Page 54 of Fighting for Mallory

Two days until Harvest Moon

A familiar warmth suffused Luca’s face. It felt gentle, like the touch of Mallory’s hands on his skin or her lips pressed against his.

“Mallory.” He moaned her name.

River chuckled. “Nope. Just me.”

Luca opened his eyes and blinked against the sunlight streaming through the parted drapes. “Thirsty.”

River handed him a bottle of water. Luca raised his head and took several sips. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

Luca swore. “No! Why didn’t someone wake me up? We have to get back down there and look for Mallory!” He tried to raise himself off the bed but fell back against the pillows. “Damn!”

“You really did a number on yourself, my friend. By the time Hutch got you back to the truck, you were bleeding profusely. One of Clayton’s guys is a former army medic, and he stitched you up right there in the truck. Gave you a shot of antibiotics and pain medication to sedate you.”

“She was in that cavern, River. Mallory left a message for me. She was there and possibly injured. I saw blood.”

“Listen, Luca?”

Luca’s phone vibrated with a call. He reached for it on a nightstand and groaned from the effort. Glancing at the caller ID, he said, “It’s Scope,” and answered the call. “Any news?”

“Yes. Four members of the cult just left the bar and grill. Our intrepid waitress served them and recorded their conversation. I’m sending it to you, but the gist is, Neheb arrived this morning. Apparently, he wasn’t happy when he saw the condition of their sacrifice. Two men, Ali and Omar, confessed to Neheb that Mallory had tried to escape and sustained her injuries when she fell onto some low-growing stalagmites. They found her and carried her back to the Cave of Osiris.”

“Cave of Osiris?”

“That’s what they said.”

“Thanks for the information, Scope.”

“You’re welcome. Sending you the recording now.”

Luca and River stared at each other. “What the hell is the Cave of Osiris?”

“And where the hell is it?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

24 hours before Luca fell into the phosphorescent blue pool

Time ceased to exist. Perhaps the shadows dancing and changing on the cavern’s walls or the subtle shifting of the light cast by the phosphorescent blue pool indicated time’s passage. It concerned Mallory only because her curiosity begged to know how long it would take her to die. She lay immobile, sprawled on her back, on a short growth of stalagmites, certain she’d broken it. She tried to wiggle her toes, but her brain couldn’t make the connection.

Mallory regretted her decision to help herself. She should have stayed in the cavern of fire and gold and waited for Luca to rescue her. No doubt he was frantically searching for her and would never give up. She should have tried harder to exploit Ali and Omar. They weren’t heartless monsters like Neheb and the men who attacked her and Luca. Most of all, she regretted rejecting the gift of Luca’s incredible heart when he’d given it to her all those years ago. She’d been too young and foolish to realize that when he took her to bed for the first time and declared he loved her, he meant it. His heart was hers for eternity, and she hadn’t taken him seriously. Who does at that age? Unlike his love for her, hers for him had been immature. Unlike his tender care of her heart, she’d abused his. Abused the heart of the best, most noble man she’d ever met.

These thoughts tormented Mallory, and she cried Luca’s name, screaming it in the prevailing silence of the cavern.

She grew unbearably thirsty and greedily eyed the fresh water pouring out of the tunnel above her. If only she could move close enough to catch some water in her hands! Focusing on the water, its cool taste and texture, drove Mallory to the brink of madness, for she imagined a tingly sensation in her legs, and she whimpered.

“No, don’t tease me this way.”

The sensation intensified, along with a manic desire to move.

“I can’t,” she moaned. “I can’t move.”

Dehydration claimed her sanity. Now she sensed a subtle change in the air pressure of the cavern. Something invasive, perhaps human or not. At this point she didn’t care if she were torn limb to limb by a cave dweller. Lights bobbed around her. The heat from the torches warmed her.

“Please,” she begged in a raspy voice, “just get it over with quickly.”

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