now.' He didn't want to lose her, either, he realized, and would actually fight to keep her with him. After clinging to his freedom all these many years, he was finally willing to surrender it in favor of permanency with a woman. This woman. 'Just think about it, okay. Right now we need to get out of here.'
He curled his fingers through hers again, and Teira weakly led him up a winding staircase. The room they entered next was even more frigid, but not as thickly fogged. Alex surveyed these new surroundings. There was no furniture, yet there was more wealth than he'd ever seen. Ebony at his feet, jewels at his side, and crystal above. He halted midstep and could only gape.
This is why Jason desires the mist. Hell, I want it, too.
A sense of greed momentarily choked his throat. There had to be a way to take some of this home. Conceal a few jewels under his shirt. Fill his pockets. He'd be able to keep his family in luxury for the rest of their lives.
The thought of his family drowned him in a desperate need to see them. Jason claimed they were unhurt, but Alex couldn't believe a single word out of that murderer's deceitful mouth.
No one would ever have to know what he'd done, and that was a heady thought indeed. He reached out and traced his fingers over the jeweled wall. As he did so, the exotic scent of jasmine wafted around him, loosening the tightness in his throat and reminding him that he already held a treasure. Teira. He glanced down at her, and she smiled slowly up at him-a smile of trust. His hand fell to his side.
Atlantis had to be kept secret. Men like Jason would continue to plunder, never ceasing their quest for riches, killing men, women and children in the process. God, how stupid I've been, how caught up in my own need for glory . He'd endangered his entire family for this . For prestige and money. His stomach churned with shame, making him all the more aware of his body's need for drugs.
'Come on,' he said. 'Let's get out of here.'
'Yes.'
They maneuvered around corners, stumbled through empty rooms, making Alex feel like he was navigating a maze. Most walls were bare, ripped of all jewels. Several guards were posted throughout, but they never detected Alex and Teira, hidden as they were by fog and shadows.
Two ten foot panels of glistening dragon-inlaid ivory ended their winding search. The pair of doors opened, welcoming them into the night. Crashing waves created a calming lullaby, and warm air laden with the fragrance of salt and sea cascaded gently. Teira stopped, allowing the warmth to thaw and strengthen her. Color returned to her cheeks, and her back straightened.
She dropped her coat and spread her arms wide.
Alex drank in the mesmerizing beauty of both Teira and Atlantis. There was a dusky glow over the breath- takingly lush green foliage and stunning array of colorful blossoms. Blossoms Teira seemed to be a part of.
How did a city under the sea have night and day? There was no sun, no moon. Crystal prisms stretched above to form a dome as far as the eye could see.
Vibrancy and vitality pulsed all around, strengthening him to his very core, making him forget his dry mouth, making him forget his bitter need.
'If we follow the forest path,' Teira said, her voice stronger than it had been inside the palace, 'we can reach Darius by morning.'
'Then let's go.'
One of the guards scattered along the bastion noticed them. 'Down there,' he shouted.
Someone else called, 'Stop them!'
Pop. Whiz . Bullets flew, peppering the ground a few feet behind them. Alex increased his speed, sprinting for all he was worth, the fire extinguisher slamming into his back. Later, he would feel the bruises. For now, he felt only the blessed numbness of his adrenaline rush.
Still hand in hand with Teira, he forced her to keep pace beside him. He launched into the safety of the trees before finally slowing. Alex liked to think he was in top physical condition, or had been, thanks to his daily workouts. But right now his breathing was ragged, and his pulse leapt like it was connected to a live wire.
'You need rest,' his companion panted. 'We are safe here. We can stop-'
'No. No resting. Keep moving.'
She claimed the lead, and he forced his suddenly heavy feet to step one in front of the other. Forced his mind on the task at hand and not the drugs he was leaving behind. For a moment, his vision blurred and he swayed. Teira glanced at him over her shoulder, her expression concerned.
'Keep moving,' he said again.
When they swerved around a large elm, a giant of a man jumped from the shadows, followed quickly by another. Their features weren't visible in the growing darkness, but Alex felt the anger coiled so tightly in their bodies.
Teira screamed.
Acting instinctively, Alex sprayed the liquid nitrogen, spinning in a circle as he did so. A thick foam of white coated the men, and they growled indistinguishable curses as they wiped at their faces. He tossed the red canister to the ground and jerked Teira through the thick foliage. Then they ran. Ran around trees and bushes, flowers and stones. They waded through two crystalline rivers along the way, and through it all he heard the men racing in pursuit, their footsteps fast, determined.
'Which way?' he called.
'East,' she said, panting a little. The white gown she wore swished and swirled around her ankles, and her moonbeam pale hair whipped behind her. 'There is… a town… nearby. We can lose ourselves.'
Alex veered east, pushing himself past his endurance. The longer he ran, the less he heard of his followers. Either he'd lost them or they'd given up. Or were somehow able to silently follow. He didn't relax his defenses. Only when Teira was safely ensconced inside his apartment would he rest-after he made love to her. Several times.
After what seemed an eternity, they reached the town. One moment they were surrounded by dense forest, and the next by shimmering gold and silver buildings. He slowed when he found himself on a crowded stone road. Throngs of people strolled in every direction. No, not people. Winged men, bulllike animals and horned women. Interspersed throughout were tall, lean humanoid creatures with skin the color of new fallen snow. They glided rather than walked.
Alex felt their dynamically surreal eyes boring into him hungrily, as if they could already taste his every drop of blood. Vampires. He shuddered. They moved with fluid, catlike grace, mere slashes of white skin and flowing, black clothing. The only color they possessed was in their eyes, an inhuman blue that hypnotized and promised every desire satisfied.
His shudders intensified, and he reached up and massaged his neck, covering the marks of his last encounter with a vampire. The Book of Ra-Dracus told of their insatiable thirst for blood-more so than earth legend proclaimed. He knew that firsthand.
'In here,' Teira said. She ushered him inside the nearest building. 'We will hide here until we are sure we are safe.'
Loud music, more fluid than rock, less structured than classical, boomed in every direction. Voices and laughter blended with the music as people mingled and danced. He and Teira swept through the crowd, trying to remain unnoticed. There, in the back, was an empty table, and they hurriedly claimed it.
He plopped into his seat. The adrenaline rush he'd experienced in the forest had helped mask his need for drugs, but now, as the surge receded, he became increasingly aware of his shaking hands and aching temples.
A woman approached them and clanked two glasses onto their table. Two small brown horns protruded from her forehead. She gave them a brittle smile and said something in the same language Teira sometimes used. He was beginning to catch on to its unusual inflections and pronunciations, so he didn't need an interpreter to know the waitress had said, 'Drink up and leave, or tonight will be your last,' before she flittered away, suddenly lost in the crowd.
'There are many vampires here,' Teira said, gazing around. 'More than usual.'
A wisp of dark cloth. A shiver of electrifying power. Then someone was there, standing behind Teira, caressing her shoulder. The laughter and music slowly tapered to quiet, and the patrons stared over at them.
'You smell good, little dragon,' a vampire male said, his voice hypnotic and dark. Seductive. 'I wonder, though, how you will taste.'
It took Alex a moment to translate. When he did, he saw red. He didn't care how much stronger the vampires were, he didn't care that he might be inciting a fight, he would not allow threats to Teira's life. 'Back off,' he said,
