Heart Of Atlantis

his lovely new oval shape into existence in the center of the room, where a meeting had been taking place.
    The room’s occupants, who included two panther shifters and one Atlantean warrior, all stared at the portal with varying degrees of surprise.
    “Expecting company?” the warrior called Bastien asked the male shifter, Ethan.
    The portal spirit stretched its dimensions a bit; after all, Bastien was nearly seven feet tall with very broadly muscled shoulders. He might not fit in so easily.
    Ethan stood up eagerly. “No, but Marie doesn’t always let me know when she’s coming.”
    He looked disappointed when his mate Marie, whom the spirit knew to be Bastien’s sister, didn’t appear. This was sad, but the spirit knew it would be soon resolved.
    The woman shifter, Kat, Bastien’s mate, looked puzzled. “Is it here for you?”
    The Atlantean shook his head. “No, I didn’t call it, and nobody seems to be coming through. I wonder—”
    “You have
need
,” the portal spirit said happily, and sucked them all into its vortex and off to Atlantis, chortling to itself. A shape-shifter had never before set foot in Atlantis. This was going to be interesting.

    Somewhere in the wilds of Montana, at a secret rebel training facility
    The portal spirit watched as Atlantean warrior Alexios and his mate, Grace, descendant of the moon goddess Diana, who was also known as Artemis, sparred in a demonstration bout. She was quite obviously pregnant, but it didn’t hamper her in any way, although Alexios was careful that his practice sword never came anywhere near her. They were fluid in all of their movements; a study in perfect symmetry and deadly intent. When they finished their demonstration, they simultaneously turned in neat half circles and bowed, and then gestured to their students to pair off and spar.
    It was lovely and so exciting to watch, but the portal spirit had no time for frivolous distractions. It had a mission to perform. Materializing in the middle of the sparring ring, it spoke its mantra:
    “You have
need
.”
    Then it swept Grace and Alexios off to Atlantis.

    The Fae lands, home to the princess Maeve
    The portal spirit had to work much harder to open his new magic inside the Summerlands, but he was determined, and he had the power of right and
need
on his side. He found the crystal clear pool he’d been seeking, and the Atlantean warrior sitting half in and half out of the water, with a naked Fae princess on his lap.
    The portal spirit cheered up considerably at the sight of her, but she and the Atlantean warrior, Denal, looked rather sad.
    “I’m sorry but it’s time for me to go,” Denal said. “I’ve enjoyed these three years, perhaps more than any other three in my life, but I don’t know how much time has passed outside of your enchanted lands, and my people might need me.”
    “They take advantage of you,” the princess said, with real regret. “But since I cannot convince you to stay, I will allow you to leave, so we do not lose our friendship in a less than amicable parting.”
    “You are as wise as you are lovely, Maeve,” Denal said.
    “You have
need
,” the portal spirit said, and it took Denal, and only Denal, to Atlantis.

    Boston, inside the offices of a major newspaper
    The portal spirit watched Atlantean warrior Brennan as he laughed with his mate while they opened cartons and prepared to eat some really awesome-looking Chinese food. The spirit missed food, but in an abstract kind of way. He’d always loved egg rolls.
    He knew the history here, just like he’d absorbed everybody else’s story when Poseidon turned him into a magic doorway. After a terrible curse had forced Brennan to live for thousands of years with no emotion, he’d found his one true love and broken the curse by her death.
    Tiernan didn’t look any the worse for wear, luckily, even though she’d been the one who died. Big win for CPR.
    “You have
need
,” the portal spirit told them, before taking them and their food to Atlantis.

    Paris, France, in the penthouse suite of a very luxurious hotel
    Lady Serai, who was smoking hot for an honest-to-goodness Atlantean princess from eleven
thousand
years ago, sat slumped in a fancy chair while the vampire she loved massaged her feet. Dudes seriously did
not
stay in any Motel 6.
    “You can’t keep this up,” Daniel said, frowning. “The power drain is killing you. Do you have any update on what’s happening now?”
    “Alaric just arrived,