Enigma:What Lies Beneath (Enigma Series Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Abbie wished a hole would open in the floor and swallow her up. She had unintentionally hurt Hauke. Her snake comment had been a compliment born from awe, not the judgmental way he’d taken it.

“
Do not feel bad for me, my mate. I cannot change what I am, and I sense the love you hold for me inside your heart. Know that I possess feelings for you that you could never comprehend.”

Hauke’s words choked her up, making a response impossible. She sent him a grateful look instead.

“I will be return as soon as I can,” Hauke announced, heading toward the door.

The sound of gunshots stopped him in midstride. Everyone in the room froze.

Tony put a finger to his lips for silence. “They’re right above us. You’ll give away our position if you attempt to go out there.”

“I will kill them if I must. She needs blood soon, or she will die.” Hauke jerked his chin in Naura’s direction.

“Do not go near that door, or I’ll shoot you myself,” Tony growled, resting his hand on the butt of his gun.

“You will have to kill me then. I will not allow my sister to die.”

Tony glanced at Naura’s pale form before returning his gaze to Hauke. “Fine. I’ll give her some of my blood. But I want her gone from here the minute it’s safe to move her.”

“Are you certain?” Hauke slowly eased away from the exit.

“No, so let’s do this before I change my mind.” Tony moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “Tell me what to.”

Abbie rushed to the other side of the bed and leaned over Hauke’s sister. “May I touch you?”

At Naura’s weak nod, Abbie brought her hand up and gently lifted the other woman’s top lip to reveal her razor-sharp incisors.

“Jesus,” Tony ground out, staring at Naura’s mouth in shock. “She has fangs. What is she, a vampire?”

“Shut up, Uncle Tony. There are no such things as vampires. They’re eyeteeth just like yours and mine. Only, from what I can tell, they are intravenously connected to the main artery in their necks.”

“Just show me what to do.” He slid closer to Naura and held out his arm.

Abbie gripped his wrist, searching for the best pliable vein she could find. “This one.” She ran a thumb across the raised blue vessel. “Line it up with her eyeteeth and apply a gentle pressure. Don’t press too hard and fast. They are razor sharp.”

“Great. Razor sharp.” Tony cleared his throat and leaned in. “I’m going to put my wrist against your mouth now. Do not mistake it for food and damage me in any way, or I’ll snap your pretty little neck.”

The growl that came from Hauke was the only sign he’d heard the comment, but he stayed back.

Naura’s eyes opened to watch Tony bring his wrist to her slightly parted lips. He paused for a split second before making contact with her mouth.

Hauke’s sister brought her hands up to tentatively hold Tony’s arm still and slowly bit down.

Tears of gratitude sparkled in her eyes as she began to draw on the life force Tony offered.

Abbie watched in stunned silence as something passed between them…something dark and full of despair.

A painful-sounding moan vibrated in Naura’s chest, but she didn’t stop, only continued to grip his arm tighter while tears slipped from her eyes to track down her cheeks.

“Turn him loose, Naura,” Hauke demanded, suddenly on his knees beside her. “Stop this at once.”

Tony’s body began to shake, and his lips pulled back over his teeth. It was obvious he fought against Naura’s mental invasion.

A snarl burst from Tony’s mouth a second before he bounded from the bed with enough force that Naura’s teeth ripped a gash along his wrist. “

Blood gushed from the wound, dripping onto the carpet in great drops of crimson.

Abbie rushed to his side in a panic and lifted his arm to get a better look. “Damn it, Uncle Tony. Let me help you.”

“It’s just a scratch.” He jerked free of her hold and barreled past her toward the bathroom.

“It needs stitches, or you could bleed out. At least let me check to see if you severed a main artery.”

He stopped inside the bathroom, turning on the sink’s faucet to rinse away the continuously dripping blood. “Keep it down, will ya? We don’t want to be heard.”

“They can’t hear us down here, you big bully. Now let me have a look at that cut.” Abbie grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped his wrist as he removed it from the water.

She applied pressure for long moments before pulling the cloth back to inspect the damage. “You could use a few stitches in that. Sit down on the toilet, and I’ll do what I can.”

