Haven- Agent 51 Read online

  “They were so powerful, Demetrius, I had never seen anything like it!” He could tell that he sounded on edge.

  “Kan’s men?” Demetrius asked.

  “No, the creatures in black. Didn’t they see them?”

  Demetrius shook his head. “No, the only insurgents listed in the report were Cyrus Kan’s soldiers.”

  Rylan tried to sit up again. “No, Demetrius, there were others! Large creatures in black. They were powerful! They were working with Kan. She was smart, very dangerous and … ruthless.”

  “She?” Demetrius said, tilting his head to one side.

  “Yes, their leader. They called her Nao.”

  Rylan grabbed his side in pain again. “Demetrius, they are working with Kan. They are creating an army for him.”

  “An army? An army of what?”

  Rylan swallowed. “She called them …” he thought for a moment, “bio … bio-wraiths? She said they were the perfect blend of intelligence, will, and power.”

  Demetrius's gray eyebrows lowered until they almost touched his nose.

  “And there was something about DNA,” Rylan said, tilting his head back in pain. He took in a quick breath and continued. “She wanted the location of the F11 project. She knows that we are working on cloaking capabilities.”

  “How is that possible? The F11 is a top secret project,” Demetrius said.

  Rylan shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said and took in another short breath as pain flashed through his body.

  “Okay, enough, you need your rest,” Demetrius said calmly. “We’ll talk more at the debriefing once you’re better.”

  “I think that would be more appropriate,” a voice said from the doorway.

  Rylan and Demetrius both turned to see a young doctor standing there. He wore a white tunic with a flowing red cloak that fastened to his shoulders.

  “Right now the boy needs his rest,” the doctor said, moving into the room. His violet eyes scanned Rylan as he approached. “Your body has been through major trauma, Mr. Dalcome, more than your staff could heal. It’s my job to take care of the rest.” His pallid face was stern as he spoke. He looked to be no older than Rylan, but it was hard to tell with Vampires.

  “My staff!” Rylan said, lifting himself on to his elbows. “Where, where is it?”

  The doctor placed a hand on Rylan’s chest. “Your staff is here,” he said and pointed behind the bed. Rylan turned to see Talus hovering just a few feet away from him.

  “Please, Mr. Dalcome, I need you to rest.”

  Rylan grimaced in pain and lowered himself down onto the bed.

  “My name is Dr. Cuza, Lucian Cuza. I am the Majesty’s Military Medical Liaison, and Chief Healer for the Artemis Latimer Healing Facility. I will be your primary caretaker.”

  Rylan looked over at Dr. Cuza. “That’s a mouthful, Doc,” he said.

  Dr. Cuza stared at Rylan for a brief second before turning away. He moved closer to the monitor, read the display, and placed his hand to his chin.

  “How do you feel, Mr. Dalcome?”

  Rylan studied Cuza. He looked troubled; his lips were pressed into a fine line. Apparently he didn’t like what he was looking at.

  “I’m sore, but I feel much better than before. But you tell me, how do I look?” Rylan gave a slight smirk.

  The doctor stared at the screen for a minute more. “Hmmm,” he said before turning to squint at Rylan. Suddenly Rylan felt more like a specimen than a patient. The Vampire's face seemed to be frozen in the same stoic expression it had been in since he arrived. Rylan didn’t think the man was too fond of his humor either.

  “Did you know that you are missing a small amount of flesh on the back of your neck, Mr. Dalcome?”

  “What?” Rylan’s smirk faded. Man, this doctor needs to work on his bedside manner, he thought. He lifted his hand to feel a small indention just below his hairline at the nape of his neck. The area was a bit swollen and numb to the touch.

  “No, I … I had no idea,” he said and then looked at Demetrius. Demetrius stared down at him but did not speak.

  “Your vitals are finally stabilizing, and you seem to be healing nicely,” Cuza said. “I have given you something for the pain, and we have tailored a potion to fight your infection.”

