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He wanted to draw her into his embrace and reassure her that if they separated now, it wouldn’t be forever. But he wasn’t certain he could make that promise to her. Not out loud. Selene drawing a line in the sand with the Order had changed everything.
Until the threat of war with her had been neutralized, so long as he was within Selene’s reach, Zael was a hazard to anyone close to him. Selene’s grudges knew no limits. Neither did her wrath.
“Selene can make all the demands she wants,” Lucan said. “She’s going to find out that the only thing she’ll get by pushing us into a corner is war.”
Darion made a derisive sound. “She’d better prepare herself for disappointment. I’d like nothing better than to deliver her defeat personally.”
Zael wanted to warn the tenacious Breed male that Selene was not an opponent who would go down easy. Before he was too eager to charge into battle against her, Darion Thorne would do well to remember that it had taken the combined efforts of several Ancients to bring Selene down the first time, and only because they were aided by sabotage, betrayal, and stolen otherworld technology.
But that was a conversation for another time.
Right now, all of Zael’s attention was rooted on Brynne. He watched her absorb all of this unpleasant news in silence. “I can’t stay now,” he told her gently. “I’ve already stayed too long.”
She didn’t reply. The tenderness they had shared a short while ago was still there in her eyes as she looked at him, but Zael also saw the beginnings of mistrust. Her dark lashes shuttered her gaze, as if she were already starting to withdraw from him.
“I have to go, Brynne.”
“Yes. Of course, you do.” She nodded crisply, refusing to meet his gaze. “I understand.”
No, he didn’t think she did. He knew her too well now to mistake her emotional retreat. He was far too familiar with her attempts to push against anything, or anyone, that might be able to hurt her. He felt that resistance from her now.
More than anything, he wanted to close the distance and offer her a proper explanation—at the very least, make her understand that his leaving didn’t diminish anything they’d shared. It didn’t lessen what he felt for her. If anything, it was only driving home to him just how much she meant to him.
In the corridor outside the tech lab came the commotion of approaching people. In moments, the room was filled with a cacophony of voices as most of the warriors and many of the Order’s women crowded into the room to hear what had happened.
After Lucan relayed his conversation with Selene, the Order’s leader turned to Zael. “Now more than ever we need to take steps to ensure that Selene does not amass any more power than she already possesses.”
Zael nodded. “We are in complete agreement on that.”
“And the colony?” Lucan prompted.
“What about them?”
“They also have one of the crystals. I will need their promise that if the time should come that Selene escalates this thing into war, the colony will pledge their crystal to us.”
Zael slowly shook his head. “That won’t happen, Lucan. As I told you, the colony’s crystal is their shield from the world outside—the same way Selene’s remaining one protects what’s left of the Atlantean realm. Without it in place, the colony—like Selene—is vulnerable to breach and attack. They will never give it up. For their own security, they can’t.”
“Then I will need their agreement that they will never surrender it to Selene either.”
“That much I can assure you,” Zael said.
Lucan didn’t look convinced. “I hope you’ll understand when I say that I need more than that to make me comfortable that the colony can be relied upon in this. I need their word, Zael, not just yours.”
“The colony wants peace as much as anyone. I have to believe the elders can be persuaded to give your their commitment that the crystal will never be given up to Selene.”
“Excellent,” Lucan announced. “I hope you’re right. We can make arrangements to leave for the colony as soon as you’re ready.”
“We?” Zael nearly choked at the suggestion, but it was obvious from the warrior’s determined expression that he had every expectation of making the trip with him. “Er, that’s not… Lucan, that will not be possible.”
A black brow arched in challenge. “I wasn’t asking, Zael.”
“I realize that. However, the colony does not permit outsiders. They never have. Most certainly not a member of the Order, and least of all the Order’s formidable Gen One leader.” Zael cleared his throat. “I’m afraid your reputation precedes you, Lucan.”
“They will have to make an exception.”
“They won’t. And if I try to bring you—or any Breed warrior—through the veil, the sentries on watch will have no choice but to kill us both.”
Lucan grunted. “They’ll die trying.”
