He closed his eyes and called out to Alexios on the common mental pathway all Atlanteans past the age of puberty could access, but he found only silence at first. He took a deep breath, forced down the emotional overload still whirling through his senses, and tried again. Perhaps Alexios had not recognized him.

Alexios? Can you hear me? We have news of an attack and wanted to learn if Lucas and his Pack were safe.

There was another brief silence, and then Alexios's familiar dry tone rang strongly in response.

That was you? Interesting. Oh, and open your door.

Brennan crossed to the door and flung it open again, this time far more pleased to see their visitors. Alexios, Grace, and Lucas stood in the hallway, all of them looking grim. He moved away from the door and stood next to Tiernan while the three entered the small room. When they'd closed the door, Tiernan moved forward as if to shake hands with Alexios, and Brennan's hand shot out, almost without his own volition, stopping her with an iron grip on her arm. Rage, as dark and deadly as it was unreasonable, flashed through his body at a sudden very unwelcome memory, and every muscle in his body tightened to battle readiness.

"You touched her," he said to Alexios, trying to focus through the red haze that moved rapidly to obscure his vision. "She was naked, and you put your godsdamned hands on her body."

He tried for calm, and failed. Tried for serenity, but Tiernan pulled her arm away, trying to escape him, and serenity shattered. He caught her arms and yanked her up to face him, forcing the words out through his clenched teeth. "I am sorry for this, but it appears I must kill him."

Tiernan blinked, her lovely dark eyes enormous in her too-pale face, but then, shockingly, she laughed. "What? You're apologizing to me? Seems like you want to apologize to him."

"Damn right," Alexios snapped, both hands suddenly holding daggers.

Brennan hadn't seen Grace move, but her bow was now drawn, the silver-tipped arrow pointed directly at his head. He released Tiernan and pushed her behind him, out of the way of danger.

"Oh, there is going to be a lot of apologizing going on, my friend," Grace snapped, but to Brennan's surprise, she was directing her comment to Alexios. "Do you mind telling me exactly where you had your hands on another woman's naked body?"

Alexios whipped his head back and forth between Grace and Brennan, a helpless expression crossing his face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally managed to reply. "Boston?"

Tiernan made a funny snorting noise, moving up next to Brennan again. "Boston! I was expecting 'only her hip, honey,' or 'just her arm to help her when she passed out,' but he says, 'Boston.'" Her cheeks and mouth quivered strangely and then she dissolved in laughter. "Boston!" she cried out, bending over. "He said Boston."

There was total silence in the room, except for Tiernan's helpless laughter, and then Grace lowered her bow, her mouth quirking into a smile. "He did, didn't he, the big lunkhead?" She started laughing, too. "Boston! Well, now I'm not worried. At least it wasn't, oh, Cleveland."

For some reason, that started Tiernan off on a new round of laughter, and the two women laughed so hard their breath began to sputter in broken gasps. Brennan, all urge to murder one of his closest friends in the world having vanished completely, stared at Alexios and Lucas, totally mystified. "Boston? Why is that funny?"

Alexios shot a hard stare at him and then, evidently satisfied that his own death was no longer imminent, sheathed his daggers. "I have no idea," he confessed.

"Women," Lucas said, shrugging. "You guys okay now? Nobody going to kill anybody else?"

Brennan bowed toward Alexios, a deep shame for his reaction coursing through him. "I cannot hope for you to forgive me for my actions, my friend-"

"Oh, save it," Alexios said, grinning. "I'm going to enjoy seeing you brought low by a woman like the rest of us."

Grace, her bow slung over her shoulder and her peals of laughter dying down, elbowed Alexios in the ribs. "Raised high by a woman, isn't that what you meant to say, darling?"

She grinned up at him, and Alexios pulled her close and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. "Exactly. Now. Before the death threats started, what in the nine hells was going on here? And I think you'd better start with your reaction to Tiernan."

"His reaction to me is none of your damn business," Tiernan said, reaching for Brennan's hand. "Leave him alone. He's been through a lot tonight."

Brennan was stunned into utter stillness when he felt her warm hand clasp his own. Then she did something even more shocking. She stepped forward so she was standing in front of Brennan, as if to protect him.

