Vampire in Atlantis

Chapter 29

Serai woke up first from the exhausted sleep they’d fallen into after the epiphany of the soul-meld. She still could hardly believe it. Even in her time, to reach such a joining had been a rare occurrence, and for it to happen with a nightwalker—a vampire—was so incredible, so unprecedented, that she was amazed Poseidon himself wasn’t swirling up a typhoon here in the middle of desert country to punish her for her transgression.

She curled closer to Daniel, wrapped securely in his strong arms, and opened herself to the magic surrounding them. The vortex magic she’d sensed before was stronger now, due to geography or due to her own willingness to open herself to it, she didn’t know. The day was fully on its way now, it must be mid-morning, and Daniel slept soundly, a smile on his face.

He looked peaceful. Content. Descriptive terms she certainly couldn’t have applied to him even once since she’d found him again in Atlantis mere days before. The soul-meld and the realization that she would never leave him seemed to have calmed something dark and tortured inside him. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to the gods again that she had found him, and then she turned her senses outward again, seeking the Emperor.

It was there. Still in the same place, she realized, and relief poured through her. Not calling her, though. Almost silent. Faint, as if resting or recharging, if she could apply anthropomorphic terms to what was, essentially, a rock. Such a rock, though. Its power surged once, when she reached out to it, and she briefly connected with the maidens back in Atlantis. The four of them were . . .

The three of them. Brandacea was gone. Her life force extinguished. Vanished, as if she’d never lived at all.

Serai cried out as the pain seared through her, and Daniel instantly woke up and scanned the room for danger.

“She’s dead, Daniel. Brandacea. Another one of my sisters. She’s dead.”

She sobbed in his arms for a long time before she could talk or even breathe again. “She’s gone,” she said, over and over. “I failed again. I was making love when my sister was dying.”

“No, mi amara. You were healing yourself and me. All of the responsibility for your sisters cannot rest on your slender shoulders. The damn portal is to blame for not allowing you to call for help.” He jumped up and reached for his clothes, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“It’s still daylight, so we can’t go anywhere. We need to eat something and have a shower,” she said. “We’ll get cleaned up, and then we’ll decide what to do next. It will be dark soon, and we’re going to find the Emperor tonight, or die trying. I’m not willing to let anything or anyone else get in my way.”

He nodded, anger and determination stamped on his face, and held out his hand to help her up. She called to the elements and especially to the water surrounding them, the life-giving water that answered so quickly when Poseidon’s children called.

The spray of water danced over them like a shimmering cloak, and this time Daniel wasn’t startled, but simply stood, holding his arms out to his sides, under the shower. She watched him for a moment and wondered again how this beautiful, deadly man could truly be hers, but then he opened his eyes and smiled at her and she cast aside her hesitation and stepped into his arms.

“There’s soap in the backpack,” he said, running his hands down her arms. He kissed her and then retrieved the soap, and they washed themselves and each other, delighting in the joy of touch, even in the face of what they had to endure. Perhaps especially because of that.

“Affirming life,” she said solemnly. “It does make sense. We cannot bring Brandacea back by sitting and crying, but only by taking action. We will affirm life by finding the Emperor.”

“About that,” he said, pushing the waves of dark hair away from his chiseled face. “I have an idea. Are you up for trying something that might be a little dangerous?”

“More dangerous than escaping stasis, casting a spell on the high prince’s brother, and falling in love with a vampire?”

His lips quirked up in a grin. “Well, when you put it that way . . .”

She sent the spiraling curve of water through their clothing to clean it, and then reversed the magic to remove every drop of water and dry the clothes and their bodies and hair.

“This is a wonderful bit of magic,” Daniel said fervently. “It sounds stupid, in the face of so much tragedy, but I am very happy to clean the sweat and dust off myself.”

“Little things mean so much more when you’re deprived of them,” she said. “For example, I really, really need food other than these apples and, what did you call the hateful dry sticks?”

“Granola bars. I agree. Worst food, ever, but very useful at a time like this.”

After they’d dressed and partaken of the bars, apples, and water, she was ready to ask again.

“Try what?”

“I think we should pool our magic. Like we did before, although I didn’t know it at the time, when Justice attacked. This time we do it on purpose, and hopefully it will strengthen both of us.”

Serai tilted her head and watched as he pulled on his boots, admiring the long, muscled length of his leg even as she considered his words. “Do we need to exchange blood again?”

He dropped his boot and stared at her. “No. Don’t even think of it, not ever. If we do a third blood exchange, you could die. Or become a monster. We don’t have any idea what happens to an Atlantean turned vampire. Under no circumstances can I ever, ever do a third blood exchange with you.”

“Then we need to call on the vortex magic,” she said, walking to the front of the cave and into the afternoon sun. “You’re going to have to trust me, because I think we’ll need to be in the sunlight to do it.”