can I stop them? How can I prevent this from happening?"
Her expression never wavered, and she continued in that odd voice. "You must attack first. When the third morning dawns, fly into the forest and surround them, then quickly close on their ranks with fire and ice."
"I don't understand." The dragon king shoved to his feet and paced. "How do I use both fire and ice?"
My God, Gray thought. This was exactly why men fought for this woman. Why she was so dangerous in the wrong hands. She could outline an enemy's entire battle plan - and exactly how to defeat it. He'd known, even glimpsed it before, but this...
If anyone on the surface discovered Dunamis was actually a woman, greedy human hands would always be reaching for her. Hunting her. Like she was hunted here, but worse.
Finding out he couldn't take her to the surface with him because she was physically bound to Atlantis had been a blow he had yet to recover from. Watching her in action was yet another blow, driving home the fact that she would never be safe, no matter where she resided.
"While the dragons breathe fire, the human must use ice."
Darius's hard blue gaze flicked to Gray. "Do you have ice?"
"No." He frowned in confusion.
Grace snapped her fingers, her eyes growing wide. "She means the fire extinguishers. The ones brought in from the last human invasion. The ones you have stored here, but your men can't use because dragons are weakened by cold."
Jewel slumped in her chair. Gray caught her and drew her limp body into his arms. "Sweetheart," he said. She didn't respond. Her eyes remained closed, her expression soft as if from sleep.
"I'm taking her to the room," he said, concern overriding all else. "She's had enough."
Darius nodded. "Will you help us, human? Will you carry the ice when we attack?"
He didn't have time. He needed to get home. But the thought of three more days - and nights - with Jewel was an incentive he couldn't resist. "I have two conditions."
Darius arched a brow. "The first?"
"Jewel was desperate to search the Temple of Cronus for information about her father, but your men stopped us. Send someone to the ruins to search for anything she might find useful."
"Consider it done. The second?"
"When I leave, I want you to keep Jewel here. Keep her safe. You lost her before, and that - "
"Will not happen again. We are stronger now and no one, no one, can breach our walls. She will be safe with me."
Gray fought past a haze of fury and sadness and relief, and inclined his chin in acknowledgement of their deal. "Then consider me the Ice Man."
After Gray tucked a still sleeping Jewel into bed, smoothed her hair from her face, and placed a soft kiss on her lips, he gripped his transmitter and hunched over the edge of the bed. "Santa to Mother."
Several seconds passed in silence.
"Santa to Mother," he said again.
"Mother here. Has something happened to the package?"
"Package secure." He'd hand them the sapphire in his bag without a twinge of conscience.
Before he could tell his boss the reason for his call, Quinlin said, "Did you figure out that little riddle about the jewel being able to breathe?"
"It was buried under a mound of rocks." Lie. "I figure the text was referring to its lack of air." Bigger lie. "Makes sense."
Bringing them back to the business at hand, he said, "I wanted to let you know I'll be home later than planned."
Pause. "Should we send in a cleaning crew?"
"No." He ran a hand down his face. "I've got everything under control." God, when had he become such a liar? "Over."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
"I'm sorry, my queen, but the dragons... they have Dunamis." "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes. The dragons flew it inside the palace."
If Darius had Dunamis all was lost. Marina would never be able to defeat him - he would already know of their plan. "Layel," she screamed. "Layel!"
Within seconds, the vampire flew to her side, his expression weary. "What now?" Panicked, she ranted and shouted out the information she'd just been given.
The vampire king frowned. "So they know our battle plan."
"What are we going to do?"
"We will attack."
"Now?"
"Now." He nodded.
"They will know and stop us."
"Not unless they've spoken to Dunamis again." His frown deepened. "But that is a chance we will have to take. Let's prepare our men."
Gray and Jewel lingered in their room for the rest of the day, making love and