by Adrian, Lara
Never mind her mother’s noble, if desperate, motivations. She had meddled with destiny and it was Phaedra and Micah who were left paying the price.
“We’re getting close to the area I’d been with my team,” he said, his long-legged pace slowing to a pause ahead of Phaedra and the rest of the search party.
“You’re certain?” Zael asked quietly from beside the others.
With a curt nod, Micah glanced over his shoulder, his gaze lingering on Phaedra. “I would know this godforsaken stretch of woods anywhere.”
So would she. The skeletal, blackened trees, the dry forest bed crunching like brittle bones under her boots . . . the darkness all around them.
She caught herself holding her breath, waiting for the ghostly white doe to appear as it had so unfailingly in her dreams before her tragic first encounter with Micah in this same area of the Deadlands. But she knew the doe wouldn’t appear this time. Not ever again.
They were on their own now.
The team continued forward, pushing farther into the scorched taiga in search of the large field of boulders Jenna had seen in her vision of the Ancient’s memory.
“You guys,” she whispered. “There they are.”
Phaedra and the rest of the group looked to where she pointed. There, all but obscured by Deadlands trees and moonlit darkness, stood a jumbled clearing of massive rocks. On the whole unremarkable, appearing to be nothing more than a natural element of the forbidding terrain.
Jenna’s eyes gleamed with excitement—and certainty. “We’ve found it. Better let me lead the way. If I’m right, the ship will sense my DNA and let us approach.”
No one asked what might happen if she was wrong. They all knew the answer to that, and Phaedra braced herself for the worst with each step they followed behind Jenna.
They made their way over to the rocks, moving swiftly and silently. Phaedra opened her senses, waiting to feel the low-frequency buzz that would tell her they were close to the crystals. All she could feel was the heavy hammering of her heart, and the slick rush of adrenaline through her veins as Jenna led the team toward the largest of the rocks.
Jenna glanced at Brock, a note of hesitation in her face now that they had arrived. “In case I don’t get the chance to tell you later, you’re the most amazing thing that ever happened to me.”
He smiled. “Ditto, beautiful. I expect to hear it again, and often, after we all get out of this hellscape. So, open sesame whenever you’re ready.”
Phaedra couldn’t keep her gaze from straying to Micah in those breathless few moments as Jenna stood before the boulder. If everything went sideways in the next few minutes, she would never regret giving her heart to Micah. She wanted him to know that she loved him without a shred of reservation or regret, and that she would continue loving him to her last breath, whenever that moment might come.
He stared back at her, his handsome face stern with purpose. But then, something changed in his shuttered expression. His eyes softened on her, his mouth relaxing into a bittersweet smile.
Because he knew.
Through his blood bond to her, he knew what she was feeling now without her having to say the words. He knew, and the look of yearning in his eyes told her she wasn’t alone.
He loved her too.
All they needed now was the chance to start over, to make it right.
Jenna drew in a shallow breath and pressed her palm to the rock. “Oh, my God. I think it’s working.”
No sooner had she whispered the words, the rock she was touching vanished—along with the rest of the field of boulders.
It was just as she had described to everyone in the Order’s war room. With the concealing cloak dissolved, what remained was an enormous, alien craft. One end of the huge ship was clearly disabled. The other, where the team stood, was glossy and smooth, crafted of dark metallic material that didn’t appear to have any seams or doors.
But Jenna seemed to know just where to lay her hand. After a moment, a hatch that wasn’t visible before silently lifted open.
No one said a word. No one so much as breathed as the cavernous interior was revealed. Dimly illuminated by small, glowing lights somewhere inside, the ship sat utterly quiet and still. True to Jenna’s description, just inside the sleek main cabin of the craft, corridors branched out in different directions, all of them empty.
Micah was the first to break the awestruck silence.
“Let’s get to work,” he commanded quietly, taking the lead with his natural confidence and courage.
Phaedra and the rest of the group followed him inside.
“This way,” Jenna said, heading for one of the bare corridors.
They followed it to another chamber of the ship, one that appeared to be the main command center. Jenna strode forward to one of the dashboards. After inspecting several of the controls, she glanced over her shoulder with a look of relief on her face.
“The detonation timer is dark. It must’ve lost power over time or been deactivated when the Ancient put his chip in me.”
Brock blew out a breath. “Thank God.”
“Do you remember where the crystals were stored?” Brynne asked her.
Jenna nodded. She indicated an area in the same chamber, while Zael walked cautiously toward the collection of cylindrical pods arranged on the far side of the large space.
“I’m going to have a look around over here.”
Phaedra felt Micah’s studying gaze beside her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his brows furrowed. “You’re uneasy about something.”
She frowned, giving him a small shake of her head. “It’s just . . . the crystals. I don’t feel them anywhere near here.”
Micah opened his mouth to speak, but Zael’s sudden curse drew everyone’s attention.
He stood near the eight pods. “Jenna, how many of these were empty in your vision?”
“Six.” She stopped investigating the control panels and pivoted to face him. “The others contained the bodies of two crew members who’d died of ultraviolet exposure soon after the ship crashed here.”
Zael’s expression was beyond grim. “Only one of these has a body in it.”
