Atlantis Unmasked (30 page)

Michelle took a long sip of her tea, then carefully placed the mug on the table and folded her hands in front of her. “I do happen to be sitting right here. Perhaps someone could ask Michelle directly if they have a proposition for Michelle. After all, my name
is
Michelle Danger.”

Alexios looked puzzled. “I thought your name was Michelle Nichols.”

Grace couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing.

Sam crowded into the kitchen behind Alexios. “What's funny? Also, and far more important, do you have any coffee made?”

Grace tilted her head toward the fresh pot on the counter. “Help yourself. What's going on?”

Sam took a moment to pour himself a mug of coffee before he leaned a hip against the counter and responded. “We think Vonos is planning something big, possibly something that's going to happen at this fancy-schmancy ball of his.”

He filled her in on what they'd learned after she and Kat had left the courtyard. “So, turns out this ball is day after tomorrow.”

Alexios and Grace exchanged a long look. “Interesting timing,” she said.

“Well, you know what they say about the Fae,” he replied. “They never lie, but they never tell the truth.”

Bastien appeared and ducked his head under the doorway so he could fit his tall form into the room, which was rapidly becoming crowded. “Who never tells the truth?”

Alexios sketched out the details of Rhys na Garanwyn and his proposed meeting the following evening.

Bastien whistled, long and low. “The elves? I must admit I did not see that coming. I wonder what catastrophic thinking is driving this on the part of the Seelie Court.”

“High House, Seelie Court,” Alexios reminded him. “That's never good.”

“My mum met an elf once,” Michelle mused. “Very nearly left my dad over him. Can't trust those Fae buggers.”

Grace leaned forward and brushed the curls back from Michelle's ear. “Nope. Not pointy. Too bad. Would have explained a lot. Anyway, you can't trust them, but you can't offend them, either,” Grace said. “They usually don't bother with us, since we live our lives so far beneath their exalted presence for them to notice us. And when they do, well—” She shook her head. “It's never good.”

Alexios casually crossed the room until he was standing next to Grace. Her pulse reacted to his presence like a trip-hammer, but she tried to portray nonchalant indifference. More and more fuzzy memories of how she'd acted under the influence of the alpha call kept coming back, and the humiliation factor was off the charts. She felt like she could never face him again, but he kept seeking her out.

Beg a man to fuck you in public, and that kind of thing is going to happen,
said the dark, gleeful voice in her mind. Grace told the voice to shut the hell up.

Michelle looked up at Bastien, who towered over the room. “I understand you have an offer for me.”

“Yes, we do. We'd like to set up a three-way alliance at Big Cyprus, with human, Atlantean, and shifter members all at the table. From what Grace and Alexios tell us, you would be a perfect choice to spearhead the effort. I understand you have no pressing need to return to London?”

Michelle looked down at the table for a moment, twisting her hands together. Then she smiled at Bastien. “Actually, I don't have any need to return to London, pressing or otherwise, and I think I would be perfect for that position. How lovely of you to offer it to me.”

Kat was nodding. “It's vital that we find out how panthers are being enthralled. The shifters have always been immune to this type of mind control, but something new is going on. Something deadly for all of us. The sooner we can work together in a coordinated effort, the better.”

“It's settled, then,” Michelle said. “Now, if you'll all excuse us, Grace and I need a moment alone to say good-bye.”

Everyone filed out of the kitchen. Alexios hesitated for a moment, then bent and pressed a kiss to the top of Grace's head. “I'll be right outside,” he said.

She nodded, unable to respond, and watched him leave the room. Finally, she smiled at Michelle, ready to say good-bye.

“All right, spill it,” Michelle said. “What happened between you two while I was gone?”

Grace hesitated for less than a minute, then she gave in and told Michelle all of it: Leaning on his strength after the battle. The intensity of the soul-meld. What had happened when she'd been intoxicated by the power of the alpha call.

Her face was burning hot enough to melt copper by the time she finished. Michelle stared at Grace, her eyes wide and lips twitching.

“If you laugh at me,” Grace threatened, not quite knowing what the “or else” would be.

Michelle nodded, then put her head down on her arms on the table and burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, dear. I would have given enormous amounts of money to have seen that. Serious, reserved Grace humping her Atlantean in the hallway.” That set her off again, and she laughed until she was breathless.

“It's so wonderful to have a best friend I can confide in,” Grace said through her teeth.

“Oh, honey, don't get—”

“My knickers in a twist, right. Easy for you to say. You weren't babbling on and on about kitties and boobs and fucking.” It was Grace's turn to put her head down on the table. “How am I ever going to face him again?”

Michelle reached over and smacked Grace's arm. “You really are an idiot, aren't you? Are you kidding? The way that man looks at you? It was probably his wildest fantasy come true that you were saying those things and acting like that. He's some kind of hero for not having a go at you right there on the spot.”

