At the front of the group were Elyon’s sentry comrades. No longer unarmed as they had been when Brynne and Zael first arrived at the island, but each holding a long blade like the gore-streaked one that Brynne still grasped absently at her side.
Every person standing there looked at Brynne and Zael in accusation.
In silent, horrified condemnation.
~ ~ ~
“Put the crystal down, Zael.” Baramael’s dual-colored eyes were narrowed on him in a lethal glower as he ground out the command. “Tell your woman to drop the blade.”
“It’s not what you think.”
He knew what it looked like—the most respected of the elders and one of the colony’s trusted sentries, both beheaded and lying in growing pools of blood. Him standing there, holding the crystal in one hand while his other hand held tenderly onto Brynne, whose own fingers were wrapped around the grip of a gore-streaked Atlantean sword.
“You heard him, Zael.” This threat came from Vaenor, the sentry who had served with Zael and Elyon in the legion. The dark-haired soldier took an aggressive step forward, his blade at the ready. “Put the crystal down.”
“Not until you hear me out, all of you.”
Zael let go of Brynne only so he could cautiously reposition himself in front of her, in case anyone rushed to any worse conclusions about what they were seeing there now.
Because as stricken as their expressions were as they registered the scene of carnage near their feet, it hardly compared to the shock he saw written on every Atlantean’s face as they tried to get a closer look at Brynne.
She was fully transformed, as she had been the night he’d found her in that Georgetown alley.
Her fangs were enormous, her eyes heated orbs of molten amber. Every inch of her pale skin was now covered in a tangle of dermaglyphs. Even her face bore the Ancient skin markings, all of them seething with dark colors. Zael didn’t need to glance at her hand where it curved loosely around the grip of the Atlantean blade to know that the tips of her fingers were crowned in sharp black talons.
She was uniquely Brynne.
Formidable.
Glorious.
He had never felt so proud to be standing with her.
Nor more in love.
“Holy shit,” someone whispered from within the stunned crowd.
“She’s something more than Breed,” another voice muttered. “Just look at her.”
“Yes,” Zael said. “Look at her. Thank her, because Brynne just helped save this colony today. If not for her, Elyon would already be standing in front of Selene handing over this crystal.”
Baramael eyed him warily. “What are you talking about?”
“Elyon killed Nethilos. I found them both up here, but I was too late to save him.” His glance drifted to the carnage near his feet. His bile rose at the sight of his friend’s brutalized body. He felt only disgust when he looked at the sentry who had betrayed him. Betrayed everyone in the colony. “Elyon had been plotting to leave the colony and return to the realm with the crystal. The prospect of an alliance with the Order would have ruined all of his plans.”
Vaenor grunted. “A convenient explanation when Zael is holding the crystal and the only other two witnesses are dead at his feet.”
Rumblings of agreement—of suspicion and doubt for both Zael and Brynne—traveled the crowd.
“It’s all true.” Tamisia stepped through the gathered throng. “Everything Zael just said is the truth.”
The other elders who stood at the front gaped at her in disbelief.
“What is this about?” Baramael demanded.
Tamisia recounted what she had told Zael about Elyon—how he’d been obsessed for some time with defecting and had been attempting to coerce her into going with him. She explained how she had grown wary of him, but that she hadn’t realized he would be willing to kill, nor had she ever dreamed he might attempt to steal the colony’s crystal for his own gain.
The other elders and the rest of the assembled crowd gaped at her. Soon the animosity and mistrust that had been focused on Zael and Brynne began to shift to Tamisia.
Baramael’s bicolored eyes flared with disapproval. “You’ve known of Elyon’s disloyalty to the colony, yet never told anyone?”
“I was afraid of him,” she murmured quietly.
“Your fear cost Nethilos his life,” Haroth, the other male elder sharply reminded her. The black Atlantean raked a big hand over his short mohawk. “This cannot stand, Tamisia.”
“I know.” She nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
Baramael nodded grimly to the sentries, and they slowly began to guide the spectators out of the chamber. When it was just the elders remaining, he stepped up to Tamisia. “Your actions killed a good man, a friend to us all. That is a loss we can never repair. However, if not for Zael and Brynne stopping Elyon, your silence could have jeopardized this entire colony one day. You leave us no choice but to banish you, Sia.”
A sob choked out of her. “Nethilos was my friend too. I don’t expect any of you to ever forgive me. I know I will never forgive myself.”
“At least we still have the crystal,” one of the female elders gently pointed out. “At least Elyon was thwarted in his betrayal of us.”
Zael nodded, agreeing in sober contemplation. “And you still have the alliance. If the colony wants it.”
From within Haroth’s dark-skinned face, his pale green eyes flicked from Brynne to Zael. “None of this changes the council’s condition on the alliance with the Order. What Brynne did here today is admirable—we are all in her debt—but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s Breed.”
Baramael nodded. “If anything, seeing the devotion you share for each other only fortifies the council’s concern that unless the colony has a permanent advocate in this alliance, the odds may always swing in favor of the Order.”
