Defy the Dawn (Midnight Breed 14)

She walked to a large safe that stood open on the other side of the chamber. Retrieving an object from within the sturdy vault, she returned carrying it in her hands. It was a small, unremarkable metal box with a broken seal.

Zael didn’t have to look inside the titanium container to know it held the egg-sized, silvery crystal. Had the box been sealed, the metal’s properties would have prevented any of his kind from feeling the crystal’s power, even at close range. According to what Jordana had told him, that’s how Cass kept this particular crystal hidden in the human world for so long.

But with the power source exposed to him now, Zael felt its heat and vibration as if it were a part of him. In many ways, the crystal was a part of him. He and all of his kind shared a unique connection to all five of the crystals that once belonged to Atlantis.

Jenna paused in front of Zael and Lucan, holding the box carefully in her palms. “The first time I touched this thing, it really kicked my butt.”

Lucan grunted. “That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. Her glyphs went crazy, rioting with color, and that crystal glowed as bright as the sun inside her hands.”

Zael listened, marveling that she dared touch the crystal without knowing what it might do to her. But from what he’d seen of all the women who were part of the Order and their extended family, Jenna had a rare courage.

“The visions I saw after touching the crystal were the strongest I’ve ever had,” Jenna explained. “Since then, I’ve been working a bit more with it, conditioning myself to hold on longer each time because it seems to make the memories stronger, more vivid in my mind. I’ve almost collected a full account now of the day Atlantis was destroyed.”

Zael couldn’t hide his amazement. “Remarkable work. I know it can’t be easy, seeing the things you do when you look through the Ancient’s eyes. The Order is fortunate to have you.”

She laughed. “Do me a favor and tell that to my mate. Brock thinks I’ve lost my mind to be doing this.”

“Because he loves you,” Lucan said soberly. “He doesn’t like seeing you suffer, even if it’s only through hideous visions like the ones you’ve been chronicling. If you were Gabrielle, I’d rather smash this chunk of Atlantean rock to dust than let you anywhere near it.”

Zael understood the sentiment, but what Lucan suggested was impossible. “The crystals can’t be destroyed. Not through any means you or I might have.”

He glanced down into the titanium box in Jenna’s hands, awed to be seeing one of the five crystals up close. It drew him like a beacon, like the living source of power it truly was.

Beneath its glimmering, silvery surface, facets of sparkling light glowed deep in the crystal’s core. The hum of cosmic power reached into him, waking his cells as it would any of his kind.

He heard Lucan’s wary growl beside him as the energy within the crystal responded to Zael’s nearness and began to pulse. And inside Zael’s body, he felt the warmth of the crystal’s power building in him too.

“The crystal,” Jenna whispered, her eyes widening. “Something’s happening to it.”

“What the fuck is going on, Zael?”

“You’ll understand best if I show you.”

The answering look on the massive Breed male’s face was anything but certain.

“Trust,” Zael said. “Do I have yours?”

At Lucan’s hesitant nod, Zael reached into the box and collected the crystal into his palms. “In close proximity of a crystal, an Atlantean’s life force increases exponentially. As does our power.”

To demonstrate, Zael pivoted toward the large safe across the room. Lifting one finger, he sent the hulking block of metal gliding across the marble floor as if it were nothing. He stopped it a split second before it crashed into the opposite wall.

Jenna gasped. “That safe weighs more than a ton.”

“With this crystal,” Zael said, “if I wanted to right now, I could break down the walls of this chamber with a sweep of my hand.”

Lucan’s stare was hard and flat with understanding.

Zael glanced at him solemnly. “Now imagine an entire Atlantean army with a crystal in its possession. They would be unstoppable.”

“Why hasn’t Selene unleashed this power on us already?” The Order’s leader demanded. “Why not retaliate against the Ancients immediately after they destroyed Atlantis and drove her into exile?”

“Because to use a crystal for war, she would need to remove it from its other purpose.”

“Which is?”

“Protection,” Zael said. “The crystals have many uses. When there were five of them in realm, they provided energy for all our needs. If we required it, the crystals could’ve been used to power defensive weaponry as well, although that was never something our people hoped for. And, as you just witnessed, they can also enhance an Atlantean’s own individual power.”

“You said Selene uses them for protection,” Lucan prompted.