Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

not force me into sucking on your lovely little neck until I drain you dry.”
    It wasn’t a question, more of a command, and one she wasn’t in the slightest bit interested in defying. Bravado had to give way to intelligent self-preservation sometimes, even for crack investigative reporters. His voice was oddly musical, nearly mesmerizing, but not like he was trying to enthrall her. She’d heard that tone before, in other vamps, but this wasn’t that. This was his actual voice: deep, confident, and just the tiniest hint of an accent. She thought she’d recognize it if she heard it again.
    “Vampire, then?” Her words came out shakier than she’d hoped.
    “Those must be the brilliant journalistic instincts I’ve heard so much about, Tiernan Butler,” he said, amusement and something darker underscoring the words.
    Fear snaked through her at the sound of her real name, but she didn’t let a hint of it show on her face. “Tiernan who? Look, you’ve got me confused—”
    “Do not insult me,” he snapped. “I don’t have time to play. You’re going to need allies on the inside, but you can trust no one. Expect deception and malice from the least likely sources.
    Accuse Devon of nothing; he is not yet powerful enough. Those around him will force his hand, and you will die. The greater good outweighs the lives of one unimportant reporter, no matter how lovely she may be.”
    He fell silent, and Tiernan wondered if she’d just fallen through the rabbit hole. A very dark, confusing rabbit hole, where vampires kidnapped then complimented her.
    “Yeah. Malice and deception are my specialties,” she snapped. “Um, look, I’m very grateful that you didn’t exsanguinate me, but what in the world are you talking about?”
    “Redemption must be sought, even if there can never be such for one like me,” he said so quietly that she wondered if she’d been meant to hear.
    “Redemption.” The word tasted bitter in her mouth. “Some acts can never be redeemed.”
    It was several long seconds before the vampire replied. “Is that aimed at me or at yourself?
    Either way, does it matter?”
    Only a whisper of his breath served to warn her before she felt a strong, cool hand grasp her chin and tilt it to the side, as his mouth settled on her neck. As he licked her neck, then pulled deeply at the wound, she felt an answering pressure low in her body and realized she suddenly knew why the vamp groupies kept going back for more. She raised her fists to shove him away, but he was gone before she could touch him.
    “Forgive me,” he said, his rough voice nearly a growl. “It has been a long time. Beyond mere hunger, I have reason to believe I will need to be able to find you.”
    Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
    Page 18 of 232
    Tiernan blinked, her fury at his attack fizzling in the wake of utter confusion. “Forgive you? Did you just apologize to me?”
    “Even monsters can apologize,” he said dryly.
    “I didn’t—”
    “You did. And I deserved it, but again, no time for pretty speeches. Be warned and be prepared.
    I will send you an ally if I can, but even if not, these experiments need to stop. You and the Atlanteans may have to work alone, but know that I’ll be working toward you from the other side of this. Remember that not all of the shape-shifters who wear the faces of friends are true.”
    Tiernan had had just about enough of his cryptic riddles. “Who are you? I’ve had confidential sources before and never yet revealed a single one. You can trust me, if you really are on my side.” Everything in her was telling her that he wasn’t lying, but her senses didn’t always work with vampires. Truth and falsehood had different meaning to the undead, apparently, so vampire lies didn’t always resonate in her soul. Didn’t cause her highly calibrated senses to jangle with the discordant sound of dishonesty.
    He laughed, but the sound was wrong, somehow, as if he hadn’t used his voice for laughter for more years than she’d been alive. “I’ve trusted human women before. Twice. The first died, and the second paid a terrible price and despises me. Never, ever again.”
    “But—”
    “I have to leave you now. Don’t forget,” her captor whispered, his voice merely a darker shadow in the night.
    “Wait! How do I get out of here?” Tiernan pointed to the impenetrable greenery, but before she could say another word, his hand shot out and wrenched a handful of leaves and