by Adrian, Lara
“Anything except the crystal.” Tamisia’s smile was smug. She swung her flat stare to Zael. “This is no alliance. It is a one-sided proposal from a race that’s been out to wipe us from the planet since the moment they arrived on it.”
“Do not confuse the Breed with their Ancient ancestors,” Zael interjected sternly. “The Breed has shared this planet with us for well over a thousand years. They’ve never been a threat to us or the humans they’ve lived alongside all this time.”
She grunted, clearly unconvinced. “Tell that to the scores of humans who were slaughtered in a single night two decades ago.”
Brynne shook her head, outrage flaring in her. “That was an attack instigated by an animal named Dragos. He unleashed hundreds of blood-addicted Rogues to retaliate against the Order and create a worldwide panic. No one among the Breed wanted that to happen, least of all Lucan and the warriors.”
Tamisia ignored her, never taking her eyes off Zael. “Why did you really bring this female here?”
His answering look was darker than Brynne had ever seen in him before. “Because I trust her. And I trust the Order—as should all of you.”
The elder lifted her chin, her gaze icing over, as dismissive as her tone. “You ask too much, Ekizael.”
“Damn it, Sia.” Zael’s sharp utterance sent her brows high on her forehead. “This is about peace. It’s about the future of this colony.”
“Is it?” she replied airlessly. “I wonder.”
Brynne’s chest tightened at the unexpected familiarity that crackled between Zael and the woman. Animosity flared in Tamisia’s tight expression in the long moment that she held Zael’s hard stare. And from beside her, Brynne felt an angry heat radiating off his tense body.
“This will suffice for now,” Nethilos announced. “We have enough information to consider and make our decision. We’ll convene again in tomorrow at daybreak.”
He rose, and four of the elders did too. Tamisia was last, defiant as she lifted fluidly from her seat and then glided off the dais in smooth, long-legged strides.
“Come on,” Zael said, placing his palm against the small of Brynne’s back to show her out of the chamber.
All the breath leaked out of her lungs on a relieved sigh as soon as they exited to the open courtyard outside. “What was that about?”
Zael shook his head. “Nothing important. Tamisia will come around, I’m sure. Nethilos is on our side. As is Anaphiel, and possibly even Baramael.”
“How could you possibly tell that?” She couldn’t hide her surprise, recalling the dark-haired Atlantean’s indecipherable bicolored gaze.
“Didn’t you see his smile?”
She laughed. “I most certainly did not.”
Zael was obviously trying to lighten the mood, set her at ease. For the most part, it was working. Although how they would get through the rest of the day and night without knowing the elders’ decision, she had no idea.
“Zael!”
A light, female voice called to him from across the sun-filled courtyard.
Brynne swiveled her head in the direction that the excited shriek and giggle had come from and spotted a pretty young woman running toward them. Or, rather, toward Zael.
Coltish and cheerful, the Atlantean female beamed at him with unabashed glee, the spiral curls of her burnished copper hair dancing around her shoulders as she raced to greet him.
“I was so excited to hear you were back on the island!” she gushed, throwing her arms around him.
Maybe it shouldn’t shock Brynne to learn that the charming, golden male who evidently had no shortage of women outside the colony should also have his fair share of admirers within it too.
That didn’t mean she had to like it.
As if he just recalled Brynne was standing there, Zael extricated himself from the female’s arms. “Neriah, this is Brynne Kirkland.”
Recalling the name now, she smiled at Nethilos’s daughter. “How nice to meet you, Neriah.”
This close, she realized the young woman was likely no more than a teen. Eyes of a similar golden-brown shade as her father’s studied Brynne in avid interest.
“Brynne is my…colleague from the outside,” Zael said.
He glanced at Brynne as he spoke, his gaze reminding her of their agreement to maintain a platonic facade in front of his people. After the uncomfortable way the meeting with the elders had ended—with Tamisia in particular—Brynne couldn’t fault him for wanting to maintain an air of professionalism while they were there.
“Are you really a daywalker?”
Brynne smiled at the girl. “I really am.”
“And you really drink blood?”
Zael cleared his throat. “Neriah.”
“Sorry.” She grimaced and gave an apologetic shrug. “Maybe we can talk more later?”
“I’d like that,” Brynne replied.
As they spoke, she noticed Zael’s head was turned toward the council chamber, to where Tamisia was now standing. Her arms were folded over her chest, her expression coldly assessing.
If there had been room for doubt before, when the Atlantean female had been staring daggers at Brynne and doing her best to undermine the discussion of an alliance, there was no denying it now. Tamisia’s problem with her was jealousy.
The jealousy of a lover.
“I’ll be right back,” Zael murmured. “Brynne, will you be all right?”
“Of course.” Her answer was a lot more confident than she felt in that moment. “I’ll be fine. Go do what you have to do.”
“I’m going to take Brynne to the guest cottage,” Neriah announced helpfully.
He nodded. “I’ll catch up with you as soon as I can.”
Brynne stood there, refusing to watch as he strode back to meet Tamisia. She didn’t want to see the other woman’s smug reaction, nor wonder what Zael might be saying to soothe her ruffled feathers.