  “What was wrong with me? I mean, other that the obvious,” Rylan asked.

  Dr. Cuza sighed. “To be honest, we are not sure. We have never seen this type of infection before. At one point it was unclear if we could stop it from spreading. But, as luck would have it, we finally conjured the right potion and used several new incantations to deliver a tonic to where it was most needed.”

  Cuza looked at Rylan and pursed his lips. “You are very lucky, Mr. Dalcome. Not only are you alive, but it looks as though you might have escaped without major injuries. Aside from the patch of skin, I think you will be fine.”

  Rylan touched the back of his neck again. “Doc, do we know why they took the skin sample?” he asked.

  “That I don’t know,” Cuza said and crossed his arms. “But having a sample of your skin is really no different than having you there in person.” Rylan narrowed his eyes. “What I mean is there is a great deal of information to be found in the smallest of skin samples. Essentially, it contains your entire genetic code. Now, what they intend to do with that sample I could only speculate on, so I’m afraid that really doesn’t help you.”

  Rylan’s face grew stiff, and his gaze fell to the foot of the bed. Why had Nao done this? What was there to gain? He shook his head in disbelief. He was a fool to think he had prevailed, that he had actually escaped Nao’s clutches.

  “Well, thank you, Doctor, for all your help,” Demetrius quickly interjected.

  Dr. Cuza nodded. “Of course.” Then he turned back to Rylan. “Rest, Mr. Dalcome, and I will check on you later this evening.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Rylan said.

  As the doctor left, Demetrius stared after him with a furrowed brow.

  “You’re worried,” Rylan said.

  Demetrius walked slowly around the bed so he could be closer to Rylan. “I’m concerned, yes,” he said.

  “I didn’t think I was going to see you again, Demetrius. I didn’t think I was going to make it.” Rylan said. His voice broke as thoughts of being alone, isolated in his dark cell came rushing back to him.

  Demetrius placed a comforting hand on Rylan’s shoulder. “But you did, and that’s all that matters,” he said.

  Rylan’s gaze trailed away from Demetrius, and he looked over at the monitor next to him. Small green lines moved erratically across the screen and the word NORMAL flashed on the bottom left side.

  “It happened so fast. They appeared out of nowhere,” he muttered.

  “I’ve looked over the Paladin mission file,” Demetrius said. “There is no mention of seeing anyone other than Cyrus Kan’s soldiers. They did state you were being attacked when they first found you, but it was too dark to identify the attacker. They assumed it was one of Kan’s men, but when they entered the room the insurgent was nowhere to be found. They noted that your DNA signature they were tracking was weak due to interference¬¬—something to do with the material used in the fortress. They were lucky to have found you at all.”

  Rylan shook his head. “I’m telling you, she was there. Her skin was black, marked with white tribal tattoos. She was very tall, at least six-four, if I had to guess. Very perceptive or extremely lucky. She referred to me as a Leo, as if she just sensed it. But it was her, Demetrius, she is the one that tortured me. She had the ability to inflict excruciating pain without even touching me.

  Demetrius narrowed his eyes, and he reached out to pat Rylan on his shoulder again.

  Rylan looked up at him. “I’m not crazy! I know who tortured me!” he said.

  “No one is saying you’re crazy, Rylan. I’m saying you need sleep. You need your strength. I promise you, we will get to the bottom of this,” Demetrius said.

  Rylan pursed his lips
and stared up at the ceiling. “You’re right,” he sighed.

  They heard footsteps out in the hallway, and Demetrius turned to see Alisa standing with her arms crossed and her staff strapped to her back. Tears stained her cheeks, and her light blue eyes seemed overly bright.

  “Ry,” she gasped.

  Demetrius took a step back from the bed. “We’ll talk soon,” he said and turned toward the door.

  As the Master Keeper left, Alisa wiped her tears away and moved to Rylan’s side.

