Chapter 6
Zantar walked into the conference room, irritated and ready to punch someone. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be back at his hotel with Faye. He just knew that she was going to leave his suite. And if she left the suite, she’d probably keep on working. Ealayk allaena! He resisted the urge to turn around and head back to the hotel. He wanted to demand that she put more medicine on her hands, maybe even bandage them up so that…no, the wounds had all closed up, but they still looked painful.
Why the hell hadn’t he asked about her hands before? Right. He had asked about her hands and she’d…what had Faye said? What had been her excuse at the time? He couldn’t remember. Although, he remembered being entranced by her smile and her eyes. Those blue eyes were startling and intense. He could see all of her emotions in those eyes. He wanted to lose himself in her eyes. And her body. And her smile! He wanted to see that smile sitting across from him every morning and every evening. He wanted to pull her into his arms and make love to her, show her that there was more to life than just research and work!
Sighing, he shook his head as he wondered about these intense feelings. He’d known her for only a few days now. How could he feel so much for a woman he barely knew?
Zantar accepted that he didn’t have to know everything about Faye to know her. He could feel her, sense her. He wanted to be with her. What the hell was it about Faye that called to him? The other women who had passed through his life had been there for one purpose! He’d never allowed any woman to interfere with his focus.
He almost laughed at that last thought. He wasn’t “allowing” Faye to do anything. Hell, he’d love it if he could stop “allowing” her to interfere! Then he could concentrate and get some work done. If he could concentrate more fully on the issue that had brought him to Skyla, then perhaps he could get back home!
And leave Faye here?
No. No way in hell! He’d just have to figure out how to keep her with him. He wanted her in his life. Sighing, he accepted that he had…feelings…for Faye. What those feelings were, he wasn’t sure. And not something he cared to delve into too deeply.
“Sheik al Abouss!” a male voice called out.
Zantar turned, watching as Sheik Astir and Sheik Goran stepped into the room. “We’re just waiting on Nasir to arrive.”
Sheik Nasir bin Zaminista was ruler of Minar which was located to the west of Sklya. Why was he coming to this meeting as well? That’s very odd, Zantar thought, more confused than ever.
Another thought occurred to him as he watched Astir speak to his personal assistant. Did the man realize that there was something going on between Ayla, Astir’s youngest sister, and Nasir? Zantar had seen the interest in the couple the last time all four leaders had gotten together for a conference. Ayla had come along and…yes, there had definitely been tension between the lovely woman and Nasir.
Astir finished his private conversation and turned to Zantar and Goran. “I apologize for that,” he explained and stepped deeper into the conference room.
“Has something changed since earlier this week?” Zantar asked. He crossed his arms over his chest, not interested in the romantic issues of his friends. Goran was marrying Astir’s middle sister and Nasir was interested in the younger sister. But that had nothing to do with him. In his mind, he didn’t need to be here in Skyla any longer, except to spend more time with Faye. This meeting had taken him away from her and he was irritated that he wasn’t still with her.
Ignoring their idle conversations as they waited for Nasir, he pushed the agenda by saying, “I thought that we determined a few days ago that the issues were resolved. Why did you ask to speak with me again?”
Goran smiled and Zantar wanted to slug the man for being so cheerful. Glancing over at Astir, he wondered if the other man would stop him. Probably, he thought with grim resignation. Astir’s gaze seemed concerned about something, and Zantar suspected that his concerns had nothing to do with Goran dating the man’s sister.
Astir paused to glare at the other man, but he pushed away from the wall and walked over to a hidden panel. “We have new information that might concern Citran.” He touched a button and the wall behind Zantar slid open to reveal a large map of their three countries with Silar at the top, Skyla off to the east, Citran to the south, and Minar, a fourth country, to the west. A moment later, the ruler of Minar stepped into the room, firmly closing the door behind him.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” Sheik Nasir bin Zaminista asked, walking over to the screen. “What have I missed?”
“Nothing,” Astir replied, giving that man a strange glance that Zantar couldn’t interpret. “We were just bringing Zantar up to speed on the situation.”
“Situation?” Zantar asked, his eyebrows lifting higher while his muscles tightened as he dismissed the strange tension between the other three men. He glanced over at the map. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded, thinking about the briefing he’d just had with his intelligence chief. Something was happening near the border towns along the south side of his country. If his chief hadn’t mentioned that something strange was going on, he wouldn’t even be here. He’d actually thought that it was perhaps Goran’s military causing trouble in that area.
“It’s not me,” Goran assured him with a calm voice, seeming to read Zantar’s mind. “Something is going on down here,” he explained, stepping forward to point at the electronic visual of the region. “It’s affecting all four of our countries.”
Nasir stepped closer to the map, pointing to the region. “I’ve received word recently about disturbances here,” he announced, pointing to several small villages along the border between Minar and Citran.” He ran his finger along the border.
“What kind of disturbances?” Zantar demanded. His attention was caught, and he leaned forward, his eyes taking in additional details now that he had a new clue.
Nasir turned to look at the other man, shaking his head slightly. “We don’t really understand. The information we’re getting from people who live in the area say that there are occasional seismic events they can feel, but nothing like a real earthquake.”
Zantar’s eyes narrowed. “How would they know what an earthquake feels like?”
Astir nodded. “That was our concern. And no one said that the disturbances were actually earthquakes. But ever since the incident in Silar where a town collapsed, we’re taking these seismic-seeming issues seriously.” He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what they are now. Originally, Goran and I thought the illegal mining was affecting only Skyla and Silar. You both heard about the town that collapsed into what we thought was a sinkhole several months back,” he explained, his eyes serious now as all three men listened intently. “It turned out to be an illegal mining operation that was drilling and extracting efiasia, a mineral that can be used to build cheap microchips for computers. But the mineral was too close to the surface and the mining company’s operations caused the whole town to collapse into the Earth.” He looked at each man separately, letting that information sink in.
Sheik Goran nodded, pulling everyone’s attention to him. “And then I was kidnapped in order to focus everyone’s attention on my absence and,” Goran looked over to his future brother-in-law, both men’s expressions grim and determined, “Princess Calista’s.”
Zantar’s eyes sharpened. “My information was that both of you were taking some time away from your public duties in order to get to know each other a bit better.” He pulled back, his arms crossing over his chest. “Now you’re telling us that you and your future bride were kidnapped?”
“Exactly,” Goran confirmed with a firm nod. “Whoever is behind these mining problems keeps coming up with new company names for their illegal mining efforts, but,” he tilted his head towards Astir, “we think that the activities are all caused by one company.”
“But you don’t know who?” Nasir asked.
Astir and Goran both shook their heads. “Not yet,” Astir replied.