Page 48 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

"He probably thinks that he's dreaming," Amanda said. "Or that he has somehow stumbled into an alternate reality."

"Is that what you thought?" Annani asked her brother.

"At times, I thought I was dreaming, but I had no concept of alternative realities, so I couldn't have thought that." Ell-rom took his mate's hand. "Jasmine sang to me. Her voice soothed and grounded me."

"Perhaps I should try that." Annani lifted her wine glass and took a sip.

"I'd like to meet Khiann when he's up to it," Ell-rom said. "I'm curious to meet the male who captured my sister's heart and held it for thousands of years. I also think it would be helpful for him to talk to someone who has been through the same thing." He smiled at Annani. "I will need a translator. I don't know the gods' language. It was just one more thing I lost in stasis." He turned to Morelle. "How is your command of it?"

"So-so." She gestured with her hand. "We were taught it in the temple, but neither of us was proficient."

"William is working on incorporating it into the translation devices," Kian said. "Toven is helping his team, and so are Esag, Davuh and Roven."

"I want to meet Esag and his friends." Sari leaned back in her chair with her wine glass in hand.

"I will call Tula," Alena said. "You haven't met her or the harem ladies yet."

"Thank you. That would be wonderful. I also want to see the new grocery store."

"I can take you there," Syssi offered.

She hadn't said much during dinner, which wasn't like her. Syssi did not get moody for no reason, so when she went quiet like this, it was because she was bothered by something that she wasn't ready to talk about, and that something was usually a vision or a premonition.

He'd ask her later. If he asked her now, she'd smile and tell him it was nothing and then spend the rest of the evening pretending that everything was great and she didn't have a care in the world.

She did that often, and she did it for him. She didn't want to be one more burden on him. When he came home, he entered an oasis of positivity, and he appreciated that more than he could put into words, but he still wanted to know what troubled the woman he loved.

Across the table, David was having a quiet conversation with E.T., who was sitting on his knee and looking at the uncle he did not remember as if he was trying to figure him out. The little boy had been passed around the table from one relative to the next, which he tolerated with stoic calm, and when he had ended up with David, he accepted it without fussing.

David shifted E.T. to his other knee so he was facing the table. "He's such a calm little boy."

"He usually is not," Orion said. "And he doesn't like being held by people he doesn't know."

Alena grimaced. "I hope it's not what I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking?" Sari asked.

"You know." Alena waved a hand. "That reincarnation thing that David claims happens in families. I don't want my sweet little E.T. to house the soul of a berserker."

David's eyes widened. "You think that's what it is? That he's Jonah?"

"I don't mind Jonah." She held out her arms, and David handed the baby to her. "What I'm worried about is Jonah's previous life cycle as Gudbrand."

Kian's phone buzzed in his pocket.

He got it out, turned it face up under the edge of the table, and then looked at his mother. "It's Onegus. He wouldn't call unless it was important."

Annani did not appreciate phones at a family dinner, but she made exceptions for emergencies.

She inclined her head.

Kian excused himself and answered the call as he walked down the hallway to his home office.

"What's up, Onegus?"

"Burda called in."

Kian stopped walking. "When?"