Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

he could do about it.

Chapter 27
    Grace looked around the beach where she‟d first met Rhys na Garanwyn the week before and tried to ignore the chilling premonition shaking down her spine as simply a nasty case of déjà freaking vu. Tried to stop obsessively watching Alaric as he strode back and forth over the shell-speckled sand.
     
    At the beach with a big, bad, and not so ugly? Check.
     
    Seriously out of her league? Check.
     
    But then Alexios touched her arm and all she could think was what a difference a week made. Then, she‟d been alone and contemplating that final step. Sinking under the waves, never to surface. Finally to be able to rest, to release the burden of vengeance she‟d taken up all those years ago.
     
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    Now, she was taking hesitant, baby steps into a future filled with light, warmth, and love.
    The last thing she wanted to do was risk her life yet again.
     
    Not now.
     
    And yet, here she found herself, between the proverbial rock and hard place she‟d mentioned before.
     
    Alexios bent down to whisper in her ear. “Don‟t forget that I am a Warrior of Poseidon and channel the power of water. And do you remember what it is that can vanquish rock?”
     
    She grinned. “Water can. But we don‟t exactly have a couple of thousand years for erosion to do its magic if Rhys decides to turn us into bunny rabbits.”
     
    “I think I might have something to say about that,” Alaric said dryly from the shadows.
     
    “You‟re not the only one,” Alexios said. He moved and she saw that he held his daggers. The Atlantean metal shone in the moonlight like shards of diamonds, as beautiful as it was deadly in his hands. She‟d never known such a fierce warrior, yet somehow had never felt as safe as when she was in his presence.
     
    It made no sense, but then again, neither did love. And she only had to look into his eyes or at his beautiful, scarred face to know that she‟d already crossed over the line into love. The force of the realization literally knocked her back on her heels, and she stumbled.
     
    Suddenly, some quality of the light changed, as if the moon herself blinked in surprise or Grace‟s ancestress Diana rode her silver charger to the hunt across its surface. Alaric hissed in a breath, and Alexios moved away from Grace‟s right side so she could easily Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    use her bow if needed. She smiled her thanks, but then focused on the shadows between the shadows, knowing that was where the next move would come from.
     
    And of course it did. Rhys na Garanwyn appeared in a clearing between clumps of sea grass and briefly stood there, almost posing, and then stepped onto the beach.
     
    Shockingly, Alaric yawned. It took Grace a moment to recognize the sound, since it was so unexpected. The highest Fae royalty except for the Seelie Court king and queen themselves made a command appearance, and the priest yawned?
     
    When the Fae laughed, she realized that Alaric‟s yawn had been a kind of posing, too.
     
    “Ah, Alaric, you old fraud. Still playing at celibacy and other unnatural pursuits?” Rhys tilted his head, and his long fall of silver hair shimmered in the moonlight.
     
    “Ah, Rhys, you old faery,” Alaric responded, all the boredom in the universe heavy in his voice. “Still need a haircut?”
     
    It was so unexpected that Grace laughed before she could stop herself, then she slapped a hand to her mouth, horrified and expecting to be turned into a frog or tree or sea turtle at any moment.
     
    Alexios casually put an arm around her shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Lord Garanwyn. I am Alexios, one of High Prince Conlan‟s elite guard and Warrior of Poseidon. I understand you‟ve already met my Grace.”
     
    Grace realized instantly what Alexios was doing: claiming her as his own so that to kill her or harm her in any way would be to possibly provoke an international incident.
    Something the Fae always tried very hard to avoid.
     
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    Of course the elf realized it, too. He bared his teeth in what might have been meant as a smile. “Of course. Any descendant of Diana is a possible consort of mine.”
     
    Alexios sighed heavily and muttered something that sounded like “here we freaking go again,” but she shot a warning glance at him and luckily he didn‟t rise to the Fae‟s