Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

Alaric. We're being attacked, and this time it's coordinated,"
    Justice said grimly. The blood still stained his hair a macabre shade of maroon-streaked blue, and the dark shadows under the warrior's eyes spoke of more pain from his injuries than he'd admitted.
     
    Of course, he'd admitted to none, following the ancient warrior code of "leave the healer to guess." Alaric snarled at the thought. "I cannot properly heal that which you do not describe to me, Lord Justice."
     
    Justice, being Justice, snarled right back at him. "Don't bother wasting your time on me, priest. There are many far worse off, including Brennan and Alexios. But right now we need to figure out what's going on out here and make it stop, because there is no fucking way in the nine hells that I will put up with night after night of attacks from these bloodsuckers." With that, he whirled around and headed down the hall toward the door.
    As Alaric followed, he mentally tested his readiness to call the sort of power that would proclaim to the undead exactly what—and whom—they were facing.
     
    As he walked out the door and looked up at the dozens of vamps darkening the night sky, a sudden certainty slammed into him that the one directing these attacks knew exactly who he was dealing with—and was coming after them because of it.
     
    Gennae stood a small distance from the front door, holding a shield over the entire building. Even from a dozen paces away, he could sense the strain in her magic. He scanned the group of heavily armed shape-shifters who stood at the front corners of the building. "Quinn and her people are on all corners?" Alaric asked.
     
    Justice hesitated. "Quinn's people are, and Christophe is with them around back."
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 201 of 296
    Alaric pounced on the omission. "Quinn?"
     
    "Don't aim those glowing eyeballs at me, priest," Justice growled. "She and the tiger took off several hours ago. I get the feeling they were headed to Mount Rainier to help Ven and Erin, but they dodged my questions."
     
    Alaric wanted to roar out his rage and frustration, but fought his instincts and remained silent. He sent his senses out into the air to reach for her, but found nothing. She was nowhere near, then.
     
    "If Caligula harms her, he will never again know a single peaceful moment until the time that I flay the skin from his bloodsucking bones," he said, power thrumming through his voice.
     
    "I'm an expert at flaying, so just tell me the time and place," Justice replied, examining the edge of his sword. "For now, we should prepare. That red-haired witch doesn't look as if she can hold that shield much longer."
     
    Alaric nodded, began to stride toward the witch, then paused. "Where are the remaining of the Seven?"
     
    "Denal went through the water to report back to Conlan some time ago. Alexios tried to drag his broken ass out of bed, and I knocked him in the side of the head hard enough to make sure he didn't go anywhere for a while. Brennan is still unconscious." Justice cast a sharp, measuring glance at him. "Are you sure you're up to this? You don't look all that great yourself."
     
    "Keep your worries for your own well-being, warrior," Alaric said, raising his hands to call power. "I have some vampires to incinerate."
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
    Page 202 of 296
    The cabin
     
    Ven peered through a crack in the boards covering one of the windows, while Erin did the same with another. "There are at least seven here," she whispered.
     
    "Another half dozen on this side," he said. "Those can't be ordinary wolves."
     
    She stood with her eyes half closed and her hands held out for a moment, then shook her head. "They're not. They're shifters. There's magic out there, too. Either one of them can call magic or they've got a witch hiding in the trees."
     
    Just then a female voice called out to them from outside the cabin. "We know you're in there, Erin. You and your Atlantean need to come out now before we smoke you out."
     
    Erin gasped and steadied herself with one hand on the wall. "That voice! It can't be her—"
     
    "Who?" he demanded, tossing her coat to her.
     
    "Lillian. My friend. She's the one we thought Berenice captured… that must be it. They must be forcing her to do this," she said, her voice gaining strength. A little color washed back into her pale cheeks as she shrugged into her heavy jacket. "She wouldn't betray us. I know she