Selene gingerly reached for the crystal, cradling it in both her palms.
Light bloomed within it, sending warmth and power into her hands, her arms, her entire being.
Selene was as much a prisoner of the realm as she’d tried to make her daughter. Or, now, Jordana.
Because without a crystal to restore her, Selene--and the realm she would sacrifice anything to protect--would cease to exist.
Maybe she was a fool to allow the colony to have their crystal.
But they were her people too. She would never leave them vulnerable, even to aid herself.
As she drew more strength from the crystal in her hands, she realized there was another way to ensure the longevity of the Atlantean people.
One that might also take away some of the guilt that scored her heart as she listened to the distant sound of Jordana’s weeping reverberating through the stones of the palace tower.
CHAPTER 17
Nathan leapt on Zael. “You were supposed to protect her. You gave me your fucking word you’d keep her safe!”
The two large males crashed to the floor. With eyes gone volcanic with rage, the normally stoic Nathan unleashed bloody-minded fury on the Atlantean. Zael dodged his lightning-fast blows, his palms glowing despite that he refused to deliver even a single strike in return.
“Fuck,” Darion growled, lunging into the fray.
The other warriors moved swiftly to help him peel Nathan off Zael. Restraining him wasn’t easy. Nathan was a wall of muscle and born to be a killing machine. What made him even deadlier now was his concern for Jordana. His big body vibrated with lethal menace, all of it trained on their friend and ally.
“I told you she shouldn’t go with you,” Nathan hissed. “You swore to me nothing would happen to her.”
Zael’s expression was more miserable than Darion had ever seen it before. “I tried to protect her, Nathan. All of us did, but not even four of my strongest friends and I combined were enough to hold off Selene. Neither was Jordana. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?”Nathan spat the word, making another lunge for him. “She’s gone and you’re telling me you’re sorry?”
Darion and the other warriors holding him tightened their grasp, likely the only thing keeping Zael from being torn to pieces if Nathan were to get his hands on him.
Not the only thing. Zael’s mate, Brynne, entered the war room on a rush of Breed motion. “Zael!” She was at his side instantly, glowering at Nathan as she assisted Zael to his feet. “What happened to you? What the hell is going on?”
“Jordana,” Darion said soberly. “Selene has taken her.”
“Taken her? How?” Brynne put her shoulder under Zael’s arm, giving him support as his big body leaned against her. “What happened?”
“Selene teleported to the colony by herself. I don’t know how she knew Jordana was there, but it was obvious she came with an agenda.”
Brynne’s face blanched. “The crystal, too?”
He shook his head. “She only came for Jordana.”
Darion exchanged a look with his brethren. It felt cold to know a bit of relief that the colony’s crystal hadn’t also fallen into the Atlantean’s queen’s hands, but if it had, the odds of ever seeing Jordana again would have dwindled to nil.
As it stood, the chances were far from hopeful.
“Let go of me,” Nathan snarled, gnashing his fangs at Darion and his fellow warriors. “I have to go after her. Nothing else matters without Jordana.”
“You can’t go after her,” Zael told him soberly. “Even if you knew where the realm’s island is, you’re an outsider. The veil would bar you from entering uninvited.”
Nathan’s chest heaved with the breaths that rolled between his teeth and fangs. “Then you fucking go. Why are you here when you should’ve chased after Selene and taken her head for even touching Jordana?”
“I was banished from the realm a long time ago,” Zael replied tonelessly. “With the crystal protecting the island, I can’t breach the veil, either.”
“Goddamn it, we have to do something,” Nathan roared. “No matter what it--”
