The male leaned heavily on Zael’s old title, his disapproval more than evident in his tone.

Indara, the sole female of the group, nodded as Vaenor spoke. “He’s right, Zael. The elders will have no choice but to banish you.”

“If they don’t order us to take both of your heads first,” added Rasaphael, the fourth member of the guard detail.

A booming, deep voice rose above the others. “That decision will be the elders’ and no one else’s.”

Zael knew the Atlantean who had materialized on the beach behind the sentries. Nethilos, one of six individuals who comprised the council of the elders, now strode up to confront Zael.

The tall male’s shoulder-length, walnut-brown hair was brushed back from his dark olive face, making his golden-brown eyes seem even more arresting than usual. His brows furrowed as he glanced from Brynne to Zael.

“We’ve known each other too long for games, so I’ll assume this breach of colony law is with good reason.”

“It is,” Zael said, inclining his head in deference to the elder who was also a long-respected friend. “I’m here on a matter that concerns everyone within and outside the veil.”

Nethilos considered him in a prolonged, measured silence. “Do you come here with a pure heart and good intent?”

It was a vow Zael was asked to make each time he returned to the colony from outside. And one he gave freely now. “Yes, my friend.”

“And you?” Nethilos demanded of Brynne.

She glanced anxiously at Zael, then answered when he acknowledged with a subtle nod. “Yes. You have my word.”

“Then that is good enough for me,” Nethilos announced. “Whether it will be good enough for the rest of the council remains to be seen.”

The elder glanced grimly at Zael, a silent command to follow him as he waved off the sentries and began walking back up the beach. Zael and Brynne fell in alongside him, heading for the cobbled street across the sand.

Nethilos strode in silence for a long while, leading them up one of the island’s twisting paths that would eventually bring them to the heart of the colony’s settlement.

He cast a sidelong look at Zael. “Despite the…unusual circumstances, Diandra will be pleased to know you’re here. As will Neriah. They both spoke of you for weeks after your last visit.”

Although Brynne said nothing, Zael felt her unease at the mention of the two colony females. “If I’m so fortunate,” he told the elder, “I shall look forward to some of your mate’s fine cooking and your daughter’s lively music.”

Nethilos grunted, and while Zael had been careful not to glance Brynne’s way as he indirectly explained who the women were, he figured he’d be a fool to expect the unspoken exchange to go unnoticed by his wise old friend.

They had known each other for ages, although Nethilos had been a teacher during his tenure in the realm and Zael a soldier. Following the ruin of Atlantis and the defections that followed, Nethilos had helped to establish the colony. He was the first elder to agree to give asylum to Zael and the other legion warriors who had fled Selene’s rule. Over the centuries, their friendship and mutual trust had remained strong.

But Nethilos was only one of six elders on the council. There were five others they would need to win over, more than one of whom would find great satisfaction in holding Zael’s fate in their hands.

Not to mention Brynne’s.

As the three of them continued to walk the cobbled road, a few curious heads popped out of open cottage windows and doorways to peer at the newcomers. Zael knew almost everyone in the population of a few hundred Atlantean exiles. He was always a bit of a curiosity on those rare times he returned to the island, but it wasn’t him drawing the most attention now.

“We’ve never had a human on the island,” Nethilos remarked discreetly, glancing at Brynne. “Then again, I don’t imagine we do now either.”

Zael uttered a quiet curse as he paused to face the elder. “Brynne is Breed.”

Nethilos’s brows arched over widened eyes. “Daywalker?”

She gave him a slight nod.

“Remarkable. And utterly reckless on your part, Zael.”

“I brought Brynne out of necessity,” he hastened to explain. “She’s here as an emissary for her people. And for the Order.”

“The Order?” Nethilos’s expression went from surprise to darkening suspicion. “This is no breach of colony law, Zael. What you’ve done is something much more dangerous.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “And I never would’ve risked it without damned good cause. We need to discuss an alliance between the Order and the colony. The elders need to understand the Order’s position and the goals they share with the colony.”

“Our shared goals? What could we possibly have in common with Lucan Thorne and his warriors?”

“Selene,” Zael stated grimly. “She’s threatening war with the outside world, and the Order specifically.”

“And that’s our concern, why?”

Brynne spoke up now. “Because for her to start a war with the Breed—for her to be certain she will win—she needs to have a second crystal.”

“The Order has one,” Zael confessed to his friend. “Cassianus left it hidden where only Jordana would find it.”

Nethilos scrubbed a hand over his firm jaw. “The rumors were true. The bastard really did steal one.”

Zael gave a sober nod. “Good for all of us, or Selene would already have everything she needs to be unstoppable.”

“And the other crystal is here in the colony,” Brynne added.

“I know I don’t need to convince you that neither of our crystals can end up in Selene’s hands,” Zael said.

“The colony will never surrender our crystal. It would be the beginning of our end if we lose the only thing that’s kept us safe all this time.”

Zael agreed completely. “Don’t think Selene hasn’t thought of that every day since you and I and all of the others escaped the realm. She’s growing restless…reckless. I saw it myself, Nethilos.”

His friend’s scowl deepened. “What do you mean you saw it?”

“Before Brynne and I left to come here, Selene had intercepted communications at the Order’s headquarters to issue a personal threat to them, and to me.” Zael held the elder’s wary gaze. “Losing Jordana to the Order may have been the final blow. You and I both know how deep her fury runs—and her vengeance. She’s been licking her wounds for a very long time, but now I fear she’s ready to fight.”