Page 53 of Dark Island: Rescue
Desperation was cold, she realized. The child inside her was warm. Desperation was death. The child was life.
"We can't just wait for them to figure out the impossible," Tula said, her voice breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "We already have a way out. The tunnel. Navuh's submarine cove."
Areana didn't look at her, her gaze fixed on the horizon where the sun climbed higher. "No."
"Why not?" Tula twisted on the bench to face her. "It's perfect. We wait in the cove where the submarine is parked. The clan sends divers to extract us from there. No staged suicides, no complicated plans that might fail. We just go, and our disappearance would remain a mystery. In fact, I'm surprised that you didn't tell Annani about it."
Areana's fingers tightened around the ribbon she'd pulled out and started embroidering. "It won't work."
The flat certainty in Areana's voice made something hot flare in Tula's chest. "You don't know that. You caught us before we could even try?—"
"I saved you from making a catastrophic mistake, and you know that, so don't pretend like you don't." Areana finally turned to look at her, and there was something almost pitying in her expression. "You wouldn't have been able to activate the submarine because you didn't have the code, but the truth is that you wouldn't have even gotten that far. Did you forget about the surveillance cameras?"
"We didn't forget. We planned to cut the wiresupplying the cameras with electricity. Tony and Elias saw it when they explored the cove during the power outage."
Areana laughed, but there was no humor in it. "That would trigger an immediate alarm. Tula, even I know that severing power to security cameras doesn't just make them stop recording. It sends an alert to the security team. Within minutes, guards would be swarming the tunnel to investigate."
Tula frowned. "Neither Tony nor Elias said anything about an alarm going off."
Areana laughed again. "Are they experts on surveillance equipment?"
They weren't, but neither was Areana. "You can't know that for sure."
"I do." Areana stood, walking over to the cliff's edge where the morning breeze caught her long, pale blond hair and sent it streaming behind her. "I asked, and I got answers."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Tula pushed to her feet and walked over to stand next to Areana. "I can't accept that Tony and Elias and Tamira will be trapped here forever while I escape alone."
"I didn't suggest that." Areana's profile was stark against the blue sky. "All I'm saying is that the cove plan won't work. The clan will devise something better. They have the experts who take every little detail into account. They would never assume that cutting an electrical wire would be enough to disable the surveillance cameras."
When she said it like that, Tula felt stupid for not realizing that and not pointing it out to her friends. She'dbeen so thrilled about the prospect of escape that she hadn't been thinking. But then she didn't have any experience in such matters. Tony had, though, and he'd thought that cutting the wire would do the trick. Perhaps Areana was wrong? Or maybe she didn't want the clan to know about Navuh's submarine. It was his escape vehicle of last resort, which was valuable information to his enemies.
Tula searched Areana's profile for any hint of deception. "Maybe you just don't want to use that route because it would reveal that Navuh has a submarine and a way to escape this island if the clan attacks and wins."
Areana's head snapped toward her, and Tula could see the flash of anger in her eyes. "You think I'm protecting Navuh's secrets?"
"Aren't you?" The words came out sharper than Tula intended, edged with all her fear and frustration. "You always protect him. Maybe you're not as committed to this rescue as you claim."
The goddess rarely showed anger, rarely let her composure crack, but now fury radiated from her in waves.
"Selfish," Areana said, her voice low and trembling. "You're being so selfish, Tula. Thinking only of yourself without considering what this will cost others."
"I'm trying to save my child, my partner, and my friends!" Tula shot back.
"What about me?" Areana turned to her fully now, the morning light catching the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Have you given a single thought to whathelping you will cost me? What it will do to my relationship with my mate?"
Tula opened her mouth, then closed it. She had thought about it, but in the abstract, not really considering the full implications.
"Do you know what Navuh will do when he discovers your escape?" Areana continued, her voice gaining strength. "He won't just shrug and move on. He'll investigate. He'll want to know how you got off the island, who helped you, and whether there are traitors in his midst. And when four people disappear at once? He'll tear this place apart looking for answers."
"But if we stage my suicide like Carol?—"
"Your suicide might be believable," Areana interrupted. "Pregnant, desperate, throwing herself off the cliff—yes, Navuh would accept that. But four people? There is no scenario where four people vanish or die together without raising massive suspicion. And every investigation will eventually point back to me."
Tula felt her anger deflating, replaced by a cold knot of dread in her stomach. "He loves you. He wouldn't?—"
"He might spare my life," Areana said softly. "But only if he doesn't succumb to rage and kill me on the spot. The truelove mate bond ensures he'll always love me and need me like he needs air to breathe. But love and forgiveness aren't the same thing, Tula. If he discovers I've betrayed him, helped you escape, lied to his face for weeks..." She turned back to the ocean. "He'll never trust me again. He'll never look at me the same way. Every moment of happiness we've shared, every bit of intimacy and understanding we've builtover five millennia—it will be poisoned by this betrayal."
Tula's throat tightened. She'd never heard Areana speak this way.