Opening a cabinet door hanging from the wall, Abbie grabbed the first-aid kit and went to work on the open cut on Tony’s wrist.

* * * *

Vice President William Pratt glanced around at the room’s occupants, noting the discomfort and anxiety on their faces.

He settled his gaze on Rueben. “Are you sure the Sutherland woman is carrying the alien’s child?”

“Positive. We have the lab bugged and are also able to monitor all cell phone activity through a scanner connected to their security hub.”

Removing his glasses, William rubbed at his eyes. “We can’t simply kill her, Reuben. She has rights whether you want to accept that or not.”

Reuben stood and rested his hands on the big desk he sat behind. “She gave up those rights when she decided to aid and abet that creature, causing widespread panic with a virus that’s killing dozens by the day. And we’re not going to kill her. Not yet at any rate.”

“Then what are your plans?”

“If the child she carries does indeed belong to the alien, it could very well hold the key to our survival.”

“I’m not following,” Platt confessed. “What purpose could an unborn baby possibly serve in all this?”

Secretary of Homeland Security, Jefferies, stepped forward. “It’s not the child we need, Platt. It’s the blood flowing through its veins.”

“I see. A possible cure or at least a vaccine.”

“Exactly,” Jefferies confirmed with a nod.

“But that’s a maybe at best. We don’t know for sure that a vaccine can be manufactured from the fetus. And even if it can, it’ll be too small to create enough of the drug to vaccinate everyone. Then what?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Rueben barked. “First things first. We use the father to catch the daughter.” He shifted his gaze to Jefferies. “I want Abbigail Sutherland apprehended…by any means necessary.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hauke sat on the side of the bed, stroking his sister’s long dark hair. “Naura? Talk to me. Say something. Anything.”

Some of the color had returned to her face, but dark shadows still rested beneath her eyes.

“You are going to be as good as new in a very short time, thanks to Abbie’s uncle Tony.”

Her lids fluttered open with the mention of Tony’s name. “His spirit is broken, Hauke. I never imagined such darkness could exist inside another’s soul.”

Though her voice came out in a whisper, her words were more than clear.

“I have looked inside his mind before and glimpsed this darkness you speak of.”

A shudder passed through her, and a faraway look entered her eyes. “So much death. Broken bodies covered in blood. A child… Oh, Hauke, the child…”

“Shhhhh.” Moving up higher onto the bed, Hauke propped his back against the headboard and pulled his sister into his arms. “Would that I could take it from you, sweet Naura. Try not to think on it. Allow it to slip away as the winter fog on the gulf’s shore.”

Another small shudder rolled through her as her lids slowly drifted shut and blessed sleep finally claimed her.

Hauke continued to hold her long after her breathing grew even. What could possibly have happened to Abbie’s uncle that would create such darkness?

During their first encounter many weeks ago, Hauke had witnessed a woman and child through Tony’s memories, but nothing compared to the destruction his sister had beheld.

Abbie and her uncle emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. A white bandage covered Tony’s wrist, with a small bloodstain on the underside.

“Is she okay?” Abbie rushed to the bedside and laid her hand on Hauke’s shoulder.

“She will live,” Hauke murmured, easing out from under Naura’s sleeping form.

“How bad is the wound?” He nodded toward Tony, who was now in the kitchen pouring a cup of cold coffee.

“I stitched him up. It wasn’t as bad as I initially thought.”

Tony gazed into the cup he held for several seconds before setting it in the sink. “I’m going to have a look outside. Hopefully the coast is clear, and I can get to my destination without being seen.”

“Where is your destination, Uncle Tony? How are you able to come and go without them spotting you?”

“The man that owns this place has a house about a mile inland with a basement similar to this bunker. As far as coming and going? I’m ex-CIA. I have my ways.”

“Who is this guy?” Abbie asked, following him toward the door. “A doomsday prepper?”

“Something like that.” Tony listened for a moment before inching the door open and stepping into the long hall that would lead him to the hatch. “I’ll return as soon as I can.”

He glanced back toward the bed. “I want her gone the minute she is able. Understood?” The door closed softly behind him.

