Chapter 18 Annani
ANNANI
The sun had set an hour ago, and the automatic shutters had gone down, blocking all interior illumination to hide the village from craft flying overhead at night. During the day, different camouflaging methods were used, but Annani wasn't sure how they worked, only that they did.
Sitting beside her on the couch, Wonder was a coil of stress. Her spine was rigid, and her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. It was unusual for someone as easygoing and relaxed as Wonder to assume such a pose, and it revealed how anxious she was about her sister.
"Would you like more tea?" Annani asked, even though Wonder's cup sat full and cooling on the table before her.
"No, thank you." Wonder's voice was tight. "I don't think I could swallow anything right now."
Annani understood completely. Her own stomach had been in knots since morning, anxiety building with each passing hour. She'd kept herself busy with meetings, hosting clan members, and chatting about their lives and their goals as she usually did, but her mind kept straying to the approaching call.
Now the moment was nearly upon them.
She glanced at her phone. Seven fifty-eight.
Areana would call at precisely eight o'clock, as she had every Wednesday except after the flooding in the harem, when she had not had access to the cliff.
Areana claimed that consistency was necessary for security and that deviation from the schedule could draw attention and raise suspicions, but Annani had a feeling that her sister was simply superstitious.
The schedule worked, and she had not been caught, so she clung to it as if it were a magic cloak.
Two more minutes.
"What if she doesn't know?" Wonder asked. "Tula might have been hiding it from everyone, including Areana."
"Then we will ask to speak with Tula directly." Annani leaned back, projecting a calm she did not feel. "One way or another, after this call, we will have our answer."
"Can we really save her?" Wonder's green eyes were frantic. "Kian said it would be difficult, dangerous—"
"Wonder." Annani put a hand on her friend's thigh. "Take a deep breath and relax. We will not abandon your sister. If she is indeed pregnant and wants to leave, we will do whatever it takes to get her out of there."
"Even if it means revealing the clan's involvement? Or Areana's?"
That was the crux of it. The hidden communication between sisters was their most closely guarded secret. If Navuh learned that Areana had been feeding information to the clan, his rage would be terrible, and Areana would bear the full brunt of it.
"We will find a way that protects everyone, including Areana."
As Annani's phone began to vibrate, Wonder jumped, her hand flying to her throat.
Annani picked it up with steady fingers, though her heart was racing.
"Clan Mother." William was on the line. "I'm patching Areana through."
"Annani?" Areana sounded frantic, and Annani knew immediately that Esag's vision was true.
"Hello, sister of mine. I assume that you have something important to tell me."
"How did you know? Never mind. I don't have time for that. Tula is pregnant. Nearly four months along, and she wants off this island before the baby comes, or rather, before she can no longer hide her pregnancy."
When Wonder made a small, pained sound, Annani reached out with her free hand, and Wonder grabbed it, holding on.
"I assume that Tony is the father," Annani said. She knew he was, but wanted confirmation.
"Yes. He wants to go with her, of course. He loves her." Areana paused, and there was something in that pause that made Annani's instincts prickle. "But there's a complication."
"What kind of complication?"
"Tula isn't the only one who wants to leave.
" The words came in a rush now, as if Areana needed to get them out before she lost her nerve.
"Tamira and Elias have been planning an escape for weeks, and they offered to take Tula and Tony with them.
Their plans would not have worked, and I stopped them, promising that I'd find another way to get them out of here. "
Annani closed her eyes. Areana was asking for the impossible. There was no way they could extract four people from Navuh's fortress of an island.
"I do not know if that is possible," she said.
"Please, Annani. I promised them. I told Tula I would get her off this island before her baby is born."
Wonder was crying silently now, tears streaming down her face.
Annani squeezed her hand tighter. "Areana, extracting four people is exponentially more complicated than extracting one."
"I know it's difficult. But I'm begging you." There was raw desperation in Areana's voice now, the careful composure cracking. "Tula is like a daughter to me. I can't let her child be taken. I can't watch another baby be ripped from his mother's arms, especially when the mother is Tula."
