Heart Of Atlantis (25 page)

Ven, brother and protector. Jokester and deadly warrior. Paired with Erin, his gem-singer witch, he was happier than he’d ever been.

Bastien, who had undervalued himself for so long. The panther shifter Kat Fiero had opened his mind and his heart.

Marie, first maiden of the Nereid Temple. She had given so much of her long life to aiding in the childbirth of others. She deserved the happiness she’d found with the panther alpha Ethan.

Justice, only recently discovered to be Conlan and Ven’s half brother. Deadly and always forced to walk the balance between his dual natures. If he hadn’t found his archaeologist and object-reader love, Keely, they would have lost him to his darker impulses. Together they and their adopted child, Eleni, formed one bridge to Atlantis’s future.

Brennan, so long burdened with the curse that none of them thought he’d had a prayer of recovering his emotions, until he met and nearly lost Tiernan, whose own truth-teller gift had helped Brennan find his way.

Alexios, so fierce with his scarred face, rock star hair, and killer instincts. Only another warrior would do for him. Grace, with her archer’s bow and deadly aim, had never stood a chance against him. And soon, their daughter would add her own guidance to Atlantis’s future.

Christophe, their problem child. All attitude and arrogance until he met the infamous cat burglar, the Scarlet Ninja, otherwise known to only a select few as Lady Fiona, famous children’s book author and illustrator. Fiona and her little brother had curbed some of the wildness in Christophe. Not all, Conlan amended, remembering that he had heard about more exploits of the Scarlet Ninja only last month when he’d gone to London. Just enough.

And Serai, ancient Atlantean princess, held in stasis for so long that she’d nearly died trapped in a crystal box. Daniel, her eleven-thousand-year-old vampire consort. They’d met before Atlantis had ever sunk beneath the waves, and only found each other again recently, after so many millennia of each believing the other dead.

Now, finally, Alaric. Conlan’s best friend for nearly five hundred years had met his true mate. The soul-meld had caught them both, and Conlan truly believed they would be the better for it, as he and his own
aknasha
had discovered.

Then he considered the idea of baby Alarics running around and didn’t know whether to laugh or flee, but he finally knew exactly what to say.

He stood up at the head of the table, with the magical crystal arrangement in front of him that would carry his voice to every table in the garden and every home in the land, and he reached down to pull Riley and Aidan up to join them.

“Today marks the day we have anticipated for thousands of years. Atlantis will finally rise and take its place in the world again. We are here to celebrate that amazing accomplishment and honor those who made it possible. But I am also here to acknowledge the strides we have already made in joining the wider world.”

He gestured. “You see at the table here to my right that today we have our first-ever shape-shifter guests in Atlantis. More than that, both of them are soul-melded to Atlanteans, so we consider them part of the family.”

Everyone cheered and Kat waved, but Ethan stood up and bowed. “You can be part of my panther pride, too, anytime, Your Highness. I’ve seen you Atlanteans in a fight!”

Another cheer.

“After eleven thousand years, one of our own, a Nightwalker Guild mage, returned to Atlantis to claim the princess he’d loved and lost. A vampire sits at the table to my left, soul-melded to an ancient Atlantean princess. He, too, is part of our family.”

More cheering, but then Serai stood up as gracefully as she did everything. “If you call me
ancient
one more time, Prince Conlan, I will challenge you to a duel,” she said, smiling. “And I get to pick the form.”

For a brief moment, Serai disappeared and a saber-toothed tiger stood in her place. The crowd went wild, cheering and stomping their feet, and then the very elegant princess reappeared and took her seat. Conlan bowed deeply in her direction, grinning at Daniel as he did so. He had a feeling that the princess kept her vampire very busy.

“We were once a very great civilization, when Atlantis rode the surface of the waves. Today we will rejoin the world, and the eyes of every country and every people will be upon us.”

He looked around at the faces of those he loved so much. “We will continue as our ancestors began, more than eleven thousand years ago. Atlantis will become a productive member of the world economy, a valuable participant in international strategy, and—most important of all—we will continue the work that my warriors still perform today, so many millennia after Poseidon first assigned us the task.”

He gestured with his hand and every one of the Seven, every warrior in training, and every warrior assigned to every segment of the Seven Isles, stood.

