Heart Of Atlantis

“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.”

Chapter 32
    Quinn knew that Alaric wanted nothing more than to sweep her up and deposit her someplace safe, but he could feel from the soul-meld, burning brightly between them, that she’d try to kill him if he even attempted it. Not to mention that she was currently wrapping her arms around an enormous tiger.
    “Jack, you came. You came,” she repeated.
    The tiger licked the side of her head in one giant slurp, and Alaric glared at them.
    Please tell Jack that I will punch him in the head as soon as I am able to make him human again.
    “You can punch anybody you want, as soon as we defeat the vampires,” Quinn said.
    Jack turned his enormous shaggy head toward Alaric, and she could have sworn that the beast was laughing at him.
    “Now, Quinn,” Alaric said. “We need to get Riley to safety, and I think if you would stay with your sister and the child, you could—”
    Quinn stood, one hand still on Jack’s head, and glared at him. “This is what I
do
, Alaric, and you know that about me. I fight.”
    “Fight later, if you please, but now we should run,” Noriko said, bowing to both of them.
    “Alaric,” Conlan shouted, as he swept his wife and child into his arms and started running.
    “Already doing it,” Alaric replied, before briefly closing his eyes.
    Before he’d even opened them again, an overpowering wave of fear buffeted Quinn. The people all around them blasted her with the powerful emotion as they turned to look at Alaric, either nod or bow to him, and then began herding their children toward the nearest available buildings.
    “I sent out a warning,” Alaric said. “They will arm themselves and protect their families. My concern is that, other than ceremonial pieces and the odd family heirloom, none but the warriors keep weapons.”
    Quinn dodged to get out of the way of a woman running with one child by the hand and a baby in her other arm. The woman’s emotions were a mixture of fear and determination. She’d fight hard for her children—of that Quinn had no doubt.
    “Well, they haven’t had to protect themselves for a long time,” Quinn said. “But they’ll do their best. Are we on the way to find weapons for ourselves?”
    Alaric simply nodded and sped up his pace, until they were practically running.
    “Wherever Anubisa disappeared to, I have a bad feeling she didn’t go far,” Quinn said, shivering as goose bumps rose on her arms.
    “Evil is never far enough away,” Noriko said, keeping pace next to Quinn. The former portal spirit glanced at Alaric. “So you did find a measure of peace, and the soul-meld. I am pleased for you.”
    Jack, who was padding along between them, snarled, and Quinn rolled her eyes.
    “
Arigato
,” Quinn said. “I don’t want to know how you know that, though. And you? Have you found peace? Also, would you have any idea what the current portal spirit is up to? He has been kidnapping people left and right and sending them wherever he feels like sending them.”
    “He?” Noriko shook her head. “No, I have no idea. But Poseidon has much control over our actions. It is he who released me from my bond.”
    “And Jack?”
    Jack’s ears flicked back, but he didn’t look at Quinn.
    “Nothing has changed, unfortunately,” Noriko said, but she did briefly touch Jack’s head.
    “We don’t have time for this now,” Conlan said, pointing up. “That doesn’t look like anything good.”
    They all looked up to find swarms of darkness covering the twilit sky. A blinding burst of pure, primal terror flooded Quinn, and she couldn’t breathe for a moment, until she realized most of it was coming from the Atlanteans who were still outdoors. Of course they wouldn’t have seen vampires before. Their fear tasted like acid in Quinn’s mouth—there was nothing more