Page 38 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)

TAMIRA

" H elp me with this." Tamira tossed a heavy silk cushion to Elias that she'd found wrapped in plastic. "It goes in the corner."

He unwrapped it and placed it exactly where she pointed, then stepped back to survey their handiwork.

It was their third night together, and each time they added a few touches to their basement hideout, transforming a corner of the dusty storage area into something that felt almost like home.

They'd pushed furniture around to section off a private sanctuary around the bed and removed the tarps, replacing them with beautiful curtains that they'd found in one of the boxes.

"It's starting to look like something taken from One Thousand and One Nights ," he said, but even though he was smiling, there was something distant in his gaze. It was as if he wasn't fully in the moment with her.

Like something was troubling him .

Throughout the evening, she'd noticed the way his mind seemed to drift even when his hands were on her, and the tightness of his jawline whenever he thought she wasn't looking. Come to think of it, he'd been like that during the day on the harem grounds as well.

Maybe he wasn't feeling well?

Elias was, after all, human, and humans got sick. But Elias was a shaman who knew about healing and could take care of himself. Besides, he hadn't been sick even once since she'd known him.

Not that she'd known him all that long. It just felt like they'd been partners forever.

"What's bothering you?" she asked. "You seem preoccupied."

"It's nothing worth mentioning." He pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. "We have so little time together. I don't want to waste it on futile worries."

His body begged to differ. She could feel the tension in his muscles and the way he held her a little too tightly.

She pulled back to look at his face. "You can tell me. There shouldn't be secrets between us."

He sighed, leading her to their bed—their beautiful four-poster paradise hidden beneath the curtains. They'd added more pillows since the first night, and soft throws that made it feel like a nest, a cocoon where the outside world couldn't reach them.

They settled against the pillows, and Tamira curled into Elias's side, waiting. Sometimes he needed time to find his words, especially when something was truly bothering him.

"The hotel has a bar, and on my first day there, I went to get a drink and met a strange man who was very drunk. He introduced himself as Dr. Marcus Zhao and started talking."

Tamira lifted her face to him. "Does he work in the island clinic?"

"He's not that kind of doctor. He's a scientist. A biochemist, specifically. Lord Navuh brought him to the island to work on a special project."

Her stomach twisted. "Is Navuh developing biological weapons?"

She'd read about them, and they were horrible. Navuh was evil, but that was a level she'd hoped he would never stoop to. Areana wouldn't have it.

Elias was quiet for a moment. "Yes, but not in the way you think. He's not producing bombs of deadly diseases. He's been creating enhanced soldiers. Taking rank-and-file immortal warriors and making them stronger, faster, more resilient."

Tamira frowned. "Immortals are already so much stronger than humans. Why does he want to make them even stronger?"

"That's a good question. I don't know what he plans to do with them; I only know what Zhao told me about their transformation.

He called it 'evolution in a bottle.' He invented chemical compounds to change them, and at first, he was very happy with the results, even though not everything was turning out the way he planned. "

"At first?"

"After he got even drunker, Zhao admitted that the enhancements were working too well. The soldiers were becoming everything he'd designed them to be, but with unexpected side effects."

She tensed. "What kind of side effects?"

"Their brains are changing along with their bodies.

They're developing delusions of grandeur.

They believe they're superior to everyone, and they are resistant to mind manipulation.

They are unpredictable and dangerous. That's why I'm worried, Tamira.

If Lord Navuh loses his tight grip over these enhanced soldiers, they might rebel and attack the others or even go after the lord himself. It would be a bloodbath."

Tamira's mouth went dry. As long as Navuh was in charge and his compulsion ability ensured the absolute obedience of his soldiers, she and the ladies were safe. But if he could no longer control them, the repercussions could be horrific.

Lord Navuh had warned them time and again about the immortal soldiers and the hatred they harbored for the daughters of their enemies. That was why they had to be isolated in the harem and heavily guarded.

