Sia saw the worry in her friends’ faces and knew her own must look equally stark. “Where’s Trygg?”
Melena gave her a sober look. “Lazaro lost contact with him a couple of minutes ago. He’s been trying to warn him, but something is hampering their comm devices. Lazaro thinks it’s some kind of a signal block.”
Sia’s heart sank with dread as each second ticked past. “Where is Trygg, Melena?”
“He’s on the ship. He jumped on board by himself as it was leaving port.” She shook her head in sober apology. “Lazaro doesn’t know if any of his attempts to reach Trygg have gone through or not.”
“Someone has to warn him.” Panic flooded her, along with a crippling sense of grief.
No. Whatever this trap of Santino’s might be, it would not claim Trygg. He was too strong for that. Too smart.
But that didn’t keep the fear from taking hold of her.
The man she loved was in danger, cut off from communication and possibly totally unaware that he and his comrades had just played right into Santino’s hands.
“Someone needs to find Trygg before it’s too late.”
Melena nodded. “Lazaro and Savage are working on that. They’ll get him, Sia.”
“What if they don’t?” Her voice rose along with her alarm. “What if they’re too late?”
Anxiously, she paced over to the large illuminated map on the war room wall. Two red dots glowed in the area of Naples. The third was missing. Trygg’s signal, cut off by the same block preventing his teammates from reaching him.
“Where is the cargo ship located?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Melena said. “Lazaro didn’t say.”
“Find out, Melena. Do it quickly. Please.”
“All right.” She called her mate and asked him for the information. When it seemed to take more than a few seconds for the reply, Sia marched over and took the phone out of her friend’s hand.
“I need the exact coordinates, Lazaro. As close as you can pinpoint.”
She stood in front of the map as he rattled off an approximate location several miles out to sea. Sia concentrated on that spot on the map. It wasn’t exact, but it would have to do.
It might be the only hope she had.
Sia tossed the phone back to Melena, then turned all of her focus onto the bracelet on her wrist. The tiny orb of Atlantean crystal began to glow. It kept burning brighter, until it finally lit up like a supernova.
And then she was gone.
Chapter 14
Sia splashed down into cold, dark water.
Her body plunged below the surface, down and down and down, as giant waves rolled above her. A sudden, bright orange light erupted as she struggled to climb back up. The percussion shook the sea all around her, her head throbbing with the sudden boom of a massive explosion.
No!
She fought her way to the surface, gulping in mouthfuls of salt water with each panicked cry.
No. She couldn’t be too late.
“Trygg!” She started screaming his name the instant her head emerged from the waves.
The sea lapped at her face, briny and cold. Filling her lungs, soaking her clothes, the waves threatened to drag her under. She swam toward the fireball that bobbed several hundred yards away, her heart breaking as she stared at the total obliteration of what had been the cargo ship Lazaro had directed her to.
“Trygg!”
