Turning on her heel, she started to stalk away, but he raced forward and caught her arm, knowing that he must hear the words. "Tell me now. Is it true?" he repeated. "Do you love me?"

"Yes, I love you," she said, all but spitting the words at him. It wasn't how he'd envisioned her declaration of love, but it was a start.

"Keely, you must know that-"

"Oh, shut up," she cried, and then she hauled off and punched him in the face.

Chapter 35.

Justice rubbed his jaw, which actually ached. For a scientist, she packed a hell of a punch. A smile spread over his face, which made his split lip hurt, but he didn't care.

By all the gods, she was magnificent.

Alejandro lowered his shotgun and whistled, staring after Keely. "If I'd seen her first, you'd have quite a fight on your hands," he said admiringly. "That is one fine woman."

Justice narrowed his eyes and growled at the upstart. "Go near my woman and I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah. If you're done going crazy on us, we have a hostage," Alejandro said, cutting him off. "And if there's any way you can teach me that explosion thing, I'd give my right arm to know that trick."

"That trick, as you call it, is a power granted to me by my Nereid heritage," Justice said, for the first time in his life claiming his mother's people with pride. Something inside him warmed and expanded at the realization. "I cannot teach it to one who is not Atlantean and Nereid."

"Too bad," Alejandro said with a rueful grin. "But thanks for not exploding all of us. I was afraid when you saw Keely was threatened that we were all going to be collateral damage."

"It was a valid fear," Justice admitted, then looked around. "Did you say a hostage?"

"Over here," one of the men called, and two of them walked up, dragging one of the vamps between them. It was the one who'd been shot in the chest, and the wound was still closing. "He must have fallen to the ground from the injury, so he escaped being caught in that wave of death, or whatever you call it," the man said, bowing his head a little toward Justice but staying a careful distance away.

Alejandro cocked his shotgun. "Easy enough. Stand away from him," he ordered his men.

"No," Justice said. "I have a better idea. We send him home with a message."

"Fine. Here's a message," Alejandro said, lifting his shotgun and firing in one smooth motion. Half of the vamp's right upper leg disappeared and it started shrieking.

"I actually meant a verbal message, but that works, too," Justice said, admiring the man's handiwork. "You're pretty good with that shotgun."

"We will kill you all," the vampire shrieked. "We will come back with all of our blood pride and tear you into tiny pieces and-"

"Do you want me to let him take your head off with that thing?" Justice asked, tilting his head to one side as if truly interested in the answer.

The vamp stuttered to silence, clutching his wounded leg as it began to heal and shooting death glares at all of them.

"Good. So here's the message. You and yours stay away from Las Pinturas forever. If we ever see even the slightest sign of any of you, we will hunt you down and destroy you, and believe me when I say that the exploding vampire technique was only a party trick compared to the destruction I will rain down upon your bloodsucking asses," Justice said.

His calm tone seemed to terrify the vampire, who bobbed its head and tried on an ingratiating smile. "Yes, I hear you. I will give the message," it whined. "If you let me go now, I will hurry to spread your message to the four corners of the region."

Justice looked at Alejandro. "Are you satisfied?"

"I can live with it. Can I shoot him again?"

Justice shrugged. "Your town, your call."

The vamp screamed, then fell to the ground and started crying red, bloody tears. "No, please no. I can't spread the message if I'm too wounded to move," it blubbered.

Alejandro stepped forward and kicked the vampire in the face. "You have killed the last of my people, you undead bastard. Mind that you never, ever return or I will personally cut your balls from your body."

"Yes, yes, I mean, no, no, whatever you say," the vampire gibbered and Alejandro motioned to his men, who put even more distance between themselves and the vamp.

"Then go, and don't forget to spread that message," Justice said.

Still sobbing, the vampire backed away from them, dragging its wounded leg, greenish brackish blood pouring down its face from its broken nose. "Yes, yes, yes," it kept saying until it reached the trees, and then it gave one harsh cry of rage or defiance and sped off into the night.

