Chapter 24 Areana
AREANA
"Darius looks so much like Kalugal when he was little." Areana reached out to stroke her grandson's soft cheek. "Same hair, same eyes."
"He has nothing of me." Jacki adjusted her hold on the squirming toddler. "I was just the delivery truck."
"Don't say that." Kalugal leaned to kiss Jacki's cheek. "He has a lot of you on the inside."
Areana smiled at both her sons, a warmth spreading through her. Having them both with her, getting to know them as her sons, and them getting to know each other as brothers, was a gift she'd never dared hope for during all those centuries of separation.
"Kalugal and Lokan also look like their father," she said. "Kalugal has my eyes, but Lokan has nothing of me."
An awkward silence followed the mention of Navuh.
It always did. The male who had taken their sons from her as infants, who had raised them in the Dormant enclosure without ever letting them know who their mother was.
He'd done it to protect them, to shield them from the vicious competition of harem politics, but it had been cruel nonetheless.
He could have found another way.
He'd had the Brotherhood under his absolute control. How difficult could it have been for him to keep his real sons safe?
All those lost years.
All those moments she should have had with them.
Darius stared at Areana with his too serious eyes as if he wanted to communicate something that he didn't have the words for yet.
"He has a strong personality," Areana said. "Like his father."
"Thank you, Mother." Kalugal dipped his head. "Darius will be a force to be reckoned with when he grows up."
"I have no doubt," Lokan said. "I just wonder if he will also be a rebel like his father."
Kalugal chuckled. "I'm sure he will. It runs in the family. It just took you much longer than it took me."
"True." Lokan draped his arm around Carol's shoulders. "And I never would have jumped ship if not for Carol."
It struck Areana that her sons were still learning to be a family.
A thousand years separated them in age, and they'd never been close even before Kalugal escaped during WWII.
They were strangers learning to be brothers, just as they were learning to be her sons and she was learning to be their mother.
Carol leaned over the coffee table and lifted the teapot. "Anyone need a refill?"
"Please." Areana held out her cup. "The tea you brought is excellent. It tastes of coconut."
"That's because it has coconut in it." Carol poured the aromatic liquid into the cup.
She was a lovely young woman who, apparently, had a colorful past. Areana didn't know all the details yet, but what she'd learned so far was enough to make her blush. Then again, what had she expected from a female who had infiltrated the harem to find her?
That had been such an incredible act of bravery, and it was the reason that Areana was now surrounded by her family.
Without Carol helping her establish a line of communication with Annani, none of this would have happened.
It had also resulted in Navuh's capture by the clan, but given what she'd gained as a result, Areana didn't regret it.
The Fates had decided that it was time for her to be reunited with her sons, and she would be forever grateful to them for that, even if Navuh never regained his freedom.
"What time did Annani say she was coming?" Jacki asked.
"She didn't specify a time, only that she needed to see me this afternoon." Areana took a sip of her tea.
"It probably has to do with your mate," Kalugal muttered.
"You mean your father."
"Yes, but I prefer to think of him as your mate. He was decent as your life partner but terrible as a father."
She couldn't argue with that.
The new dynamic was strange. Her sons had lived under Navuh's control—one rebelling against it at a young age, the other embracing it until he found Carol. Now they were sitting in the living room of Kian's penthouse and drinking tea while their father languished in the clinic.
They didn't want anything to do with him, he didn't want anything to do with them, and she didn't know how to bridge the divide, or even if it was possible.
A knock at the door broke the moment.
"That will be Annani." Areana rose, smoothed down her dress, and walked to the door.
It was strange not having servants doing those things for her, like opening doors and announcing visitors, but she was getting used to this new reality.
As usual, Annani and Kian were accompanied by the brothers, who were Kian's bodyguards.
The redhead smiled at her fondly and dipped his head, and the blond inclined his head without changing an iota of his facial expression.
"Annani." She hugged her sister briefly and then moved to Kian. "My dear nephew. Please, come in."
"Thank you." Annani swept into the penthouse, her eyes brightening upon seeing Darius. "Look at him. He grows more handsome every day."
Darius stared up at Annani with wide eyes, then broke into a gummy smile and reached toward her with grabbing hands.
