Warriors of Poseidon 01 - Atlantis Rising

with a viscous liquid. "Extremely high-dose Special K. The one thing nearly guaranteed to bring down a shapeshifter."
     
    Denal shouldered his way in, eyes wide. "Special K?"
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    "Ketamine. Animal tranquilizer. Hold this." Ven slapped the gun into Denal's hands.
     
    "Guns. Poison. Explosives. We've got it all, ladies," Ven said, a grim smile curling the edges of his mouth.
     
    "The power to control the elements is no longer enough for you, Vengeance?" Alaric asked.
     
    "Save the scorn for somebody who gives a shit. Not all of us have your level of access to Poseidon's power," Ven said.
     
    "I'll stick with my sword," Justice drawled. "She and I have killed more bloodsuckers and shapeshifters than all of your toys put together."
     
    "Suit yourself. That's more for me to play with" Ven returned, loading up. "There's plenty here for anybody who wants some. As they say in the movies, boys—"
     
    "Lock and load!" Christophe shouted, grinning.
     
    Ven nodded. "Lock and load."
     
    Conlan's fingers clenched on the steering wheel of the Mercedes as he listened to Riley's phone calls. First she'd called into her office and asked for some time off. From what he'd gleaned of the one-sided conversation, they were more than happy to grant her the time. It sounded like she hadn't taken much time off in the past few years.
     
    Why didn't that surprise him? She had a sense of duty as ingrained as any warrior's.
     
    "Hey, Detective Ramirez, it's Riley Dawson," she said into her cell phone, quite pointedly not looking in Conlan's direction. He was amused by her defiance.
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    Not just amused, to be honest with himself. It made him hot. Although, for some reason, all the woman had to do was breathe, and it made him hot.
     
    Definitely not a good sign.
     
    She was quiet for a moment, nodding at something the detective was saying on the line.
    Then she spoke again. "Thank God."
     
    She glanced at Conlan. "The baby's going to be okay." Then she spoke into the phone again. "Yeah, I can come in and give you a statement, but pretty much what I told you last night is all I know."
     
    "Okay, then. You have my cell number. Just call me."
     
    As she flipped her phone shut, Conlan debated and then decided against telling her that her cell phone was not going to be getting any signal when she was deep beneath the ocean.
     
    She'd figure it out. Why borrow trouble?
     
    Alaric leaned over the seat from his spot in the back, directly behind Riley. "I hate cars, Conlan. Tell me why you believed it was so important for us to use cars?"
     
    Conlan flicked a glance at him. "Traveling via mist is easy enough for you and me, and even Ven, but not as easy for some of the Seven, especially over long distances. And it would definitely freak Riley out. Since she's the only one who can sense Reisen and his men, I wanted her to feel comfortable."
     
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    Ven spoke up. "I'm good with this. My toys don't travel well. No metal without orichalcum in it, remember? Hey, we've got fine engineering, a smooth ride, and an excellent sound system. I've got some killer CDs loaded, if you want to click on the tunes."
     
    Conlan looked in the rearview mirror, making sure that Justice and the others were behind him in the Hummer. "Not exactly inconspicuous vehicles you picked, are they, Ven?" he said drily.
     
    Riley made a small sound in her throat, and her hands clenched around her tiny telephone. "We need to get there, fast. They're close now. I—they must be in the park.
    This is the road to First Landing State Park. I'd heard that the local Shapeshifter Appreciation League had a forum there."
     
    Ven snorted. "Great. Now the bastards have an appreciation league? When they spend most of their time finding ways to eat you people?"
     
    Riley turned her head to look at him, eyes troubled. "I don't think that's entirely true.
    Both shapeshifters and vampires have made a considerable effort to integrate peacefully into society."
     
    It was Conlan's turn to be disgusted. "Are you all fools? For thousands of years, both races have considered humans as sheep—their personal food supply. Suddenly, they come out into the daylight—metaphorically speaking—and the first thing they do is try to take over. How is that integrating? Peacefully or otherwise?"
     
    "I, well, I sort