Page 37 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"Thank you," she said. "There is still so much I don't know. And Yaaf. I don't know how to reach him, or who to ask about visiting him. The others will want to visit their sons."

"Don't worry," he said. "Everything will be explained in time. You just need to be a little patient."

She smiled tightly. "I'm not good with patience. Especially when I'm scared."

"That's understandable." He patted her shoulder. "You'll be fine."

He adjusted the strap of his pack and followed his friends who were already disappearing from sight.

They were all anxious to get home, and she couldn't blame them. They were all still dirty and in dire need of a shower, just like she and her friends were.

Kian and Syssi led them to the café, where several tables had been pushed together and laid with platters and pitchers. As their group approached, the women already seated at the festive table rose to their feet.

They looked like goddesses, so beautiful they didn't seem real, and they wore dresses that made Sullha acutely aware of how she looked in her borrowed fatigues and ill-fitting flip-flops.

Who were they?

"Welcome to freedom," said the one with the rounded pregnant belly in the island tongue. "We've never met, but just like you, my friends and I were kept prisoners on the island until the clan liberated us. I'm Tula, and my sisters and I were kept in Navuh's harem."

Sullha's throat suddenly felt tight.

Yaaf had told her about Navuh's ladies, kept locked in a harem, an inaccessible part of the island where immortals were not permitted to set foot, just like they were not allowed in the breeders' enclosure. He'd told her that Navuh was gone, along with his ladies, and that Losham, the acting lord of the island, believed that his father had killed them all in a fit of rage and then jumped from the cliff after them. Yaaf had been certain that wasn't what had actually happened, and he'd been right. The clan had freed them, so they likely also had Navuh.

Had Yaaf been told?

It hadn't escaped her notice that Tula hadn't used the honorific "Lord" before the former island ruler's name.

Tula continued by introducing her sisters. Tamira, soft-spoken with the most unique colored eyes; Sarah, a tall blond who kept adjusting glasses that she didn't need because immortals didn't need glasses; Raviki, who was a striking dark-skinned woman; Beulah, Liliat, and Rolenna.

The former breeders then introduced themselves.

"You have a baby in your tummy," Tomek said when it was his turn. "When is the baby coming out?"

"In about three months." Tula smiled and ruffled his hair. "I'm glad that he will have an older friend to look after him."

Tomek straightened to his full height and squared his shoulders. "I will. I'm good with babies."

Sullha rolled her eyes but didn't correct him. He'd never shown interest in babies, and the closest he'd ever come was playing with Bianca, who was a toddler.

After completing all the introductions, they sat down to enjoy sandwiches and pastries. Sullha tried a cappuccino for the first time and decided this certainly was not going to be her last because it was delicious. Tomek received a tall glass of chocolate milk, which made him gasp as if he had been given a treasure.

Her mother was still gaping at the harem ladies and pressing into her side the way Tomek did when confronted with strangers he didn't like or didn't trust.

Leehy had said almost nothing since the plane, her eyes tracking everything like she expected a trap to spring at any time. Sullha covered her mother's hand with her own and wished she had more strength to lend her, some surplus of steadiness, but she was running on borrowed courage herself, and both of them knew it.

"It's all good," she said quietly. "No harm will come to us here."

Leehy didn't answer, but her hand turned over under Sullha's and gripped it.

Tamira had begun to explain that houses had been prepared for them, complete with plenty of clothing and food.

"The best part is phones," Tamira said, holding up a rectangle that was the size of her palm. "Each of you will get one so you can speak with each other, or with anyone else in the village. If you need anything, at any hour, you press a name and speak."

Did Tamira know that some of the women couldn't read?

"There are pictures next to each name because we figured most of you didn't know how to read English and there was no time to program the phones with the old tongue. So, when you want tocall someone, all you have to do is touch their picture, and the call will be placed."

Sullha let out a relieved breath.