Tony rested his hands on his hips. “Can you guarantee my niece’s safety?”
“I can,” Hauke assured him. “No harm will come to my mate as long as I live.”
“Then I’ll be on my way. You have the weapons. If you get into trouble, don’t hesitate to use them.”
Hauke extended his hand to Abbie’s uncle. “I will not need your human weapons. But I give you my word that I will use them if I must.”
Tony accepted his outstretched palm. “Take care of her, Hauke.”
The use of Hauke’s name on Tony’s lips brought tears to Abbie’s eyes. It was first time he’d acknowledged Hauke as a person and not an alien.
She got to her feet and threw her arms around the only relative she had besides Henry. “Thank you for everything, Uncle Tony. I won’t forget what you’ve done for me.”
Pulling back, she kissed him on the cheek. “Please stay safe and remember that I love you. Always.”
A flicker of emotion flashed in his eyes before slipping into the deadpan emptiness she’d come to know so well.
“Stay out of trouble,” Tony murmured, returning to the pool’s edge. He stepped into the water, adjusting his mask as he went.
“What will you do?” Hauke asked the question that had been plaguing Abbie for weeks.
“I plan on laying low for a few months until some of the heat dies down, and then I’ll become a Mexican before the year’s end.”
Sending Hauke the thumbs-up sign, Tony disappeared beneath the surface with a smirk.
A sinking feeling overcame Abbie as she watched her uncle vanish from view. What if she never saw him again? He might be ex-CIA, but he was also human, and humans made mistakes.
Hauke moved in close and wrapped her in a hug. “He is a strong and intelligent man, my love. He will fare well.”
Abbie sure hoped so. If something happened to her mom’s only brother, she would never forgive herself.
“Come,” Hauke gently coaxed. “Let us go to our bed and sleep. I will let Father know we have arrived once we have rested.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Hauke scooped Abbie up into his arms, ignoring her demands that she could walk. The fever inside her had cooled, but her body appeared pale and weak.
Naura followed close behind, carrying the two bags containing Abbie’s clothing and the weapons that Tony had packed. “Shall I retrieve the healer?”
“No. You should go to your rooms once we see to Abbie’s needs. I will call for him after she is settled.”
Abbie lifted her head from his shoulder. “Will he sound the alarm when he finds me here?”
Hauke shook his head. “He does not talk of things that are not his concern.”
“A human in Aukrabah isn’t his concern?” Abbie’s question, though casually asked, was laced with apprehension.
“You are with me, and therefore not a trespasser. He will honor my wish for silence.”
Abbie laid her head against his shoulder once more. “It would seem that our species really aren’t that different after all.”
“I do not understand?” Hauke nudged the top of her head with his cheek.
“Your healer sounds as if he holds to the same code as our human doctors. It’s called patient confidentiality.”
Hauke slipped quietly past the entrance that led to his parents’ quarters before taking a left at the fork in the hall. He had traveled the familiar path many times in his life and felt certain he could find his way with his eyes closed.
Arriving at his rooms a few minutes later, Hauke pulled back the curtain and stepped inside, grateful they had made it without being seen.
He gently set Abbie on her feet and turned to accept the bags his sister held. “My thanks, Naura. Go get some sleep. We will inform our parents of your safe return upon awakening.”
Naura stepped forward and kissed Abbie’s cheek. “Rest well, my sister.”
“Goodnight, Naura,” Abbie softly responded. “Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have asked for a better sister.”
Hauke motioned for Abbie to follow him through the giant chamber to his bedroom in back.
He placed the bags he carried in an alcove in the wall, tucking them behind a stack of blankets. “That should work for tonight.”
The look on Abbie’s face as he straightened brought a smile to his face. She stood in the center of the room with her mouth hanging open and her eyes glittering with wonderment.
“I have never seen anything like it, Hauke. It’s bigger than any bedroom I’ve ever been in before.”
She rushed toward his oversized bed and sat before spreading her arms and falling back. “It’s soft like memory foam. How? I mean, what is it made of?”
Hauke grinned and strode over to join her, taking a seat next to her small form. “The material is made from many sharks’ skins. It is then filled with the purest sand from the gulf floor and stitched together to ensure the sand remains inside.”
She smiled up at him. “It’s genius. I paid over three thousand dollars for my bed back home, and it’s nowhere near as comfortable as this.”
“We have no need for money in Aukrabah.”
“I guess not. But how do you get things such as the needles to sew with? That cup sitting over there looks silver to me. Where did it come from?”
“Vaulcron, my brother, is in charge of trading. Most of our dishes, weapons, and many other treasures come from his trips abroad.”
Abbie sat up so fast she nearly bumped his chin with her head. “You trade with humans?”
“Only one. His name is Miguel. He lives a distance south of us in Cuba. I have only met him a few times, but my brother deals with him often.”
“Has he ever been here to your home?”
“No. My father trusts no man with the location of Aukrabah. Not even Miguel.”
“But Miguel knows you’re not human?”
Hauke ran a hand down her arm. “He does. “There is history with them that is unknown to all save for Miguel and my father.”
