Heart Of Atlantis (21 page)

“Yes. It’s a new development,” Alaric said tersely. “I’ll explain later, if we survive this.”

It was a very big
if
.

When he reached the palace, it was to find Conlan attempting to destroy the throne room, using his royal sword to smash his throne into shards of wood, gems, and precious metals, while Ven tried in vain to stop him. Conlan’s shirt was loose, and his back was wet with the sweat of exertion, so he’d been at it for some time. The high prince whirled to face Alaric.

“Alaric? Do you have the stone?” Conlan pointed the sword at him. “Where is it? We need to get out of here and find Riley and Aidan and the others. Did you hear from them?”

“We need to find them,
now
,” Ven said, his eyes wild.

“And I thought I was the only one going mad,” Alaric said, calmly enough for a man who’d managed to lose the woman with whom he’d soul-melded. Even as he thought it, he realized Conlan and Ven were in the exact same situation.

“We will find them again,” he told them. “Healthy and whole. I swear it.”

Or he would destroy the entire world.

But they need not know he held on to sanity by only the slenderest of threads.

“We need—” Ven began again, and then the godsdamned portal decided to materialize in the middle of the throne room.

“You have
need
?”

And it dumped out a precious cargo, indeed: Keely and Eleni walked out, followed by Erin, and then Riley holding Aidan.

As Conlan dropped the sword and ran to embrace his family, and Ven did the same with Erin, Alaric watched the portal, hoping without cause for one final traveler, but it again vanished before he could reach it.

“You’re defective,” Keely shouted after it, and he noticed that, oddly enough, her nose was sunburned. Her entire face, actually.

“Where were you?”

Riley looked a little embarrassed, but she held up Aidan for everyone to see, which was tough since Conlan was holding his family so close. When she finally managed to squirm free, Alaric saw that the baby was wearing a shirt that said
ALOHA
.

“You were in Hawaii?” Ven swung Erin around and then put her down. “Hawaii? While we were here going out of our minds?”

“Like we had a choice. What? You think we were surfing?” she snapped. “We were going crazy wondering what was happening back here. Is it fixed?”

“Not hardly,” Conlan announced grimly. “In fact, the Trident is worse.”

“So why did it bring them back? So we can all die together?” Ven tightened his hold on Erin. “We were better off before.”

“Nobody is going to die today,” Alaric said. “I’m going to the temple now, to determine how I can help reinforce the Trident’s containment, and then I will find Quinn if I have to blow up the portal to do it.”

He ignored their barrage of questions, left the palace, and raced for the temple, traveling as mist, sparing a thought for what Marcus and the others would make of Faust. Hopefully the boy hadn’t set anybody on fire. Alaric flew up the temple steps and transformed back into his body as he reached the Trident’s room, where Myrken and several of the acolytes slumped outside the doorway, their faces white with strain and exhaustion.

“We’re still holding it, my lord,” Myrken said. “It’s just easier to do while sitting down. Lord Christophe is inspecting the dome for further damage, but he still lends his support, as does Lady Serai.”

“I’m here, at least for now. Go get some sleep. You all look like you need it, and you certainly deserve it.”

Alaric headed for the door, preparing his magic for the barrage he was sure he’d find inside. He wasn’t disappointed. The Trident was putting on quite a show, bucking and twisting in its protective barrier like a wild animal trying to escape—almost like it sensed its final gem was missing.

Could this be due to Poseidon’s Pride leaving for a demonic dimension outside the Trident’s range?

“I, too, want to find that gem for you,” he told it.

He realized he was wasting time talking to an inanimate object. He called to his new, more powerful magic, and found that its force had intensified by a hundredfold now that he was in Atlantis. He funneled quite a bit of it into stabilizing the Trident and the dome, until slowly, bit by bit, the Trident slowed its gyrations and floated down to its cushion and lay still.

At least temporarily.

Myrken staggered into the room, holding his head. “My lord? Was that you? I have never felt such power—”

“I’ll explain later,” Alaric said, yet again.

Then he tried one more time to reach the portal.

“I call to you, spirit of the portal who has taken Gailea’s place,” Alaric said, as respectfully as he could manage. “I have
need
. Come and get me. Now.”

But, yet again, the damned portal didn’t seem inclined to answer.

He probably shouldn’t have threatened to choke it to death.

Chapter 26

Big Cypress National Panther Preserve headquarters, Florida

The portal spirit, who up until just a few days previously, when a killer wave had lived up to its name, had been a surfing champion named Danny, was a little drunk on his new power and self-righteously determined to carry out Poseidon’s instructions. After all, the sea god had saved him from a broken neck and subsequent drowning and transported him to this new,
awesome
reality. Dude was wicked amped, for a mythological divinity and all. Said he needed
new blood
in the portal, now that Atlantis was rising.

