Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

you must ask yourself now is whether you have defeated that darkness. Or would this woman you hunger for be at risk from those very hungers?”
     
    “I don‟t know how to answer that,” Alexios said, raking a hand through his hair. “I just don‟t know.”
     
    “Well, until you do know, the more prudent course of action is to stay far away from Grace,” Alaric advised. “It is, however, true that I can offer you release from your vows, since they were sworn only to yourself.” He raised his hands, and a sparkling shimmer of pale silver light shot forward and surrounded Alexios for a brief moment before winking out of existence.
     
    Alexios had to admit he was impressed. For a moment, he‟d almost felt . . . different.
     
    “What was that? Some sort of vow-release magic?”
     
    “No. Merely a trick of the light. But I had the impression you were seeking something more formal than „Okay, go for it,‟ as Ven would say,” Alaric said, a hint of a smile surfacing. “Looked pretty impressive, didn‟t it? It‟s a priest thing.”
     
    Alexios glared at Alaric, feeling like a damn fool. Then he pointedly stared down at the water lapping at the shore and then back at the priest. “I could pick you up and throw you in that water before you could pull any of your magic tricks, temple rat.”
     
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    Alaric‟s eyes widened, just a fraction, and then he tilted his head and laughed. “You know, if anyone could, it probably would be you.”
     
    “So basically this is one of those „the answer is within you, grasshopper,‟ kind of answers?” Alexios skimmed a rock over the waves.
     
    “Exactly.”
     
    “Well, that‟s a big stinking pile of miertus.”
     
    Alaric laughed again. “Welcome to my world, warrior. You should stop by sometime when the elders want me to forecast exactly what will happen on each day of the next hundred years or so.”
     
    Just then, a skitter of sliding rocks alerted them to someone climbing down the grassy bank, and they turned in unison to see a small dark-haired woman smiling broadly and heading for them. For a moment, Alexios almost thought it was Quinn. But then again, he‟d never seen Quinn smile.
     
    Michelle. It was Grace‟s British friend, Michelle.
     
    Alaric bowed deeply. “It is an honor to see you again, Lady Michelle.”
     
    She laughed and held out her arms, her lively blue eyes sparkling in the early morning sunlight. “Don‟t you Lady Michelle me after you saved my life, you gorgeous thing,” she scolded. Her voice held London but also a trace of northern England. Maybe a touch of Wales, too. It had been a very long time since Alexios had traveled in the United Kingdom. Maybe he should go again.
     
    Like now.
     
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    Alone.
     
    Michelle‟s voice broke into his escape fantasies. “Lean down here and give me a hug, then, Alaric. I‟m just in from London, and let me tell you there are no direct flights to this gem of a town.”
     
    Alexios‟s jaw dropped as he watched the tiny sprite of a woman gather Alaric to her in a boisterous hug. As if that weren‟t surprise enough, Alaric returned her hug.
     
    Hello, alternate reality. Clearly, frustrated lust was beginning to melt Alexios‟s brain cells, if he thought he just saw Alaric hugging a human.
     
    Then she turned toward Alexios, still with that delighted smile. “Hello, Michelle from St.
    Louis. Welcome. Have you seen Grace?”
     
    She laughed. “Well, Michelle from London, by way of St. Louis. Not, mind you, that I ever want to go back to that nasty town.” She shuddered. “Doesn‟t take a girl getting her throat ripped out by a vampire more than once to want to take leave of a place, I always say.”
     
    “But look,” she said, lifting her chin high so they could see her unmarked neck. “Alaric healed me completely. Wouldn‟t be here if it weren‟t for you, luv.” She directed this at Alaric. “So the least you can do is let me buy you breakfast. Both of you, of course.
    Grace will be along in a moment, as soon as she‟s done with her important leadership things.”
     
    She threaded one of her arms through Alaric‟s and the other through Alexios‟s and started walking, herding them along with the sheer force of her personality and chattering on about flights and layovers and terrible mix-ups with tickets, hired cars, and bollixed-up trains that all