Warriors of Poseidon 01 - Atlantis Rising

of Poseidon 01
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    Ven studied Alaric as the priest watched Conlan. Alaric and Conlan had grown up running around the kingdom like the hellions they were, tearing up the streets and fields with their games and pranks. Rarely reined in by their indulgent parents or a community respectful of the royal heir and his cousin.
     
    Later making their way through the taverns and the barmaids with the same verve and boyish charm.
     
    There was nothing of boyishness about the priest now. He wore the power of his office like a shield of armor. Invisible, but unmistakable. The sharp planes of his face and the hawklike asceticism of his nose reminded all who confronted him that here was a man of faith, stripped to muscle and bone by the demands of his service.
     
    The demands of power. If the faintly glowing green eyes hadn't already warned them away, that is.
     
    High priest, dark phantom, instrument of Poseidon's power.
     
    Scary son of a bitch.
     
    "No, there is not a helluva lot of boyish charm left in any of us, is there, Alaric?"
     
    Alaric lifted one eyebrow, but gave no other sign of surprise at the comment. "You want to know if he has been compromised," he said, face gray and used-looking. After a dozen or so hours of healing, it was pretty impressive that he could even stand upright.
     
    "After Alexios—" Ven began, then stopped, unable to go on. If Anubisa had compromised his brother's soul, then the royal family really was doomed. She would have made good, finally, on a five-thousand-year-old promise.
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
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    Because Ven would walk into the gates of hell itself to shove his daggers up her bloodsucking ass. And he was honest enough to know he'd never come out of that confrontation alive.
     
    Alaric drew a deep breath. "He is whole."
     
    Ven's entire body sagged in a relief so fierce his vision literally went funky; he blinked away little gray spots that floated in front of his eyes. "Thank Poseidon!"
     
    Alaric remained silent, which raised Ven's suspicion. Just a tiny doubt. "Alaric? Is there something you're not telling me? Is it simply coincidence that he gets back here just a few hours after Reisen blasted his way into the Temple and ripped off the Trident?"
     
    The priest clenched his jaw, but said nothing for another minute. He finally spoke. "As to Reisen, I cannot tell. He is yet impossible to scry. For Conlan—"
     
    Alaric hesitated, then seemed to reach a decision, nodding. "The prince is whole.
    Somehow, in spite of seven years of torture, he is whole. She was unable to compromise his mind or capture his soul to her use. But—"
     
    Ven grasped Alaric's arm in a steel grip. "But? But what?"
     
    Alaric said nothing, merely looked down at Ven's hand clenched around his arm. The knowledge that Alaric could incinerate Ven's hand with a single surge of elemental power lay between them.
     
    Right at that moment, Ven didn't give a rat's ass.
     
    But he sighed and released Alaric's arm. "But what? He's my brother. I have a right to know."
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
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    Nodding imperceptibly, Alaric glanced back down at Conlan's still form. "But simply because she was unable to suborn his soul to her own use does not mean that Conlan retained full possession. No one can survive that duration of torture with his soul intact."
     
    He looked up at Ven, gaze flat. Dead. Promising destruction. Ven saw his own need to kick some vampire ass reflected in the priest's eyes.
     
    "Conlan has returned to us, Ven. But we may not know for a long time exactly how much of him returned."
     
    Ven bared his teeth in a fierce parody of a smile. "We'll figure it out. My brother is the strongest warrior I've ever known. And Anubisa is gonna find out exactly what it means that I am the King's Vengeance."
     
    He grasped the handles of his daggers, eyes gleaming. "I'm gonna shoot me some vengeance right up her puckered ass."
     
    Alaric's eyes shone for an instant with a glittering green light so bright that Ven had to squint against it. "Oh, yes. She will learn. And I will gladly assist you with that lesson."
     
    As the two walked out of the observation chamber, Alaric looked back at the railing that Ven had crushed, then at Ven. "Poseidon has some vengeance of his own to offer."
     
    Ven nodded, silently swearing the second formal vow of his life. If it takes my death to do it, Anubisa will be destroyed. Glory be