Warriors of Poseidon 01 - Atlantis Rising

of agree with you." She sighed. "I always thought it was a little freaky that only a few years after we even knew vampires existed, suddenly they're running their own house of Congress. I mean, how did that happen without some sort of mind control?" she said.
     
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    "Mind control or physical threat," Alaric said smoothly. "It seems that many of your dissenting voices have met with untimely accidents or disappeared. Did none of you notice the pattern in that?"
     
    "I don't know what you're talking about," Riley said. "There hasn't been anything about that in the news."
     
    "You mean the shapeshifter-controlled media? I wonder how that could be possible,"
    Alaric returned, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
     
    Conlan pulled into the park's entrance and found a spot for the car, vicious thoughts whirling around in his brain. As he slammed the car into park and shut down the ignition, he shifted in the seat and stared at Alaric. "Do you suspect that they could be teaming up? After so many centuries of blood feud, do you really believe that the shapeshifters would help the bloodsuckers?"
     
    Alaric returned his stare calmly, although Conlan noticed that the priest's eyes had begun to glow. "You've been gone for most of the decade, Conlan. There does seem to be a spirit of cooperation between them that was never there before. It worries the Council a great deal."
     
    "Hell, it worries me a great big fucking deal," Ven snarled. "If we—"
     
    Riley shrieked, in a high-pitched, shrill tone that Conlan had never heard before. She clutched her head and screamed. He pulled her into his arms, trying to comfort her.
    Needing to comfort her.
     
    Needing to make that inhuman sound stop. "Riley! Riley, what is it?"
     
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    She abruptly stopped shrieking and stared up at him, eyes vacant and turned inward.
    "They're here. They're here and they're killing. Murdering. Violence and death and pain… No! No, that's not possible!"
     
    She started to scream so loudly Conlan thought his eardrums would rupture. He took her by the shoulders and shook her a little to try to pull her out of the hell she was clearly experiencing.
     
    "Riley! You're safe. You're here with us. You have to shield from those emotions," he said roughly.
     
    She shook her head back and forth. "No, no, no, you don't understand," she moaned.
    "It's Quinn. Somehow, they've got my sister. I can feel her—I can feel her, and she's dying."
     
    Ven and Alaric jumped out of the car and slammed their doors shut, then Ven yanked Conlan's open. Conlan lifted Riley onto his lap and pulled her out of the car with him. He helped her to stand, arm firmly around her waist. "Tell us. Point us to where they are, Riley. You know we can help her if you do."
     
    She looked up at him, still clutching her head, still dazed. "What? Pain, Quinn, nooooo!"
     
    Alaric's head snapped up, and he pointed down a path. "There. I can sense the Trident now. It's blazing with power. And—I don't know how, but I can sense her sister, too," he said, lips drawn back in a snarl. "I can feel her inside my skin. Riley is correct. If we don't get there fast, she's going to die."
     
    The Hummer pulled into the parking space next to them, and the warriors piled out.
    "Hey, cool place. So, what's the scoop?" Christophe called, then he stopped, frozen, as he caught sight of Riley. His face hardened, and he headed toward them, followed by Bastien and the others.
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    "We go after them now," Conlan commanded. "Riley, you stay here out of danger, and—"
     
    "No! She's my sister!" she snapped at him, seeming to come briefly out of her daze. "I'm coining with you."
     
    "We don't have time to argue about this," Alaric said. "And we're attracting unwelcome attention." He nodded to a group of campers who were openly staring at the leather-clad group of warriors. Then his entire body jerked, as if he'd taken a blow.
     
    "Now. We go now?" he ground out, green eyes glowing more brightly than Conlan had ever seen them. Walking, then running, Alaric took off down the trail into the woods.
     
    Ven looked to Conlan, who nodded. "Follow him. All of you. I'll be right behind you."
     
    As the warriors pounded down the trail after Alaric, he looked down at Riley, who still leaned against him. "You remain behind, where it's safe, or I swear