Defy the Dawn

Zael hadn’t told anyone precisely where the colony was located. That was a secret he intended to keep, even from her. And since he couldn’t teleport with a non-Atlantean accompanying him, they had to travel there by more mundane means.

Although mundane was hardly how she would describe the billowing white sails and the endless, impossibly blue water that surrounded them on every side of the boat as it cut through the waves with Zael standing at the helm.

For what seemed like endless hours, they had sailed straight into the open sea. By Brynne’s estimation, at the clip they were going, they should have been able to spot the shoreline of the African continent any minute now.

Should have…but didn’t.

She ventured out from beneath the shade of the bimini where she sat near Zael and peered at the horizon ahead of them.

No land in sight.

Nothing but turquoise water as far as she could see. And a thick, fluffy cloud bank that clung to the horizon. One they seemed to have been chasing for a good part of the day.

Finding no landmarks to gauge their progress, she ducked back under the canopy, glad for the shelter from the sun’s rays. Even though she was a daywalker, the idea of lingering in open sunlight for long periods of time went against her nature.

She glanced at Zael, who was looking far too enticing as he stood behind the ship’s wheel in his white tunic and linen pants. When they’d arrived on the sailboat, Brynne had found similar clothing in her size pressed and waiting for her. She toyed idly with the string that laced the front of her top.

“We must be getting close…to somewhere?”

The trace of a smile edged Zael’s sensual mouth. “We are.”

“You don’t need a map or anything to stay on course?”

“There’s no map that will take us where we need to go.” He slid a wry glance at her, blue eyes the same brilliant hue as the sea now glimmering with droll humor. “You’ll just have to trust me not to lead you astray.”

She met his look with an arch of her brows. “Seems to me you’ve been trying to lead me astray from the first moment we met. I’m surprised you didn’t blindfold me as soon as we landed in Athens.”

He grunted, his gaze heating. “An interesting option. I wish I’d thought of that.”

She laughed, even as her veins throbbed in answer to his playful suggestion. It was good to see some of his tension ease. Since they’d left to begin this journey, he’d been uncharacteristically quiet—more contemplative than she’d ever seen him. No doubt his thoughts were distant, his worries more onerous than she could ever comprehend.

Compounded by the fact that he was saddled with unwanted company on this journey, which might mean neither one of them would be welcome at their mysterious destination.

“I shouldn’t be here, Zael.”

She had seen his reaction when Tavia first suggested the idea. He hadn’t like it any more than Brynne had. If not for being pressured by his alliance with Lucan and the Order, she had no doubt that Zael would have returned to his people alone. Possibly for good.

Instead, he was taking an enormous risk with the bond he had to his own kind by bringing a member of their enemy’s race into their midst. Especially after he’d personally witnessed her at her monstrous worst.

“It’s my fault any of this is happening in the first place,” she added. “If you hadn’t used your power to help me, Selene never would’ve known where you were.”

His brows drew together. “None of this is your fault. I knew what I was doing. I’d do again, if it meant the difference between my safety and yours. As for Selene, she put a target on my back a long time ago. If I let fear of that fact dictate how I choose to live, I may as well lie down and let her finish me now.”

Brynne couldn’t help but admire his courage. She liked to think that she was brave too—a survivor—but her fears had colored every aspect of her life. Fear had kept her isolated and shut off from the people around her. Fear had kept her alone…lonely.

Until Zael.

“Thank you,” she murmured, emotion swelling in her breast as she looked at him, this man who had drawn her out of the shadows of her existence and into the light.

His light.

She swallowed against the affection that clogged her throat as she held his unwavering gaze. “Thank you for helping me, Zael. And I don’t mean just last night in that alley.”

His mouth curved as he reached out to her and brought her under the shelter of his strong arm. He kissed the top of her head, his heartbeat thundering against her ear as she rested her cheek against him.

He held there for a long while, one arm on the wheel of the sailboat, the other wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders. Brynne couldn’t deny her contentment, the perfect moments of bliss, as they stood together at the helm while the boat rocked over the waves, still chasing that frothy white mass of clouds near the horizon.

But for all of his warmth with her, there was an undercurrent of tension in the sinew of his body. Something troubled him. She felt it even before he spoke.

“When we get to the colony, Brynne, it will be better if no one knows that we’re involved.” When she drew back to look at him, she found his expression grave with warning. “They will not understand.”

“You mean they won’t approve.”

He acknowledged with a slight nod. “Bringing you in as an envoy of the Order is asking much of them to begin with. If they think I’m motivated by my feelings for you, they may be less apt to hear us out.”

“Of course,” she answered, nodding as if she didn’t feel the pang of hurt inside. Perhaps she needed the reminder that he was only bringing her to his people in an official capacity, and nothing more. Better she understand that now, before her heart flitted off any further into fantasies of what it would be like to feel this man at her side for always, not just a few pleasurable hours.

She and Zael came from different worlds; she knew that. Selene’s personally delivered threat had driven that point home with stark clarity.

But hearing him remind her that she didn’t belong with his people—that she shouldn’t expect them to accept her, and particularly not if she arrived there on the arm of one of their own—made all of the contentment she’d felt moments ago dry up and scatter on the warm breeze that blew in off the water.

She used the excuse of a rolling wave to extricate herself from his loose embrace. “How long has it been since you were at the colony?”