"He likes you," Jacki said.
"Babies usually do." Annani picked Darius up and hugged him to her chest. "Hello, sweetness.
" She kissed the top of his head before returning him to Jacki.
"I love the smell of babies. When I hold a small child, all my tension just melts away.
They need to find a way to bottle that smell and sell it as a pick-me-up spray. "
"Not a bad idea." Kalugal rose to his feet and offered Annani the armchair he'd been sitting on. "I should run it by a lab I work with and see what they can come up with."
"You will need to share profits with my mother." Kian grabbed one of the counter stools and brought it to the seating area. "It was her idea."
The brothers followed his example and did the same.
"I hope you like coconut-flavored tea." Carol emerged from the kitchen with a fresh teapot.
"I have never had one, but I am always willing to try new teas." Annani accepted a cup from her. "How is the spy training program going?"
Carol's face lit up. "It's going well. I took the ladies on a field assignment Friday, and they performed better than I expected, but they still have a lot to learn."
"Wonderful. When do you think they will be ready to be sent to Washington to influence policy?"
Carol hesitated, her enthusiasm dimming. "They're not ready for that yet. It will take months before I feel confident in their undercover abilities. These things take time."
"Of course, dear. I did not mean to imply otherwise."
"Turner recommended a friend of his who can teach them more sophisticated techniques," Carol continued. "I can't wait to meet her. I expect to learn a lot from the pro."
Lokan draped an arm around his mate's shoulders. "For you, the interest will be purely academic. You're not going to be seducing any politicians. I'm the only one you are allowed to seduce."
"Is that so?"
"It is. You are my truelove mate, my one and only, and you have eyes for me alone."
"That's right." Carol kissed the underside of his jaw. "It's you and me forever, sweetheart."
Annani's lips curved. "Speaking of forever, what about a wedding?"
Carol grinned. "Now that we're safe in the village, why not?" She glanced at Lokan, and something soft passed between them. "And after the wedding, we can start working on making a baby."
Areana clapped her hands together, delight flooding through her. "You couldn't make me happier. I'll get to attend your wedding, and later the birth of your first child."
She'd missed so much with Kalugal and Lokan, but she could be present for this. She could experience the birth of another grandson or granddaughter.
"We haven't decided on anything yet," Lokan cautioned, but he was smiling. "We need to plan for it."
Darius chose that moment to throw his toy on the floor and let out a demanding squawk. Jacki sighed and bent to retrieve it, handing it back to him. He immediately threw it again, giggling at the game.
"Someone's getting restless," Kalugal observed.
"Someone needs a nap," Jacki corrected. "But someone will never agree to miss all the family fun."
The warmth of the moment lingered for a breath, two breaths. Then Kian cleared his throat.
"As wonderful as this family gathering is, that's not the reason for our visit."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop, and Annani set her teacup down with a small sigh, the pleasant facade falling away to reveal the weariness beneath.
"Yes." She turned to Areana. "I am afraid this is more than a social visit."
"I gathered as much." Areana folded her hands in her lap. "What's happened?"
Annani looked at her son. "Perhaps you should explain."
Kian nodded. "I spoke with Elias and Tamira yesterday.
I wanted to find out whether the shaman had seen in the visions he provided for Navuh anything that could point us toward Khiann's location.
He hadn't, but some details emerged as we talked.
Tamira described a glass enclosure that Navuh had built in his basement following the flooding in the harem and the removal of five big chests from a secret storage area in the underground pyramid that served as your home. "
A chill ran through Areana. She had seen that glass enclosure, as had everyone else who had taken shelter in the basement during the rebellion. Was that where Navuh had put the chests? And what was in them?
"Tamira said that it was a large area filled with sand and that it had its own climate control."
Darius fussed, and Jacki stood, swaying gently to soothe him. The baby's eyelids were growing heavy despite his protests.
"I don't understand," Jacki said softly, still rocking. "What does a glass enclosure have to do with anything?"
"We suspect that the chests removed from the harem contained Khiann and his four immortal companions. When they could no longer be stored safely there, Navuh moved them to his mansion and built a special enclosure that provided optimal conditions for preserving bodies in stasis."