February in Atlantis Read online

  “Imagine my joy,” Denal drawled, eyes narrowing.

  Alaric pulled out a chair. “Sit. This might take a while. I need to explain what’s happening.”

  “You assume I care what’s happening.”

  “Sit down,” Alaric snarled. “I understand your anger—”

  “I don’t give a damn what you understand,” Denal snarled right back, coming up off the wall he’d been leaning against. “Nobody left you in the Fae lands, did they?”

  Alaric shook his head. “I said I understand. I didn’t say I cared even the slightest bit. You swore your service to your king, did you not? Many have died in that service. So you lost a little time. Now you need to grow up. We’ve got a job for you, and Conlan is still your king, isn’t he? Or are you surrendering your Atlantean citizenship?”

  Conlan, pacing back and forth while the other two argued, felt the question like a punch in his gut. If Denal agreed—if he said he didn’t even want to be a citizen of Atlantis anymore, not one of Poseidon’s Warriors—the loss would be the same as if somebody ripped off one of Conlan’s arms.

  Denal’s face turned white under his tan. “I didn’t— I don’t mean that. You know I would never mean that. I won’t give up on my country or my king, even if they both gave up on me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Conlan said simply. He couldn’t believe it, but he didn’t think he’d ever said it to the warrior before. “You’re right. We left you in the Fae lands longer than you ever should’ve been left there. The time—well, you know about the time. The years you were in their world were only a matter of weeks here. But we never should have lost you to them in the first place.”

  “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “You deserved better.”

  Denal met his gaze, and Conlan saw something like shock on the man’s face for an instant before he smoothed it back to the expressionless mask he’d chosen to wear for so long. Denal started to speak but then stopped. He stood there for a moment, nodded to himself, and then pulled out a chair and sat. “All right. Tell me about this problem and what you need from me.”

  It wasn’t acceptance, Conlan knew, but it was close enough for now. “The world wasn’t ready for Atlantis to suddenly appear. No matter what they say, no matter all the political fawning and folderol that have gone on, I think there are many, many nations whose leaders would’ve preferred we stay sunken beneath the sea.”

  “They liked us better as a mythical lost continent than as an actual found continent,” Alaric interjected, frowning.

  “Even more so since they found out about Poseidon’s Warriors and our sworn duty to protect humanity,” Conlan added.

  “Especially once they found out some of the ways we’ve gone about it,” Denal put in, his eyes narrowing. “Evidently we’re supposed to follow their rules when we fight murderous vampires or demons on their lands.”

  “Give me three warriors and a week, and I’ll teach them all what we think about their rules,” Alaric said darkly, and the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees.

  “Calm down before you turn my ass into an ice cube,” Conlan said. “Let’s try it my way for a while. And if you give me any crap about turning into a politician, I’m gonna order you executed.”

  “Can you do that?” Denal’s eyes widened.

  “He can try,” Alaric said, calling to his magic, which sparked in his hand. Then he started ostentatiously juggling tiny balls of sheer silvery power from finger to finger.

  Conlan rolled his eyes and then leaned forward, pointing at each of them in turn. “Okay, children, back to the matter at hand. I’ve agreed to take part in an international task force looking into some of the rings of paranormal crime going on all over the world. Riley has agreed to be on the international board of Save All the Children Now since her social work background will be very helpful there.” He leaned back in his chair and tossed Aidan’s ball from hand to hand. “We’re starting with the United States since Riley and Quinn know it best, and Quinn, having been one of the two rebel leaders for all North America for several years, can help coordinate. She’ll be meeting with some head guy at the Paranormal Operations division of its FBI—they call it P-Ops—and we’re also talking to Interpol and Scotland Yard in Europe. Since my original Seven, other than Ven and you, Denal, are scattered all over the world, we’ve got eyes on the ground when we need them. But for now we need more immediate help. We need soldiers—warriors.”

  Alaric pointed at Denal. “We need you. Most of our people are already organized by location. You’re going to lead a new team and work cooperatively with some of these human crime-fighting organizations.”

  Denal’s mouth fell open in the most honest reaction Conlan had seen from him yet today. “I’m going to lead—what do you mean, a new team? You’re naming a new Seven?”

  Conlan traded a glance with Alaric and then shook his head. “I wish I could. You have no idea how much I wish I could,” he said fervently. “But I’m stuck playing king for a while, now that they know about us. It’s your team. You name them.”

