by Alyssa Day
“She is not truly dead, but so close it hardly matters,” Erin said, weeping. “I want to stay with her until the end, Ven.”
A weary voice interrupted before Ven could reply. “That may not be necessary.”
Ven jerked his head up to see Daniel slowly approaching them. “I can help her, Erin. From what I hear, you need to get that ruby back to Atlantis.”
Ven raised his sword. “As if I’d trust you ever again, you traitorous—”
Erin touched his leg with her hand. “He’s telling the truth, Ven. The ruby would warn me of any dark purpose.”
He hesitated, unwilling to trust Daniel again but urgently aware of the need for haste in returning to Atlantis. Finally he nodded. “Fine. But we’ll be back to check on her. If she’s—”
“I know, warrior,” Daniel said, dropping to the ground to raise Deirdre’s head into his lap. “I know. Now go.”
Erin pressed one final kiss to her sister’s forehead, then stood, clutching the Nereid’s Heart. “Now, Ven. Something tells me we have to go now.”
An icy wind swept through the cavern at her words, and Ven smiled. “Picked a fine time to show up, Alaric. Didn’t want to get your hands dirty?”
The priest shimmered into form and raised one eyebrow. His face was pale and drawn, and he looked as though he’d aged centuries in the space of a few days. “I do what I can, Lord Vengeance. May I interest you in a portal to Atlantis?”
“Best idea you’ve had in a long time,” Ven said. “But first we have a tiger to heal.”
He took Alaric over to where Jack lay, seriously wounded but still breathing, in spite of the numerous claw and teeth marks streaming blood from his body. Alaric knelt down and held his hands over Jack’s body, and the shifter’s eyes suddenly snapped open as the healing blue-green light shimmered over his body, leaving whole skin where wounds had been.
Jack sat up, holding his head. “Why do I feel like I missed something?”
Ven held out a hand to help him to his feet. “You missed a lot. Daniel will fill you in. Find out what he did with Quinn.”
Jack bared his teeth. “He did something to Quinn?”
“It’s a long story, and we have to go.”
Ven returned to Erin and lifted her and her ruby into his arms, then shot one last look at Daniel. Alaric called his magic and the portal appeared, and they stepped into the glowing oval that would take them home.
“Home, Erin,” he murmured to her as her eyes drifted shut. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 35
The Temple of the Nereids, Atlantis
Erin and Ven stood, hands linked, and watched Riley sleep. Healthy color had returned to her cheeks as soon as Erin had added her song to the rubysong from the Nereid’s Heart and sung healing to Riley and the baby. For the past several days, Riley had spent most of her time resting, eating nutritious food, and resting some more, only grumbling a little at the constant coddling from the maidens of the Temple.
Marie smiled at Erin. “As you see, she and the baby continue to thrive. I can find no hint of any problem remaining with either of them, and the human doctor Conlan and Alaric brought to us agreed. You truly performed a miracle.”
Erin shook her head. “The rubysong was the miracle. Your Goddess performed the miracle. Knowing her sister was safe finished the job. I simply used my Gift to aid the process.”
She and Ven had chosen, at Quinn’s urgent request, not to tell Riley about the blood bond Daniel had forced on Quinn. The last thing Riley needed was more stress during her pregnancy.
Ven squeezed her hand. “Putting your life in jeopardy, facing down a master vampire, and sharing your skull with a Goddess along the way. I’d say you have nothing to be humble about.”
“I would agree,” Marie said. “And now I will leave you so that I may continue my preparations to visit my brother on the surface in this place called Florida.”
“I’m glad they let you go, Marie,” Erin said. “I hope to meet your brother someday.”
“So you shall, gem singer. As I am sure you shall lead the Temple wisely in my absence. Thank you for choosing to stay and study your Gift with us.” Marie smiled again and left them alone with Riley.
“This is the first time your brother has been away from her side since the healing,” Erin observed.
Ven flinched at the word “brother” but simply nodded. “She and the baby are his life.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Let’s leave her to sleep, Ven.”
They left the room and the Temple and wandered through the gardens with no particular destination in mind. Finally he spoke. “I am sorry that Daniel and your sister have disappeared. He left that cryptic message with Jack about ‘going deep,’ and I’m sure it means he took her somewhere safe until she can recover. He did retrieve the jeweled coffer that held the Nereid’s Heart and send it to us. Alaric was well pleased to recover the ruby that had been taken from the Trident.”