Grace reluctantly laughed. “That's pretty much exactly what he said. ‘He. Ro. Ic.' ”

“And so he was,” Michelle said. “But tonight you'll be alone together, and he doesn't have to be. All he has to be is a man, and you certainly deserve him.”

“But he's going to leave me.”

“You don't know that. And even if he does, who cares? Live for today for once.”

“But what if—”

“No,” Michelle said firmly. “No ‘what if.' Only do it. Take something for yourself for once. Take a chance. Shave your legs.”

Grace grinned. “Okay, maybe just this once.”

Grace stretched, slowly waking from a long nap. The room was dark, so the 8:00 glowing on her clock told her that she'd slept clear through the day and into the evening. She'd been exhausted and weak, and her injury had been hurting, so, for the first time in the past decade, she'd handed over all control to others and simply gone to bed.

Before he'd left, Ethan had made a call and told them a truck would be there soon to load up everything from the armory and take it to Big Cypress for safekeeping. Tiny and Sam had figured out a plan to deconstruct all of the temporary improvements that the “theater troupe” had made to the fort, so that it would be left pristine, with no damage whatsoever to the historical structure.

The blood had merely soaked into the grass, after all, and any that stained the concrete was simply carrying on a long-standing tradition for this fort.

After multiple good-byes, Michelle had climbed into the passenger seat of the helicopter as if she'd been riding in them all of her life instead of being a “chopper virgin,” as she'd confided just before embarking. She'd have a great time; Michelle always did. If only she could teach Grace the secret of not taking the world, the war, and herself so seriously.

If only.

And Alexios . . . well, he'd been everywhere. Watching over her. Making sure she wasn't overtiring herself. Catching her off guard, sometimes, with those flashes of heat in his eyes that told her he was remembering the things she'd said and done that morning.

For the first time, though, she didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, she stretched again, luxuriously, in her warm sheets and allowed herself to feel . . . anticipation.

Delicious, tingling anticipation.

Her nipples peaked just from the thought of him and her body grew warm, readying itself for him. She had the desire and the motivation. She even had the bed and the readiness.

All she needed was to find her Atlantean.

Her Atlantean. She wondered where the possessive pronoun had come from, but allowed herself to enjoy it. Cherish it as one would cherish a jewel lovingly loaned by a true friend. It would have to be returned, eventually, but until then . . .

Her
Atlantean. If only it could be true.

No. No time for wistfulness or denial now. She threw the blanket back and, still dressed, pulled on her shoes and jacket and went to find Alexios.

Alexios soared over the ruffled lace of the cresting waves and enjoyed the utter freedom of flying as a sparkling shimmer of mist higher and higher into the night sky. Away from responsibility and duty. Away from all of the humans who needed him—and the one human who didn't.

The Warrior's Creed, burned into his brain through constant recitation as a youngling at the academy, marched in exacting precision through his mind.

It was a duty Alexios held sacred. But for all of his life, Alexios had waited and watched and protected. He was tired of waiting. Tired of watching.

He had finally found the one woman he truly wanted to protect.

Would it matter?

Frustrated with himself, Alexios dove toward the surface of the water and returned to his body just in time to slice through the top of the wave. The water was icy; the shock of it left him breathless. He rolled over and over in the water, its cold embrace cooling the burning need that had been building and building in him since that morning.

Grace. Seeing her wild side, even though it was artificially induced, had triggered something in him that he couldn't stop. Couldn't repress. Couldn't deny.

He wanted to bring that side of her to the surface again. Wanted to see the playful, happy, and carefree Grace. She'd lived the past ten years of her life crushed under the weight of the oath of vengeance she'd sworn to her dead brother.

He wanted to show her that life could be different.
Better
. But of all the men she'd ever known, he was probably the most singularly unqualified for the task.

What did he know of happiness? He knew camaraderie. He knew the satisfaction of a battle well fought. But happiness? He'd thought all possibility of it gone forever after what he'd endured as a prisoner.

But then came Grace, offering grace. Offering warmth and light and a chance at home. The only question he needed to ask himself was a simple one. Why was he still here, wasting time in this frigid water, when he could be with her?

He struck out for the surface and the shore, eager to get back to her. Sam, Tiny, and the rest of the men were standing guard all night. Sam had specifically told Alexios that he had no need to take a shift.

“I think you and Grace have things to work out,” Sam had said. Yet another conquest who'd fallen hard for a woman who was completely unaware of her own beauty and generosity of spirit.

Once at the surface, Alexios folded his hands together, lifted his face to the stars, and offered up a heartfelt plea. “I don't have any fancy light tricks or priestly magic, Poseidon. But I do have an earnest desire to move forward with my life. Please accept that I'm now ending the vows of celibacy I took during the purification rituals. If there were truly any dark desires left in me from that horrible time, they would have shown themselves when Grace was vulnerable this morning. Instead, I showed what I still maintain to have been damn near heroic qualities.”