Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

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    The wave of heat and power almost preceded the noise, or at least smashed into them simultaneously, so that Fiona was flying through the air as if knocked aside by a giant’s hand before she realized what had happened. Through some miracle of balance or Atlantean magic, Christophe performed an amazing twisting somersault in midair and caught her before she crashed down on the concrete, headfirst.
    Together, they sat up and stared at what was left of the Prancing Pony. Fire, smoke, and death.
    “They’re going to think it was terrorism,” she said. “We need to leave. Slowly and inconspicuously.”
    “I think it’s too late for that,” Christophe said, pointing.
    A crowd was boiling up the street toward them. No, too big to be a crowd. More like a mob. But no ordinary mob. This one was utterly, completely, silent.
    “They’re all shifters,” Christophe said, pulling Fiona back into the doorway of a shop. “Every single one.
    They’re shifters, and they’ve been enthralled.”
    “So many? At once? That’s not possible,” she protested. Then realization dawned in spite of her brain still feeling dazed from the blast. “He’s got the Siren. This is a demonstration or a taunt, or something.
    Fairsby has the Siren and he’s already using it.”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 157 of 188
    Christophe’s face was grim. “Either that or Telios does. One of them must be behind the explosion in the pub, too. Whichever it is, he’s making some kind of point, and he’s making it here. We’re caught in the middle of it.”
    Behind them, the shop owner locked the door. The old woman’s worried face appeared in the glass for an instant, and then she ran away, into the back of her shop, or possibly out a rear exit.
    “We have to get out of here,” Fiona said. “You can’t fight that many shifters.”
    “I won’t have to,” he said as the first ranks marched right past them. Every single shifter stared straight ahead, eyes blank and glazed over. “They’re not here for us.”
    Fiona scanned the street. “Everybody is running and hiding, but they’re ignoring the people for now.
    What is this about?”
    A flash of bright blue caught her eye and she cried out. “Christophe, that’s a child. He’s caught right in their path. If they don’t stop, they’ll trample him.”
    She tried to run out there, but he yanked her back. “Let me.”
    Before she could argue, he transformed into a cloud of sparkling mist and swirled rapidly through the crowd of shifters, then circled the sobbing child and, still in mist form, lifted him off the ground and above the heads of the oncoming shifters, who kept marching as if they’d seen none of it.
    They probably hadn’t.
    Christophe carried the child to his mother, who’d fallen down while chasing him but appeared unhurt.
    She took her child and hugged him close to her body, surreptitiously making the sign against the evil eye at the sparkling savior who’d delivered her baby safely to her arms.
    Fiona wanted to smack her. Superstitious fool. Christophe had saved her child. She hoped he hadn’t seen the hurtful gesture.
    He returned to her and transformed back into his physical self. She launched herself into his arms, kissing him all over his face. He pressed her against the wall and returned her kisses so thoroughly she was trembling by the time he released her.
    “You are my hero,” she said, hoping every ounce of her love for him showed in her face.
    His eyes widened, and his expression rapidly cycled through smugness, terror, and an almost tentative happiness. Her own eyes widened when she realized she wasn’t reading all that from his face. She was actually feeling his emotions.
    “The soul-meld. Can it, does it make me feel your emotions? Like, what did you call the princess?
    Aknasha?”
    “Only for me, and I for you. But let’s discuss the finer points of the soul-meld later. Now we need to see what they’re up to, but it’s too dangerous for you. I need to get you out of here.”
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    “We both need to get out of here,” she said firmly.
    “Yes, but only your human body would be harmed by another explosion. If I’m mist, it would pass right through me.”
    “If you saw it coming. Last time, we didn’t.”
    He hesitated, then nodded. “You’re right. Another reason to depart. But first I need to know if I can learn anything from one of these