Chapter 27 Kian
KIAN
Kian was seething as he and his mother left Navuh and headed to the elevator. He was in no mood to see Areana and the pleading look in her eyes that was starting to grate on his nerves.
She'd begged for mercy for her monster of a mate, when she knew perfectly well that he didn't deserve any.
She was dealing in emotional currency, and his mother was falling victim to it, and what his mother wanted, his mother got, because she was still the head of their clan even though he and Sari were running everything in her name.
If he wanted to put Navuh in stasis, she would override his decision, and the Guardians would have to obey her command.
Given the occasional sideways glances she was casting his way, his mother was well aware of what was going through his mind despite the serene composure she maintained.
Knowing Annani, she was probably preparing to lecture him about patience and diplomacy, and he didn't have the patience for it. The irony wasn't lost on him, though.
He wanted to punch something.
Navuh was playing games, which should surprise no one. He had valuable information, if his hints were to be believed, but he refused to share it unless they met his impossible demand to set him free.
The audacity of it.
After five thousand years of hunting their people and orchestrating atrocities, of building an empire on suffering and subjugation, he couldn't possibly think that this was on the table.
The gall of the demand.
"Your thoughts are thunderous," his mother said. "They are circling like vultures, picking at the same carcass of frustration without reaching any useful conclusions."
"My conclusion is perfectly useful. Navuh is wasting our time. He has no intention of cooperating unless we agree to his terms, and I have no intention of giving him what he wants. I'd rather see him rot in the catacombs."
"You know that is not an option," Annani said.
"This is just the nature of negotiations.
The opening moves are always exaggerated, each side issuing demands that neither party expects to be fulfilled.
It is a game that you should be well familiar with, and the fact that you let Navuh get under your skin means that you have allowed emotions to cloud your judgment. "
"My judgment is perfectly sound, and I've negotiated with enough executives to know when they are laying down a hard line. Navuh is not going to negotiate for anything less than his freedom, and I can't allow him to be free."
She smiled, and he braced for her retort, but the elevator stopped at the penthouse level, and Annani stepped out.
She waited for him by Areana's door. "You have entered negotiations with a master strategist, my son.
None of the CEOs you have negotiated with in the past is comparable to Navuh.
He has had five thousand years to perfect his art.
You will not outmaneuver him in a single conversation. Be patient."
"Patience is a luxury we may not have." Kian lowered his voice. "Bridget says he's healing fast, and as he gets stronger, his position will only get more rigid."
"Trust me, my son. I have dealt with his father and with mine, and I outmaneuvered them both when I was just seventeen. I, too, have had five millennia to learn my craft, and I know how to handle him."
Kian wasn't sure she was right. In fact, he knew that she was wrong.
Navuh wasn't going to budge because he knew he was protected by Areana's love, and he wouldn't believe any attempt to convince him that Areana had no power over her sister.
He was too smart for that.
As Annani rang the bell, the penthouse door opened, and Areana appeared in the doorway. She looked pale, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, and her hands twisted together in that nervous gesture Kian had come to recognize as her default state.
Was it all an act designed to wring as much pity from her sister as possible? Or was she really that distraught?
Areana had had as much time as Navuh to perfect her own art, and her performance was masterful.
Annani swept forward, concern replacing the resolute confidence of just a moment ago. "What is the matter? Why are you crying?"
Shaking her head, Areana stepped aside to let them enter and closed the door behind them. "It's nothing. I'm being emotional."
"You are entitled to be." Annani guided her toward the seating area, settling her onto one of the plush sofas before taking a seat beside her. "Tell me what troubles you."
Kian remained standing, too agitated to sit, and picking up his cue, Anandur and Brundar remained standing as well, positioning themselves near the door.
"I don't see a solution for this," Areana said. "Navuh is who he is, and he's not going to change. He's not going to suddenly become someone different just because he's been captured. So where does that leave us?"
"It leaves us exactly where we've always been," Kian said, his voice sharper than he intended. "At odds with each other. The only difference is now he's our prisoner instead of our enemy at large."
Areana flinched at his tone, and Kian felt a twinge of guilt that he quickly suppressed. He didn't have the patience to coddle her. Not when his mind was still churning with frustration over the utterly unproductive conversation they'd just had with her mate.
"Kian," Annani's voice carried a warning.
He ignored it. "What exactly did you expect, Areana? That we'd all sit down together and work out our differences over tea? Navuh has spent five millennia trying to destroy us. He's responsible for the deaths of countless innocents—humans and immortals alike. You can't just wish that away."
