Atlantis Unmasked Read online

  Atlantis Unmasked

  Alyssa Day

  Penguin Group USA

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Rome, 202 B.C.

  GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  “A PHENOMENAL NEW SERIES.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Alyssa Day works her own brand of sexy sorcery

  in this fabulous new paranormal series.

  Warriors and witches have never been so hot!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Teresa Medeiros

  “There’s nothing more evocative than the

  world of Atlantis.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter

  Praise for

  ATLANTIS AWAKENING

  “Fascinating, thrilling, and deeply romantic. The perfect blend of fabulous world-building and sexy romantic adventure.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Jayne Castle

  “Alyssa Day’s Atlantis is flat-out amazing—her sexy and heroic characters make me want to beg for more! I love the complex world she’s created!”

  —National bestselling author Alexis Morgan

  “The legend comes to life. Alyssa Day’s superb writing, fascinating characters, and edge-of-your-seat story bring the legend of Atlantis to life. I cannot wait until the next installment.” —Award-winning author Colby Hodge

  ATLANTIS RISING

  “Alyssa Day creates an amazing and astonishing world in Atlantis Rising you’ll want to visit again and again. Atlantis Rising is romantic, sexy, and utterly compelling. I loved it!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan

  “The Poseidon Warriors are HOT!! Can I have one?”

  —New York Times bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks

  “Alyssa Day’s characters grab you and take you on a whirlwind adventure. I haven’t been so captivated by characters or story in a long time. Enjoy the ride!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Susan Squires

  “Alyssa Day has penned a white-hot winner!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter

  “Wow! Alyssa Day writes a marvelous paranormal romance set on earth.”—USA Today bestselling author Susan Kearney

  “Inventive and electrifying. An exhilarating new series!”

  —Romantic Times

  “Alyssa Day roars onto the paranormal scene with this tense and magnetic read.”—Romance Junkies

  “Fascinating and intriguing . . . Fantastic reinvention of Atlantis.”—Huntress Reviews

  “Breathtaking paranormal romance.”—Fresh Fiction

  “Wow! What a spectacular series opener . . . The love scenes are sizzling hot.”—OnceUponARomance.net

  “The world-building is superb . . . The Warriors of Poseidon are a sexy, chivalrous, and dangerous team [who] create an atmosphere of testosterone so thick you can cut it with a knife; the interaction between this brawny bunch is priceless.” —ParaNormal Romance Reviews

  “A cast of sexy but tormented alpha heroes.”

  —The Romance Reader

  THE WARRIORS OF POSEIDON SERIES BY ALYSSA DAY

  Atlantis Rising

  High Prince Conlan’s Story

  “Wild Hearts in Atlantis” from Wild Thing

  Bastien’s Story

  Atlantis Awakening

  Lord Vengeance’s Story

  “Shifter’s Lady” from Shifter

  Ethan’s Story

  Atlantis Unleashed

  Lord Justice’s Story

  Atlantis Unmasked

  Alexios’s Story

  Don’t miss Atlantis Redeemed, Brennan’s story,

  and Atlantis Betrayed, Christophe’s story,

  coming soon from Berkley Sensation!

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  ATLANTIS UNMASKED

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / July 2009

  Copyright © 2009 by Alesia Holliday.

  Excerpt from Atlantis Redeemed copyright © 2009 by Alesia Holliday.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-08079-5

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  This one is for the military families everywhere who watch and wait and worry while their loved ones are far away: I hope that reading it offers a little respite, a bit of escape, and perhaps a laugh or two. You deserve it, and I’m right there with you, pacing the floors at 2 A.M. during this deployment. May we all find happily ever after.

  And, always, to Judd, Computer Boy, and Princess. My heroes.

  Oh, and my apologies to any and all historical societies involved in any way with the city of St. Augustine, Florida, and the Fort Castillo de San Marcos. As far as I know, shape-shifting panthers have never attacked a rebel base there. For everyone else, trust me when
I say you’re going to want to visit.

  It’s spectacular.

  And when you’re there, stop by my friend Pam Cross’s restaurant, the Bunnery. You’ll be glad you did.

  The Warrior’s Creed

  We will wait. And watch. And protect.

  And serve as first warning on the eve of humanity’s destruction.

  Then, and only then, Atlantis will rise.

  For we are the Warriors of Poseidon, and the mark of the Trident we bear serves as witness to our sacred duty to safeguard mankind.

  Chapter 1

  St. Louis, leaving regional rebel headquarters

  “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 who’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 his 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.

