten. “Abbie…”
“I know what you’re thinking, Uncle Tony. Truly, I do. It’s a scary thing to have another being so deep inside your psyche that you feel like you connected with their soul. But it can be a beautiful experience if you’ll accept it for what it is.”
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “What is it?”
“A mating.” She turned and strode out the door without waiting for his response.
“Bloody hell,” Tony muttered, jumping from the stool and running after his whimsical niece. “A damn mating.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Naura screamed in terror as the blonde-haired woman begged for her life, for the life of her child. To no avail.
The torture continued endlessly. The wailing, the blood melding together in a nightmare of anguish and grief.
Blessed silence eventually arrived in a relief born of exhaustion, but the darkness refused to recede.
Naura had never experienced anything as black as the darkness she floated in. It soaked through her skin, penetrating her body in an inky blackness that terrified her.
She clawed at it in an attempt to escape its suffocating madness, but it kept coming, inching forward and filling her lungs with its thickness.
Someone touched her. Tony’s voice called out to her from a great distance, filled with sadness and fear.
She tried to reach out to him, but the heavy darkness held her back.
Why was he here? He shouldn’t be near her. The black substance was lurking about, seeking something to devour.
Abbie’s voice echoed in the night. “All we can do is wait. Keep touching her, trying to reach her. She’s in there somewhere. I hope.”
The finality of Abbie’s words frightened Naura, but that was nothing compared to the terror seeping from Tony’s mind. The oily film of horror seemed to feed off his fear, his anxiety, pressing down onto Naura’s chest in a blanket of doom that soaked up her life force and slowed her pulse to a crawl.
This had been Tony’s burden, Naura thought, slipping deeper into the abyss. And no matter what damage it did to her, at least he would be free…
* * * *
Doug Jefferies stared through the glass above the operating room at St. Mathews General Hospital, watching with bated breath as Bruce Ortega attempted to save the life of Doctor Henry Sutherland.
“Think he’ll make it?” Glenn Anderson asked from his place next to him.
Jefferies’s jaw tensed. “He better, or else the president will have someone’s ass.”
Glenn nodded. “In Ned’s defense, it was dark down there. I probably would have done the same in his position. I mean, with the aliens on the loose, carrying poison in those fins they have.”
“They’re barbs, not fins. And no amount of excuses will stop Rueben’s wrath if Sutherland dies.”
Bruce Ortega held up his hands and backed away from the operating table before lowering his mask and leaving the room.
Doug turned from the glass and jogged down the stairs to the surgical entrance. He met Ortega at the double doors. “Well?”
The doctor removed his gloves, tossed them into a designated can, and turned on the water to wash his hands. “He survived the surgery, but the prognosis isn’t good.”
“What does that mean?” Doug persisted, stepping in close to read Ortega’s facial expressions.
“It means that he lost a lot of blood and the spear pierced several of his organs, including one of his lungs, causing internal bleeding. I repaired what I could, but if he makes it through the night, I’ll be surprised.”
“Damn it,” Jefferies swore, resting his hands on his hips. “When can I see him?”
Ortega narrowed his eyes. “You can’t. He’s being moved to ICU once he’s out of recovery. He is not to be disturbed for any reason.”
“But—”
“No buts. He’s in a medically induced coma. No amount of coaxing is going to wake him until he’s taken off the drugs. It’s his only chance at survival.”
Doug spun on his heel, leaving Ortega standing at the sink. He needed to call the president and notify him of Sutherland’s condition, which was basically dead in Jefferies opinion.
“I’ve been bitten,” a woman yelled, running up the hall, holding her arm against her chest. Blood stained her scrubs and dripped onto the floor.
Ortega suddenly appeared with his hands held out on front of him. “Whoa. It’s okay, Nancy. Calm down and let me have a look at it.”
The nurse’s eyes were wild, and the color was gone from her face.
Tears filled her eyes as she held up the wound for Bruce to assess. “A contaminated patient bit me.”
Bruce met Jefferies’s stare over the top of her head. “Maybe we caught it in time. Let’s get you down to quarantine and clean this up.”
“But I can’t stay in quarantine, Doctor Ortega. I have kids at home.”
Jefferies silently cursed as he backed toward the exit. In this moment, he blamed the CDC as much as he blamed the aliens. Someone needed to stop
the madness before it ruined more innocent lives.
