Authors: Kendall Talbot
Treasured Lies
Kendall Talbot
Treasured Lies
Kendall Talbot
From award-winning author Kendall Talbot comes a new romantic adventure to dive intoâ¦
The discovery of
The Flying Seahorse
, a 13th century shipwreck, nearly killed Archer's two best friends. Now, with their recovery assured and his fiancée back at his side, Archer can finally hunt for the treasure that has haunted him since his father's death years before.
Rosalina learned things about herself that she didn't expect: her capacity to love, her capacity to forgive and her capacity to do whatever it takes to protect the people she loves. Shooting Nox with a spear gun saved Archer's life, and brought them back togetherâthis time forever. Now she's with her fiancé, in the beautiful Mediterranean, with a real chance of ending the guilt that's tortured Archer for two decades.
But Nox isn't dead, and he hasn't given up. Archer and Rosalina may believe that they are safe, but nothing could be further from the truth. What once was about treasure is now about revengeâand it's very, very personal.
Kendall Talbot is an award winning author, thrill seeker and hopeless romantic. She's travelled extensively, some 36 countries and counting and she's addicted to experiences that make her scream ⦠white water rafting, scuba diving with sharks and hang gliding are just a few. Her stories reflect her sense of adventure and her love affair with her very own hero.
Kendall collects junky jewellery and expensive perfume, her favourite night out is with great friends and a fabulous bottle of wine or two, and she rarely watches TV. She lives in Brisbane with her hubby, her two grown sons and her fluffy little dog, Josie McLuvin.
Her debut novel
Lost in Kakadu
(Escape Publishing, 2013) received a clutch of award nominations and most notably won the exclusive title of Romantic Book of the Year 2014.
Treasured Secrets
, the first book in this series, is an action packed treasure hunt laced with delicious romance and is available to download now.
Drop into Kendall Talbot's website sometime:
www.kendalltalbot.com.au
, follow her tweets on
@kendallbooks
or check out her crazy life on her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/KendallTalbotBooks
To my wonderful husband, thank you for believing in me.
To my sons, who I'm so very proud of.
To my sister and mum, who provide endless encouragement.
To my father and step-father, may you both rest in peace.
To my girlfriends and our Friday afternoon cuppas where we never boil the kettle.
To my writing buddies who provide inspiration, hope and honest feedback.
To my readers, thank you for making this dream a reality.
Thank you all.
This book is for Rose and Pauline, two amazing, strong women who I love.
Contents
Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishingâ¦
Nox's eyes stung. No, that was an understatement. It was more like glass shards were shredding his eyes to pieces. He wanted to open them. Had to open them to see where he was. But the agony made it impossible. He went to reach up, to rub his eyes, but his arm didn't move.
Nox clawed at his memory, trawling for details of what had happened. Images, like a faulty 8mm film, flickered across his mind. It was a crazy mix of blood and water, lots of water, oceans even. Then there were stars, clouds and the sun, so hot and intense it burned him until he shrivelled up like a dying toad. The other thing he remembered, the one that shot acid to his stomach, was the pain. Brutal, excruciating pain that ran in relentless rivers down his legs.
Strangely, there was nothing now. He couldn't feel anything. Not his arms, his legs, his feet. The acid in his stomach shot to his throat and Nox fought the urge to throw up. He gasped for air, forcing back the bitter bile. His tongue was a solid, useless lump and Nox rolled it around his mouth, trying to create some moisture.
A tear rolled out of his right eye and over his nose. It was only then that he realised he was on his side. Again he tried to move, literally centring all his focus on his arms, but instead it was like a concrete blanket was pinning him down. He couldn't stand it anymore. He forced his eyes open and blinked. But there was nothing but blackness.
Blink. Blink.
Tears pooled in his eyes as horrid thoughts petrified him. What if they weren't tears? What if it was blood? What if he was blind? Nox forged through the agony and blinked some more, desperate to achieve clarity. And then he saw it, a faint glow, low down in the distance.
Blink. Blink.
He trained his eyes on it and gradually the glow became a solid horizontal line and Nox recognised what it was. The gap beneath a door.
Other objects emerged from the blackness now. A chair. A table. Not a normal table though. This one was rough, with jagged edges and mismatched wood. Driftwood maybe, and the way it looked, it must have been put together by a couple of kids. He saw the ladder next and traced its line upwards to a landing, or a loft of some sort. Nox wondered if he were in a barn.
At the top rung of the ladder hung a lamp. It was old. Ancient even. One of those types that required fuel and a flame. The smell registered somewhere in the back of his brain. Kerosene. But that wasn't all he could smell. He also smelt rotting fish, or was it death? It was only then that he wondered if it were his own foul body odour. Having lived with Trimethylaminuria all his life, it was rare for him to detect the pungent stench that poured from his skin in times of stress or excitement. What he was smelling now, though, was nothing like his Fish Odour Syndrome. No, this was worse. Beyond worse. The putrid stench flooded his nostrils and Nox heaved. Pain rippled through his body. He bucked at the agony. The scream that burst from his throat was nothing but a strangled croak.
