Warriors of Poseidon 03 - Atlantis Unleashed

mind, but the mere thought of Keely in danger threatened to smash his control to jagged shards.
    “She will not touch the Trident, you godsforsaken son of a squid,” he gritted out, trying desperately to keep from going for his sword. “Brother or no, I will kill you if you try to harm her in any way.”
    Conlan slammed a fist down on the table, but before he could reply, Ven started laughing, lightening the tension in the room a fraction. “Son of a squid? Really? That‟s not bad. Points for the nasty visual, man.”
    Keely, her head jerking back and forth as she tried to look at everyone simultaneously, suddenly started laughing, too. “I know I‟m an idiot, but now all I can think of is Squidward from SpongeBob . Did you know they have a movie called Atlantis SquarePantis ? One of my American colleagues on the Lupercale dig had a young son who watched it over and over until I thought my ears would melt. You guys should get a copy.”
    Ven whistled. “ Atlantis SquarePantis . Nice. I‟ll have to pick that up next time I‟m up top.
    Too bad UPS doesn‟t exactly deliver down here.”
    Justice, calmer now, still wasn‟t seeing the funny. He glared at Keely. “You joke when your life is in danger?”
    She blinked and then grinned at him. “I‟m an archaeologist. It‟s what we do.”
    Hearing her toss his own words back at him unlocked a hidden door deep in the frozen recesses of Justice‟s heart. That this woman could possess such incredible courage in the face of such fantastically bizarre circumstances—that she could still smile and joke—astonished him.
    She astonished him. She was more than the sum total of her beauty and intelligence. She had courage, compassion, and humor beyond any he‟d seen before.
    He would never let her be harmed.
    “She touches the Trident over my dead body,” he said flatly.
    “Nice. Pithy, yet melodramatic,” Ven said. “But it doesn‟t solve our problem here. Your woman just hit us with some news that could mean the destruction of our whole world, if we don‟t pay attention to her.”
    “I‟m not his woman,” Keely said.
    “Right, Doc. Keep telling yourself that,” Ven shot back. “We need some answers. If she could somehow not only prove what she‟s saying is true, but maybe find out more for us—”
    “Never,” Justice snarled. “You didn‟t see her. She went into a trance that was coma-like. Her pulse slowed down to nearly nothing and her skin turned cold, just from touching my sword.
    If she touches the Trident, she could die. Hells, even those who are not object readers have died from touching the Trident. Poseidon‟s magic is fickle and deadly.”
    “Offer me an option, then,” Conlan shouted. “Offer me an option that helps us understand this. Dr. McDermott just told us—”
    “I‟m in the room,” Keely shouted back at him, pulling herself to her feet. “I am in the room .
    Quit talking about me like I‟m not, you bunch of . . . of . . . royal cavemen.”
    Silence. All three of them stared at Keely in shock, as if they‟d forgotten she was there.
    Justice was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to toss her shapely ass over his shoulder and get her far, far away.
    “That‟s better,” she said, no longer shouting, but not exactly calm, either. “For your information, I‟ll touch whatever object I want, but I‟m not suicidal. I do have a suggested option, if any of you pigheaded brothers are ready to listen.”
    “We‟re all ears,” Ven drawled.
    “The Trident. Does it rest in a case of some sort? In the past, when an object held emotional memories that were too violent for me to comfortably handle, I‟d touch its case or container, or even the dirt or rock where it had been found.”
    “That‟s kind of brilliant. No wonder you‟re the famous archaeologist,” Ven said.
    “No,” Justice said. “It‟s still too dangerous.”
    “That‟s perfect,” Conlan said. “The Trident rests on a silken cushion in the Temple. Without Alaric here to bring it to us, I suggest we go to it.”
    You see? They ignore you. They treat you as if you are nothing, and they will put our woman in jeopardy. We must take action, the Nereid whispered inside Justice‟s mind.
    Action was good. Slowly, saying nothing, Justice unsheathed his sword. The unmistakable hiss of steel released from leather sang through the air, which immediately dropped several degrees in temperature.
    “Keely,” he said, stalking toward her with the sword