* * * *
Hauke returned home with Vaulcron in tow. There had been no sign of Abbie’s sire other than the traces of human blood detected in the water.
How was Hauke going to break the news to his mate? Or the king for that matter? If Henry died trying to escape, Abbie would be devastated. If he’d survived only to be captured by the land walkers, the king would be livid.
Klause had a right to be livid, Hauke grimly thought, climbing from the Pool of Life. It would mean a terrible war for Aukrabah and all who resided within it.
“Many lives will be lost if Henry is found, my brother,” Vaulcron pointed out as he snagged a towel from a shelf in the wall and dried himself off.
Hauke agreed. “I am aware. I cannot in good faith say that I hope he made it out of the water alive, as that would mean he is in the hands of our enemy. And yet, if he did not survive the deep, my mate’s heart will hurt. I would do anything to prevent her from experiencing pain.”
“I understand. Your wife has a kindness that surpasses the other surface dwellers’ we have come in contact with—as does her beauty.”
Vaulcron stopped drying his hair and shot his brother a grin. “Aside from the reporter of the news. She is captivating.”
Hauke chuckled and playfully punched Vaulcron’s shoulder. “What is this? My older brother has his sights on a human?”
“Of course not,” Vaulcron scoffed, tossing the now wet towel in a woven basket by the entrance. “I merely pointed out that she possessed a certain…um, beauty that I was drawn to.”
Hauke continued to grin. “I see.”
“Besides, according to your mate’s uncle, this reporter is known as the Great White Shark, due to her ruthlessness.”
“You have battled sharks before and come out on top. Perhaps this one is no different.” Hauke laughed and wandered off toward the main hall.
Vaulcron caught up with him in a few quick strides. “True. But the sharks I felled did not have eyes the color of the sea and hair brighter than the moonstones.”
“Oh, brother. You truly are smitten.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tony looked up as Zaureth stood in the hall, staring at him from the doorway. According to Abbie, Bracadytes never entered another’s apartment without a proper invitation. It had been a law passed years ago by the king, due to the lack of doors on private quarters.
“Come in,” Tony murmured softly, getting to his feet.
“Hauke’s mate tells me that Naura remains unresponsive. I do not know if it will be of help, but I would try something, if I may?”
Tony motioned him over. “Yes, please. Try everything you can think of.”
Zaureth nodded and rested his knee on the foot of the bed at Naura’s feet before straddling her body and climbing higher.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tony demanded, locking a hand onto the healer’s arm to prevent him from moving farther.
“Do you want my help or not?”
“Please.”
Zaureth looked down at the hand that Tony still had wrapped around his arm. “Then I suggest that you let go of me.”
Tony released him, biting down on the inside of his cheek to keep from knocking Zaureth off Naura’s nude body. The only reason Tony allowed the healer to remain in his current position was out of hope that the Bracadyte could help her.
Zaureth brought his hands up to either side of Naura’s head and cupped her face.
Energy began to swirl through the air, raising the hairs on Tony’s neck.
He watched in utter amazement as Naura’s color slowly returned and a soft moan slipped from her lips.
Tony wasn’t sure how long Zaureth remained there, nothing moving on his body aside from his eyes dancing behind his closed lids.
Long moments passed before the healer removed his hands and slid down Naura’s body to stand at the foot of the bed. “I am not certain that I reached her, Anthony Vaughn. If she does not wake by the next full moon, her chances of returning to us whole are not promising.”
“What did this to her? I mean, did I cause this?”
“Naura differs from the rest of us. The gift she carries inside her is cemented in love and light. It cannot dwell in darkness.”
More nausea rolled through Tony’s gut, threatening to spill at any moment. “So, my sins, my nightmares are now living in her?”
Zaureth nodded. “I am afraid so. Her injury has weakened her. She should not have attempted a healing when her body was not strong enough to handle the outcome.”
The healer turned to go. “Reach out to her. Talk her back from the darkness. I fear that you are the only one who can.”
Long after Zaureth had departed, Tony stood rooted to the floor, blaming himself for Naura’s current state. If she hadn’t taken it upon herself to try to save him, she would be well on her way to recovery by now.