They stood staring after it for several long moments, and then Alejandro raised one of his arms and stared at the globs and spatters of vampire slime that coated his sleeve and skin. "So, about that trick with the water you did earlier on the burning houses. Does that work for a shower?"

Justice laughed and channeled the water that came so eagerly to his call. "All part of the service. Exploding vampires; hot and cold running showers."

As they washed themselves the best they could under the gentle, welcome rain, Justice realized he still faced his most terrifying encounter ever.

He had to go apologize to Keely.

Keely cleaned herself off with water from a bucket before she went in to Eleni, so as not to traumatize the child even more. She was so angry that it was surprising that the water didn't boil into steam the second it touched her skin.

Questions crashed through her mind, faster and faster. Did she love him? Did she love him? He was a stupid, blind, sorry excuse for a human being. Or Atlantean being. Or what the hell ever. Damn him, anyway. Did she really have to say the words? Hadn't she proved how she felt about him, over and over? What about that hours-long sex romp in the jungle? Did he think she went around having wild sex in jungles all the time?

Energy sizzled up the nape of her neck even before the sound of his footsteps alerted her to his approach. "Stay away from me, Justice," she warned. "I'm in no mood right now. I just killed my first vampire-my first anything-and that's pretty traumatic. Then I had to deal with you and your stupid questions."

"Keely," he said. Just that. Just her name.

But there was so much pain and longing in the sound that she bowed her head, surrendering her rage to a gentler emotion. The anger disappeared as if she'd never felt it, and she carefully considered what to say, still with her back to him as she knelt by the bucket. "Justice, I know. I know you're fighting this battle, and I know that you sometimes can't control the Nereid, but I kind of need for you to take some things on faith. Can you do that for me?"

She waited, but only heard silence. A healthy dose of mad started up again and she stood up, kicking the bucket over in frustration. "Look, you have to meet me halfway-"

She whirled around, ready to give him a very detailed list of grievances, just in time to see his eyes roll back in his head as he fell backward to the ground. She jumped forward but wasn't quick enough, and his body and head hit the dirt with two solid thumps that had her wincing in empathy. Oh, man, was he going to have a headache when he woke up. He'd told her using the Nereid power drained him. She had a feeling that the shock wave trick had used huge amounts of his power and energy.

She heard more steps running toward them, and then Alejandro rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. There was a long silence as he stared back and forth between Justice and Keely.

"I must revise my opinion, Dr. McDermott," he said gravely, although there was a certain glint in his eye. "You are far too much woman for me."

"I didn't do this," she protested, but he just nodded, holding up his hands as if in surrender. She couldn't help it; she started laughing helplessly. The terror, anger, and exhaustion had drained her completely. She laughed and laughed until tears started rolling down her cheeks, and Alejandro crouched down next to her and touched her cheek with one hand.

"You are very courageous, Keely, but even the strongest steel can find its breaking point. Let me assist you in carrying your man to a better place to rest."

"He's not my man; he's a thickheaded buffoon," she mumbled, scrubbing at her face, and it was Alejandro's turn to laugh.

"All men are buffoons at times," he said gently. "The heart of a good person cannot lie, and your heart shows plainly on your face whenever you look at him, as his does when you are near."

She just sighed. He called out, and one of his men came over to help. Between the three of him, they managed to lift Justice's heavy form and get him inside to a pallet of blankets in one corner. As soon as she saw them, Eleni wiggled out of the arms of the woman who'd been holding her and ran to them.

"Senor Justice, Senor Justice! You cannot be hurt. I did not see you hurt," she cried out. Then she hurled her tiny body on top of Justice's chest and put one arm around him, still holding that awful slipper in the other, and cast a reproachful glance at Keely. "Except when you hit him. You should not have done that. Hitting is wrong. We must use our words to resolve our differences," she said in a singsong voice, clearly parroting something she'd heard many times.

Alejandro and the other man strode off, probably to return to guard duty, and Keely dropped to her knees next to Justice's still body. "You're right, Eleni. It was wrong of me to hit him, and I will apologize when he wakes up. Is that okay?"