She wanted to protect him. She was defending him.

His heart, so long unused, fell out of his body and shattered into tiny pieces at her feet. He wanted to weep. He wanted to shout out his joy and triumph to the universe. He did neither, but simply moved to stand at her side, where he hoped to spend the rest of eternity.

"He's been through a lot? Look, Butler, he just offered to kill me, in case your memory's not working," Alexios said.

"Yeah, yeah, but it was the curse, so now can we get past the death threat that wasn't, and talk about something important?" Tiernan pointed at Grace and Lucas, then looked at Brennan. "I'm going to say hi to the nice people now. Try not to kill anybody, or I might not come to your rescue this time."

Brennan was speechless, a complicated combination of dismay and amusement warring for control of his emotions. Tiernan was handling him exactly the way he'd seen Grace handle Alexios, and the princes' women handle them, for that matter. Like he was the smoothest, silkiest of Atlantean clay in her hands.

Oh, by all the gods, he was in for a wild ride. If only Poseidon would allow it.

"I'm Tiernan Butler, ace reporter, on the scene for the same reason you are," Tiernan was saying to Grace. "My cover name is Tracy Baum here, so please call me Tracy all the time so you don't accidentally trip and say Tiernan. I'm sorry about the naked thing, by the way. Your guy and a few of his buddies rescued me from a very bad situation with some very nasty vamps and their followers. And when I passed out, I was wrapped up in a very big sheet, just so you know."

Grace grinned and shook Tiernan's hand. "In Boston, I'm guessing? I'm Grace Havilland and this is Lucas, the alpha of the Yellowstone wolf pack."

Lucas shook Tiernan's hand, sheer uncomplicated glee lighting up his face. "You have no idea how glad I am to meet the woman who brought the crazy to Brennan."

Brennan inhaled and exhaled long, slow breaths as the volcano of jealous rage tried to climb up his gut again at the sight of the wolf alpha touching Tiernan. She glanced back at him, as if she'd sensed something, and quickly released Lucas's hand and crossed back to Brennan, standing near enough that he could touch her if he wanted.

Wanted. Ah, the cosmic joke of the gods. He wanted to do nothing other than touch this woman. Deep breaths. He could do this. Two millennia of reason could not be washed away by a tidal wave of emotion in the space of hours.

"Okay, enough socializing," Lucas said. "The attack in the park? Those weren't my wolves. We didn't recognize them, so they were imports. Witness reports on the scene said that they didn't know where they were or even who they were, from what anyone could tell. They were confused and groggy, like they were on drugs."

"Or like they'd been dosed with drugs," Tiernan said. "That lab must be around here. What if they're releasing test subjects in a kind of twisted experiment?"

"That, or they could have escaped," Grace pointed out.

Brennan nodded. "Either possibility raises serious concerns for the safety of park visitors, not to mention your Pack, Lucas."

Lucas slammed his hand against the wall and bared his teeth in a snarl. "You think we don't know that? My mate and children were less than ten miles away from that attack. What if we're the target? First they take our Pack members, and then they point their murderous thugs in our direction."

Alexios put a steadying hand on his friend's shoulder. "We know. We're here to help you make sure no harm comes to your family."

"What is the plan?" Tiernan asked. "Let's get to it before we're any later to this midnight reception thing than we already are."

"We're staff," Alexios said. "Lucas and I are extra security, and Grace is going in as a backup bartender."

"Seems the regular bartender called in sick," Grace added, her fingers moving restlessly on her bow. "Imagine that."

"She's a member of my Pack, currently taking her children on a holiday away from the park until this situation is resolved," Lucas said grimly. "As Honey should do, if she would only listen to reason."

"Tiernan and Grace should leave, as well," Alexios said, scowling at Grace to forestall the inevitable protest.

"And I will, if things change," Grace said, surprising Brennan, who had not expected the warrior woman to agree to abandon the fight. "You know I will." She touched Alexios's scarred cheek briefly and smiled up at him. "But now I need to hide my weapons in my coat, get to the bar, set up to pour drinks for science geeks, and hope they're anxious to spill their evil secrets to a friendly ear."

