Vaulcron (Enigma Series Book 3) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Vaulcron walked the shores of Playa Pilar, gazing out at the blue-green waves of the Gulf of Mexico. Mallory had left him and taken his heart with her.

He’d been out on the beach since his talk with Zaureth, unable to face the pitying looks he knew would be coming his way.

He sat in the sand, resting his arms on his bent knees. How was he supposed to go on without Mallory? Though he hadn’t known her long, she had become his everything.

Nausea rolled through his gut as he thought about their last moments together. She’d used him, pleasured him with her mouth while plotting to leave.

A growl of denial rose up. He stood and wandered out into the warm, salty water before diving into an oncoming wave.

Vaulcron swam toward the deep, allowing his pain to run free. It overtook him, consumed him until he thought his chest would burst from the agony of it.

“
Vaulcron
?” Hauke’s voice whispered through his mind.

“Leave me be, brother. I am in no mood for talk,”
Vaulcron sent back.

“
That is unfortunate, as I have something urgent to discuss with you.”

Vaulcron slowed his pace. “
Does it have to do with Mallory?”

Hauke hesitated
. “It does.”

“I will be right there.”

Turning back the way he’d come, Vaulcron accelerated his speed, anxious to find out the news Hauke had for him about Mallory.

Could she possibly have returned? Vaulcron didn’t know, but any information on her was better than nothing.

Twenty minutes later, Vaulcron rushed through the doors to the hotel to find Hauke, Abbie, Tony and Naura huddled together. Klause and Laurel sat on a nearby sofa.

They all turned at once as he stepped inside.

“What is this?” Vaulcron demanded, slowing his pace.

His parents stood and joined the small group hovering nearby. Hauke spoke first. “I am sorry, brother. It was the only way to be certain you would return.”

Vaulcron stared at Hauke in disbelief. “You lied to me.”

“You disobeyed a direct order,” Klause growled, his cloak swirling out around him as he moved past his wife to approach Vaulcron.

Vaulcron was beyond caring what happened to him. With Mallory gone, he’d just as soon be beaten. In fact, that was exactly what he hoped the king did to him. No amount of physical pain would make him feel any worse than he already did. “Punish me.”

“You think I will not?” Klause snarled, his face mottled with anger.

“Please, Klause,” Abbie intervened, laying a hand on the king’s arm. “He’s not himself right now. Don’t do anything just yet.”

“It is fine, Abbie,” Vaulcron muttered in a weary tone. “I went to the States after my king forbade me to.”

Laurel sidled up to her mate’s side. “We are no longer in Aukrabah, my king. Perhaps we should be more concerned with surviving and keeping the children safe than punishing someone who disobeyed in an attempt to help us.”

Klause glanced down at his mate. “I grow weary of this crown, Laurel. But if I am to assure that we have a home and future, I must rule as a king and not a father.”

“But Vaulcron’s intentions were pure,” Naura pointed out. “He had hoped to show the land walkers that we are not responsible for the virus sweeping their land. And in return, they might leave us in peace.”

Tony’s arm went around his mate. “Naura’s right. If we can prove that the Bracadytes aren’t responsible for the deaths, while showing how the government has not only covered it up, but they have taken innocent lives to keep their secret from coming out, it could work in our favor.”

“That is what Mallory was attempting to do,” Vaulcron remarked, pushing his damp hair from his face. “Before…”

“Before what?” Laurel prompted, waving a hand for him to continue.

“It does not matter now.” Vaulcron met his father’s gaze. “I went against your orders and broke the Bracadyte law. I will take my punishment without any argument.”

Klause stared at Vaulcron for long moments before meeting the gazes of the small group rallied around him. His shoulders dipped in defeat. “I believe Laurel is correct. Change is happening around us, faster than we can process. If we do not evolve with it, we will become extinct.”

“Father?” Naura whispered, breaking away from Tony to face the king. “What are you saying?”

A sadness entered Klause’s eyes. “We were once a great race, my sweet Naura, our numbers equal to the stars. Until the time of the great flood. Many Bracadytes starved to death as food became scarce and what living things that survived in the seas had been tainted. Starvation turned brother against brother, wiping out clans by the thousands.”

