Page 80 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"Whatever," she waved a dismissive hand. "Show me where you live."

He took her hand and walked her down the corridor until they reached the fourth door, which looked exactly like the three that preceded it. Thick, solid, painted a pale gray that didn't even attempt to disguise what it was. Near the bottom of it was a glass window that had a handle, which meant that it could be opened.

Sullha crouched and looked through it at the window on the other side. The door was about thirty centimeters thick, and the opening at its bottom was probably for delivering meals. If it was for checking on the prisoners, it would have been located higher up on the door.

"Don't get scared by the door. It's never locked or even closed."

She straightened up and took out her phone. "Zohara wants pictures. I'm starting with the door, so she can appreciate everything that comes after it."

"Strategic," Yaaf said. "Set her expectations low. Do you know how to take pictures with a phone?"

She nodded. “The former harem ladies showed us all how to do that.”

“Good.” He pushed the door open and stood aside to let her enter first.

The room surprised her.

It was long and narrow, about the same width as the room she'd shared with Tomek in the enclosure but twice as long and about a hundred times nicer. A small couch sat just inside the entry, enough for two people to sit comfortably, and watch the television mounted on the wall across from it. A shallow console beneath the screen held mostly books. Deeper in, a bed was tucked against the same wall as the couch, neatly made, the blanket folded with precision, and across from the bed stood a chest of drawers. At the far end, a partition of glass blocks screened a bathroom. A narrow rug ran the whole length of the floor, and framed pictures hung on the walls, one above the couch and one above the bed, depicting landscapes.

"This is nice," she said. "Much nicer than my room in the enclosure was. You should have told me that you are living in luxury."

He chuckled. "After living in Navuh's mansion and the hotel, this seemed modest, so I didn't feel like singing the room's praises. It might look nice, and we are not locked in, but weare still restricted, and it's not what we imagined when the clan promised us refuge."

"It's not fair." She raised the phone and photographed the room for Zohara: the couch, the television, the glass blocks, the absurdly neat bed. "But they are doing this to protect their community." She snapped a few more for good measure, then turned to Yaaf and snapped several of him.

"I know." He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "We are an anomaly, and they are afraid of us. Nothing new about that. Even the mothers are afraid of us."

She noticed the collective reference but decided not to comment on it. "Zohara is going to be disappointed. She wanted to see a dungeon, and you're living in a small, tidy apartment."

"Tell her there are chains in the bathroom."

"Are there?"

"No. Towels. Nice plush ones."

She laughed, and something loosened in her chest. "Should I take a picture of them?"

"No." He sat on the couch and patted the seat next to him. "You should sit with me."

The two-seater was small, and Yaaf was a big guy, so there was no room for polite distance. His knee was a breath away from hers, his arm along the backrest behind her shoulders.

He held out his hand, palm up.

She put her hand in it, and his fingers closed around hers, warm and strong.

"Ask your questions."

"Just like that?"

"Unless you want to ask them over the phone, an opportunity like this one is not going to come again anytime soon."

He was right.

Sullha took a deep breath and asked the question that mattered most.

"Did you know that the women in the enclosure could become immortal? That Mortdh's teaching about us being undeserving of immortality was a lie?"

"We suspected many of Mortdh’s teachings were untrue. After we transcended and began thinking more independently, we concluded that females were not inferior to males in any way, but it still didn’t click for us that the women in the enclosure could transition. We should have deduced that since they carry the same godly spark as the sons they bear for the Brotherhood, they should, but we didn’t, and we only learned the truth when we got here, and the Guardians told us how we were misinformed. Then it suddenly made perfect sense. Dormant boys fight older transitioned boys, get bitten, and the venom ignites the process. Adult immortal males bite during sex, and that is how female carriers of the godly genes are induced. It explains why immortal males are not permitted inside the enclosure, not even sons visiting mothers.”