“I am sorry, Abbie.” Hauke had listened to the exchange with mixed feelings. He respected Tony’s need to keep his niece safe, but Abbie was Hauke’s mate, his responsibility, and he would do nothing to put her in harm’s way.

He met her across the room, peering down at her still-flat stomach. “I have ruined your life.”

“You have brought me to life and given me a life, Hauke. This baby is a testament of the love we share, and no matter what happens around us, we will always have each other.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

“The world will be in chaos very soon if I do not do something about it, Abbie.”

She pulled back to gaze at his face. “What can you do? If the scrolls can’t help, it will be up to the Center for Disease Control to find a cure. It’s not your fault, Hauke.”

“There has to be something I can do. Perhaps if I give the land walkers the blood they desire, this madness will end.”

“Don’t you dare talk like that. If you go anywhere near them, they will capture you and torture you until you’re dead. You don’t know these people the way I do. They’re ruthless, and they could give a rat’s ass about you.”

“You have a strange vocabulary, my mate. I am not certain why they would give me a rat’s ass, but no matter. I still believe that my father knows more than he has admitted to.”

“Then we will go to him and plead with him to help us. Surely he won’t try to lock you up again if I’m with you.”

“It is difficult to say what he would do. But the safest place for you and our unborn child may be in Aukrabah.”

An explosion suddenly sounded from above, rocking the small space with the force of an earthquake.

Hauke threw himself in front of Abbie as the door blew open and a dozen uniformed men rushed into the room with weapons drawn.

“Get down on your knees. Now!” one of the men shouted, pointing his rifle in Hauke’s direction.

The venom-filled barbs on his wrists and ankles grew erect and throbbed in time with his heartbeat. He backed up against Abbie, shielding her small body with his bigger one.

If not for Abbie and Naura, Hauke would fight to the death. But he was greatly outnumbered and refused to risk the lives of his sister and mate.

“Let them go,” Hauke demanded, addressing the leader of the group. “It is me that you want. They are only women.”

The leader stepped forward, shifting his weapon toward Abbie. “Actually, it’s her that we came for. Now move aside, or I’ll kill you both.”

“
Abbie?”
Hauke mentally implored.
“I will die before I let them take you. When I swing, I want you to get as low as you can and run to the bathroom. Lock the door and do not come out until I come for you.”

He could feel her panic, suffocating, surrounding him.

“
No. I won’t leave you, Hauke. I won’t.”

“You have to think about our child, Abbie. Survive. No matter what happens to me. You stay alive.”

A shot rang out with a deafening boom, ricocheting off the walls of the bunker. It took a second for Hauke to realize he had been shot, and another for him to spring into action.

Two more explosions resonated in his ears, matched only by Abbie’s screams and the force of bullets tearing through his guts.

Fire raced from multiple points of entry to rip through his back, taking him to his knees in white-hot agony.

“Stay where you are, freak, or the next one has her name on it.” The leader of the group stood over Hauke with feet apart and his weapon aimed at Abbie.

“No,” Hauke snarled, throwing his hands out in surrender. “I will not fight. Please, do not harm her.”

“What the hell? He speaks English,” a man across the room acknowledged. “Are you sure he’s an alien?”

Someone moved through Hauke’s peripheral vision, striding toward the bed where Naura lay. “Anderson? You might want to come take a look at this.”

The one called Anderson spoke without taking his gaze from Hauke. “Spivey, keep an eye on these two.”

“Yes, sir.” Spivey stepped forward, relieving Anderson of his post. He mimicked the guy’s stance, keeping his gaze on Hauke and his gun trained on Abbie.

Hauke could feel Abbie’s fear and desperation as he hovered on the brink of consciousness, his vision graying with every shallow breath he took. “
My mate?”
he whispered through her mind.

“
Oh my God, Hauke. You’ve been shot. How many times were you hit? We have to get you some help
,” she sent back in a rush, her thoughts jumbled to the point he had a hard time reading them. “I can’t live without you, Hauke. Please don’t leave me. Please.”

“
I will be with you always, soul of my soul. A part of me now lies beneath your heart
…”

Abbie’s cry was the last sound he heard before his eyes rolled back and he toppled to the floor in darkness.