Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

was more truth to the joking than she wanted to know about. Also, she'd never met any shifter whose other form was tiger, and the exotic nature of the beast under Jack's skin surprised her and sent a little chill of trepidation tingling through her senses. On the other hand, who needed allies who were wimpy?
     
    Ven glowered at them all from the edge of a table, where he was staring down at what looked like a topographical map of Washington State. "What in the nine hells were you planning to do? And please tell me that you were at least going to wait for us to join the party."
     
    Quinn strode over to him and pointed at an area circled in red. "We've been working our sources and tracking the frequency of attacks from the newly turned for several months.
    It all seems to spiral to the area around Mount Rainier."
     
    Jack stabbed a finger down at the map. "We're guessing under here. There are a series of ice caverns and tunnels that are impassable to humans. Any entrance big enough to get through is magically warded so strongly that we've watched humans bounce right off of it and not even realize what they were doing."
     
    "What about witches?" Erin asked.
     
    Quinn shot a measuring look at her. "We don't know. The only witch on our team has been missing for more than a week. We don't know if she's been captured, killed, or…
    converted."
     
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    Ven spoke again. "We've got a problem with witches going bad around here, don't we?
    The woman who attacked at the Circle of Light HQ was strong enough to cut Erin off from her power. Does that sound like your witch?"
     
    Jack and Quinn traded a long look, but finally Quinn shook her head. "I don't know how powerful you are, Erin, but she wasn't very strong. I doubt she could channel that kind of magic unless she'd been disguising her true strength from us."
     
    "The witch who attacked me was channeling dark magic, which would automatically increase her powers from what she could call with the light," Erin said. "I didn't get a good look at her, though."
     
    "Neither did I," Ven admitted. "I knocked her out, but then she disappeared when I was dealing with her colleague and a couple of vampires."
     
    "Well, we won't know until we try, will we?" Erin walked over to study the maps. "I never would have guessed that there were caverns under Mount Rainier. I used to go hiking there with my family, before…" She stopped and shook her head. No need to go into that now. Sorrow might weaken her resolve.
     
    Quinn raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask her for an explanation. The dark, bruised look around her eyes gave Erin the idea that Quinn knew a lot about secrets and tragedies herself.
     
    Ven cleared his throat. "Quinn, we need to talk privately. There's something I need to—"
     
    "Is it Riley? The baby? What's wrong?" Quinn practically leapt at him. "Tell me right now, damnit."
     
    The compassion in Ven's eyes touched a place deep inside Erin as she watched him.
    This fierce warrior talked a tough game, but he cared deeply for his family.
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    To add to her confusion, Erin had the idea he was starting to care deeply for her. She pushed the thought aside before she could examine it further. No time to think about caring for someone when she was on a mission that could very well end with one or both of them dead. Definitely no time to consider whether it was the kind of caring she would welcome and, perhaps, reciprocate.
     
    "Riley is doing a little better, Quinn. Erin actually healed her, and Riley felt much better for a while."
     
    Quinn's dark gaze turned to Erin. "You're a healer?"
     
    "No. Well, yes. Maybe," Erin stumbled, trying for complete honesty. "The truth is I don't quite know exactly what I am, anymore. I know I'm a ninth-level witch of the Seattle Circle of Light, and I have an affinity with gemstones. The Atlanteans think I'm a gem singer, which means more to them than it does to me just yet. But something about the Nereid Temple and the proximity to its gemstones helped me to actually sing healing to your sister."
     
    Quinn crossed to her, gave her a quick, fierce hug. "I owe you a debt for that. Riley is the most important person in the world to me. I'm planning to go to her as soon as we can get to the bottom of this problem. Far too many of my people have died trying."
     
    As Quinn stepped back toward the table, she