“That’s impossible,” Jenna replied. “In the Ancient’s memory, he’d been certain there were two dead comrades in those pods.”
Phaedra’s stomach took a sudden plunge into her boots. “That means there’s one of them out there somewhere.”
“Holy shit,” Brynne hissed.
“We need to get out of here,” Micah said. “Now.”
“The crystals,” Jenna said. “We have to find them.”
Phaedra shook her head. “They’re not here. I would feel them if they were here, and I don’t.”
“Neither do I,” Zael said, his eyes grave. “They’re gone.”
Jenna raced back to the dashboard and pressed her palm against the glass. “We have to look for them, don’t we? We have to try—”
Brock stilled her hand with his. “Babe, we’ve got to go. Now.”
Micah linked his fingers through Phaedra’s and in a scramble of movement, they all hurried out of the chamber with him in the lead. He skidded to a stop as soon as they cleared the end of the corridor.
“Son of a bitch.”
There, on the other side of the open hatch, blocking the only exit from the craft, stood a seven-foot-tall otherworlder. Hairless, covered in dermaglyphs that ran from the top of his bald head to the full breadth and width of his bared torso, the Ancient glowered at them with blazing amber eyes. His huge fangs gleamed like daggers behind dark lips that peeled back in a sadistic smile.
Micah had a gun in his hand the instant he spotted him. He fired several shots, each one hitting its mark. Brock did the same, to no avail.
Laughing, the Ancient pressed his hand against the exterior of the craft.
“No,” Jenna shouted. “Oh, no. He’s going to lock us in!”
Zael and Phaedra both unleashed the power in their palms, sending twin balls of energy
forward. Too late. The light hit the inside of the sealed hatch.
In less than a second, they found themselves sealed inside the ship.
Jenna flew at the door, holding her palm to the smooth metal in one spot, then another, and another. Nothing happened. The door remained closed.
Suddenly, everything got worse.
One of the dashboard panels behind them lit up. The ship started to hum to life.
“Shit,” Jenna gasped. “He’s reset the detonator. Oh, God, Brock. This can’t be happening.”
But it was.
“No,” Phaedra said, steeling herself. “Micah.”
She drew in a breath and suddenly he was there with her, wrapping her in his arms.
Zael and Brynne huddled into each other, too. Brock drew Jenna close, tucking her head under his chin.
The entire world seemed to fall into a hush all around them . . . right before the explosion tore through the ship in a burst of blinding, unstoppable force.
CHAPTER 26
Micah opened his eyes and saw only light.
It spread out all around and above him, diamond-bright and limned with a shimmering silver glow.
The ship had vaporized.
No trace of the field of boulders that had concealed it, either.
Micah and the rest of the team now stood in a clearing, protected and unharmed by the blast that had obliterated everything in its path.
Except them.
“What the hell just happened?” Brock murmured.
“Are we dead?” Jenna asked, lifting her head off his chest to look at the dome of light covering them.
Shielding them.
They were all alive because of Phaedra.
His extraordinary, miraculous woman.
His mate, whether destiny approved or not.
“Phaedra, you did this,” Brynne said, wonderment in her voice.
Zael nodded. “This is her light. She saved us.”
She stood in the center of their small group, her arms raised to hold the shield of light in place, though her head was slumped toward her chest. Micah went to her, smoothing her damp hair out of her face.
“It’s over, love. You did it. It’s all right to let it go now.”
She didn’t, or couldn’t, respond. Her head remained bent forward, her eyes closed against her pale cheeks. Worry settled coldly into his marrow when he realized how much the effort had cost her.
“Phaedra?” He stroked her bloodless brow. “Phaedra, can you hear me?”
Ah, Christ. She had to be okay. Reaching for her outstretched hands, he gently brought them down to her sides.
The dome shivered, then fell away like stardust. The Deadlands went dark under the thin moonlight overhead, and Phaedra slumped unconscious into his waiting arms.
“Is she okay?” Jenna asked.
“I don’t know.” Micah scooped her up, panic beating like a caged animal in his chest. She felt boneless . . . almost lifeless in his arms.
He threw a wild glance at the others. “I have to get her out of here.”
“Go,” Zael said. “We’re right behind you.”
Micah didn’t wait. Holding her close he took off, calling upon all of his Breed genetics to speed him back to the waiting helicopter.
He hoped he wouldn’t be too late.
CHAPTER 27
Warm waves rolled up the sand where Phaedra walked, salty white foam sparkling on the tops of her bare feet. All around her was the scent of lemons and sunshine and sea spray.
The fragrances of home.
Not Italy. Not the mist-shrouded shores of the colony, either.
Atlantis.
The way it had been before the annihilation that swept it under the sea so many years ago.
The Atlantis she never knew, but dreamed of from the time she was a girl living in the new realm Selene had rebuilt for the survivors of the ruined paradise.
Phaedra tipped her head to the indigo-and-lavender predawn sky where the moon and stars danced in the hour between night and daybreak. Her favorite hour.
And she had seen this sky before, not long ago.
Her heart ached with yearning to be back where she belonged.
With Micah.
