Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

shield!"
     
    Daniel nodded and floated through the treetops toward his so-called master. Soon. The very first chance I get, Caligula, your ass is mine.
     
    The cabin
     
    Ven entered the cabin and his gaze immediately went to Erin, who sat curled up into a ball on their sleeping bags. She'd probably drained all her power again, but somehow she'd overpowered a witch who sat two levels ahead of her on the power grid, or whatever the magical folk called it. Unless he was reading her wrong, she'd also killed her first person, which was never an easy thing to get past.
     
    It never should be an easy thing to get past, he thought grimly, no matter whether it was your first kill or your hundredth kill. Even if, like him, you'd killed so many you couldn't even keep track anymore. Killing was killing, and the gods more than likely kept some kind of giant scorecard until the end of your days. If they did, surely they'd note Erin's courage, which had shone more brightly than her witch fire. He walked over to her and pulled her onto his lap, then simply sat in silence, arms encircling her, and breathed in the scent of her hair.
     
    The door banged open and Jack, in human form now, although he didn't take up all that much less space on two legs, strode in with Quinn right behind him. "They didn't know anything about Caligula's plans," Jack said, brushing wet snow off his hair. "They were way down on the food chain, so to speak."
     
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    Ven raised an eyebrow. "They were way down on the food chain?"
     
    Jack's eyes looked more big cat than human when he replied. "Yeah. They were."
     
    Quinn's face was nearly as pale as Erin's and her eyes had gone flat and dead. Either she was a stone-cold killer or she retreated from the world when she was forced to do horrible things in the name of her cause. Their cause, he silently amended. Knowing Riley, Ven was pretty sure that Quinn was no cold-blooded murderer. So it must be an extremely tough road that she walked, Even as Ven admired Quinn's dedication and her courage, he promised himself that Erin would never need to face that bleak path.
     
    "There's coffee," Erin said, her voice nearly inaudible. "And some canned food on the shelves and nonperishable stuff we brought with us."
     
    Quinn aimed her intense focus at Erin. "You don't need to play hostess, gem singer. We can—" She broke off midsentence and swiftly crossed the room to crouch down in front of Erin. "Oh, no, Erin. You can't feel like that over her. She was a traitor."
     
    "What?" Erin lifted her head, then dropped it back on her knees. "Oh, the emotional empath thing. Riley's sister, so you, too, I guess. Well, stay out of my head." There was no heat behind her words, just a dull apathy that scared Ven more than an emotional outburst would have.
     
    "Ven, Jack. Get out," Quinn said, standing. "Now."
     
    Ven's arms tightened around Erin. "I don't know what you—"
     
    "Get. Out. Now," she repeated, but she didn't take her gaze from Erin, and the sympathy and understanding in Quinn's eyes decided him.
     
    "Okay with you, mi amara?" he murmured to Erin.
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    She shrugged, but then moved off of his lap, so he took that as assent and stood up to leave. "I'll be right outside if you need me."
     
    Quinn quirked an amused grin at him. "I'm not as scary as I look, big brother."
     
    "Big…" He clapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, by the gods, I never considered that.
    When Riley and Conlan wed, we'll be family. How am I going to survive that?" he groaned.
     
    Quinn reached up and ruffled his hair, as if he were a tiny youngling. "It's okay, Bro. I promise to take it easy on you at the family reunions."
     
    Still groaning, he followed Jack out of the cabin, sneaking a final glance at Erin as he went through the door. He was relieved to see a shadow of a smile on her face, Maybe Quinn could impart some measure of peace where he could not. All he could think to do was love her senseless until she slept, and that wasn't really practical at the moment.
     
    "Come on, fish boy," Jack said. "I'll teach you how to hunt for dinner that doesn't come out of a can."
     
    Ven waited until the golden shimmer of transformation ended and the tiger stood where the man had been before he answered. "That's fish man to you, fur face."
     
    The tiger growled and bounded off into the woods and Ven followed, shaking