Klause pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing. “The land walkers eventually returned, bringing with them food and a new way of life. The Bracadytes and humans lived in harmony for a time, until a bloodthirsty Bracadyte began feeding from the land walkers against their will.”

“He killed them?” Naura asked, her eyes huge in her face.

“Not intentionally. His venom was used to paralyze them, to prevent them from fighting. The humans grew ill, and some of the elders did not survive.”

“Go on,” Abbie prompted when Klause paused.

He absently nodded, a faraway look in his eyes. “According to the ancient scrolls, the humans gathered weapons and rose up against the remaining Bracadytes with a mighty army, killing them and burning them at the stake.”

“Oh, my God,” Abbie breathed. “Why did they burn them?”

Klause met her gaze. “To be certain they would not rise from the dead.”

Understanding dawned in Abbie’s eyes. “Like when Hauke washed up on shore. He was assumed dead on arrival, because of the lack of a pulse and the fact that he wasn’t breathing.”

Klause nodded. “The Bracadytes eventually separated from the humans. Migrating deeper into the seas, we continued to evolve. We lived in solitude until the old king spotted Aiyana gathering food on the gulf’s shore.”

“But history repeated itself,” Abbie pointed out. “The same thing happened again.”

“Yes,” Klause rumbled, blowing out a defeated breath. “It always does.”

Vaulcron touched his father on the arm. “It doesn’t have to. Humans have televisions in every home. They have the ability to record and transmit to the population at large.”

“The large screen in our room with the humans inside it?”

Vaulcron nodded. “They are not really inside it, Father. It is a transmission of video. Modern technology. Mallory created a video while she interviewed me. She intended to place it in the television, somehow, for all the world to see.”

“What kind of interview?” Tony quipped, his body tensing.

“The truth about the government’s cover-up. The murders, lies, and the CDC’s creation of the Incola virus. We also discussed how the Bracadytes are not a threat to society. That we want only peace, not war.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Did she air it?”

Vaulcron shook his head. “We were taken hostage.”

“Where is the video now?” Tony pressed.

Vaulcron shrugged. “I am not certain. But the military is aware that it exists.”

“Shit,” Tony swore, running a hand through his short hair. “If Miss Cahill wasn’t a target before, she certainly is now.”

Vaulcron’s stomach dropped. “I have to find her.”

“Negative,” Klause barked. “You are not returning to the States, fili mi. You nearly died recently, attempting to escape there.”

“I love her, Father!”

The room went completely silent. All eyes were on Vaulcron.

Klause stepped in close, his nose nearly touching Vaulcron’s. “Is it not enough that your siblings have mated land walkers? You are to be king, my son. It is time that you start behaving as one.”

Vaulcron held his ground. “You need not concern yourself with my land walker, Father. She does not want me.” He spun on his heel and stormed off toward the stairwell.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mallory stared at herself in the mirror, relieved that she’d made it through the bridge checkpoints without a problem.

Her now short dark hair framed her face, transforming her into a stranger that even she didn’t recognize.

Clarence had dropped her off at the fishing cabin the night before with a promise to return in a couple days.

The small cabin was stocked with canned goods and bottled water. Coupled with the staples she’d picked up at the drug store in Pensacola, she should be fine for a while.

With trembling hands, Mallory picked up her disposable cell and dialed the Sentinel.

A feminine voice answered. “Destin Sentinel.”

“I need to speak with Mike Calhoun,” Mallory demanded with more confidence than she felt.

A sniff sounded in Mallory’s ear. “He’s in a meeting at the moment. Would you like to leave a message?”

Mallory saw red. She’d worked with Mike long enough to know how he operated. He was no more in a meeting than she was a true brunette. “I suggest you go get him. If he misses this story, it won’t be only your job that you lose. It’ll likely be your head as well.”

A long pause ensued. “Hold, please.”

Mallory blew out a nervous breath. She wasn’t sure if her threat would work or not. She’d half expected the woman to hang up on her.

“This is Calhoun.”

Mallory’s heart lurched at the sound of his voice. She swallowed back her fear and cleared her throat. “Mike? It’s Mallory. Before you say anything, are you someplace private where you can talk?”

