Blue Abyss: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 3 (The Timewalker Chronicles)

by Michele Callahan

  She was beginning to wish she could say the same. Doing without would be better than longing for something she could never taste again. Kind of like milk chocolate. If she’d never eaten the darn stuff, she wouldn’t constantly crave it.

  Mate. Hunt. The shark was insistent on both counts, so Mari didn’t argue.

  Yes. Mari agreed and she hung on to Raiden the best she could despite the fact that her hands were as hard and frozen as steel clamps.

  As she clung to Raiden beneath the cold shark’s body, Mari needed a distraction from the heat and power of the male who held her. God, if she’d thought she was obsessed before, she was in seriously deep now. She’d never get the feel of his touch out of her mind, or the memory of his hand in her hair, or the taste of his lips.

  But, according to Celestina, he wouldn’t even remember kissing her in the first place, because that had been in the old time line, the one where both she and Raiden died in that stupid cave. And, also according to Celestina, now that she’d saved him, Celestina wouldn’t remember saving her, or altering her DNA, or giving her the super laser in her hand. She also wouldn’t remember that there was a traitor on her ship.

  Mari, are you well? A steady flow of heat poured into her from Raiden’s body. It felt wonderful, and made her want to sleep, to trust him to take care of everything. The sweet concern in his voice must be a trick of her imagination, because she’d swear not that long ago he was wondering whether or not she was in league with the monsters. His mind had been working faster than her muddled brain could follow, but she’d gotten the gist of it. He didn’t trust her.

  She didn’t blame him. He’d known her all of twenty minutes. So, why did it hurt?

  I can make it. I’m fine. Mari wanted to reassure him, but the truth was not going to change. She was in pain, exhausted, and scared. Her blood burned and it felt like she was being simultaneously burned from the inside out and drained of strength. If not for Raiden, she wouldn’t be conscious. His arms around her and his heat were the only two things holding her together. She felt like a puzzle that had been undone and left with all of her pieces disconnected and shaking around in the box.

  But she couldn’t tell him that. She was pretty sure he couldn’t talk to the sharks. He wasn’t from this world. He’d need her help, no matter how pathetic that help might be, from here on out. And once they reached land, who knew what they’d run into? She had money, vehicles, and connections to people who could help him. Sure, most of them were crazy, conspiracy-chasing lunatics that she normally avoided, but they’d jump at the chance to meet an alien if she called them. And some of them were engineers, scientists, public figures and people with military connections. He needed her.

  You lie. His arm tightened around her waist, pressed her cheek and chest more deeply into his heat. Hmmm. Hot man pressed to her front and a cold, great white shark at her back. Not a boring day. But she was lying. She felt like hell.

  She smiled. Just a little.

  I won’t let go. Sleep, healer. I will protect you.

  I’m the one rescuing you, remember?

  Yes. I can see that.

  Mari ignored the little tumble in her stomach caused by his teasing tone. What she needed was a distraction.

  The shark. Mari was fascinated and curious about the creatures she traveled with. So intelligent. Shockingly intelligent, with a deep connection to the energies of the Earth itself. Every living creature sent out energy signals to the shark. The glide of the ocean and water currents were like the blood flows of a sentient being to the shark’s acute senses. In the shark’s view, the Earth itself was alive, a living, breathing entity. Home…

  Protect. The feeling sent by the shark was unmistakable.

  Got it. Mari shuddered. The shark’s single-minded focus on the Triscani had begun to unnerve her. The shark must’ve sensed her reaction because the female sent her more images, great swaths of ocean gone silent. Darkness. She showed Mari places where there was a distinct absence of life, a black void of energy where no void should exist. The shark had heard many screams as the “others” had killed thousands, perhaps millions of living creatures, absorbing their energy and leaving sections of ocean silent, even to the sharks ultrasensitive abilities. There was no life left in those deep-water voids. Nothing moved, not even bacteria.

