Page 33 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope
Tula's sharp call made her blood freeze. She looked back to see Tula standing to shield her from view, and beyond her, still distant but approaching, was an unmistakable figure.
Navuh.
"I have to go," Areana whispered urgently into the pendant.
"Be safe," Annani said, and the connection died.
Areana's hands trembled as she quickly pulled the earpiece from her ear and tucked it into the hidden compartment of her purse. The pendant required no adjustment, looking like an innocent piece of jewelry, but she still tucked it under the neckline of her gown.
"Ready?" Tula asked in a barely audible voice.
"I am. Thank you." Areana pulled out the ribbon she was embroidering and tried to thread the needle, but her fingers trembled too badly, and she stabbed herself instead.
A drop of blood welled on her fingertip, and she immediately put the finger in her mouth.
"Let me," Tula said, taking the needle and thread. With steady hands, she threaded it and handed it back just as Navuh's footsteps became audible on the gravel path.
Areana forced herself to make a stitch, then another, creating the illusion that she'd been sitting there peacefully embroidering while enjoying the morning air.
"Areana," Navuh's deep voice carried a note of surprise. "I didn't expect to find you out here."
She looked up, composing her features into a pleased smile. "This is when I usually sit out here. The morning breeze cools theair, and the ocean is relatively calm. This is the best time of day to be here."
He moved closer, his dark eyes studying her face with an intensity that made her want to fidget. After five thousand years together, he could read her moods with uncanny accuracy.
"You look perturbed," he observed, sitting on the bench beside her. His presence was overwhelming, as always—not because he was a large male, but because of the force of his personality, the power that radiated from him, and the intensity. "What's troubling you?"
"It's nothing," she said, then caught herself. Navuh hated it when she dismissed her own concerns. "I just had an upsetting thought."
"About what?" His tone was patient, but she knew that his patience had limits.
Areana set down her embroidery, using the moment to gather her thoughts. She needed something believable, something that would genuinely upset her but wouldn't invite further investigation.
"The enhanced soldiers," she said, meeting his eyes. "I was thinking about what might have happened if they'd succeeded. If they'd gotten into the basement during the rebellion."
His expression softened, but not by much. He wasn't a soft male, and he never pretended to be anything other than who he was. "I would never allow anything to happen to you, and that's not an empty promise. I would have fought them with my own hands if I had to."
Areana felt the tension ease from her shoulders. "I know." She leaned and kissed his cheek, even though Tula was standing behind them. "My imagination sometimes runs away with me. Sitting here, looking at this drop, I was thinking about how we're always perched on the edge of disaster. One wrong step, one failure of vigilance, and everything falls apart."
Navuh was quiet for a moment, his gaze moving from her face to the cliff's edge. "The enhanced soldiers are contained. They won't threaten you again."
"I'm surprised that you didn't have them executed." She let curiosity color her voice.
"They're too valuable to waste." He leaned back. "I took Elias to see them today. His insight was interesting."
Areana felt Tula shift slightly behind them.
Navuh had told her about the shaman's special abilities, but Tula wasn't supposed to know, and Areana was surprised that he was telling her about this when Tula was within earshot.
"Was it wise to let Elias near them?" she asked. "That seems dangerous."
"It was a risky move." Navuh sounded smug. "But it was productive. He confirmed what I suspected. The enhanced ones are connected, able to communicate through some form of shared consciousness. The enhancement process broke down barriers in their minds, allowing them to access something beyond individual awareness."
"That sounds…terrifying."
"Or revolutionary." His eyes gleamed with the kind of fervor that always made her nervous. "Imagine an army that needs nocommunication devices, no chain of command in the traditional sense. They could have perfect coordination through shared thought."
"But you can't control them," Areana pointed out. "That's the most important thing. What good is a weapon that does whatever it wants? It's worse than useless. It's like sitting on top of a volcano and boasting about being its king." She stopped herself from continuing to say that the volcano was the true ruler and would consume the foolish human, immortal, or even a god sitting on its summit.
