Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

us both.”
     
    He bent to kiss her forehead, but she raised her face so that his lips touched hers instead. “I believe you. I saw you. That was . . . somehow I was inside your soul, Alexios. The flames . . .”
     
    She couldn‟t keep her eyes open any longer, though. She gave up the effort, knowing that he would protect her. Knowing that he truly was the man and the hero of her heart‟s most secret dreams. The secret dreams she hadn‟t even realized she‟d held in the deepest recesses of her soul.
     
    Her eyes drifted shut, and she felt him brushing her hair away from her cheek.
     
    “I fell into those flames myself tonight, mi amara ,” he whispered. “I plunged into the lowest of the nine hells when I saw your blood. Never again, do you hear me? Never again.”
     
    She knew she should argue, knew there was something wrong with what he‟d said. But her side ached, and the warm darkness of sleep pulled at her.
     
    Tomorrow. She‟d figure it out tomorrow.
     
    Alexios stood in the doorway for a very long time, content to watch her sleep. He hadn‟t expected the soul-meld. Hadn‟t been prepared for it. But now he found himself fiercely glad that it had occurred. Atlanteans never blindly followed destiny‟s chosen path.
    Personal choice was one of the most important tenets of their existence. And yet, somehow, he felt like all his choices had been circling down to center on this one beautiful, courageous human female, ever since the day he had met her.
     
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    He would kill anyone who ever again tried to harm her. She was his, and now all that was left to do was to make her believe it.
     
    A quiet cough behind him alerted him to Tiny‟s presence. He was remarkably stealthy for such a big man. Alexios took one last long look at Grace and then headed toward Tiny.
     
    “How is she?”
     
    “She‟s exhausted, and possibly in shock. But she refused to seek medical attention or even to leave, so rest is the best thing for her right now.”
     
    Tiny nodded, grinning. “She‟s fierce, that one. You‟re a lucky man.”
     
    “I hope she thinks so, too,” Alexios said darkly. “Shall we patrol?”
     
    “Coffee first,” the big man replied, still grinning. “Hey, if she doesn‟t think so, can I give her my number?”
     
    Alexios glared at him and made a growling noise, deep in his throat, but Tiny just laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Just kidding. Sam already told me how it was between the two of you.”
     
    Minutes later, with mugs of coffee in their hands, Alexios and Tiny stood on the parapet looking out at the deserted grounds surrounding the fort.
     
    “I‟ve got a half-dozen men with me, and they‟re stationed at every possible access point and a couple of the impossible ones.” Tiny pointed to a shadow that was just a little darker than the surrounding shadows down near the seawall and another next to the tall shot furnace that had once been used to heat cannonballs. “Those two are mine. We‟re looking high as well as low, in case these shifters have vampire backup. It‟ll be dawn Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    soon, though, so at least then we‟ll only have to worry about attacks coming from one direction.”
     
    “Unless the vampires have somehow managed to make contact with the raptor shifters,”
    Alexios said.
     
    Tiny froze, his coffee mug scant inches from his lips. “Did you say raptor shifters? Are you freaking kidding me?”
     
    “No, I‟m definitely not kidding. Although we have not seen eagle, falcon, or hawk shifters in several centuries, that doesn‟t mean that they don‟t still exist. If the vampires manage to enthrall a flock of raptor shifters, that gives them an instant airborne army.”
     
    “Flock? It‟s really called a flock?” Tiny gulped down the rest of his coffee and then started laughing. “Don‟t tell me. Let me guess. We‟ve got possible geese shifters, too.”
     
    Alexios just looked at him, puzzled. “No, why would there be geese? That would be ridiculous. Shifters are almost always predatory species.”
     
    “Makes sense. Darwinism and all. After all, what could geese do? Throw goose shit at people? Although, come to think of it, that would be pretty nasty.”
     
    “I must admit that I often can‟t understand you humans at all,” Alexios said, shaking his head.
     
    For some reason, his comment occasioned a fresh burst of laughter from