Page 101 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"I wish we'd had more time," she whispered. "In our sanctuary. Just the two of us, pretending the world didn't exist."
His arm tightened around her. "We'll have more nights like that. When this is over?—"
"Don't," she interrupted. "Don't make promises about a future that might not exist. Just hold me."
He pulled her closer, and she buried her face against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. Around them, the others found their own comfort. Tula and Tony would have been wrapped in each other's arms if they were here together, but now Tula sat with Sarah, their hands clasped. The servants huddled in groups.
Tamira closed her eyes and tried to remember the feeling of safety she'd once taken for granted.
"Whatever happens, I won't let them take you," Elias murmured against her hair. "I promise you that much."
She knew what he meant. If the worst came to pass, if the rebels breached their sanctuary, he would give her the death she'd asked for rather than let her fall into their hands. It should have been comforting, but all she felt was deep, aching sorrow for the future they might have had.
The basement shook again, and somewhere above them, she heard the distinctive sound of gunfire. Not distant anymore, but close. Perhaps even within the mansion itself.
"They're here," someone whispered, and the fear in the basement became a living thing, thick and suffocating.
Tamira pressed closer to Elias and tried to believe Areana's words that Navuh would prevail, that his loyal forces would persevere.
She wanted to believe it.
She had to believe it.
Because the alternative was too terrible to contemplate.
33
NAVUH
As the alarm pierced through the war room, Navuh's head snapped up from the tactical display, his eyes immediately finding the monitor that showed the perimeter. What he saw there made his blood turn to ice and then boil.
How dare they?
"Breach!" Hakum called, though it was unnecessary.
They could all see it.
A team of eight enhanced soldiers had punched through the defensive line. Bodies littered the ground in their wake, some still twitching, others motionless, but hopefully, the soldiers would resurrect soon. The enhanced ones didn't stop to finish the job and remove the heart or the head, so most of the immortal warriors would heal from their injuries.
Those who had sustained more serious wounds might enter stasis, but they were also salvageable.
The intent was obvious. The enhanced and their cohorts were not interested in killing off their brethren. They were interested in Navuh.
He watched their trajectory on the monitors, calculating angles and distances with the part of his mind that always remained coldly analytical even in crisis.
"They know where I am," he said. "They want me."
Their compeller had probably gotten the information about the bunker and its entrance from one of the commanders who had seen it during military exercises.
"How did they get through?" Tharon asked, pulling up footage from the past few minutes and rewinding it. "We had three defensive rings?—"
They all leaned in as the scene played out. The enhanced soldiers had approached from the east, using the smoke from the burning buildings as cover. When they reached the first defensive position, one of them had stepped forward with his hands raised as if in surrender.
"Should I play the audio?" Tharon asked.
"No," Navuh barked. "That's the compeller. You don't want to be within hearing range."
It didn't matter what he had told the defending soldiers. It wasn't about convincing them that he was their savior and Navuh was their oppressor. All that mattered was the special resonance in his voice.