“Interesting,” Abbie murmured with a yawn.
“You are tired. We will talk on the morrow.” He gently eased her back onto the sand filled pillows, snagged a sharkskin blanket from the foot of the bed, and covered her slight body.
“Aren’t you coming to bed?” She stared up at him with glassy eyes, telling him the fever still raged within her.
Hauke stood and removed his clothing, all but the boxer briefs Tony had purchased for him. Hauke rather liked them, he decided, crawling under the cover and pulling Abbie into his arms. He would ask his brother to bring him several pair back on his next trip south.
“You’re so warm,” Abbie slurred, snuggling tighter against him.
“Sleep, my love. All will be better when you awaken.”
“I love you, Hauke.”
“And I love you, soul of my soul.”
Hauke held her until her breathing slowed and her body relaxed completely before sliding from the bed and donning his pants.
He would not wait for the morning to summon the healer. Abbie needed him now, before the bacteria damaged her beyond the point of no return.
“Zaureth,” Hauke mentally called. “I am in need of your help.”
“Hauke?” came the quiet reply.
“Yes, it is I.”
“You speak the native tongue of the human’s.”
Hauke took a breath for patience. “I will explain all when you arrive. I am in my rooms.”
“Very well. I will be there posthaste.”
“Many thanks, Zaureth, and I would ask that you keep it between us that I am home. I have not informed the king of my return as of yet.”
Zaureth took so long to answer that Hauke wondered if he had severed their connection. “It is not for me to judge your actions, son of our king, only to assist you when called upon.”
Hauke paced the room in silence, closing his mind off to any that might feel his dismay. Abbie’s fever had returned and with it, the shiveri
ng.
“I am here,” Zaureth announced from the doorway.
“We are in the back.” Hauke motioned for him to proceed into the bedroom, waving a hand toward the bed.
Zaureth stopped short. “Is that a human female?”
“She’s my mate, Zaureth. She is ill and needs your help.”
The healer took a hesitant step forward, never taking his gaze from Abbie. “Does the king know you have mated with our enemy?”
“He had me locked up for it. She is not our enemy, Zaureth. Abbie is different from the others. She is good and kind.”
Zaureth crept closer, shifting his attention between Hauke and the human resting in his bed. “She is smaller than the Bracadyte females. What is it that ails her?”
“Have a seat, and I will tell you all.”
The healer sat on the edge of the bed as Hauke resumed his pacing and explained the events that took place involving the land walkers, ending with, “You have to help her, Zaureth. I cannot live without her.”
Sympathy shone from the healer’s eyes. “I will do what I can, but the king will not be happy with you once news of her existence in Aukrabah reaches him.”
Hauke only nodded as Zaureth eased the cover down to Abbie’s waist and went to work. His hands hovered over her head for long moments before moving down her torso and stopping on her stomach. “She is with child.”
“Yes,” Hauke quietly confirmed. “Can you heal her?”
“At what time did she conceive?”
“In human terms, she became with child two months past.”
Zaureth stood and moved away from the bed. “I cannot help her, son of my king. The child growing inside her belly is her only salvation. He alone will decide whether she lives or dies.”
Hauke gripped his arm as he moved to leave. “What kind of insanity do you speak? The child is not able to decide her fate, healer. He is but a babe, too small to yet birth.”
“I have told you all that I know. Please allow me to pass.”
Hauke reluctantly released his hold on the healer’s arm. “There is nothing that can be done?”
“I have induced a sleep that will allow her body to do what it must. Now we wait.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Abbie awoke alone in bed. Her muscles ached in places she never realized she had, and her head felt as if it had been packed with cotton.
She opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. Hauke’s room, she mused with more than a little awe.
“Hauke?” she croaked, pulling the cover up to her chin and rolling to her side. She tried again. “Hauke?”
When no answer came, she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and threw her legs over the side of the bed.
The floor felt cool beneath her feet as she stood and stumbled toward the chamber they’d passed through the night before. Or was it the night before? A wave of dizziness assailed her.
Gripping the edge of a small stone table that sat against the wall, she took several deep breaths in an attempt to stop the room from spinning. Nausea reared its ugly head.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Naura burst into the room, rushing to Abbie’s side in an instant.
“Where is my mate?”
Hauke’s sister glanced away, but not before Abbie caught a glimpse of her expression.
“Naura?”
“I have been instructed to keep you in bed,” Naura hedged, leading her back to the bedroom.
“Is he coming back soon?” Abbie grew more anxious with every step they took.
“He will return as quickly as he can. In the meantime, you are to continue to rest. You gave us quite a scare.”
At Naura’s insistence, Abbie climbed back into the oversized bed. “How long have I been asleep?”
“For three moons,” Naura answered, tucking the cover against her sides.
Abbie’s mouth fell open. “How is that possible?”
“The healer came to see you the night we arrived home. He induced a sleep to give your body time to heal.”
“He drugged me?” Abbie’s hand immediately went to her abdomen.
“The child is well, as are you. Or you will be once we get some food into your belly. You must be hungry?”