Unfortunately, not even her pride was strong enough to deny her foolish heart.
She turned her head to look for Zael, but he and Tamisia were already gone.
CHAPTER 29
Zael hated abandoning Brynne so abruptly, but he could tell from the look on Tamisia’s face that the female had something on her mind. Something more than just the seething jealousy she had made no effort to conceal as she watched him with Brynne in the courtyard.
And while Brynne had given him permission to go, without as much as a backward glance as he approached the other woman, he didn’t believe for a moment that she wasn’t at least a little suspicious about his relationship with the Atlantean female.
With good reason.
Tamisia’s chilly stare warmed considerably as he approached. “I didn’t mean to lure you away from your companion.”
“Of course, you did.” Zael side-stepped her attempt to kiss his cheek in greeting, earning him a frown. “What do you want, Sia?”
She lifted a slender shoulder, although her expression was anything but nonchalant. “It’s been so long since I saw you last. I hoped we might have a chance to talk for a while…privately.”
Ever the confident one, she pivoted and began walking toward the halls of the council chamber. Zael’s jaw clenched with a hundred shades of misgivings, but he fell in behind her. She led him into an empty library and closed the door. He stayed put only a couple of paces inside the room while she dropped elegantly onto a silk-covered sofa beneath a sparkling stained-glass window.
“She’s pretty,” Tamisia remarked idly. “For one of her kind, that is.”
Zael grunted, not about to play this game with her. “I doubt you brought me here to discuss the attributes of other women, Sia. I seem to recall that was always your least favorite subject. What’s on your mind?”
“You mean, besides you?” Long lashes framed the knowingly coy gaze she fixed on him. “I’ve missed you, Zael. Each time you leave the island, it seems you’re gone longer and longer.”
She spoke in that sultry voice that used to have some
power to sway him. Not anymore. And to hear her plying it on him now only made him suspicious of her motivations. Tamisia was a shrewd woman who went after what she wanted. So, what did she want from him now?
He leaned against the library wall, studying the beautiful blonde elder who was so accustomed to wrapping any male around her dainty finger. “Somehow, I doubt you’ve been waiting here, pining for me, Tamisia. We were only together a few times. You’re hardly the type to waste away.”
Her pout faded into a sly smile. “You know me too well, Ekizael. No, I haven’t been pining. Elyon has been seeing to that lately.”
“Elyon?” Zael balked at the mention of his former legion comrade who served as a sentry for the colony. “Now, there’s an odd match. The rebel of the elder council and one of the most idealistic of Selene’s old guard.”
“It’s nothing,” Tamisia said with a dismissive flick of her hand. “It’s a dalliance. One I have no intention of continuing.”
Zael chuckled. “Does poor Elyon know that?”
She eyed him haughtily. “You of all people have no room to judge me. You never stay with anyone.”
No, he didn’t. Until recently, he’d never given much thought to his nomadic way of life. Nor the women who came and left his bed, creating barely a ripple of regret for their loss.
And then he met Brynne.
It was impossible to think of going back to his old ways—the endless wandering or the rest of it—now that she had entered his world.
But it was even worse than that.
Now that Brynne Kirkland was in his life, Zael couldn’t imagine what a day without her would look like.
To say nothing of his nights.
“When do you expect you’ll return to the outside again?” Tamisia asked, breaking into his thoughts.
Zael shrugged. “As soon as the council delivers their decision, or soon after. Why?”
Although she shook her head as if she meant nothing by it, there was a note of hesitancy in her stare. A plea—one she didn’t seem certain how to put into words.
“What’s wrong?”
She swallowed. “Do you think… Do you think it might be possible for me to go with you?”
Well, he sure as hell hadn’t been expecting that. He was taken aback and couldn’t hide it.
Tamisia was a high-ranking, well-respected member of the colony. An elder responsible for helping to shape the laws and direction of the entire community. He never would have dreamed she’d be willing to give all of that up.
“Go with me?”
“Not as your woman, if that’s your concern,” she quickly added. “Although if you wanted to try, you might be able to convince me to change my mind on that.”
“I don’t,” he told her gently. “And what you’re asking of me… You must know that if you leave, there’s no coming back.”
A strange hauntedness crossed her face, but it was there and gone in an instant. “I know it means if I go. It will be for good.”
Zael was the only one in the colony to be granted access to come and go as he pleased, and only because Nethilos trusted him as he would one of his own kin. Tamisia was asking him to throw that away. Incredibly, she seemed willing to throw away everything she had built for herself in the colony too.
“Why would you want to leave? The colony is who you are. You’ve never seemed restless here in all the time I’ve known you.”
“I have my reasons for wanting out, for wanting a new life. As I’m sure you had yours.”
“Have you mentioned this to the other elders?”
“No. They wouldn’t understand.” She gave him a sad smile. “I hoped that you might.”
He raked a hand over his scalp. “I can’t take you out of here—you know that, right? Not without the council being aware first. Not without their permission. If I do, we’ll both be banished.”
It was hard to ignore the small voice in the back of his conscience that wondered if being barred from his people might not be the worst thing that could happen to him.