"Your ear had better be all that's friendly," Alexios growled.

Grace laughed as she headed for the door. "Right. You want to try that again, naked-woman toucher?"

Then she was gone, the door shutting behind her before Alexios could respond.

"We should be going, too. We're signed on for the midnight to six A.M. shift," Lucas said, glancing at his watch.

"You go. I'll be right there," Alexios said.

After Lucas left the room, Alexios wasted no time getting to the point. "You," he said, pointing at Brennan. "What in the nine hells is going on?"

He turned to Tiernan. "What or who was biting you?" Before Brennan could react to the fury that seared through his veins at the reminder that someone had hurt his woman-no, not his woman, only in his dreams would she ever be his woman-had hurt Tiernan, she again seemed to recognize what he needed and took his hand.

"It wasn't as bad as you're making it sound. In fact, I think we have an ally. The problem is that I'm not sure who he was, although I have my suspicions," she began. She quickly told them of her encounter with the cryptic vampire.

"You think it could be this Devon?" Brennan asked, still holding tightly to her hand. Her touch calmed the monstrous rage that threatened to consume him at the thought of her in danger.

"I don't know. Either Devon, or someone who works with or for him. And I have to admit, the car is a slim lead. Maybe it was his chauffeur or maybe the vamp had nothing at all to do with the car. He did fly over that hedge pretty easily. After all, it doesn't really make a lot of sense that the vampire slated to be the big dog over this entire region would suddenly decide to sabotage his own evil plans."

Alexios shrugged, then shot a pointed look at their joined hands. "We can only speculate until we have more evidence. On a more practical note, can you two work together? Clearly your emotions are back, in a big way, Brennan. I very nearly didn't even recognize your call on the mental pathway, it was so tangled up with rage and"-he glanced at Tiernan, then shrugged again, ducking his head-"other things."

"It would be safer for Tiernan if she were to leave this place," Brennan said slowly, although each word burned him like salt water poured over an open wound.

"Not a chance, buddy," Tiernan snapped, wrenching her hand out of his. "Curse or no curse, you're stuck with me. We'll figure out the parameters of how far apart we can get, for how long, later. Or, actually, probably pretty soon, because I'm going to have to, um, use the ladies' room. But this is my story and I'm staying."

Alexios's eyes widened comically. "I can tell this is going to be interesting. Later. I've got to get to work. Check in with me from the party."

Brennan nodded and stepped forward to clasp Alexios's arm. "I will watch over your woman at the reception. You have my word."

Alexios laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Grace can watch over herself, but thanks for the backup. Watch over your own woman, while you're at it. I have a feeling she might be the best thing to happen to you in a very long time."

Tiernan rolled her eyes. "Watch the 'my woman, your woman' stuff, boys, or it's going to be a very long night."

Alexios just laughed again and left. After Brennan closed the door behind him, he leaned against it and studied Tiernan for so long her cheeks turned pink and she got that delightfully indignant expression on her face again.

"What now?"

"I was just thinking how appealing the prospect of a very long night, spent entirely with you, is to me," he said, allowing every bit of his hunger for her to show in his face and voice. His cock hardened just at the idea of it. Tiernan, naked. He suddenly desperately wanted to remove every stitch of her clothing and memorize every inch of her body.

In patient, loving detail.

She shook her head, and disappointment knifed through him as if his painfully volatile emotions had actually held out hope that she'd offer to strip down and star in his most erotic fantasies.

"What am I going to do with you? No, don't answer that," she said, shaking her head. "Right now, we need to solve a very mundane problem: how can I go to the bathroom without your curse kicking in? Because there is no way you're going to watch me pee."

Chapter 8.

Tiernan's face heated up when she realized what she'd just said, but unfortunately she was past the point of niceties in regard to her need for the facilities. It had been a long drive and a lot of caffeine to get there.

She glanced at him, hoping her hair covered most of her almost certainly fire-engine red cheeks. He was either shocked speechless or trying not to laugh at her, either of which was fine. Hey, it was even deserved, but still not solving the problem. "Look," she said. "Surely the curse can't kick in just in the two minutes it will take me behind that door."

