Marina, kneeling on the floor next to him, could do nothing for him but watch him struggle for breath as the boat thumped speedily through the water.
It was only because she was kneeling next to him that she heard his last words before he died.
There was no mistaking them; she heard them and they burned into her brain.
POSTLUDE
“The pod’s been destroyed. The entire cave area that you traveled through has been devastated by some kind of explosion.” Colin Bergstrom bore an expression that lined his face with stress. “There’s no way to find our way back to the Skaladeska compound.”
Bergstrom, Helen Darrow, Gabe MacNeil, and Marina sat around the small table in a conference room at Pentagon. Marina presumed this was what the professionals called a debrief. To her, it was more like the beginning of another chapter.
“The GPS readings from my sat phone are long gone. If they were even accurate in the first place,” Gabe said. His arm was wrapped in white bandages, and Marina knew from personal examination — and some intimate activity — that under his button-down shirt, more white wrappings hugged broken ribs and a nasty gash along one hip. “And when we left the compound, we were traveling in bad weather and at night. The boat had no navigational system, and I have no idea how long we traveled, or how far, or in what direction. Until we ran out of gas, then we floated for awhile, made our way to shore and then walked for miles over rough terrain.” They’d had to leave Victor’s body, for Marina and Gabe had barely been able to trudge along themselves, propped against each other.
“We’ve sent a crew over to the vicinity of where you were, where you finally were able to contact us,” Bergstrom said. Marina already knew that. She supposed that information was for Helen Darrow’s benefit. “Radar isn’t picking up anything. It’s as if they didn’t exist.”
“But they did. They do.” Helen’s voice was firm and well-modulated, and she never looked at Gabe unless she had to. “They’re not going to go away, are they Marina?”
No. They weren’t. “Roman will be furious that things didn’t happen according to plan … I’m sure he’ll put some other plot into place as soon as he gets his bearings. They really believe — Lev does, for certain — that it’s their responsibility to protect Gaia. To save her; save the world. The end justifies the means ….And according to Lev, Gaia, the Earth, will work to expel any species that threatens the whole. They believe they are Gaia’s instrument.”
Around the table, an array of serious faces looked at her. “We’re going to need your expertise, Dr. Alexander,” Bergstrom said unnecessarily.
Marina looked down at her hands — scarred, bruised, scraped. She thought of the mark on her foot, the genes that tied her to those people … and the same burning lust for the knowledge and the protection of the ancient teachings locked away somewhere in Siberia.
If she had to be truthful, there was a part of her, a large part; in fact, the majority of her, that was relieved the Skaladeska compound hadn’t been located. Destroyed, it would have been, all of it, all of its brilliant technology and priceless antiquities, if stormed by US agents. In fact, she knew deep in her heart that if there was even a chance that she could have helped them to find the location, she would not have.
Not yet. Not until they found her again.
And they would, for Marina had unfinished business there, with those people. With her family.
Her father.
Because, now that she knew the truth … Marina knew this wasn’t the end.
It was just the beginning.
And her life was no longer her own.
About the Author
Colleen Gleason is the international best-selling author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy series about a female vampire hunter who lives during the time of Jane Austen. Her first novel, The Rest Falls Away, was released to acclaim in 2007.
Since then, she has published more than fifteen novels with New American Library, MIRA Books, and HarperCollins (writing as Joss Ware). Her books have been translated into more than seven languages and are available worldwide.
She loves to hear from readers, and can be contacted through her website or via Facebook.