by Alyssa Day
All around him and on top of him and even somehow underneath him, the vampires exploded, not into their usual acidic slime but into fountains of clear, pure water.
He raised his head with the last of his energy and looked around and saw that everywhere the same thing was happening. Miniature geysers of pure water sprang up wherever a vampire had stood. Last to go was Gultep’can himself, who screamed his defiance to the very end.
“Some grand gesture,” Justice said, his head thumping to the ground as his neck could no longer support the weight of it. He turned toward the small hill and saw Keely, his beloved Keely, glowing like a flame. She had her arms around Eleni, but she was starting down the hill toward him.
So they lived. They both lived. It was enough.
Justice smiled a little, full of regret but also content. He’d saved them.
It was enough.
Chapter 41
Keely stood in awe as the vampires exploded, one after another, into beautiful whirlpools of silvery blue water. Justice had done it somehow. She knew it.
Then she saw him, lying on the ground, so bloody that it was impossible that he still lived. She started downhill, picking up pace until she was running, barely even noticing that Eleni ran behind her.
“Justice! Don’t you dare die on me! You have to live. You have to live for me!” She kept yelling meaningless nonsense all the way down the hill, until finally she skidded to a stop in front of him and fell to the ground.
At first she thought he was dead, and pain knifed through her so intensely that she doubled over from the force of it. Then she saw his head move, just a fraction of a centimeter, but it was a movement.
“Please, please, please, come back to me,” she begged, stroking the top of his head, which seemed to be the only uninjured part of his entire body.
Alejandro ran up to them. “Is he—”
“No!” Keely shouted. “No, he is not. And don’t you dare say it!”
“Keely, you should take Eleni back to the village,” Alejandro said, kindness and sympathy warm in his voice. “There is nothing we can do for him. That one gash is so deep, it must have cut into his lungs.”
“No. I won’t leave him. You take Eleni back.” She kissed Eleni’s forehead to reassure the girl, as much as she could be reassured after an experience like this. “I’ll come back for you. But right now I must be with Justice so he’s not alone.” Her voice broke and she hugged Eleni, her bitter tears falling into the girl’s hair.
Alejandro spoke again, but somehow this time it was not Alejandro. Keely didn’t know how she knew this, but she did. She jerked her head up to stare at Alejandro, who suddenly seemed to shine with silvery light.
“I CHOSE WELL WHEN I GIFTED MY SWORD TO JUSTICE,” thundered a voice that held all the power, glory, and mystery of the seas.
“Poseidon?” Keely knew. She’d heard that voice before, in her visions.
“YES, OBJECT READER. I AM THE SEA GOD WHO CLAIMS THIS WARRIOR AS MY OWN. KNOW ALL PRESENT THAT NOW THE SWORD THAT FULFILLED ITS DUTY SO WELL AT HIS HAND SHALL SERVE TO HEAL ITS WIELDER.”
The silvery light spread from Alejandro and formed an iridescent dome over Justice, Keely, and Eleni, and the icy cold of the ocean depths suddenly seared through her skin and bones. Eleni gasped and huddled closer to Keely, burying her face in Keely’s shirt.
Justice’s sword, lying nearby, lit up. The sigils on the blade glowed with a silvery fire so bright that they all had to shield their eyes. After long moments, the glare that filtered through Keely’s eyelids faded and she dared to sneak a narrow-eyed glance.
The light was gone. Alejandro still stood frozen, unmoving, but the light was gone.
“I like it not that I nearly died, and my woman is already looking at another man,” Justice said, amusement in his husky tone.
She whipped her head around, almost afraid to look. What she saw made her cry out in wonder. Justice sat up, whole and uninjured. Even the blood that had coated him was gone.
“You . . . you . . . you—” she stuttered, then threw herself into his arms.
“That’s more like it,” he said, then caught her lips in a soul-melting kiss. It was a kiss infused with heat and wonder and awe, and it lasted a very long time.
