Atlantis Betrayed Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  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

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Teaser chapter

  “The perfect blend of fabulous world building and sexy romantic adventure.”

  —Jayne Castle, New York Times bestselling author

  “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!”

  —Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author

  ATLANTIS REDEEMED

  “Day continues to deliver consistent quality and sizzling adventure!”

  —Romantic Times

  “Tortured, sexy, and dangerous as all get out, this is one warrior it wouldn’t be wise to cross and a man who defines devotion . . . Day has a real talent for creative storytelling, crafting characters who are unique in their own right and claim your allegiance as easily as Poseidon claimed theirs.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  ATLANTIS UNMASKED

  “Action-packed and hot and spicy.”

  —TwoLips Reviews

  “An action-packed, sensual read with strong, likable characters to support it. You won’t be able to get enough of those hunky warriors.”

  —A Romance Review

  ATLANTIS UNLEASHED

  “This character-driven tale will grab the reader’s imagination from page one . . . An epic thrill ride that should not be missed.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “A terrific romantic fantasy thriller.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  ATLANTIS AWAKENING

  “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!”

  —Alexis Morgan, national bestselling author

  “Superb writing, fascinating characters, and edge-of-your-seat story bring the legend of Atlantis to life.”

  —Colby Hodge, award-winning author

  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!”

  —Christine Feehan, New York Times bestselling author

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

  —Kerrelyn Sparks, New York Times bestselling author

  “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!”

  —Susan Squires, New York Times bestselling author

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

  —Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author

  “Wow! Alyssa Day writes a marvelous paranormal romance set on earth.”

  —Susan Kearney, USA Today bestselling author

  “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 Book Reviews

  “Breathtaking paranormal romance.”

  —Fresh Fiction

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

  —Once Upon A Romance

  “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

  “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

  Atlantis Awakening

  Lord Vengeance’s Story

  “Shifter’s Lady” from Shifter

  Ethan’s Story

  “Wild Hearts in Atlantis” from Wild Thing

  Bastien’s Story

  Atlantis Unleashed

  Lord Justice’s Story

  Atlantis Unmasked

  Alexios’s Story

  Atlantis Redeemed

  Brennan’s Story

  Atlantis Betrayed

  Christophe’s Story

  Don’t miss

  Vampires in Atlantis, Daniel’s story,

  and Shifters in Atlantis, Jack’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

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  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

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

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  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

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  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

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  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 BETRAYED

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / September 2010

  Copyright © 2010 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 partici
pate 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 : 978-1-101-44279-1

  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 book is for Eileen Rendahl, who gave me laughter and love and a winery tour when the stress monster was crushing me. I couldn’t have survived this move to Japan without you.

  And to Michelle Cunnah, who packed up her notebook and pencils, investigated the Tower of London for me, and even asked one of the Beefeaters how to steal the jewels and make a quick getaway. Now that’s friendship!

  And, always, to Judd. Marrying you is the best thing I’ve ever done—here’s to our new adventure.

  Acknowledgments

  Books are like pancakes. They’re okay alone, but only truly spectacular when covered with butter, syrup, berries, and whipped cream. So this book is for the folks who are the strawberries: Cindy Hwang—calm, brilliant, and insightful—who quite probably leaps tall buildings in her spare time; Leslie Gelbman, Leis Pederson, and everybody at Berkley for working so hard for me and my books; Shelley Kay, who made my website so very cool; and finally, the funny and fabulous werearmadillos—Barb, Cindy, Eileen, Marianne, Michelle, and Serena. You’re all rock stars.

  And a big thank-you to reader Arantza Cazalis Ruano, for the werewolf pub name The Melting Moon, to Judd for the vampire club name Daybreak, and to all my friends on Twitter and Facebook who help me out with odd research questions in the middle of the night. How did insomniac authors ever survive without you?

  Dear Readers,

  I hope you’ll love Christophe and Fiona’s story as much as I loved writing it, and as always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for spending some time with me and the Warriors of Poseidon.

  As usual, a few apologies for taking liberties with the real world: First to the Yeoman Warders who protect the Crown Jewels. It is highly unlikely that any of that honorable group, founded in 1485, were actually shape-shifters. Also, Vanquish, the sword William the Conqueror first wielded and that figures so prominently in this book, is entirely a creation of my slightly twisted mind. It sounds like a sword old William would have carried, though, doesn’t it?

  Hugs,

  Alyssa

  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

  Present day; London, England

  Jack the Ripper must have been a vampire.

  Christophe sat on the tiny ledge underneath the minute hand on Big Ben’s western face—twenty-five past midnight—thinking random thoughts and surveying the moonlight-drenched city that had always been like a second home to him. It was a perch custom-designed for philosophical reflection, with its view of the resilient heart of London spread out before him like one of old King George’s feasts.

  The clock tower was arguably London’s most recognizable landmark. Perching on it, nearly three hundred feet off the ground, Christophe felt spurred to an unfamiliar longing to peer into the blood-drenched darkness of England’s past. Not so long ago, these modern sophisticates had fought war after war over territory, possessions, and how to worship which god. War bred its own evil shadow; reflected its black soul onto even the innocent. Or were there any innocent? Ever? Were all the so-called pure simply on an earlier stage of the descent into wickedness, hatred, and vice?

