Page 26 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"I am holding."

She let the air out of her lungs in a long, unsteady stream and drew in another, then did that again, and again, until Anandur returned with a crowbar in his hand.

He crouched beside the first chest, working the flattened end beneath the lid where the nails had been driven through. The wood groaned in protest, then gave, nails shrieking free one by one until the lid came loose enough for him to lift it away.

Inside was another chest.

This one was finer than the crude wooden crate that had housed it, ornate, plated in tarnished metal that might once have gleamed gold. Its surface was worked with patterns that Annani could not make out from where she stood, but that spoke of considerable craftsmanship.

Was this ornamentation significant?

Had someone, five thousand years ago, chosen this particular chest to carry someone particular, someone whose worth demanded finer housing than his companions received?

Then she realized how unlikely that was.

Khiann and his four guards had been placed in these ornate chests at a time when such craftsmanship had still mattered, when artisans still labored over metalwork for patrons willing to pay for beauty rather than mere function. All five chests were likely similarly elaborate.

The gold plating told her nothing about who lay within.

"The inner container is not sealed shut," Anandur said, examining it, "but the hinges are rusted through. Give me a moment."

He worked at the hinge with careful, patient pressure. The ancient metal resisted, then slowly yielded in small, grudging increments, flakes of rust falling away with each attempt until, finally, the lid shifted.

Annani could not see what lay inside from where she stood because Bridget and Julian were blocking her view.

Their examination took a long time, and she knew it was because a heart in stasis did not beat frequently, and when it did, it was very faint.

She heard the sigh first. Relief.

"He's alive," Bridget said, without turning around. "Faint. Very faint. But there's a heartbeat."

Annani's knees would have given out beneath her, but Kian steadied her with a hand on her elbow.

"Don't move him yet," Bridget said. "We'll check all five before we do anything else."

The second chest came open more easily than the first, the third faster still, the Guardians and the small medical team finding their rhythm.

"Two," Bridget said after examining the second body in stasis.

"Three."

"Four."

By the fifth chest, Annani felt so faint that she needed to lean on Kian for support.

Bridget straightened and looked at the row of chests. "All five are alive."

The room did not erupt into celebration. There was no whiskey here, no toast, and even though it was incredible that they were all alive, it was too soon to celebrate. The hardest part had not yet begun.

"We need to move them to the beds." Bridget turned to Annani and Kian. "You'll have to excuse us. All nonessential personnel need to clear the room for this part."

"Do I need to leave?" Annani asked, hoping for a different answer than the one she was about to get.

"Yes, Clan Mother." Bridget's voice was gentle but without room for negotiation. "They're in a very fragile state and moving them from the chests to the beds is delicate work. We need our full concentration on them, not on managing an audience, however dear that audience is to us, and however important these males are to you."

Annani wanted to argue. She wanted to plant her feet on the floor and refuse to move until she had seen with her own eyes what remained of the five males in those chests, but she needed to step back and allow the professionals to do their work.

"Of course," she said. "We will wait upstairs. Please let us know when they are all stabilized."