Abbie was starved, actually, but she needed to grasp the verbal bomb Naura had dropped in her lap. “The baby is really okay?”
Naura smiled and got to her feet. “The healer wishes to see you now. May I invite him inside?”
“Yes, please,” Abbie quickly agreed. “I would love to see him.”
“Zaureth?” Naura called, leaning her head back enough to see into the other room. “You may enter.”
A tall, good-looking man entered the room, wearing similar clothing to that which Hauke had worn when he’d found the bunker several weeks before.
The man’s hair appeared dark black save for the white streaks running from his temples and disappearing into the ponytail he sported.
But it was his eyes that stood out the most; a green so pale they were nearly white.
Abbie couldn’t seem to find her voice. She found it impossible to look away from those intimidating yet extraordinary eyes.
He waved a hand toward the bed. “May I sit?”
“Yes, of course.” She slid over to give him some room.
“My name is Zaureth,” he began before taking a seat. “How do you feel?”
She cleared her throat and pushed up higher on the pillows, but still had to crane her neck to see his face. He had to be taller than Hauke.
“You do not need to fear me, Hauke’s mate. I will not harm you.”
She relaxed under the gentle coaxing of his voice. “My name is Abbie, and I would like to thank you for saving my life.”
“I did nothing more than help you sleep. The child that grows inside of you?” He laid a palm over her stomach. “He alone is why you did not die.”
Abbie’s heart skipped a beat. As a doctor, his explanation fascinated her. As a mother, it warmed her very soul. “I don’t understand. How did my baby save my life?”
“The child carries Bracadyte blood in his veins. Enough so that his developing venom began to release, attacking the bacteria before it consumed your cells.”
With a degree in pathology, Abbie understood the healer’s explanation. “It’s the immune system. I’ve become immune to the virus because I’m pregnant with Hauke’s baby.”
She glanced up to see Zaureth staring at her in curiosity. “You are not ignorant as I imagined human’s would be.”
Abbie laughed. “I’m a healer among my people also. We just use different methods than you, that’s all.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Explain.”
“Well, okay. For instance, you heal with energy; we heal with medicine.” A thought struck her. “Naura?”
Hauke’s sister poked her head around the corner. “I am here.”
Abbie pointed toward the alcove where Hauke had stored her things. “Will you look inside my bag and grab the clear plastic baggie that has several kinds of bottles inside it?”
Naura hurried to the alcove and dug through the bag until she found what she searched for. “This one?”
“Yes, that’s it.” Abbie thanked her and accepted the baggie with a smile.
Opening the top, she pulled two bottles free and held them up for the healer’s inspection. “This one is aspirin. It helps with pain and fever. This one is antibiotic. It attacks infections.”
“Humans have strange ways. It baffles me how a race can be intelligent enough to design and build entire cities, yet lack the understanding to heal their sick with the power they were given at birth.”
Abbie’s indignation surfaced. “Perhaps since we weren’t born with the same genetic makeup as you, we don’t possess the same so-called power as you.”
“Perhaps,” he conceded, “but not likely. All creatures of land and sea alike are derived from energy. You only need to embrace it.”
“Maybe you can teach me someti
me.”
“We shall see.” He stood to go. “Your child grows hungry. Remember that he is Bracadyte and will have the appetite of his father. You must eat now.”
“Speaking of his father, where is Hauke?”
“Once you have eaten, Naura will take you to him. Now I must be going.” He bent and kissed her hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Hauke’s mate.”
“The pleasure was all mine, Zaureth.” And she meant it. “Thank you for everything you’ve done. I won’t forget it.”
“I did nothing, Abbie. Take care of yourself and feed the child.” And with that, the healer turned and left the room.
“I do not know what these are, but Hauke insisted you have them when you awoke.” Naura returned, holding a box of saltine crackers. She set them on the bed next to Abbie.
“I ate a lot of these down in that bunker,” Abbie confessed, opening the box and pulling a pack of crackers free. She quickly tore into them and popped one into her mouth. “Ah, God, that’s good. Would you like to try one?”
Naura inched forward and took a seat next to her brother’s mate. “I must confess that I enjoyed the human hamburger your uncle prepared for us, but I have never had a cracker.”
Abbie handed her one, which the other female ate in one bite. “It is salted,” she pointed out rather enthusiastically. “May I have another?”
With a chuckle, Abbie retrieved another sleeve of the crackers and offered it to her.
“How did Hauke manage to get his hands on these?” Abbie didn’t recall them being in either one of the bags.
“He sent Vaulcron south to gather supplies from Miguel. Would you care for some water?”
“I would love some.” Abbie watched as Naura bounded from the bed and disappeared into the other room before returning with a bottle of spring water.”
“What do the Bracadytes drink?” she asked, twisting off cap off to take a healthy swallow.
“Water. The same as you.”
“But saltwater will dehydrate you.” Abbie stared at her as in shock.
“Although the gulf water will not harm us, we prefer to consume water not layered with salt.”
“Surely you don’t get enough from this Miguel to hydrate everyone?”
Enigma:What Lies Beneath (Enigma Series Book 1) Page 18