The pain in those words, the echo of Areana's own losses, her sons taken and raised as warriors, cut straight through Annani's heart.
"We can probably get Tula out the same way we got Carol," she said. "But I cannot make promises about the others. Whatever plan we devise, it cannot reveal the clan's involvement or yours. If Navuh suspects that you were behind this—"
"I know the risks."
Areana thought that Navuh's love for her would protect her, but that was naive. Navuh did not need much to turn into the monster he was to everyone other than Areana. He might kill her and regret it later.
"Do you?" Annani kept her voice gentle but firm. "He is your truelove mate, sister. The bond between you is sacred. But if he discovers this betrayal, that bond may not be enough to protect you from his rage. He will kill you."
Silence on the other end. Then, so quietly Annani almost missed it: "I know the risk I'm taking."
"There's another problem," Annani continued.
"The escape must look natural, must have a believable explanation.
When Carol left, we staged her suicide. Tula could do the same—a pregnant woman, desperate and distraught, throwing herself from the cliff.
It would be sad, and believable given her circumstances.
But no one would believe that Tula, Tony, Tamira, and Elias all decided to kill themselves together on the same night. "
Wonder's grip on Annani's hand tightened almost painfully. She was shaking her head, silently mouthing "no, no, no."
"There has to be a way," Areana said. "What if—what if they staged an accident? Part of the cliff crumbling during an evening walk? It could have been weakened by the earthquake."
"Navuh would investigate it. He would want to know why that section of the cliff failed when it has been stable for decades. His people would find evidence of tampering."
"Then what do we do?" Frustration bled into Areana's voice. "There has to be something. I promised them, Annani. I looked Tula in the eyes and promised her I would save her child."
Wonder suddenly straightened, her expression shifting from despair to something almost manic. "Mass suicide," she said urgently. "Tell her about mass suicide cults."
Annani blinked. "What?"
"There have been cases throughout history—entire communities committing suicide together. Jonestown, Heaven's Gate. If the four of them started acting strange, started preaching about some comet or death god or whatever those people believed in, then a group suicide might be believable."
It was creative, Annani had to give her that.
"Areana, did you hear that?" Annani asked.
"Yes. Mass suicide cult." Areana sounded like she was considering it. "They would need to start acting strangely, showing signs of religious fanaticism or delusion. Give Navuh's watchers something to report."
"It will not work." Annani hated to crush the hope she heard building in her sister's voice.
"Mass suicide events are typically the result of months or years of brainwashing by a charismatic cult leader.
Someone who holds absolute power over his followers, who controls their reality so completely they will follow him into the fires of hell if he commands it, and I'm saying 'him' because cult leaders are mostly men. "
"So, we create a fake cult leader," Wonder said.
"The only cult leader on that island is Navuh." Annani sighed. "His word is law. No one else has that kind of influence over the residents, especially not over the harem's immortal ladies."
"Elias is a shaman," Areana said. "He could start leading some strange ceremonies. They could make it believable."
Annani shook her head. "Three sophisticated, intelligent people suddenly fall under the sway of a new belief system introduced by someone who did not exhibit anything like that before, and in a matter of weeks. It is not believable. Navuh is not stupid."
A groan came through the earpiece, low and anguished. Then, in the background, Annani heard it—the unmistakable sound of sobbing that spoke of hope crushed and despair triumphant.
Tula.
She had been listening the entire time.
Of course, she had. Areana never called without Tula by her side, acting as her lookout.
"Fates," Annani breathed. "I forgot Tula was with you. Not that it would have changed anything I said."
"Let me talk to her," Wonder interrupted. "Let me speak with my sister."
"Can you give the receiver to Tula?" Annani asked Areana.
"Yes. Give me a moment."
"Wonder," Tula said. "Talk to Anandur. He might come up with a plan."
"I will." Wonder steadied her voice with effort. "We will find a way to save you."
