Warriors of Poseidon 03 - Atlantis Unleashed

brothers and Alaric, when he could finally speak. “We‟ll have food, rest, and talk. And then we‟ll all come back here and find the Star.”
    “The Star of Artemis is here? We will find it now,” Alaric commanded.
    “Justice almost died,” Keely told him with some asperity. “The Star has been safely buried in that rock for thousands of years. One more night isn‟t going to hurt it.”
    Alaric started to respond, but Conlan held up a hand. “No, she is right. At this time, I find that I would like to have a meal with my brother and his woman.”
    Justice clenched his jaw and fierce emotion shone in his dark eyes, but Ven held up his hands in mock protest. “Oh, hells no, Brother, don‟t call her his woman.”
    Keely lifted her face and kissed Justice‟s jaw, then smiled at Ven. “It‟s okay. I surrender.
    Since even the sea god himself called me Justice‟s woman, I‟ve decided to just go with it.”
    Justice flashed her a look of such powerful love and acceptance that her knees nearly went weak. It was a look of belonging—a look of home. “ Mi amara , you are mine and I am yours.
    Forever.”
    “Forever,” she said.
    Then, holding Eleni and each other, they led the way to food and rest.

Epilogue
    Two weeks later, San Bartolo
    Keely walked out of the temple into the bright afternoon sunshine and smiled at the sight of Justice playing catch with Eleni in the clearing. Her big, tough warrior was a softie where the child was concerned.
    “You will work with us on this?” Señor Hector asked. As Guatemalan director of archaeological affairs, he was thrilled that the vampires were gone from the site and anxious to resume work.
    “No, I‟m sorry, but since the head of my department mysteriously disappeared, I have a lot to do back at Ohio State. Plus, I have another project in mind,” she said. “I‟m sure you and the original team will have a wonderfully exciting time, though. Please do be sure to keep me updated so I can hear all about it.”
    He nodded and hurried off to supervise the members of his staff who were unpacking the tools and supplies. She headed for Justice, her smile growing every step of the way.
    “Are you two kids having fun?”
    Justice lifted her into the air and swung her around. “Do you want to play?” he said silkily, his eyes going dark and very intent. She could always tell when her man had sex on the brain.
    Of course, it was almost all the time, so maybe it wasn‟t all that impressive, as psychic talents went.
    “Later,” she said, laughing. “Now put me down.”
    He did, after kissing her breathless.
    “When will Alejandro be back?”
    Justice tossed the ball to Eleni, who promptly dropped it and ran off to chat with the grad students. She was slowly blossoming, in spite of everything she‟d been through, and Keely hoped that time, that great cure, would help to eventually give her a normal, happy childhood, and that the shadows in Eleni‟s eyes would one day disappear. Now that they‟d begun the process to officially adopt her, which she‟d been assured would be considered with all speed, taking into account the best interests of the child and the great service Keely and Justice had performed for the people of Peten, Eleni was finally starting to believe that she would really have a new home and family.
    A few days earlier, she had come to them and asked them to help her bury the slipper and hold a memorial service, just the three of them, for her lost mother. Keely had cried right along with Eleni after they put flowers on the tiny mound of dirt and said good-bye to Mama in heaven with Papa. Even Justice had had a few tears trailing down his face. He‟d told Eleni that no brave warrior should ever be afraid to show her feelings, and that she honored her mother with her tears. Keely hoped that the ceremony had brought some measure of peace to the child so that the healing process could begin.
    “Alejandro is still in training to lead the P Ops team that will guard the site,” Justice said. “He should be back in a week or so, but we‟ll be gone by then.”
    “What about Alaric? What did he say when he examined your mind?” The thought of it still made her shudder, but she supposed it was better than what she‟d gone through as a child.
    One short session versus years of psychoanalysis and drugs.
    He shrugged. “He can‟t figure me out; the duality of my soul is too strange to him. Mostly I think he‟s just going to leave me alone.”
    She