Warriors of Poseidon 01.5 - Wild Hearts in Atlantis by authors_sort Read Free Book Online

promise."
     
    Tears streamed down her face, and Bastien stood there, helpless with rage. Wanting fiercely to grab her, throw her over his shoulder, and spirit her away from any possible danger. Knowing he couldn't. He fisted his hands on the hilts of his daggers and scanned the area, though his senses told him the attackers were long gone. Those were vampire bite marks, and the morning sun burning down was sufficient evidence that the vampires had gone to ground.
     
    Nicky held up a hand to Kat, and she clasped it in both of her own. "I'm sorry, Kat," he managed, hoarse voice fading even as the light in his eyes did the same. Bastien watched as the man's eyes changed. Turned to panther eyes. His death was fast approaching.
     
    Kat shook her head wildly back and forth. "No. You tell me you're sorry later, when you're better," she commanded.
     
    "You deserve to know, Kat. Ethan… Ethan wants you. His plan… his… " Nicky's chest heaved in a shuddering gasp, and then his head fell to the side and his hand slid limply out of Kat's grasp.
     
    Kat lifted her head to stare at Bastien, agony in every line of her tear-stained face. "But it's Nicky. He can't be dead. He's my friend."
     
    Bastien couldn't stop himself. He knelt to sweep her into his arms and lifted her, cradling her to his chest. It was imperative that he soothe her; his soul demanded it. "Shhh. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. May Poseidon and the gods of your ancestors watch over him on his journey into the light."
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
    Page 41 of 85
    He bent his forehead to touch hers, trying to transmit his sympathy and sorrow for her loss. Wishing he could take the pain into himself and protect her from it.
     
    She clutched his shirt and gave in to a firestorm of sobbing, but it lasted less than a single minute. Then, abruptly, her tears stopped. Her breathing slowed down from its frantic pace until it was rhythmic again. Measured. Calm.
     
    She looked up at him, and the force of the anguish in her eyes dimmed, as he stared into them. "Please put me down now," she said, clearly trying to pull her dignity around her.
     
    His arms tightened involuntarily, but he forced himself to release her. He gently set her down, so that she stood on the path before him.
     
    "You see," she said, utterly calm. Features utterly still. "I am not merely half shapeshifter. I am half human. My gift, as you call it, blocks me even from the wholly human emotion of mourning for a childhood friend. I'm neither human nor shapeshifter, but a bastard hybrid—half of each."
     
    Her lips twisted with evident self-disgust. "And half of nothing is still nothing."
     
    Before he could speak, he heard the hum of the all-terrain vehicles thundering up the path behind them. Voices calling out for Kat. She shouted out to them, and the opportunity was lost.
     
    But Kat's gift apparently only worked on aggression. Because the torment racking through Bastien at the sight of her pain and self-loathing didn't abate in the slightest.

Chapter Seven
    Wild Hearts In Atlantis – Warriors of Poseidon 1.5
    Page 42 of 85
    Bastien entered the enormous house designated as the home and headquarters of the Florida panther alpha, walking slightly in front of Kat. He didn't like what he'd heard of this Ethan character, and every protective instinct he'd ever possessed was on overload.
     
    The sensations of predator and violence permeating the house didn't help, either. He tuned his senses to high alert and stopped, waiting.
     
    Kat, walking with her head down, bumped into him and stopped. He glanced down at her, and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her slumped shoulders and the tortured sorrow in her gaze. "What is it? Why are we stopping? Ethan said to meet him in the pool room," she said, voice low and hoarse.
     
    "Really? One of his own is murdered, and he has time to play a game or two of pool?
    Not much of a leader, is he?" Bastien heard