Oh my darling readers, I am back with another chapter! Things have been hectic this week, I just moved back into school for my senior year and let me tell you it's a weird feeling. On the bright side, I just got into my school play as one of the leads so I'm over the moon right now! Also, a special shout out to smugcaptainrogers because she's been so amazing in her support of this story and me. Please go check out her work, it's amazing! Anyway, onto Avery's grave in Scotland!
Anya's POV
Scotland was absolutely gorgeous, she could definitely see herself living here; or at least buying a cottage. The hills were tall with patches of snow still covering and the occasional group of flowers striving to grow through. The Scottish sun shed light upon the crumbling cathedral in the distance as she and the Drakes made their trek towards the untouched graveyard. So far, they'd fought their way through multiple Shoreline camps and had multiple close calls with one or two cliffs.
Well, she knew it wouldn't be easy so there was no room for complaining.
She could faintly hear the brothers bickering as they came to a stop just by the cemetery. Taking a few steps past the grave stones on either side of her, she stopped to take in the sun on the horizon.
This is what she lived for.
Being on the go so often, she barely had time to stop and take in anything around her. She was either looking into the bones of those long dead or clambering to get to her next location, always tunnel vision and unwavering. Seeing the sun gently glide in the sky as the wind ruffled pieces of hair that escaped her low pony, she could honestly say that she was content.
Of course, there was still the issue of Shoreline, Nadine, and Rafe lurking around somewhere.
With a small sigh, she turned to join the brothers and help in the hunt for Avery's grave. She couldn't help but want to take a closer look at the skeletons in the freshly dug up graves.
"Looks like Rafe's been digging around already." Nate's tone was laced with annoyance.
"Oh, great." Sam was equally annoyed.
"It's a good thing he has no idea what he's actually looking for."
"No, but he could get lucky." Sam cautioned.
"Let's hope not."
She shook her head and jumped into the open grave to further inspect the skeletons. As Nate wandered off in search of the grave, Anya removed a small pouch from her back pocket that held her tiny chisel, hammer, and brush. She lightly dusted the dirt and grime from the skulls teeth and used her chisel to pick at it's teeth.
Scurvy. How original for a pirate.
"Having fun, babygirl?" Sam's voice teased and she smiled so only her dead companion could see.
Ever since he'd called her 'babygirl' at the hotel, it kind of…stuck and she couldn't hide her giddiness at the new nickname. Turning to face him, she realized that he had jumped down to join her in the grave.
If she wasn't so impressed she might of had a heart attack at his ability to sneak.
"We're gonna have to put bells on you, Big Guy." She shook her head and continued her examination of the pirate corpse.
"Can't help if I'm light on my feet and that you're easy to spook." His laugh was small at first until he lightly poked her in the side, causing a small squeal to escape and for her chisel to go straight through the dead man's tooth.
Sam was in stitches at the look on her face. His laugh was infectious and she found herself wanting to laugh as well, but her poor new friend was now short of two more teeth. Sam finally gathered himself and stopped to lightly sling an arm around Anya's shoulder.
"You still with me, babygirl?"
"I can practically feel this guy seething from the afterlife, wasn't bad enough that he had scurvy and now I've gone and knocked his teeth out." Her tone was teasing.
"Eh, I don't think he'll mind. Didn't take very good care of himself in the first place from the looks of it." He lightly squeezed her with his arm and she looked at him. "C'mon, Nathan won't get anywhere without us." He laughed and guided her out of the grave.
Each stone they examined seemed to be right, but with small details missing every time. A small amount of frustration began to set in until Nathan called out for she and Sam.
"Guys, come here!"
The tall grave stone seemed to have every detail that was described in the paper from inside the Saint Dismas cross, except for one thing.
The skull.
"It should be facing-"
"Sideways!" The boys joined in with her before she could finish her sentence.
With a gentle push of the skull, a secret stairway opened up behind the grave into an underground chamber. She let out a bark of laughter as she looked between the brothers.
"Oh my god…" She was in absolute disbelief.
"You ready for this?" Nate asked Sam while also directing his gaze at her.
"Oh, I've been ready for a long time." Sam replied with absolute conviction.
Sam's POV
They made their way through and out of the underground cavern and he had never felt so excited in his life. They were one step closer to finding Avery's treasure! They were actually going somewhere with all of this!
He couldn't even find it in him to be frustrated when they came upon another puzzle that had them going back towards the cathedral. No amount of slippery cliffs and pirate puzzles could dampen his spirits now.
After completing another puzzle that almost cost Nathan his arm, the three of them squished through a small passage way with himself in the front, Anya in the middle, and Nathan bringing up the rear.
"Damn, this place is dusty. I can hardly see anything." He complained.
"I don't know, I have a pretty great view over here." Anya teased and he felt a grin form on his face knowing she was talking about his ass.
"Is that right? Maybe you should go first next time so I can see what you're seeing, babygirl." He heard her chortle behind him as Nathan gagged. He chuckled again and slipped through before helping Anya and Nathan out as well.
As they made their way deeper into the cavern, Nathan motioned towards a crack in the wall and pressed his ear against it.