Out of sight and out of mind.

But now they were out of the harem and in Navuh's mansion, and everyone knew who they were. The only thing keeping them safe was the lord's incredible compulsion power.

"How is that possible? What kind of chemicals can afford them immunity from his compulsion? That's the only thing keeping this island together."

"I don't think even Zhao knows. It was a side effect of the other enhancements."

"How resistant are they?" she whispered, her panic rising.

"Not completely, not yet, or they would be rebelling already.

But maybe I'm wrong and they will remain loyal to the lord despite being free from his mind control.

" Elias rubbed his face with his free hand.

"Zhao kept rambling about brain chemistry and neural pathways, most of which I didn't understand.

But the core message was clear. He's created monsters he can't control. "

"Does Lord Navuh know?"

Elias hesitated. "I'm not allowed to disclose what transpires between me and the lord at our meetings.

But according to Dr. Zhao, he's been informing the lord about the discipline problems and the fights among the enhanced soldiers.

He said that they were tearing each other apart.

Navuh's response was to tell him to fix the problem with counter medication. "

"Can he?"

Between the lines, Elias had revealed that he had been talking with Navuh about the problem .

"Zhao doesn't think so. He said, and these were his exact words, 'You can't make someone powerful and expect them to remain powerless.' The enhancement changes them fundamentally."

"This is a disaster in the making." Tamira slid out of the bed and started pacing the edge of their sanctuary to relieve the knot that had formed in her stomach. Not that it was helping, but she didn't know what else to do. "A rebellion is imminent."

She and the ladies were in terrible danger. If those soldiers got to them, their fate would be worse than death.

"That's what Zhao seemed to think," Elias said. "He mentioned working on some kind of poison specifically designed to kill enhanced immortals."

Tamira's heart leaped at the possibility of obtaining a last resort way out. "Can you get it?" She got back to bed and grabbed his hands.

"Get what?"

"The poison. Is there any way you can get it from him?"

Elias pulled his hands out of hers. "Tamira, I only spoke to the man once, and he was extremely drunk. I haven't seen him since. Besides, how are you going to use it in self-defense? I don't think that throwing the poison at them will do any harm. It has to be injected."

It was good that Elias thought she was interested in a self-defense weapon. He would never agree to get the poison for her if he realized how she intended to use it .

"Perhaps you could find him again at the bar."

"I've been there several times since, and he hasn't returned. For all I know, Navuh got angry at him for failing to deliver what he wanted and dealt with him. He might have moved him somewhere else. Maybe closer to his lab."

"He has to be alive," she said, desperation coloring her voice. "I really need that poison."

"As I said, it's not like you can throw it at the soldiers and it will kill them."

"It's not for them." She lay back, her head on the pillow.

If Elias couldn't get the poison for her, perhaps he could make some, but then she would have to tell him the truth and convince him that it was necessary.

"If these enhanced soldiers rebel, when they rebel, they will come for Navuh, and they will want everything he has.

Navuh's warriors consider females spoils of war, even the normal ones, and I don't need to spell it out for you what they will do to me and the other ladies.

We need a last resort way out, and poison might be the only thing that will spare us a fate much worse than death.

" She turned to look at him. "Can you make something strong enough to kill immortals? "

Elias's eyes widened with horror. "They won't get to you. Navuh has thousands of regular soldiers. The enhanced ones are vastly outnumbered."

"But you are still worried, so the danger from the enhanced ones is not negligible. When soldiers overthrow their masters, the women always suffer. The poison will be our last resort."

Elias pulled her against him. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"You might not have a choice." She pressed her face against his chest, breathing in his scent. "You are only one man, and you are human. You can't defend me from them. I need the poison for all the ladies. We deserve the right to choose our own fate rather than fall into the hands of monsters."

"You're asking me to help you take your own life. I can't do that."

"I'm asking you to give me control over my own destiny.

