Page 37 of Dark Rover’s Luck (The Children Of The Gods #95)

37

ANNANI

A nnani held the delicate gold necklace in her hands, fingers tracing the ancient filigree with a tenderness born of five millennia of longing. Every curve and swirl of the precious metal was as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. Khiann had gotten it for her after they were married, one of many pieces of jewelry he had bought for her.

Over the years, she had been forced to sell many of those precious gifts to sustain her growing clan, but she had kept a few she wasn't willing to part with.

"Even the best craftsmanship in the world cannot produce beauty that does not pale beside yours, my love," he had whispered as he fastened it around her neck.

She wore the necklace only on special occasions, but over five thousand years, that had amounted to countless moments and memories for Fenella to access. The question was whether Fenella could access Khiann through it, and the answer was, probably not.

The necklace had been in his possession for only a short time before he had given it to Annani, so he could not have imparted too many memories onto it, and even if he had, those were memories from before the disaster that had claimed his body, but hopefully, not the spark of life retained within it.

"Will this suffice, Clan Mother?" Ogidu interrupted her reverie, standing beside the elegantly arranged tea service to await her approval.

Annani surveyed the spread with an appreciative smile. The delicate cucumber sandwiches, miniature pastries, and an assortment of teas were served in her favorite porcelain set. "It is perfect, Ogidu. Thank you."

"Shall I bring out a fruit platter as well?" he asked.

"Fruit is always a good idea," Annani said. "My guests might enjoy it."

When the doorbell rang a few moments later, and Oridu walked over to open the door to show her guests in, Annani carefully returned the necklace to its velvet-lined box and rose to greet the three ladies she had invited for a mid-morning tea.

She extended her hands in welcome. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." She motioned at the couch and armchairs. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"It's an honor to be invited to your home again, Clan Mother." Kyra dipped her head before taking a seat on one of the armchairs.

"Yes," Fenella agreed. "It's a great honor." Her gaze darted around the room. "You have a beautiful place."

"Thank you," Annani said. "It is not much different than all the other residences in this section of the village. I just added a few personal touches here and there."

Fenella seemed to be searching the walls for something. "I was told that you had a portrait of Khiann commissioned from a forensic artist. Is there a chance you can show it to us?"

The portrait hung in Annani's bedroom, and she did not like inviting anyone in there, but she had stored a copy in the gallery of photographs on her phone.

"Of course." Annani settled on the sofa and pulled out the device. "Do you want me to send you the picture?"

"That would be great. Maybe it will help us in some way." Fenella looked at Kyra and Jasmine. "The three of us should have it."

Annani nodded. "I should have thought of that. I am sending it to you all."

When their phones pinged with the incoming message, all three women immediately looked at their screens, and a moment later, a chorus of oohs and ahhhs ensued.

"He's beautiful," Jasmine breathed.

Fenella and Kyra nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he is." Annani's throat constricted. She turned toward Fenella and forced a smile. "I want to congratulate you upon the discovery of your remarkable talent."

Fenella shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you, Clan Mother, but I'm not sure remarkable is the word I'd use. The words 'invasive' and 'disorienting' come to mind."

"Psychometry can be overwhelming," Annani acknowledged. "Objects carry so much history, so many impressions. Learning to filter what you allow yourself to receive is a skill that comes with practice."

"So I'm told," Fenella said. "Though I'm not convinced it's a skill worth developing. Touching Kyra's pendant was like having someone force-feed me a decade of memories in seconds."

"I understand," Annani said. "But it might be the key to finding my Khiann."

Fenella's expression softened. "I'm more than willing to try. I just don't want to get anyone's hopes up."

Ogidu walked in with the tea tray, offering it first to Annani, then to each of the guests in turn.

"Try the cucumber sandwiches," Annani encouraged. "They are simple but delightful."

"They're delicious." Jasmine took a small sandwich. "I've always loved the ritual of tea, whether it was in the morning or in the afternoon."

"Tea and little sandwiches are very pleasant," Kyra agreed, her gaze focused intently on Annani. "But I suspect we're not here for just that."

Annani smiled. "I like your directness, Kyra, and you are quite right. I have asked you here because of Fenella's psychometric ability and what Amanda told me about the three of you working together." She set her teacup down. "When you touch objects, Fenella, you perceive their history, the moments and memories they have witnessed."

"In vivid, overwhelming detail," Fenella confirmed. "At least that's what happened with Kyra's pendant."

"The pendant has been with Kyra through many intense experiences," Annani said. "It is not surprising that it carries powerful impressions."

"Amanda said I should practice with simpler objects." Fenella put her teacup down on the coffee table. "Things with less dramatic histories."

"A sensible approach," Annani agreed. "But time is not a luxury we have in abundance. Not when it comes to finding my Khiann."

The three women exchanged glances, and Annani could sense their unspoken communication—the subtle bond of shared blood asserting itself.

"Do you have something of his?" Jasmine asked.

"I do." Annani reached for the velvet box on the side table. "This is a necklace Khiann gave me shortly after our wedding." She opened the box, revealing the exquisite gold piece nestled against dark fabric.

"It's beautiful," Kyra breathed.

"And very old," Jasmine added.

"Five thousand years," Annani confirmed.

Fenella eyed the necklace with obvious apprehension. "And you want me to touch it and see if I can pick up anything about Khiann?"

"That is my hope, yes," Annani said. "But the truth is that I do not expect to miraculously find Khiann with its help."

"That's a relief," Fenella said dryly.

Annani smiled. "The necklace has been in my possession far longer than it was in Khiann's. I have worn it countless times throughout the millennia. I fear that any impressions you might receive will be of my memories, not his."

"That's kind of obvious," Fenella said.

