Page 41 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope (The Children Of The Gods #100)

TAMIRA

T amira stared at the untouched food meant for Eluheed and Tony, the lie of their supposed meeting at the gazebo growing stale in the afternoon heat. They'd been gone for over an hour and a half now.

"We need to get rid of this," she told Tula, keeping her voice low. "It has occurred to me that they can't get out of the pavilion without our help. When they come out, they'll need us to distract the guards."

Tula nodded, casting nervous glances at the walkway leading to the gazebo. "We can dump the food in those bushes." She indicated a thick cluster of flowering shrubs. "With all the small animals living in the gardens, the evidence will be gone in minutes."

"Nevertheless, we should make an effort to hide it. Someone else might decide to seek solitude in the gazebo, and the smell alone will give the food away."

Tula crinkled her nose. "You are right. It has become pungent. But I have no intention of digging in the dirt with the fork to bury it."

"We'll just cover it well," Tamira said.

They scraped the food into the undergrowth, covered it as best they could with branches and loose leaves, and then stacked the empty plates as if the men had eaten and departed.

As they rushed back while trying to look like they were in no hurry, Tamira's mind cycled through all the possible disasters that could have befallen the men.

What if they'd been trapped in the closet because someone locked it from the outside?

What if the air had run out faster than calculated?

What if someone had stayed behind and caught them?

What if there was a battery-operated alarm at the entrance to the tunnel?

There hadn't been any commotion, and the guards were still standing at the two entrances to the pavilion, looking bored. Through the glass doors, she could see the darkened outlines of the interior.

"The interrogation committee is coming," Tula murmured in Tamira's ear.

Tamira's shoulders tensed before she forced them to relax.

"Ladies." Areana smiled. "I haven't seen you. Where have you been?"

"The gazebo," Tula said. "We got food for Elias and Tony."

"Aha." Areana moved to stand before them. "I was starting to wonder whether you decided to assist the men in their search for that exotic herb. Several people have asked about you."

"The men took a break and came to the gazebo to eat," Tula lied smoothly. "Wolfed down their food like starving animals and ran back to continue their hunt."

"In this heat." It wasn't quite a question.

"Men," Tula said with a shrug that made Areana's lips curl up in a smile.

"Indeed." Areana looked between them. "Are you waiting here for them to return?"

"We came to get water," Tamira said. "Elias forgets to hydrate when he's focused on something. We will take it to them."

That particular detail about Elias forgetting his thirst and hunger while working was true, and Areana would know it from the times he had worked in the indoor garden for hours without a break. The best lies were interwoven with truths.

"Yes, he does forget to take care of himself," Areana said. "But at least he's good at taking care of you." She smiled knowingly and walked away.

Tamira let out a breath. "Go watch the other door," she told Tula. "I trust you have a plan to distract the guard so the men can sneak by him?"

Tula grinned. "I'm the queen of distractions." She walked away with a sway of her hips that was more like her old self, before she discovered that she was pregnant and started to panic.

It was awkward to just stand near the pavilion and watch the door, and when the guard gave her a curious look, Tamira fanned herself with her hand. "The tent is too stifling. It's cooler here in the shade."

He dipped his head. "Of course, my lady. You can stand in the shade of the building, but you cannot enter."

"I know." She pouted prettily. "I can't wait for the power outage to end so we can all go back and enjoy air conditioning. I hate this heat."

He nodded with a smile, his posture relaxing.

Tamira was proud of herself. She still knew how to do that. How to disarm people and make them like her. She hadn't lost her touch.

A few moments later, a movement beyond the glass doors caught her eye. It was just a flicker, but it was unmistakable. Getting closer, she could see Eluheed through the glass, peeking through the stairwell door and motioning with his hand.

"The shade is shrinking," she excused her actions to the guard. "It's so hot." She fanned herself with her hand. "Is there any way you can leave your post for a few seconds and get me a bottle of water from the cooler in the tent? I'm starting to feel faint."

The guard looked torn. "I would have loved to, but I can't leave my post."

"Are you sure?" She wiped sweat from her forehead. "I'm so parched."

"I'm so sorry, my lady."

