Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

changed from the explosion’s after-math, and now all Fiona wanted to do was take off for Lord Fairsby’s family home and find her brother.
    “Believe me. I’d be all for it if it had a chance in the nine hells of working, but it doesn’t,” Christophe said. “The entry to the Summer Lands moves around, and never at the request of non-Fae. It’s like the portal to Atlantis. It has a mind of its own. If we try to storm the place early, na Feransel will make sure we never find your brother.”
    A shimmering glow was their only warning before the portal he’d just mentioned opened right before their eyes. He pulled Fiona behind him and drew his daggers, but then shoved them back in their sheaths, sighing with relief, as Brennan, Bastien, and Justice walked through, one by one.
    “We hear you could use some help,” Justice said, his long blue hair tied back in his customary braid and the hilt of his sword rising above his shoulder. He bowed to Fiona. “My lady.”
    “You all came? To help me?” Christophe couldn’t quite believe it. He’d spent years shutting them all out.
    But then he realized what the real mission must be. “Oh, of course. The Siren.”
    “No, my friend,” Bastien said, his voice rumbling out of the middle of his seven-foot-tall frame. “We knew you could retrieve the Siren on your own. We mostly wanted to see this woman who has finally taught you some manners, according to Princess Riley.”
    He, too, bowed to Fiona.
    She inclined her head. “Welcome to Campbell Manor. This is my dear friend, Hopkins. The plans have changed. We need to storm the Summer Lands to fight an Unseelie Court prince who has kidnapped my brother, probably has your Siren, wants to make me his brood mare, and claims to have unfinished business with Christophe. Got it?”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 164 of 188
    A huge smile spread on Brennan’s face, which still seemed wrong, somehow. The warrior had spent more than two thousands of years with no emotion at all, thanks to a really nasty curse Poseidon had thrown at him. Now that he had regained his emotions and fallen in love, he often tried out really terrible jokes on the rest of them.
    “Christophe,” Brennan said, still smiling. “I really, really like this woman.”
    “As do we all,” Hopkins said dryly, shaking hands with each of them. “Tea?”
    “Guinness?” Bastien asked, hope shining on his face.
    “You need a clear head,” Fiona said, looking way, way up at him. Then she sighed. “I’m guessing you can metabolize a pint before midnight.”
    Bastien bowed again. “Atlantean metabolism, my lady. We can only very rarely become even the slightest bit drunk. It takes great effort.”
    “Or great stupidity,” Justice added. All three of them looked at Christophe.
    “Nice. With friends like you . . .”
    “And the room floods with testosterone,” Hopkins observed. “This way, gentlemen? I believe Lady Fiona and Christophe have some issues to discuss.”
    He looked back at them before following the Atlanteans out. “I have more help coming. The stockpile.”
    Fiona nodded, her face brightening. “Of course. Hopkins, you’re brilliant.”
    He smiled modestly. “Just doing my job.”
    Christophe looked back and forth between the two of them. “What stockpile?”
    “We’ve guns that shoot lovely iron pellets. We’ve swords with iron blades. All of the things that the Fae hate, in other words.” She smiled fiercely, and suddenly he almost felt sorry for the Fae. “We’re going to hurt him for daring to take my brother. We’re going to make him pay.”

Chapter 36
    “If he’s hurt, I’ve done it. I had to play ninja and my actions had repercussions. If they hurt Declan, or worse, it’s just the same, you see?” She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, aching with the need to cry, but her burning eyes were dry as death.
    “You think you’re like your grandfather?” Christophe shook his head. “Never, sweetheart. This is not your fault. We’ve been through this. If you need to blame somebody, blame me.” He tried to hold her, but she pushed him away.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 165 of 188
    “No. He’s mine. If he’s in trouble, I’m the one. I’m just as bad as my grandfather, playing at ninja and theft, only to have the hurt fall on the innocent. My grandfather got my father killed. Now I . . . now I . .
    .”
    She curled over into a ball, willing herself not