Zael inclined his head in understanding, even if it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. He hadn’t expected the council to reverse their decision.
Hell, if he were one of the elected elders responsible for the security and governing of the colony, he’d make the same demand.
“Come,” Baramael said solemnly. “We can talk more later. Right now, we need to see to our fallen friend and this council needs to offer comfort to his widow and child.”
CHAPTER 36
They buried Nethilos at sundown, on the island’s highest hill.
Brynne had stood beside Zael and offered her condolences to Diandra and Neriah, both of whom were despondent over the loss of the good and gentle man who’d been so beloved to all in the colony, but especially to his family.
Brynne had felt Zael’s grief, too, but he had remained steady and stoic throughout the wrenching goodbyes and the final moments that his friend’s remains were laid to rest in the sole grave ever to be dug on the immortals’ island haven.
As the gathering dissolved and most of the colony began to return to their homes, the four elders strode to where Zael and Brynne stood on the hill near a grove of fragrant lemon trees. Zael’s arm around her shoulders flexed, bringing her closer to him as the two men and two women approached.
Baramael inclined his head in greeting. “It was good of you to speak at the gravesite, Zael. Nethilos would have been humbled by your praises. It was clear that his wife and daughter took a great deal of comfort in your memories of him.”
Zael nodded soberly. “He was a good man. One of the best I’ve known.”
“Indeed. He was a valued member of our council as well. We won’t have an easy time finding someone to take his seat on the dais with us.”
“No, I don’t imagine it will be,” Zael said. “And what about Tamisia?”
Baramael and the others exchanged a look. “She will be banished from the colony at first light.”
“Unfortunately,” added Haroth, “she has left us little choice.”
Brynne couldn’t deny the pang of sorrow she felt for the Atlantean fem
ale. Tamisia had been negligent in looking out for the colony’s best interests, especially in her role as elder, but her remorse had been painfully evident. She would have to live with the guilt of her unwilling role in Nethilos’s death for the rest of her immortal life, which was a punishment that would probably weigh on her more than anything else.
“If she can make repairs somehow, will you let her back in one day?”
The elders all looked at Brynne, but it was Nathiri, the light-haired female with the silver eyes, who spoke first. “Redemption can be a very long and arduous road. It will be up to Tamisia to find her way back, if that’s what she truly wants.”
Baramael’s unsettling green-blue gaze slid to Zael. “Have you thought any more about what you will do?”
“I have,” Zael answered, his tone serious.
Brynne looked at him in question. They had only talked briefly about the condition the council had imposed on the alliance, neither one of them seeming ready to discuss the potential of a future spent apart when they had come so close to losing each other for good earlier today.
He gazed at her, and the affection she saw there helped to ease some of her anxiety.
Some, but not all.
She could feel how deeply he cared for her, but she couldn’t read his mind.
She pressed her lips flat, afraid to ask the question. “What will you do, Zael?”
“The council has determined that the alliance depends on my remaining here at the colony,” he replied solemnly. “So, that is what I’m prepared to do.”
Brynne couldn’t breathe for a moment. She didn’t know what to hope for. After all, the council had put him in an untenable position. But hearing that he would remain behind at the colony with his people opened up an empty spot in her breast that ached with the loss already.
Zael glanced back to the elders. “I’m not about to let the alliance fall apart now. Not after my friend has lost his life because of it. And not after Elyon’s long-festering duplicity only drives home the fact that the colony must be vigilant—within and without the veil that shields us.”
He was right and Brynne knew it. She could feel how committed he was to his people and their security.
And to this magical place.
Baramael’s narrow stare studied him. “So, you fully intend to accept our terms?”
“Yes. I will make the colony my permanent home, just as you’ve insisted. But I have a condition of my own.”
As he spoke, his gaze caught hers again. She saw the tender look in those cerulean blue depths. She felt the expanding warmth of his affection… His love.
“Tell me,” he asked the elders, although his eyes never left Brynne’s. “Has the colony ever denied sanctuary to a mated couple?”
For a long moment, there was only silence. But then Baramael slowly shook his head. “No, we have never.”
Zael’s smile tugged at the corner of his shrewd and sensual mouth. “Then can I expect that you won’t start now?”
Happiness and hope climbed up the back of Brynne’s throat as the four elders spoke quietly among themselves. But there was a trace of doubt too. None of this changed the fact that she was an outsider in this place. More than an outsider, she was made from the worst enemy these people had ever known.
And yet Zael was suggesting he would take her as his mate.
He was actually pressing these four elders to accept her as one of their own, and allow Zael and her to live together here, at the colony.
“Zael… We can’t. Do I really have to tell you all of the reasons why this is impossib—”
He silenced her with a kiss. “Do you love me, Brynne?”
“God, yes. More than anything.”
“And I love you,” he told her intently. “I love all of you, Brynne. Every last cell. And I’m not about to live a single day—on this island or anywhere else—if I can’t do it with you at my side.”
His vow tore something loose in her chest. It was her heart, she realized. It sailed skyward as he drew her to him and kissed her deeply, without a care for the several pairs of Atlantean eyes that watched them.