“SO,” the voice like thunder said, startling them out of their embrace. “YOU HAVE CHOSEN WELL IN YOUR WOMAN, BUT TELL HER TO KEEP HER HANDS OFF MY TRIDENT. SOME SECRETS ARE TOO VIOLENT FOR AN OBJECT READER TO EVER KNOW AND SURVIVE.”
Justice stood up, pulling Keely to her feet beside him, and he lifted Eleni into his arms. “What was it?” he asked Alejandro, who was not Alejandro. “Was it a test? After these hundreds of years of loyal service, you test me now and put my woman and these innocents in such great danger?”
“IT WAS NOT I WHO PUT THEM IN SUCH DANGER, BUT IT WAS FOR YOU TO PROTECT THEM. POSEIDON’S FURY IS MINE TO GIVE AND MINE TO RECLAIM, AND EVERY FIVE CENTURIES I DECIDE WHO SHALL HOLD IT AND PASS IT DOWN.”
The sea god’s voice was haughty beyond arrogance, commanding beyond dispute. Keely supposed that, being a sea god, it came with the territory.
“Thank you,” she said, not knowing if it was allowed for her to talk to Poseidon, but needing to say it. “Thank you for his life.”
“YOU GAVE HIM HIS LIFE, DR. KEELY McDERMOTT OF THE LAND OF OHIO. I SIMPLY HEALED A FEW WOUNDS.”
Poseidon held up Alejandro’s arms and glanced down at his body. “THIS ONE IS STRONG. I WOULD NOT HAVE MINDED HAVING ONE SUCH AS HE IN MY WARRIORS,” he said, and it was so odd to hear and see it that Keely almost laughed, but figured that might be some kind of blasphemy.
“ENOUGH. I MUST GO NOW,” Poseidon decreed. “BUT FIRST, ONE FINAL THING.”
He reached out with one of Alejandro’s hands and touched Eleni’s face. “YOU WILL GROW UP TO BE VERY WISE, YOUNGLING, AND A COUNSELOR TO KINGS. MIND THAT YOU REMEMBER THAT.”
She laughed and clapped. “Can I come play with the dolphins with you, Señor Sea God?”
Poseidon’s laughter rang in the air. “MOST DEFINITELY, YOUNGLING. MOST DEFINITELY.”
Alejandro stumbled, then looked around wildly, raising his shotgun. “What? What happened? Where is he?”
Justice tightened his arm around Keely. “Now we get some rest, and then we get to work.”
“Work?” She had no idea what he was talking about.
“The Star, Keely. We must find the Star of Artemis and take it back to Atlantis.”
“The Star,” she repeated. “You know, I’d almost forgotten about it.”
Deep voices sounded from inside the temple, and they all reacted instantly, going for weapons. When Ven, Conlan, and Alaric appeared at the entrance, they were greeted by several shotguns and a sword pointed directly at them.
Keely smiled a little, remembering another surprise entrance. Turnabout was only fair play.
“We thought we’d lend a hand,” Ven said cheerfully. “But it looks like you’ve got things well under control.”
Alejandro, shotgun pointed at Conlan’s head, glanced at Justice. “Do you know these men, or shall I propose another barter?”
Justice laughed. “No, my friend. These men are . . . my family.”
Alaric gave them that narrow-eyed stare. “Much more has happened here than is apparent at this time, I think.”
Conlan inclined his head. “I think you’re right. Does anybody want to tell us what in the hells has been going on here?”
Justice and Keely started laughing like loons, and the three Atlanteans looked at them as though they were crazy.
“I’ll tell you the story of San Bartolo and the league of extraordinarily vicious vampires,” Justice told his brothers and Alaric, when he could finally speak. “We’ll have food, rest, and talk. And then we’ll all come back here and find the Star.”
“The Star of Artemis is here? We will find it now,” Alaric commanded.
“Justice almost died,” Keely told him with some asperity. “The Star has been safely buried in th
at rock for thousands of years. One more night isn’t going to hurt it.”
Alaric started to respond, but Conlan held up a hand. “No, she is right. At this time, I find that I would like to have a meal with my brother and his woman.”
Justice clenched his jaw and fierce emotion shone in his dark eyes, but Ven held up his hands in mock protest. “Oh, hells no, Brother, don’t call her his woman.”
