Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

something—had attacked from behind, and she didn’t want to be caught in a blind sweep.
    “Princess, I’m going to kill you when we get out of here,” Christophe yelled, fury riding the planes and angles of his face.
    He launched himself into the air, pure blue-green fire shimmering in glowing streams around his entire body, and tackled three of the vampires who’d decided to leap over her car toward him and Sean. It was like watching a martial arts film where the action star was a master sorcerer. He twirled in midair and leveled a flying kick at the first vamp’s throat, then followed it up with a dagger in its heart as it fell backward. Before that vamp even hit the ground, Christophe grabbed the head of the second vamp and slammed its face down onto his knee so hard that the resulting crunch sounded like lightning snapping a dead tree trunk. Energy pulsed between his hands, brief but fierce, and the vamp’s head imploded, then disappeared.
    Fiona didn’t have time to watch any more, though, because one of the vampires was sniffing the ground, crawling on hands and feet like a deranged hound from hell. Its body moved in ways that bodies were not meant to move, as though it were boneless or at least had a flexible spine.
    “I know you’re here, Princess,” it hissed, the sibilants hanging in the air. “Playing with toys you shouldn’t have? I’m going to crunch on your bones when I’m done draining you dry.”
    She waited, silent as the grave she had no intention of going to—at least not today—until it was in range. Then she hurled the contents of the second vial into its face and threw herself back and to the side as fast as she could, to escape the reach of its arms as it threw its body forward in a last, desperate leap even as it screamed and squealed its way to a horrific death.
    Over the drops of water that had fallen to the pavement a faint golden glow hovered for an instant before winking out, and she had a heartbeat of crystallized time in which to wonder what God thought about blessed water being used to kill. But then Christophe pulled her up and into his arms, crushing her in a fierce embrace until she thought her lungs might burst.
    “Don’t ever, ever, ever, do that again,” he commanded, somewhat ruining the severity of his command by compulsively kissing her again and again.
    She pushed him away after a minute or so, shoving against the rock-hard wall of his chest. “Really?
    Don’t join in the fight when people I care about are in danger?” She glared up at him. “Have you met me?”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 95 of 188
    Then she ran to Sean, who was leaning back against the car, bent over and breathing hard, and threw her arms around him. “Are you okay? How bad is it?”
    She pulled his head up so she could examine his neck. The wound was ragged but only dripping, not spurting, blood.
    “Thank God, thank God, thank God,” she said, over and over. “If you died because of me—”
    “I’m too tough to kill,” he said, managing a grin. “Anyway, this wasn’t because of you. Far as I can tell, it was due to those vamps. Six of which I killed, by the way.”
    He straightened, puffing out his chest, and she couldn’t help it. She pulled him to her and planted a big kiss on his cheek. Even in the dim light, she could see him flush hot.
    “That, youngling, is why men the world over will do anything for a beautiful woman,” Christophe said dryly. He gently nudged Fiona aside to examine Sean’s wound. “You’re going to have a scar, but it’s not bad. Unfortunately, better clean it out.”
    He turned to Fiona. “Do you happen to have any more of that holy water, Invisible Girl? Sooner is better.”
    “This is going to hurt really badly, isn’t it?” Sean’s throat worked but he tilted his head so they could get at his neck.
    “Like all the fires of the nine hells are searing your flesh,” Christophe admitted, far too cheerfully. “Every warrior worth his daggers goes through it at least once, although our remedy isn’t quite the same as yours.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Christophe looked around them, his eyes narrowing. “Anybody notice something odd here?”
    “You mean, we’re still in London, one of the busiest cities in the world, and nobody else has come down this alley during this entire time?” Fiona nodded, pulling another vial of blessed water from her sleeve and holding