Finally, someone cleared their throat.
He and Brynne turned to face the sober gazes of the elders.
Baramael spoke for the group. “This is a most unusual request, Ekizael. However, these are most unusual times.” Over the male’s one blue eye, his black brow arched. “And you have fallen in love with a most unusual woman.”
Zael grinned, drawing her close. “Yes, I have.”
A smile tugged at Baramael’s mouth as well. “We owe you a debt for what you did today, Brynne. Not only the four of us, but the entire colony. So, it’s the agreement of this council that it would be our privilege to have you a part of this community.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, humbled by their acceptance. She’d never dreamed she would find that here.
She had never dreamed she’d find the kind of love and passion and contentment that Zael had brought into her life.
His fingers laced with hers as he drew her gaze back to him. “You haven’t given me your answer yet, Brynne. Can you love me enough to stay?” His eyes searched hers, solemn, earnest. “Can you love me enough to be my mate and spend your lifetime here at my side?”
“Can I love you enough?” Joy swamped her. All of the emotion she felt swelling inside her—both her own and Zael’s—was too much for her to contain. It spilled over in the tears that streaked down her cheeks. “Zael, I love you enough for a thousand lifetimes. You are my home and my heart. My everything.”
“Forever,” he murmured, his deep voice rough with feeling too.
As his mouth slanted sweetly over hers, she wrapped her arms around him and surrendered completely to the moment, to the man who was all she would ever need.
All the uncertainty and fear that had lived in her for so long evaporated under the warmth and strength of Zael’s kiss. Of his love.
In his arms, she had no doubts.
She belonged to him—body, blood, heart, and soul.
Irreversibly.
Eternally.
He broke their kiss on a sensual groan. Swiveling his head toward the elders as if in afterthought, he smirked. “If the council will excuse me, I’d like to take my beautiful mate home now.”
He barely gave them a chance to agree.
Brynne laughed as he scooped her up into his arms. His lips brushed her ear as he lowered his voice to a whisper meant for her alone.
“I want to show you my home, love. Our home. And our bed.”
CHAPTER 37
He had never brought a woman into his private home on the island.
As he carried Brynne inside the white stucco cottage on the same high hill where Nethilos had been laid to rest, Zael had never felt a greater sense that he had—at last—arrived where he belonged.
With Brynne as his mate, he would always be home.
“It’s beautiful,” she said as he brought her into the open-air residence with its wide garden terrace that overlooked endless turquoise waters. She sighed in unabashed awe, her dark green eyes lit with wonderment. “Aren’t you going to give me the grand tour?”
“Oh, yes,” he said, his voice rough with desire. “We’ll start the tour in the bedroom.”
“That would be my first choice too.” She smiled, licking her lips in a way that made his blood run hot and arrow straight to his cock. “After the bedroom, then where will you take me?”
He smiled, thinking of all the erotic possibilities. “Everywhere and every way,” he promised with a kiss, already hard and eager to have her beneath him.
A soft evening breeze rolled off the waves below and sifted through the flowering bushes outside the bedroom’s open wall of glass. The air was filled with the fragrance of salt and citrus and sweet sea roses, although it couldn’t compare to the scent of Brynne’s arousal as he laid her on the white cotton sheets of the bed and began to undress her.
He explored her skin with his mouth an
d hands as he unwrapped her for his hungry eyes. He didn’t think his desire could grow any more intense, but as he watched her transform beneath his fingers and tongue, he knew he would never see anything hotter than Brynne when she was fully Breed. When she was writhing and moaning for him, her body surrendered to him completely.
Solely his.
“You’re mine now,” he told her, stripping out of his clothing and then kissing his way back up her naked body. “Forever, Brynne.”
“Yes.” Her gasp lengthened into a slow, pleasured sigh as he sank into her heat. “Oh God, Zael. I feel you in my blood. I feel your light in me…in my veins, everywhere. It’s so powerful.”
Hearing that made him smile with pure male possessiveness. Knowing that a part of him lived inside her now only made his desire for her spike and deepen, along with his devotion.
“I felt your blood and your light when I fought Elyon too.” She reached up, cupping his face in tender hands. “It centered me, Zael. It kept me sane, even at my worst. I felt your blood and your light in me, and I wasn’t afraid. Not of anything. Not even myself. You do that for me, Zael. You and your blood. And your love.”
The thought that he could bring her comfort or grounding humbled him, honored him more than his words could ever express to her. Brynne’s love was an honor to him, and he looked forward to spending his life proving to her that he could deserve her.
“So long as I draw breath,” he promised her fiercely, “you will never know fear or darkness again. Only love, Brynne. Our love.”
“Yes,” she answered, arching up to meet his deep thrust. “Zael, yes…”
They moved together in a perfect friction, skin on skin, touching, kissing, caressing. Zael couldn’t look away from the emotion he saw in her smoldering gaze. The love he saw there staggered him. It humbled him like nothing ever had before.
He wanted to feel that love inside him.
Through blood and bond.
He wanted it so fiercely, it became a drumming in his veins.