The silence that followed was suffocating.
"Well." Drova's voice cut through the tension with a pretense of cheerful obliviousness. "Who wants to see where the laundry facilities are? I'm guessing you all want to wash those smelly clothes you are carrying in those plastic bags."
The ladies seized on the distraction with obvious relief and hurried toward Drova, chattering about clean clothes, plentiful hot water, and decent-smelling shampoo.
Tula hesitated, clearly torn between maintaining her anger and the practicality of clean clothing. Finally, with a sound of frustration, she followed the group toward the door.
She paused beside Esag. "We need to talk about the dreams. But not today. I don't have the patience for that."
Then she was gone, leaving Esag and Tony alone in the barracks.
Tony sank onto the nearest bed, his head in his hands.
Esag considered leaving.
The human clearly needed privacy, but something was preventing him from walking away. Maybe it was guilt, although he didn't know for what. He hadn't done anything to Tony. Tula wasn't being nasty to the guy because she fancied Esag. He wished that was the reason, but he had a feeling that the problems between Tony and Tula had started a long time ago. Tony, it seemed, hadn't been paying attention and thought that all was well in their relationship.
"Do you want me to take your things to the laundry?" he offered because there was nothing else he could do for the guy.
"I loved Kaia," Tony said, his voice distant. "But she was never interested in me. She was just a kid, a prodigy. She was brilliant, beautiful, and much too young for me to even show interest in her, so I just pretended to be her friend. I was fine with waiting for her to turn eighteen before making my move, but that was just delusional thinking. I had no idea she'd searched for me after I was lured to the damn island. I'm actually touched because she never thought of me as anything more than a friend." Tony finally looked up, his eyes full of sadness. "But I love Tula now. She's carrying my baby. I don't know what's happening to her. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones?"
The rawness in Tony's voice made Esag uncomfortable. He wasn't equipped for this kind of emotional vulnerability, didn't know how to respond.
"I wouldn't know. I've never been pregnant."
Tony laughed. "Me neither and thank God for that. It's good to be a man." He stood and walked toward the door. "I need to get some air."
Then he was gone as well, leaving Esag in the empty barracks. Alone with his thoughts.
The absurdity of his attraction to Tula hit him again. What exactly did he think was going to happen? That she'd overlook his history with Wonder, overlook the fact that she was carrying Tony's baby?
She might be mad at the guy for whatever he had done or said, but he was the father of her child. She would want him around to help her raise it.
"You're an idiot," he told his reflection in the window.
"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."
Esag turned to find Drova leaning against the doorframe, that ever-present smirk on her pretty face. Evidently, he was getting used to her alien looks if he was starting to think of her as pretty.
"I thought you were showing the ladies the laundry facilities."
"I did. Now they're washing clothes and having a very animated discussion about men being obtuse." She pushed off the doorframe and walked into the room with that teenage swagger that he found amusing. "Should I wash Tony's things for him?"
"If you want." He smiled at her. "You don't seem like the type who would wash someone else's things."
She shrugged. "I'm not, but there is not much to do here. I'm so bored that even laundry is entertaining."
"You can always return to the village. I'm sure your mother and Phinas can handle thralling the humans."
Drova shook her head. "Thralling won't do. They need to be compelled to keep the operations on this island a secret. Besides, I have plans for this place."
"Oh, yeah? What plans?"
"My people could thrive here. I want to convince Jade that she should bring them all to Safe Harbor. This could be our place."
He frowned. "Don't you like living with the clan?"
"I do and I don't. My best friend is Arezoo, and she's not even immortal yet. But my people are subdued in the village. It's not because the clan oppresses them or anything. It's just that they are trying to assimilate, and it's sucking the life out of them. We are not built for the quiet life you immortals prefer. We are wild people."