  The shark’s hatred of them wasn’t hot and wild as a human’s would’ve been, but it did hate. This female shark deeply respected all life and was very aware of her place in the balance of the world. Her feelings toward the invaders were cold, logical, brutally honest, and without fear. Mari absorbed the shark’s fierceness, drew strength from the predator’s absolute conviction that the Triscani would be eliminated. Either the Triscani died, or Earth would die.

  Such simplicity left little room for fear. Hunt. Kill. Protect.

  Hide.

  The shark sensed Mari and Raiden not just as mates, but as one being, one energy sharing a vibrational pattern and frequency. Seeing that connection in the shark’s mind unnerved Mari. His power had summoned her to that cave in her dreams. Celestina said that if Mari were not successful in saving him, no one else would ever find him.

  Was it because they were somehow linked? Was she supposed to believe that it was just a bizarre cosmic coincidence that their personal energy patterns were so similar? And if they were, so what? What did that mean?

  Mari’s musings were interrupted as the juvenile sharks darted excitedly, crisscrossing in the water around them. Mari felt the change in energy as they approached the beach. Boats buzzed overhead. The currents became more turbulent, layered and faster as the water made its way to pound against the shore and flow back to the open ocean.

  The female was aware of her size, and did not want to get any closer. The water was too shallow here and would leave her and her family vulnerable to human hunters.

  Mari tried to loosen her hold on Raiden, but her hands refused to unfurl completely. Raiden, it’s time to let go. We have to swim from here.

  Raiden released the shark fin and she and Raiden were adrift in the current. She tried to express her gratitude, but the shark was already turning away with the same repeating message to her human passenger… Hunt. Kill. Protect.

  Mari shook her head and let her hand trail along the shark’s long body as Raiden loosened his hold on her. She sent one final message to the shark as her fingers lingered on the tail fin. Find them for me, and I will.

  The shark’s mind hummed with satisfaction and determination. The human hunter needed to know where to find her prey? It would be done.

  Mari felt the shark’s command go out to every living thing within the shark’s telepathic range, the great white shared Mari’s energy signature, so other sea creatures would recognize her. She also conveyed that Mari would hunt and destroy the “others”, and that Mari could destroy the Triscani and allow the ocean to return to life.

  The entire ocean seemed to hum in response, passing along the information like nerves inside a single entity, a single mind.

  What if every living thing in the ocean were part of a giant oceanish version of a Borg Collective mind? Freaky.

  Humanity had seriously underestimated their home and all the creatures they shared it with. All intelligent life in the ocean would be searching for the Triscani now, and for her. It was only a matter of time before the message spread to cover the globe. This shark had circled through all of Earth’s oceans more than once, and would do so again.

  Mari would process what all this meant later, when her arms weren’t so close to falling off her body from exhaustion and the hard heat of Raiden’s body wasn’t driving her to distraction pressed intimately to her side. She wanted to stay right where she was, next to him.

  Two of the juvenile sharks, no more than four or five feet long, bumped against her. Come.

  Raiden, they’ll take me first. Then they’ll come back for you. Mari pushed away from Raiden to grab hold of each smaller shark’s top fin and they pulled her closer to shore, ne
arly close enough to stand. Raiden would have to do the same. She released them when her feet touched bottom, grateful beyond measure for the ride. Their minds were nothing like their mother’s. They were young, carefree, protected and directed. They were happy.

  Such an odd word to associate with the most feared animal in the oceans.

  Mari swam for the beach, thankful that her limbs answered her instructions, as the juveniles went back out to retrieve Raiden. They’d made it. Thank God. It was a freaking miracle.

  She swam but the water became too shallow and had to stand or allow the waves to crash over her head and toss her around like a rubber duck trying to surf. Water rolled up into her hips and forced her to her knees. Mari sputtered and tried to stand again, inspecting the stretch of land laid out in promise before her. She recognized this tourist trap. Normally, this beach would be littered with beach chairs, umbrellas, and a large number of foreign tourists. But it was early still, only a few of hours past dawn, and the daily revelry had not yet begun in earnest.

  Waves lifted her off her feet and her head went under.

