Losham could not hold the fort against his brothers for long, and Navuh would know that Losham preferred having him as the leader of the Brotherhood rather than one of his brothers. Chances were that whoever won the game of thrones wouldeliminate the others, so Losham would be extremely motivated to save Navuh.
Then again, it could all be speculation, and they were giving Navuh too much credit.
Perhaps he was not that smart.
"There's been another development," Kian said. "One that might work in our favor, regardless of the game Navuh is playing. We've identified Losham's mother."
A ripple of surprise went around the table.
"How?" Andrew asked. "I thought Navuh kept that information secret from everyone."
"Lokan and Carol made it happen." Kian nodded toward them. "They arranged for the former harem ladies to view the portraits of Navuh's sons. The portraits that Dalhu drew."
All eyes turned to Dalhu, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It was a long time ago, and they aren't that good. I didn't know what I was doing back then."
"They served their purpose well," Kian said. "Rolenna noted the resemblance to Losham, but more to the point, she was the first to give Navuh a son, over two thousand years ago, which matches Losham's age."
"Did you tell Losham?" Mia asked.
"Of course," Lokan said. "I even sent him her picture."
"Did he believe that she was his mother?" Orion asked. "You could have found an immortal female who bore some resemblance to him and sent him her picture. If it were me, Iwouldn't have taken your word for it." He turned to Toven. "Did you compel him to believe it?"
Toven shook his head. "I didn't. Compelling is not like thralling. I can compel him to claim her as his mother, but not to actually believe that she is, which is a shame. Having his mother is leverage that we might need to use against him."
"We can still convince him of that. Letting her talk to him might do it," Kian said. "If Losham decides to play games with the chests after they're found, it would be good to have something he wants."
Andrew crossed his arms over his chest. "What happens if he decides to rescue Navuh?"
"He can't," Kian said. "Losham might know that our base is in Los Angeles, but not much more than that. He can't find his father, let alone rescue him."
Annani sighed. "Unless he and Navuh know something we do not. We might be missing a piece of the puzzle."
The conversation paused for a few moments while Okidu served coffee, tea, and dessert, and Annani utilized the time to think of what Navuh could come up with to point Losham in his direction. He did not have an implant, and the ladies had all been checked and did not have any either.
"Has Areana been checked for trackers?" she asked. "I know that everyone else was checked, but Areana was rushed through with Navuh."
"They were both checked," Kian said. "Neither of them carried trackers."
Letting out a breath, Annani leaned back in her chair. "Good. I would have hated putting Areana through a scanner at this stage of the game."
"Has Losham asked to speak with his mother?" Alena asked.
"He has." Lokan lifted his coffee cup. "I told him it wasn't possible yet."
"You dangled her in front of him and then pulled her away." Alena's voice was soft. "That's cruel, but necessary."
"Losham does not deserve your pity," Carol said. "He raised a monster, which makes him a monster as well. Sharim was adopted, but his mother was Losham's sister, so they shared genetics."
Annani could not even imagine what Carol had gone through at the sadistic hands of Losham's adopted son. He had kidnapped her and tortured her for weeks, enjoying the fact that she was an indestructible toy and whatever he had done to her healed by morning. Her body might not show the damage, but the emotional scars of that experience would never heal.
Sharim's second-in-command had helped Carol escape because he could not watch her suffer anymore. Robert had sacrificed his life in the Brotherhood to rescue a female he did not know, and by doing so had proven that some members of the Brotherhood were capable of redemption.
Annani had always believed that, which was why she had been against executing captured Doomers. Robert, Dalhu, Lokan, Kalugal, and all the males who had escaped with him had proven her right.
That, however, did not mean that Losham was redeemable.
After Carol and Robert had escaped, they had pointed the way to where the other kidnapped women had been held. The clan had attacked, Dalhu had killed Sharim in an epic sword fight, severing his head from his body, and the other Doomers had been killed or captured and put into stasis. The compound had been burned to the ground but later rebuilt as a sanctuary for rescued victims of trafficking.