She didn’t know how long she’d been away from him, but it felt like a lifetime. The anguish in thinking their separation might last forever was more than she could bear.
She took another step and glanced down as her toe lifted a small shell out of the wet sand. It was shimmering white and kissed with iridescent silver, tossed in the surf and weathered into the shape of a tiny heart.
The diminutive thing of beauty broke through her sorrow to bring a smile to her lips. She crouched and picked it up, folding her fingers around it as though it were a precious treasure.
When she stood up again, she realized she was no longer alone.
Micah was walking toward her from the other end of the beach.
Wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, he strode barefoot over the dusky sand, handsome and strong. The sight of him was so comforting she couldn’t hold back her smile. Nor could she hold back her love.
Running to him, she threw herself into his open arms. He lifted her off the ground, and she clung to him, laughing as he held her and spun with her under the starlight.
“Is this a dream?” she asked when he set her back on her feet in the sand. “Are you real?”
He grinned. “Do I feel real?”
She ran her hands over his broad chest and muscled biceps, then she cupped his squared jaw in her palms. “You feel real.” Smiling, she rose and brushed her lips over his. “You taste real.”
He stroked his fingers along the side of her face. “I’ve been looking for you, Phaedra. It feels like I’ve been searching for you all my life. Until now, I thought I’d lost you. You are my destiny. So, I came to find you and bring you home. Home to me . . . as my mate.”
“But the Dreamscape—”
“I don’t care if we’re soul bonded or not. I don’t care if fate disagrees with the fact that we’re together. All I know is that I love you. I want you at my side, in my heart, in my blood. I want you, Phaedra . . . forever.”
Hope burst inside her and spilled off her lips in a happy sob. “I want that, too. I love you as deeply as any soul bond could bind me to you. Deeper than that. I love you with every fiber of my being, Micah.”
His lavender eyes began to glow with the light from a thousand amber sparks. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Holding her face in his hands, he lowered his head and kissed her. The feel of his mouth on hers was better than any dream. Better than any joy she’d ever known before him.
“I’m yours, Micah,” she whispered against his lips.
He moaned in pure, masculine agreement. “And I’m yours.”
Phaedra slowly opened her eyes. She wasn’t kissing Micah anymore. The beach was gone. Above her head it was no longer the starlit, predawn sky, but a white clinical ceiling fitted with a pale fluorescent light.
She abruptly sat up—only to realize Micah was seated at her bedside, his head resting on his folded arms at the edge of the narrow mattress. He lifted his head and gave her a drowsy, sexy smile that sent spirals of heat licking through her.
Her voice came out husky and quiet. “Where am I?”
“The infirmary at the Rome command center.” Although he sounded calm and in control, his words were rough with emotion. “You’ve been unconscious for two days. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
“The whole time?”
He slid his warm fingers along the side of her face and into her tangled hair. “Where else would I be?”
“I just had the strangest dream, Micah. I was walking along the old Atlantis shore. You were there with me.”
He smiled, unsurprised. “I know. I just woke up from the same one.”
He opened his other hand, and in the center of his palm was the white shell she had been holding in the dream. She stared at that tiny, iridescent h
eart and drew in her breath.
“Micah, I picked up that shell on the beach. I was holding it when you appeared.”
He tilted his head, brows drawn together. “I picked it up from the sand. I was holding it when you appeared.”
For a moment, she couldn’t speak for the astonishment that poured over her. The realization of what he was saying made her heart pound against her rib cage. “The Dreamscape. We were there, just now.”
His face registered surprise as well, before a look of satisfaction lit his warm gaze. “What’d I tell you? Destiny.”
He set the shell down on the small table next to the bed, then moved in closer to her, bringing her into his embrace as he kissed her deeply. His love for her radiated from his touch and his lips as he moved them slowly over hers.
Phaedra could have kissed him for hours, but through her relief and elation, she recalled the terrible last moments before everything she knew turned white and silent.
She drew back from the pleasure of Micah’s mouth, worry clutching at her. “Where is everyone else? Jenna and Brock, Zael and Brynne. Are they—”
“They’re all fine. Everyone is safe back in D.C., thanks to you. You shielded all of us with your light.” He smirked. “I’m racking up quite a debt when it comes to you saving my life.”
She shook her head. “It’s you who’s saved mine. I don’t ever want to lose you, Micah.”
“Not gonna happen, beautiful. Not ever.” He dropped a kiss on her chin. “Besides, it seems we’ve got fate on our side, after all.”
“Yes, we do,” she agreed, her amazement settling into an acceptance that felt so real, so right.
But there was more that weighed her heart down. She couldn’t dismiss the heavy feeling of dread for what they’d discovered in the Deadlands.
“What about the crystals, Micah? What about the Ancient who’s still alive?”
His face sobered. “I won’t pretend the entire Order isn’t concerned about that. I’m never going to lie to you. Of all the enemies we’ve faced over time, this new one poses a threat beyond anything we’ve seen before.”
She swallowed and nodded, loath to imagine what an Ancient who’d intended to obliterate her and her team in the Deadlands in one fell swoop might be willing to unleash on the rest of the world. “If he’s got the crystals, Micah . . . If he has any idea what can be done with them—”