  She was so damn tired without his touch. The moment she’d had to let go, she’d felt his loss, like a motor that had run out of gas, her body just stuttered, her heart struggled, each beat a physical pain behind her ribs. Her muscles cramped and her mind went blank, save for one word.

  Raiden? She needed him. Where was he?

  I’ve got you. The words registered as strong arms wrapped around her, lifted her from the water. Raiden carried her to shore cradled in his arms like she was something precious. The top of her arm, her Mark, heated where it brushed his chest through her dive suit. What would it feel like to press the Shen to his bare flesh?

  Lifting her face skyward, she welcomed the sun on her cheeks like a desert welcomes rain. She envisioned him rising from the depths of the sea to save her like a true merman from folklore. The sun’s radiance shocked her after so long in the cold depths. The rising water temperature that had surrounded her when the sharks neared shallower water had awakened her muscles as if from a long, cold sleep. Pins and needles everywhere. Everywhere. She hurt. Raiden spit out the mouth piece and pulled off his mask, giving her the perfect opportunity to study the firm lips and chiseled jaw of the man rising from the water with her. Two years of nightmares. Triscani. Death. Sharks. This dream date just never ended.

  Her shivering worse by the second, she curled into his embrace, afraid that if he put her down, she’d collapse in the pink sand. She clenched her hands against her stomach so that she wouldn’t have to watch them tremble. Mari raised her head to look around as Raiden carried her out of the water and dropped onto his knees to lay her on the beach. He barely looked at her after throwing his mask and tank aside and yanking off the flippers like they were shackles. He stayed crouched over her, protecting her while his gaze scanned their surroundings.

  She spit water out of her throat and gritted her teeth as her lungs made the switch from water to air. Warm droplets emerged from her bloodstream to coat her skin and face. Water ran down her temples and neck, dripped from her chin into the sand. The rest of her body would be shedding the excess water as well.

  “Where are we? Do you know this place?” His eyes roamed her face, noted the water streaming from her as his hands methodically inspected her body for injuries. Finding no new ones, his gaze met hers, the gray eyes too familiar. She’d lost herself in them too many times, too many nightmares, to count. She felt like she knew him, like she’d known him forever.

  “Horseshoe Bay.” She’d asked for a place where she would find people. The shark delivered her a five-minute walk from her hotel. Amazing. The distinct heel shape of the cove, the rock formations to her left, the handful of tourists with their striped umbrellas and standard-issue resort beach towels walking toward the water…

  “Where on Earth? How close are we to my ship’s crash site?”

  “The Bermuda Triangle? Close. We’re right on top of it.”

  His gaze shot back to her. “How do you know that?”

  Mari sighed, and wished he’d hold her again. She was pathetic. “Celestina, remember?”

  He just glared. She dropped her head back to rest in the sand and fought back tears. “Shit. I can’t remember what I’ve told you and what I haven’t this time. It’s all a jumble.” She lost the fight, and hoped he wouldn’t see the pitiful stream of moisture making tracks from the corners of her eyes to her temples.

  “I remember.” His shoulders stiffened and his eyes were not kind. No, they were demanding answers. “How do you know Celestina, Mari? How did she know I was down there? How did you find me?”

  Mari closed her eyes against the anger and distrust in his gaze. That was not the look she needed to see. She needed to see his eyes clouded with desire, with hunger, as she kissed him. Over and over. That had been real, not a dream. He’d tasted like heaven and fire, like home.

  “I told you, Raiden. Dreams.”

  “And Celestina?”

  “I don’t know. After last time, when the Triscani killed me, she showed up with this monstrous warrior and took me up to their spaceship to heal. Then they sent me down there again, to save you.”

  “To kill the Triscani?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alone?”

  Mari opened her eyes and laughed, but it was not a lighthearted sound. “I’m always alone, Raiden. I can handle it.”

