Page 44 of Storms of His Wrath

“What is that?” Akoro asked him. “What is Nnimi?”

Oppo remained frozen, his entire body locked in unnatural stillness. Akoro watched him, confusion and jealousy twisting through his chest like competing storms. The moments crawled by in suffocating silence.

When Oppo finally lifted his head, the sight of tears gathering in his dark eyes sent shock cascading through Akoro. Throughout all their experiences—the discovery of their family’s crimes, the brutal nights leading up to the Battle of Sy, the years of rebuilding that followed—his brother had been steady, unshakable. Indecisive and quiet, yes, but never moved to the point of tears. Yet now, raw grief carved into every line of his features.

“Is—is Oshrun there too?” Oppo’s voice trembled, barely above a whisper. “Did you meet her? Are they all right?”

Naya looked at Akoro expectantly, and he again remembered the language barrier between them.

“He wants to know if someone called Oshrun is there,” Akoro said. “Did you meet her? Are they both all right?”

Naya nodded, turning back to Oppo. “Yes, she is there. I met her. They’re both well. Both beautiful.”

Oppo exhaled sharply at her nod, relief and anguish warring across his features, but his eyes still turned to Akoro for the translation. Akoro’s jaw tightened, irritation flaring at being reduced to a translator between his brother and his mate.

“Who are these people?” he demanded of Oppo, but before his brother could respond, Naya spoke.

“I have a proposal,” she said, her demeanor sobering, her brown eyes serious and direct. “An opportunity that could benefit everyone.”

Wariness and hope warred in Akoro’s chest. He couldn’t determine if the strangeness of what had just happened was related to him and Naya or something else entirely. The sight of his brother clutching that drawing, tears threatening to spill, sent unease crawling through his veins.

“Go on,” he said.

Naya took a deep breath, and when she spoke, her words were clear, careful and prepared. “The people who have been sheltering me want to discuss an alliance. They are kind people who value their privacy and safety. They have capabilities that could help protect your city from the approaching storm, but they need assurances about their safety and autonomy.”

Akoro frowned. An alliance? People with power he didn’t understand, hidden in terrain he couldn’t navigate, offering help with the very crisis that had consumed his council for years. The timing felt too convenient.

“What is she saying?” Oppo asked, urgency threading through his voice. “Tell me what she’s saying.”

“She’s talking about something else now.”

“What?” Oppo pressed, leaning forward. “Is it about Oshrun and Nnimi?”

“No. I don’t know.” Akoro shot him a sharp look, irritation flaring at his brother’s persistence. “I don’t know who they are.”

“Ask her?—”

“Just wait, Oppo,” Akoro said sharply. “Let me speak to her first.” He paused, studying his brother’s face. Oppo’s breathing remained uneven, his knuckles white where he gripped the drawing. “Are you all right?”

Oppo nodded, though shock still glazed his features. Something bright flickered in his dark eyes, hope mixed with desperation in a way that made Akoro’s chest tighten.

“Who are these people?” Akoro asked Naya.

“That’s part of what needs to be negotiated,” Naya said. “They’re willing to meet with you, but only under specific conditions. They want me to facilitate the discussions.”

“Why did they take you?” The question emerged as a growl, territorial fury spiking through him at the memory of her disappearing in that blaze of light.

Naya hesitated, something flickering across her features. “They thought I wasn’t safe,” she said finally.

Understanding began to crystallize in his mind, pieces clicking together with relentless logic. Mysterious people with advanced magical capabilities, living hidden in the Isshiran Sands where no one could find them. People who knew enough about his family’s history to require assurances about safety and autonomy before revealing themselves. People who worried for Naya’s safety and possessed the knowledge to sever someone else’snnol ttaehh mael.

“Omegas,” he said, amazement flooding him. “You’re talking about Omegas.”

Naya’s slight nod confirmed it. “Yes. They are not what you think—what anyone in the region thinks. They’ve been in hiding,living in a community that has survived generations, thriving out of sight. They believe circumstances may have changed enough that they might safely rejoin society.”

Disbelief crashed through him. The Omegas his family had enslaved and tormented, the ones he’d banished from the region, were alive? And not just alive but apparently magically sophisticated enough to offer assistance to the very dynasty that had wronged them. They had been here the whole time, hidden in these treacherous Sands while he’d believed them scattered and dying in some distant forest?

Questions crowded his mind, each one urgent and demanding, but he struggled to determine what to ask first.

---