Chapter 24 Areana
AREANA
Areana stood aboard the plane and watched as Julian and the nurse from Safe Harbor's medical center secured Navuh's gurney in the reconfigured rear section of the cabin.
New monitoring equipment had arrived with the plane, and she wasn't sure if she should be glad that Navuh was getting better monitors or worried that he needed them.
She wanted to trust that Julian was going to keep her mate alive, but sometimes even the best efforts failed to keep a body working and the soul tethered to it.
Sometimes the soul was just too tired of this world and wanted to cross over to where there was no strife, no hate, only peace and love.
Navuh would hate that with a passion.
Her mate thrived on the dark side of things, and he would fight for every breath to stay in this world and keep spreading his darkness until it consumed everything.
But even if that was no longer possible because the clan had gotten him, he would fight to stay with her. She doubted he believed that she would follow him no matter where he went, even if it was beyond the veil.
Navuh looked so still, so pale, his powerful frame diminished by injury and the tubes and wires connecting him to machines that breathed for him, that kept his heart beating, that tracked every fragile sign of life.
Stabilized, Julian had said, as if that word could encompass the reality of her mate hovering between life and death.
The nurse left, closing and securing the door. The plane's engines changed pitch, preparing for takeoff. Anandur instructed Areana to take her seat in the main cabin and showed her how to strap in.
The aircraft featured cream leather seats, polished wood accents, and compact tables that folded out from the side walls, reflecting a level of luxury typically reserved for business executives rather than covert military missions.
The sixteen Guardians who made up the rescue team sat in the remaining seats throughout the cabin, with Anandur, the acting commander, taking the seat directly across the aisle from her.
Yamanu was on the other plane with the ladies, Tony and Elias.
She preferred it that way. The ladies would have wanted to offer her comfort, and she would have been forced to respond with small smiles and acknowledgments, which would have further drained the little strength she'd managed to retain.
The other plane had taken off about twenty minutes ago, while Julian, the nurse, and several Guardians were maneuvering the gurney into the cabin. It hadn't been easy. The plane wasn't a medical transport.
She was told that it was Kalugal's private jet.
Her son was wealthy, she had known that from talking to Annani and to Kalugal himself, but this luxurious craft really drove it home for her.
Areana's heart swelled with pride.
It wasn't that she valued wealth above all else, but it was the physical manifestation of success, and success was the manifestation of exceptional ability combined with exemplary work ethics.
Her son had both.
She couldn't wait to see him, Jacki, and their little son Darius. She'd cried rivers when she'd seen them on the small screen of Anandur's phone, and then more tears had come when Lokan and Carol appeared on the small screen, looking happy and in love.
Except, all that happiness came at a cost. Her mate had lost everything, and he might still lose his life.
The engines roared louder, and the plane began to move.
As they accelerated down the runway and began to lift off, Areana gripped the armrests hard, her back pressed into her seat.
Through the window, she could see Safe Harbor falling away beneath them, growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely.
When she finally released the armrests, her hands were shaking.
She'd never flown before. When Navuh had brought her and the other ladies to Passion Island more than a century ago, they had traveled by ship.
When the plane leveled off and Anandur removed his seatbelt, Areana followed suit and walked to the back of the craft, to her mate and the young doctor who had been taking care of him ever since the Guardians had brought him to the submarine.
"You should get some sleep," she told Julian. "You look like you are about to collapse."
"I can't." He smiled. "That's okay. When we get to the village and I transfer Navuh's care to my mother, I will sleep for twenty-four hours straight."
"Thank you," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm forever in your debt."
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me once he's yelling at everyone and making crazy demands."
Her eyes widened. "How do you know he would do that? Has Lokan been tarnishing his father's image?"
Julian snorted. "No, but he didn't need to. Navuh's reputation precedes him."
"Have you slept?" He asked.
Areana couldn't remember. Time had become strange since the cliff—measured in heartbeats and medical updates rather than hours or minutes. "I don't need much sleep."
