"Don't worry. I haven't gone soft. I'm just saving my energy for the battles that matter."
18
AREANA
Areana sat in the back of the SUV with Annani and Kian, trying to calm her anxiety.
Kian had returned from his visit to Navuh looking angry—his jaw tight and his eyes hard. When Annani asked how it went, he'd given a clipped summary that had done nothing to ease Areana's worry.
"He blames you for the demise of the gods," Kian had told his mother, his voice flat. "And he wouldn't tell me what he wants to offer you. He'll only speak to you directly."
Annani had received the news with remarkable equanimity. "Then I will speak with him. But I will let him wait a little longer. I don't want him to think I'm eager."
That had been hours ago, and Areana still didn't know what had passed between her mate and her nephew. Kian wasn't the type to share details unprompted, and she hadn't wanted to press him and antagonize him further. Whatever Navuh had said, it had gotten under Kian's skin.
She shouldn't be surprised.
Navuh had a talent for finding people's vulnerabilities and exploiting them. It was one of the things that had made him such an effective leader.
With an inward sigh, Areana turned to look out the tinted window, observing with a mixture of wonder and melancholy the sprawling metropolis they were passing by.
She'd been isolated for so long that the sight of ordinary life felt extraordinary.
All these humans just living their lives completely unaware of the immortals who walked among them. Oblivious to the power struggles that played out in the shadows of their world, but they affected everything involved in it.
"What troubles you?" Annani asked.
"Nothing troubles me." The lie came automatically, a reflex born of five thousand years of concealing her true thoughts. "It's just a lot to take in."
Annani found her hand and squeezed it gently. "It takes some getting used to, but the good news is that it is easy to acclimate to positive changes."
Areana turned to meet her sister's gaze. Even after all this time, it still startled her how much Annani had changed and how much she'd stayed the same. The mischievous girl who'd defied their father and upended the entire world had become a queen, regal and composed, radiating an authority that came as naturally as breathing, but she hadn't lost the sparkle in her eyes despite all she'd been through.
Her courage was astounding. How had she continued after losing her truelove mate? After losing a son? How could she have remained positive and energetic after such catastrophic losses?
"I'm worried about Navuh," Areana admitted quietly. "I don't know what he said to Kian, but whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant."
Kian stirred on her other side. "He said a lot of things. Most of them were designed to provoke a reaction."
"He seems to have succeeded."
A muscle ticked in Kian's jaw. "He's not what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know." Kian stared out the window. "A monster, I suppose, but he's more complicated than that."
"He is," Areana agreed. "Navuh has done terrible things. Things I can't defend or excuse. But he's also the man who has loved me faithfully for five thousand years. Who jumped off a cliff to save me without a moment's hesitation." She looked down at her hands. "People aren't simple. Not even the worst of us."
"Or the best," Annani added.
Kian didn't respond, but Areana sensed something shift in him, a crack in the armor of certainty he'd carried into that clinic room. Whatever he'd seen in Navuh, it had shaken something loose.
Good. Certainty was a luxury that rarely survived contact with reality.
They drove in silence for a while longer, and then, without warning, the windows of the SUV turned opaque.
This startled Areana and her hand flew to Annani's arm. "What's happening?"
