Page 4 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

Then again, Tomek had good instincts, and he was very good at figuring people out. He'd looked at this clan warrior and decided he was safe.

"Tomek," she called out to get his attention.

He turned toward her and his face split into a grin.

"Mama!" He scrambled up and ran to her.

Sullha dropped to her knees, caught him, and held him so hard he squeaked.

"I'll go check on my friends," Yaaf said, smiling at Tomek before walking away.

"Mama, you're all wet." Her son pushed on her shoulders, trying to wiggle out of her embrace.

"I am. I didn't travel inside a waterproof case." She let him out of her crushing hold, her hands lifting to his face. "Were you afraid in there?"

"I slept." He said it as though it were obvious. "And then I woke up on the boat. Bowen gave me a snack." He twisted to point at the Guardian. "He's telling me how we are going to make bows and arrows. Then he is going to teach me to shoot at a target so I can get really good at it."

The subject of his admiration got up and walked over to where Sullha was still crouching and dripping water on the deck.

"Tomek is a good boy. Brave." Bowen's command of the island tongue was rough, the words coming out slowly and sounding odd.

She pushed to her feet and offered him her hand. "Thank you for keeping him safe and for entertaining him until I got here."

"It was my pleasure," Bowen replied in English and reached over to ruffle Tomek's hair.

Her son beamed up at him as though the sun had personally complimented him.

Sullha kissed the top of Tomek's head and turned her attention to the other women.

It was a scene of soggy chaos, but they were all there.

The women were a sorry-looking bunch, still as wet as she was, and huddled in groups to share warmth. Some were shivering, but since the air was warm, it was probably more from exhaustion than cold.

She knew exactly how they felt.

Other than giving birth to Tomek, Sullha had never done anything so physically exhausting as the nearly four-hour underwater journey. At times, she could not feel her arms, and if not for Yaaf, she would not have made it.

The others could not have fared better.

3

SULLHA

"Can I stay with Bowen?" Tomek asked, dragging Sullha's attention from the women.

"Yes, of course, sweetheart. The two of you are dry because you traveled inside the case, so you'd better stay away from all the wet ones."

Tomek accepted her logic with a nod and ran off to catch the Guardian, who was helping the others sort out the equipment.

Some of the Guardians were already peeling out of their wetsuits, shamelessly exposing their impressive bare chests, and pulling their own dry clothing out of their waterproof packs.

Sullha and the other women had left the enclosure with nothing but a few precious items the warriors had placed in their dry packs. They'd had no room for extra clothing, and the old uniforms the women had worn had been sunk to the bottom of the cove. No one was going to miss them, and they'd been promised that they would get new things once they arrived at their first land destination, but right now, they had nothing to change into.

Hopefully, the wetsuits would eventually dry on their skin, but until then, they had to sit there sodden and miserable.

Oh well. It was a small price to pay for freedom.

She headed toward them, zeroing in on Rohilah, who was sitting with her little girl in her lap and getting her wet. Like Tomek, Bianca had made the journey inside a sealed case, so she'd arrived dry, but unlike Tomek, she looked scared and was clinging to her mother.