To choose my exit. Even Navuh gave us that choice.

Whoever couldn't stand her life anymore could jump off the cliff, and one human maid chose to do it.

But here we have no options, and we are even less safe than in the harem.

Fates, I've never thought I would say that, but I wish we could be back there. "

"The safety was an illusion. The harem was well guarded, but Navuh's mansion is guarded better. You are safer here."

She pulled back to look at him. "Please, Elias. If you can find Zhao, get us the poison from him, and if you can't find him but know how to make one, please do. We might never have to use it, but it will give us peace of mind."

"I'm a healer, Tamira. I learned the art of preserving life, not ending it.

" His voice carried an odd weight, as if this distinction were somehow sacred to him.

"My teachers were very specific about this.

We learned to identify poisonous plants in order to avoid them, to create antidotes, and never to use them as weapons.

But even if I was willing to break my vows, those plants don't grow around here, and even if they did, I doubt they would be effective on immortals. "

Tamira was getting desperate. "Then the scientist is our only hope."

"I told you, I haven't seen him in days. I can't just walk into his laboratory. I'm not even allowed to leave the hotel area without an escort. The bar is the only place where our paths might cross."

"Then go there. Every night if you have to."

"He might never show up, but I'll ask about him." Elias shook his head. "Navuh is a paranoid male, and he will wonder why I'm asking about his scientist. I'm sure he knows everything that goes on in that hotel."

Tamira didn't want to expose Elias to danger, but she was desperate for that ultimate way out. "I hate endangering you in any way, but I can't bear the thought of being helpless if those monsters come for us."

He sighed. "Tomorrow, after we return from the harem grounds, I'll go straight to the bar. I'll wait all evening if necessary. If Zhao doesn't appear, I'll ask the bartender if he's seen him."

She closed her eyes. "I shouldn't ask this of you."

"I understand your fear. I'll do it. But we need to be realistic. The chances of finding Zhao and convincing him to give me some of his poison are very small. Nonexistent, in fact. "

Tamira was quiet for a moment, her mind searching for alternatives. It wasn't easy for an immortal to end her own life, but if someone cut out her heart, that would do it. She couldn't ask Elias to do such a thing, but maybe Tula?

No, even she wouldn't have the stomach for that.

She slumped against him, defeated. "So, we're helpless."

"You're not helpless." He tilted her chin up. "The rebellion might not happen. Zhao was drunk, possibly exaggerating. The enhanced soldiers might remain under control."

"You don't believe that."

"No," he admitted. "But I assume that there are not many of them and that they are vastly outnumbered by strong, immortal soldiers, who will crush that rebellion as soon as it starts." He arranged the silk throws over them both. "You have nothing to worry about."

His words were comforting, and she wanted to believe him, but she'd seen the concern in his eyes and wasn't convinced he was telling her the truth.

"Then why are you so worried?"

"Because there will be bloodshed, and to me, all life is precious."

He sounded convincing, but she was haunted by images of enhanced soldiers breaking down doors, overwhelming the guards, and claiming whatever they wanted.

Tamira had survived five thousand years of captivity by being careful, obedient, and invisible.

But the only one she had needed to appease was Lord Navuh, and he meant her no harm as long as she toed the line.

That wasn't going to work against monsters who thought themselves gods and tore each other apart for sport.

"Promise me something," she said quietly.

"What?"

"Promise that you won't let them take me alive."

"Tamira—"

"I hate asking this of you, but I have no other alternative. I can't cut out my own heart or behead myself, which, other than that poison, are the only ways to end an immortal's life."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"You'd be saving me from something far worse than death."

"Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't allow it."

He was one man against potentially dozens of enhanced soldiers. What could he do?

"Just promise," she whispered.

"I'll protect you. That is all I can promise."

It wasn't what she wanted, but she could hear in his voice that it was all he could give. She pressed closer to him, trying to memorize the feeling of safety in his arms, afraid that it might not last much longer.