Chapter 6 Yamanu #2
Navuh had jumped, diving after his truelove mate without hesitation, without thought, seeing only that she had fallen, and following her over the edge.
"No!" Areana's scream was worse than anything Yamanu had ever heard before. Raw anguish that seemed to tear itself from her soul.
The scream must have reached Navuh mid-dive.
Yamanu heard the change—a shift in the sound of air displacement. Navuh must have been aiming for the open water beyond the rocks, where an immortal might survive the impact. But Areana's scream had drawn his attention. He'd twisted toward the sound, toward the cliff face.
The trajectory change would be fatal even for a powerful immortal like Navuh.
"Navuh! NO!"
Areana thrashed in Yamanu's grip, trying to pull free, trying to follow her mate down to his death. "Let me go! Let me GO!"
"Stop!" His fingers dug into her wrist. "You can't help him!"
But she was beyond reason, fighting with desperate strength. Behind him, Tula was sobbing, still dangling in the harness.
And below—
The sound of impact was wet and final. Not the splash of water, but bone and flesh meeting stone. Navuh had hit the rocks.
Areana went limp in Yamanu's grasp, a broken keening sound escaping her throat.
"Areana." Yamanu forced his voice to be steady. "Your sons need you. Annani needs you. Climb up. Grab my arm with both hands."
Something in his words penetrated. She grabbed his forearm with her free hand and pulled herself up until he could grab her properly.
"On my back," he commanded. "Arms around my neck."
She obeyed mechanically, wrapping herself around him, still making that terrible sound.
Above, guards were probably still milling around, confused and unsure, just the way he made them feel. In their shrouded perception, Tula had jumped and vanished. No one else had been there. No reason to look down. No one could survive such a fall anyway.
Yamanu unclipped his ascender and clipped his rappel device to the rope. No time for a controlled descent. He had two women to get down: one clinging to his back, one dangling below.
He pushed off and began rappelling as fast as he dared. The rope ran hot through his device, the friction heating even through his gloves. Their combined weight made control difficult, but immortal strength compensated.
A hundred feet.
Two hundred.
They hit water in one of the deeper channels between the rocks. Warm ocean water closed over Yamanu's head, and for a moment, Areana's grip loosened.
Then hands were grabbing them. Anandur's face appeared, pulling Areana free. Another Guardian took Tula, unclipping the carabiner.
Yamanu surfaced and turned to look for Areana.
She was treading water, but suddenly she started fighting her way toward the rocks, where Ryan and Arran were navigating between the jutting boulders, dragging a body.
"Navuh!
"Areana—"
"Please! He jumped after me. You have to save him!"
"He's already gone," Anandur said heavily. "No one can survive—"
"He's not dead!" Areana clutched at her chest. "I can feel him here. He's alive. Please!"
"She's right," Ryan's voice came through the com. "Barely. I can't even list all that is broken, but he's got a pulse."
As they got closer, Yamanu could see the extent of the damage, and it wasn't pretty. Blood streamed from Navuh's nose and ears. One leg was twisted grotesquely. His chest rose and fell in shallow, labored breaths that sounded wet. His lungs must be shredded.
Areana made a wounded sound and tried to reach for him, but Anandur held her back. "Don't move him more than necessary."
"We can't take him underwater like this," Ryan said.
"Please," Areana begged, looking at Yamanu. "Please save him. I'll do anything. I'll help you. Just don't let him die."
Yamanu wasn't even sure Navuh could enter stasis in his current condition.
He was too damaged, and the visible injuries were probably nothing compared to what was happening on the inside.
But in case he entered stasis, it would be a shame to just leave him there and allow him to resuscitate once his body fixed the damage.
Yamanu opened the comms channel directly to Kian.
"We have a situation. Tula slipped, Areana tried to catch her and fell.
I caught both of them, but Navuh came charging out of nowhere, jumped after Areana, and hit the rocks.
He's alive but in critical condition. Probably too damaged even for stasis, but you never know. Areana is begging us to save him."
There was a pause. "How critical?" Kian asked.
"Barely clinging to life. Multiple fractures, head trauma, and probably a lot of damage under the hood. I doubt he'll survive without immediate medical attention, but we can't transport him underwater, and there is no way to get him back to the island even if we wanted to."
"Can you use the Zodiac?"
"Yes. But the immortal guards might see it. That is the reason we are diving to the submarine and not sailing."
"I know the risks." Kian sounded resolute. "We have to take him for all the obvious reasons. Get him to the sub and have Julian do what he can. Keep him deeply sedated, though. Everyone wears compulsion-filtering earpieces around him at all times."
"Understood."
Yamanu hadn't expected any other answer.
Kian had immediately understood the implications of leaving Navuh to either die or enter stasis.
If he died, Areana would be heartbroken, and Annani would never forgive them for leaving him behind.
And if he entered stasis, he would heal and get back to ruling the island, but with a renewed vendetta for them taking Areana.
He would burn the entire world to get her back.
Anandur pulled the compressed Zodiac from his pack, yanking the inflation cord. The black rubber boat expanded with a harsh hiss.
"Sedatives first." Anandur pulled a waterproof medical kit from his gear. "He deserves to suffer, but we can't risk him waking up."
Areana winced but said nothing.
While Anandur prepared the injection, the others carefully maneuvered Navuh's broken body. It took all four Guardians to lift him into the Zodiac without causing more damage.
Navuh's skin glowed in the pale moonlight despite him not being particularly light-skinned, which made his body stand out against the black rubber of the Zodiac.
"Cover him with a tarp," Yamanu instructed. "Just make sure he doesn't suffocate under there."
Ryan unfolded the waterproof tarp, wrapping it over Navuh but leaving it loose so he could still get some air. From above, the Zodiac would look like a shadow on the water.
Yamanu turned to the goddess, who now appeared almost composed, knowing that her mate was not being left to die.
"You can't join Navuh on the Zodiac, Areana.
You will need to make the journey underwater, but we don't have additional scuba gear for you, so you will have to share my air supply. You'll ride on my back."
She nodded, her attention fixed on the still form of her mate under the tarp.
"I'll tow the Zodiac," Arran volunteered.
"Thanks." Yamanu clapped him on the back.
"The immortal guards will spot it once we clear the cove," Anandur warned.
"Maybe," Yamanu said. "Maybe not. We have no choice. Arran, you stay deep and keep the Zodiac as low as you can."
Yamanu's shroud still held, and no one was pointing flashlights at the water or shooting at them. It would hold for a few miles, but eventually it would lose its effectiveness.