Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

oversetting his already precarious balance so they both went crashing to the filthy floor. Long-ingrained courtesy stirred Brennan to flip them as they went down, so he landed on the bottom of the heap, cushioning her unconscious body from the fall.
    “Well. I never had exactly that effect on a woman before,” he muttered to the amphorae of olive oil grouped around his aching head, as he stared at her in befuddlement.
    AND SO YOU STILL HAVE NOT, a voice thundered through the room. Brennan’s free hand automatically went to his dagger, but he found only an empty sheath.
    YOU THINK TO DRAW YOUR WEAPON AGAINST ME? the voice continued, and now it sounded somewhat annoyed. Brennan’s head tried to clear, but the sheer quantity of wine he’d consumed during the day thwarted any attempt at mental acuity.
    Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
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    “I am a Warrior of Poseidon,” he declared, but even to himself he had to admit the claim feeble, considering his present circumstances.
    YOU ARE MY WARRIOR, YES, THOUGH I WOULD BE MOCKED AMONGST ALL OF THE OTHER
    GODS WERE THIS TRUTH TO BECOME KNOWN.
    Oh, miertus. This was one tsunami of a wine-induced hallucination, if Brennan suddenly thought he was hearing the sea god himself. He struggled with the limp weight of the wench, trying to move her to one side so he could rise and at least face this . . . whatever this was . . .
    on his feet.
    A flash of silvery blue light shot through the dark room, and suddenly the woman was gone—vanished as if she’d never been there. Brennan leapt to his feet and whirled around and around, nearly falling down again as vertigo overtook him.
    “What? Where did she—”
    THE WOMAN HAD NO PLACE IN OUR DISCUSSION. SHE IS NOW AT HOME IN HER BED, ALONE
    FOR A CHANGE, came the dry response.
    “But why are you here—” Brennan belatedly realized that he was in no way showing appropriate deference to the sea god and dropped heavily to his knees. “My lord, accept my profuse apologies. Do you have need of me?”
    WHAT SAD EXAMPLE OF GODHOOD WOULD HAVE NEED OF SUCH AS YOU? the voice thundered. YOU HAVE TRIED MY PATIENCE WITH YOUR CONSTANT DRUNKEN DEBAUCHERY
    AND EXCESS. HADES HIMSELF, RULER OF THE NINE HELLS, ASKED ME TO GIFT YOU TO HIM.
    “Hades?” Brennan struggled to follow the sea god’s logic. His knees hurt from dropping on the stone floor and his head was thumping from the booming sound of Poseidon’s voice. In fact, he was feeling quite sorry for himself and not a little beleaguered by his severe misfortune. “What would Hades want with me?”
    PRECISELY. A MATTER OF A SENATOR’S DAUGHTER, PERHAPS? BUT THE KNOWLEDGE THAT
    YOU HAVE FALLEN SO FAR, DRIVEN BY YOUR LUSTS AND EMOTIONS, THAT THE GOD OF THE
    UNDERWORLD WOULD DESIRE YOUR PRESENCE, SADDENS ME GREATLY.
    “But—”
    SILENCE! BE ADVISED THAT I AM NOT A GOD TO ENDURE SADNESS. EVER. I AM AT AN END OF
    MY PATIENCE. NOW THAT YOUR EMOTIONS AND HUNGERS HAVE DRIVEN YOU INTO THE
    ABYSS, I WILL REMOVE ALL SUCH FROM YOUR LIFE FOR ALL ETERNITY.
    Brennan shifted on the floor, daring to raise his head and search yet again, but the sea god had manifested only his voice. “Not to be impertinent, but when you say eternity—”
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    Lightning and thunder crashed through the room, the percussive force smashing Brennan, facedown, into the oil-and-dirt-soaked stone.
    QUESTION ME AGAIN, AND YOU WILL SPEND SEVERAL LIFETIMES CLEANING THAT FILTH WITH
    YOUR TONGUE.
    Brennan nodded, not daring to say another word, as the hot, slow trickle of blood from his battered head spread under the side of his face. Silence. Understood.
    I CURSE YOU THUS: FOR ALL ETERNITY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS YOU MEET YOUR ONE TRUE MATE, YOU WILL FEEL NO EMOTION. NEITHER SADNESS NOR JOY; NEITHER RAGE NOR DELIGHT.
    Thunder crashed through the room again, and Brennan belatedly wondered why none from the tavern had come back to investigate the storm taking place in their storeroom, before the sea god continued.
    WHEN YOU DO MEET HER, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE A RESURGENCE OF ALL OF THE EMOTIONS
    YOU HAVE REPRESSED OVER THE YEARS AND CENTURIES AND EVEN MILLENNIA.
    Poseidon laughed, and his laughter contained the sound and fury of tidal waves that could destroy civilizations.
    IF THAT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH TO DESTROY YOU, YOU WILL ALSO BE CURSED TO FORGET
    YOUR MATE WHENEVER SHE IS OUT OF YOUR SIGHT. ONLY WHEN SHE IS DEAD—HER HEART
    STOPPED AND HER SOUL