Excellent. Now, you must recover an object. I will help to ensure that no one knows you have taken it.
A few hours ago, he would have immediately pointed out all the reasons why it was impossible for him to do such a thing. Now he listened carefully as the voice gave him instructions. Eduardo could no more resist reaching to uncover the object beneath the mound of sand than he could resist his own heartbeat.
The object proved to be a small metal chest, crisscrossed with thick, rusty bands of iron and bearing two heavy locks. He felt excitement, sure that whoever had carried the casket aboard the Morgan Bray had stored something extremely valuable within it-jewels, most likely.
No, I’m afraid you won’t find anything but ashes within, so for the time being this chest must remain sealed. Place it in the canvas bag attached to your belt.
Eduardo did as he was commanded. A sensation of pure bliss came to him. He felt overwhelmed by it, his mind reeling, disconnecting from his surroundings as if he were drugged.
Now, I’m going to call some of my friends to help us. You must not be afraid-whatever slight harm they do to you will not be painful, and will merely ensure that others are distracted. For your part, you must help the other man to ascend to the surface.
Eduardo blinked, and the dazed sensation dropped away. He was startled as the comm unit suddenly started working again-a shipmate calling frantically, “Do you read me?”
“Yes,” Eduardo answered, “just came back online. I’ve been having trouble with my comm unit.”
“Krantz told us that, but-”
“Yes, his is working.”
“No, it’s not! Not for the last few minutes. I’ve just been getting static. Are you guys okay?”
“I’m fine. Let me check on Krantz-he’s not facing me.”
When he reached Krantz, the other diver seemed to come out of a daze. By now the captain had come online.
“Begin your ascent,” he ordered them. “I don’t want you working down there until we get this communications problem straightened out.”
So they began their careful rise toward the surface, halting as needed to avoid decompression problems.
“Can you hear me?” the captain asked when they had nearly started their last stage of the ascent.
“Yes, sir,” Eduardo answered when there was no response from Krantz.
“I guess Krantz’s equipment is out again. We’ve lost the cameras, too.”
“We’re almost ready to surface, sir,” Eduardo said.
“Get Krantz’s attention.”
Eduardo reached out to the other diver and saw that although Krantz was breathing and his eyes were open, he seemed unaware of his surroundings.
“I think he may be in trouble, sir.” Eduardo described Krantz’s condition.
“Hang on to him,” the captain said. “Bring him up as soon as you can safely do so. I’ll have Doc waiting for you.”
Don’t be afraid, the voice said. You’re about to have a little company. You must leave my friends unharmed. They’re just going to help us with a distraction.
“Company?” Eduardo said.
“Say again?” the captain said.
But now Eduardo had seen large gray and white shapes swimming strongly toward them.
“We’ve got company,” he managed to say, although his mouth was dry. It took all his will to resist pulling out his speargun.
“Say again?” the captain repeated.
“Tiger sharks. Two of them circling us now.”
They came close, close enough for Eduardo to see their small eyes, their wide snouts. Both were well over twice his own size. He guessed the largest one to be about fourteen feet in length.
There was a long pause, then the captain said, “Stay calm. You know they may just be curious. Let go of Krantz if you need to defend yourself-we can pull him up.” He heard the captain giving orders to other men.
He reached the surface without harm, and was just about to hand Krantz off to the waiting crew when the sharks struck. One bit hard into Krantz’s calf, causing Krantz to come out of his stupor with a scream. A moment later, Eduardo cried out in pain as well, feeling sharp teeth stab into his shoulder. The bite released, and a new wave of agony shot through him as strong hands hauled him up from the water.
Chaos reigned on deck. He nearly passed out as the crew worked to remove his equipment. It was soon seen that Krantz’s injury was far worse, and while one crew member held a pressure bandage to Eduardo’s wound, the doctor went to work to help the archeologist. He felt himself go into a state of oblivion, comprehending nothing but pain, and when his thoughts began to clear, the first of them was directed at the voice: You tricked me.
He waited for a response, even wondered if he had indeed hallucinated the whole thing, but then a reply came to him.
Tricked you? Not at all. Your wound will heal. For reasons you will come to understand later, it would not do for you to come out of the attack unscathed. Quickly now, hide the collection bag beneath that bench to your right. Trust me to keep the others occupied-and remember, you have pledged your obedience to me.
He considered resisting, considered arguing, but he wanted the chest to himself, so he did as he was told. As he started to reach for the bag, Krantz began thrashing about on the deck, and even the man who was holding the bandage against his shoulder abandoned him to help with Krantz. No one saw him stash the bag among the life vests stowed beneath the bench.
Return to me when you awaken tonight, the voice said. Soon we will leave this ship together. I will show you where to find riches, and you will help me to find a man named Tyler Hawthorne.
Eduardo lost consciousness.
Three days later, as the Declan lay in dock, the captain gave Eduardo Leblanc the pay he had earned, and a substantial bonus as well. He had tried to persuade the young man not to give up diving-he believed Eduardo had a talent for the work. But he understood completely. A shark attack was a rare occurrence, but he could hardly expect Eduardo not to fear it. In truth-and quite understandably-Eduardo hadn’t been himself since the attack.
“Doc said your wound is healing remarkably well,” the captain said, “and that you shouldn’t have any trouble from it in the future. But-there’s always more to something like this than the injury itself, of course. If there’s anything more I can do for you…”
“Thank you, sir,” Eduardo said. “I’ll be fine. I appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I need to move on.”
The captain fell silent. He had taken Eduardo under his wing, but he wasn’t the kid’s father, after all. Perhaps he would be fine. “What will you do now?”
“Oh, I’ll keep looking for treasure-I’m just going to look for it on land.”
The captain smiled. “I wish you luck. But if you fail to find it, you can always get a job with Declan Salvage.”
Eduardo thanked him again.
As he watched him go, the captain sighed and shook his head. Young men could be such fools.
2
Ten Years Later
They reached a curve in the road near Tyler Hawthorne’s new home. Eduardo Leblanc, who had been looking toward the wooded hillside to the left, said, “Stop the truck-pull over here.”
Daniel, who was driving, immediately braked to a halt. Eduardo expected this sort of obedience from his two trainees. Lord Varre expected it.
“Is something wrong?” Evan asked.
“I saw something moving in the woods. Stay in the truck and lock its doors as soon as I get out.” He paused, then added, “Lord Varre will be extremely unhappy if either of you fail to do exactly as I ask.”
He could see they took this warning seriously, as they should.