Page 19 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

Kian chuckled. "Just one wolf. Her despicable mate."

That vile male had held Khiann for five thousand years, making her suffer needlessly. Perhaps he had learned something after all. Perhaps he had been curious and had peeked inside those chests, and the fact that he had not bothered to look again meant that they had perished?

It would be so like Navuh to keep corpses as bargaining chips. He did not need Khiann to be alive in stasis. He only needed her to believe he was, and she did.

"Mother." Kian placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do not let him get to you."

"I am trying."

The elevator reached the penthouse level, and as they filed out, Kian stopped and turned to her. "What's going on in your head?"

Annani remained quiet for a moment, and then she decided that she could not keep it bottled up inside her or she would explode.

"If you were in Navuh's shoes, you would have checked the contents of the chests. I know I would have, even if I did not care about those inside. Curiosity alone would have made me look, and if I considered them an asset, I would have wanted to verify that the asset remained in good condition. Navuh must havechecked the chests from time to time, and if he did not, it means that there was no reason for him to do so because he knew they were dead."

"You shouldn't take anything he said to heart because all he wanted to do was hurt you."

"I know." She let out a breath. "Do you think he looked inside the chests to check that they were still alive?"

"I'm pretty sure he would have done that after pulling them out of the flooded harem. He would have been worried about the water getting in and activating the resurrection process. He would have checked, verified that they were still alive, and then buried them again. Think about it. He buried them in an enclosure that had climate controls perfectly calibrated to preserve bodies in stasis and sand to prevent moisture from getting inside the chests. Do you think he would have gone to all that trouble if he thought he was storing dead skeletons?"

Kian's argument held merit, and it eased her mind somewhat, but not completely. The seed of doubt Navuh had planted was still there. Nothing could remove it until she had confirmation from Bridget that all five males were still alive.

"I know you are right," she said. "I believe you are right."

"But?"

"But he held Khiann for five thousand years, and I cannot be certain of what he knew or what he did. That was his objective. To plant a seed of doubt and have it take root. I do not think I can get rid of it until Khiann opens his eyes."

Kian reached out and took her hand. "Whatever Navuh knew or did not know, he's going to pay for toying with your emotions.I thought of the dungeon apartment as a temporary solution, but now I'm not in a rush to find him and Areana better accommodations, especially since you want to leave her the use of the penthouse. He can rot in that dungeon till the end of time as far as I'm concerned."

10

LOSHAM

Losham leaned back in his executive chair and gazed at the harbor through the glass of the French doors that opened to a balcony that wrapped around the top floor of the hotel.

The suite had the best views on the island, even better than the ones from Navuh's former office in the mansion. It had been designed for kings, or near enough. Princes traveled here under assumed identities to spend a week indulging appetites they couldn't indulge at home, and prime ministers found reasons to schedule diplomatic layovers that happened to coincide with a few private nights at the resort. Located on the top floor of the hotel, the suite had high ceilings and marble floors, and it was furnished to please the most discriminating of guests.

Perhaps it was time to order a proper desk instead of the dining room table he'd been using since the mansion had been declared too dangerous to inhabit. After the last explosion, it was probably beyond salvage, so the suite would have to remain his office for the foreseeable future.

As it stood now, guests would not be visiting the island anytime soon, so there was no rush. The damage from the rebellion wasmostly repaired, but now he had to deal with a whole new slew of problems.

Rami came in and set his tablet down on the one spot on the table that wasn't covered in paperwork.

"Tell me something good," Losham said.

"I can tell you something, but whether it counts as good is your call." Rami propped the tablet on its built-in stand and turned it toward Losham. "Power's back on in most of the resort and the harem. The harem couldn't be occupied at all without it because it's underground and relies on the machinery to circulate air, so those were the main priorities. The barracks are still dark, relying on the airshafts and emergency lighting. The breeders' enclosure is also dark, but that's not a priority. They can manage. The satellite uplink has not been restored yet, but it should be by tomorrow. Radar was the hardest hit, and it will take weeks to repair because we don’t have the parts. Whoever hit us didn't hit at random. They knew exactly which systems to fry."

Losham had no doubt of that. Only the clan could have had a reason to strike the island, and with such precision.

"What's the status with the mansion?"

Rami didn't need to consult his tablet to answer that question. "Part of the east face is still standing, but that's all. The basement's gone, inaccessible. It's a pile of rubble, and what stood above collapsed on top of it."

"So, it's completely gone," Losham said. "We need to demolish it and build a new one."

He liked the idea.