Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

Diana.”
     
    “Yeah. I know,” he said flatly, clearly unimpressed. “But your bow‟s wood is made from their glades. I‟m a quarter ton of one of the most powerful predators to walk the face of the earth, and even I‟m careful around the Fae. Just do it. For me, and for Quinn, if not for yourself.”
     
    She studied him for several seconds and then slowly nodded. “I will. But you be careful, do you hear me? And take care of Quinn, too.”
     
    “Always.” He hugged her again and then hopped up on the parapet and leapt gracefully over the side before she could scream. She ran to the edge, heart in her throat, Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    expecting to see him huddled and broken at the bottom of the wall. Instead, she caught a glimpse of an orange-and-white shape bounding off into the dark.
     
    “Great. Just what the tourists need to see—a giant tiger roaming through the city,” she muttered as she finally headed for the stairs, dry clothes, and a mug of hot tea. “I wonder if we can blame it on escaped circus animals again.”
     
    Later, after a hot shower in the temporary facilities set up in a corner of the courtyard, she took a mug of hot, sweet tea with her to bed and wrapped herself in blankets. One the few perks of being in charge: at least she didn‟t have to share a room. Hers was part of the old officer‟s quarters. The rest of them were bunking two or more to a room, and the recruits would be sleeping dormitory-style in the old guardrooms where Spanish troops had first slept more than three hundred years before.
     
    Warm and dry, Grace continued to puzzle and poke at the possible meanings and implications of the two extremely odd conversations she‟d had that night. Finally, she turned off her lamp, no closer to any answers but content to lie in the dark and listen to the rain and the waves crashing against the shore.
     
    “Ten years, Robbie,” she whispered into the dark. “I know it‟s taken me ten years, but I‟m finally getting closer to making a difference. I love you, Big Brother. Happy birthday.”

Chapter 6
    Atlantis, the war room, the next morning
     
    Alexios shoved his chair back and leapt up from the table. Not even a half dozen mugs of the finest Atlantean ale had kept him from dreaming about Grace, or from thrashing around in the sheets all night long until he‟d woken up this morning hard and aching for her.
     
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    Now he had to deal with this ?
     
    “No. No way, no how. You can get somebody else to wipe runny noses for your baby rebels. I‟ve had enough of humans for a while,” he said, the words coming out almost in a snarl.
     
    Ven leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “You wanna run that by me again? I must not have had enough coffee yet, because I could have sworn I got up out of my very warm bed and left my very warm woman to come down here and give you your marching orders, and you just told me no.”
     
    He made a show of rubbing his eyes. “Or wait—maybe I‟m still dreaming,” he said, then squinted up at Alexios. “Nah, not with that face. More like a nightmare.”
     
    Ven was the only one who‟d ever come right out and teased him about his scarred face, but Ven teased everyone about everything. It almost made Alexios feel . . . normal.
     
    “I‟m sorry. Maybe I didn‟t put that very well, Your Highness ,” Alexios gritted out. “I would prefer not to be assigned to the training fort in St. Augustine with Gr . . . with those humans.”
     
    “You call me „your highness‟ again, and I‟ll kick your ass,” Ven said, but without any heat, as he studied Alexios‟s face far more closely than was comfortable. “What is this really about? I heard nothing but raves for this commander from Quinn. Grace, what was it, Hanson?”
     
    “Havilland,” he corrected automatically. Too automatically, if the aha gleam in Ven‟s eyes meant anything.
     
    “Is there a problem between you and this woman?”
     
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    Alexios stopped pacing and raised his chin. “There is no problem. I would just rather you assign someone else. Somebody needs to go to Europe and find out what‟s going on with this vampire claiming to be the long-lost Princess Anastasia. I‟ll volunteer.”
     
    “Erin and I are going. She has some idea about tracking down other gem singers in a part