“I’m afraid so,” he said, then strode toward her, running his hands down her arms. “We’ll be safe enough in here.” But his expression was worried.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He stared at her for a second, then a spark of pride lit in his gaze. “You’re tough enough to hold off a group of mercenaries on your own, you’re tough enough to know what could come our way. The storm is building so rapidly over such a large area that it’s looking like it might become a cyclone. They only hit the region a few times a year, but they can be bad.”

“Are we safe in here?”

“Yes,” Volkan said firmly, but she could see how worried he was.

He took her hand and led her toward a small office with a cot in it. She sank gratefully onto it, moaning as she kicked off her shoes and lifted her aching feet onto the bed.

Volkan sat in the office chair and messed around with some of the instruments. He twisted a dial and leaned toward a microphone, the chair creaking beneath the weight of his big body. “Mayday, mayday. We’re trapped without transport on an island off…” He gave their exact coordinates. There was no response except for fuzz.

Volkan explained that the storm would interfere with the radio signal, but he would keep trying. And he did. Hours passed as he continued calling for help, until finally Yasmin reached out for him, touching his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned to her, she beckoned him to come sit with her on the cot.

Wind howled all around the hangar and occasionally something would hit the side, sending a reverberation of sound through the metal building. It was frightening, but the longer the storm went on, the more secure Yasmin felt in the sturdy hangar.

Volkan sighed and shoved a hand through his hair, then stood and dropped tiredly onto the cot. She rubbed his back and leaned her head into his shoulder. “Take a break. The mayday will go through in the morning, after the storm passes.”

He stubbornly tried to stand. “I have to keep trying. We need to get you and the baby to a hospital.”

She held his hand and refused to let go until he sat next to her again. She turned to him, taking both of his hands and squeezing them, before pressing one hand against her stomach. “Volkan, listen to me,” she said softly. “We’re okay. Both me and the baby. You saved our lives today. Now it’s time to leave it to someone else to get us off this island.”