"What about Tamira? Tony and Elias?" Tula's words tumbled out in a rush. "We tried so hard, made such careful plans, and it all fell apart. And now there are four of us, and it's impossible. Everyone says it's impossible, and my baby—oh dear Fates, my baby will be taken and I can't—I can't—"
"Listen to me." Wonder's voice took on a fierce quality. "I don't care how impossible it seems. I don't care how difficult or dangerous it is. You are my sister, and your child is my niece or nephew. We will move heaven and earth to bring you home. All of you. Do you hear me?"
"But Annani said—"
"I know what Annani said." Wonder glanced at her, and Annani saw something defiant in her old friend's eyes. "She's right that it's complicated. But complicated doesn't mean impossible. It just means we need more time to plan."
Annani felt a swell of affection for Wonder. This was the girl who'd been willing to defy social convention for love, who'd followed Annani on every wild adventure despite her fear, who'd faced down gods and immortals to protect the people she loved.
"We've already done the impossible," Wonder continued, her voice gaining strength.
"You and I, we survived when everyone we loved died.
I endured millennia in stasis and woke up to find myself in a completely different world, and you endured five thousand years in Navuh's harem.
Getting you off that island is just another impossible thing we're going to do. "
The sobbing had quieted now, replaced by ragged breathing. "Promise me," Tula whispered. "Promise me you're not just saying what I need to hear right now."
"I promise. I vow to the Fates that we will save you."
Wonder should not have given that vow. If she could not deliver, there would be repercussions. The Fates did not appreciate their names being invoked in vain.
"Tula," Annani said, loud enough for the earpiece to pick up her voice. "Give the device back to Areana, please. I need to speak with her about logistics."
There was rustling, murmured voices. Then, Areana was back on the line. "I'm here."
"We need time to plan," Annani said. "Four people, Areana. The complexity is just staggering." She shook her head. "I need to speak with Kian, who needs to speak with others who are experts in the field."
"How long will it take?" Areana asked.
"I do not know." Annani hated the words even as she spoke them. "Can you call again on Saturday? Same time?"
"Saturday..." Areana was quiet for a moment. "It's risky. Our schedule has been on Wednesday for years. Deviating from it could draw attention."
She should have known that Areana would not want to call on any day other than Wednesday.
"If Saturday feels unsafe, if you sense any suspicion or increased surveillance, then do not risk it. We will wait until next Wednesday. Be careful. If Navuh suspects anything—"
"He won't." Areana's voice hardened. "I've been hiding things from Navuh for five thousand years. I know how to lie to my mate."
The words carried such pain that Annani's throat tightened. This was the cost of Areana's love for Tula, forcing her to betray the man she loved, to deceive the mate the Fates had bound her to. It was a cruel thing to ask of anyone.
But sometimes cruelty was necessary, and pain was an integral part of life.
"I love you," Annani said.
"I love you too." Areana's voice was barely audible now. "Thank you for helping and for doing your best to save all four."
"Family takes care of family. That is what we do."
After the call ended, Annani sat in silence for a long moment, the phone resting in her palm. Wonder had curled into herself on the couch, her arms wrapped around her middle as if to hold herself together.
"We will keep your promise," Annani said finally. "I do not know how yet, but we will find a way."
Wonder looked up, her eyes haunted. "I shouldn't have promised that. It's impossible to extract four people from a fortress without endangering them and Areana. We don't have magic."
"No, but we have determination, resources, and people who are willing to go to great lengths to help save family.
Kian will have ideas. Turner will have ideas.
And we have resources now that we didn't have when we extracted Carol.
We have Safe Harbor, which puts us so much closer.
We have people with tactical expertise and creative thinking.
" Annani shifted closer to Wonder and wrapped her arm around her friend. "We will figure this out."
Including the unborn child, there were five people to extract, five lives to save, five souls to steal from Navuh's grasp.
Impossible?
Perhaps.
But that had never stopped Annani before.