Warriors of Poseidon 02 - Atlantis Awakening

eyes going dark. "I don't know how, but I'm sensing the emanations of what happened here, not long ago. The Wilding is coursing through me, calling to me, but not… I don't know how to describe it."
     
    She pointed to a cluster of trees. "Through there. Death, but not death. Perverse joy…
    evil. Evil."
     
    Ven ran forward, sword held high, searching ground, trees, sky for possible attack. He slammed to a stop at the sight of an eight-or ten-foot square spot of trampled snow.
    Vivid red spatters of blood showed up starkly against the bleak white. "Something happened here, all right. Looks like we found out what happened to Justice and Quinn."
     
    Erin's face paled to the color of the snow surrounding her. "But maybe they're still alive.
    If they'd killed them, wouldn't the bodies be here?"
     
    "Maybe. Unless they didn't want to leave any evidence. Another snowfall would cover up the signs of the fight," Ven said. "Wait! What…"
     
    The breeze had ruffled the low branches of the lacy pines, and sunlight had flickered off a flash of blue. He swiftly crossed the trampled snow to a spot on its edge, under an overhanging branch, and knelt down. The sight of the familiar blue strands, ripped from their source, tore the breath from Ven's lungs.
     
    It was Justice's hair.
     
    Erin ran up beside him and dropped to her knees in the snow next to him. "What is it?
    What—oh, no. Is that your friend's hair? Is that blood?"
     
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    She put her hand on his arm. "What is happening? Why was he here? If they captured him, too, what can we do—"
     
    "Stop. Stop it, Erin. There's nothing we can do but go forward," he said. "If Justice had the opportunity to protect Quinn and Jack and kick a little vampire ass, he would have gone for it. We can only hope that our quest for the Nereid's Heart brings us to all three of them."
     
    "Damnit, when will this end? Every step we take seems to bring us further and further into Caligula's trap." She slammed her hands down on the ground, then curled her fingers into claws in the snow. "I don't know how much more… Wait! What's that?"
     
    She lifted something white and shook snow off of it, then handed it to him. "It's paper, probably trash, but it's a big coincidence that Justice's hair was right here, and I don't believe much in coincidence. You open it."
     
    He carefully unrolled the ball of paper and read the words written in dark, slashing handwriting, then looked up at Erin and gave a shout of triumph. "Finally! Chalk one up for the good guys! It's a note from Justice with directions and a map. It says warded opening Point Success. Does that mean anything to you?"
     
    She took the paper from him and examined it. "Yes, it means we have to get to fourteen thousand feet and figure out a way to pass through another witch's warding."
     
    Turning her vivid blue eyes up to meet his gaze, she bared her teeth in a feral smile that would have made any warrior proud. It certainly made Ven proud, even as fear for her ripped at him. "Then we can join Justice in the vampire ass-kicking party."
     
    Quinn lay still in the darkness, slowly working her way back to consciousness, and wondered if anybody had gotten the license plate of the truck that had run her over. The image of the vampire's fist coming at her face flashed into her mind, and she sat up fast.
    Atlantis Awakening – Warriors of Poseidon 02
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    Big mistake. Huge.
     
    The concussion she'd probably sustained swirled nausea through her body, and she leaned over and threw up the remainder of her previous night's dinner onto the stone floor. When her aching stomach had pushed out everything it had, she scrubbed her mouth with a shaky hand and wished for water. Actually, she wished for a toothbrush and some mouthwash, too. Why not go all the way and wish big?
     
    The thought forced a rusty laugh past her parched lips and, as if in response to the sound, a viciously bright light seared into her eyes.
     
    "If you hadn't turned your head at the last second, my fist surely would have driven your nose into your skull," said an unpleasantly familiar voice from behind the headache-inducing light.
     
    "Well, nobody wants that, do they? How would I even blow my nose without my brains corning out?" She was pleased to hear that her voice sounded faintly mocking, instead of faintly terrified. Which, to be honest, was a more honest description of how she felt,