5. Annani
ANNANI
A fter a restless night, Annani decided to skip her morning stroll and have tea on the backyard porch instead.
"Your tea, mistress." Ogidu set the cup before her. "Shall I bring anything else?"
"No, thank you." She set her phone down on the side table and took the cup. "This is all for now."
As he inclined his head and withdrew, Annani took a sip of the wonderful tea while gazing at the sun cresting over the Malibu Mountains.
Khiann was coming home.
She could not yet let herself believe it fully because a belief of that magnitude was difficult to contain.
Her phone buzzed, and she knew it was Kian before she picked it up because she had been expecting his call.
"Good morning, my son," she answered. "Have you followed the advice you gave me and caught a few hours of sleep?"
"In fact, I did. I am calling you from home while waiting for Syssi to finish making me a cappuccino."
"That sounds lovely." She half expected him to invite her over, as he often did on Sunday mornings, but this was not a regular Sunday, and Kian had a full day of work ahead of him. "Have the boats arrived at Safe Harbor without incident?"
"That's what I'm calling about. They have arrived, and everyone is safely ashore.
The plan is to send the chests, the soldiers, the scientists, and half the Guardians on the first flight.
They will get here by tonight. The women and children will spend the night at the island and fly out first thing tomorrow morning. "
"This sounds like a good plan." She closed her eyes. "I did not speak with Bridget yesterday, but I assume the clinic is ready to receive Khiann and his men?"
"Everything is ready. The last piece is releasing Hildegard from taking care of Navuh so she can assist in the clinic.
I'm moving him out of the keep clinic today and into the dungeon apartment.
Areana will have to move in with him because he needs someone to take care of him.
He can't take care of himself, and I have no people to spare.
" There was a pause as Syssi handed him the cappuccino, and he thanked her.
"Would you like to come with me?" he asked her.
"I thought you would enjoy rubbing it in his face. "
Annani frowned. It was not like Kian to invite her on such unpleasant business. Usually, she would have to convince him to take her.
"You do not wish to be the one who tells Areana," she said.
He chuckled. "Well, yes. You know how I get, and I don't want to offend Areana or sound callous when I tell her that she needs to move from the luxurious penthouse to a dungeon apartment and take care of her invalid mate. You can handle her much better."
"Indeed," Annani agreed. "And I would not mind rubbing it in Navuh's face either.
He has definitely earned it. He kept Khiann in stasis for five thousand years, knowing all along the pain I was suffering.
He dug Khiann out of the earth where the quake had buried him, and he saw that he lived, and rather than restore him, he sealed him away and let me believe him dead for fifty centuries.
" She paused, taking a deep breath to regain her composure.
"I will enjoy immensely letting him know that I have what he stole, and that his last card bought him nothing.
After all he has done, all the suffering he has caused, this reckoning is just a small token of what he deserves.
If not for Areana, I would not have been as merciful. "
Two hours later, as Magnus drove the SUV into the underground parking of the keep, Annani watched the concrete pillars slide past, the low ceiling, and remembered the long years this high-rise had served as Kian's fortress.
She had visited, staying in his guest bedroom in the penthouse or Amanda's across the hallway, but her main place of residence had been her Alaskan sanctuary.
She had enjoyed the independence it had afforded her, and she remembered fondly the trips she and Alena had taken together with their Odus and no Guardians to interfere with whatever adventure they had wanted to undertake.
But then Alena had found her truelove mate in Orion and had moved into Kian's village, and the sanctuary was not the same without her.
Perhaps once Khiann was restored, Annani would take him to Alaska so they could rekindle their love in the privacy of the sanctuary.
It was also the safest place on Earth because no one outside the clan knew of its existence, and no one other than her Odus knew how to get there, not even her regents, Kian and Sari.
They knew the approximate area, but with Alaska being so vast, it would take them weeks of searching to find it.
It was such an incredible feat of engineering, a biome under a dome of glass that was completely self-sustaining.
Would Khiann like living there?
During their tragically short marriage, they had not enjoyed privacy because they had lived in the palace, where they had been constantly watched. Now, they would have a chance to do things differently. Now, they would have no one to answer to other than themselves.
After Magnus parked the SUV, they went in through the secret door marked Maintenance and rode the elevator down to the clinic level.
"Are you going to house the soldiers in the dungeon?" Annani asked.
Several of the cells had been converted into comfortable rooms a while ago, so they would not be treated as prisoners but would still be kept isolated for observation.
He nodded. "I've been considering slapping the cuffs on them, but that would be taking it too far.
They have been nothing but helpful and have proved themselves time and again.
But they are dangerous, and even the dungeon won't be able to contain them.
Nothing will. They don't need sound waves to compel immortals to do what they want.
They do it through thralling. We have no way of stopping them from doing anything they feel like doing. "
Annani frowned. "So, what is the point of putting them in the dungeon? They can free themselves whenever they want."
"I know." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "But they can't find the village because they can't pick it from the minds of Guardians who don't know where the village is."
"They can compel the Guardians to take them in their self-driving vehicles that are programmed to get to the village."