“Because now, finally, our prophecy is fulfilled and we will protect humanity no matter what is to come. Warriors, to me,” he shouted, and the warriors all streamed up to stand near him, and turned and faced the crowd and recited the oath with him.

We will wait. And watch. And protect.

And serve as first warning on the eve of humanity’s destruction.

Then, and only then, Atlantis will rise.

For we are the Warriors of Poseidon, and the mark of the Trident we bear serves as witness to our sacred duty to safeguard mankind.

“We have waited, and watched, and protected,” Conlan said. “And now, Atlantis will rise!”

As if on cue, a booming noise sounded and the whole of Atlantis jerked sideways, as if buffeted by a huge wave or an immovable object. Everyone looked up, and for the first time in more generations than anyone could count, they could see real sunlight over the dome of Atlantis. With a mighty heave, the dome broke through the waves and kept rising and rising, until the Seven Isles floated on the ocean’s surface once more.

Everyone waited, seemingly afraid to breathe, and for a moment even Conlan feared that the dome was too damaged to open, but then the top and sides unfolded like the petals of a giant crystalline flower, and Atlantis showed her face to the world.

And the world was there to greet them. Conlan shot up into the air in mist shape and viewed the sea in all directions, and he realized there were hundreds of ships, helicopters, and airplanes, and even a hang glider carrying a homemade banner that said
WELCOME TO THE WORLD, ATLANTIS
on it in bright blue letters.

Conlan floated back down to report, and his people started cheering again, as the first helicopters flew overhead and called down on loudspeakers for permission to land and greet them.

“We made it,” Riley said, holding Aidan tight.

“We did,” Conlan agreed, putting his arms around them both. “Are you ready to go be High Princess Riley for a little while?”

“Let me get my glass slippers,” she said, and together they walked forward to face the future.

Chapter 31

Quinn walked around for hours, exploring Atlantis, enjoying the celebratory spirit of the people, and loving the feel of the ocean breeze on her face and the dispersal of her slight feeling of claustrophobia. Alaric was busy; Riley was busy; everyone had tasks to do and people to meet, except for her, and she was perfectly fine with that. She needed time to process what had happened with her life and her career.

She also needed time to absorb the fact that she was now soul-melded to a magical Atlantean high priest—who was definitely a wizard in bed. Her cheeks heated up at the thought, and she deliberately ignored the slight soreness between her legs. After so many years of famine, she and Alaric had definitely had a feast, and she was feeling the aftereffects a little. Mostly, though, she just wandered around, smiling blissfully like a schoolgirl with her first crush, which was not only uncharacteristic for her, but also kind of embarrassing.

The day was sunny and clear—perfect weather for a lost continent to suddenly reappear. Quinn continued to walk, in no particular direction, content simply to observe. The Atlanteans were so delighted to be free of their long captivity under the waves that everywhere she looked, people were laughing and hugging and, in a few memorable cases, breaking into song. Everything was absolutely wonderful, and Quinn felt a little like singing herself, which made her laugh.

A cold breeze swept over her, chilling her flesh and carrying a dark sensation of impending danger that only an emotional empath should have been able to sense, but as she watched, the people nearest her shuddered and drew closer to one another, looking around themselves in mild alarm.

The first pings of unease snaked down her spine, and she opened her emotional shields to see what she could pick up. At first it was only the expected—the ordinary. People were excited and curious about the outside world. Most of them had already brushed off that ill wind as an unaccountably cold ocean breeze, which, after all, most of them had never felt in their lifetimes.

Sure. That
must
be all it had been. Except . . .
no
.

Quinn had seen far too much to discount her instincts at this stage of the game. Her skin kept trying to crawl off her arms, and her fingers were itching to go for the guns she wasn’t carrying. Her muscles tensed involuntarily, steeling for a blow, and she was suddenly absolutely, one thousand percent sure that something—somewhere very near—was preparing to go spectacularly wrong.

Alaric. We have a serious problem.

She broadcast the message as loudly as she could, in the same manner as she’d called to him before, and she counted on the powerful connection the soul-meld had forged between them to carry it to him.

What is it?

Not a single word of question or doubt; she could feel his belief in her, and his confidence bolstered her own.

I don’t know, but it’s bad. Could it be Anubisa? Can she travel here in daylight?

I do not think so, but we have never known the full extent of her powers. Let me finish this and find you.

