Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

her head. “No. I have never once kept a single penny of any proceeds from one of the Scarlet Ninja’s heists. There are many charities we support that are desperately in need of funding but they can’t accept money if they know it comes from the proceeds of crime. Those, we funnel through my offshore accounts that my computer genius of a brother and my very talented butler assure me are virtually untraceable. Of course, a few others are happy to receive anything the Scarlet Ninja has to offer, and they appreciate the intrigue of it all. They count our donations, given through intermediaries, as anonymous and laugh all the way to the bank.”
    “I knew I liked you,” Riley said, smiling across the table at her. The princess glanced over at Alaric. “She’s telling the truth. Her emotions reflect nothing but absolute sincerity.”
    Fiona blinked, startled. “But I thought you were human?”
    “You, too, are human, but have a secret Gift, don’t you? Mine is emotional empathy, or what the Atlanteans call being aknasha. I can read emotions. My sister can, too.” Riley’s smile held a hint of sadness. “I miss her. She’d like you.”
    “My brother would like you, too,” Fiona assured her. “Actually, he’d go stark raving mad with excitement over all this. I’d love to be able to bring him someday. Hopkins, too.”
    “Your butler?”
    “He has been like a father to me since my own died,” Fiona said. “He’s an amazing man.”
    “Keeps threatening to shoot me, though,” Christophe said.
    “I like him already,” Alaric said.
    “Why the Scarlet Ninja?” Riley asked.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
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    “I don’t exactly know how to explain it. I guess I’ve never said any of this out loud before.” Fiona thought for a little while, took another drink of water, and continued. “I want—no, I need—to help restore to the people of Great Britain a sense of hope. The prosperity we enjoyed before the vampires declared themselves.”
    “That’s a lot to take on all by yourself,” Conlan said quietly.
    “One person can make a difference,” she said. “Especially if each one of us determines to be that person.”
    “Amen,” Riley said. “That’s what I had to believe when I was a social worker, or I would have given up in utter despair.”
    “Turns out that the majority of the aristocracy have some vampire branches of the family tree. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense. As far as I know, we didn’t, but not for my grandfather’s lack of trying. He was still trying to bribe his contacts to turn him when he was murdered. I have the feeling they didn’t want him around for all eternity.” She shuddered. “He was a horrible man.”
    “So when the vampires revealed themselves, you were suddenly back to the bad old days where lords and ladies ate off gold plates and drank from jeweled goblets while the peasants starved and died in the streets?” Alaric’s eyes were shadowed.
    She wondered briefly if he’d seen any of those bad old days in person, but she wasn’t about to ask him.
    “Yes. That’s exactly it,” she said, holding up the sturdy but plain glass that held her water. The same type of glass that the princes, Riley, and the high priest had at their place settings. The plates were simple stoneware, although she recognized neither the stone nor the glaze.
    Riley caught the direction of her gaze. “Our housekeeper does try to insist we use the special dishes sometimes, but we’re not very fancy,” the princess admitted.
    “Social worker? So you weren’t always a princess.”
    Riley laughed. “Oh, heavens no. Getting used to the palace and servants has been a trial for me and them. You should have heard how the cook scolded me when she caught me doing my own dishes after we had a midnight snack.”
    Fiona was fascinated. She’d never had the opportunity to wash a dish in her life. “Did you stop doing the dishes?”
    “Yes, but I worked a deal that I can cook our own dinner at least once a week, and I get to throw a big bash once a month and everybody has to come. House staff, guards, everyone.” She grinned at Fiona. “I usually make the warriors clean up.”
    “That sounds so lovely,” Fiona said wistfully. “Our staff won’t eat with us. Not from any class issue, I think their lives are just too busy. Sometimes it gets lonely.”
    “But not now,” Christophe said, squeezing her hand.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of