Darion left Selene’s bed while she slept, slipping away stealthily then flashing to the fifth-floor chamber in the main tower.
After their incredible night together, there was nothing he would have enjoyed more than waking Selene up that morning with his mouth, his hands, and his very interested cock, but his extended presence in the royal chambers was likely raising enough eyebrows as it was.
Being Queen, she didn’t have to explain herself to anyone, but that didn’t mean Darion wanted to cause any more conflict than he already had. Sebathiel had disliked him on sight, and after what happened with Taebris in the throne room, Darion was racking up far more enemies than allies in the Atlantean realm.
Not so with Selene.
Aside from the trust forming between them on the personal side, they were also unified in their plan to approach the Order and the colony about joining forces to go on the offense against the Ancient. All they had to do was hope they could convince everyone else--including Selene’s general and the rest of her legion.
While he showered in the chamber’s adjoining bathroom, Darion calculated dozens of different scenarios for how the three factions could work together. Each one he envisioned had him standing side-by-side with Selene.
Damn. He was falling hard and fast. As stunned as he was to realize how much she was coming to mean to him, in a way it didn’t surprise him at all. They’d had a sharp, undeniable connection from the first moment their eyes met. Granted, they’d also been at each other’s throats from the start, but that only seemed to make their passion now all the deeper and more intense.
It wasn’t merely passion he was feeling toward Selene, either.
He cared for her. More than cared.
Every minute he spent with her made it that much harder to imagine a day when they would part.
And that day would come.
It had to.
His life was with his warrior brethren. If his father didn’t recover enough to resume his role as leader, Darion owed it to him to keep the Order alive.
It was a possibility he didn’t want to accept, and not only because it would mean leaving Selene for good.
He stepped out of the warm shower and toweled off. Pulling on his linen pants, he loosely tied the drawstring as he strode barefoot into the main area of the chamber.
Taebris was there, along with two other legion soldiers Darion had never seen before. The three Atlanteans stood inside the closed room, all of them wearing long swords at their sides and murderous intent in their eyes.
“Ever hear of knocking?” Darion asked, taking note of the glow building in the trio’s closed fists.
Taebris’s lip curled in a sneer. “How’s she taste, blood-drinker? Got your fangs in her yet, or did you start with something else?”
Darion’s fury spiked. “Fair warning, Taebris. If I knock you down, you won’t get up again.”
He scoffed. “I always suspected our royal bitch liked getting her skirts dirty. Spreading her legs for a human wasn’t filthy enough. Now she’s rutting with the likes of you.” He glanced at his comrades. “Kill him.”
Both soldiers unleashed their light on Darion, slamming him against the far wall. The window at his back was open to the elements--and to the bright morning sunlight shining outside. Real sunlight. He could feel the heat of it on his bare back and head.
The Atlanteans kept pushing with the glow from their palms. If he stopped fighting against it, the force of that light would send him flying into the sun-filled courtyard below.
Taebris grinned from his position just inside the closed door. Darion couldn’t break out of the relentless hold. He sent a mental command to the thick stone door. It flew inward, knocking into Taebris.
His shout of surprise drew the attention of his comrades. Only for a moment, but that was all Darion needed.
The light faltered, and he spun away from the punishing stream. Moving at his full speed, he snapped one soldier’s arm. The male howled and went down on one knee. Darion pulled the guard’s sword from its scabbard at the same time and swung it into the Atlantean’s neck.
Light exploded from the severed wound and from the male’s palms as the body and head both fell to the floor.
The dead soldier’s comrade fired more light at Darion. He dodged it, coming up swinging with the sword. Taebris joined in now, both of them pinning Darion to the stone wall with excruciating light. He fought the intense power that held him trapped, finally managing to bring his blade up in front of him.
Light sparked against the Atlantean blade’s surface. Taebris sent more, until a sharp beam of his light ricocheted off the blade and struck the soldier instead. He lit up like his comrade as his corpse hit the floor.
Darion immediately rolled out of the way of Taebris’s light. He flashed behind the general with the long sword in hand. With a roar he cleaved the Atlantean’s head from his shoulders.
Light filled the chamber with Taebris’s death. When it cleared, Darion turned around and found Sebathiel standing in the open doorway, staring in abject horror at the carnage around Darion’s feet. And at the bloodied weapon in his hand.
