Page 50 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)

TAMIRA

T he explosion that rocked the basement was different from the others—deeper, more fundamental, as if the very bones of the earth were breaking. The ceiling didn't just shake, it seemed to ripple. Dust didn't drift down; it poured in thick curtains that turned the air opaque.

Tamira knew with absolute certainty that this was it. Any moment now, the rebels would cut through the reinforced door or find someone who knew the code to open it for them. They would come for the spoils of war, for the beauties that Navuh had sequestered for thousands of years.

They would rip them apart, break their bones, and watch them mend only to do it again.

Her hand moved to the small of her back, to the kitchen knife she'd smuggled into the basement. It wasn't a weapon, but it could do what needed to be done.

The blade was sharp enough .

As the basement continued to shake, as the servants screamed and even the guards looked uncertain, Tamira pulled the knife free and pressed it into Elias's hand beneath the cover of swirling dust and chaos.

"Get ready," she whispered, her lips barely moving.

Horror turned his face more ashen than all the dust and plaster that had rained on them. He looked at the knife as if it were a venomous snake, then at her, his eyes wide with revulsion.

"Tamira, no?—"

"You promised," she said quietly. "If they breach that door, if they come for us, you promised you wouldn't let them take me."

His hand trembled as he took the knife, sliding it beneath his thighs to hide it from view. She could see the war in his eyes, the battle between his promise to protect her and his inability to imagine harming her.

She wanted to comfort him, to tell him it would be all right, but they both knew that would be a lie.

"Look at the guards," Sarah whispered from beside them.

Tamira turned her attention to the immortal warriors stationed around them. These were men who'd lived for centuries and fought in countless battles. They had faced death more times than she could imagine, and they were terrified.

Not that she blamed them after hearing from Elias what the enhanced soldiers were capable of. They had torn each other to pieces.

"They know," Liliat breathed. "They know the rebels are coming."

The basement had gone quiet except for the muffled sounds of battle above and the soft weeping of several servants. Everyone watched the guards, reading their fear like tea leaves, trying to divine their fate from the terror on their immortal faces.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

One of the guards lifted his hand to his ear, and his expression shifted from terror to confusion, then to a look of disbelief. He turned to his fellow guards, and Tamira saw their lips moving rapidly, sharing whatever they had just heard.

The transformation was instantaneous, with fear melting from their faces, replaced by relief so profound that one of them actually laughed. Two guards high-fived each other, a gesture so incongruous in the situation that several people gasped.

"What's happening?" Areana demanded, rising from her position.

One of the guards turned to face them, and his grin was fierce with triumph. "The leader of the rebellion has been eliminated! Lord Navuh collapsed a tunnel on him and seven others. They're buried under tons of concrete. The remaining rebels are retreating or surrendering across the island! "

For a moment, there was silence. Complete, absolute silence as everyone processed what they'd just heard.

Then the basement erupted.

Servants cheered, hugging each other, crying with relief.

Several fell to their knees in prayer, thanking whatever gods they believed in.

The ladies embraced, even the usually composed Sarah wiped tears from her eyes.

The guards were slapping each other on the back, their customary self-control completely abandoned in the face of survival.

"We're saved!" someone cried.

"Lord Navuh did it!"

"I knew he would win!"

"Can we come out?" one of the braver servants asked. "Is it safe?"

"Not yet," the guard said, though his tone was far gentler than before. "We need to wait for the all-clear. Some enhanced soldiers are still at large, but they're being hunted down."

"We've won," Raviki murmured. "We've actually won."

Tamira sat frozen as the celebration exploded around her.

The knife was still hidden beneath Elias's thigh, its presence a reminder of how close they'd come to the unthinkable.

She should feel relieved. She should feel joy.

They'd survived. The rebellion was crushed. Their lives would continue as before.

"We're safe," Tula said, hugging Areana .

They might be safe from the rebels, but everything had changed.

How could she return to her gilded cage, to her carefully controlled life, to the endless monotony of existing?

"Tamira?" Elias's voice was soft, meant only for her. "We need to get rid of the knife."

"Keep it hidden for now," she murmured. "Until we're sure it's over."

Around them, the celebration continued. Someone had found wine among the supplies, probably meant for the ladies, and was passing it around. Even the guards accepted cups, toasting their lord's victory. The fear that had gripped them all just minutes ago vanished as if by a magic wand.

"Eight enhanced soldiers," Areana repeated what the guards had told her. "Buried alive. They'll heal from their injuries only to find themselves trapped and wait in agony until their bodies enter stasis."

"They deserve it," Rolenna said. "We don't know the extent of the damage, but given all those explosions, I have a feeling that half the island is gone. I just hope that the servants living in the hotel are okay. Humans don't regenerate from wounds."

"I hope Tony is unharmed," Tula said.

Tamira felt awful for not sparing a thought for the harem servants. She'd been so gripped by panic and imagining what could happen to her that she hadn't thought about anyone else .

"They'll run out of air," one of the guards said, having clearly been eavesdropping. "They'll essentially sleep forever, trapped in their tomb. It's not so bad. Perhaps in a few centuries the lord will decide to free them."

Tamira thought about being conscious in absolute darkness, feeling the weight of tons of concrete above you, knowing that no amount of enhanced strength could free you. Knowing that you'd failed, that your revolution had led nowhere, that you'd spend eternity in a grave of your own making.

It was horrible. And yet, wasn't her life a different kind of entombment? Conscious, breathing, but trapped?

"How many enhanced soldiers survived?" Sarah asked the guard.

"We don't have the numbers yet," he said.

"Can we at least go upstairs?" a servant asked. "The basement is so oppressive, and if the danger has passed..."

"Soon," the guard promised. "The mansion has to be secured first. There was significant damage to some areas. We need to make sure it's structurally sound."

More waiting.

Tamira leaned against Elias's chest, not caring that the others could see them like that. She needed him.

Her hand closed around his, and as she looked into his eyes, she saw her own thoughts reflected in them.

They'd come so close to the edge, so close to the final moment.

She'd been prepared to die rather than face whatever the rebels would do to her.

She'd asked him to kill her, and he'd been prepared to do it.

How did you come back from that?

"I need that knife back," she said quietly.

He shifted, carefully extracting the blade from beneath his leg and passing it to her under the cover of her dress.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "For asking that of you."

"Don't apologize," he said, his voice rough. "I understand why. I'm just glad that I didn't have to."

"Me too," she whispered.

"I don't know if I would have been capable of doing it," Elias admitted. "The other solution was indeed easier."

He was talking about the poison, and she understood that he had finally been able to internalize her fear when he'd thought the end was coming and he would have to end her life to save her from a worse fate.

The knife felt wrong in her hands now, a reminder of her desperation. She needed to return it and pretend she'd never taken it.

"Lord Navuh will surely come to see us as soon as he can," Areana said. "He will want to ensure that we're all unharmed."

"I can't wait for things to go back to normal." Beulah wiped sweat from her forehead, smearing dust all over .

"Define normal," Tula said with a bitter laugh. "Back to the harem? Yes, probably. The restoration is almost complete unless it has also suffered damage. However, I can't imagine how. Living in an underground bunker has its advantages."

"It does." Sarah smiled. "I've never thought I would say this, but I'm grateful to Lord Navuh for housing us in the safest structure on the island. He really treasures us."