Keely lifted her face and kissed Justice’s jaw, then smiled at Ven. “It’s okay. I surrender. Since even the sea god himself called me Justice’s woman, I’ve decided to just go with it.”
Justice flashed her a look of such powerful love and acceptance that her knees nearly went weak. It was a look of belonging—a look of home. “Mi amara, you are mine and I am yours. Forever.”
“Forever,” she said.
Then, holding Eleni and each other, they led the way to food and rest.
Epilogue
Two weeks later, San Bartolo
Keely walked out of the temple into the bright afternoon sunshine and smiled at the sight of Justice playing catch with Eleni in the clearing. Her big, tough warrior was a softie where the child was concerned.
“You will work with us on this?” Señor Hector asked. As Guatemalan director of archaeological affairs, he was thrilled that the vampires were gone from the site and anxious to resume work.
“No, I’m sorry, but since the head of my department mysteriously disappeared, I have a lot to do back at Ohio State. Plus, I have another project in mind,” she said. “I’m sure you and the original team will have a wonderfully exciting time, though. Please do be sure to keep me updated so I can hear all about it.”
He nodded and hurried off to supervise the members of his staff who were unpacking the tools and supplies. She headed for Justice, her smile growing every step of the way.
“Are you two kids having fun?”
Justice lifted her into the air and swung her around. “Do you want to play?” he said silkily, his eyes going dark and very intent. She could always tell when her man had sex on the brain.
Of course, it was almost all the time, so maybe it wasn’t all that impressive, as psychic talents went.
“Later,” she said, laughing. “Now put me down.”
He did, after kissing her breathless.
“When will Alejandro be back?”
Justice tossed the ball to Eleni, who promptly dropped it and ran off to chat with the grad students. She was slowly blossoming, in spite of everything she’d been through, and Keely hoped that time, that great cure, would help to eventually give her a normal, happy childhood, and that the shadows in Eleni’s eyes would one day disappear. Now that they’d begun the process to officially adopt her, which she’d been assured would be considered with all speed, taking into account the best interests of the child and the great service Keely and Justice had performed for the people of Peten, Eleni was finally starting to believe that she would really have a new home and family.
A few days earlier, she had come to them and asked them to help her bury the slipper and hold a memorial service, just the three of them, for her lost mother. Keely had cried right along with Eleni after they put flowers on the tiny mound of dirt and said good-bye to Mama in heaven with Papa. Even Justice had had a few tears trailing down his face. He’d told Eleni that no brave warrior should ever be afraid to show her feelings, and that she honored her mother with her tears. Keely hoped that the ceremony had brought some measure of peace to the child so that the healing process could begin.
“Alejandro is still in training to lead the P Ops team that will guard the site,” Justice said. “He should be back in a week or so, but we’ll be gone by then.”
“What about Alaric? What did he say when he examined your mind?” The thought of it still made her shudder, but she supposed it was better than what she’d gone through as a child. One short session versus years of psychoanalysis and drugs.
He shrugged. “He can’t figure me out; the duality of my soul is too strange to him. Mostly I think he’s just going to leave me alone.”
She hugged him. “Sounds like the perfect resolution to me. Speaking of resolutions, are you ready?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. As ready as I’m ever going to be.”
Keely glanced across the clearing and met Señor Hector’s eyes and she nodded. He looked somber, but he nodded in return. They were all set.
Hand in hand, Justice and Keely entered the temple and walked up to the breathtaking mural. Even though they’d seen it so many times, it still inspired awe and wonder.
“That people living so long ago could create such beauty in the middle of building their civilization,” Keely said. “It astonishes and humbles me.”
“Wait till you see more of Atlantis,” Justice said, grinning. “It’s going to rock your world.”
She laughed. “Always one for breaking a mood, aren’t you? Anyway, you rock my world.”
Turning serious, she pointed to a small crevice in the mural, directly in the center of the eye of one of the fish. “This is it. I’ve excavated enough for you to use your water power to gently sluice it out with a minimum of damage.”
