Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

would either respond or not. At least he knew that Alexios was on to him.
     
    Rhys stared right back at him, and a lesser man would have dropped it. Good thing Alexios had never considered himself to be “lesser” at anything.
     
    “We are interested in you,” the Fae finally admitted. “You withstood the not-so-tender ministrations of Anubisa‟s hideous acolytes for two long years and emerged sane. We believe your experiences may prove . . . beneficial to know.”
     
    “You planning to get yourself imprisoned and tortured by the Apostates of Algolagnia?”
    Alexios bit off the words as the rage swelled up inside him. “Figure to use me as an experimental eel?”
     
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    “Eel? Really?” Grace smiled up at him, clearly trying to defuse the tension. “Not „guinea pig‟?”
     
    Both men stared at her. “Humans,” Rhys finally said, “are disgusting.”
     
    Alexios caught himself nodding and quickly scowled. “I‟m thinking you don‟t have room to talk. What obscene tortures have you performed over your lifetime?”
     
    “Okay. Enough. I‟m going in now, with or without you,” Grace said, pasting a brilliant and horrible fake smile on her face. “You can continue your pissing contest out here or help me find this diamond and learn what we can about Vonos‟s plans.”
     
    Then, never looking back to see whether he and Rhys were following her or not, Grace picked her way across the beach in those ridiculous shoes toward the mansion. Alexios sighed and started after her. After a few paces, Rhys fell into step beside him.
     
    “You‟re in for a very interesting future with that one,” the elf said, staring straight ahead at Grace‟s very lovely backside.
     
    “Yes, I am,” he said. “Now you were talking about security, and my „unique description‟
    before we got side-tracked?”
     
    “Yes. If you can move past my unfortunate abduction of you so we can work together, our mission will have a much better chance of success.”
     
    As much as Alexios wished it different, he couldn‟t argue with the Fae‟s logic. And he needed the Vampire‟s Bane far too much to let a snit over their sleeping arrangements interfere with this chance to find it.
     
    He gestured toward the house. “Lead on.”
     
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    Grace walked into the mansion with her head high and her heart in her throat. She‟d never been so terrified in her life, and it didn‟t help that Rhys had been forced to conceal their weapons in a planter just inside the enormous wooden front doors. His glamour had held long enough for him to smuggle them in, and then the plant seemed to take over, acting as a coconspirator, brushing its thick, leafy fronds down and around the bag until even Grace, who knew it was there, couldn‟t see it.
     
    “Just in case,” she whispered, hoping they‟d be able to reach the weapons if they needed them.
     
    “Wonder what Sam would say?” Alexios said, grinning. “Nervous as a one-veined redneck in a roomful of bloodsuckers?”
     
    She laughed in spite of her jacked-up anxiety, and a few vampires near the door looked up and offered pleasant smiles. “Great, just great,” she whispered. “Now they‟ve noticed me.”
     
    “You‟re a reporter, remember,” Rhys murmured, startling her. She‟d almost forgotten the Fae‟s presence. “You‟re supposed to be noticed. Now go ask them some interview questions, so they don‟t wonder why you‟re not doing your job.”
     
    She rolled her eyes. “I‟m a reporter, huh? The first reporter with no press pass, no notebook, and no tape recorder, but wearing diamonds that would buy and sell this house a couple of times over. Nice job helping me fit in, Sherlock.”
     
    Rhys waved a hand, and her necklace turned into a press pass and suddenly a small notebook and pen were in her left hand. “Now go investigate,” he said from between clenched teeth.
     
    “Fine,” she snapped.
     
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    Alexios looked a question at her and she nodded. She was fine. She would be fine.
     
    She hoped she would be fine.
     
    He vanished into the crowd, his unscarred face and tied-back hair attracting little to no attention. Vampires were preternaturally beautiful, too, if scary pale. So the only one who would attract notice would be Grace Havilland, country mouse and human. Luckily,