Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

visiting the North American Magickals coven leadership conference, your gift may be a rare inheritance from the elvenfolk."
     
    Erin blinked. "You're telling me I'm part elf?"
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    Lillian barked out a laugh. "Don't ever let any of the Fae hear you say that. They're fed up with the popular culture misconceptions of the elvenfolk. I heard one of the Canadian Fae sliced a vampire's head off merely for mentioning the North Pole."
     
    It was too much to process. "So, I may be part elf… part elvenfolk. So what? We're all part something, I suppose. What else did this representative say?"
     
    "He called you a gem singer, Erin, when I explained your Gift. He said it was a talent lost in the annals of myth even to his kind," Gennae explained, kindness and something that looked a lot like pity in her eyes.
     
    Erin hated to be pitied. "Go ahead. Tell me the rest of it, already."
     
    Gennae bit her lip, uncharacteristically hesitant. The shadow in the corner of Erin's field of perception was the only sign that Berenice had moved, but suddenly the witch stood next to Gennae. As Erin stared at the two of them, Lillian walked slowly up to flank Gennae on her other side.
     
    "What is this? Strength in numbers?" Erin tried for a casual laugh, but it came out sounding strangled. "Just tell me already."
     
    "The last recording of a gem singer in Fae history was before the Cataclysm that sank Atlantis," Lillian said, glancing at Gennae as if for the go-ahead. "You also may be part Atlantean."
     
    Relief made Erin feel a little giddy. "That's it? I'm part elvenfolk and part Atlantean?
    That's not a big deal. In fact, it may make Ven and his men more willing to help me.
    We're long-lost cousins!" She thought of how he made her feel. "Very, very distant cousins."
     
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    Gennae sighed, a soul-weary sound that swept Erin's shaky attempt at humor away before it. "It's not that simple, Erin. There's something else you need to know." She drew a deep breath. "Your entire family was not murdered that night. Caligula captured your sister and later sent us proof that he had turned her."
     
    Erin's knees buckled for the second time that night, and she nearly fell to the ground.
    "What? Who? My sister? Which sister? It's a lie! I would have known—I would have felt her—I, I—" She looked to Lillian in supplication, but the gray-haired witch simply stood there, nodding her head in agreement.
     
    "No! No, you're all wrong. I would have known. Somehow I would have known—"
     
    "It is truth, Erin," Gennae replied, cutting off her desperate attempts at denial. "Your sister Deirdre is vampire."

Chapter 5
Seattle
    Erin stood in front of the enormous brick waterfront building, clutching the cardboard tray and the paper bag, and double-checked the address. Her complete lack of sleep the night before wasn't all that surprising, considering the attack and the impossible news about Deirdre. She swallowed around the lump in her throat. It couldn't be true.
    They had to be wrong, and she'd prove it. Deirdre would never choose to live as a vampire.
     
    She fought back the tears and put the pain aside to deal with later. She'd had ten years of practice with that technique.
     
    Ven's address looked more like a warehouse than a home. But he'd called and apologized for leaving so abruptly the night before, then invited her to his place to Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    discuss their impending alliance. He'd made some cryptic comment about not worrying—her safety was guaranteed. She knew vampires did not walk in the daylight, and she was on guard now against any new witch attacks, so she hadn't been worried, anyway.
     
    She glanced up at the four stories of the imposing structure again and shook her head.
    Maybe it was like those trendy downtown lofts? Only part of it was Ven's?
     
    The massive steel door had only one buzzer next to it, so she pushed that and heard a faint gonging sound reverberate from inside the building. Seconds later the door swung open and Ven stood in front of her wearing only blue jeans, his damp hair brushing against his shoulders.
     
    Erin snapped her mouth closed when she realized she was gaping at him. It wasn't every day a witch was confronted with a chest like that. Holy Goddess, the man was built. Ripped, even. And the unusual tattoo high up on the left side of