Up ahead, beneath a blanket of starlight, lay the island.
The distance was closing swiftly.
On deck, the monstrous crew awaited their captain’s order.
Only a few hundred yards to the beach, he gave it.
“Kill them all.”
Rogues leapt from the decks to the water, rushing the shore. More poured out from belowdecks, hundreds of snarling beasts, a never-ending tide of death.
And then, the slaughter began.
Screams went up as the Rogue army swept in, killing everyone in sight. Men. Women. Children.
Holding the box of crystals in his arms, the Ancient leapt in one soaring motion from the deck to the beach. Atlantean soldiers rushed at him, but none could touch him. Weapons and light bounced away, useless against the shielding power of the crystals.
He strode forward, leaving the sounds of agony and death in his wake.
“Jenna! Jenna, can you hear me?”
Caleb’s panicked voice yanked her out of the awful vision.
She sucked in a jagged gasp, as if she’d been on the verge of drowning. Her stomach roiled from actual nausea now. And a bone-deep dread.
She could hardly draw breath to speak.
“Oh, God. The Ancient . . . he’s got a third crystal.”
CHAPTER 39
Darion woke to the feel of Selene jolting out of his arms as they slept naked in her bed.
A strangled, mournful sound wrenched from her throat. “Oh, no. No!”
“What is it?” He vaulted up next to her, moving onto his knees as he tried to discern what was wrong. “Are you hurt?”
Another awful cry tore out of her. “No . . . this can’t be.”
She scrambled off the bed as though caught in a nightmare, but it was obvious she was wide awake. Wide awake, and gripped in unseen pain. She rushed to the window and looked out at the night sky as if searching for some answer in the darkness.
“No . . .”
Darion yanked on his pants and flew to her side as her legs slowly collapsed beneath her. She sagged against his chest, weeping.
“Talk to me,” he urged her gently. Her distress carved at his heart like a blade. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Hot tears soaked his bare chest. “They’re all dead.”
“Who?” He struggled to comprehend the depth of her sudden grief. Part of him still hoped she had been caught up in a terrible dream, even though her reaction felt too real for him to believe that. “Who’s dead?”
“The colony,” she choked out. “Darion, something’s happened . . . all I feel is a great void, their light is gone.”
She broke down sobbing, great racking heaves. He held her in his arms, but she was shivering, shaking uncontrollably.
Someone pounded on the door to the main apartment outside.
“Your Grace!” Sebathiel’s deep voice called. He pounded again. “I heard you cry out. Are you all right?”
