Zael grunted, not about to play this game with her. “I doubt you brought me here to discuss the attributes of other women, Sia. I seem to recall that was always your least favorite subject. What’s on your mind?”

“You mean, besides you?” Long lashes framed the knowingly coy gaze she fixed on him. “I’ve missed you, Zael. Each time you leave the island, it seems you’re gone longer and longer.”

She spoke in that sultry voice that used to have some power to sway him. Not anymore. And to hear her plying it on him now only made him suspicious of her motivations. Tamisia was a shrewd woman who went after what she wanted. So, what did she want from him now?

He leaned against the library wall, studying the beautiful blonde elder who was so accustomed to wrapping any male around her dainty finger. “Somehow, I doubt you’ve been waiting here, pining for me, Tamisia. We were only together a few times. You’re hardly the type to waste away.”

Her pout faded into a sly smile. “You know me too well, Ekizael. No, I haven’t been pining. Elyon has been seeing to that lately.”

“Elyon?” Zael balked at the mention of his former legion comrade who served as a sentry for the colony. “Now, there’s an odd match. The rebel of the elder council and one of the most idealistic of Selene’s old guard.”

“It’s nothing,” Tamisia said with a dismissive flick of her hand. “It’s a dalliance. One I have no intention of continuing.”

Zael chuckled. “Does poor Elyon know that?”

She eyed him haughtily. “You of all people have no room to judge me. You never stay with anyone.”

No, he didn’t. Until recently, he’d never given much thought to his nomadic way of life. Nor the women who came and left his bed, creating barely a ripple of regret for their loss.

And then he met Brynne.

It was impossible to think of going back to his old ways—the endless wandering or the rest of it—now that she had entered his world.

But it was even worse than that.

Now that Brynne Kirkland was in his life, Zael couldn’t imagine what a day without her would look like.

To say nothing of his nights.

“When do you expect you’ll return to the outside again?” Tamisia asked, breaking into his thoughts.

Zael shrugged. “As soon as the council delivers their decision, or soon after. Why?”

Although she shook her head as if she meant nothing by it, there was a note of hesitancy in her stare. A plea—one she didn’t seem certain how to put into words.

“What’s wrong?”

She swallowed. “Do you think… Do you think it might be possible for me to go with you?”

Well, he sure as hell hadn’t been expecting that. He was taken aback and couldn’t hide it.

Tamisia was a high-ranking, well-respected member of the colony. An elder responsible for helping to shape the laws and direction of the entire community. He never would have dreamed she’d be willing to give all of that up.

“Go with me?”

“Not as your woman, if that’s your concern,” she quickly added. “Although if you wanted to try, you might be able to convince me to change my mind on that.”

“I don’t,” he told her gently. “And what you’re asking of me… You must know that if you leave, there’s no coming back.”

A strange hauntedness crossed her face, but it was there and gone in an instant. “I know it means if I go. It will be for good.”

Zael was the only one in the colony to be granted access to come and go as he pleased, and only because Nethilos trusted him as he would one of his own kin. Tamisia was asking him to throw that away. Incredibly, she seemed willing to throw away everything she had built for herself in the colony too.

“Why would you want to leave? The colony is who you are. You’ve never seemed restless here in all the time I’ve known you.”

“I have my reasons for wanting out, for wanting a new life. As I’m sure you had yours.”

“Have you mentioned this to the other elders?”

“No. They wouldn’t understand.” She gave him a sad smile. “I hoped that you might.”

He raked a hand over his scalp. “I can’t take you out of here—you know that, right? Not without the council being aware first. Not without their permission. If I do, we’ll both be banished.”

It was hard to ignore the small voice in the back of his conscience that wondered if being barred from his people might not be the worst thing that could happen to him.

After all, a life with Brynne might wait for him on the outside. He didn’t know what that kind of life would look like, but part of him hoped for it—wanted it with a desperation that staggered him.

But the thought of turning his back forever on the part of him that was Atlantean wasn’t something he could consider lightly.

“I can’t take you with me, Sia. Not without the colony’s blessing.” He cursed under his breath, considering everything that was currently at stake. “And I sure as hell won’t do it while I’m here trying to win the council’s trust for an alliance with the Order.”

“I’m sorry,” she blurted, looking edgy and uncomfortable now. “Forgive me. You’re right. And I shouldn’t have asked it of you, Zael. Please, don’t tell anyone I did.”

She got up from the sofa. Before he could say another word, she vanished from the room in a brilliant flash of Atlantean light.

“Shit.” Zael stood there for a moment, processing everything she’d said.

It hardly made sense. Not to mention the fact that he’d never seen the strong female look so unsteady. He didn’t know what her true reasons were for wanting to separate from the colony, nor did he expect Tamisia to tell him.

Especially not now.

He could only hope his refusal to help her didn’t jeopardize everything at stake for the alliance.

 

 

CHAPTER 30

 

Brynne stood at the water’s edge on a secluded stretch of beach, watching the crystalline blue waves lap at her bare feet. Neriah had shown her to the small white stucco cottage that would be her quarters while she and Zael were on the island. According to her, Zael had his own cottage farther up on one of the hillsides, the home he kept for those rare visits he made to the colony.