Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

Goddess, who would help her to become, fully, who she was meant to be.
     
    She floated on the ruby song that now sang only to her, and not to the others, and gazed at stone walls turned red by the shining brilliance of the Nereid's Heart. Suddenly she heard its song with lyrics—words that spoke directly to her:
     
    Come to me, gem singer. Sing me free of this rock prison. Sing me to my home.
     
    The part of her mind that was pure Erin was amused at the idea. What was the protocol for talking to an inanimate hunk of rock?
     
    The part of her filled with the Goddess serenely responded. "We come, blessed ruby.
    Lead the way." Somehow the size and shape of the Goddess had filled her so that there was no room left for fear or uncertainty.
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 262 of 296
    Ahead of her, Ven glanced back at her, hesitating, as if he wanted to ask her a question. Or shake some sense into her, knowing Ven. But she narrowed her eyes in warning and shook her head, so he began grumbling under his breath again and kept walking.
     
    Trapped between an Atlantean who cared for her and a Goddess who wanted to use her, Erin focused on the only things that mattered: she had to find the Nereid's Heart, she had to rescue her sister, and she had to save Riley and the baby—somehow getting through who knew how many vampires and shape-shifters to do it.
     
    She called to the Wilding and gloried in its instant response. Oh, yes, she was going to have no problems at all.
     
    Circle of Light headquarters
     
    Alaric paced circles around the pallets of still-healing shifters in the great room of the building. Justice or Ven should have communicated with him in some way by now.
    Something had gone wrong.
     
    Quinn might be in danger.
     
    Quinn might be in danger.
     
    Coming to a decision, he strode rapidly through the rooms until he found Christophe, drinking coffee in the kitchen and talking to one of the witches.
     
    "Christophe, a word."
     
    The warrior excused himself and immediately followed Alaric into the corridor.
     
    "I must leave now. You will be in charge of guarding those in this building until I return."
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 263 of 296
    Christophe inclined his head. "As you wish, Alaric. Are you returning to Atlantis?"
     
    Alaric could tell from the warrior's wary expression that his eyes were radiating the power he channeled. "No. I go to Mount Rainier."
     
    Ven smelled the wolves before he ever saw them. The dark passage had been steadily brightening for several paces and the smell of wolf crossed with something stronger thickened in the air. He stopped and held out a hand to Erin, not sure if she'd even accept the reassurance. He was relieved when she placed her small hand in his, but her fingers were icy cold. He glanced at her and saw that even more of her warmth had drained away, leaving her eyes an icy silver-blue, almost the exact color of the power she'd channeled to heal Riley.
     
    "Are you still in there, Erin?"
     
    She slowly turned her gaze up to meet his, but he couldn't see anything of Erin in her eyes. "We are well, Ven. The ruby calls me, so strongly. We're almost there, now." Her voice was still different—wrong. But there was at least something of his Erin left in her voice.
     
    Ven had seen Alaric go dark and scary many, many times over the centuries, and the priest always came back from it. He had to trust that Erin would do the same.
     
    "We're here," he said quietly. "It's going to be game on from here on in. Are you ready?"
     
    Her lips curved in a sultry smile that was so sexy it would have made him go up in flames if the circumstances were different, but merely fed his concerns as things stood.
     
    "A better question, Lord Vengeance, would be if they are ready for us."
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 264 of 296
    The tiger coughed, a deep, barking sound that nearly scared the two shifters guarding them clear out of their fur. Justice would have laughed at the sight of them if he hadn't still been pretending to be unconscious. He'd needed a distraction to take out the two of them, since he didn't have his sword or any of his weapons on him except a dagger inserted into the heel and sole of his right boot. Tough to get to it in his current position, face down on the side of a drugged tiger who was about to wake up any minute.
     
    The sight of the tiger chewing his legs off would probably be