He left her with an impression of a meeting with Conlan, Riley, and a roomful of dignitaries and ambassador types, but also with the sure knowledge that he was on his way to her.

The chill wind brushed by her again, carrying its haunting message of dread and despair, and she knew it couldn’t be fast enough.

It took them quite a while to pass through the crowds on the way to each other, even though she could feel his exact location in her mind, like she was suddenly a human GPS system, due to the soul-meld. It was simply a matter of working their way through all the people, both Atlanteans and guests. Everyone wanted to meet the Atlanteans and see the mythological lost continent, and no matter how his impatience raged—and Quinn could feel every bit of it—she sternly ordered him not to blast them all out of his way with “just a small windstorm.”

She hadn’t been able to understand how everyone had been on hand to see Atlantis, but Riley had explained that Conlan had been preparing for the event for a couple of years now, and he’d arranged some kind of notification system so that when Atlantis did begin to rise, the magical community of the human world would recognize what was happening and convey the news to everyone else.

Which was wonderful for international relations, but Quinn’s dark feeling of premonition grew stronger and stronger as each minute passed. When several Atlantean children rushed by, shouting about a party and staying up late, she realized that the sun was suddenly sinking in the horizon, which meant that dusk was coming. When night fell, for the first time in millennia, Atlantis would be fully unprotected from outside supernatural forces.

In the ocean, in the dark, with no protection.

Quinn started running.

Vampires. Conlan had talked about Daniel, but they’d forgotten about the more prevalent kind of vampire. The murderous kind. And Anubisa was out there, boiling with rage and madness, and no longer with Ptolemy to run interference.

Quinn pushed her pace to run even faster. She started calling out to Alaric on the mental pathway between them, and she finally found him and filled him in on her new suspicions. He listened and instantly understood, and he grabbed her hand and headed for the palace.

“Conlan is meeting with foreign dignitaries,” he said. “We have to find him, now. If you’re right, it’s going to be a very bad night.”

“Why does Anubisa hate your royal family so much?”

His face hardened. “It’s a long, complicated saga. Basically she once wanted an Atlantean prince who chose an Atlantean woman over a vampire, and all Anubisa has done ever since is plot and carry out revenge against Conlan’s family and his ancestors before him. She murdered his mother quite brutally.”

Quinn pointed to the sky. “Alaric, does sunset come early in the Bermuda Triangle this time of year?”

“We have to move,
now
,” he said, and they started running.

Alaric burst into the throne room, startling Conlan and scaring a foreign ambassador who was wearing a top hat, of all improbable things.

“Conlan, crisis. Now,” Alaric snapped out, and the prince immediately excused himself and strode across the room at top speed.

“Quinn has a bad feeling,” Alaric said, and Quinn felt like a fool.

“I have an
Anubisa
feeling,” she corrected, and Conlan’s jaw tightened.

She filled him in on Anubisa’s interaction with Ptolemy and the vampire goddess’s evil plans, and Conlan grew angrier by the second.

“You thought you would keep this from me—
why
?” he demanded, but Alaric stepped between them.

“Do you forget what she did for us? Can you blame her for forgetting details in the exhaustion of the moment? If you would blame anyone, blame me. I should have known that evil bitch goddess would use our welcome as an excuse to attack. We are unprotected for the first time in millennia.”

“But it’s so far. How would she get any of her minions and thugs here? It’s not as if the navies of any of those countries will transport her. They all hate her,” Quinn pointed out.

Conlan slowly nodded. “You may be right. If the gods be benevolent, you will be right. But we must plan as if for attack. I will discuss the issue with our new allies and see what resources they will be able to offer.”

“I will inform the warriors,” Alaric announced, and he and Quinn headed out to gather the forces. “At least for once they’re all here.”

“I bet that will be an interesting story. Why the portal suddenly went around collecting everyone. Noriko can probably explain some of that,” Quinn said, all but jogging to keep up with Alaric’s long legs.

Alaric stopped suddenly. “I want you to know that after this crisis is over, we will return to Japan and do whatever we can to help Jack. I pledge you this.”

She hugged him, speechless for once, and the soul-meld flared hot between them. “You are amazing.”

“I know,” he said smugly. “You had nine orgasms.”

He started walking again, leaving her standing there in shock, face flaming hot, scanning the area for anyone who might have heard. Nobody seemed to be openly mocking her, so she ran after him and punched him in the arm, hard.

