"He is," Jacki agreed. "Though I might be biased."
Carol stepped forward, looking very different from the way she had when she'd infiltrated the harem. She radiated confidence.
"It's so good to see you again, Areana, and under better circumstances."
"Carol." Areana shifted Darius to one arm so she could embrace Lokan's mate. "You look like life has been good to you. That means that my son is taking good care of you."
"He spoils me." Carol patted Lokan's cheek. "But that's okay. I spoil him right back. We have fun together."
Lokan snorted. "If you can call trekking through Mongolia in a smelly van and running away from enhanced soldiers fun, then yes, we have had lots of fun together."
Areana swallowed hard. "I tried to talk your father out of it, but he wouldn't listen."
Lokan frowned. "What did you try to talk him out of? Sending enhanced soldiers after Carol and me?"
Her throat constricted. "I didn't know he did that. He never told me. I learned about it from Annani. What I tried to talk him out of was the whole insane program. He refused to terminate iteven after the rebellion that destroyed half the island and nearly cost us our lives."
"You did what you could." Carol put her hand on Areana's arm. "It's over now. Take a deep breath and repeat in your mind. It's over."
Areana shook her head. "I don't know if it is. I don't know who's taken over the island and whether the program is continuing."
Carol regarded her with so much compassion in her eyes that it nearly made Areana cry again. "It's no longer your concern. Let Kian, Turner and Onegus figure it out."
Areana nodded, just to end this line of conversation, but she was never going to stop caring about the people of the island. The harem was full of good people who had been taken from their homes either by force or by promises of good pay and were trapped in there forever. She'd made their lives as tolerable as possible, but now that she wasn't there, who was going to take care of them?
"Here he is," Kalugal said in a voice that could freeze water.
Areana followed his gaze to where Guardians were loading Navuh's gurney onto an ambulance, with Julian and a woman who seemed to be a nurse giving instructions.
Her mate. The father of her sons. The love of her life and the source of so much complicated pain, who had always been larger than life, looked so insubstantial under the thin sheet on the gurney.
Julian walked over, looking beyond exhausted. "We're ready to transport Navuh to the keep. Do you want to ride in theambulance with us, or do you want to go with your sons in their car?"
Areana looked at Kalugal, trying to read his expression. Would he judge her if she chose Navuh? Would Navuh understand if she chose Kalugal and Lokan?
"We have an SUV," Kalugal said. "It seats seven. We will all be comfortable."
He'd misunderstood her look. She wasn't worried about the seating arrangement. She was worried about what he thought of her, what they both thought of her, and her choices.
"Navuh is sedated and stable," Julian said. "He won't know if you're there or not during the transport. Hildegard and I will take excellent care of him. You should go with your sons. I'm sure they want you to go with them."
The decision shouldn't have been difficult. Her sons were here, wanting her company. Navuh was unconscious, unaware.
But guilt still twisted in her chest as she nodded. "I'll go with my sons."
"Good." Julian nodded. "We'll see you at the keep."
As they walked over to the SUV, Kalugal opened the passenger door, gesturing for her to take the front seat.
Jacki was securing Darius in his car seat in the middle row, and Areana decided that she wanted to spend the ride sitting next to her grandson.
"Could I sit in the back?" she asked. "Next to Darius?"
"Of course, Mother," Kalugal said. "Of course you can."
The seating arrangements sorted themselves out quickly. Kalugal took the driver's seat with Lokan beside him in the front. Carol settled in the third row, and Areana sat on one side of her grandson's car seat while Jacki sat on the other.
Hesitantly, she reached for Darius's small hand, and he let her take it, his solemn eyes studying her face with that same serious curiosity.