"I know what he's done." Areana's voice was small but steady. "But he's my mate. I can't just stop loving him."
"No one's asking you to stop loving him.
We're asking you to accept reality. He's not getting out.
He's not going to be free to go back to the Brotherhood or start over somewhere else.
The best he can hope for is to live in comfort with you by his side and to see his sons occasionally—assuming that they will ever want to see him, which I doubt. "
"Kian." Annani's tone was sharper now, an unmistakable command. "That is enough."
He met his mother's eyes and saw the steel beneath her composed exterior.
She was right. He shouldn't be taking out his frustration on Areana.
It accomplished nothing except making him feel like a bully.
But the anger needed somewhere to go, and it was either this or putting his fist through a wall.
"I'm sorry," he said stiffly, the words tasting like dirt in his mouth. "I'm just frustrated because the conversation with Navuh did not go well."
"I gathered as much." Areana smiled sadly. "He's not an easy male to deal with."
Annani patted her sister's hand. "We will find a solution. Negotiations take time."
Areana let out a breath. "I can't keep lying to him, Annani. I've been lying and keeping secrets for so long, and I don't want to keep doing that. We are fated mates, and there should be no secrets or lies between us."
Kian's attention sharpened. "What were you lying to him about?"
"Everything." Areana's hands were twisting again, her agitation visible in every line of her body.
"Yesterday, I didn't tell him that I was going to a welcome party in the village.
I told him that I was spending time with Kalugal and Lokan here at the keep, and then when he asked me about the visit, I had to keep on lying instead of telling him how much I enjoyed the celebration and how happy I was to see the ladies enjoying their freedom.
And that I was envious of them because I wanted to live in the village and enjoy the same liberties. "
She was crying now, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, her composure finally cracking under the weight of emotions she'd clearly been suppressing for days.
Annani gathered her sister into her arms, murmuring soothing words that Kian didn't care to hear. He stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do with his hands, unsure what to say that wouldn't make things worse.
The truth was that he didn't understand Areana's distress, not completely anyway.
He knew how difficult it was to lie to his truelove mate, and when he'd been forced to do it, it had eaten at him from the inside.
But Areana had probably been lying to Navuh throughout their relationship, not for personal gain but to protect those under her care.
The male was a monster, perhaps not in his treatment of Areana, but certainly in his treatment of everyone else. Why was she suddenly feeling so guilty over something she'd been doing for years?
Because this time she'd actually enjoyed herself and had a little fun?
But he kept these thoughts to himself. He had no desire to be on the receiving end of another of his mother's glares.
With a sigh, he walked over to one of the armchairs, sat down, and motioned for the brothers to sit down as well. This visit wasn't going to end until Annani decided it was over, so even though he was eager to return to the village, he had no choice but to wait patiently.
Pulling out his phone, he started scrolling through emails, but his eyes glazed over the correspondence and his mind circled back to Navuh.
If Annani was right and he was exaggerating his demands as an opening gambit, what did he actually expect to achieve? What was Navuh after? What would he settle for?
And what was this mysterious thing he claimed to have, the something he'd claimed was priceless to Annani?
When Areana went to prepare tea, he caught his mother's eye and tilted his head toward the door, signaling that he wanted to leave.
"After the tea," Annani said.
He nodded.
The minutes dragged on until the tea was consumed, more pleasantries had been exchanged, and finally they were out the door and on their way to the parking garage.
As they walked toward the SUV, Anandur fell in step with him.
"Your aunt's got some serious guilt issues going on there," he murmured.
Kian nodded but didn't respond.
The drive back was quiet, the silence filled only by the hum of the engine and the muted sounds of traffic. Kian stared out the window without actually looking at anything, his thoughts a tangled mess of frustration and uncertainty.
"There's nothing more I can offer him," he said to no one in particular.
"He wants freedom, and I can't give him that.
I won't give him that. So let him keep his precious secret.
Let him rot in that clinic until his body heals and then we'll move him to the dungeon apartment and that will be the end of it. "
"We need information on the island," Anandur said. "And he won't disclose it without leverage." He looked at Annani through the rearview mirror, but she pretended not to notice.
"The island can go to hell for all I care," Kian said. "We've gotten everyone we care about out of there. What happens to Navuh's empire is no longer our concern."
"Twenty-five thousand rabid warriors let loose is a problem." Brundar offered his rare opinion.
Kian shrugged. "Without Navuh to direct them, they'll probably tear each other apart fighting over who gets to be in charge. The problem will solve itself."