With a growl of determination, he tugged off his shirt and climbed into bed next to her.
Pulling her close, he tucked her head beneath his chin. “You can’t do this to me. I won’t let you.”
She sighed in her sleep, but gave no other indication that she heard him.
“Do you remember last year, when Hauke brought you to that underground bunker? You were banged up and unconscious.”
He ran his hand along her hair. “I thought you were the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. Of course I couldn’t tell you that. You see, I was ignorant and selfish, only thinking of myself and getting my niece out of there alive. I didn’t want to like you. You represented everything that I had been running from for more than fifteen years.”
Another small sigh escaped her.
“You’re not like me, Naura. You’re good and pure, and I’m all that is opposite of that. If I had met you before…before I became a monster, I would have given you everything that you deserve and more.”
Tony continued to talk until there were no words left to say, until exhaustion claimed him and he drifted off to sleep with Naura wrapped safely in his arms.
* * * *
A gentle breeze touched Tony’s face, and the smell of sunshine hung in the air.
“Tony?” Naura’s sweet voice was a balm to his soul. He squinted his eyes against the brightness of the sun, searching for her everywhere, but saw only the sun’s rays reflecting off the water.
Waves crashed in the distance, and birds chirped from nearby trees.
“Tony?” The whisper of her voice in his ear, brought his head around, but it wasn’t Naura’s face he saw. There, surrounded by light, stood Joanne, his deceased wife.
“Jo?” he breathed, reaching for her, only to come up empty. “You’re here.”
She smiled, tears sparkling in her beautiful blue eyes. “It is time, Tony. Time to let us go. You have grieved long enough.”
Tony dropped his head in shame. He’d let her down. He hadn’t saved them all those years ago.
“Do not blame yourself, Anthony. There was nothing you could have done to stop it. You must move on. Find happiness. For me. Don’t let our deaths be in vain. Do not let the evil win.”
Tony jumped to his feet as she began to fade. “Wait. Jo, wait. Please don’t go.”
“I must. And so must you. Love again, Tony. It is right before your eyes. You only have to reach out and take it.”
“What if I fail? What if I’m not capable?”
“You were always capable, Tony. Always.”
His eyes slid shut with the finality of her words. She wanted him to let her go, to forgive himself and move on.
Could he put his past behind him and live once again?
“Tony?”
He couldn’t bear to look up, to watch her leave, somehow knowing that this would be the last time he’d ever see her again.
“Can you hear me?”
Tony jerked his eyes open and came face to face with Naura.
“You’re awake,” he whispered, searching her eyes for proof that sh
e wasn’t part of his dream.
“I felt your heart beating beneath my ear. The words you spoke to me last night are a distant memory, but the meaning behind them remains.”
Tony found himself slowly descending toward her. “I almost killed you, Naura.”
“But you didn’t,” she whispered back, dropping her gaze to his mouth.
His lips gently brushed across hers, only to move back and slide over them again. She tasted of warmth and desire.
His hand wrapped in her hair, holding her tightly as the kiss deepened. His lips slanted across hers in a demand of surrender he wanted—no he needed above anything else.
Naura moaned into his mouth, sitting up and allowing the sheet to slip away from her body.
Tony broke off the kiss and dropped his gaze to her beautiful breasts, heavy with desire. The pink, rosy tips hardened beneath his stare.
His hand slid from her hair to her shoulder, nearly shaking with the need to cup her in his palm.
“Naura…” A smear of dried blood covered her ribcage, jerking him out of his lustful haze.
He quickly rolled to his side and staggered to his feet.
“Tony?”
“I had no right to do that.”
“Please, do not say that. You did nothing that I did not want.”
“You shouldn’t have risked yourself for me. What if you had not come back from it? How would you expect me to live with something like that?”
“I am sorry. I only wanted to help you. I—”
“You had no right,” he snapped, snatching up his shirt and pulling it over his head.
“Where are you going?”
“To find Zaureth and Abbie. You need to be checked over.” Tony rushed from the room, unable to take a deep breath until he reached the hall.
Naura had nearly lost her life not twenty-four hours before and then almost lost her mind in her attempt to heal him. And what had he done to repay her? Taken advantage of her weakened state to put his filthy hands on her body.
He glanced back at her from the doorway. “Do not move until I return.”
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