Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

tomorrow night. Thank you. Good-bye.”
    He slammed the phone down and wiped his hands on his pant legs.
    “They’ll see, won’t they?” he asked the empty room. “They’ll all see.”
    He started laughing, and he laughed and laughed, seeing the destroyed room, his dead colleague, and Orson’s shocked, glazed eyes all front and center in his far-too-vivid memory.
    “We’ll just see who is giving orders in the end, bloodsuckers,” he said, again out loud, even though he knew how crazy he sounded. And then he laughed and he laughed, and he couldn’t quit laughing for such a long time that it didn’t even sound like laughter anymore.
    Not like laughter at all.

Chapter 16
Atlantis
    Brennan had always believed that his lungs expanded more fully with the rich air of Atlantis than they ever did when he was above. Yet now, with Tiernan in his arms, he finally knew what it was to exist wholly within each individual breath.
    Entirely in the present, living only for the now. This moment of utter perfection, home in Atlantis with all hope of future happiness embodied by the woman he held so tightly.
    Joy threatened to knock his legs out from under him; fear that he would lose her iced his heart.
    How could emotion carry such powerful yet equally opposing forces?
    “We have to go back,” Tiernan said, pulling out of his arms. “We’re so close. We have to go back and discover what they’re up to. I can’t lose this. Not now, when I’ve worked so hard for so long.”
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    “Not a chance in the nine hells,” he said flatly. “I forbid it.”
    They stood in the palace garden with Alexios and Grace, the sweet fragrance of the flowers surrounding them an eerie contradiction to the danger they’d just escaped.
    She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Are we back to that again? You have no right to forbid or allow me to do anything. If you don’t want to go back, that’s fine, but I’m definitely going back to that conference as soon as you can magic me out of here.”
    Grace sank down on an ornate wrought-iron bench, sighing as if she were exhausted or in pain.
    “It’s dangerous, Tiernan. They’re sure to know something is up now after three of their goons disappeared. Vampire goons, even. Luckily, dead vamps dissolve, so there are no bodies lying around to give them a clue.”
    Brennan was surprised to hear Grace agreeing with him. She was a warrior through and through. She was holding her hand over her abdomen again, though.
    “Are you ill? Or injured?”
    She looked up at him, startled, and then followed his gaze down. A peculiar expression passed over her face, and Brennan turned, only to see an echo of that odd look on Alexios’s face.
    “How far along are you?” Tiernan asked, smiling.
    Grace bit her lip, then shrugged. “It was bound to come out sooner or later,” she said, smiling up at Alexios, who was now standing behind her, massaging her shoulders.
    It took Brennan another couple of seconds to catch up, but then an enormous smile spread over his face. “With child? You are with child?”
    Alexios nodded, pride and happiness fairly bursting from him. “We are. We haven’t told anyone, yet, but—”
    “But we’re glad you’re the first to know,” Grace said. “We were hoping you’d stand in as one of her godparents.”
    Brennan threw back his head and whooped, then leapt over the bench, threw his arms around Alexios, and pounded him on the back. Alexios returned the gesture with a quick, fierce embrace.
    “My friend,” Brennan said, finally understanding the depth of feeling behind that word. “May life bring nothing but joy to you, your woman, and your child.”
    They clasped arms, and Brennan saw the mixture of happiness and concern in Alexios’s eyes.
    “You feel it, don’t you?” Alexios asked. “You finally feel.”
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    Brennan nodded, a simple motion of his head. His heart was too full to allow words to escape.
    He avoided the issue with the simple solution of rounding the bench to kneel before Grace.
    “Welcome, my sister,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I thank you for the joy you have brought to Alexios.”
    Grace smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “It’s wonderful to see you able to feel happy for us, Brennan.” She put a hand on his arm. “We’ll figure this out, okay? The curse stuff? I am not a