Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

he dropped her arm and started forward again, muttering something she was sure she didn't want to hear under his breath. It took her a minute to process. Jack hadn't been talking to her as his partner. He'd been talking to her as a woman.
     
    She felt the Shockwaves of an emotional earthquake rock her mental landscape as she watched him walk away from her. Somehow in all the time they'd worked and planned and fought together, she'd forgotten one thing about Jack.
     
    He wasn't only her partner. He was a man.
     
    Still bemused by the sudden turn in conversational topic, she was caught off-guard when a dramatic drop in the already frigid air temperature was her only warning before Justice shimmered into shape between her and Jack. Jack's tiger senses must have alerted him to the Atlantean's presence, because he whirled around, crouching low and Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    going for one of the knives he always carried before he realized who it was and stilled his hand.
     
    Quinn rushed forward. "Justice, what is it? News from Riley? Is she worse?"
     
    He bent slightly in a brief bow, the moonlight through the trees dappling his hair into silvered midnight blue and black. "No, and I am sorry that my appearance should give you cause to fear on her behalf. She is unchanged, to the best of my knowledge.
    However, there is other news."
     
    He filled them in on the attack and what Caligula and Daniel had said. "Unfortunately, the undead emperor now appears to realize that Erin is on her way here."
     
    "Erin is already here," Jack said. "She and Ven are resting at the cabin. They had some excitement of their own."
     
    Justice raised one eyebrow, and Jack told him about Lillian and the shape-shifters. "It does not appear that Caligula knew anything of Lillian's plans," Justice said. "He would not have come to Seattle after Erin if he had. Nor did Drakos mention it."
     
    "Speaking of finding Erin, how did you find us?" Quinn asked.
     
    "We of Atlantis can communicate on a shared path, and even when we silence the link, as now, for fear of who or what may be listening, we have the ability to sense one another to a certain extent."
     
    "Let's move this conversation indoors," Jack said. "Quinn's freezing her ass off."
     
    Justice flicked a not unappreciative glance down and back up Quinn's body, and she had a momentary glimpse of exactly how irresistibly sexy the warrior would be to any normal woman, before she focused her gaze on the path again.
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    There was that word again. Normal. Something she could never be. She heaved a sigh and started trudging toward the cabin. "Yeah, let's get indoors. Why did you come out here anyway, instead of heading straight for Ven, if you could track him?"
     
    "I sensed movement in the area and wanted to scout whether you were friend or foe,"
    Justice said.
     
    Quinn suddenly froze, mid-step, and eased her hands down over the handles of her guns. "Speaking of foes," she whispered. Justice immediately drew his sword and dropped into battle stance and Jack shimmered into the transformation in seconds. But, almost before he'd fully achieved his tiger shape, a hailstorm of darts came soaring through the air and struck him hard, piercing his thick coat. The tiger roared out his rage and fury, twisting in midair in a futile attempt to avoid the tiny missiles.
     
    Quinn nearly staggered as she watched Jack paw at the air, snarling at the stinging darts. If they contained poison, he could die. The man who'd fought at her side, saved her life too many times to count, and offered to battle a powerful Atlantean high priest just because Alaric might be giving her a hard time might die in front of her.
     
    A terrible ache started in her heart and spread outward. If he died, they would pay. All of them.
     
    "Justice!" Quinn pitched the command in a low but urgent voice. "Do the misty thing and get out of here and warn Erin."
     
    "I will not leave you undefended, Quinn," he snarled, whipping around in a circle to try to see their hidden attackers.
     
    "Damn you, I don't need your help, but Erin's mission is vital." She had her guns up and pointed, her back to Justice's position, scanning the area. Jack's snarling shrieks slowly Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    faded, and then he collapsed heavily to the ground. Ice coated Quinn's heart when she couldn't detect any