Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

Poseidon 05
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    “I can’t call the portal except at a body of seawater,” Alexios said. “I’m not that strong with the magic, and it rarely answers me. Damn capricious thing.”
    “Nor can I, generally, but I will certainly try now,” Brennan said grimly. He squeezed Tiernan’s hand and then released it. Holding both arms up to the sky, he closed his eyes and called to the portal. “If ever you heeded my call, please let it be now. We have need of you for transport to the shining isle.”
    At first, there was nothing, but they all waited, breath held, in hopeful anticipation. After a full minute had passed, Brennan sighed, his shoulders slumping. “It’s no use,” he began, but Tiernan grabbed his hand again.
    “I think you’re wrong about that,” she whispered, nodding her head toward his left.
    As they all watched, a silvery glimmer of light formed in the shape of a long, straight line and then stretched and widened in three dimensions until a glowing ovoid sphere floated steadily about a foot off the ground, its shape tall and wide enough to admit them, one at a time.
    “It worked,” Brennan said, filled with an awe so poignant his throat ached with it. “The portal knew I needed to protect Tiernan, and it answered my call.”
    “Love conquers all,” Grace said, patting her stomach in an odd manner, and Alexios started laughing and then led the way through the portal.
    “Next stop, Atlantis?” Tiernan asked, with only the tiniest quiver in her voice.
    “Next stop, Atlantis, my brave warrior woman.”
    Still holding her hand, Brennan stepped through the portal, bringing the woman who would change everything to the place where nothing ever seemed to change. Oh, by all the gods, this might prove to be a wild ride, but she was safe, and she was his one true mate, as ordained by Poseidon himself.
    Nothing else mattered.

Chapter 15
    Dr. Litton’s lab, underneath Yellowstone National Park Devon stared around the main laboratory, silently taking inventory of the destruction.
    Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment—smashed. Shattered beyond hope of repair. Months of work—ruined. He stepped over the dead body in its bloodstained lab coat and walked over to the primary experiment chair. It was a wreck. Cables and cords yanked out of their sockets, some still sparking dangerously. The chair itself knocked loose from its base.
    Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
    Page 94 of 232
    Litton stormed into the room, then skidded to a stop as he took in the extent of the damage. It almost amused Devon to watch all blood drain out of the scientist’s face, until his pallor rivaled that of any vampire.
    Almost.
    “How did this happen?” Litton said, still gaping. “Who is responsible for this?”
    Devon kicked a bloody chunk of what looked like shifter fur out of his way. “The obvious answer is that you are, Dr. Litton. This is your lab.”
    Litton’s face crumpled and his mouth worked, but all he managed to do was make incoherent squawking sounds.
    “If that translates to ‘why, yes, Devon, I am at fault and will be glad to explain how I let a multimillion-dollar experimental lab be destroyed the day my new benefactor comes to town to see it, I would love to hear more.”
    Devon stalked across the room to the bank of computer stations where the techs recorded data, as he knew from the single time he’d been able to stomach watching. Paths and choices, he reminded himself. He only needed to stay focused and the real prize would soon be his.
    Litton was reduced to sputtering now, but still nothing that made any sense was coming out of his mouth, and Devon quickly grew tired of waiting for him to regain his powers of speech.
    “Guards,” he called out. “Clean up this mess. We need it to be in perfect shape by tomorrow afternoon.”
    Three of the shifters and two vampire guards rushed into the room and immediately began working. One of the shifters pointed to the dead scientist.
    “What do we do with him, sir?”
    Devon shrugged. “Whatever you want, as long as there isn’t as much as a sticky spot on the floor tomorrow to show that he was ever here.”
    One of the vamps eyed Devon cautiously before speaking up. “Sir, I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but is there a record he was working with Litton? If there are any questions about his disappearance, we don’t want him connected to the project.”
    “Good point. We’ll take care of that. Thank