Atlantis. How massively bitchin’ is that?

The spirit concentrated on Florida, specifically the panther headquarters, and flashed his lovely new oval shape into existence in the center of the room, where a meeting had been taking place.

The room’s occupants, who included two panther shifters and one Atlantean warrior, all stared at the portal with varying degrees of surprise.

“Expecting company?” the warrior called Bastien asked the male shifter, Ethan.

The portal spirit stretched its dimensions a bit; after all, Bastien was nearly seven feet tall with very broadly muscled shoulders. He might not fit in so easily.

Ethan stood up eagerly. “No, but Marie doesn’t always let me know when she’s coming.”

He looked disappointed when his mate Marie, whom the spirit knew to be Bastien’s sister, didn’t appear. This was sad, but the spirit knew it would be soon resolved.

The woman shifter, Kat, Bastien’s mate, looked puzzled. “Is it here for you?”

The Atlantean shook his head. “No, I didn’t call it, and nobody seems to be coming through. I wonder—”

“You have
need
,” the portal spirit said happily, and sucked them all into its vortex and off to Atlantis, chortling to itself. A shape-shifter had never before set foot in Atlantis. This was going to be interesting.

Somewhere in the wilds of Montana, at a secret rebel training facility

The portal spirit watched as Atlantean warrior Alexios and his mate, Grace, descendant of the moon goddess Diana, who was also known as Artemis, sparred in a demonstration bout. She was quite obviously pregnant, but it didn’t hamper her in any way, although Alexios was careful that his practice sword never came anywhere near her. They were fluid in all of their movements; a study in perfect symmetry and deadly intent. When they finished their demonstration, they simultaneously turned in neat half circles and bowed, and then gestured to their students to pair off and spar.

It was lovely and so exciting to watch, but the portal spirit had no time for frivolous distractions. It had a mission to perform. Materializing in the middle of the sparring ring, it spoke its mantra:

“You have
need
.”

Then it swept Grace and Alexios off to Atlantis.

The Fae lands, home to the princess Maeve

The portal spirit had to work much harder to open his new magic inside the Summerlands, but he was determined, and he had the power of right and
need
on his side. He found the crystal clear pool he’d been seeking, and the Atlantean warrior sitting half in and half out of the water, with a naked Fae princess on his lap.

The portal spirit cheered up considerably at the sight of her, but she and the Atlantean warrior, Denal, looked rather sad.

“I’m sorry but it’s time for me to go,” Denal said. “I’ve enjoyed these three years, perhaps more than any other three in my life, but I don’t know how much time has passed outside of your enchanted lands, and my people might need me.”

“They take advantage of you,” the princess said, with real regret. “But since I cannot convince you to stay, I will allow you to leave, so we do not lose our friendship in a less than amicable parting.”

“You are as wise as you are lovely, Maeve,” Denal said.

“You have
need
,” the portal spirit said, and it took Denal, and only Denal, to Atlantis.

Boston, inside the offices of a major newspaper

The portal spirit watched Atlantean warrior Brennan as he laughed with his mate while they opened cartons and prepared to eat some really awesome-looking Chinese food. The spirit missed food, but in an abstract kind of way. He’d always loved egg rolls.

He knew the history here, just like he’d absorbed everybody else’s story when Poseidon turned him into a magic doorway. After a terrible curse had forced Brennan to live for thousands of years with no emotion, he’d found his one true love and broken the curse by her death.

Tiernan didn’t look any the worse for wear, luckily, even though she’d been the one who died. Big win for CPR.

“You have
need
,” the portal spirit told them, before taking them and their food to Atlantis.

Paris, France, in the penthouse suite of a very luxurious hotel

Lady Serai, who was smoking hot for an honest-to-goodness Atlantean princess from eleven
thousand
years ago, sat slumped in a fancy chair while the vampire she loved massaged her feet. Dudes seriously did
not
stay in any Motel 6.

“You can’t keep this up,” Daniel said, frowning. “The power drain is killing you. Do you have any update on what’s happening now?”

“Alaric just arrived, and he brought some enormous source of new power with him,” she said, her eyes wide. “It’s as if his magical abilities have quadrupled or even more. We might have a chance to save Atlantis. I need to be there, Daniel.”

“You have
need
,” the portal spirit agreed, and it carried them gently to Atlantis. Lady Serai was royalty, after all.