Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

force inside him demanding that he take her lips again.
     
    "We're going to have to talk about this bossy nature of yours," he said instead. "When—not if, but when we get out of here."
     
    She smiled a little. "Add it to the list I love you, Ven. I need for you to know that."
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 272 of 296
    His heart expanded at the words. "I love you, too, Erin Connors. Do not even think of leaving me."
     
    She smiled again, and then the life and warmth drained from her expression, and his gem singer went cold and still in his arms and pushed away from him. "Now, Warrior of Poseidon. We retrieve the Nereid's Heart now."
     
    With the icy sound of her dual-natured voice ringing in his ears, he stepped in front of her, and they headed toward the glow of the lights.
     
    Quinn knew that the booming bell sound signified something important, but she wasn't sure what. Hopefully it involved the gem that Erin and Ven were searching for and the noise meant they'd found it.
     
    No matter what it meant, she had the feeling that her luck had run out with the final, fading peals of the bell. Daniel and Caligula were both bearing down on her with fangs bared, and she wasn't entirely sure that this Daniel was still the Daniel that she'd known.
    This vampire had red, intensely glowing eyes, and all she could see was the threat of Drakos in the feral way he stared at her.
     
    So much for hope.
     
    "Are you going to fight over me, boys?" she crooned. "There's not really enough of me to go around. Kind of skinny, probably low on the O negative. Or, actually, A positive, I think. Seems like something a person should know these days, doesn't it?"
     
    She smiled at Daniel, studying him for any hint that this was another guise in his covert mission. All she saw in his eyes was her own death. Or worse. Her own future as one of the mindless undead Caligula so enjoyed keeping in his blood pride.
     
    "Over my dead body," she snapped.
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 273 of 296
    "That's rather the point," Daniel said, smiling widely so she was sure to notice that his fangs had fully descended, which they only did when a vamp was preparing to strike.
     
    She'd learned that one in a very personal way.
     
    "If I only had a stake, you'd get my point, bloodsucker," she said, hunching her neck down into her collar in an attempt to look weak and helpless.
     
    Caligula finally spoke, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "If you truly would serve me, Drakos, I would be most pleased. I have had certain… concerns about your loyalty. It would go far to alleviate those concerns if you should take care of this little problem for me."
     
    Daniel bowed. "It would be my utmost pleasure, my Lord. I will remove her worthless carcass from your presence."
     
    As he grabbed her arm, she screamed and fought to get away, not convinced that this was all a show for Caligula's benefit. She'd seen bloodlust before, and she was seeing it now in his eyes. Daniel really might be irrevocably Drakos. If so, she was truly screwed.
     
    Caligula's voice sliced through the air. "Oh, no, my general. That would not please me at all. I prefer that this human serve as an example to her pathetic rebel forces and an entertainment to our loyal soldiers."
     
    The vamps and shifters lining the walls cheered and stamped their feet at the word "entertainment," which reminded Quinn of the whole emperor thing. Throwing Christians to the lions or something. Murdering slaves in the coliseum. Russell Crowe dying in the dirt.
     
    She was tough, but she was no Russell Crowe.
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 274 of 296
    "I want her turned, and I want you to start the process now, my Drakos. Tie her to you with the blood bond and prove to me that you are truly mine to command."
     
    "No fucking way!" she screamed. "Never. I'll kill you myself, you bloodsucking bastard!"
     
    She shifted into primal attack mode, screaming and clawing and punching and gouging at Daniel with a ferocity that must have startled him, because he grabbed her and threw her across the room toward the opening to the tunnel. She crashed into the wall and slid into a limp heap of aches and possible broken limbs onto the floor. In an instant, he flashed across the cavern and bent over her, baring his fangs. Just before he struck, he caught her gaze in his own. "It will hurt less if you let me enthrall you," he