Several moans of disappointment harmonized, from deep baritones, to the crackling timbres of the young.
'Can you bring her back?' Zaeven asked eagerly. 'I liked her. I've never seen hair that color before.'
'She will not be returning, no.' A sharp pang of disappointment caught him off guard. He wanted to see her again-and he would-but he wasn't supposed to desire her here, in his home, lighting the room with her very presence. He wasn't supposed to look forward to their encounter, to sparring with her or touching her. Neither was he supposed to mourn her loss.
It isn't the woman herself he wanted, he assured himself. Merely her ability to regenerate his senses.
'There has to be a way we can bring her back,' Zaeven said.
They didn't know that she was a traveler and must die, and he didn't tell them. They had never understood his oath, so how could he explain this most loathsome task of all?
'Brand,' he barked. 'I need to speak with you privately.'
'We aren't finished with this conversation.' A muscle ticked in Madox's temple. 'You have not yet explained your actions.'
'Nor will I. The woman was not my lover and was not here to see to my personal pleasure. That is all you need to know.' He pivoted on his heel. 'This way, Brand.'
Without another word or even a backward glance to ensure his friend followed, Darius strode to his chambers. He sank stiffly onto the outer lounge and jerked his hands behind his head.
How had his life become so chaotic in only a few short hours? His men were near revolt. A woman had bested him-not once but twice. And though he'd had sufficient time, he had failed to do his duty. His hands curled into fists.
Now he had to leave all that he knew and travel to the surface.
He despised chaos, despised change, yet the moment he'd encountered Grace he'd all but welcomed both with open arms.
Brand stepped inside and stopped when he reached the edge of the bathing pool. Darius knew that if he could see colors right now, Brand's eyes would be a deep, dark gold filled with bafflement. 'What is going on?' his friend asked. 'You are acting so unlike yourself.'
'I need your help.'
'Then it is yours.'
'I must journey to the surface and-'
'What!' Brand's exclamation rang in his ears, followed quickly by a heavy pause. 'Please repeat what you just said. I'm sure I misheard.'
'Your hearing is excellent. I must journey to the surface.'
Brand frowned. 'Leaving Atlantis is forbidden. You know the gods bound us to this place. If we leave, we weaken and die.'
'I will not be gone more than a single day.'
'And if that is too long?'
'I would go still. There has been a… slight complication. The woman was my prisoner. She escaped.' The confession tasted foul in his mouth. 'I must find her.'
Brand absorbed that information and shook his head. 'Do you mean you let her go?'
'No.'
'Surely she did not escape on her own.'
'Yes, she did.' His jaw clenched.
'So you did not let her go?' Brand persisted, obviously stymied by the concept of his leader's failure. 'She managed to outwit you?'
'How many ways would you have me say it? I locked her up, but she found a way out.' Because she slipped the medallion from my neck when I was distracted by the feel of her body under mine , he silently added.
Slowly Brand grinned. 'That is amazing. I'm willing to bet that woman is like a wild demon in bed and-' His words ground to a halt when he noticed Darius's thunderous glower. He cleared his throat. 'Why did you have her locked away?'
'She is a traveler.'
His grin faded, and his eyes lost all sparks of merriment. 'She must die. Even a woman can lead an army to us.'
'I know.' Darius sighed.
Brand's tone became stark. 'What do you need me to do?'
'Guard the mist while I am gone.'
'But I am not truly a Guardian. The coldness of the cave will weaken me.'
'Only temporarily.' Darius sent his gaze to the domed ceiling. The seawater that encompassed their great city churned as fiercely as his need to see Grace. The temptress, the tormentor. The innocent, the guilty. Just what was she? Waves crashed turbulently against the crystal, swishing and swirling, driving away all sea life. Just as quickly as one wave appeared, another took its place, leaving a splattering of foam on each individual prism. Was this an omen, perhaps, of his coming days? Days of storms and turmoil?
He heaved another sigh. 'What say you, Brand? Will you remain in the cave and destroy any human who passes through the portal, be they man or woman, adult or child?'
With only a brief hesitation, Brand nodded. 'I will guard the mist while you are gone. You have my word of honor.'
'Thank you.' He trusted Brand completely with this task. Only a man who had lost loved ones to a traveler truly understood the importance of the Guardian. Brand would let no one through.
Brand inclined his head in acknowledgment. 'What am I to tell the others?'
'The truth. Or nothing at all. That is up to you.'
'Very well. I will leave you now so that you may prepare for your journey.'
Darius nodded and wondered if there was any way to actually prepare himself for another encounter with Grace.
The messenger he sent to Javar's holding returned as the sounds of the day began to fade. Darius was submerged from the waist down in his bathing pool, gazing out at the breathtaking view of ocean beyond the window he'd bared only an hour ago. Its viewing had become a nightly ritual, granting him some measure of tranquility. He motioned for the young dragon to share his news.
Standing at the edge of the pool and shifting nervously from foot to foot, Grayley said, 'I'm sorry, but I was unable to deliver your message. Does that,' he gulped, 'make you want to yell at me?'
Darius's eyes narrowed, and his hand stilled over the warmth of the water. 'Did you purposefully act against my orders merely to win your game?'
'No, no,' the boy rushed out, game forgotten. 'I swear. The guards refused my entrance.'
'Guards? What guards?'
'The guards who told me to leave. The guards who said I was not wanted there.'
'And Javar?'
'Refused to speak with me, as well.'
'Did he tell you this himself?'
'No. The guards informed me of his refusal.'
Darius frowned. This made no sense. Why would Javar refuse a messenger entrance? That was their usual way of communication, and neither of them had ever refused the other. Besides, why would a dragon refuse another dragon?
'There is something else,' the dragon said, hesitating. 'The guards… they were wholly human and carried strange metal objects like weapons.'
Strange metal objects… He jolted to his feet, sloshing water over the rim of the pool, then stalked naked to his desk and withdrew a sheet of paper and writing ink. He gave both to Grayley. 'Draw the weapon for me.'
What the young warrior drew appeared larger than what Grace had carried, yet was roughly the same design. Darius absorbed that information, mulled it over, men came to a decision. 'Gather my men in the dining hall. After that, I wish you to find the unit on patrol in the Outer City. Vorik is acting as leader. Tell him I want him and the others surrounding Javar's palace, unseen, detaining any who enter or leave.'
