Undiscovered (Treasure Hunter Security Book 1) (18 page)

He went still, his gaze on her face.

She shrugged one shoulder. “I know, you don’t want to hear it, and this is really bad timing—”

“Shut it, Rush.” The grip on her chin turned to a soft caress. “You love me?”

“Yes.” Her lips trembled and she saw something warm in his eyes. “I see past all those defensive ‘I’m too bad for everyone’ walls you put up.”

“God, Rush, I—” He broke off on a curse.

A red wavering dot caught her attention. It was hovering on the center of her chest. She gasped in a breath and raised her head…

Just as Declan slammed into her.

The sound of the gunshot was like thunder in her ears.

She felt Declan’s body jerk. She felt him turn and she saw him raise his gun. He fired back down the tunnel.

But not at their assailants.

At the floor.

He triggered the booby trap.

A huge slab of rock slammed down and closed off the tunnel. She heard the horrible sounds of screams as someone got caught.

Then she heard Declan’s quiet groan.

“Declan.” God, he’d been shot. How bad was it?

He slumped against her and she helped him down to the ground. He’d leaped in front of a bullet for her.

“How bad?”
Please be a flesh wound, please be a flesh wound
.

He sat back, and when she saw the blood over the front of his shirt, her heart stopped. “Declan—”

“Can’t…worry about it now. Need to get out of here.”

She could hear Anders and his men banging on the other side of the rock slab.

“To where? You’re hurt.” The enormity of it crashed down on her. He was hurt, and they were stuck far from civilization, with a psychopath on their trail.

Declan needed help and she couldn’t get it for him. Anxiety and fear twisted inside her.

“Need you to bandage my stomach. First aid kit is in my backpack,” he ground out, sucking in a breath. “Then we go.”

She reached over and opened his backpack. She grabbed the small kit and then lifted his T-shirt. The bullet wound was to the side of his stomach. Bright-red blood bloomed. She pressed a wad of gauze onto the wound, hating it when he groaned.

“Wrap it.”

She wound the larger bandage around him.

“Help me up.”

She slid her arm behind his back and jammed her shoulder under his arm. Awkwardly, they got to their feet.

“Water,” he said.

She frowned. “You need a drink? Let me—”

“No. The water, there’s a current at the back.”

She looked and saw that at the back of the pool, the water was moving.

Like it was draining downward.

“There’s an opening under there—” he heaved in a shaky breath “—I think we need to swim.”

His usually tan face was pale, and when she looked down, she saw blood had already soaked through her bandage. And he was talking about swimming through caves.

“Declan, we can’t—”

“Not going to let fucking Anders touch you.”

The fierceness in his voice made her heart clench. Well, she wasn’t going to let Anders hurt Declan, either. Not any more than he already had.

“Come on,” she said decisively.

They hobbled to the edge of the pool, then waded in. It gradually got deeper and deeper. When the cool water hit his wounds, Declan muttered a curse.

“Hang in there,” she said.

“Get my flashlight out,” he said. “It’s waterproof.”

She did as he asked.

“Rush…”

She raised her face and for a second was caught by the emotion on his face. Here was the Declan he kept hidden from everyone else. Her Declan.

He pressed his mouth to hers, the kiss slow and frustratingly short. She vowed it wouldn’t be the last one.

What if the underwater tunnel went on too far? She tried not to think about drowning.

He grabbed her hand. “Ready? Go!”

Together, they plunged into the water.

Chapter Fifteen

Dec tried to ignore the pain, but it was bad.

Even swimming through the dark, calm water, he felt the energy flowing out of him.

Get Layne to safety
. That was all he could focus on right now. Get her away from Anders and find a way to contact his team.

She was holding his hand in a death grip, and his flashlight gave off the tiniest beam of light in the dark water. The tunnel was wide enough for them to swim side by side.

But they needed to surface soon.

He kept kicking, could feel his lungs start to burn. Beside him, Layne’s movements were starting to slow and become uncoordinated.

He kicked harder, wincing at the burn in his gut.

