Vampire in Atlantis

occasional thief, grinned and blew Reisen a kiss. “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun.”
    “I’m not going anywhere with her,” Reisen said. “I need to have a serious conversation with the Atlantean woman. Now.”
    “I’d like to meet the Atlantean woman, too. This place is better than a soap opera sometimes. Where’s Jack?” Mel said, dropping to sit cross-legged on the floor and taking an apple and her laptop out of her backpack. “Speaking of excitement, what is it this time, Quinn? What can I steal for our fearless leader?”
    Quinn waited until Mel swallowed the bite of apple, so she didn’t need to do any Heimlich maneuvering. “I want you to steal a bank.”

     
    Serai stirred, swimming back up through the layers of exhaustion to wakefulness. She felt like she hadn’t slept at all, but she had certain needs that were fast becoming urgent. Physical needs she hadn’t felt in so long she hadn’t even remembered how intense they could be. Her stomach also felt like a gaping, empty hole, and she realized she was hungry. Actually hungry .
    “I can eat,” she said, bolting upright on the hard pallet.
    Daniel, who’d apparently been sleeping on the floor next to her, shot up into the air, both hands clutching daggers. His hair was mussed, and after her initial surprise, she wanted to laugh. He looked so funny.
    Also gorgeous. Hot , even, to use the current slang.
    His hair had grown long, past his shoulders, and he kept it tied back with a piece of leather cord. It was still a deep black, but there were a few strands of pure silver mixed in with the silky darkness. His features had matured; all planes and angles. He was now a dangerous, deadly man where once she’d known a boy. The thought sent a thrill of adrenaline through her, and she ducked her head to hide her blush. He must have known many women in all that time; it wasn’t as if he’d be interested in an ignorant maiden. A really, really, really old maiden.
    She didn’t have time to worry about it, though, her body reminded her. She needed privacy and certain facilities. Now.
    “Daniel, I need some privacy—”
    “Have I offended you?” He was at her side in an instant. “Damn it, I don’t know how to treat a gentle-bred lady anymore. Not that I ever did. Whatever I—”
    Her face would surely catch fire from the heat. “No. I need . . . privacy. Facilities. To . . . wash my face.”
    “Oh. Oh. Of course.” He jumped up and held his hand out to her. “Let’s find out how they’re dealing with that here.”
    “And then food,” she said, brushing her wrinkled skirts down. “Food and drink and things I can taste. Oh, Daniel, after all these years, I want so badly to taste everything.”
    His jaw clenched and he took a deep breath in through his nose, and then he simply nodded. “Got it,” he rasped out. “Taste. Everything. Come on.”
    She blushed again, not exactly sure why, but her mention of tasting everything had affected him oddly.
    One of Quinn’s people, a woman with startlingly red hair, was happy to show Serai out a side passageway into the bright sunshine and to the environmentally friendly way the small camp was dealing with personal needs, and then they met up with Daniel, who’d waited as near to the entrance to the cavern as he could get without facing full daylight.
    She’d almost forgotten. He looked so normal. But nightwalkers couldn’t walk in the sun without facing a hideous death by flames. On that horrible day when invaders had attacked Atlantis, the mage who’d helped her with Daniel had told her that much before he’d disappeared and taken Daniel away from her forever. Or so she’d thought. Here he was again, and she needed every ounce of self-possession to keep from throwing herself at him like the silly girl he must think she was.
    She called on the haughty demeanor she’d seen so often in her former life and lifted her chin. “Now we may eat.”
    His gaze dropped to her neck and she gasped so loudly that he raised an eyebrow.
    “Don’t worry, I didn’t take that as an invitation to suck your delicious blood, sweetheart,” he said sardonically. “Let’s find you some food and figure out how to find that jewel of yours.”
    “It’s not mine,” she pointed out, but he’d already turned his back to her, probably disgusted with her stupidity. Of course he wasn’t going to eat her. She’d just been alone and asleep, defenseless, really, with him, and he’d never shown any