Warriors of Poseidon 01.5 - Wild Hearts in Atlantis

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    Kat made a sound; of protest, maybe. Denial. But no shapeshifter was part vampire, that much was irrefutable.
     
    Ethan leaned back against the table, projecting a studied image of nonchalance. But the rage in his eyes belied his calm pose. "I don't want to hear your opinions on my options, Atlantean. You didn't face the blasphemy of your brother—cousin, trapped in his animal form in death, stuffed and mounted in a shop!"
     
    Kat gasped. "No! Nelson's shop?"
     
    Ethan inclined his head, jaw clenching.
     
    She shook her head, as if willing the vicious image from her mind. "No, that's not—then we have a black coven here?" She snapped her head up, pinned Ethan with her gaze.
    "The fire? That was you?"
     
    "I burned it. If Nelson had been there, I would have burned him with it." He stood proud, uncompromising.
     
    Bastien almost unwillingly admired him for it. "Had the same happened to one of my brother warriors, I would have felt much the same. Your revenge is understandable.
    Forming an alliance with the bloodsuckers out of vengeance or spite is not."
     
    Ethan rose in a swift, fluid motion, the muscles in his body acting in concert to display his predatory nature. "But we should ally with you instead? The death squad of vigilantes in black who have murdered our kind for centuries? For millennia?"
     
    Bastien never even flinched. "Are we really, panther? Have we ever acted against you or yours? Against Kat's father or his father before him? The Warriors of Poseidon only intervene when mankind is threatened. It is our mission, our duty, and our sacred oath.
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    Those shapeshifter prides like your own who have never threatened humans have never known our vengeance."
     
    Kat spoke up. "He's right, Ethan. Our only knowledge of Atlantis is shrouded in the myths and stories of our people. We've heard of the warrior vigilantes, but they've never come against us."
     
    Ethan bared his teeth in a silent snarl, a low, grumbling noise issuing from his throat, and Kat backed up until she stood beside Bastien again. He pulled her against him and felt the slight trembling run through her body. Vowed to make someone pay for making her feel anything but happiness. Maybe even the someone standing in front of him.
     
    "No, we have never threatened humans, but they have nearly hunted us to extinction,"
    Ethan growled. "Not only our pure animal brethren, but our own pride. Now they work with the black covens to trap us in death for sport. Why would I not form an alliance with Organos?"
     
    Bastien played his trump card, judging the time right to share the information Alaric had told only to him before he, justice, and Denal had left Atlantis. "Because Organos plays you for a fool. He is the one working with the black sorcerers."
     
    Kat gasped again, this time moving away from Bastien. Ethan merely narrowed his eyes. "What proof do you have of this? Why would I believe you?"
     
    "I have the word straight from Poseidon's high priest. He does not lie."
     
    "So you say," Ethan said, shrugging. "But I have no knowledge of your priest. Where is your evidence?"
     
    Bastien's hands grasped the handles of his daggers at the implied slight to his honor, then he slowly removed them. "Liaison," he reminded himself, shaking his head. "I'm Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    tempted to challenge you to battle for that remark, shifter, but I must remember my sworn duty. So I will provide you this evidence you require. Will you grant me the courtesy of waiting before you proceed with an alliance with Organos and his blood pride?"
     
    Ethan slowly nodded. "Forty-eight hours. I will give you that much time to prove you're right about this. And if you are—" He smiled so fiercely that Bastien could well understand how the man was alpha of such a fierce coalition of shapeshifters. "If you're right, and the vampires are killing my people, then we'll end them."
     
    Bastien's smile matched the ferocity of Ethan's. "As your liaison, I can officially assure you that I will be right there beside you when that time comes. Even us political types need to battle a few vampires now and then."
     
    Ethan's ringing laughter followed them down the hall as they made their way out of his house. Kat looked up at Bastien, wonder and consideration in her eyes. "I'd almost say he likes you. And he doesn't like any outsiders. Ever."
     
    "He is a