"You know that is not an option," Annani said. "This is just the nature of negotiations. The opening moves are always exaggerated, each side issuing demands that neither party expects to be fulfilled. It is a game that you should be well familiar with, and the fact that you let Navuh get under your skin means that you have allowed emotions to cloud your judgment."
"My judgment is perfectly sound, and I've negotiated with enough executives to know when they are laying down a hard line. Navuh is not going to negotiate for anything less than his freedom, and I can't allow him to be free."
She smiled, and he braced for her retort, but the elevator stopped at the penthouse level, and Annani stepped out. She waited for him by Areana's door. "You have entered negotiations with a master strategist, my son. None of the CEOs you have negotiated with in the past is comparable to Navuh. He has had five thousand years to perfect his art. You will not outmaneuver him in a single conversation. Be patient."
"Patience is a luxury we may not have." Kian lowered his voice. "Bridget says he's healing fast, and as he gets stronger, his position will only get more rigid."
"Trust me, my son. I have dealt with his father and with mine, and I outmaneuvered them both when I was just seventeen. I, too, have had five millennia to learn my craft, and I know how to handle him."
Kian wasn't sure she was right. In fact, he knew that she was wrong.
Navuh wasn't going to budge because he knew he was protected by Areana's love, and he wouldn't believe any attempt to convince him that Areana had no power over her sister.
He was too smart for that.
As Annani rang the bell, the penthouse door opened, and Areana appeared in the doorway. She looked pale, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, and her hands twisted together in that nervous gesture Kian had come to recognize as her default state.
Was it all an act designed to wring as much pity from her sister as possible? Or was she really that distraught?
Areana had had as much time as Navuh to perfect her own art, and her performance was masterful.
Annani swept forward, concern replacing the resolute confidence of just a moment ago. "What is the matter? Why are you crying?"
Shaking her head, Areana stepped aside to let them enter and closed the door behind them. "It's nothing. I'm being emotional."
"You are entitled to be." Annani guided her toward the seating area, settling her onto one of the plush sofas before taking a seat beside her. "Tell me what troubles you."
Kian remained standing, too agitated to sit, and picking up his cue, Anandur and Brundar remained standing as well, positioning themselves near the door.
"I don't see a solution for this," Areana said. "Navuh is who he is, and he's not going to change. He's not going to suddenly become someone different just because he's been captured. So where does that leave us?"
"It leaves us exactly where we've always been," Kian said, his voice sharper than he intended. "At odds with each other. The only difference is now he's our prisoner instead of our enemy at large."
Areana flinched at his tone, and Kian felt a twinge of guilt that he quickly suppressed. He didn't have the patience to coddle her. Not when his mind was still churning with frustration over the utterly unproductive conversation they'd just had with her mate.
"Kian," Annani's voice carried a warning.
He ignored it. "What exactly did you expect, Areana? That we'd all sit down together and work out our differences over tea? Navuh has spent five millennia trying to destroy us. He'sresponsible for the deaths of countless innocents—humans and immortals alike. You can't just wish that away."
"I know what he's done." Areana's voice was small but steady. "But he's my mate. I can't just stop loving him."
"No one's asking you to stop loving him. We're asking you to accept reality. He's not getting out. He's not going to be free to go back to the Brotherhood or start over somewhere else. The best he can hope for is to live in comfort with you by his side and to see his sons occasionally—assuming that they will ever want to see him, which I doubt."
"Kian." Annani's tone was sharper now, an unmistakable command. "That is enough."
He met his mother's eyes and saw the steel beneath her composed exterior. She was right. He shouldn't be taking out his frustration on Areana. It accomplished nothing except making him feel like a bully. But the anger needed somewhere to go, and it was either this or putting his fist through a wall.
"I'm sorry," he said stiffly, the words tasting like dirt in his mouth. "I'm just frustrated because the conversation with Navuh did not go well."
"I gathered as much." Areana smiled sadly. "He's not an easy male to deal with."
Annani patted her sister's hand. "We will find a solution. Negotiations take time."
Areana let out a breath. "I can't keep lying to him, Annani. I've been lying and keeping secrets for so long, and I don't want to keep doing that. We are fated mates, and there should be no secrets or lies between us."
Kian's attention sharpened. "What were you lying to him about?"
"Everything." Areana's hands were twisting again, her agitation visible in every line of her body. "Yesterday, I didn't tell him that I was going to a welcome party in the village. I told him that I was spending time with Kalugal and Lokan here at the keep, and then when he asked me about the visit, I had to keep on lying instead of telling him how much I enjoyed the celebration and how happy I was to see the ladies enjoying their freedom. And that I was envious of them because I wanted to live in the village and enjoy the same liberties."