“Hang on a second.”

She could hear the hum of voices in the media center grow distant before quieting altogether. “Jesus, Mallory. Your face has been all over the news for the past week. What kind of trouble are you in?”

“Big trouble, Mike. But I have something that you may be interested in. It’s the story of a lifetime.”

He grew silent for a moment. “What kind of story?”

Mallory knew that would get his attention. Mike had been fighting his way up the corporate ladder for years. “It’s an interview I did with one of the aliens. I have a copy of it on disc.”

Referring to Vaulcron as an alien didn’t sit well with Mallory, but she had to remember who she was speaking to.

“Oh my God, Cahill. You met one of them?”

“I did.” Mallory spent the next fifteen minutes briefing Mike on everything that had happened since she’d began investigating the government cover-up.

“Why are you giving this to me?” Mike asked, suspicion evident in his voice.

“Because I can’t very well air it myself, now can I?”

“Where is the disc now?”

“In a safe place.”

“And you?”

Mallory closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Then how am I supposed to get it?”

“Go to the shipyard in Freeport. There’s a half-sunken boat tied to a dock right inside the entrance. Once you reach the end of that dock, look inside the broken window of the boat. The disc will be under a mildewed seat cushion.”

“Got it,” he murmured.

“And Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t tell anyone that you have the disc. Make a copy of it and hide it in a place that no one will find it before you air the piece. Understood?”

“I don’t know how to thank you for this, Cahill.”

“Don’t thank me yet. One more thing, Mike. Can you get me a private number for Vice President Pratt?”

“What are you planning, Cahill? You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Then you’ll have my job.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Mike growled in a low tone.

“Will you please just get me the number? “

“Stand by. I’ll see what I can do.”

Minutes passed before Mike returned to the line. He rattled off the number to Vice President Pratt’s home.

“How in the hell did you get this so fast?”

“You have your ways,” Mike quipped. “I have mine.”

“I’ll owe you, Mike.” She hung up before he could question her further.

Mallory wandered into the small bedroom of the cabin and sat heavily on the foot of the bed.

She dialed the number Mike gave her before she changed her mind.

“Hello?” a female voice answered, soft and hesitant.

“Hi there. May I please speak to Vice President Pratt?”

“May I tell him who’s calling?”

“Mallory Cahill.”

“Ma—” the woman began before clearing her throat in obvious nervousness. “Just a moment.”

Mallory wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and waited for the vice president to pick up the phone.

“Miss Cahill?”

“Vice President Pratt?” Mallory could almost see her blouse thumping from the acceleration of her heartbeat. “I need your help, sir.”

He laughed without humor. “You are a fugitive, Miss Cahill. I couldn’t help you if I wanted to.”

Mallory ground her teeth, summoning up every ounce of bravado she possessed. “If you don’t help me now, millions of lives will be lost. Are you willing to accept that responsibility?”

He grew quiet. “I’m listening.”

“Can I trust you, sir?”

“I don’t know, Miss Cahill. It depends on what you tell me.”

“Can you come to Florida?”

“Now?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes. It’s a matter of life and death, sir.”

“Look, Miss Cahill. I can’t just up and fly to another state. Especially not alone. What you are asking is impossible.”

Anger surged. “Nothing is impossible, sir. Especially with the entire world at stake.”

“You said that already.”

“Listen to me,” she bit out. “Martin Raducha, head of the CDC, is responsible for the Incola virus. President Howell is involved as well and is helping him cover it up. They have kidnapped, murdered, and committed treason. When the evidence I have, airs on the news, Howell will be impeached, and you will step into office. I need you to be in office, sir. So many lives are depending on that.”

A loud sigh echoed in her ear. “I’ll have the jet fueled up. But I won’t be alone. The secret service is with me everywhere I go.”

“But—” Mallory began, only to be cut off.

“No buts. There’s no other way. Don’t worry; no one will be told your identity.”

Mallory knew it was the best she would get. “Okay.” She rattled off the address. “When will you be here?”

“Tonight.” The line went dead.

Mallory fell back on the bed and draped an arm over her eyes. Either Pratt would show up and help her, or he’d send in the cavalry and have her killed. She had no choice but to wait and see.