Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

of the witches who are turning to the dark—they're the gophers. They're everywhere, and it feels more and more like a never-ending game where the odds are stacked against us," Erin said.
     
    "What you did tonight was not useless or futile. It wasn't wrong, either, no matter what the law might say. The legislation hasn't caught up with what we need to do to put down this threat. Until we remove the vampire conspiracy, it never will. Because they're the ones writing the laws, and anybody who disagrees conveniently disappears." Quinn pushed another log into the fire. "We have to keep the faith, Erin."
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    "I don't know. I—"
     
    Quinn smacked her fist into her palm. "Stop! You don't have time for self-pity. I need you to be strong to find this ruby and save my sister. She's the only goodness left in my life and if she and the baby…" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
     
    Anger and resolve, in equal measures, swept through Erin and sent steel through her backbone. "I'm not feeling sorry for myself, Quinn, believe me. I don't know if you even will understand what this means, but I channeled the Wilding tonight without any backlash. The gem singing seems to have enhanced my powers enormously. Suddenly, I'm not so worried about coven law telling me not to call the Wilding, either. So why don't we figure out exactly how we're going to go about finding the Nereid's Heart in the morning?"
     
    Quinn stared at her for a long moment, then smiled and stood up. "I knew back when you knocked the boys on their asses that I was going to like you."
     
    "Same goes."
     
    Circle of Light Headquarters
     
    Justice stood, sword held high, at the edge of the shield, next to Alaric. Christophe stood on the priest's other side, and the strongest of the shape-shifters spread out on either side of them. Gennae stood well back, protected by several men as she held the shield.
     
    "Now!" Alaric snapped out the command, and the shield vanished. He, Justice, and Christophe stepped forward and the shield shimmered into existence almost immediately behind them. A couple of the vampires who'd been in the process of hurling themselves against the shield had broken through, but Justice was grimly pleased to see the shifters ripping them to shreds behind the shield.
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    "Shall we talk, then, Emperor?" Alaric called out.
     
    Justice couldn't believe he'd accord the fiend the respect of the title, but it was probably a strategy move. Vamps were notoriously vain, and Alaric and Conlan nearly matched Justice's father for bold and intelligent strategy. He spat on the ground at the thought of his father, then shoved the bitter memories out of his mind and focused on the present.
     
    Caligula floated down from the trees, with Daniel at his side. Drakos. Must remember to call him Drakos, or the gig was up.
     
    "You dare much, Atlantean," Caligula hissed. He'd put power and his thrall voice behind the words; they reverberated across the dark lawn. "Yet clearly you know who I am."
     
    "I know you, Germanicus. I know your cruelty, your excesses, and your insanity," Alaric proclaimed in a voice like thunder over tempest waves. "I am the high priest of Poseidon, and your reign is nearly over."
     
    Caligula sneered. "I once named my horse a priest. Incitatus at least had a jeweled necklace and a house with a golden manger. All you have is a ragtag bunch of warriors who belong in the last century."
     
    Alaric raised one eyebrow. "At Poseidon's grace, I wield power you cannot imagine. A horse, one would imagine, gave a self-proclaimed god such as yourself exactly what you deserved. Steaming piles of it, in fact."
     
    Daniel leapt at Alaric, snarling. "You dare to insult him! I will enjoy ripping your head from your neck and drinking the blood that the sea god so cherishes."
     
    Justice drove forward with his sword to block Daniel, but Alaric waved a hand almost casually and the vampire flew backward more than fifty feet until he crashed into a tree and fell to the ground.
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    "I don't have time for foolish displays of bravado by your underlings. What do you want here?" Alaric asked.
     
    "I want the blood of humanity running freely underneath the soles of my boots," Caligula said, baring his fangs. "I want to crush your underwater continent so that you