“Um, Jenna?” She pointed past Micah’s shoulder, to the far end of the long chamber where a hulking, large black floor safe stood. “You need to see this.”
Jenna hurried over to look and drew in a breath. “Holy shit.”
Phaedra let out a soft gasp when she saw it, too, her hand coming up to her parted lips.
Even Micah could only stare in astonishment.
A silvery glow surrounded the huge safe. The light pulsed with intensity, growing brighter with each passing second.
Jenna faced them, astonishment in her voice. “This has never happened before. Jordana’s been in this room before. Zael too. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Jordana nodded in agreement. “I don’t understand. Inside that safe, the crystal is housed within a titanium box. It’s supposed to keep the energy muted. That’s how my father was able to conceal the crystal from any of our people. How is this possible?”
“My parents,” Phaedra whispered. “They’re part of all five crystals. It’s their life force I’m feeling. It’s been so long since I’ve been in such close proximity to one of the crystals, I didn’t remember how strongly I feel their presence.”
Micah recalled her certainty about the presence of a crystal in the Deadlands. “Is this the same thing you felt the night my team was killed?”
“No.” A strange, sad smile spread over her lovely face. “This is different. It’s an overwhelming feeling of love, of light. That’s what the crystals were meant to be. What I felt in the woods with you was something dark, a detonation meant to inflict mass harm.”
“It sure as hell did that.”
Phaedra swallowed, nodding soberly. “Each of the five crystals holds immense light and strength. They were created to protect, to provide power as a shield. The Ancients twisted that power when they annihilated Atlantis’s original settlement. They manipulated the crystals, found a way to turn all that light and strength into a dark weapon. All it takes is the combined force of two crystals and the will to destroy.”
The idea put a coldness in his blood—and iron in his resolve. Just another reason to make sure Selene never got her hands on more than the one crystal she had left.
And God forbid Opus Nostrum ever ended up with that kind of power.
While Micah’s thoughts churned with all the disturbing scenarios that were possible, the locked door on the safe opened on its own, as if in invitation. Phaedra began to walk toward it.
A jolt of dread shot through him, images of the scorched carnage left behind in the Deadlands flashing in his head. He reached out, halting her, his hand clasped around her wrist. “Stop, Phaedra. You’re not going anywhere near that thing.”
She arched a brow. “If you’re still concerned I’m secretly in league with Selene and that I might try to steal the crystal from right under your nose, you needn’t worry. If that’s what I wanted to do, I’d already be gone with it.”
He growled under his breath. That wasn’t the source of his concern at all, even if it should be. To his shock, the only concern he had right now was her.
Even though she wasn’t a fragile human by any means, he didn’t want to imagine what might happen if she was wrong. For all his mistrust and suspicion in the beginning, he had to admit some of those walls were coming down the more time he spent with her.
Pulling out of his loosened hold, she continued to approach the glowing safe. She paused in front of the opened door and looked back at Jenna. “Do you mind if I take it out?”
Jenna shook her head. “It belongs to you as much as it does anyone else.”
As Phaedra reached inside to retrieve the small metal box, the glow surrounding the safe spread to her. Soft silver light skated over her limbs and into her hair, infusing her chestnut waves with unearthly luminescence.
She was stunning anytime, but bathed in the glow from the crystal, she was nothing less than a goddess kissed by heavenly fire. Micah stared. Christ, he could hardly do anything else as he watched her walk back to the group.
She set the small box down on the worktable in the center of the room as he, Jordana, and Jenna gathered around.
Jenna slid a hesitant look at him. “Since we haven’t seen this kind of reaction from the crystal before, I’m not sure you should be here when we open the box.”
“It’s all right,” Phaedra said. “This light will bring no harm to him.”
Micah smirked. “You sure about that? You’ve probably got more than a few reasons to want to scorch my ass.”
“Now that you mention it.” She gave him a wry smile. “If you think you can trust me, stay.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her a nod to continue.
She lifted the lid on the titanium box, then gingerly reached inside. The crystal was smaller than he’d expected—roughly the size of a hen’s egg. But the power that emanated from it was indescribably intense.
