Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

his head at the realization that his circle of friends suddenly included witches, rebels, and tigers.
     
    Circle of Light Headquarters
     
    Justice stalked the perimeter of the shield and thought for the third or fourth time in twenty minutes that he was glad to be on Alaric's side. The priest had added his strength to Gennae's and the shield was entirely impermeable to the maddened vamps Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    who repeatedly hurled their bodies against it, fangs gnashing and red eyes glowing with murderous intent. He swore under his breath as one of them dove straight at him out of the overhanging trees and smacked off the shield inches from his head. Scanning the treetops, he caught a glimpse of somebody who looked a lot like Daniel, at least from a distance, which would mean the vampire had survived Alaric's blast at the warehouse.
     
    Justice didn't know whether to call that a plus or minus. Daniel in Drakos guise would have a plan to get at Caligula from the inside. Or so the theory went.
     
    Personally, the idea that Daniel/Drakos was playing them all as some sort of undead double agent had crossed Justice's mind more than once. The vamp looked like a man with secrets, and Justice was definitely in a position to recognize secrets. Like calling to like.
     
    Not that Justice could ever tell his. At least to anyone he didn't want to kill.
     
    "Justice," Alaric called out to him. "I think we need a plan. That is Caligula with Drakos, and he is commanding this attack. But if I release the shields to retaliate, these vampires will overtake the field."
     
    "They cannot enter the building without being invited, isn't that true?"
     
    "It should be true, with the warding, especially. But the arcane rules of vampire abilities as pertains to public buildings may hold sway here," Alaric replied, his eyes glowing a fierce emerald green.
     
    Gennae lowered her arms. "Thank you for humoring me, but it's clear you're holding this shield without me, Alaric. Perhaps if you release it to me, you could step through in the moment we transfer? And we have had vampires attempt to gain entrance to the headquarters below, with very bad results for them."
     
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    Justice narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure what you mean by 'very bad results,' but a couple of things spring to mind. One, they could have been faking in order to get you to let your guard down. Two, what may affect a baby vamp is not going to be the same thing that affects a master vamp as old as Caligula."
     
    "If they were faking, spontaneously catching fire as they forced themselves past our wards is a pretty convincing way to do it," she snapped. "And I am well aware of the power of ancient vampires. But you Atlanteans have fought them for centuries, haven't you?"
     
    Alaric inclined his head. "We have, lady. But never until recently have we had to combat coordinated attacks. The undead are not the community type, nor have they ever been, and defeating isolated attackers is an entirely different proposition."
     
    Christophe came running around the edge of the building. "I don't know how deep that shield runs, but the vamps behind the building just started digging underneath it."
     
    Alaric swore viciously in Atlantean, then his eyes glowed even more brightly and Justice's skin sizzled with the zing of sheer, raw power being channeled by the most powerful high priest in the history of Atlantis. Several seconds passed, and then he nodded. "The shield now runs twelve feet deep into the ground, and I can extend it into a seamless sphere around this place if need be."
     
    "Did I mention I'm glad I'm on your side?" Justice muttered before beginning to pace back and forth in front of the shield's edge again. "Why not just let them in? If they can't get in the building—although, granted, that's a bigif —we're only outnumbered eight or nine to one."
     
    "Which would be reasonable for Atlantean warriors, perhaps, but we have tired and wounded shape-shifters fighting with us, and we are not at full strength, either," Alaric Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    said, glancing down at the bandages wrapped around Justice's chest that gleamed white in the darkness under his open shirt.
     
    "It's a scratch," he protested. He scanned their group, grudgingly recognizing the weary, stumbling gait of exhaustion in most of the shape-shifters, many