The sadness that hovered constantly at the edges of Erin’s mind washed through her. “That’s great about your jewel. And I’m trying to continue to trust Daniel, Ven. But in the end, he is a vampire, and they all seem to have hidden agendas.”
“The new drive among the vampires and the rogue shifters to form coalitions is of great concern to us, Erin. Together, they will be a more powerful foe than any we have ever faced. Yet at the same time, the ancient legends of Atlantis are awakening. Aknasha’an and gem singers walk the waters at our side. How can we fail?”
The question didn’t need a response, so Erin tightened her fingers in his and they walked for a while longer. She was content to enjoy the peace and stillness in the midst of the mingling scents of masses of flowers. Then they turned a corner on the path and a tiny gazebo, much like the one she’d accidentally lifted Ven onto during her last visit to Atlantis, came into view. She grinned up at him. “I promise not to put you on the roof if you tell me what you’re thinking about.”
A trace of a smile crossed his expression, but quickly faded. “I’m thinking about Justice and his sacrifice for me.”
“For us,” she said. “He did it for us, so that we could have each other. Don’t doubt him for a second. He put on that show to convince her to let us go.”
“I know. But that makes it harder to bear. I won’t rest until I find him and rescue him, Erin, even if it takes the rest of my life.”
She gazed up at the strong, proud face she’d come to love so well. “I know that. I’d expect no less.”
“I love you more than I have ever loved a living being, but I cannot ask you to wed with this task hanging over my head, Erin. It would be unfair.” He rasped out the words, as if they’d been wrenched from the deepest corners of his soul. As if everything in him fought against saying them.
Just like everything in her fought against hearing them.
She considered and rejected responses for several minutes, while he stood next to her, his hands clenched at his sides. Finally she found the perfect answer and flashed him her most brilliant smile.
“So you’re unfair. Add it to the list. You’re not getting out of marrying me that easily.”
His face lit up with savage joy. “That’s getting to be a very long list, my beloved gem singer witch. It’s going to take us a lifetime to work our way through it.”
“I love you, and Atlantis is beginning to feel like home. So a lifetime sounds just about right,” she mused, and then his lips stopped hers from saying anything else for a very long time. When he finally lifted his head, she smiled and realized she was right. She’d finally come home. The future might hold darkness, but Ven would be her light.
Atlantis had awakened, and she was reborn.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Aknasha—empath; one who can feel the emotions of others and, usually, send her own emotions into the minds and hearts of others, as well. There have been no aknasha’an in the recorded history of Atlantis for more than ten thousand years.
Atlanteans—a race s
eparate from humans, descended directly from a mating between Poseidon and one of the Nereids, whose name is lost in time. Atlanteans inherited some of the gifts of their ancestors: the ability to control all elements except fire—especially water; the ability to transform to mist and travel in that manner; and superhuman strength and agility. Ancient scrolls hint at other powers, as well, but these are either lost to the passage of time or dormant in present-day Atlanteans.
Atlantis—the Seven Isles of Atlantis were driven beneath the sea during a mighty cataclysm of earthquakes and volcanic activity that shifted the tectonic plates of the Earth more than eleven thousand years ago. The ruling prince of the largest isle, also called Atlantis, ascends to serve as high king to all seven isles, though each are ruled by the lords of the individual isle’s ruling house.
Blood pride—a master vampire’s created vampires.
Landwalkers—Atlantean term for humans.
The Seven—the elite guard of the high prince or king of Atlantis. Many of the rulers of the other six isles have formed their own guard of seven in imitation of this tradition.
Shape-shifters—a species who started off as humans, but were cursed to transform into animals each full moon. Many shape-shifters can control the change during other times of the month, but newly initiated shape-shifters cannot. Shape-shifters have superhuman strength and speed and can live for more than three hundred years, if not injured or killed. They have a longstanding blood feud against the vampires, but old alliances and enemies are shifting.
Thought-mining—the Atlantean ability, long lost, to sift through another’s mind and memories to gather information.
Vampires—an ancient race descended from the incestuous mating of the god Chaos and his daughter, Anubisa, goddess of the night. They are voracious for political intrigue and the amassing of power and are extremely long-lived. Vampires have the ability to dematerialize and teleport themselves long distances, but not over large bodies of water.
Warriors of Poseidon—warriors sworn to the service of Poseidon and the protection of humanity. They all bear Poseidon’s mark on their bodies.