Atlantis Awakening Read Online Free Page B

shields, cutting off her access to the earth magic. For the first time since she’d turned sixteen, Erin was as powerless as a non-Magickal as she stood, alone, and faced the dark.

Chapter 3
    Ven soared over the treetops, feeling a sick twisting in his gut. Naming himself something he’d have called anyone else to battle challenge for: a coward.
    Running from a woman—running from an emotion—wasn’t his style. Hells, having emotions for women wasn’t his style. There was nothing, not one damn thing, that was in any way normal about his reaction to Erin Connors.
    VEN! HELP ME!
    The sharp call smashed through his skull, shattering his concentration so thoroughly he nearly fell out of the air. It was Erin, and somehow, magically, she’d managed to reach him telepathically.
    And she was in trouble.
    He changed direction midflight and sped back through the darkening sky, rage pounding through him. Trouble was something he could deal with.
    Trouble was his specialty .
    As he shimmered back over the tops of the trees bordering the headquarters building, he saw the sickly orange-red pulsing glow surrounding Erin and the two dark figures pointing sticks at her. Witches, then, or wizards. Vamps didn’t use wands or like much to be around anything wooden or pointy.
    He called to the elements, diffused the mist forming his body even further so as not to draw suspicion, and floated down behind them. The two figures—definitely human, one male and one female on closer look—never even twitched. Erin stood, apparently unharmed, but frozen, in the center of an orb of the weird light. She was moving her lips but either she’d lost her voice or else no sound could penetrate the bubble. But he could hear the bastards holding her prisoner just fine, and decided to listen for a minute or two before he killed them for touching her.
    Gather information. Act like a freaking ambassador. Then he’d rip their lungs out through their rib cages.
    The woman spoke, her voice low. “This was badly thought out. We should have waited. What if someone from the coven walks out here and sees us?”
    The man replied. “Hey, I saw an opportunity and I took it. He will reward us well for this. We just gotta get her out of here, fast. The car’s on its way.”
    â€œYou expect me to keep this shield up all the way to the mountains? I’m already tired, you idiot. She’s very powerful,” she hissed.
    The man pulled something out of his pocket that glinted metallic in the pulsing red light. “No worry. She’ll be out for hours after I stick her with this.” He started walking toward Erin, and all ambassadorial thoughts vanished. A wave of primal fury roared through Ven, and he immediately transformed back into his body and leapt forward. He drew a dagger but changed his mind at the last second, turned it, handle first, and smashed it into the back of the woman’s head. Not hard enough to kill her, but she’d have one hell of a headache.
    The reddish light immediately flickered off and Erin collapsed to the ground, maybe unconscious, striking her head on the dirt, hard.
    The man whirled around and saw Ven and gasped, raising what Ven now saw was a hypodermic needle into the air with one hand and holding a gun in the other. “Come closer and I’ll kill her,” the thug snarled, pointing the gun at Erin.
    â€œYou’re not going to touch her,” Ven said, striding toward him and unsheathing his sword on the way. “In fact, you’re already a dead man for even thinking about hurting her.”
    Time slowed to the speed of a single grain of sand falling from an hourglass as the man’s finger tightened on the gun and the image of Erin bleeding to death on the ground nearly blinded Ven with rage. Guns were fast. Bullets were fast.
    Poseidon’s magic was faster.
    Before the man’s finger could tighten sufficiently to pull the trigger, Ven had