Page 27 of Dark Shaman: The Lost Treasure
It was plausible, but Areana knew her mate too well to believe it was the complete truth. There was something else, something he was deliberately keeping from her. But she knew better than to push him to reveal more.
"That is very wise," she said instead. "He is a neutral sounding board, and that can be valuable."
One of the fundamental truths of their relationship was that they did not share everything with one another. They were bound by love and fate, but their goals were not the same. She worked to minimize the damage his ambitions caused, while he worked to expand his power regardless of the cost. It was a dance they'dperfected over the millennia, neither able to change the other, but willing to coexist because they had love and devotion despite it all.
"When will you speak with Elias?"
"Tomorrow," he said.
"Wonderful." She raised her glass. "To new possibilities and at least one more son."
He moved around the table to her, one hand coming up to cup her cheek. For a moment, his thumb traced the line of her cheekbone with surprising gentleness. "You know I can deny you nothing."
"I know you tell yourself that," she said softly. "Even as you deny me the things that matter most."
His hand dropped away. "Areana?—"
"Navuh."
He kissed her forehead, a gesture both tender and dismissive, and left without another word. She stood alone in the candlelight, surrounded by the remains of another meal that had ended too soon.
Five thousand years, and still they danced around each other, never quite meeting in the middle.
He kept his secrets, and she kept hers.
9
LOKAN
Lokan was lured to the kitchen by the intoxicating aromas of rosemary and garlic. He knew that Carol loved to cook. After all, that was how they had initially met, when he was captured by the Guardians and brought to the dungeon. She had seen a portrait of him drawn by Dalhu and talked Kian into allowing her to prepare and serve his meals. Things progressed quickly and happily from there. However, she'd never really done any cooking while they'd lived in Beijing.
They'd embraced the cosmopolitan life, eating out for all of their meals, and she'd seemed happy, but seeing her now, wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt that slipped off one shoulder, humming as she worked, Lokan realized that his mate assumed personalities with the same ease she changed outfits.
The female who'd always worn designer clothing and high heels had been replaced by a homebody.
Her hair was back to blonde, which was a sign of things getting back to normal, but not really.
Lokan missed the hustle and bustle of Beijing and the intensity of the fashion world. There had always been some fire he'd needed to put out, people to charm, supply problems to solve. Now he had nothing to do other than doomscroll social media and look for the Brotherhood's fingerprints all over world affairs.
A bombing in Syria, political upheaval in three African nations, and economic instability in South America that coincidentally benefited certain arms dealers. Follow the chaos, find the Brotherhood. Follow the slaughter, find his father.
The thought of ending Navuh once and for all flickered through his mind as it had done countless times before, but he could never actually complete the thought, let alone make concrete plans.
It wasn't love. He'd never loved his father. How could anyone love a monster?
It was something else. Fear, perhaps, but not of Navuh. Fear of what would happen after. Who would control the Brotherhood?
Some of Lokan's so-called brothers made Navuh look reasonable by comparison. If any of them took over, the chaos would just grow, but what was most likely to happen was a battle for power that would create a vacuum and destabilize half the world.
"Lokan?"
He looked up to find Carol watching him with concern. "What?"
"Can you watch the oven while I get ready? The timer should go off in just a few minutes, and I need you to take the roast out right away or it will get dry."
"No problem. Consider it done."
She tilted her head. "Are you sure? You seem distant. Is something bothering you?"
