Chapter Eleven
The sound of the hatch opening startled Naura. She held her breath in hopes that they weren’t discovered by an unfriendly human.
“You can come out now,” Tony murmured from the rear of the vehicle.
Naura threw back the cover draped across her body and accepted Tony’s hand of assistance.
The warmth of his skin against her palm sent shivers up her arm. She softly ran her thumb across his wrist, basking in the feel of him touching her.
He pulled away. “Hurry inside before you’re seen.”
“Yes, of course,” she whispered, releasing him and rushing toward the front door of the house without looking back.
Once inside, she came face to face with an elderly man wearing a white coat.
Neither of them moved as he stared at her with his mouth hanging open.
Naura found her voice first. She smiled and extended her hand like she’d seen the humans on television do. “Greetings. I am Naura, sister of Hauke.”
The older man stumbled back a step. “Don’t come any closer.”
Naura’s smile slipped, but she kept her palm open. “I mean you no harm.”
“I don’t care what you mean. I know what you things are capable of.”
Pain sliced through her at his words. He obviously knew of her encounter with her previous captor, the man she had infected while defending herself.
She lowered her arm to her side. “I am sorry for scaring you. I will not hurt you.”
He took another step back, crossing his arms over his chest in a protective stance. “My name is Doctor Henry Sutherland.”
Excitement soared inside her. “You are Abbie’s sire? I can see the resemblance. She will be overjoyed to introduce you to Arcanum.”
Henry frowned. “What is Arcanum?”
“He is Hauke and Abbie’s son. Your grandchild.”
More color drained from Henry’s face. “Abbie gave birth to one of those things? Ah, God, no.”
“I see that you now know,” Tony announced, entering the house with Vaulcron in tow.
“You should have told me,” Henry accused, staggering to the couch to sit with his head in his hands. “The government won’t stop until they get their hands on Abbie.”
“That is exactly why they will never know she’s alive. As far as you’re concerned, your daughter disappeared a year ago and is presumed dead,” Tony pointed out. “Do you understand?”
Henry lifted his head. “But she isn’t presumed dead. You said yourself that the aliens being held at Eglin were bait to draw her out.”
Abbie’s father craned his neck to gander at Vaulcron, standing directly behind Tony. “I see that you have taken it upon yourself to bring two of those things into my home. If they are caught in my possession—”
“You will die,” Tony finished for him. “Then I suggest that you get off your ass and do exactly as I say.”
“You two” —Tony waved his hand, indicating Vaulcron and Naura— “keep an eye on the men in the back bedroom and do not unlock the front door for any reason. I will be back as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
“What will you do?” Naura whispered, watching as Tony yanked Henry to his feet and moved toward the door.
“If everything goes as planned, I will get your people out of there and be back here by morning.”
“What if you do not return?” She hated asking, but the question had been plaguing her since she’d climbed into the back of the military vehicle.
Tony stopped on the porch and gripped the doorknob in his hand. “Then you both will make your way to the gulf and go home.” He pulled the door shut behind him.
Naura’s heart clenched at the finality of Tony’s words. He’d admitted there was a chance that he wouldn’t return, which meant one thing—he could die out there.
“He will be all right,” Vaulcron assured her, pulling her into his arms. “Do not fret so, or you will make yourself sick.”
“I have this feeling inside me, brother, a feeling of foreboding that I cannot shake. It has been with me since my arrival on the surface.”
“Perhaps you should go home. Staying here will not change the outcome. It only endangers you as well.”
She backed out of his embrace. “I understand that you want what is best for me, Vaulcron, and I love you for that. But Tony is what is best for me. I will not leave this place without him.”
Vaulcron took a step forward. “You cannot allow these feelings for Abbie’s uncle to take root inside your heart, sister. He is not good for you.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Do you not think I have tried? I have spent the last fifteen months attempting to ignore my thoughts, my desires for him. They only grew stronger by the day.”
“Naura…”
“Do not pity me, Vaulcron. Tony is my destiny, my mate. I do not understand the workings of the heart; I only know that mine is connected to his somehow. And there is nothing you can do to change that.”
Vaulcron rubbed at his eyes in a way that Naura had come to recognize as defeat. “I will not speak of it again.”
“Many thanks, Vaulcron.”
* * * *
“Doctor Sutherland will be here soon,” Spivey stated, taking a seat next to Glenn Anderson. “Do they really think this plan will work?”
Glenn shrugged a broad shoulder. “Who knows? But I suppose it’s worth a try.”
Spivey stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. “I seriously doubt that Doctor Sutherland’s daughter is still alive. And even if she is, the odds of him knowing her location are zilch. His phones are tapped, and he’s been closely watched.”
“Well, if Abbigail is still alive, there is one surefire way to find out. Dangle the dead aliens before her father in hopes of flushing out the one his daughter was last seen with.”
“And if she truly is dead?”
“Then we are all screwed. The virus has spread abroad to other states, other countries. It’s only a matter of time before it wipes us all out.”
“We should have moved her and the alien to Area 51 when we had the chance,” Spivey spat. “A vaccine would surely be in the works by now if they hadn’t escaped.”
Glenn couldn’t have agreed more. “The ball has definitely been dropped, Corporal. Let’s just pray it’s not too late to fix this.”