Page 61 of Dark Island: Rescue

She was right. He knew she was right. But knowing and feeling were different things.

"What's the plan for the rescue?" Esag asked, eager to change the subject. "Annani must have some ideas."

Wonder's expression darkened again. "Annani is consulting with Kian, and he's consulting with Turner.Did you meet Turner? He's a relatively new clan member who runs his own operation of hostage retrieval for a fee. He's not part of the Guardian force or even the council, but Kian relies on him when a mission is complicated."

"I've heard of him."

"Anyway, Turner is assessing what's feasible. But Kian thinks that they can only save Tula. What's even worse, she can't tell them that. They will think that she chose to end her life for real."

"Fates." Esag pressed his palms against his eyes. "That's going to destroy her."

"I know." Wonder sounded defeated.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You've already helped. The vision gave us a warning." Wonder turned back to him. "Now we just have to trust Kian and Turner to come up with the best plan possible given the constraints."

"I hope you're right," Esag said. "I hope they figure out something brilliant and manage to save all four."

"You sound as unconvinced as I am."

"I'm not. I've lived long enough to know that hope's a fickle mistress. Sometimes the world is just cruel and takes what it wants regardless of what we need or want or pray for."

"That's dark."

"That's realistic." Esag looked at her directly. "But I'll still hope anyway. For your sake. For Tula's sake. For all of them."

"That's all any of us can do."

She rose to her feet. "Thank you for telling me aboutthe vision, and about Tula saying that she hated you. That actually made me feel better, weirdly enough. She was always such a fierce little thing, protecting everyone she loved with everything she had. I'm glad that she hasn't lost that fierceness after all the years she has spent in captivity."

22

TULA

The walk back to their underground home felt like a funeral march. Tula's legs moved automatically, carrying her through the topside pavilion, into the elevator, and then to the library while her mind replayed Annani's words on an endless loop.

The clan was likely able to extract only one person, possibly two at elevated risk. Four was impossible.

One person meant her. The pregnant woman with the most believable suicide story. The one everyone would accept had been driven to desperation by her condition.

One person meant leaving Tony behind. Leaving Tamira. Leaving Elias. All of them would be left thinking she'd thrown herself off a cliff in desperation and blaming themselves for not seeing it coming.

"Are you all right?" Areana asked.

Tula nodded because she didn't trust her voice. The tears had stopped a while ago, leaving her feeling hollowed out and brittle.

"You should rest," Areana continued. "You look exhausted."

"I can't." Tula's voice came out hoarse. "If I go to my room, all I will be doing is replaying things over and over in my head. I need to get my hands busy so I can focus on something else." She forced herself to straighten her spine and school her features into something approaching normalcy. "I need to shake this melancholy off," she said out loud to give something to the watchers. "I can't allow myself to be depressed."

Areana nodded. "I understand. The library it is, then."

The place was quiet when Tula entered, which was surprising. Only Beulah and Liliat were present, working at opposite ends of one restoration table.

"Tula!" Beulah looked up with a smile that faded when she saw Tula's face. "What's wrong? You look terrible."

"I'm fine." She walked over to her desk, grateful that it was positioned away from the others. "Just didn't sleep well again."