“I will not let anything happen to you,” Reisen said, his eyes flashing again.
Daniel thought about the arrogance in the warrior’s voice, and a realization came to him. “Is it Lord Reisen, by any chance?”
Reisen nodded, though bitterness was evident in the hard lines of his face. “It was. Reisen of Mycenae. But I thought I knew a better path for Atlantis, and my error cost me everything.”
“You attempted a coup, or so I heard,” Daniel said.
“Conlan had been gone, prisoner to your evil goddess Anubisa, for seven long years. I thought he was dead, and Atlantis deserved real leadership, not a group of shell-shocked warriors waiting for a dead prince to return,” Reisen said, each word falling like a chunk of granite to the table.
“But he was alive,” Daniel said, stating the obvious, realizing how much it must have cost the warrior to realize he’d been wrong.
“He was alive,” Reisen agreed. “And so a coup became treachery, and I lost a hand in the process. No less than I deserve, or so most of Atlantis thinks.”
“Then they suck. I’m sure you did what you thought was best,” Melody said hotly. “What else can any of us do, especially in these crazy times? I’m one of the worst cyber criminals in the world, probably, and do you think I ever envisioned a life of crime? No, no, and no. But what I do is crucial to the rebel cause, and a little threat like a life sentence in Alcatraz isn’t going to stop me.”
“I don’t think they use Alcatraz to house prisoners anymore. It’s a tourist attraction now,” Daniel pointed out, trying to help the obviously distraught woman.
She rolled her eyes. “So missing the point, dude. Anyway, we need to go. Like, now. Our meet with the woman from the bank is coming up soon. We’ll be in touch as soon as we can.”
She dug around in her ever-present backpack for a while and then handed him a small phone. “Untraceable, disposable cell. Not much use in the canyons, of course, but my number is programmed in.”
“I can contact Serai on the Atlantean shared mental pathway, if that is possible between us,” Reisen said, and Daniel quashed a momentary pang of jealousy at the idea. Of course her fellow Atlanteans would be able to communicate with her in ways that Daniel never could. It was perfectly reasonable.
It was his own problem that “perfectly reasonable” was stabbing him in the gut.
“Good luck to you. I hope your meeting is successful. It would be very helpful to discover who exactly is involved in this scheme.”
They stood, and Melody picked up the remaining cup of coffee and the bag of pastries and held them out to Daniel. “Take these for Serai, okay? And tell her . . . tell her I’d like to get to know her. I bet she could use a girlfriend, since hers are all, well, you know what I mean.”
“I’m sure she could. Thank you.”
Daniel headed back to his hotel room, where Serai hopefully still slept. So many strange alliances and friendships had formed during the course of the rebellion. Life and hope always found a way, and perhaps it had taken one small human with blue-tipped hair and far too much makeup to remind him of that.
It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to have happened to him since that fateful day when Atlantis was attacked. Not by a long shot.
Serai woke to an empty room and lay there, disoriented, for a few seconds until it all came back to her. The escape from Atlantis. The danger she was in and the mission she must complete. The battle. Daniel.
Daniel.
Her cheeks flamed as she remembered what he’d done to her—what they’d done together. In the very bed in which she now lay. She lifted the sheet and saw that, yes, she was still shamelessly nude, so she could banish any thought that she might have only dreamed the events of the night. Her lips curved into a smile as she remembered the glorious things he’d done to her oh-so-willing body, but then she sat up in a rush, electrified by a sudden thought.
Was she even still a maiden at all?
The door opened as if in answer to her unspoken question, and she gasped until she realized it was Daniel, entering quietly and holding a cup and a small paper bag.
“You went for breakfast? Without me?”
He looked up and smiled at her. A little bit smugly, actually, and she blushed again and clutched the sheets to her chest all the more tightly.
“I left a note for you,” he said, indicating the pillow next to her with a nod. As he’d said, there was a note, his bold masculine handwriting slanted across the page.
Gone to get coffee and make plans with Reisen. Back soon.—Daniel
She realized it was the first time she’d ever seen his handwriting. “It looks like you. Your writing. Bold and unhesitating.”
He crossed the room and handed her the cup, which smelled deliciously of coffee and spice. She took a sip as he sat next to her on the bed.
“I was certainly bold last night,” he said, and she choked on the coffee. He grinned at her, that masculine triumph even more strongly written on his face now.
“Am I still a maiden?” She blurted out the question before embarrassment could stop her, and was intrigued to see the hot red flush that climbed up his cheekbones.
“I—What? Yes. Yes, I mean, you’re . . . you’re still, well, what we did, ah, I mean—”
She helped him out before he strangled on his answer. Oddly enough, his embarrassment helped her past her own. “It’s a simple question. Did you, ah, push past any obstruction with your fingers last night?”
He swallowed audibly, almost a gulping sound, and suddenly she wanted to laugh.
“No, I was careful not to, you know, I didn’t want to hurt you, only bring you pleasure, and . . . oh, hell, are you sorry?”
Pain creased his face, and she sobered at the idea that she’d caused him to regret any part of the magical moments he’d shared with her.
“No, Daniel. It was a gift, what you gave to me last night. I only wondered if I were still a maiden because it’s a burden I so long to be rid of. Without my maidenhood, I lose my value in the game of kings and their need for breeding stock,” she said bitterly.
He took the cup out of her hand and placed it gently on the table beside the bed, and then pulled her into his arms. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s not like that anymore. Virginity isn’t a prized commodity in today’s world, at least not in most areas of the world. People are valued for who they are, not for the lack of bedding experience.”
She snuggled into his embrace, content to hold and be held by him for a few minutes, before responding. “Can you be sure it is so in Atlantis? And if yes, why didn’t they release us long ago?”
“I don’t know. I can’t speak to how things are in Atlantis, but I have met Riley and I doubt Conlan wanted her for her virginity. She’s past the age when women . . . Ah, well, anyway, I doubt it.”
She looked up into his face and smiled to see her big, tough warrior vampire mage turning red again. An impish idea took hold of her. “Should we talk about our feelings now?”
The look of horror on his face made her laugh out loud.
“I was kidding, silly man. Some things have not changed in all these years, I see, and some subjects are still better discussed with one’s girlfriends.”
Daniel shook his head. “You must be feeling better if you’re up to torturing me, you little imp.”
She tried on what she hoped was a seductive smile, and he bent his head to hers and captured her mouth in a long and deliciously satisfying kiss. She was quite breathless by the time he raised his head, and little tingles raced through her nerve endings.
“Maybe we should talk about this,” he said, jumping up to pace across the floor and away from her. He had a slightly panicked expression on his face, and she wondered what she’d done wrong.
Or right.
She experimented by letting the sheet drop, just the barest inch or so, so that more of the upper slopes of her breasts were visible, and Daniel’s eyes darkened.