Atlantis Rising

hours. Neither Quinn nor Riley would speak to him on the drive back to the house, and Quinn had fallen asleep almost immediately upon their arrival. Riley sat, unmoving, in a chair near her sister's bed, as she had all afternoon.

Alaric was still missing.

He'd sent Bastien on patrol, to see what he could sniff out, while Christophe used his freakishly genius ways on the internet to hack into any local media networks he could find.

Ven had gone to track down a contact in the local shape-shifter population, Alexios with him. Maybe there would be news of what exactly a local pack of wolves was doing messing with Reisen and his men.

Although, knowing Reisen, it was the other way around. The House of Mycenae wasn't exactly subtle about their feelings that the only good shape-shifter was a dead one.

Brennan paced by on the grass outside the window, standing guard, and sketched a salute toward him, then pointed up. So Justice had taken up a position on the roof. Good.

Denal sat on the floor outside Riley and Quinn's room, daggers at the ready. He was taking his duty as Riley's self-professed champion and defender very seriously.

Even, to Conlan's amusement and consternation, as regarded his prince.

'She doesn't want to speak to you now, my lord,' Denal had said, white-faced—probably at his own audacity—but firm, standing in front of the door to the bedroom.

Conlan had nodded his head, acquiescing.

For the moment.

But he'd leaned close to his young warrior and spoken quietly. 'You serve her well, Denal. But know this. If I wanted to go to her now, neither you nor any force of nature itself would stop me. Remember that in the future.'

Denal, to his credit, hadn't backed down. But Conlan had heard the explosive exhalation of breath as he'd walked away from the room and its guard.

Conlan closed his eyes and tried to reach out to Riley, but her mental shields were still locked into place. Then he sent a summoning on the shared Atlantean mental path. Alaric, where are you? We need you, priest.

It was nearly nine-thirty by the time Quinn woke up. Denal, camped out at her door, had tried to persuade Riley to eat something several times, but the sight of Quinn lying near death in the middle of some kind of supernatural über-battle had ruined her appetite.

Quinn lay sprawled out on her back, arms flung wide, the same way she'd always slept. As Riley stared at her, Quinn's eyes fluttered open.

'Riley?' she whispered, voice hoarse. 'Where are we?'

'You fell asleep in the car, Quinn,' Riley said, leaning forward to grasp her sister's hand. 'We're in a house that belongs to Conlan's brother, Ven.'

Quinn squeezed her hand—a brief pressure—and struggled to sit up. She looked down at her shoulder. She still wore the ruined shirt she'd had on when she'd been shot. 'What happened, Riley? Who was that man, and how did he heal my shoulder?'

'I'm not exactly sure how he heals, Quinn. His name is Alaric, and he—'

'Alaric,' Quinn broke in, eyes widening. 'I knew it. Somehow, I knew that was his name. It's almost as if he talked to me when he was inside me.'

'Inside you?'

'Yes. I could feel him working inside me to heal my shoulder. It was the strangest thing. Almost as if a ball of energy—blues and greens and silver, but with darkness shadowing it—was literally traveling inside my skin.'

Quinn shook her head, then shoved dark curls out of her eyes. 'Or am I just losing my mind?' she asked, anguish clear in her eyes.

'You're not losing your mind. I've been through almost the same experience with Conlan. There is something amazingly different about these Atlanteans. I can reach into their emotions on a level far deeper than I've ever done with anyone except you, Quinn.'

Riley jumped up and started pacing the length of the small room. 'And they can feel my emotions, as well, to a certain extent. This is almost unbelievable, but Conlan can read my mind, at times. He… I don't know how to describe it. It's beyond anything I've ever felt.'

Riley turned toward Quinn at the sound of her low whistle. Quinn stared at her, searching her face with her gaze. 'What's that tone in your voice, Riley? I haven't heard that tone from you since college. No, maybe never. Do you have feelings for this guy?'

Riley's face burned, and she ducked her head, but not before Quinn had seen it. 'I don't know. I don't know what I feel, except that I've been inside his mind, Quinn. And I've never seen anything like it—I've never felt anything like it.'

She crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed next to her sister. 'He saved me. He saved me from some thugs on the beach who would have raped me or worse. Then he saved me—well, we sort of saved each other— from a band of vampires who went batshit on my front lawn.'

Riley grabbed Quinn's hand again, held on as if to a lifeline. 'I've seen inside him. The pain—I don't know how anyone could have survived the torture I saw in his memories.'

'Another stray animal you want to bring home?'

'Want to bring home,' Riley mused. 'The want part is certainly true. I—I can't believe I'm admitting this, but we have this amazing animal attraction thing going on. I want him more than I've ever wanted anything or anyone in my life.'

She shook her head. 'It's completely nuts.'

Quinn pulled her hand out of Riley's and grabbed her sister by the shoulders, then gave her a little shake. 'Are you—and I ask this in the nicest possible way—out of your tiny little mind? How long have you known this guy? It seems like I would've heard from you a little earlier, if you'd been dating Mr. Hotshot Atlantis Dude for very long.'

Riley shook her head. 'We're not even dating. I only met him last night. And yet I know him more than I've ever known anyone. Except for you. And when we're together, well—'

Quinn whistled again. 'You don't even have to say it, little sister. I can tell by the color your face just turned that you and he set off some serious heat. Did you sleep with him?'

'No! I didn't! I just met him. But, well.' Riley bit her lip, considering. 'Okay, here it is. If I'd had a chance, I probably would have. I've never felt that kind of attraction to any man. Ever.'

She stopped midthought. 'Wait a minute! Forget my nonexistent sex life. We're talking about you here. What on earth were you doing with a band of shape-shifters? And what is this tough-guy act? It's not like you're… I mean—'

'I know what you mean. Poor, fragile Quinn, who everybody always has to protect,' Quinn said bitterly. 'Well, sometimes you have to grow up. And I didn't bother to let anybody know that I'd changed, because being weak and useless is a good cover. Think Zorro or the Scarlet Pimpernel.'

'But when… what…' Riley's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure how to ask her sister what needed to be asked.

She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

'Later. I'll tell you about it later. Maybe.' Quinn stared at her for a long moment, then swung her legs off the bed and bent to pull on her boots. 'You're better than I ever was at measuring the character of a person by their emotions, Riley. So I guess I'll take your word about this Conlan. But only on the condition that I get to test him myself.'

A knock on the door saved Riley from responding. 'Go away, Denal. I told you I don't want any food,' she called.

The door swung open, framing Conlan in the doorway. 'It's not Denal, and as much as I think you should eat something, it's more important that we talk. I need to know what your sister knows.'

Riley tried to see behind him to the hallway. 'Where is Denal? I thought he'd never leave.'

Conlan shrugged. 'I think Ven might be holding him upside down out a window right about now. He seems to have forgotten that I'm his high prince, in his zeal to serve you.'