34. Kian
KIAN
On the main screen, the feed from the lead drone showed nothing but open ocean sliding beneath it, peaceful and surreal after the devastation it had wrought only moments earlier.
The two strike birds were running Turner's dogleg, holding a false heading out into empty water, and they would keep it well past the horizon visible from the island before turning for Safe Harbor.
"Both platforms are clear and on the egress," Turner said without looking up from his laptop screen. "No pursuit. They turn for base in twelve minutes."
Kian stared at the frozen frame and didn't reach for play.
He had watched it live, once, and that was enough.
The picture held the two drones low over the water, mid run-in, the long roof of the conference hall still intact beneath them.
He left it there. He had no wish to watch the roof come apart again, or the second munition drop through the gap the first had opened, or the white nothingness that swallowed the feed before the drone banked away.
A room packed with the island's command, a fire that had nowhere to go, and a guarantee that nothing organic survived.
"Now we wait for Losham's confirmation," Onegus said.
"Now we wait," Kian agreed.
Lokan stood with his arms crossed, watching the ocean scroll by on the main screen. He hadn't said much during the operation, which was understandable.
He might have disapproved of how the island was being run in general and of those males in particular, but he had known them, worked with them, and seeing them incinerated couldn't have been easy.
War was a nasty business, but Lokan wasn't a young warrior, and he had seen enough in his millennium of existence to harden him against feeling bad for those males.
Besides, a weakened Brotherhood brought the clan a step closer to taking over the island, which was Lokan's ultimate goal.
The phone on the table lit up before it rang.
Toven leaned forward and touched the speaker. "We are ready for your report, Losham."
"It's done." Losham's voice filled the room.
"All eighteen summoned showed up, and now they are no more.
Bertram witnessed it, and it left exactly the impression we wanted.
He's been thoroughly educated about my reach, along with everyone else watching the feed from that room.
By tonight, the entire island will know that I command a formidable outside force that none of them has access to. "
Losham sounded smug, as if the story he was spreading were true and he were the one in charge.
Kian thought about correcting him but then decided against it.
The important thing was that the troublesome juniors were gone, including the one who was in charge of the breeding enclosure.
It wouldn't be enough to stop the Sacred Mothers from implementing their insane plan, but it was a step in the right direction.
The next step would be eliminating the head of the cult.
"You wanted to know if it was clean." There was a pause, and the sound of a clink of glass against glass. "So, I'm telling you that it was. Perfect execution of a perfect plan." A sip. "Anything else you would like to know?"
"No," Toven answered. "That will be all for now. Enjoy the rest of your day."
"Congratulations," Losham said. "You delivered as promised, and so did I. Well done."
The line went dead.
"That's the top echelon of the Brotherhood gone," Lokan said.
"I hope Losham is as capable as he thinks he is and finds good replacements.
We know the Brotherhood's greatest danger is the command chain disintegrating and the soldiers running wild, doing whatever they want.
That would endanger everyone on that island. "
"We are aware," Onegus said. "Let Losham celebrate his victory for one day. Then we will talk to him about everything else."
"The Sacred Mothers are the top priority." Kian rose to his feet. "The cult needs to be dealt with, and the best way to go about that is to eliminate the head. This is the first order we will be giving Losham tomorrow."
Onegus pushed away from the table. "I'm calling it a night." He stood up. "Everything else can wait for tomorrow."
Kian nodded. "I still need to report the results of the operation to my mother. She asked to be notified." He pulled out his phone and texted to ask if she was still in the clinic.
Her return text came in a moment later.
Your sisters and I are in the café. Come join us.
The village café was closed for the night, the chairs stacked, but the moon shone brightly, providing ample light, especially for immortals who didn't need much to see.
The vending machines emitted a gentle glow, lighting the back of the café, which was shaded by large trees and therefore darker than the front seating area.
His mother, Alena, Amanda, and Sari sat around a small table nestled against the hedge that marked the café's boundary.
They had paper cups of machine-made cappuccino in front of them and a scatter of cellophane pastry wrappers between them, evidence that they had enjoyed the other vending machine's offerings as well.
He took a moment to savor the sight of his family gathered in one place. It didn't happen often because Sari seldom made the trip from Scotland, and they seldom traveled to see her. It took a major event like a wedding or the resurrection of their mother's beloved to get them together.
"There he is." Amanda spotted him first. "Sit down, Kian. You look like you could use a cappuccino."
"I'm over-caffeinated as it is." He stepped next to each one of them, leaned, and kissed their cheeks.
"I got Mother out of the ward for a little bit and called Amanda and Sari to join us," Alena said. "Khiann's asleep, and Gertrude promised to call the second he stirs."
Sari got up and walked over to the vending machines. "I'm getting you a cappuccino. You can drink it if you want or not."
"Thank you."
Kian sat, and when Sari handed him a cup, he wrapped his hands around it. As he looked at the four faces turned toward him, his shoulders released their tension, and the heaviness in his chest eased.
"Good news?" Sari asked.
He nodded. "It's always good news when my family is all in one place."
Sari put her hand over her heart. "Was that sentimentality? Someone write down the date. But seriously. How did the mission go?"
"It was executed perfectly." Kian met Annani's eyes.
"All eighteen are gone, Losham's rule is now unchallenged, and we control him.
Good news for the clan." He took a sip of the cappuccino, which wasn't bad for something that had come out of a vending machine, but it didn't come close to Syssi's masterpieces.
"The one who ran the enclosure was among the five junior brothers that Losham had marked for elimination.
Whatever the Sacred Mothers thought they could get away with under his protection is less likely to happen now, but I'm not leaving that to luck.
Tomorrow, we will contact Losham again and tell him to eliminate the head of the order. "
His sisters stopped smiling, and Sari turned to look at their mother.
"I will not mourn them," she said. "They did monstrous things, and the world is safer without them in it.
The children in that enclosure are safer tonight than they were this morning.
" She folded a piece of cellophane. "But those five junior brothers have mothers who do not yet know that their sons are gone, and I will mourn for them.
I will mourn for what these males could have been if Navuh had not taken them away from their mothers and turned them into monsters.
" She looked at him. "It needed to be done, though, and you did it well, and doing a terrible thing well is a burden I wish I could carry for you. "
Kian's throat tightened. "My job is to do all those terrible things you would rather not, and I'm honored to do them. So please, don't feel guilty for putting me in charge."
Annani nodded. "Thank you."
"There's one more thing," he said. "Navuh should be told that his sons are dead, or rather, the males he claimed as sons. We haven't told him about the seniors yet either, and I think it is time to deliver the news. I can do it by myself or with you, Mother. It's your choice."
"I have no interest in revenge." She reached across the table and covered his hand, over the paper cup and all.
"In the past, I took great satisfaction in delivering bad news to Navuh, but even then I would not have wanted to deliver this kind of news.
Do not be cruel when you tell him. Those were his sons, even if only in name, and no one should gloat over a father losing his children. "
His mother was too merciful for her own good, and Kian would have had no problem delivering the news and gloating, but he would do as she requested.
"Now that I have Khiann back," Annani continued. "My place is beside him. This morning he said my name, and I intend to say it back to him until he remembers what it means. I have no time for Navuh."