Page 38 of Dark Shaman: The Lost Treasure (The Children Of The Gods #98)

ELUHEED

N avuh had been perfectly clear, and his jab deflated the happy bubble Eluheed had been floating in for the past week.

Perhaps that was the impetus behind Navuh's sudden summons.

It wasn't that the lord had had a premonition about someone plotting his death and needed Eluheed to tell him that.

The guy probably had many people plotting his demise, starting with his sons and going through his generals, all the way to his servants.

He was arrogant, cruel, and his one redeeming quality manifested only in the harem.

Eluheed needed to get his head out of his ass and go back to thinking about ways of escaping this prison.

He'd been so focused on Tamira and the unexpected joy of their connection that he'd neglected his primary purpose.

The earthquake that had buried his charges hadn't buried his duty.

He needed to find a way out, needed to return to Mount Ararat and find a way to recover what he'd lost.

No one talked about it, but somewhere in this maze of luxury there was a secret tunnel that Navuh used to move between the harem, specifically the first level, and his house on the surface.

That had to be the explanation for him just appearing in his residence in the harem without going through the gates outside.

No one ever saw him arriving or leaving.

But even if Eluheed found it, how could he leave? Tamira had become everything to him. Essential? The word felt both too much and not enough.

Besides, even if he managed to escape the harem, how was he going to escape the island?

The second level was quiet when he reached it, its residents probably finishing dinner right now. He should join them, but he needed a moment to compose himself, to lock away the turmoil Navuh's threats had stirred up.

In his quarters, Eluheed walked out to the balcony and looked down at the artificial garden below. Beauty masking confinement, an illusion of freedom when every exit was guarded, every movement watched.

Two fences surrounded the harem, guards patrolling between them and beyond them, multiple layers of security between the harem's residents and the outside world.

Only Navuh came and went freely.

If Eluheed could find the tunnel the lord used, then what? Swim off the island? Steal a boat and hope not to get caught before reaching international waters?

It was impossible, but then Eluheed had survived the impossible before.

He'd escaped the annihilation of his people, protected the sacred treasures, and lived for centuries among humans without detection. He could find a way off one island. He had to.

He needed to start collecting intel, but not tonight.

Tonight, Navuh would be watching more closely than ever, suspicious of everyone and everything.

A knock at his door interrupted his brooding. "Come in," he called, expecting Arnav to come get him again.

But it was Tamira who entered, resplendent in green silk that made her skin glow. "You missed dinner," she said. "Is everything all right?"

"Lord Navuh required my presence," he said, moving back into the room.

Her expression tightened. "Another consultation?"

He wasn't allowed to tell her about his visions or the real service he was providing to Navuh. The lord had attempted to compel his silence, but even though the compulsion slid off him, he needed to pretend that it had worked.

"Yes."

She studied his face, those impossible eyes seeing too much. "You look unsettled."

Eluheed chuckled. "He's so intense and constantly worried about people betraying him."

"With good reason," she said. "But what does he expect you to consult him on? How to be nicer so his subordinates don't plot his murder?"

It was uncanny how insightful she was, despite being in the harem and having no idea what was going on outside the island.

Eluheed chuckled. "I told him to eat exclusively in the harem because he can trust the food here."

"Good advice, and speaking of food, everyone's still at dinner." She took his hand and tugged him toward the door. "You need to eat."

In the hallway, she linked her arm through his, the gesture both possessive and supportive. "I'm surprised that you are actually helping him."

She didn't need to qualify who 'him' was.

"The devil you know, and all that. We are safe as long as everything stays the same."

She nodded, her intelligent eyes expressing her understanding. "I'm not worried. Someone who has maintained power for so long is not easy to topple. But whatever happens, I want you to know that this week we had was magical. It's worth whatever price either of us might have to pay."

The words sent a chill through him. Did she sense something? Or was it just the fatalism of someone who'd lived long enough to know that happiness was always temporary?

"Don't talk like that."

She squeezed his arm. "I'm not naive, Elias. I know this can't last. Nothing good ever does in this place. But that doesn't diminish what we've shared."

He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that he'd find a way to free them both, but the words would be lies, and he'd told her too many of those already.

So instead, he raised her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles that tried to convey everything he couldn't say. She smiled, sad and beautiful, and he thought his heart might break from the weight of what he couldn't give her.

The dining room welcomed them with warmth and chatter, the other ladies greeting them with smiles.

The conversation resumed, covering similar topics that they had already discussed numerous times.

All of it was so normal, worth preserving even though they were all prisoners in a despot's luxurious dollhouse.

Eluheed ate without tasting, smiled without feeling, and contributed to conversations he'd forget within minutes. All the while, his mind was working on two problems that seemed increasingly impossible to reconcile.

How to escape and complete his duty to his people, and at the same time, free Tamira and take her with him.

The walls were closing in, just as he'd feared. Navuh's suspicion, his own growing attachment, the seeming impossibility of freedom—all of it pressed down like a boot on his neck, gradually cutting off his air supply.

Like his treasures, who were buried beneath millions of tons of rock, waiting for him to free them.

The meal ended, and they returned to Tamira's quarters as had become their custom.

"I wish..." she began, then stopped.

"What?" he prompted. "What do you wish?"

"I wish I believed in happy endings," she said. "Just once, I'd like to see the Fates being kind to people who deserve it."

He pulled her into his arms, pressing his face into her hair and inhaling her scent.

He wished the same thing, had wished it for centuries, but in his experience, fate was neither kind nor cruel.

It was indifferent to human and immortal suffering.