Those were definitely voices, familiar voices.
From what he could make out, Rafe was pissed at Nadine for her men's lack of discretion and subtlety and Nadine was done doing things Rafe's way. When Rafe was finally left alone, he made his way to continue moving until a voice stopped him.
"Rafe?" He didn't recognize that voice.
He heard Anya audibly gasp from beside him, it seemed she knew exactly who the voice belonged to..
Rafe's POV
He turned his head quickly and allowed his fists to un-clench slightly at the familiar face. It was just Aurora, thank God.
"You really don't look good, Rafe. I'm worried about you." Her tone was caring as she came to lean on the table beside him. Her hand came out to rest on top of his hand, squeezing lightly. How long had she been such a constant in his life? Everything was loud and chaotic when she wasn't there, everything was a cluster fuck and a half when she wasn't there to calm him down.
"I need to find it, Aurora. I'm this fucking close and I can't afford anyone to screw this up for me." His eyes took on tunnel vision again as he stared at the scattered papers in front of him.
"Rafe…"
Her voice was soft and calm, like the river that used to run in the back yard of her house; the one she'd hide with him at when his father got…physical. He felt her hand lightly direct his face to look at her.
"I know what this means to you, I do. I've been your best friend for fifteen years, you forget I know you. But Rafe, if you keep this up and let this obsession control you, you're going to find more than just a dead man's treasure." She'd always been the one to try and calm the situation, always had been able to bring him down from his anger. This though…this was different.
"Rora, I appreciate what you're trying to do. Really, I do. But I can't give up on this, I won't give up on this. If Nadine refuses to follow my lead then I'll have to take matters into my own hands." He lightly squeezed her hand with a small smile and began to gather the papers he'd scattered earlier.
"I don't want to lose you." She hadn't ever sounded so small to him.
He turned to look at her and noticed the slight wetness in her eyes. "Lose me? Rora, what are you talking about? You're not losing me to anything." He lightly chuckled with a small smirk before stopping himself when she began to bite her lip.
That was the tell tale sign of tears to come, of the tears she was attempting to swallow down.
"I can't lose you." She repeated with a hitch to her breath. No, that wouldn't do.
"Hey, easy now." He lowered his voice to soothe as much as he could before enveloping her in his arms. He wasn't much for physical affection, not even with any of his ex's or occasional flings from the past. But, as Anastasia Ruminovas once quoted so elegantly, 'he had always been a sucker for her.' He ran a calming hand down her back as the other held the back of her head.
"Listen to me and listen closely because I will not repeat myself. You are never going to lose me, you know it's not easy for me to be as much of a bleeding as you are, but i can promise you that I will never willingly leave you." He backed up slightly to cup her face in his hands and look into her eyes. "Understand? Never." She looked into his eyes and slightly nodded her head.
She still wasn't smiling.
"Hey, chin up. When this is all over I'll take you for that beer tower I owe you." She laughed a watery laugh and lightly poked his stomach in retaliation.
There she was.
"You know i wasn't serious about that, Rafe." She laughed.
"I know nothing of the sort. A bet is a bet, and I never leave any unfinished debts." He led her out of the room feeling slightly lighter than when he'd entered, for once.
Anya's POV
She sighed as the conversation ended and nudged Nate to keep moving, her eyes sad. She didn't like Rafael Adler, she really didn't think she ever would. He'd known Aurora for fifteen years and never once had he bothered to look and see the feelings she had for him.
Oh yes.
Aurora had gradually fallen in love with Rafe in their teens and it slowly became obvious that she wanted to be with him as they approached their early twenties. Of course, Rafe being his glittering self spent his life moving from girl to girl, never once bothering to look Aurora's way.
It wasn't that he didn't care about Aurora, quite the opposite. Not that she was defending the little bottle of monotone hair gel, but she knew that Rafe had a special place in his heart for Aurora, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.
Through her reverie, she could feel Sam's concerned eyes on her as she thought deeper on her friend. By the time she dragged herself out of her own brain, the group had approached a giant room with a stone table in the center and a scale resting on top of it.
"Right, this is another test; greed."
"Or lack there of."
She examined the scale closely as the boys conversed, eyeing the cross and the coins.
"Guys, it's gotta be the coins." Her tone was sure as Nate looked at her in agreement. Sam was still a bit wary in his body language.
"You're sure about this?" He questioned.
"Pretty sure." She replied as the stone above them echoed in what sounded like an explosion.
Shoreline. They needed to act fast.
"Pretty sure will have to do." Sam went to take a coin before Nate's voice stopped him.
"Just-just one."
"Yeah. I got it." Sam replied dryly.
She watched as Sam eyes the scale again before looking back up at her. She nodded surely in his direction and gave a small yet reassuring smile. He sighed and reached forward while closing his eyes.
"Please don't be a trap." He whispered anxiously.
As his fingers snatched a coin, she finally released the breath she was holding as multiple torches lit to reveal what seemed to be a map projected from the ceiling.
Specifically a map of Madagascar.
"He was recruiting…" Nate broke through her musings.
