"Acknowledging the expectations and actually facing them is not the same thing. It was hard on me, and it was hard on the other ladies who had children. Tula watched all of us suffer immensely when our babies were taken away from us, and she watched the girls age and die as humans. She couldn't go through this and actually contemplated ending her own life."
Navuh was silent for a moment. "She came to you. And you tried to console her, but she wanted to jump off the cliff anyway, and you fell trying to save her. So far, everything makes sense. The two things that don't make sense to me are your miraculous survival and the clan's role in everything."
Areana's pulse quickened. This was where the story became dangerous.
"Before I tell you about that, I need to go a little further back." She forced herself to hold his gaze. "Weeks before Tula told me about the pregnancy, I noticed that Elias and Tamira were acting suspiciously."
"In what way?"
"Whispered conversations that stopped the moment anyone approached. Darting looks when they were checking to see that no one was watching them. They were planning something, and they were being very careful to hide it."
Navuh's jaw tightened. "The shaman. I should have known he would be trouble."
"At first, I didn't know what to think. I watched them for days, trying to figure out what they were plotting. I was afraid that they were planning to assassinate you."
Surprise flickered in his eyes. "Were they?"
She shook her head. "They were just trying to find a way to escape the island, but I didn't know that. Then I caught Tamira, Elias, Tula, and Tony in our quarters with the door to your tunnel open. I stopped them from going in, telling them that they would trigger the alarm and get caught immediately. They confessed their wish to escape using your secret submarine."
She saw the flash of anger in his eyes, which he quickly suppressed. "How did they know about the submarine?" he asked.
"Elias had seen it in one of the visions you asked him to summon."
For a long moment, Navuh said nothing. When he spoke, his voice was tight with controlled fury. "I should have known thathe could see more than what I wanted to show him. It was my mistake. What exactly did he see?"
"He saw you and me running through the tunnel to the submarine. He and Tony went to investigate when the power was out on the entire island and found it. They came back to plan the escape of all four of them. They thought they would be able to get into the craft using prints of your fingers that they collected from glasses you used, but they didn't know about the code needed to actually activate the submarine. The code you didn't write anywhere and kept memorized in your head."
A smile lifted Navuh's lips. "They were lucky you stopped them. If they had tried to turn on the engine without the code, they would have had a nasty surprise."
Areana's hand flew to her chest. "I didn't know that. What would have happened to them?"
"Better that you do not know. So, what did they do after you caught them?"
Areana's heart was pounding so hard she was certain he could hear it. This was the moment she had dreaded. The confession that could shatter everything between them.
"Tula collapsed in despair, and I couldn't bear to see her so despondent, so I told her that there was another way."
"What other way?"
"To ask my sister for help." She forced the words out before her courage could fail her.
The silence that followed was thunderous.
Navuh stared at her, and she watched understanding dawn in his eyes—understanding, and the first flickers of realization of betrayal.
"Annani?" His voice was deadly quiet. "You asked Annani to send help?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"It started over two years ago." The confession poured out of her now, a dam finally breaking. "Do you remember when Gorchenco brought his girlfriend to the island? Caroline?"
Navuh's brow furrowed. "The blonde. He staged that ridiculous fight with her so she would stay in the harem. I thought it was a foolish game, but I humored his request because he always served me well."
"It was more than a game." Areana's voice steadied as she spoke. "Caroline is an immortal from Annani's clan, and she was sent to infiltrate the harem."
The look on Navuh's face would have terrified anyone else. His eyes blazed with fury, his jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscles jumping beneath his skin.