  His gaze roved over her from head to toe, pausing on the blood and torn pieces of her suit, the salt coating her flesh. Mari waited for a the inevitable million questions to start pouring from him as his gaze returned to her face. She’d hoped the steel in his eyes would melt, even a little. His face remained a mask, but ever so gently he traced her lower lip with his thumb. It came away coated green and his frown deepened as he rubbed his hand back and forth in the wet sand to remove the stain. “I can see that, healer.”

  “Let’s go. That’s my hotel. I have a room. More gear. Food. A car. We’ll have to take a taxi to the marina, but I have some cash.” Mari tried to sit up, but her limbs refused to move. Come to think of it, she couldn’t feel her legs. “Raiden? You’ll have to help. I can’t feel my legs.” From dead, to time traveler, to shark bait, to Horseshoe Bay. No wonder she was too tired to move. That had to be it. She refused to be terrified on a pink sandy beach in paradise when she’d just killed two Triscani with her bare hands, made friends with a clan of great white sharks, and lived to tell the tale.

  “Do you think you can stand?”

  “No.” No sense lying. “I can’t move. I can’t…” She sobbed in frustration and anger. She hated being afraid.

  Raiden cupped the side of her face with his strong hand. “Hush. I will take care of you now. Just tell me where we need to go.”

  Mari nodded, but knew she couldn’t rest for long. The tourists would have a difficult time understanding why two people had washed up on the beach, one in black combat clothes toting a SCUBA tank and one wearing a dive suit but no gear and dripping blood. Too weird to explain without effort, and she was too tired to lie. No one ever believed her lies anyway.

  Nausea rose up from nowhere and she curled onto her side, pressed her forehead onto her fists, holding back the contents of her stomach by sheer force of will. She felt half dead, her shoulder still hurt, and she doubted she could stand if her life depended on it. Would Raiden stay with her in her hotel room or would he feel compelled to begin his search now?

  Her hotel was close, just a few minutes away. If she could work up the energy to strip down to her swim suit, they could ditch all the gear and blend in with the other tourists. She could carry her suit to her rooms, order room service, and recover a bit. Maybe even take a shower?

  She envisioned Raiden under the water with her and quickly shut down that train of thought. She had to figure out how she was going to help him without getting her heart broken.

  Her stomach heaved. She moaned in pain and Raiden hovered. “We need to go, Mari. I’ll car
ry you.”

  A forty-something father with two teenagers on his heels yelled out to them, asking if they needed help.

  “No, we’re fine. Just headed back to the hotel after some snorkeling.” Mari waved and attempted a weak smile. Raiden balanced on the balls of his feet, looked ready for battle. “Calm down. They’re just tourists.”

  She lurched to her knees with her hands still in the sand for balance. That lasted a three count before she fell onto her side, head spinning. Things weren’t quite working right. The beach was revolving…

  Mari flipped onto her back in the sand and stared at the few puffs of white clouds that drifted across the sky. Her mouth tasted of nothing but salt. Too much salt. Her tongue lay thick and sticky, glued to the roof of her mouth. Her saliva tasted like the warm saltwater gargle her mother used to make her use when she got a sore throat. In other words, disgusting.

  Water. God she was thirsty. She needed a drink of water. Maybe if she asked one of these nice tourists, they’d bring her a bottle.

  Mari tried to sit up again, but the moment she was upright everything spun like a tilt-a-whirl and she lilted onto her side again. Dry heaves racked her abdomen and her vision blurred.

  Raiden reached for her, but she pushed his arms away, too miserable to be held or restricted in any way. “No.”

  He scowled but didn’t try to touch her again. “Tell me where to take you?”

  “My hotel.” She nodded over her right shoulder. “The tallest building behind me. My room’s on the second floor…but just give me a minute. Okay?”

  “What country are we in?”

  Think, Mari. Think. Why couldn’t she think? “Bermuda.”

  “I’m not familiar with that Earthen country.”

  Earthen country? Definitely not from planet Earth. Not that she cared about that at the moment. Her vision was fading to gray and her head felt like a plum being prune baked in an oven, drying out and become more shriveled by the second. She was in trouble here.