Warriors of Poseidon 01.5 - Wild Hearts in Atlantis

but I have to stop this."
     
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    He literally snarled. If she hadn't known better, she would have believed he was a shapeshifter, too, from the ferocity of his expression. "There's no fucking way I'm letting you get in the middle of that. In fact, why don't you get out before you get hurt? I'll drive you home, and we can talk about whatever in the nine hells liaisons are supposed to talk about."
     
    He blocked her from the room with his big body, and for one brief second she felt protected. Cherished. Cared for in a way she hadn't been in so long.
     
    Then she pushed that feeling away. She had no time for weakness.
     
    "Thanks for the thought, but this is my job. Now get out of my way," she said, grim purpose in her voice.
     
    His beautiful ocean blue eyes narrowed, and the planes of his gorgeous face hardened even further. He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, pinning her into place with the protection of his body. "You're not—"
     
    "Oh, but I am," she interrupted. Then she held her arms out to her side, palms up, and she let the noise and the fury of the room drop away. She swirled down into the currents of the smooth, clear pond inside her mind. Crystal, liquid peace.
     
    Serenity lapping at the edges of her mind as the waves of the ocean. Even, rhythmic, calming waves.
     
    She inhaled deeply and, as she exhaled, she channeled the peace and calm from within her secret pool and sent it swirling out from her mind and breath and into the air around her.
     
    She opened her eyes and watched the effects. First to succumb, since he was nearest, the warrior staggered back half a step, as though he'd been struck. Then the harsh set Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    to his mouth relaxed, and a measure of calm returned to his eyes. She smiled at him, laid a hand on his arm when he tried to speak, and shook her head. Pointed to the rest of the room.
     
    He turned to face the bar, still protecting her with his body. They watched as Kat's infusion of peace spread through the room. Fists unclenched. Men blinked as though dazed, and put down the bottles, knives, and other weapons they'd been wielding. A collective sigh of unspent rage dampened the roaring emotional ambiance of the room from lethal fury into lethargic lassitude.
     
    A white-haired head popped up from behind the bar, and the tiny woman peered around the room. "Is it over? Kat, that you?" she called, in a slightly shaky voice. "Aw, of course it is. Nobody else has the gift like you do to calm this bunch of jackasses."
     
    Kat ducked her head, but started across the room toward Thelma. "Just lucky timing, Thelma. These fine gentlemen were calculating how much money they were going to owe you for the damage, weren't they?"
     
    A pair of the fiercest combatants she'd seen in the brawl hung their heads and nodded.
    One human, one shapeshifter. So, the crisis was coming to a head faster than she'd thought.
     
    "Thelma, you'll let them know how much to pay? And I think you can all help her clean up this mess, anybody who doesn't need to head over to the ER," she said, pitching her tone to inject an edge of command. Another of her "gifts" she hadn't told anybody about.
     
    "Oh, I've got it covered, Kat," Thelma said. "I'll let you know if anybody doesn't pay up.
    But why don't you get out of here now? No need to stick around, and you probably ought to get to the meeting."
     
    Kat stifled her bitter reply and managed to smile. "Okay, if you've got this under control."
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
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    She knew the residual effects of what she'd done would last for a few hours on all who'd been in range. She wasn't sure exactly how far that range was, but undoubtedly there were some animal predators for a couple hundred yards of the perimeter of the bar who wouldn't feel like doing anything with their prey but snuggling, at least for a short while.
     
    She smiled at the concept and turned toward the Atlantean, shoring up her defenses to keep from reacting like a bimbo at the mere sight of him. He was standing no more than two feet behind her, though she'd never heard him move, even with her shapeshifter senses. The look he was giving her was shrewdly considering, as though he knew she'd done something. He couldn't possibly know what, but something.
     
    "Shall we go? I'm sure you'd like to get