Chapter Forty
Tony sat on a boulder and watched Hauke pace the entrance to Aukrabah.
The big Bracadyte had sent four scouts out to protect Naura, in the event that she was discovered by Navy divers.
“I worry that the scouts will draw attention to her.”
Hauke shook his head. “They have the cover of darkness, and they know these waters better than the humans.”
“She’s close,” Tony reassured him while listening to Naura’s sweet voice inside his head.
A thought abruptly hit him as Hauke made another pass next to the Pool of Life. “Strange that your scouts haven’t encountered any divers. How far out did they go?”
Hauke slowed his steps. “Ten miles in all directions. Why do you ask?”
Tony rose to his feet. “Something’s wrong.”
“What is it?” Hauke stopped next to him, anxiety evident in his eyes.
“The Navy wouldn’t have pulled their submarines this soon. Not without a damn good reason.”
“You think they have found Aukrabah?”
“I don’t think so. It’s just odd that Vaulcron witnessed the ships and divers approximately three miles from here when he left a few hours ago headed to Cuba. Yet your scouts haven’t reported seeing anything.”
Hauke nodded. “I will order them to return. Perhaps it is time that we evacuate to the north end of Aukrabah.”
“What’s in the North end?”
“The king paid a visit to Abbie during the last moon. It would appear that the scrolls possess secrets of Aukrabah we were not made aware of.”
“Such as?”
Hauke paused as if wondering how much information to divulge.
“If you know something that might help, now would be the time to spill it,” Tony demanded. “You can trust me.”
“The north end of Aukrabah was closed off by our ancestors to protect us from being discovered by the land walkers. According to the king, the north entrance lies somewhere beneath the place you know as Destin.”
“What?” Tony couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “Do you know what that means? It’s a way of escape for Abbie, when and if the time comes.”
Hauke took a step forward, anger swirling in his strange-colored eyes. “Abbie goes nowhere without me.”
“Tony?” Naura’s voice inside his head interrupted his discussion with Hauke.
“I’m here. How close are you?”
“I am at the falling water. I see no signs of boats or humans. Is it safe to enter?”
“Yes,” Tony confirmed, meeting Hauke’s gaze once more. “Naura’s coming in. We’ll continue this—”
An explosion rocked the entrance to Aukrabah.
“Nauraaaaa!” Tony mentally screamed as he was blown off his feet and thrown through the air with the force of a train.
His back slammed against the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs. Stars erupted behind his eyes, and his world turned black.
* * * *
Agony seared Tony’s head. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath. With a groan of pain, he slowly opened his eyes.
Rocks and debris were scattered around the area in violent disarray, bringing to mind the carnage he’d once left in a small village outside Baghdad many years ago.
What was he doing there, lying on a stone floor?
Memory came rushing back with a vengeance. An explosion. Pain. Rocks falling around him. Naura!
Tony gritted his teeth and rolled to his side, his gaze scanning the area rapidly. “Naura?”
His heart began to pound a painful rhythm. Fear and trepidation melded together to form an overwhelming anxiety nearly impossible to breathe through.
He remembered that Naura had been near the waterfall when the explosion happened.
Fighting through the panic, Tony staggered to his feet and stumbled toward the Pool of Life.
There on the bottom, her legs buried under a large boulder, lay Naura.
A hoarse shout wrenched deep from Tony’s chest. He fell into the water and kicked with everything he had to reach the bottom.
“Naura?” his mind screamed as he gripped the side of boulder and lifted with every ounce of strength he possessed. It didn’t move.
Tony fought to move the giant rock until he was forced to surface for air. Taking a deep breath, he dove back under, pressed his back to the boulder, gripped the edge, and lifted, using his legs for leverage. It wouldn’t budge.
He fought the massive rock until his lungs burned, begging for oxygen. Spots began to dance before his eyes, signaling a loss of consciousness, yet he continued to fight. If Naura’s fate was truly to die pinned beneath the Pool of Life; then he would die with her.
A spasm seized him with his lungs’ demand for breath. His hands fell away from the boulder’s edge, and his body slowly drifted to the bottom next to Naura’s still form.
Tony cupped her beautiful face and mentally whispered his last words. “I love you, Naura. I’ve always loved you. Please forgive me.”
Water filled his lungs…
* * * *
Anguish unlike any he’d suffered before ripped through Tony’s body in a fiery trail of torment.
He must be in hell, he concluded, feeling the fire burn a hole in his chest. But he didn’t care. It was less than he deserved for the pain he’d put his precious Naura through.
She had loved him, stood by him no matter how he’d treated her, and what had he done in return? Took her innocence and broke her heart.
Tony welcomed the scorching sensation swirling inside his chest. Anything to replace the grief of Naura’s death.
Warmth. Energy. His hands tingled and heat touched his mouth. The searing pain stopped.
“Tony?”
It couldn’t be true. He’d watched Naura die.
“Wake up, Tony. Come back to me.”
Water gushed from his mouth to spill next to his face. Great, racking coughs forced more water from his lips.
“My love…”
Fighting against the darkness, Tony forced his lids open. He blinked several times until Naura came into focus.
“You’re alive?” he croaked, unable to believe the truth. “Oh, my God, you’re alive.”
Naura nodded. “I must have been unconscious. A second explosion moved the boulder I had been trapped beneath.” She leaned down and brushed her lips across his. “You gave your life to save me, Tony. Why would you do that?”
Wetness trickled down the sides of his face, and he realized it came from him. Anthony Vaughn, a man who’d spent most his life learning to kill or be killed…cried.
With every tear that fell, a layer of pain fell with it, stripping him bare, leaving him vulnerable and defenseless. Nothing remained but Naura and the love he held for her deep inside. “I love you, Naura, my soul, my mate, my everything.”
Tears dripped from her eyes to mingle with his. Tony could feel her hands trembling as she reached up and cupped his face.
“You are my life, Anthony Vaughn.”
Tony thought about the family he’d lost so long ago. The pain of losing his wife and child would always be with him, but it had finally quieted and no longer controlled his heart.
He stared deep into Naura’s jade-green eyes. “I can let them go now. You have given me back my life in more ways than one, and I will spend the rest of my days giving you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“All I want is you,” she whispered through her tears.
“You have me. Now and forever.”
A soft moan echoed off the cavern walls, bringing Tony out of his warm and fuzzy haze. “Hauke.”
With one more kiss to Naura’s sweet lips, Tony stumbled to his feet and searched the floor of the entrance. Hauke lay on his back with a smear of blood on his forehead.
Tony staggered to Hauke’s side and dropped to his knees beside him, lifting one of the Bracadyte’s eyelids. “Hauke? Are you all right?”
“I would be better,” Hauke wheezed, “if you would stop allowing rock dust to settle in my eye.”
Tony released Hauke’s eyelid and glanced up at Naura with a smirk. “He’s fine. We need to get him to the king and make sure everyone else is okay.”
Naura and Tony helped Hauke stand. The three of them limped their way through the halls of Aukrabah in search of Klause.
Four scouts were still unaccounted for, and Vaulcron was out there somewhere, hopefully still on his way to Cuba.