She was a goddess. Three to four hours a night were enough, but she hadn't slept even that much in the last forty-eight hours.
"Yes, you do," Julian said. "Anandur can help show you how to convert your seat into a bed and give you a pillow and a blanket. There really is no need for you to stay awake. I'm keeping your mate sedated so his body can heal. He's not going to suddenly wake up and look for you."
That wasn't what Areana was afraid of.
She was afraid of waking up and discovering that Navuh had passed while she'd been asleep. She believed that as long as she watched over him, the angel of death wouldn't dare grab him. Never mind that there were no angels in the gods' faith system, and angels were a human convention.
There was more to the universe than any of them knew, and the humans might be onto something.
"You should also eat something," Julian added. "You will be no good to him if you collapse."
The logic was sound, but the thought of food made her nauseous. He was right, though. She needed to maintain her strength and not let herself get depleted.
Anandur offered her his hand. "Hold on to me. There is slight turbulence, and I don't want you to fall."
She wouldn't. She was a goddess and not a fragile human, but she was teetering on the edge of the abyss, and holding on to Anandur's strong hand was like an injection of positivity.
He guided her back to her seat and didn't let go of her hand until she was seated. She sank into it, feeling the events of the day, the week, the millennia bearing down on her.
Areana pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to hold back tears. "I know that everyone here is doing their best for someone they don't deem deserving of their efforts. For someone who would have killed any of you without hesitation if the positions were reversed."
"Probably," Anandur agreed with brutal honesty. "But that's not who we are. We don't measure our actions by what our enemies would do. We measure them by what's right. By the standards that our Clan Mother has set forth for us."
"Is keeping Navuh alive one of Annani's standards?" The question escaped before Areana could stop it.
"It is. If we capture Doomers, I mean members of the Brotherhood, we don't kill them. We put them in stasis. Your sister doesn't believe in executions except for the worst offenders."
Thankfully, he didn't elaborate on what constituted those whom Annani considered the worst. Areana could imagine.
Anandur was quiet for a long moment. "Mainly, we are doing this for you, Lady Areana. No one wants to see you suffer."
She liked that he was so honest and didn't try to sugarcoat things for her. They were saving Navuh for her because Annani commanded it.
"Please, call me Areana and drop the lady. I've seen enough American movies to know that it is not how you address ladies in your society. You call them by their given name, or if they are strangers, Ms. or Mrs."
"Very well," he agreed without arguing. "Would you like me to heat up a meal for you or do you just want to sleep? If you press that button on the armrest, your seat will recline all the way, turning into a bed."
"I wish I could sleep, but I don't think I can." How could she close her eyes when Navuh was fighting for his life twenty feet away? When every beep of the monitors might herald the moment his heart stopped?
Anandur stood, reaching into the cabinet built into the plane's wall. He pulled out a bottle and a glass. "Whiskey might take the edge off."
Areana stared at the amber liquid he poured. She rarely drank because she didn't like the taste of alcohol, but if it could help her sleep, it was worth the medicinal taste and the burn in her throat.
She took the glass and sipped. As she'd expected, the whiskey tasted awful and burned going down, harsh and warming, spreading heat through her chest. How did anyone enjoy this?
"Thank you," she said.
Anandur settled back into his own seat, producing a large bag of pretzels from somewhere. "Comfort food," he said, offering her the bag. "Wonder loves them. She says that salt and carbs are good for the soul."
Areana smiled and took a small handful. The salt was sharp on her tongue, and the crunch was very satisfying. Comfort food. What a strange concept.
"I need to thank Yamanu's mate for the clothing and the shoes," she said, needing to focus on something other than the rhythmic beeping sounds of the medical equipment.
"Her name is Mey, and Wonder helped organize the collection." Anandur's entire face softened when he talked about his mate. "It was one hell of an undertaking to make it before the plane left. Amanda, your niece, helped."
