Vampire in Atlantis

Daniel smiled at her, even though his body was screaming at him to jump up, take a cold shower, or, better yet, take his cock in his own hand and give himself just a little bit of relief from the screaming pitch of need. He lasted about five minutes lying there, trying to be content to watch her sleep, but—as he’d told her—he was only a man.

He climbed out of bed, hit the shower, and did both.

Chapter 13

After a few restless hours of not-quite-sleeping and one short trip to the street outside of the hotel bar to relieve a drunken tourist of a pint of blood he’d never miss, Daniel lay again in bed next to Serai, holding a long strand of her silken hair in his fingers and wondering how long he could bear it before he woke her and took her, claiming every inch of her body as his. He wanted her to wake up with his cock sliding into the sweet warmth of her body, and only the knowledge of her innocence stopped him from acting on that desire.

Instead, he gritted his teeth and thought about unappetizing things like turnips, lima beans, and congressional politics. As the first fingers of dawn’s light made their way through the tiny gap in the curtains, Daniel heard the measured tread of the footsteps in the hallway. He jumped out of bed, clothed himself, and raced to the door, daggers handy although probably unnecessary. It sounded like Reisen’s walk, and Daniel’s excellent vampire hearing was generally dead-on about such things.

He pulled open the door to find Reisen standing there with one hand raised to knock. Daniel stepped out on to the green-and-gold patterned carpet of the hallway and gently closed the door.

“She needs to sleep. Yesterday was a strain.”

Reisen’s eyes widened. “Is that some vampire thing? Gargantuan understatement? A strain? She could have died.”

“It’s even worse than you know,” Daniel said grimly. “Is there someplace we can talk?”

“There’s a coffee shop in the lobby. Few humans are about at this hour. Melody is waiting there.” Reisen paused and then shrugged. “It’s against an inner wall, away from any windows. You’ll be fine there.”

“Not used to worrying about whether a bloodsucker bursts into flames, are you, Atlantean?” Daniel said, grinning.

“It’s a first.” Reisen waved the stump of his arm in the air. “I figure I owe you one. At least.” The warrior’s face turned grim, probably remembering that horrible day when an evil vampire named Barrabas had captured and tortured him.

“How about coffee, and we’re even?” Daniel hesitated, concerned about what Serai would do if she woke up alone. Whether she’d be afraid. “I’ll meet you there,” he told Reisen, and then slipped back into the room, wrote a quick note, and put it on the pillow next to Serai. Her face was burrowed in the pillow, so all he could see was the sensual curve of her arm and neck, but it was enough to make him want to climb into the bed with her and finish what he’d started only hours earlier.

“Later. I promise you,” he whispered to her sleeping form, before leaving the room in search of the coffee shop.

He easily avoided the patch of morning sunlight streaming in through the lobby windows by ducking around the gift shop to find the coffee shop and Reisen and Melody sitting in welcoming dimness in a back corner. A poster of a smiling skeleton on the wall above Melody’s head announced “Welcome to Arizona! At least it’s a dry heat!” and he wondered, yet again, at the human sense of humor. Three cups sat on the table, and he thanked the fates that he could enjoy a good espresso and wasn’t doomed to take in nothing but blood like some comic book version of his kind.

“Good morning,” he said.

Melody smiled up at him. Her smile was haunted by a glimmer of sadness, and there were dark circles under her eyes. He clearly wasn’t the only one who’d spent a sleepless night. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“Hi. You’re welcome. Is Serai okay? She was pretty amazing with that tiger shift and then helping Jack like that.” Melody’s voice broke on Jack’s name, and Reisen handed her a napkin. She took it and wiped her face, then leaned against Reisen’s arm for a moment before straightening and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Jack was— Jack was good people. I hope he can come back, and that Quinn and Alaric can fix him.”

Daniel nodded, wishing he could offer her some words of comfort, but he’d seen shape-shifters lose their humanity before, and he’d never once seen one of them find his way back. The call of the wild was truly that—a call—and nature was a cruel mistress who kept her own once they had returned to her.

“What’s the plan for today?” Reisen asked, changing the subject as he exchanged a glance of mutual grim understanding with Daniel. The Atlantean had little hope of Jack’s return, either.

“We’ve got a mole,” Melody said.

Reisen raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“An inside source at the bank. She can’t work openly with us, because she’d lose her job, and she’s a single mom with three kids, but she’s on our side for sure. Vampires killed her husband, the bastards,” she added heatedly. Then she covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh, um, sorry, Daniel. I realize not all vampires are the bad guys.”

Daniel shrugged. “I’ve been a vampire for more than eleven thousand years, Melody, and have seen more evil perpetrated than you could imagine in your worst nightmares. By vampires and by humans; by witches and by shape-shifters. As you well know, one’s race or species doesn’t determine the depths of the darkness in one’s soul.”

“Poetically said,” Reisen said, narrowing his eyes. “I must ask, though, by what right is one so ancient traveling with a maiden of Atlantis? It is my sworn duty as a Warrior of Poseidon to protect humanity, and yet it is my duty as an Atlantean and a man to protect Serai.”

“Did she seem to need to be protected from me?” Daniel asked dryly. “You might be surprised to learn that she is as old as I am. We first met before Atlantis retreated from the world to the bottom of the ocean.”

Reisen inhaled sharply. “But . . . she’s that Serai? Conlan’s Serai?”

“Conlan’s no longer, not that he ever had claim to her,” Daniel growled. “He abandoned her for Quinn’s sister.”

Melody put a hand on Reisen’s arm and Daniel was surprised to see the warrior react to it, visibly calming. Something lay between the two of them, then, or at least the beginning of something. His gaze traveled between the fierce, proud Atlantean warrior and the small, oddly dressed, human woman. An unlikely match, but then what match was not when it came to these Atlanteans? He and Serai? Quinn and Alaric? Even Conlan and Riley, or Ven and Erin, or crazy Justice and Keely? Not to mention cursed Brennan and the lovely Tiernan.

The Atlantean goddess of love was either insane or an evil genius. Perhaps both.

“This is unproductive,” he finally said. “Serai and I have a mission to accomplish, or she and others may die.” As they drank their coffee, he filled them in on the details of Serai’s connection to the Emperor and what had happened to date.

At one point, Melody excused herself to go purchase pastries and more coffee, and Reisen aimed a long, measuring look at Daniel. “I’m not sure sharing all of this with a human was wise.”

Daniel glanced at Melody as she stood at the counter, paying for her purchases. “Quinn trusted her, and Quinn’s sister is high princess of Atlantis.” He shrugged. “Good enough for me. Are you still planning to help her with her plans concerning the bank?”

“I don’t know. I made a promise that I would, and yet your mission sounds more urgent.” Reisen ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“Fulfill your promise and help Melody with the bank,” Daniel advised. “I don’t believe in coincidences. There might be some reason why the Emperor is being tampered with in the very same place that the head of this banker/ vampire consortium is operating.”

“That sounds improbable,” Reisen said.

“I know, but almost every critical event in this war has ranged from improbable to impossible. We have to keep this consortium from gaining a foothold, or the rebel cause may be doomed.”