Page 7 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

It was different for him. He'd shielded her and Tomek because he loved her, and by extension he loved her son.

Still, as he felt what the others felt when touched by their mothers and sisters, he wished his mother were among them.

He felt what Armos felt when his mother's hand touched his face, and what moved Camdor when Asira smiled at him and reminded him of the nickname she'd used for him when he was still a boy, still just her brother.

For Yaaf, the subdued emotional landscape was a mercy because his mother was dead.

He reached for memories of her the way a tongue reaches for a missing tooth, out of habit, and found the old smooth absence where she should have been. She had died while he'd been turned into what he was now, and he hadn't been told. He could barely recall her face.

Bardov's situation was different.

Vinnah was alive, but they had left her on the island because she'd joined the Sacred Mothers and couldn't be trusted. The problem was that Bardov was the youngest and he still remembered his mother quite vividly, which meant that the loss hurt.

Perhaps one day they would return for the others. That was what Sullha hoped for.

He turned to look at her, and the empty spot in his chest suddenly didn't feel so empty anymore. He had no mother or sister, but he had Sullha, and she'd told him that she loved him. He might not have a past, but he might have a future with her.

He was free.

All eight of them were.

The island was falling away behind the boat, and no one was pursuing them thanks to the measures the clan had deployed. There was nothing to brace against, and it was unfamiliar territory for him and his seven teammates.

They were depleted. The thralling, the fighting and then the dive had taken all that they'd had to give, and beneath the exhaustion was the anxiety of the pressing timeline and their next drug dose. The lab equipment was on the boat, but the scientists were in the submarine, and Petrov was in no shape to produce what the eight of them needed.

The sand in the hourglass was running out, and soon the coherence that held the eight of them together would begin to fray.

Yamanu walked over and stood right next to Yaaf and Bardov, waiting for the reunions to be done with before lifting his hand to get everyone's attention.

"I'm sure you are all anxious to hear what happens next." Yamanu looked at Sullha. "I'm not as fluent in the old tongue as I should be, so you will have to translate for me."

She nodded. "Of course."

"First of all, I want you to know that you are all free. I know that the concept is hard to internalize without experiencing itfirsthand, but I want to assure you that from now on, you will never be forced to do anything you don't consent to. You are free to choose how you want to live your life, and plenty of support will be available to make it possible. The first stop is an island not too far from here that the clan owns. You'll rest there for a few hours, get different clothing to wear, and then board planes that will carry you across the world to America. From there, the women and the children will be taken to the clan's village, where you will get settled and start a new life. I will not get into all the details of what that entails because it's too much to cover, but I can promise you that it's all good. It's as close to paradise as it gets."

He'd said the women and the children.

Not the men, not the scientists, just the women and children.

"Where do we go?" Yaaf asked. "The soldiers? And the scientists?"

"You will be taken to a different location," Yamanu said. "The clan's keep. It used to be our home before we built the village. You will be housed there for a time."

"How long?" Yaaf asked.

"As long as it takes to evaluate the risk you represent." To Yamanu's credit, he didn't try to paint this as anything other than what it was. "You are enhanced, and you are dangerous. You've risked your lives to help us and to free the small contingent of women and children, and no one is making light of your sacrifice, but the clan leader is extremely cautious about who he allows into our community, and you need to be evaluated before you are deemed trustworthy."

"You mean the one who calls himself K?" Yaaf asked. "He's the leader who will determine our fate?"

Yamanu nodded. "His name is Kian, and he's a fair man, but he takes the security of the clan very seriously, and he's not willing to gamble with it even for the sake of those who seem to be heroes at first glance. He has kept this clan alive and hidden for two thousand years against an enemy that has spent all that time trying to end it. I'm sure you can understand why he's so cautious. You would be too in his position."

It was true.

The eight of them possessed powers the clan immortals had no defense against. Not even the strange Kra-ell female was a match for them. She could compel other immortals, but the Eight were immune to her power. Yaaf and his teammates would not have opened their home to an unknown entity of superior power on pure faith either. The caution was sound. But understanding it did not make it easier for them.

They were once again being treated as outsiders, as pariahs, as too dangerous to be allowed to roam free amongst others.

The mothers would go to the village. The sons would go to the keep. The six reunions were as fragile as new ice, and the clan's security policy was about to set a wall between them before they had even learned how to be families again.