  A warrior in every facet of his being.

  Grace slanted a glance at him. Six feet and a few inches of pure primitive male, all hard lines and curved muscle. He’d fought like an avenging angel back at HQ when their strategy meeting had been viciously destroyed by the wave of vampires and shifters crashing through doors and windows in a multipronged attack. She’d loosed arrow after arrow, each one finding its target, but Alexios and his sword and daggers were everywhere at once, stabbing, slicing, and slashing. All the while, his expression had remained utterly calm and controlled. Even as he’d circled around her, ripping heads from vamps and . . .

  A realization seared through the memory. Always around her. He’d fought in a perimeter around her, leaving her room to shoot her bow, but never straying far from her side. Anger started a slow burn.

  “Were you protecting me in that fight?” she asked, slowly and carefully, trying to keep the lid on her temper. Not good to accuse and attack the fierce warrior ally unless it was true. “Because you know that I don’t need protecting. I’ve been doing this for a long—”

  Michelle made a loud shushing noise. “Oh, let’s not get our knickers in a twist. So, Alexios. You don’t look a day over thirty. But if Alaric is nearly five hundred years old, how about you?”

  Alexios’s dark gaze touched Grace’s face for an instant, hot, predatory, tangible as a caress, before returning to vigilance. She wondered if his eyes were blue or black or one of the many shades of jewellike green, but couldn’t tell in the dark vehicle. Atlantean eyes were like mood rings. Unfortunately, they didn’t give out the handy decoder chart.

  “How about me, what?” he finally answered Michelle.

  “How many centuries?”

  “A little more than four. Grace, watch that hole in the road.”

  She swerved to miss the pothole and began to slow for the end of the road and the busy intersection it dumped into. “You’re more than four hundred years old? Really?” Okay, maybe a man that old had a few preconceived notions about fragile females that could be forgiven.

  “Well, you look lovely for your age,” Michelle called out. “He’s maybe a little old for you, Grace, though. You’ve only just turned twenty-five, after all.”

  Heat burned through Grace’s cheeks. “What? Michelle, I—”

  Before she could stammer out any convincing denials, on the order of, “No, I wasn’t casting Alexios in my own personal fantasy,” the man himself pointed his gun directly at her head.

  She slammed on the brakes, too stunned to react coherently. Alexios and the Atlanteans were allies to the rebel cause; they wouldn’t . . .

  “On the left, Grace. Get down!”

  Instinctively, she obeyed the tone of command in his voice and ducked, covering her head with her arms. The explosion of sound and glass tore through the Jeep a split second later, and Michelle screamed.

  Over Grace’s head, Alexios unloaded the Glock she’d loaned him when he’d realized his daggers and sword wouldn’t be of much use in a moving vehicle. He spat forth a stream of words that absolutely had to be Atlantean cursing; she’d fought with warriors for enough years to recognize the cadence. If the Ice King of Calm was swearing, it had to be bad.

  The realization brought her to a snap decision of her own. Grace wrenched the parking brake up, released her seat belt, and threw herself underneath his arms in a twisting half turn toward the backseat. Alexios slammed his hard chest down on her back, though, capturing her in a contorted embrace.

  “No. If you lift your head, the attacker on the roof of that building is going to shoot you,” he breathed in her ear.

  “I need to get to Michelle. Now.”

  “I will not lose you,” he said as he slowly pulled away. The words were so quiet that she nearly missed them. She snapped her head to the left and found his face a breath away from her own. Fury rode the high cheekbones and hard angles of his face. “I’m going out there,” he said. “When I give the signal, you put this vehicle in gear and get the hells out of here.”

  He dropped the empty gun on the floorboard and pulled his daggers out of their sheaths. The movement was fluid and oddly slowed by stress-skewed perception, almost encapsulated in a bubble of time. She noticed the hairs on his tanned and muscled forearms were burnished gold, and she even had time to think it an odd observation to make before dying.

  Then, in a move that made her wonder if somehow she’d gotten a head injury in the crash, Alexios simply disappeared. It wasn’t sudden. It took maybe three or four seconds. But his body dissolved into a shimmering cascade of sparkling mist, and utterly transparent and nearly without shape, he soared through the open window beside her, leaving Grace with her mouth open in wonder and tiny water drops caught in her eyelashes.

  “Oh dear. I think I may have died,” Michelle said, moaning. “Either I just saw Alexios turn into an angel, or you and he are going to have some seriously interesting sex.”