She broadcast the message as loudly as she could, in the same manner as she’d called to him before, and she counted on the powerful connection the soul-meld had forged between them to carry it to him.
Not a single word of question or doubt; she could feel his belief in her, and his confidence bolstered her own.
He left her with an impression of a meeting with Conlan, Riley, and a roomful of dignitaries and ambassador types, but also with the sure knowledge that he was on his way to her.
The chill wind brushed by her again, carrying its haunting message of dread and despair, and she knew it couldn’t be fast enough.
It took them quite a while to pass through the crowds on the way to each other, even though she could feel his exact location in her mind, like she was suddenly a human GPS system, due to the soul-meld. It was simply a matter of working their way through all the people, both Atlanteans and guests. Everyone wanted to meet the Atlanteans and see the mythological lost continent, and no matter how his impatience raged—and Quinn could feel every bit of it—she sternly ordered him not to blast them all out of his way with “just a small windstorm.”
She hadn’t been able to understand how everyone had been on hand to see Atlantis, but Riley had explained that Conlan had been preparing for the event for a couple of years now, and he’d arranged some kind of notification system so that when Atlantis did begin to rise, the magical community of the human world would recognize what was happening and convey the news to everyone else.
Which was wonderful for international relations, but Quinn’s dark feeling of premonition grew stronger and stronger as each minute passed. When several Atlantean children rushed by, shouting about a party and staying up late, she realized that the sun was suddenly sinking in the horizon, which meant that dusk was coming. When night fell, for the first time in millennia, Atlantis would be fully unprotected from outside supernatural forces.
Quinn started running.
Vampires. Conlan had talked about Daniel, but they’d forgotten about the more prevalent kind of vampire. The murderous kind. And Anubisa was out there, boiling with rage and madness, and no longer with Ptolemy to run interference.
Quinn pushed her pace to run even faster. She started calling out to Alaric on the mental pathway between them, and she finally found him and filled him in on her new suspicions. He listened and instantly understood, and he grabbed her hand and headed for the palace.
“Conlan is meeting with foreign dignitaries,” he said. “We have to find him, now. If you’re right, it’s going to be a very bad night.”
“Why does Anubisa hate your royal family so much?”
His face hardened. “It’s a long, complicated saga. Basically she once wanted an Atlantean prince who chose an Atlantean woman over a vampire, and all Anubisa has done ever since is plot and carry out revenge against Conlan’s family and his ancestors before him. She murdered his mother quite brutally.”
Quinn pointed to the sky. “Alaric, does sunset come early in the Bermuda Triangle this time of year?”
“We have to move,
Alaric burst into the throne room, startling Conlan and scaring a foreign ambassador who was wearing a top hat, of all improbable things.
“Conlan, crisis. Now,” Alaric snapped out, and the prince immediately excused himself and strode across the room at top speed.
“Quinn has a bad feeling,” Alaric said, and Quinn felt like a fool.
“I have an
She filled him in on Anubisa’s interaction with Ptolemy and the vampire goddess’s evil plans, and Conlan grew angrier by the second.
“You thought you would keep this from me—
“Do you forget what she did for us? Can you blame her for forgetting details in the exhaustion of the moment? If you would blame anyone, blame me. I should have known that evil bitch goddess would use our welcome as an excuse to attack. We are unprotected for the first time in millennia.”
“But it’s so far. How would she get any of her minions and thugs here? It’s not as if the navies of any of those countries will transport her. They all hate her,” Quinn pointed out.
Conlan slowly nodded. “You may be right. If the gods be benevolent, you will be right. But we must plan as if for attack. I will discuss the issue with our new allies and see what resources they will be able to offer.”
“I will inform the warriors,” Alaric announced, and he and Quinn headed out to gather the forces. “At least for once they’re all here.”
“I bet that will be an interesting story. Why the portal suddenly went around collecting everyone. Noriko can probably explain some of that,” Quinn said, all but jogging to keep up with Alaric’s long legs.
Alaric stopped suddenly. “I want you to know that after this crisis is over, we will return to Japan and do whatever we can to help Jack. I pledge you this.”
She hugged him, speechless for once, and the soul-meld flared hot between them. “You are amazing.”
“I know,” he said smugly. “You had nine orgasms.”
He started walking again, leaving her standing there in shock, face flaming hot, scanning the area for anyone who might have heard. Nobody seemed to be openly mocking her, so she ran after him and punched him in the arm, hard.
“That’s the kind of thing you don’t talk about in public,” she whispered.
“Why not? It was the best night of my life. Had I the time, I would hire the youngling with the gliding apparatus to paint a sign extolling your virtues and fly it over Atlantis,” he said solemnly, but the edge of his mouth quirked up, and she realized he was teasing her. Trying to take the edge off her worry.
That, alone, was enough to make her nearly fall over.
Sex, playfulness, teasing, and jokes. From High Priest Warrior Man. It would be the best day of her life if the vampires didn’t attack.
Alaric paused to speak to several warriors, but Quinn saw Riley strolling around the garden fountain, carrying Aidan, and she ran across the grass toward her and started talking before she even reached her sister. “Riley! We’ve got to get you somewhere safe. It may be nothing, but we’re a little worried—”
Quinn’s words fell off into a horrible gurgle when the sharp edge of a very shiny sword suddenly appeared between Riley’s breasts, barely missing the baby who lay sleeping against her shoulder. Quinn’s sister’s eyes opened very, very wide and she held Aidan out to Quinn.
“Take him. Love him. Raise him,” she whispered, and then she fell to the ground.
“I think not. I’ll take that baby,” Anubisa said, appearing as if by magic from where she was hiding behind Riley. The vampire snatched the child from Quinn’s hands with preternatural speed and flew up into the air.
Alaric screamed vengeance from behind Quinn, but he couldn’t attack without risking Anubisa harming the baby.
“Now you will see what my wrath costs, Quinn Dawson,” Anubisa said, and, terrifyingly, she didn’t sound the slightest bit crazy.
“What did you do?” Quinn asked, falling to her feet next to her sister. “What did you do? I’ll kill you!”
“I think not. I played the poor madwoman for your Ptolemy, in order to assess the extent of his power, but he’s disappeared from this dimension, hasn’t he? Would you care to tell me what happened to him?” Anubisa floated just out of Quinn’s reach, holding the baby in front of her, wearing a long white dress that looked like a shroud and would prove to be prophetic, if Quinn had anything to do with it.
Quinn rocked back and forth on the ground, devastated with grief, as she dimly heard people running toward