After all, a life with Brynne might wait for him on the outside. He didn’t know what that kind of life would look like, but part of him hoped for it—wanted it with a desperation that staggered him.
But the thought of turning his back forever on the part of him that was Atlantean wasn’t something he could consider lightly.
“I can’t take you with me, Sia. Not without the colony’s blessing.” He cursed under his breath, considering everything that was currently at stake. “And I sure as hell won’t do it while I’m here trying to win the council’s trust for an alliance with the Order.”
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, looking edgy and uncomfortable now. “Forgive me. You’re right. And I shouldn’t have asked it of you, Zael. Please, don’t tell anyone I did.”
She got up from the sofa. Before he could say another word, she vanished from the room in a brilliant flash of Atlantean light.
“Shit.” Zael stood there for a moment, processing everything she’d said.
It hardly made sense. Not to mention the fact that he’d never seen the strong female look so unsteady. He didn’t know what her true reasons were for wanting to separate from the colony, nor did he expect Tamisia to tell him.
Especially not now.
He could only hope his refusal to help her didn’t jeopardize everything at stake for the alliance.
CHAPTER 30
Brynne stood at the water’s edge on a secluded stretch of beach, watching the crystalline blue waves lap at her bare feet. Neriah had shown her to the small white stucco cottage that would be her quarters while she and Zael were on the island. According to her, Zael had his own cottage farther up on one of the hillsides, the home he kept for those rare visits he made to the colony.
Was that where he’d gone to now? She refused to think he might have gone there with beautiful Tamisia, even though the sting of his abandonment still burned in her breast.
That wounded part of her wanted to reject the idea that she had any stake on him. Zael had lived a long life before he came swaggering into hers. She couldn’t expect him to pretend he hadn’t, or that the people he’d met along the way didn’t still mean something to him.
They did mean something to him. She saw that today. For some reason, she had been deluding herself into thinking Zael was as alone and isolated as she was—that they had that in common somehow. Today she saw that despite all of his wandering, he had a home.
Here, with the colony.
She’d never had anything like that. She didn’t know how to be part of a community, a culture, a family. She had never quite fit—not anywhere. She’d never felt she belonged, not to anyplace or anyone.
Except when she was lying in Zael’s arms.
“This view has never looked better.”
The sound of his deep voice startled her. She spun around to find him strolling down onto the sand, his white linen tunic riffling in the breeze, his eyes as bright and brilliant as the water she’d been admiring a moment ago.
“I trust Neriah got you settled with everything you need.”
Everything I need except you, she thought, her pulse quickening at the sight of him.
She nodded. “I’ll be fine. You didn’t need to check on me.”
His brow furrowed as he approached. “I’m sorry for leaving you the way I did. I was concerned Tamisia might use her jealousy against the alliance if I left her standing there ignored.”
“Of course, I understand. We have to do what’s best for the alliance. After all, that’s the only reason you brought me here.”
“Is that really what you believe?” He reached out, brushing the backs of his fingers against her shoulder.
She deliberately side-stepped a pace, dodging his touch. “Careful. What if someone sees? Remember our arrangement.”
He glanced around at the palm trees and flowering bushes that hemmed the cottage in from three sides. “It’s all right. No one’s here to see us.”
Which wa
s apparently the only reason he felt comfortable showing up.
“Did you and Sia have a nice talk?” Her spite was petulant and childish, but she couldn’t rein back the hurt.
Zael’s frown gave way to surprise, then an aggravating smirk. “You’re jealous.”
She had to bite her tongue to keep from confirming or denying it.
“You think I want her?” Zael moved closer. “You think I could ever want her when I have you?”
Sunlight haloed him, glinting off his copper-shot, golden waves. His handsome face always took her breath away, but especially now, with his sculpted lips curved in a sensual smile and those oceanic blue eyes darkening as his gaze penetrated hers.
He radiated a magnetic heat that permeated straight to her core, making her pulse hammer and her sex clench with desire. He smelled amazing, too, as exotic and lush as the island that surrounded them. The citrusy, clean scent of him was as intoxicating as the breeze rolling off the frothing surf at her back.
“My beautiful, headstrong Brynne,” he said, cupping her face in his palm. “Do you honestly think there is any other woman I want to be with more than you—here on this island or anywhere else?”
She tried to hold on to her anger, but it was difficult with Zael filling her vision, dominating her senses. His hand slid around to the back of her neck, warm and strong against her skin.
“Since you don’t seem to know that, let me tell you. There isn’t.”
“Was there ever?” she whispered, needing to know. “I mean, with Tamisia.”
“No. Not with her. We’ve been together a few times, but it was never something that would’ve lasted.”
He shook his head, but there was a hauntedness in his gaze. A flicker of shame she struggled to understand.
“Not with Tamisia,” Brynne guessed. “But there was someone once. From the colony?”
“No. She was human.”
Brynne swallowed at the unexpected admission. But then maybe it wasn’t so unexpected. “Dylan’s mother?”
“I should’ve told you about her before,” he murmured. “You deserved to know what happened. Why I have a daughter I never knew existed until only a few weeks ago.”
