Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

Daniel forced himself to quit rubbing his hands on his pants and took a deep breath. “I’m not a politician.”
    Ven threw back his head and laughed. “Nobody sane is. You’re a warrior, my friend, like me. Now let’s go get that beer and talk about how we’re going to keep you bloodsuckers from taking over the world.
    No offense.”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 186 of 188
    “Not tonight. I’m not a politician anymore, anyway. I just resigned.” Daniel looked up at the stone front of the Primus, built only a few years ago to look like it had existed for millennia. The vampire aristocracy was big on pretense. Like the idea that they were aristocracy. Daniel’s own mother had been a peasant who owned a single mule.
    Ven whistled long and low. “Conlan is not going to be happy to hear that.”
    “With all due respect to your brother, whether or not the high prince of Atlantis is happy with my career choices is not high on my list of concerns. Good-bye.”
    Ven’s hand grasped Daniel’s arm with almost vampire-like speed. Damn Atlanteans.
    “Remove your hand, or I’ll do it for you,” Daniel snarled. “You presume too much.”
    “I’ve been told that before,” Ven said, but he released Daniel’s arm. “You saved my life. I’m not going to stand idly by while you sacrifice your own.”
    “How did you—”
    “You said good-bye,” Ven said roughly. “You never say good-bye. Ever. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that a vampire who has lived for thousands of years might get tired of putting up with life every once in a while. Especially when every day brings a new battle.”
    Daniel stared steadily into his friend’s eyes and lied. “I’m not there yet.”
    Ven stared back at him, hard, but finally nodded. “Fine. Take a rain check on that beer?”
    “Another night,” Daniel said in agreement. He watched as the prince of Atlantis, one of the few men Daniel had ever called friend, leapt into the air and dissolved into a sparkling cloud of iridescent mist.
    The Atlantean powers over water were both beautiful and deadly. Daniel had seen both.
    He waited until the last droplet of mist had long since vanished from his sight before he spoke, repeating the words that had given away his intent. “Good-bye, my friend.”
    And then he went to face the dawn.
    THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
    Published by the Penguin Group
    Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
    Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
    Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 187 of 188
    Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
    Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
    Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
    Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
    ATLANTIS BETRAYED
    A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author PRINTING HISTORY
    Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / September 2010
    Copyright © 2010 by Alesia Holliday.
    All rights reserved.
    For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
    eISBN : 978-1-101-44279-1
    BERKLEY ® SENSATION
    Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
    BERKLEY ® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 188