  “Oh, Rylan!” she said, leaning over him and placing her hands on his face. “I … I thought I had lost you.” Her voice trembled when she spoke.

  Rylan reached out for her, cupped her cheeks in his hands, and kissed her gently on her forehead.

  “I would always find my way back to you,” he said softly and kissed her again.

  Alisa closed her eyes as his lips touched her skin. “I love you,” she sighed. “When they said the Majesty had lost contact I feared the worst.”

  “I know,” he said, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  Alisa looked up and met Rylan’s eyes. “What happened? What went wrong?”

  Rylan pulled Alisa close, making room for her next to him on the bed. Over the course of an hour he described the loss of Zeek, his imprisonment, being tortured, and, lastly, the escape.

  “But there was a moment,” Rylan said, “there at the end …” He paused, and his eyes filled with tears.

  “What, Rylan, what is it?” Alisa asked.

  “Nao had asked me one last time to admit that I was a traitor, and if I did, she would set me free.” Rylan’s lip began to tremble. “And in those last few moments I wanted to say it.”

  Alisa stared into his mournful eyes. “Not for my freedom, but because I thought I actually was.”

  Alisa stroked Rylan’s cheek. “You are no traitor,” she said as she ran her hand over his brow and into his hair. “You are a brave Keeper, a leader, and a wonderful man, and no one can take that from you, not even Nao.”

  She wiped the tears from Rylan’s face, and stared into his eyes. “And there’s something else I know that Nao doesn’t.”

  Rylan gave her a small grin and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?” he asked.

  “That you’re going to be an amazing father,” she said proudly, resting her chin on his chest.

  This made Rylan smile. “You think so?”

  Alisa sat up, took Rylan’s hand, and slowly placed it on her stomach.

  “I know so,” she whispered.

  Rylan paused, then his eyes grew wide. “Wait, what? What are you saying?”

  Alisa was beaming now. “I’m saying we are going to have a little girl!”

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who saw me through this book; to the Haven Team who provided support, read, wrote, offered comments and assisted in the editing, proofreading and design.

  I would like to thank Clare Gilbert, who is so incredibly important to the Haven Series. Her support and dedication to this project has been paramount. From day one she has pushed me to do better, to dig in and tell the story the way it should be told. For that I will be forever grateful.

  I would like to thank Krista Bohr for all her hard work on this project and for giving her time so freely. Thank you for being my personal sounding board throughout this entire process. The Haven Team would not be the same without you!

  I would like to thank Skip Morris, not only for being a lifelong friend and the big brother I never had, but for his endless enthusiasm and commitment on this project. I cannot put into words how much it means to me that he has taken this journey with me. To have good friends is truly a gift, to have had a best friend your entire life is a blessing. Thanks for the memories, Skip, it’s been a hell of ride!

  Above all I want to thank my family, who supported and encouraged me in spite of all the time it took me away from them. It was a long and difficult journey for them.

  Last and not least: To you, the Haven fan, thank you for your ongoing support and pushing the Haven Series to new heights. You humble me with your passion and encourage me to make the world of Haven the best it can be.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  D.C. Akers was born in Texas and after spending several years working in accounting, Akers began to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a writer.

  Like many who enjoy the fantasy genre, Akers started reading it as an adolescent. He was fascinated with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He currently enjoys reading works by Dean Koontz, Heather Brewer, J.K. Rowling, and Rick Riordan.

  VISIT US ON THE WEB:

  Subscribe to My Website for Book Updates

  Become an email subscriber and receive up to date news and behind the scene information on new books, concept art work for new book covers, progress updates on current books, and more.

  Subscribe at: www.dc-akers.com

  Connect with Me Online:

  Website: www.dc-akers.com

  Other Books by D.C. Akers

  Visit: www.dc-akers.com

  Click Book to Buy

  Haven: A Stranger Magic Audio book is now available at

  retailers that sell audio books! Listen to a sample today for free!