  Christophe laughed out loud, startling a nearby pigeon into raising its head. “Sorry, buddy,” he told the bright-eyed bird. “Something about this damn place sends my mind to strange places every time I’m here. Jack the Ripper. The Scarlet Ninja, although at least he doesn’t hurt anybody. What a town.”

  He shook his head. “Of course, now I’m talking to a bird, so clearly I’m also insane.”

  He leaned back against the familiar gilt lettering, “DOM-INE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM,” and wondered if Queen Victoria the First had been honored to have each of Big Ben’s four giant clock faces proclaim that her people called out to their god to keep her safe.

  Another, far more bitter, laugh escaped him at the idea that Poseidon would ever worry about keeping him safe. Centuries of fighting had taught Christophe the bloody and painful lesson that the sea god didn’t care much about keeping his Atlantean warriors anything but honed for battle. Throwing them to the wolves and the other shape-shifters, sure. Using them as cannon fodder against the vampires, no problem. Eleven thousand years after the original pact, the current members of the elite Atlantean fighting force were still fulfilling their sacred duty to protect humanity.

  Humanity should protect its own damn self.

  Not that it could, or had ever been able to, against the dark and ugly that crawled out of the night. Since the monsters had revealed themselves—more than a decade ago—to be more than the fictional fodder of nightmares and bad movies, the stupid humans had done more and more to offer themselves up on the proverbial silver platter, like the sheep the vamps called them. Christophe had suggested a few times that the warriors change their mission from protecting humans to rounding them up, stuffing apples in their mouths, and then jamming sticks up their asses.

  Human-kabobs. Simple, easy, and everybody goes home happy.

  The high prince wasn’t exactly down with the idea. Christophe “wasn’t a team player.” “Had a chip on his shoulder.” Insert psychobabble here. Conlan’s new human wife had the prince by the balls, and Princess Riley the former social worker was all about kindness and understanding.

  Which sucked.

  Christophe would have preferred that Conlan just haul off and punch him in the face, like the prince used to do in the old days when somebody pissed him off. It would have been far less painful.

  “Less painful than smelling your stench, for example,” he said to the vampire who was silently floating up the side of the tower, trying to surprise him. Probably thinking he’d found a midnight snack of the liquid variety.

  “Interesting place to hang out, mate.” The vamp levitated up until he was eye level with Christophe. “Got a death wish?”

  Christophe scanned the vamp, his gaze raking it from spiky purple hair to steel-toed boots. He blamed London’s punk rock scene. Bunch of lame-ass wannabes who were still trying to re-create the days of the Sex Pistols.

  Like this bloodsucker.

  Christophe put a hand on the hilt of a dagger but didn’t bother to draw it. “You threatening me?”

  The vamp shrugged. “Just pointing out that you’re pretty far up for a breakable human.”

  Christophe bared his teeth in what passed for a smile with him these days, and the vamp flinched a little. “Not human. Not breakable.”

  Holding his hands up in a placating gesture, Punk Boy floated back and away from him. “Got no beef with you. Just surprised to see somebody in my spot.”

  “You’re Queen Victoria, then?”

  The vampire laughed and, surprisingly, seemed to be genuinely amused. “Know your Latin, do you?”

  It was Christophe’s turn to shrug. “I get by.” But then an inconvenient twinge of duty nagged at him, and he sighed. “You planning to kill any humanity tonight?”

  “Any humanity?” The vamp floated a little closer, but carefully still out of reach, his pi
erced eyebrows drawing together as he studied Christophe. “What are you talking about?”

  Christophe slid the dagger from its sheath and studied its liquid silver gleam of reflected moonlight, not raising his gaze to the vamp. “Duty, sacred oath, blah blah blah. If you’re planning to kill any humans, I need to end you.”

  “I’d be stupid to say yes, then, wouldn’t I?” The vamp’s voice held genuine curiosity, and not a little wariness.

  “Stupid. Vampire.” Christophe shrugged again. “Yeah, those words have gone together a time or two.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  The vamp eyed the dagger. “No, I’m not planning to kill anybody tonight. Or ever, for that matter. Who needs all the trauma, with synth blood and donors?”

  Christophe judged the vamp to be sincere enough. He considered killing him with a thrown dagger anyway, just for something to do, but didn’t really feel like chasing his dagger all that way down after it sliced the vamp’s head off. Especially since his night wasn’t over—he still had to go steal one of the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

  He slid the blade into its sheath and shot a considering stare at the bloodsucker. “So. Here’s a question. Was Jack the Ripper a vampire?”

  Campbell Manor, Coggeshall, Essex

  Fiona pulled the scarlet leggings up, then the trousers, tying them at the waist, knees, and ankles, and fastened her belt over her jacket. Technically, it wasn’t ninja gear, but it was so important to have the right accessories these days, although no fashion magazine would ever feature her hand-worked leather tool belt with its many compartments on an Up-and-Coming Trends page. A memory flashed into her mind, though, as her fingers checked the snap on one tiny pocket that held her backup switchblade, and she laughed. Her assistant Madeleine had rushed into Fiona’s office just last week waving a glossy magazine in the air. Vogue UK had done a spread on the new color for spring: a gleaming scarlet. The red of a slash of bold lipstick—of freshly spilled blood. The red on Fiona’s calling cards, which the entire world had seen by now. TV presenters delighted in spouting breathless and inane theories as to her identity while showing the cards in their full silver-and-scarlet glory.