“My love . . . please,” he grated out through his teeth and fangs. “To do this, I will need your help.”
He looked at her hands, clenched around the bars of the cell. The pulse points at her wrists raced, her frantic heart beat filling his ears. His dry mouth watered at the thought of her sweet taste. One taste to give him a surge of strength that he could take into battle, however short-lived it might sustain him.
One last taste that he would savor long after he was dust.
Her soft brown eyes widened with understanding. “You want to drink from me? You’ve refused all this time because it will only make you worse in the long run.”
He slowly shook his head. “There is no long run anymore. We both know it.”
“No.” Her face crumpled with her choked sob. “No, don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.” His feet wanted to bring him closer, but there was a part of him that was too unhinged to be trusted. Even around her. Especially around her, because she was everything he wanted and craved, everything he had ever dreamed of. “I would trade anything to have more time with you, but I don’t want to live my last hours in this cell.”
She blinked at him through her tears. “Lucan, I love you so much.”
It killed him that he couldn’t comfort her, couldn’t hold her like he longed to. “I will love you forever, my sweet Gabrielle.” He looked at her for a long moment, reflecting on all the ways she had made him a better man, a stronger man. A man who had lived every day striving to be worthy of her love. “You have given me so much, Gabrielle. More than I’ve deserved. Will you help me do this last thing?”
She stared at him, wiping away the wetness that stained her cheeks. Her nod was faint at first, then more resolved as she pulled herself together. Always so strong for him. His rock, whether she realized it or not.
“Okay,” she finally whispered. “But only one condition. I’m going with you.”
CHAPTER 43
The throne room was packed from one end to the other with anxious civilians.
Selene had summoned the entire population hours ago to come and shelter inside the protective walls of the palace compound while she and her legion awaited their enemy’s arrival. The soldiers had taken up positions on the many tower battlements, as well as on the island’s hills and shore.
For Selene, it wasn’t a question of if the attack would come, but when.
She strode through the crowded throne room with Sebathiel, heading toward the open-air solar. She had forgone her royal gowns in favor of the light-colored tunic and pants of her legion, her long hair braided into a single rope that hung down her back.
In one of the pockets of her pants was the crystal. She reached inside and held the egg-sized power source in her hand, feeling the hum of energy vibrating in her palm. If anyone had designs on taking it, they would have to come through her first.
Today, Selene was General as much as Queen, and if the battle did not go her way, she was prepared to fight to her last breath to protect her people and her realm.
“The sun is starting to rise,” Seb remarked as they continued out to the garden promontory that overlooked the quiet citadel and beach below. “Daylight is our best advantage if we’ll be fighting the Ancient . . . or the Order. Neither of them can withstand the sun. If an attack is coming our way, it may not happen until night falls.”
Selene didn’t have the same confidence when it came to the number of hours they may have before whoever attacked the colony decided to make a move on the realm. With three crystals in his possession, the bearer would have little fear of anything--including the sun.
She was certain of one thing, though.
“It’s not the Order who attacked the colony, Seb.”
He glanced at her. “So, you believe Darion Thorne even after he proved himself a thief and a liar?”
Selene met his questioning frown. “He stole the box from my chambers, but he didn’t lie about it. He could’ve easily denied taking it. He could have said you planted the box in the east tower in order to make him look guilty. He could have said Taebris did it. I wanted him to deny it so much, I think I would have believed anything he said in his own defense.” She released a short sigh. “I don’t suppose I want to know what you think that says about me.”
Sebathiel studied her softly, no judgment in his eyes. A quiet realization washed over his handsome, if crestfallen, face. “I think what it says, Your Grace, is that you are a woman in love. Alas, with someone other than me.”
She smiled at that, reaching out to touch her fingertips to his cheek. “You have been loyal to me for a very long time, and for that I will always be grateful. You have been my trusted confidant, my friend. But Darion . . .”
“I know,” Seb said. “I could see it in your eyes whenever you looked at him. I also saw the same feeling in his eyes every time you were in the room.”
“You did?”
Sebathiel gave a wry laugh. “That Breed male looks at you as though you are the most precious treasure he could ever possess. Not the crystal, Selene . . . you.”
“Then why did you encourage me to send him away?”
