Kian ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
As they drove through the dark landscape sliding past the windows, Kian ran through the list of things that needed to happen before the call tomorrow morning.
He needed to find out how many of Navuh's sons were on the island, and who posed the greatest threat to Losham's position. What resources did Losham have to defend himself? Once they understood the landscape, they could determine the best way to help him.
In exchange, he would excavate the chamber and secure the chests for them. The retrieval would still have to be done the way they had planned unless Losham could load the chests on a ship and send them to whatever address they gave him.
That would make things simple for them.
Annani put her hand on Kian's knee. "Losham has centuries of experience finding loopholes in Navuh's compulsion, and we should not underestimate his ability to circumvent Toven's. When Lokan talks to him and offers him help, he needs to frame things in a way that aligns with Losham's goals, at least superficially. That way, he will be more inclined to collaborate with us instead of trying to fight Toven's compulsion. It should be something along the lines of we are helping him stay in power because it serves both our interests, and excavating the chamber can be framed as securing his father's legacy. We make him want to do what we need him to do."
"That's clever."
"I do not enjoy these games, Kian. I would much prefer a world where we could simply ask for what we need and receive it. But that is not the world we live in, and it is not the world Navuh created. To win this game, we must adopt some of his methods."
8
MATTIE
Dimitri sat at a corner table with his notebook and tablet spread out before him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scribbled calculations and made notes. The glass of whiskey Mattie had brought him two hours ago sat untouched, while the ice had long since melted and had diluted the drink.
She loved watching him like this.
There was something about a man deep in thought that did things to her. The way his pen moved across the page with hard strokes, the way his eyes narrowed when he worked out problems, the way he occasionally pushed his fingers through his hair when he hit a wall. It all made her tingle in all kinds of places and made her think of all the things she was going to do to him when they were finally alone in his room.
It was silly, really. She was surrounded by immortal warriors with supernatural strength and predatory beauty, and here she was getting weak in the knees over a scientist doing math.
Then again, Dimitri was a warrior of a different kind. He wielded a pen instead of a sword, not to write profound words but to create chemical compounds that might change the world just as effectively or even more so.
Not if they remained stuck on this island, though. Here, his discoveries belonged to Lord Navuh and his followers, and what they did with them was not good. They weren't interested in curing diseases or improving the human condition. They were using Dimitri and Petrov's work to create a more deadly version of themselves, so they could conquer and pillage with greater ease.
Not that she knew for a fact that they conquered and pillaged, but it just made sense. Why else would these immortals train nonstop?
She wished she knew the bigger picture of what this place was all about, just to satisfy her curiosity. It wasn't as if she could do anything about it, even if these immortals were pure evil. The best she could hope for was to break free.
With Dimitri and with Petrov.
The older scientist was growing on her, and she wouldn't like leaving him behind. Underneath the drunkard façade, Petrov was a good man. He had saved her from those nasty immortals by lying and putting himself in danger. If it were discovered that Lord Navuh had never given her to Petrov, he would get in trouble. They wouldn't kill him because they needed him, but they could make his life miserable.
She wiped down a section of the bar just to have something to do with her hands. The evening crowd had thinned considerably, leaving only a handful of patrons scattered among the tables.Thursdays were always slow, which was why Anil had let her come in late.
She checked the time.
It was nearly eight.
Petrov should have been here by now if Dave had shown up for his shots. The fact that he wasn't made her stomach clench with worry. What if something had happened? What if Dave were dead?
Stop it. Panicking won't help.
But the fear had always been there, hadn't it? It was her constant companion since the day she'd arrived on this island, since long before that if she was being honest. Fear had been her shadow since the fire that took her parents.
Mattie was so tired of being afraid.
Hoping for the best, she decided to tell Anil that he might be losing his barmaid.
Giving the bar top one last swipe, she straightened and turned to the barman. "I need to tell you something."
He looked up. "What is it?"
