Page 58 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"I want to hear it all."

"You have a movie to watch."

"The movie will survive without me. The collective will watch it, which means I will have seen it anyway. That is one of the conveniences of being eight people." He said it lightly, but then his voice lowered. "I would rather have this."

Warmth spread through her chest.

"Tomorrow," she said. "I can show you instead of telling you. Well. Not the village. But me. We are all coming for a visit. All the mothers and sisters. Only Saphira is staying behind because she doesn't have a son or a brother among you."

"I know. Bowen told us at dinner."

"The mothers are terrified and overjoyed in equal measures. Zohara asked me three times whether Ravsoh actually wanted to see her."

"He does," Yaaf said. "They all do. They do not know how to say it or show it, and they might be uncomfortable, but they want it to change. They want to be a family again."

"The mothers feel the same. Everyone is afraid of the same thing at the same time, which means no one should be."

"That is either very wise or completely wrong."

"I'll take either." She hugged her free arm around herself. "What time do we arrive? Do you know? I want to count the hours properly."

"I do not know the schedule. Morning is all Bowen said. The visit will take place in a chamber two levels above us, and Mattie has taken it upon herself to make it a celebration. She and Anita are planning a brunch."

"I like Mattie. When we were hiding on the boat, I was too scared to strike up a conversation with her, but she seemed fierce."

Yaaf chuckled. "I'm sure she thinks the same about you. Everyone thinks that. You were the leader of the rebellion."

"What rebellion?"

"The escape. You coordinated everything. It was risky and scary, and yet you did it anyway."

Everyone seemed to think that she was so brave, but she wasn't. She was even afraid to ask Yaaf whether he knew about the breeders' ability to transition into immortality.

The question had been festering in her mind ever since Margaret and Bowen had explained how it really worked, and now it climbed into her throat.

Did you know, Yaaf? About the venom, about the women, about what we could have been. Did you know and not tell me?

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

He was right there, sounding so warm and unguarded, more open than she had ever heard him, and she could ask it now, and he would answer, but she would not see his face.

She needed to be looking at him when he answered, needed to see the truth in his eyes before his words could dress it. A voice could be steadied. His face could not, not with her.

"Sullha?"

"I'm still here. I was just thinking that tomorrow I get to ask you all the questions that I've saved up along with the list."

"Should I be worried?"

"Yes," she said, honestly. "Just a little."

The bedroom door burst open, and Tomek stood in the doorway, and his eyes were enormous. "Is that Yaaf? Nana said you're talking to Yaaf. Is it him? Can I talk? Please, Mama, please."

She smiled. "Someone demands an audience."

"Put him on."

She held out the phone, and Tomek grabbed it with both hands and pressed it to his ear sideways, then corrected it.