Warriors of Poseidon 03 - Atlantis Unleashed

either. Do you have news of him?”
    Alexios whistled, low and long. “I‟d thought he‟d make it back here before me. He went after Quinn; she was wounded in the battle.”
    Ven‟s hands fisted, crumpling the map he held. The prince respected Quinn for the warrior she was but, more than that, she‟d become his friend. Indeed, she was family, now that her sister Riley would wed Conlan.
    Human marrying Atlantean. He thought of Bastien—Atlantean marrying shape-shifter. Ever more twisting skeins of yarn for some future tapestry that one day would decorate the palace corridors, perhaps foretelling the final end to those never-ending wars he‟d mused on earlier.
    “It was a minor wound,” he assured them. “But you know Alaric. He and Quinn have a . . .
    bond. He followed her, in order to make sure of her well-being.” He quickly filled them in on what had occurred in St. Louis. “Quinn, Jack, and Denal went after the vampire leaders.”
    Alexios didn‟t elaborate as to what the trio would do to the vamps when they caught up with them. He didn‟t need to.
    Conlan shot a glance at his brother then nodded. “If Quinn‟s wound is minor, Alaric should return soon. There is nothing we can do to track Justice until that time, so we should focus on the matter at hand. Tiernan has given us much news of the plans for the Apostates.”
    Alexios‟s gaze settled on the human, then returned to his prince. “Is that wise? Especially considering where we found her, are we going to trust that what she tells us is truth and not some elaborate sort of trap, with her as bait?”
    Instead of becoming defensive, Tiernan smiled at him. “You‟d make a good reporter, Atlantean. Never believe anything you hear. Fact-check, fact-check, fact-check.”
    She paused, and her cheeks flushed a dull red. “The truth is that I got in over my head. I thought I knew the setup; I went in as part of the catering staff. I knew they wouldn‟t start the festivities until the caterers left, but I thought I might hear something useful. Instead, I got blindsided.”
    “Forced to take your clothes off and be part of the orgy?” Alexios said, not believing a damn word of it.
    “No, I . . . The caterers were in on it. I was ordered to take a load of empty platters down to the catering van and not come back. But I took a detour to the bathroom and then managed to hide behind that couch when nobody was looking.” She touched her bruised face. “Got this shiner when somebody tossed a bottle back there and it hit me. It was tough to keep from crying out. But one of those nasty old men saw me, and I had to play along and pretend I was shy and it was my first party. It would have been dangerous for me to run; he was suspicious.
    So I had to undress while the pervert watched. Then he took my clothes and said he‟d be right back. I was trying to figure out how to get out of Dodge when you guys busted in.”
    “Rather convenient timing, isn‟t it? If anything you‟re saying is true,” Alexios said. “Maybe we‟d better triple-check your version of the facts.”
    “Which is exactly what we‟re going to do, with every piece of information she gives us,” Ven said flatly. “But she was right about the Void, and what she‟s telling us now confirms information we have from independent intelligence. So far, so good, in other words.”
    Tiernan pointed at one of the maps, and Alexios moved closer in order to see. “They‟re starting in the most populated areas and working their way out. Big cities—major metropolitan areas. New York, of course. Boston. Seattle. Jackson ville, Florida, of all places.
    Urban sprawl hits vampires, too, I guess,” she said. “We‟ve been working on this story for nearly three years. The Apostates, and the cult of Algolagnia.”
    “Who is we ?” Conlan asked.
    “Yeah, I find it hard to believe that your bosses at the Boston Herald are encouraging you to go after this story,” Ven said, shaking his head. “Last we heard, that paper was one of nearly three dozen in the United States run by a consortium of shape-shifters.”
    Tiernan looked up at him, a smile quirking at the edges of her lips. “You seem to hear a lot. Is it true that Donald Trump is a shape-shifter, or is that just an unsubstantiated rumor?”
    Ven snorted. “With that hair?”
    Alexios couldn‟t find it in himself to be amused. Not after escorting half of the rebel team to the emergency room. “Perhaps we could leave the attempts at