Heart Of Atlantis

brother-in-law—he was known as the King’s Vengeance, and he was pure adrenaline in a battle.
    And his girlfriend Erin was the most powerful witch Quinn had ever met.
    Right now, though, there was no trace of amusement on Ven’s face as he scanned the destruction. “Do you want to explain this?”
    Alaric scowled but said nothing, so Quinn filled Ven in on what had happened.
    “That’s it? No reason? No evil villain monologuing on why he’s attacking you, blah blah blah?” Ven whistled. “This stinks of something bigger than a random monkey attack.”
    “Not to mention, they’re not random monkeys,” Archelaus said, from where he’d been sitting in the shadows.
    “Greetings, old friend,” Ven said, bowing. “What have you gotten us into this time?”
    Archelaus smiled and shook his head. “This, from the most unrepentant troublemaker the warrior training grounds have ever seen.”
    “I did what I could,” Ven said, ducking his head modestly.
    In spite of everything, Quinn laughed out loud. Ven would be Ven, no matter the situation. It was oddly refreshing to a woman who dealt in death and despair.
    “The King’s Vengeance,” Noriko said, smiling a little. “You have long been one of my favorites.”
    Quinn’s eyes narrowed. Another thing this woman shouldn’t have been able to know—Ven’s title.
    “Ven, meet Noriko, who claims to be the spirit of your magic doorway,” she said, before turning to pin Noriko with a suspicious glare. “What exactly did you want to talk to us about that was so important? You weren’t luring us here for the attack, were you? Six weeks later, and suddenly you want to talk to us at exactly the moment shifters arrive?”
    Alaric called up his energy spheres again, and Noriko took a step back and away from them all, turning even paler, if possible.
    “I had nothing to do with that,” she protested. “My need to see you was to convey very dire news to Poseidon’s high priest.”
    Alaric’s face hardened. “What is it?” he demanded.
    “The final gem has been found,” Noriko said, twisting her hands together. “Everything in your world is in danger.”
    “How could you know that?” Quinn asked. “You’ve been here, not talking to anybody, for weeks.”
    “I was the portal spirit for millennia,” Noriko said, raising her chin. “Do you think that kind of magic simply vanishes? I can feel much that goes on in this world, especially that which is connected to Atlantis.”
    Ven tensed, all traces of humor gone from his expressive face. “What kind of danger?”
    “Atlantis itself could be destroyed,” Noriko said. “I don’t . . . I don’t . . .”
    Ven rushed forward to catch the woman when her eyelids fluttered shut and she collapsed.
    “If she is truly what she claims, then she is probably in shock from expending so much power,” Archelaus said. He motioned to his followers. “Or Noriko’s illness might be causing this. Please bring her with us.”
    Alaric stepped closer to the woman Ven held, passed a hand over her head, and then shook his head. “She has been improving, you said, and I can detect no remaining trace of illness. This is probably simple exhaustion and shock.”
    “We will move to another space, so my friends can remove the bodies and reinforce the spells protecting this area,” Archelaus said. “Thank you for your assistance in that regard, Alaric.”
    “Yeah, your monkey-repelling spells didn’t work all that great, did they?” Quinn said dryly. “Maybe a nice electric fence next time.”
    As they moved away from the courtyard, Archelaus led them down a corridor. Archelaus’s people took Noriko away to get some rest. Which was just as well, since Quinn was far too cynical after all of her years in the rebellion to buy her story all that easily. She didn’t trust Noriko. She didn’t trust anyone. The less the woman heard, the better.
    Ven looked a question at her, and she explained the portal spirit/dying Japanese woman problem.
    “You couldn’t stay out of trouble if you tried, could you?” he asked her, but then he grinned. “On the other hand, who could make this stuff up? This would be a great Syfy Saturday night movie.
Sharktopus
has nothin’ on us.”
    Quinn didn’t know whether to laugh or punch him. She narrowed her eyes and was about to blast him with a snappy comeback when she realized he was right. Her shoulders slumped. Jack padded up behind her and nudged her hip with his shoulder, as if in