"It still might provide some insight." Annani traced her finger over the delicate pattern. "Perhaps the necklace retains some impression of the moment Khiann presented it to me, or of him fastening it around my neck, and maybe that will give you the connection you need to where he is now."

Fenella's brow furrowed. "I don't know if I can control what I see. With Kyra's pendant, the visions just flooded in."

"I understand that, child. All I am asking you to do is try."

"Of course." Fenella straightened her shoulders. "I'm willing to try anything and everything to help you find Khiann."

That was said with so much conviction that Annani felt touched. Fenella was not motivated just by gratitude. It was about one woman feeling the pain of another and wanting to do everything in her power to alleviate it.

It was the essence of goodness.

Annani held out the box but hesitated before passing it to Fenella. This necklace was one of her most treasured possessions, a tangible connection to Khiann that had survived when so much else had been lost to time. Letting another handle it, even for such an important purpose, required an act of trust.

"Perhaps we should do this over the sofa," Jasmine suggested. "In case Fenella drops it like she did with the pendant."

"It's a valid concern," Fenella said. "My heart nearly shattered along with the pendant when I dropped it after the visions hit me."

"The sofa is a wise precaution," Annani agreed, moving to sit beside Fenella. She placed the velvet box between them.

Fenella took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this."

"Perhaps I should hold your hand?" Kyra asked. "When we work together, our abilities seem to strengthen each other."

"That is a good idea," Annani said. "The shared maternal lineage creates a resonance between you three. It is why the Fates brought you here together."

Kyra moved to sit on Fenella's other side, taking her free hand, while Jasmine positioned herself on the floor before them, her hand resting on Fenella's knee.

Fenella stared at the necklace for a long moment, then slowly extended her hand. Her fingers hovered over the gold, trembling slightly. "Here goes nothing," she murmured, and closed her hand around the delicate chain.

The effect was almost immediate. Fenella's eyes widened, her pupils dilating as her gaze turned inward. Her grip on Kyra's hand tightened, and her breathing became shallow and rapid.

Annani watched, heart pounding, as emotions flickered across Fenella's face—wonder, confusion, and something that looked unsettlingly like fear.

What was she seeing?

What memories did the necklace preserve?

After what seemed an eternity but could only have been seconds, Fenella gasped and released the necklace, letting it fall back into its velvet nest. She pulled her hand away as if burned, her face pale.

"Fenella?" Kyra sounded concerned. "Are you all right?"

"I—yes," Fenella managed, though she looked unsettled. "It was intense."

"What did you see?" Annani asked, trying to keep the desperation from her voice.

Fenella hesitated, her gaze darting away from Annani's. "Snippets, mostly. Fragments of your memories. But none of them seemed ancient. Nothing that would help locate Khiann."

Disappointment settled like a cold weight in Annani's chest. "I feared as much. The necklace has been with me too long, gathered too many of my memories."

"It was mostly you wearing it on various occasions," Fenella confirmed. "They all seemed pretty recent."

"Nothing from earlier times?" Jasmine pressed.

Fenella shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

Annani studied Fenella's face, noting the careful way she was choosing her words. There was something the woman was not saying, some vision she was deliberately omitting. Annani's curiosity was piqued, but she would not press.

"You should try again," Kyra suggested. "Maybe focus specifically on the oldest memories, try to push past the recent ones."

Fenella's expression tightened. "I don't think it works that way. I don't control what I see—it just comes at me in a flood."

"With practice—" Jasmine began.

"Perhaps another time," Annani interrupted, seeing Fenella's discomfort. "A newly discovered paranormal ability can be an intense experience. We should not push too hard, too quickly."

Relief flickered across Fenella's face. "Thank you."

Annani carefully closed the velvet box, securing the necklace inside. "This was a worthy first attempt. I have other objects that we can try, but they will probably yield the same results. I only have Khiann's gifts. I do not have anything that was personally his."

"Which brings us back to the original problem," Kyra pointed out.

"Indeed." Annani sighed. "A circular conundrum."

"We'll find him," Jasmine said with a confidence that warmed Annani's heart. "Between my far-viewing, Mother's precognition, and Fenella's psychometry, we have abilities the Fates clearly meant to work in concert."

Annani smiled. "Your confidence gives me hope."

"Hope is dangerous," Fenella murmured. "But sometimes it's all we have."

Annani studied the three women before her—Kyra with her warrior's resolve, Jasmine with her mystic's intuition, and Fenella with her hard-won resilience. They were an unlikely trio, brought together across time and continents by the machinations of the Fates. Yet in them, Annani sensed a powerful potential, a convergence of abilities that might accomplish what had seemed impossible.

"Would you care for more tea?" Annani offered, deciding to lighten the mood.

"Yes, thank you," Fenella said.

"By the way," Kyra said as Ogidu poured more tea into her cup. "My little niece Cyra has an interesting ability. I believe she's able to tap into the minds of people she gets physically close to, and she tapped into yours, Clan Mother. After meeting you and sitting in your lap, she started dreaming about a beautiful doll man sleeping under the sand. She told me we have to find him."

Annani shivered. "Perhaps she shares your family's talent, and she somehow saw my Khiann? Maybe she can somehow lead us to him."

Kyra smiled apologetically. "She couldn't have seen Khiann as he is now. Jasmine told me what Ell-rom looked like after seven thousand years in stasis. If Cyra saw the real Khiann as he is now, she would have seen a skeleton. Instead, she saw him the way you think of him, still as beautiful and perfect as you remember him, and she also absorbed the urgency you feel to find him."

It all sounded logical, but Annani's gut told her there was more to it. The little girl could be the key to it all.

She had to see the child again.