Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

Justice had a good idea with the pacing. He either had to burn off some stress or hit somebody. Not the greatest time for his sparring partner Bastien to be shacked up with a werepanther.
     
    Alaric nodded. "A gem singer is one whose soul resonates with the spirit of the stones of the earth. Some records indicate it was primarily a talent of the elvenfolk among the Fae."
     
    "Great. Now Erin isrelated to the Tooth Fairy," Ven growled, looking up.
     
    "Let us discuss Caligula," Alaric said. "Perhaps he seeks to consolidate Barrabas's power to himself. We knew political movement would be made in the vampire hierarchy, however loosely structured it may be."
     
    "Is there even a hierarchy anymore"? Christophe replied. "Now that their goddess is gone, does that make them all turn renegade? We may not have done anybody any favors by killing her. Did she at least keep them in line?"
     
    Alexios stepped forward, clenching and unclenching his hands. "Do not doubt that Conlan and Riley did the world a favor, as you put it, by killing that evil obscenity Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    Anubisa," he said, the strain to remain calm evident in his roughened voice. "At the very least, they did me a service that I can never repay."
     
    Conlan stood and bowed to his warrior. "Alexios, if there were any debt, it was mine to you for putting your life in her hands in order to search for me. Never doubt that I remember this every day of my life."
     
    Silence reverberated in the room, stretched tautly between the two of them—both who had known torture beyond description at Anubisa's hands.
     
    Finally, Brennan broke the silence. "I do not believe in coincidences. If Caligula is operating in that area, it is almost certain that he is behind the drastic increase in newly turned vampires."
     
    "Why? Why would he do that? You can't control new vamps for the first year or two, so what does it serve him?" Justice asked. "Although that's assuming a vamp needs a reason to cause trouble, which is probably stupid to begin with."
     
    Ven nodded. "I agree with all of that. No coincidence, vamps cause trouble for no reason, and Justice is stupid." He grinned at Justice as he said it.
     
    Denal and Christophe laughed, breaking the tension, but Justice didn't seem to be amused. He glared at Ven. "Laugh it up, Ven Helsing. Sounds like your little gem singer got to you." He laughed. "Hey, if it's a problem, I'll be glad to take over for you. Sounds like she's quite a woman."
     
    Ven had joked with Justice about women for more than two centuries, but suddenly, with that one sentence, something changed. Someone changed.
     
    Ven changed.
     
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    "Don't even think about it," he growled, all traces of amusement gone from his voice.
    "Stay away from Erin."
     
    Denal's sharp gasp sounded a warning, causing Ven to unsheathe his daggers in one smooth motion and whirl around to face the threat. But the chamber door remained firmly closed, and the only things remotely threatening in the room were the shocked expressions on the faces of Denal, Alexios, and Christophe. Ven took in their widened eyes as his own narrowed. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
     
    As Conlan and Alaric shot up out of their chairs in unison, Denal strode around the table until he faced Ven again. "Your eyes. They're… they're glowing," he said, awe infusing his words. "There's a weird blue-green flame in the middle. It's like—"
     
    "It's the flame of Poseidon," Brennan said. "Since one can only suppose that you do not seek to achieve the soul-meld with one of us, it appears that the gem singer has affected you even more than you know."
     
    Ven clenched his eyes shut to block their view. Douse the flame.
     
    Hoped it would work. Somehow knew it wouldn't.
     
    "Ven?" Conlan's voice rang out, still calm, but resonating with royal command. "Is there something else you meant to tell me about Erin Connors?"
     
    Ven muttered a few of his favorite curses in ancient Atlantean, then decided to try to play it casual. "Well, now that you mention it…"
     
    Headquarters, the Seattle Circle of Light
     
    Erin stood in the center of the circle, trying to control the trembling in her knees. She'd never been called before a special midnight gathering of the coven high priestesses Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    before and didn't know what to expect.