Kian smiled. "But we control the vehicles, and if anyone takes an unauthorized ride in them, we will divert them elsewhere."
"What about you?" Annani asked. "You know where the village is."
"That's why I'm not going to meet them in person until they have been fully vetted."
Until now, she had not realized how truly dangerous the eight enhanced soldiers were.
"I guess locking their doors is not an option?"
"No." He held the elevator door open for her. "We cannot do that to them after what they have been through and what they have done for us. Also, they don't tolerate being separated, and the converted cells are designed for one occupant."
They walked toward the clinic with Brundar and Magnus trailing behind them.
"You have their mothers and the scientists who make the drugs that keep them alive. That is a lot of leverage."
He smiled. "I know. I really hope that none of that leverage will be needed. But the truth is that these Eight are more dangerous than Igor ever was, and I'm very uneasy about taking them in, but on the other hand, if we can trust them, they could be a great asset."
They stopped in front of the clinic door, and Kian waved at the camera installed over it.
"Where are you going to house the scientists?" Annani asked.
Kian's mouth twisted. "If I had my way, I would put them down here as well, where I could watch them.
But we don't have enough converted cells.
The Russians and their ladies go to one of the penthouses, and we build their laboratory in one of the empty spaces we have down here.
" He glanced at her. "Petrov and Volkov need to keep the Eight supplied with their compound, so the lab is the first priority.
That is why I'm flying them out before the women and children. The clock is ticking for them."
The door to the clinic hissed as it was opened from the inside, and the four of them squeezed into the cramped space between the inner and outer doors.
Surrounded by three large males, Annani felt more petite than usual. "Are you going to put them up in your old penthouse?"
"I can, since Carol and Lokan have moved into the village, or I can put them in the one Areana is currently occupying, since she's going to be living in the dungeon apartment with Navuh."
"She will still need the penthouse," Annani said as the inner door swung open and they entered the clinic proper.
"She will need a place where she can meet her sons and her grandson.
She is not a prisoner, and you cannot turn her into one just because she needs to take care of her mate.
She will be with Navuh because someone must be and because she loves him, the Fates help her.
But she does not need to be at his side every hour of every day.
Leave her in Amanda's penthouse and put the scientists in the other one. "
Kian shook his head. "It is a waste of a penthouse for a woman who will be sleeping most nights in the dungeon apartment."
Annani gave him the look.
"Fine." He sighed. "Areana can keep her penthouse. For now."
"Good. We need to talk to her first, before we talk to Navuh."
"But we are already here."
"It is just a short elevator ride to the penthouse." Annani smiled at Hildegard, who had come out to see them. "We will be back in an hour. Do not tell Navuh we are coming. I want it to be a surprise."
Hildegard's mouth lifted on one side in a wicked smile. "Not a word from me, Clan Mother."
As they turned around, Annani pulled out her phone. "I shall let Areana know we are coming up." She dictated a text to her sister, giving her a few minutes' advance notice.
When they reached the penthouse level, Areana stood at the open door of her temporary lodging.
"Annani," she said cheerfully. "What a pleasant surprise. And Kian, Magnus, and Brundar." The smile slid off her face when she realized that this was not a social visit. "Is something wrong?"
"No." Annani pulled her sister into a warm embrace and kissed her on both cheeks, one at a time. "Everything is hopefully all right, but some changes are coming, and I wanted to talk to you about them.”
Areana nodded and led Annani to the couch.
Kian sat in one of the oversized armchairs, pulled out his phone, and started going over his correspondence, perfectly content with Annani doing all the talking.
"We need to move Navuh out of the clinic." Annani went straight to the reason for the visit and told her sister that Navuh was to be moved to a dungeon apartment because the medical staff was needed in the village. "Someone needs to care for him, and that someone is you."
Areana shook her head. "I am not a nurse. I don't know how to care for him."
"According to Bridget, his care from now on is simple. He can use the facilities himself as long as someone helps him there, and Bridget has prepared a therapy manual for you to follow."
"Navuh said that he was getting a physical therapist."
Annani smiled. "We can only get him a human. Do you think it is a good idea to have a human tell Navuh what to do?"
Areana winced. "No. He will not listen."
"That is what I thought. But he will listen to you.
" She reached for Areana's hand and clasped it between hers.
"I know it is a little scary to undertake a new task, but you have always been good with taking care of others, and you are probably the only one who has the patience for Navuh.
His recovery will be faster with you in charge of it. "
Areana sighed and nodded. "What happens after? Once he is back on his feet?"
"We have not decided what to do with him yet," Annani said honestly. "I leave that to Kian and to your sons to decide. But until a solution is found, he stays in the dungeon apartment, and you tend to him."
"I understand." Areana pulled her hand out of Annani's. "Did you tell him?"
"Not yet. We are heading to the clinic next."
"Shall I accompany you?"
"No." Annani did not want Areana to witness Navuh's humiliation, not because she wanted to spare his feelings, but because she wanted to spare her sister's. "Kian and I will tell him."