"That was so kind of them." Areana took another sip of whiskey, then another small handful of pretzels.
"Please tell them all thank you from all of us.
" She looked down at the jeans, the long-sleeved T-shirt, and the flat-soled shoes she was wearing.
Not her usual style, but they fit, and she looked like the average American woman in them.
Well, not average. She was a goddess, but she might be able to blend in.
"I'll tell them," Anandur promised.
After that, they sat in silence, and the only sounds were the engines' steady drone and the medical equipment's mechanical symphony. The other Guardians sat with earphones on and either dozed off or watched something on their tablets.
"I'm going to see Annani. After all this time, I'm going to see my sister, and I'm bringing along the male who caused her and her family so much pain."
"Annani is going to be so happy to see you that she won't care who you're bringing along. You could be traveling with the devil himself, and she would welcome you with open arms."
Areana frowned. "Is that what she thinks of Navuh? That he's the devil?"
He chuckled. "No, she doesn't. You might find it hard to believe, but your mate is not the big bad wolf he believes himself to be. There are worse villains out there."
"Who?"
"I'll leave it up to the Clan Mother to tell you. I don't know what you are and are not allowed to know."
Apparently, there were many things Annani hadn't told her about during their Wednesday calls. Like the Kra-ell who were living in the village.
Why hadn't Annani told her about them? Probably for the same reason Areana hadn't told Annani about Navuh's submarine. They both kept secrets from one another to protect the people they loved.
"I'm happy for Tula," Areana whispered. "I'm so happy that she's free and she will get to raise her son."
"I hear a but in there," Anandur said.
"But her freedom cost Navuh his." The admission felt like tearing something vital from her chest. "It's her freedom and the freedom of all the ladies, of Tony and Elias, in exchange for his.
And it's not only he who will pay the price.
I worry for the harem staff and the Dormants in the Dormant enclosure.
I worry for all the human women who were brought to the island to work in the brothel.
I worry for all the humans and what will happen to them when the soldiers find out that Navuh is gone, and they can do whatever they want. "
He turned to face her. "That's the odd thing. From what we could monitor, nothing on the island seems to have changed. The construction work is continuing, and supplies continue to arrive and get unloaded. It doesn't seem disorderly at all. We haven't picked up any gunfire either."
"That's good, but odd," she admitted. "Maybe Losham has taken over and he's more capable than Navuh gave him credit for. Do you know who Losham is?"
He nodded. "I do. He used to be Navuh's right-hand man and the real brains behind the Brotherhood's long-term planning."
She took offense to that misconception. "Losham is very smart, but I wouldn't say he was the brains behind Navuh. My mate is a brilliant strategist."
"Of course he is." Anandur reclined his seat. "I'm going to doze off. I suggest that you do the same."
Areana nodded, reclined the seat, and closed her eyes. But behind her closed lids, memories played like clips from a film.
The journey north from the palace to Mortdh's stronghold.
Tula had been with her then—so young, a twelve-year-old girl, her lady-in-waiting for the journey.
She had accepted Tula's service as a favor to Annani.
After Gulan escaped, her family was desperate to replace the income that Gulan used to bring home, and they had been too proud to just accept Annani's charity.
Navuh had visited their caravan, using Mortdh's flyer to check up on her, and that was when they had fallen in love.
Or rather, she'd fallen in love with him.
He'd revealed that he'd loved her for years from afar and hadn't dared to approach her because she was a goddess and he just a lowly immortal.
He'd promised her that she would never wed Mortdh, that he wouldn't let it happen, and he'd kept his promise.
"You're the center of my world, Areana," Navuh had told her just a few days ago. "Everything I do, everything I build—is for you. To give you the life you deserve and to keep you safe."
He'd sounded so sincere that she'd almost believed him, but then she'd remembered all the times she hadn't been able to stop him from doing terrible things, and she had to wonder why he had done them.
It certainly hadn't been for her.