“That’s the kind of thing you don’t talk about in public,” she whispered.

“Why not? It was the best night of my life. Had I the time, I would hire the youngling with the gliding apparatus to paint a sign extolling your virtues and fly it over Atlantis,” he said solemnly, but the edge of his mouth quirked up, and she realized he was teasing her. Trying to take the edge off her worry.

That, alone, was enough to make her nearly fall over.

Sex, playfulness, teasing, and jokes. From High Priest Warrior Man. It would be the best day of her life if the vampires didn’t attack.

Please, please, please, don’t let the vampires attack.

Alaric paused to speak to several warriors, but Quinn saw Riley strolling around the garden fountain, carrying Aidan, and she ran across the grass toward her and started talking before she even reached her sister. “Riley! We’ve got to get you somewhere safe. It may be nothing, but we’re a little worried—”

Quinn’s words fell off into a horrible gurgle when the sharp edge of a very shiny sword suddenly appeared between Riley’s breasts, barely missing the baby who lay sleeping against her shoulder. Quinn’s sister’s eyes opened very, very wide and she held Aidan out to Quinn.

“Take him. Love him. Raise him,” she whispered, and then she fell to the ground.

“I think not. I’ll take that baby,” Anubisa said, appearing as if by magic from where she was hiding behind Riley. The vampire snatched the child from Quinn’s hands with preternatural speed and flew up into the air.

Alaric screamed vengeance from behind Quinn, but he couldn’t attack without risking Anubisa harming the baby.

“Now you will see what my wrath costs, Quinn Dawson,” Anubisa said, and, terrifyingly, she didn’t sound the slightest bit crazy.

“What did you do?” Quinn asked, falling to her feet next to her sister. “What did you do? I’ll kill you!”

“I think not. I played the poor madwoman for your Ptolemy, in order to assess the extent of his power, but he’s disappeared from this dimension, hasn’t he? Would you care to tell me what happened to him?” Anubisa floated just out of Quinn’s reach, holding the baby in front of her, wearing a long white dress that looked like a shroud and would prove to be prophetic, if Quinn had anything to do with it.

Quinn rocked back and forth on the ground, devastated with grief, as she dimly heard people running toward her.

“Your Atlanteans are mine now,” Anubisa cackled. “I could kill you, but I think it will hurt you much more if I leave you alive to watch.”

“You have
need
,” whispered a familiar deep voice behind Quinn, and when she frantically nodded, the portal appeared—in the sky over the top of Anubisa’s head, and a familiar shape came soaring out. A quarter ton of tiger, with a small Japanese woman riding on his back, flew through the air and crashed into Anubisa, who dropped the baby. Quinn sprinted for Aidan and caught him on the way down in a perfect football hold. The baby blinked up at her and then started screaming for his mother, and Quinn wanted to scream, too.

Anubisa, currently on the ground, lying flat on her face underneath the enormous tiger, screamed, too.

The only ones who didn’t scream were Alaric and Noriko, who both bent down to examine Riley. Their gazes met over her body.

“You’re too late,” Anubisa hissed, and then she vanished, and Jack fell over with a thump.

“I am never too late,” Noriko said, placing her hands in the air about an inch above Riley’s chest. Alaric added his supercharged new magic to hers, and together they formed a blue-green shield above and around Riley’s body. Long seconds passed, and then Riley coughed and sat up, looking around like she’d just woken up from a very bad dream.

“She was still alive, only hanging on by a thread, but her
kami
—her spirit—is very strong,” Noriko said, rising to her feet and holding out a hand to Riley.

“
Konbanwa
, Riley-san,” Noriko said. “You will need to rest.”

Riley stared up at the ex–portal spirit/Japanese woman combo as Quinn stared at them both, tears running down her face. “And you are?”

“It’s complicated,” Quinn broke in. “For now, let’s get you and the baby to a safe place before Conlan finds out about this.”

But they were far too late for that. Conlan hit them at top speed, nearly bowling over Alaric, about two seconds later.

“What in the nine hells happened to my wife?” he roared.

Quinn made a face at Riley, faking a nonchalance she was worlds away from feeling.

“Your Atlantean is overprotective, too? This is going to be a very long night.”

Riley blinked, dazed, and touched her shirt, and her fingers came away soaked with blood. “What happened?”

“We will tell you on the way,” Alaric said. “Now move.”