  “This time I don’t think seven will be enough,” Alaric said, frowning. “We’re going to have different missions going on in different places, coordinating with different law enforcement organizations. Why don’t we start with twelve and go from there?”

  “Twelve?” Conlan thought about it. Liked it. “Sure. Denal’s Dozen. What could go wrong?”

  Denal shoved his chair back from the table and stood. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

  He turned and strode out of the room, never once looking back.

  Conlan blew out a breath and threw the ball into the wall, hard, caught it on the rebound, and threw it again. “I’m not cut out for politics. My sword hand is itching to get out there with Denal and form this new team.”

  “He troubles me,” Alaric finally replied, still staring at the empty doorway. “I don’t know if he’s stable enough for this responsibility.”

  “You said that about me once, remember? After I’d escaped from the vampire goddess and years of torture at her delicate hand, may she burn in the nine hells forever.” Conlan drummed his fingers on the table. “The problem is, you were right then, and you might be right now. I wasn’t stable. Far, far from it. But I put on a good front until my duty—and Riley—pulled me out of the darkness. All we can do now is watch him. Let him take the reins and see what he does. He’ll either manage it or he won’t, and we’ll figure it out then.”

  Alaric nodded sharply, then rose and headed toward the door. Just at the doorway, he stopped and turned to look at Conlan. “If he fails, there could be enormous international repercussions. You understand that, correct?”

  “If he fails, I won’t particularly give a damn about the international repercussions,” Conlan said quietly, crushing the ball when his hands clenched into fists. “We’ll be in far worse trouble than that.”

  Buy January in Atlantis

  Books by Alyssa

  THE TIGER’S EYE MYSTERY SERIES:

  Dead Eye

  Private Eye

  Travelling Eye (a short story)

  Evil Eye (coming in 2018)

  POSEIDON’S WARRIORS SERIES:

  Halloween in Atlantis

  Christmas in Atlantis

  January in Atlantis

  February in Atlantis

  March in Atlantis

  April in Atlantis

  May in Atlantis

  June in Atlantis

  July in Atlantis

  August in Atlantis

  September in Atlantis

  October in Atlantis

  November in Atlantis

  December in Atlantis

  THE CARDINAL WITCHES SERIES:

  Alejandro’s Sorceress (a novella)

  William’s Witch (a short story)

  Damon’s Enchantress (a novella)

  Jake’s Djinn (a short story in the Second Chances anthology, to be available in 2018 as a standalone)

  THE WARRIORS OF POSEIDON SERIES
:

  Atlantis Rising

  Wild Hearts in Atlantis (a novella; originally in the WILD THING anthology)

  Atlantis Awakening

  Shifter’s Lady (a novella; originally in the SHIFTER anthology)

  Atlantis Unleashed

  Atlantis Unmasked

  Atlantis Redeemed

  Atlantis Betrayed

  Vampire in Atlantis

  Heart of Atlantis

  Alejandro’s Sorceress (a related novella; begins the Cardinal Witches spinoff series)

  SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

  Random

  Second Chances

  NONFICTION

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  About the Author

  Text ALYSSADAY to 66866 (or sign up at my website, www.alyssaday.com) to sign up for my newsletter and get release day news, behind-the-scenes scoop, win prizes, find out where Alyssa will be making personal appearances, and more!

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  Alyssa Day is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels filled with kissing, laughter, mystery and magic. Alyssa’s paranormal series include the Poseidon’s Warriors and Cardinal Witches paranormal romances and the Tiger’s Eye Mysteries paranormal mysteries. In an Alyssa Day book, the good guys (and gals!) always win and happily ever after always prevails!

  Alyssa's many awards include Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for outstanding romance fiction, and the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance novel of 2012. She's a recovering trial lawyer who loves life outside of a courtroom. Her books have been translated into a zillion languages but she’s still holding out for Klingon.

  You can hang out with her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorAlyssaDay), Twitter (@alyssa_day), where she talks about her rescue dogs and her future pug ranch, and her blog, where she talks openly about her struggles with depression and hosts Mental Health Check In Fridays (www.alyssaday.com/blog). Love talking about books? Be a DayDreamer! Join Alyssa’s VERY SPECIAL group for super fans for fun chatting, sneak peeks, prizes, and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DayDreamersAlyssaDay.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  February in Atlantis Copyright © 2018 by Alesia Holliday

  January in Atlantis Copyright © 2018 by Alesia Holliday

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