Warriors of Poseidon 02.5 - Shifter's Lady

about Alaric and Quinn, the sister of the prince‟s beloved.
     
    If Alaric ever chose to share his anguish, she would listen. It was her role in life, and she had been content with it. To watch, to listen, to heal as best she could. Such a life was not without its rewards. She glanced at the temple one last time and smiled, then lifted her small travel bag from the grass at her feet and nodded again. “Please call the portal, if you would.”
    Alaric merely stared down at her for a long moment before he spoke. “Know that I am against this journey, my lady. We face more danger Above than we have for millennia, so now seems to be a ridiculously foolhardy time for you to venture from the safety of Atlantis.”
     
    Marie answered him with the respect due a warrior priest who had fought with and healed her brother and the rest of the Seven countless times, even though she‟d thought this discussion finally put to rest when he‟d agreed to call the portal for her. “As always, your opinion and advice are valuable. But I am not without defenses, as First Maiden. The goddess will not abandon me should danger threaten.”
     
    Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

Page 7 of 84
    When he looked as though he would interrupt her, she held up a hand to touch his arm.
    “I know, Alaric. I know. But he is my brother, and he has need of me, though he would never admit to it. I must go.”
     
    He tightened his lips, and she saw the muscles in his jaw clench, but he said no more, merely lifted his hands in the air, closed his eyes, and called the magic. The magic of a high priest who was more powerful than any ever before anointed by Poseidon was truly mesmerizing to behold. The portal, sometimes capricious in how and when it responded, would never dare to disobey Alaric. On his command, the shimmering oval appeared first as a tiny gleam of light no larger than the palm of her hand then widened and expanded into an ovoid sphere sparkling with the effervescent colors of a thousand gemstones.
     
    She‟d seen it before, of course. She‟d watched her brother and his fellow warriors, those elite who formed the Seven and protected High Prince Conlan, travel through the portal nearly as many times over the centuries as there were gemstones in the Temple.
    But the sight never failed to amaze her, and today even more so.
     
    Today she was finally the one who would travel through the portal.
     
    There were no farewells remaining to be said. No final instructions to be dispensed. She was simply ready, and so she smiled her thanks to Alaric and Erin and stepped into the portal. Into her new adventure.
     
    Even as the magic surrounded her, Marie wondered at the chill that swept over her skin.
    The swirling winds of the transference whipped the murmured words from her lips as she spoke them. “Am I excited? Or simply afraid?”
     
    Big Cypress National Preserve, in front of Kat’s cabin
     
    Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

Page 8 of 84
    Ethan leaned against a tree about as far as he could get from Bastien without displaying overt rudeness, but he met the huge Atlantean warrior‟s gaze in a shared moment of utter disbelief after Kat pulled the silver tube out of her pocket for the eighth or ninth time. The completely professional, cool, calm, and collected Katherine Fiero, highly regarded National Park Service ranger and daughter of the late alpha of the Big Cypress panther pride, was actually checking her lipstick in a hand mirror.
     
    Like some kind of…female.
     
    Then she bit her lip in a nervous gesture, and Ethan nearly laughed. He coughed, catching it in time, but she rounded on him and glared. “If you‟re going to mock me, get the hell out of here. I don‟t need any more witnesses to me making a fool of myself in front of Bastien‟s only sister.”
     
    Bastien blinked and then patted her shoulder as if she were an unruly cub. She whirled, her tawny hair flying, and snapped her teeth at the Atlantean, reminding both of the men that Kat Fiero was also a shape-shifter with the newfound ability to transform into more than one hundred fifty pounds of feral panther.
     
    “Stop patting me. What if she doesn‟t like me?” She‟d tried to hide the fear behind her words, but Bastien clearly had heard it, too, since he stopped trying to talk to Kat and swept her up into a fierce embrace. The love and passion in Bastien‟s expression made Ethan wish he were somewhere else.
     
    Anywhere