Nox heaved again. He gasped as his world spun, and when a creature scampered across the floor before him, Nox slipped into blackness.
Rosalina tugged her hair into a ponytail, curled it over her shoulder and then braced for the weight of her scuba tank. It didn't matter how many times she'd done this, it always amazed her how heavy a tank of air could be.
âReady?' Archer lifted the tank and her buoyancy vest to his knee with such ease that for a fleeting second she wondered if it were empty. But it wouldn't be, Archer was meticulous in his pre-dive safety checks.
She fed her arms through the vest and braced for the weight. âReady.' Seconds later, Archer lowered the tank and she leant forward to avoid toppling backwards. He quickly came to her front and helped her click the buckles into place.
âHere we go, baby.' Archer cupped her cheeks and kissed her, just a very brief kiss. His eyes twinkled with both the brilliant sun reflecting off the ocean and the excitement of what they were about to do. When he stepped back, Rosalina popped her regulator in her mouth and breathed in to ensure her air was flowing. Satisfied, she dropped the regulator to her side, and careful not to trip over her fins, she shuffled forward to the edge of the dive deck.
She glanced up at the three people watching her from the saloon deck of
Evangeline
. Jimmy was leaning on his hairy muscular arms, but that was about as far as his relaxed state went. Rosalina could tell from his eyes that the poor man was still in pain. If he wasn't he'd be right there with Rosalina and Archer, helping them with the scuba gear. Rosalina was honoured to be at Archer's side on this dive, because if Jimmy wasn't riddled with stitches and recovering from a serious bullet wound, she'd have to fight him for the coveted place.
Alessandro stood beside Jimmy. He too was recovering from injuries, but he didn't mask his hurt as well as Jimmy tried to. She'd met Alessandro at university over a decade ago and he'd always been more of an indoors man. As a professor of ancient history and architecture, he spent most of his life in museums and lecture halls. Him being here, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by the Greek Islands, was probably never on his life's agenda. What they were about to do put him so far out of his usual daily life, it was a wonder he could think straight. It must surprise him as much as it surprised Rosalina that he was here.
Maybe it was Ginger, the beautiful Australian blonde, who was hanging off his arm right now that was feeding some bravado into Alessandro's veins. Jimmy had hired Ginger as the onboard chef, but her noticeable lack of skills in that area made it obvious Jimmy hired her for all the wrong reasons. There was a naïve excitement about her that reminded Rosalina of her twenty-year-old self, and it was hard not to like her bubbly, though sometimes ditsy, personality.
The only other person on board
Evangeline
was Archer's mother, Helen. But Helen rarely ventured from her bedroom. She barely did anything, for that matter; she was a tormented soul, trapped in a horrific past that now consumed her present.
Jimmy was a hands-on kind of guy and as Archer's best mate, the two of them were usually inseparable. Especially in times like this. This had been Jimmy's dream. Ever since she'd found that gold plate, the first solid proof of the location of the Calimala treasure, Jimmy had barely spoken of anything else. Even after he was shot by a madman and nearly died, the first words he'd spoken when she was allowed to see him in hospital were of the treasure. Right now though, he looked about as uncomfortable as a bear in shackles and she looked away, fighting a rollercoaster of both excitement and guilt over diving without him.
âDon't go messin' things around down there.' Jimmy's gruff voice rained down from the upper deck.
Archer stood at her side now, all kitted up and ready to drop into the deep blue Mediterranean Sea with her. He glanced up at Jimmy. âYou know we won't, big fella.' By the look on Archer's face, the beaming smile, twinkling eyes, wriggling eyebrows, you'd think he was high on drugs. Truth was, this was his drug. Hunting for treasure was in Archer's bones. Passed down to him from a father who was famous for coaxing several ancient treasures from their hiding places in the ocean. Today they were hoping to finish off a treasure hunt Archer's father, Wade, had started nearly twenty years ago.
âCome on, you two lovebirds, what're you waiting for?' Jimmy was an impatient man. She'd bet her shiny new engagement ring that he'd throw them overboard if he could. As she tugged her neoprene glove on, the brilliant diamond danced in the sun. It was a spectacular single stone in an elegant setting and she still wasn't used to wearing it. She couldn't wait to show Nonna. Her grandmother would be delighted by the classic style Archer had chosen all by himself. It occurred to her that she should have taken it off. But it was too late; it would be impossible to delay the dive now, not with the urgency in Archer's pace. Once the glove was securely fitted over her fingers she was certain it was safe.