Behind him, she could see the stairwell door opening wider and Eluheed gesticulating to her.

The guard wasn't going to budge no matter what charms she employed. She should have asked Tula about her methods of distraction, but Tula was on the other side of the pavilion, watching the other door and probably flirting with the other guard.

Tamira's only option was thralling, which she hadn't attempted in centuries, and even then she hadn't been good at it. She'd never had use for the ability and hadn't practiced it.

Still, the guard was human and not very bright, and those types were the easiest to thrall because they didn't have any mental walls up.

She reached out with her mind, and her rarely used ability felt rusty and strange.

As she'd suspected, the guard's consciousness was easy to access.

Your bladder is full. Painfully full. You need to pee so badly that you are about to embarrass yourself in front of the lady.

She pushed the thought, threading it into his mind like a needle through fabric.

For a long moment, his expression remained neutral, and she thought she'd failed, but then she saw his stance shift slightly.

She pushed harder, imagining the sensation herself and projecting it.

Urgent. Can't wait .

A muscle in his jaw twitched.

"I would really like a drink of water," she continued conversationally. "It will take you only seconds to run to the tent and get me a bottle. You can get one for yourself as well. You must be thirsty."

"I have to go." The words came out strained. "Can you please make sure no one enters? I'll be right back with your water."

"Of course." She gifted him with her brightest smile. "I'll stand guard until you return."

"Thank you, my lady." He dashed toward the nearest cluster of bushes.

Tamira stood with her back to the door, pushed it slightly open, and waved her hand. Eluheed and Tony ducked outside behind her and immediately beelined in the same direction the guard had gone.

Somehow, miraculously, no one had noticed, and as Tamira waited for the guard to return, her heartbeat eventually returned to normal.

The guy returned a few moments later, his face red with embarrassment and holding two bottles of water in his hands. "My apologies, my lady." He handed her a bottle.

"No need to apologize. Thank you for the water." She made a show of uncapping it and taking a long, grateful sip. "That was lifesaving." She rewarded him with another bright smile. "I feel revived."

She waved her hand and walked away, circling to where Tula was still watching the other door.

"We should return to the shade of the gazebo," she said. "It's much cooler out there."

Tula lifted a brow.

"Didn't you see them?" Tamira whispered. "They passed right by you."

"I didn't. I was busy charming the guard."

"Let's get more water and go find them. I bet they are thirsty."

They made their way to the refreshment station in the tent and picked more water bottles from the cooler while several people watched.

They found the men where they'd agreed to meet, both covered in fresh dirt, and their shirts soaked with sweat.

"That was quick," Tula said. "You're already in costume."

"Water," Eluheed said gratefully, taking the bottle she offered and draining half immediately.

"What did you find?" Tula demanded.

"The submarine exists," Tony said between gulps of water. "It has four seats, so we won't have to sit in each other's laps."

"It needs a fingerprint to open," Eluheed said. "We assume it's programmed to Navuh's."

Tamira's spirits took a nosedive. They couldn't get into the vessel without taking Navuh with them, and good luck with that.

"How are we going to get it?" Tula asked.

"We can collect his fingerprints from a glass he touched," Tony explained in a whisper. "I've seen it done in a movie, so I'm not a hundred percent sure it will work, but we can practice it before ambushing the maid after she collects the dirty dishes from Areana's apartment."

"When are we doing that?" Tula asked.

"Tonight, we practice," Eluheed said, "and if it works the way Tony says it does, he and I will wait for the maid in the service elevator and offer to take the tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen for her."

"I'll come with you," Tamira said. "She won't surrender the dishes just because you offer, and she might get suspicious. I can thrall her to give them up and forget she ever saw us."

Eluheed's brows shot nearly all the way to his hairline. "You can do that?"

She nodded. "I have just discovered that I can. I thralled the guard to leave his post. I made him think that he urgently needed to relieve himself." She chuckled. "I haven't done that in centuries and was afraid that it wouldn't work, but it did. I'm quite proud of myself."

"As you should be." Tula regarded her with open appreciation. "Females usually can't thrall."

"You know what they say about desperate times," Tamira said. "You do things you didn't think you could."