Layne’s kicks had slowed to sporadic movements. She was still valiantly trying to go forward, but he knew she’d be fighting not to take a breath.

They weren’t going to fucking drown in the middle of the world’s largest desert.

He delved deep and found some last well of strength. He kicked hard. Above, he thought he saw a glimmer of light.

Layne went limp.

No, dammit
. He kicked, his lungs at the breaking point, his energy gone.

They broke the surface.

He heaved in air and dragged Layne up. She coughed and spluttered, her hair plastered to her head.

A few steps and he felt the bottom. Together, they stumbled out of the pool.

As they collapsed on the ground, Dec’s stomach felt like it was on fire. He was bleeding badly. He pressed the sodden bandage down harder.

He didn’t tell Layne that he’d bleed to death within the next hour.

God, to think he’d survived so many battles and missions. To think he’d finally found the one woman who’d broken through his self-imposed misery and made him fall in love…

And he was going to lose it all.

“How’s the wound?” She pressed a hand to his shoulder.

“It’ll do.” He said it with all the strength he could muster. She’d found her parents dead, the last thing he wanted was for her to watch him die. Then he looked over her shoulder and everything in him stilled. “Layne—”

“God, Declan. You hold on. I’m getting you out of here.”

“Layne. Behind you. I think we found Zerzura.”

A sad smile flittered over her lips. “You think I care about Zerzura right now?”

“I think you’ve dreamed about it all your life and worked hard to find it—”

“I love you, Declan. And I know that injury is bad.”

Yeah, his woman was smart. At least he could give her this last thing. He nudged her around. “Look.”

Her face filled with wonder. “Oh, my…”

The cavern was huge and the rock lining it was a bright white. Light filtered down from above, illuminating the city that had been carved into the walls, and the large temple in the center. Flitting through the air were flocks of cave birds.

“Unbelievable,” she breathed. “No one found Zerzura because it was underground.”

“Come on. Let’s take a look.”

He kept his arm on her shoulders because he was pretty sure he couldn’t hold himself up.

The temple was still in good condition, only one corner of it crumbling.

“So easy to imagine the people who lived here,” she murmured, stroking some engravings.

Yeah, it was pretty easy to imagine people living here, making their life here.

They walked up the wide, shallow steps leading into the main temple. Each small step felt like agony to Dec but he fought it down. He was going to see Layne’s face when they went inside.

They stepped into the gloom. Huge columns rose on either side of them in a long row. Walking forward, Dec could almost imagine it was the aisle of a church.

Shit
. When that thought didn’t make him start sweating, he knew Layne was his.

He pressed a hand to his side and saw the blood welling, coating his fingers. It was going to kill her that she couldn’t save him.

“Oh, Declan.”

He raised his head and the air rushed out of him. “Holy hell.”

The front of the temple was filled with treasure.

Gold statues, urns, mounds of jewelry, furniture made of gold. It was all laid out with precision, glowing dully in the light.

“So beautiful. And the historical value…” She shook her head. “This is more than I ever dreamed of.”

“You found it, Rush. It’ll make your career.”

She turned to face him. “You think I care about my career right now?”

He was going to say something, but his left leg failed and he stumbled.

“Dammit.” She caught him and kept him upright. When she eased back and saw the blood transferred to her shirt, tears welled in her eyes. “Declan, I’m afraid.”

“Listen. We need to find somewhere for you to hide. I’ll confront Anders when he arrives.”

“Maybe they won’t make it through.”

“He’ll be here soon, Layne. In the chaos, you go. Find a way out. The Zerzurans had to have an easy route to the surface somewhere. Use that clever head of yours and find it.”

Her lips trembled. “I’m not leaving you.”

Fear spiked. He recognized that stubborn look. “I will not let you die here.”

“Your gun got wet—”

He smiled. “Most modern weapons can handle a little water. Now, go.”

“I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself!”

“I’m already dead.”

His harsh words made her head rear back like he’d slapped her. Her cheeks went white.

He swallowed and lowered his voice. “I’m bleeding out, Rush. I need to be in a hospital in under thirty minutes. Even if you can call in the cavalry, it’s too late.”

