Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

me.”
    She sighed. “Yes, and you’re going to hold that against me, aren’t you?”
    “Every chance I get.” He tilted his head toward the bar. “Why don’t you go find out what Paul knows, soften him up before I come over? I’ll stay here and rescue any of my chips you didn’t manage to steal.”
    “I am a cat burglar,” she whispered.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 155 of 188
    She stole another chip and waved it just out of his reach before she slid out of the booth and headed for the bar.
    “Hello, Lady Fiona,” Paul said, wiping down the already spotless bar. “Surprised to see you here.”
    “Yes, I’m sorry I haven’t made it over more often. Dead-lines and such. You know how it is.” She smiled, inviting him to agree.
    He didn’t.
    He didn’t smile, either.
    “I know you know about us now, Fiona,” he said, his formerly warm voice gone cold and hard. “What do you want?”
    She allowed a little of his wintry coldness to seep into her own voice. “I want to talk to Maeve, Paul. She took a friend of mine when she poofed out of my house, and I want to be sure he’s all right.”
    He turned to aim his stare at Christophe. “Your friend from Atlantis is fine. You can tell him that, and get out of my pub. Both of you. I’m in danger just from your presence.”
    She glanced back at Christophe, and quicker than thought, he was standing next to her. She’d wanted him and he was there. Warmth spread through her veins, as though he superheated her blood simply with his presence. The soul-meld? Perhaps. A topic to be tabled until later, certainly.
    “Where is she?”
    “She’s in the Summer Lands, fool. You know that and you have no recourse.” Paul picked up a wickedly sharp knife and started slicing through limes like they were butter. “I like cutting things, Atlantean. How well can you bleed?”
    “Are you threatening me?” Christophe’s voice was calm. A little bored, even. She could actually feel that he didn’t consider Paul to be the slightest small threat.
    Christophe answered her unspoken question out loud. “Fae vary as dramatically in power as humans do in physical or mental ability. This one isn’t much of a power. Barely even much of a Fae.”
    Paul’s hand tightened on the knife until his knuckles turned white, but he didn’t challenge Christophe.
    Instead, he sighed.
    “Just leave. I can’t force you to do it, but if you don’t, I’m going to suffer for it. If you ever liked me at all, Fiona, please just leave.”
    She stared at him, looking for any hint that this was yet another deception, like the bit with the knife, but all she saw was weariness and a hint of fear.
    “Who is frightening you like this, Paul? Tell us and we can help you.”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 156 of 188
    He laughed, and it held genuine amusement and utter despair. “You can’t help me, Fiona. You can’t even help yourself. Get out of London while you can. Run. Run all the way to Atlantis. Swim, if you have to. He’s after you next. He’s going after the Siren and then he wants you, and I don’t even know why.”
    Christophe reached over the bar and grabbed Paul by the collar and lifted him up and halfway over the polished wooden surface. “Who wants her? Tell me or die now, Fae.”
    Paul looked down at the fruit staining the front of his shirt and then raised his head, and a corpse’s smile spread across his face. “Maeve’s brother, of course. Fairsby is Gideon na Feransel, Prince of the Unseelie Court, and he has decided to take a human bride. He’s after you, Fiona. You need to run.”
    Christophe released him, and Paul slid back down his side of the bar until he was standing there, grinning at them, his eyes twin holes blazing in his pale face. “He has old business with you, too, Atlantean, or so he claims. You should both run.”
    He started laughing, clutching his middle, insanity rising in the shrieking tones of his voice. “Run, run, run. Run, little human, but there’s no place to hide. The Siren is back, the wolves will fall, Atlantis will be destroyed. Run, run, run.”
    Fiona grabbed Christophe’s hand and pulled him toward the door. She managed, only just barely, to keep from covering her ears with her hands to block out the horrible laughter. The mad refrain of “run, run, run” followed them out the door and at least fifty feet down the street.
    That’s when the pub exploded behind them.

Chapter