Except, all that happiness came at a cost. Her mate had lost everything, and he might still lose his life.
The engines roared louder, and the plane began to move. As they accelerated down the runway and began to lift off, Areana gripped the armrests hard, her back pressed into her seat. Through the window, she could see Safe Harbor falling away beneath them, growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely.
When she finally released the armrests, her hands were shaking.
She'd never flown before. When Navuh had brought her and the other ladies to Passion Island more than a century ago, they had traveled by ship.
When the plane leveled off and Anandur removed his seatbelt, Areana followed suit and walked to the back of the craft, to her mate and the young doctor who had been taking care of him ever since the Guardians had brought him to the submarine.
"You should get some sleep," she told Julian. "You look like you are about to collapse."
"I can't." He smiled. "That's okay. When we get to the village and I transfer Navuh's care to my mother, I will sleep for twenty-four hours straight."
"Thank you," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm forever in your debt."
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me once he's yelling at everyone and making crazy demands."
Her eyes widened. "How do you know he would do that? Has Lokan been tarnishing his father's image?"
Julian snorted. "No, but he didn't need to. Navuh's reputation precedes him."
"Have you slept?" He asked.
Areana couldn't remember. Time had become strange since the cliff—measured in heartbeats and medical updates rather than hours or minutes. "I don't need much sleep."
She was a goddess. Three to four hours a night were enough, but she hadn't slept even that much in the last forty-eight hours.
"Yes, you do," Julian said. "Anandur can help show you how to convert your seat into a bed and give you a pillow and a blanket. There really is no need for you to stay awake. I'm keeping yourmate sedated so his body can heal. He's not going to suddenly wake up and look for you."
That wasn't what Areana was afraid of.
She was afraid of waking up and discovering that Navuh had passed while she'd been asleep. She believed that as long as she watched over him, the angel of death wouldn't dare grab him. Never mind that there were no angels in the gods' faith system, and angels were a human convention.
There was more to the universe than any of them knew, and the humans might be onto something.
"You should also eat something," Julian added. "You will be no good to him if you collapse."
The logic was sound, but the thought of food made her nauseous. He was right, though. She needed to maintain her strength and not let herself get depleted.
Anandur offered her his hand. "Hold on to me. There is slight turbulence, and I don't want you to fall."
She wouldn't. She was a goddess and not a fragile human, but she was teetering on the edge of the abyss, and holding on to Anandur's strong hand was like an injection of positivity.
He guided her back to her seat and didn't let go of her hand until she was seated. She sank into it, feeling the events of the day, the week, the millennia bearing down on her.
Areana pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to hold back tears. "I know that everyone here is doing their best for someone they don't deem deserving of their efforts. For someone who would have killed any of you without hesitation if the positions were reversed."
"Probably," Anandur agreed with brutal honesty. "But that's not who we are. We don't measure our actions by what our enemies would do. We measure them by what's right. By the standards that our Clan Mother has set forth for us."
"Is keeping Navuh alive one of Annani's standards?" The question escaped before Areana could stop it.
"It is. If we capture Doomers, I mean members of the Brotherhood, we don't kill them. We put them in stasis. Your sister doesn't believe in executions except for the worst offenders."
Thankfully, he didn't elaborate on what constituted those whom Annani considered the worst. Areana could imagine.
Anandur was quiet for a long moment. "Mainly, we are doing this for you, Lady Areana. No one wants to see you suffer."
She liked that he was so honest and didn't try to sugarcoat things for her. They were saving Navuh for her because Annani commanded it.