"Who was recruiting?" Sam questioned.
"Avery…" She replied trailing off.
"Recruiting for what?" Sam sounded irritated at this point.
His question was never answered as an explosion blew the stone near them to bits. Sam grabbed her as they fell back from the force, holding her head to his chest to shield her from the rocks and ash. By the time the dust had cleared, she lifted her head from Sam's chest to see Nadine and her soldiers plowing through.
Oh how she wished she could roll her eyes without the threat of being shot.
As Nadine notified Rafe of their whereabouts, she came up with an idea. Oh it was a brilliant, but dangerous idea. Well, c'est la vie.
"You'll need the cross." She said in Nadine's direction. The woman's head turned towards her in confusion. Nate seemed to silently catch onto what she was doing.
"You'll need it to find your destination in Kings Bay. But there's only three people who can show you how to use it." He chimed in. Nadine smirked, still oblivious to what they were doing.
"Let me guess, you three?" She questioned.
"Well, if you leave it to Rafe you'll be waiting a long time." Nate replied.
"Sorry Drake, I'm not here to negotiate. Bring me the crucifix." She motioned at her men to bring the object to her.
"It's not a crucifix…" Nate uttered.
"What?" Nadine was definitely annoyed at this point.
"Well technically a crucifix refers to a cross that…you know what? Never mind."
Nadine seemed to grow confused for a second before realization dawned on her face.
"Don't touch it!" But it was too late.
Shit, they had to RUN.
Sam's POV
Oh he was beyond done at this point, beyond done. After they'd successfully escaped the crumbling cathedral, they had to once again fight their way through Nadine's goons. A whole shit ton of them if he was being exact.
Just as Victor's plane came into view, he heard her.
"Shit!" Anya's curse had him turning around just in time to see her go down.
He felt his heart drop into his ass in that second.
"Anya!" He ran to her swiftly and lifted her into his arms as more Shoreline guns advanced on them. "C'mon babygirl, we're getting outta here!" He hadn't been able to see where she'd been shot, but her face was scrunched in pain and that was enough for him to book it.
"Hang on tight!" He yelled to her as he jumped into the water after Nathan in order to get to Victor's plane. As he swam closer he could feel her grip on his neck loosen slightly and his one arm tightened around her even more. "Stay with me Anya, stay with me babygirl!" His tone was urgent as his legs kicked faster.
Finally getting into the plane, he threw off his coat to cushion her head on as he screamed for Nathan. She'd been shot in her calf and shoulder, a double whammy as Victor would say.
"Why do…I feel so…dizzy…?" Anya's words were slurred and he could feel himself panic before Nathan grasped his shoulder.
"Sam, breathe. The bullets went straight through so we don't need to do any digging. We just need to stem the blood flow until we can stitch her up." Nathan's calm aura helped slightly, but not too much. "Just stay with her and keep her awake while I talk to Sully." He walked off to the front of the plane.
Feeling a light tap on his hand, he looked down to see Anya's hand lightly tapping his. Pulling himself together, he pulled her gently into his arms and cradled her head to the space between his neck and shoulder.
"I know it's gonna be hard, but I need you to stay awake for me babygirl." He begged her gently.
"I can…try…Big Guy…" Her words continued to slur, only serving to increase his worry. He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and prayed silently.
Please, please keep her safe, please…
He didn't know how long he sat in the plane trying to keep her awake until Nathan came over to signal that they'd finally landed. He hadn't even noticed and he really didn't care at this point. With gentle ease, he stood up and took her to the little hotel Victor had taken them to.
"Bring her inside, Senghor and i can stitch her up on the bed." Victor's voice cut through his haze as he walked swiftly into the room. Senghor immediately stood from his desk he'd been researching at and followed with thundering footsteps. Entering the shabby bedroom, he laid her down only to see her eyes closed.
"Anya, open your eyes. C'mon, babygirl open your eyes!" Sam panicked as his hand came up to wipe the sweat off her brow and smooth her hair away from her forehead.
"What happened?! Samuel, answer me!" Senghor's voice sliced into him.
"She was shot, Shoreline came after us and they managed to land a few shots…I wasn't quick enough…" He went to continue, but Senghor silenced him.
"Enough, I need to work quickly." Senghor was curt and cold as Nathan grabbed his shoulder to escort him out of the bedroom. He sank into the ratty couch and put his head in his hands.
"Sam, she'll be fine. Sully and Senghor know what they're doing." He kept his head in his hands until Nathan sat beside him. "It's not our fault and you know for damn sure she's gonna assure you of the same thing." Nathan pushed again.
He knew his brother was right, he really did. It was just difficult to know he couldn't do anything to help her. Ever since the night on the balcony, he began to see her in another light. She wasn't just something pretty to look at anymore, she was worming her way into his heart and that was dangerous. She was eighteen years his junior and way too good for him if he was being honest.
He understood that they'd just met, but he also knew that she loved mermaids and liked to wear her hair down in wild waves. That she found mummies more fascinating than people and her eternal love for spicy food. And above all…
He knew he was starting to feel something very foreign for her.