His smile disappeared, fast, and the lines in his face deepened as he stared at first her, then the door. "I do not know, and I am unwilling to take the chance, with so little time before we must make an appearance. Are you truly so concerned for your privacy in the face of what is at risk?"

"Well, when you put it that way-" she snapped, but then a thought occurred. "Poseidon didn't know much about modern technology back in the day, did he?"

"I don't understand."

She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of herself. "Here, hold this and look at my face. I'll be back in two minutes. Less, even."

She slapped the phone in his hand and ran for the bathroom door. "You can talk to me if you need to hear my voice. Look at my picture and talk to me, okay?"

"You look quite distressed in this picture," he said slowly, as she slammed the door and yanked her jeans down, all but hopping on one foot.

"That's one word for it," she muttered. Quickly she took care of business, washed her hands, and pulled the door open with wet hands before even grabbing the towel, not wanting to push her luck. "Here I am again. See how fast that was? You're fine, aren't you?"

He slowly raised his head, and his eyes were emerald fire, burning through her. "I'm not sure," he said slowly. "I do remember you, but the photograph is not sufficient. The edges of your existence began to fade in my mind, even as I gazed at your likeness on this device. I do not believe technology will solve this dilemma between us. A piece of metal and wire is no match for the curse of a god."

She took her phone back, gently prying his shaking fingers away. "So we've reached the limit, but we didn't pass it," she said, keeping her tone light. "That's a relief. Some things a woman just wants to do on her own."

But she realized not just his hands were shaking. His entire body was shuddering, and he reached out for her. She went unhesitatingly into his embrace. He pulled her against him and tightened his arms until she gasped.

"Brennan, I'm having a hard time breathing here," she said, laughing a little.

He loosened his hold a fraction and put a hand under her chin, pulling her head up until their gazes locked. "Then let me breathe for you."

He lowered his head and took her lips in a hard, almost desperate kiss. Heat shot through her with the intensity of a flash fire in the forest; she clutched at his shoulders when her knees threatened to give way. Nothing mattered but that he keep kissing her, keep devouring her mouth with his own. An explosion of pure sensation sizzled through her body, sensitizing every inch of her skin. She wanted to cling to him; climb inside him; ride his hot, hard body until the desperate need was sated.

Suddenly, she realized she was rubbing against his body like a cat, and she pulled away from him, shocked and a little frightened by the depth of her hunger.

"Brennan," she whispered, but he kept kissing her. Her neck, her face, her lips again. She pushed against his chest and managed to speak up a little louder. "Brennan. Stop."

He stopped kissing her but still held her loosely, as he drew in deep, ragged breaths. "I am not sure I will survive a reunion with you after more than a two-minute parting," he finally managed. "I am sorry I keep mauling you like a clumsy youngling."

She shook her head. "I'm not sure exactly why this keeps happening, but it's definitely mutual."

A slow, dangerous smile spread over his face, and her knees threatened to buckle again. The man was pure seduction. "Had I known that emotions would be so incredibly threatening to my control, I am not sure I would have wished for their return. And yet, for the opportunity to hold you in my arms, I would surrender everything I own. Is this how the rest of the world feels all of the time? If so, how do you survive it?"

She tried to answer him, had to swallow past the blockage in her throat, and then finally was able to speak. "No. I mean, yes," she said, her voice husky. "Emotions are threatening my control with you, too, but we have a job to do, and this is so complicated, and-"

"Should we go, then? I must change my clothing to something more formal. I believe a tuxedo is required." He released her, his face again impassive, betraying nothing of what he said he'd been feeling just seconds ago.

Neat trick.

She tried it herself, but was doubtful of her success, since she was still trembling the tiniest bit. "Yes. Except, where are we going?"

"The reclusive billionaire who has donated half a million to the cause, with more to come, surely has a suite reserved for him in this hotel," he said dryly. "Will you determine if this is the case?"

She nodded, not completely trusting her own voice, and turned toward the phone on the desk, smiling to herself when she caught him running a hand roughly through his hair.

Everything he owned to hold her in his arms, he'd said. She picked up the phone, an entirely different kind of warmth spreading through her body. A warmth that felt almost like home.