“No.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I will not lose someone else I love.”

He cupped her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I so badly wanted more. You made me want that. Now, I want you to live for both of us.”

“I…no.”

He heard shouts and water splashing. They were coming.

He yanked Layne close, heedless of the pain, and kissed her with everything he had. She kissed him back, the taste of her salty tears on his lips.

“Live.” His tone was unyielding. He fumbled and pulled his watch off. “The GPS tracker is in this. Logan and Callum will come. You stay alive until then.”

She turned the watch over in her hands.

“Now go. Find a hiding place, and when you get a chance, run.”

She looked up at him. “Declan—”

“I know. Me too. Now go.”

***

Dec raised his SIG. He heard the men coming.

He’d do what he did best and fight. Give Layne the time to hide and then get away. Pain was a living, breathing monster inside him, and he felt the steady trickle of blood down his stomach, soaking into his clothes. But the thought of Anders getting his hands on Layne shoved all the aches and pain away.

There was no way Anders was touching Declan’s woman.

He dragged in a breath to steady himself and leaned against the column. He was feeling lightheaded, but there was nothing wrong with his determination.

The first man came through the temple entrance. Dec took him down with a single shot.

More came, diving for cover. Dec moved now, but still taking his time to aim and shoot.

Gunfire echoed amongst the ancient stones. In a place that had never seen modern weapons. Dec had the fleeting thought that Seth might have been pissed off by it.

A bullet winged close by and Dec flung himself to the ground. As his gut hit rock, the pain was excruciating. He sucked in air, forcing back the urge to be sick.

He got up and shot again.

More guys were coming.

Shit, they were going to overrun him. He couldn’t see Anders anywhere. Coward was probably waiting for his men to take Declan out of the picture.

Dec moved along the wall, deep into the shadows. If he could circle around…

A kick hit him in the back and sent him to his knees. His handgun clattered onto the ground. He turned, ready to kick back but then he saw the gun barrel pointed directly between his eyes.

Dec was already surging upward, even knowing he couldn’t move faster than the bullet.

Bang
.

Dec froze. He watched the man crumple to the ground. Dec turned his head and saw Layne standing there, a pistol in her hand.

“I…I got it off one of the dead bodies. I…” She was swallowing convulsively.

Dec got one foot under himself and gritted his teeth as he stood. Conflicting emotions crashed inside him. Fear that she hadn’t gotten out like he’d ordered, anger that she’d put herself in danger and been forced to kill. Dec knew just how that first kill made you feel.

He grabbed her. “You saved my life.”

Some of the horror leaked from her face. “Good.”

“And you didn’t listen.”

“I wasn’t really feeling that whole thing where you sacrifice yourself for me and die.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “You drive me crazy, Rush.”

“Well, isn’t this sweet?”

Anders’ crisp voice made them turn. Dec dragged Layne closer.

Anders stood, flanked by two men who had their guns trained on Dec.

“Looks like this job’s become more than just work for you, Ward.”

Dec didn’t speak.

Anders smiled. It was cold and mean. “I can understand the charm.” His dark eyes flicked to Layne. “Dr. Rush, thank you so much for leading me to Zerzura.” He lifted his hands. “Your friend, Dr. Stiller, did the best he could, but I don’t think he’s quite as talented as you.”

“You killed him?”

Anders smile was sharp. “He was alive when I left him in the tunnels. Bleeding, but alive.” The man looked around, his gaze flaring as it fell on the treasure. “I very much needed to find this treasure.”

“So you could sell it off,” she spat.

Anders shrugged. “Not everyone cares about history like you do. To most, it’s just old junk. And to others, it’s wealth.”

Anders’ gaze skated over her, and then Dec. “I do believe Declan isn’t going to last much longer. That’s a lot of blood soaking your clothes, old friend.”

“I am not, and never have been, your friend.”

“Once, we were.”

“When I thought you were a decent person. Before I realized you don’t have a soul.”

Anders shook his head. “Declan, you still haven’t realized that life is all about what you can get for yourself. Caring about others…it’s a weakness and a waste of time.”