“Still can’t believe Hector went along with this. Or that Alaric and Conlan put up with the delay.”
“Well, Hector kind of owed us,” she said. “Without you, they’d never have gotten access to this site again. And don’t get me started on Alaric.”
He called water, and a thin, delicate stream spiraled through the air and into the crevice with the precision of a scalpel in the hands of a master surgeon. They waited, holding their breath, and within a minute or two that lasted forever, a shimmer of something appeared at the mouth of the crevice.
She cupped her gloved hands underneath the opening and water poured into them, followed by a golf ball-sized sapphire that gleamed with the brightness of a lovers’ moon.
“Oh, Justice,” she whispered. “It’s so beautiful. The Star of Artemis. At long last.”
“I still cannot believe Conlan and Alaric did not forcibly smash through the mural and take the Star,” Justice said, his lips quirking at the memory of that argument.
“Well, they owed you one, too,” she said fiercely.
“And you are so quick to defend me, mi amara.”
She held out the Star. “Now we can discover what it really does. If it heals fractured minds.”
He stared down at it for a long time, then slowly shook his head. “No, my love. My mind is no longer fractured, and I have no desire to perhaps learn that the Star would rend me in two again.”
He leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. “Your love has healed everything that was broken in me, and I have no need of this rock. Now or ever.”
Keely touched her necklace and closed her hand around the tiny fish. “I can’t believe that this little fish showed me the face of the man who would become my universe. You’ve healed everything that was broken in me, too. I cannot imagine a life without you. Now or ever.”
Their words carried the resonance of vows. Keely realized that centuries of battle, honor, and courage, combined with the horrors of his childhood, had unleashed not only one but two beasts in Justice. Now, through the power of their love, the beasts were joined together to form one whole. The man she would love forever.
She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him, the promise of an eternity of love on her lips. Seconds or minutes or hours later, Eleni’s impatient voice came from the entrance to the temple.
“Come on, already,” she demanded. “I want to play ball, please.”
Laughing, Keely and Justice pulled apart and, hand in hand, walked out into the sunlight, toward their child and their future, together.
Turn the page for a special preview
of the next book in the
Warriors of Poseidon series
ATLANTIS UNMASKED
By Alyssa Day
Available July 2009 from Berkley Sensation!
Leavi
ng regional rebel headquarters, St. Louis
“It’s almost impossible to shoot a bow while driving.”
Grace Havilland clenched her fingers around the steering wheel of the Jeep and waited for the Atlantean warrior riding shotgun to respond to what she thought had been her very reasonable point.
Waited. Waited a little longer. She’d met Alexios months ago and seen him sporadically since, but she’d never been in such a small space with him. It felt like being trapped in a cage with a lion that’d just eaten a full meal. Deadly, dangerous, and exhilarating, but maybe—just maybe—you’d live through it.
Unless he suddenly felt like a snack.
She wrenched the wheel to the left when she saw the deceptive DEAD END sign appear in the headlights and then took the deserted side street. Alexios finally turned to face her, his golden hair brushing the tops of his shoulders and sweeping forward to hide the scarred left side of his face. Reinforcing the lion imagery so strongly she flinched a little.
He raised a single eyebrow.
“The sign keeps people out,” she explained. “HQ escape route and a shortcut to the hospital. Since we’re a little behind everyone else, I wanted to catch up.”
A weak but warm voice floated up from the backseat. “Shortcut would be good.”
“How are you doing, Michelle?” Grace asked, not daring to look over her shoulder at this rate of speed.
“Well enough, considering that nasty vampire nearly ripped my head from my neck. Lucky for me that your dishy Alaric popped in with the magic healing powers. My first mission with you Americans and the rebel headquarters gets attacked. Bit of a bad penny, me.”
Alexios made a strangled snorting sound. “Dishy Alaric. Now there’s something I bet he’s never heard in his nearly five hundred years. Alaric, the dishy high priest of Poseidon’s Temple.” In spite of the rich, dark amusement in his voice, he never once quit scanning every inch of the deserted street as they raced through it. Always on guard. Always alert.