Eleni nodded, the tracks of tearstains shining silvery in the dust coating her cheeks. "I was so afraid. Even though I did not see you being injured, I was so afraid. But you came back, like you promised."

Keely soothingly patted Eleni's thin back and rashly made a promise-to herself and to the child. "I will always come back, Eleni. If you like, you can stay with me from now on."

But Eleni was drifting off to sleep, still clinging to Justice, and she didn't respond. Probably hadn't heard, which was all for the best. Keely wondered if she was going crazy. Falling in love with a magical warrior and then punching him. She'd never punched anyone before in her life. Promising something to a traumatized child that probably would be impossible to achieve.

Still, she'd seen the impossible on a daily basis since the moment Liam had walked into her office talking about Atlantis. Surely arranging for one orphaned child to come home with her couldn't be that difficult.

Firmly putting all of it out of her mind, she curled up next to Eleni and Justice and put her arm over both of them. She was exhausted and needed sleep. She'd think about the rest of it in the morning. As she fidgeted, trying to get comfortable, she felt Justice's warm hand pull hers to his chest, so that it rested on his heartbeat. Comforted by the feel of it, strong and steady under her palm, Keely finally let her mind and body sink into the warm darkness of sleep.

Several kilometers away, in the temple at San Bartolo, the wounded vampire finished telling the leader of his blood pride the tale of the events of that night. Enraged, the leader's yellowed fangs lengthened so fast that they slashed bleeding ribbons in his lips. He bellowed out a howl that was so long and loud that all of his pride members in the area dropped to their knees and cowered.

"They dare? They dare to threaten me?" he screamed. "We shall see who lives to threaten whom after this night!"

"Perhaps," ventured the vamp whose leg was still trying to heal, "we could wait for the rest of us to return at dawn from hunting and go in strength when night next falls?"

The leader swooped down on him, eyes glowing red and savage. "You dare to question me?" he hissed.

"Never, never, my lord. But if you could have seen the power of the explosion . . . I only suggest that we return with sufficient force that no hint of danger could come near to touching you."

The leader drew back, a calculating expression on his face. "Perhaps you are right. A true leader never risks himself; I am far too valuable to take any chances of facing the true death."

He slowly turned to face the mural of the goddess Anubisa preparing to feast on the puny maize god of the ancient Maya. "We will destroy this new threat in your name."

Behind him, the others mewled and whined varying noises of agreement but he ignored them. One day he, too, would be a god, as vampires before him had been worshipped by these Mayan sheep.

One day quite possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Chapter 36.

Keely woke slowly, climbing up through stages of sleep as though her weary body and mind were protesting every step. When she finally opened her eyes, it was to see sunlight slanting through the building and falling like bars of gold on the wooden floor. Justice and Eleni were gone, but a blanket had been neatly tucked around Keely's shoulders. She sat up, grimacing at the foul taste in her mouth, and an equally foul smell coming from somewhere nearby, and wished for a shower and a toothbrush, in no particular order.

"Senora would like to accompany us to wash up?" Keely looked up at the question and found the shy woman from yesterday sitting at a battered wooden table, folding clothes and sorting them into piles. "We thought you might enjoy a change of clothing."

Keely's nose wrinkled when she realized that the foul smell was coming from herself. Hiking through the jungle, having vampires disintegrate all over you . . . it was no way to keep fresh as a daisy.

"Yes, I would love that," she said gratefully. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"I am Maria," said the woman-girl, really. She couldn't be older than eighteen or nineteen years old. "Follow me, please."

Keely followed Maria out into the bright sunlight and automatically glanced up at the sky. It had to be mid-morning. She couldn't believe she'd slept so long. She scanned the clearing as she followed Maria to a path that cut into the trees, but there was no sign of Justice or Eleni.

"Maria, do you know where Justice is?"

Maria glanced back over her shoulder and smiled. "He and Eleni went with Alejandro to patrol. That one is such a man, no? You are lucky to be his woman, and he, too, is lucky to find a woman with fire in her spirit as well as in her hair."

"I'm not his woman," Keely grumbled, picking her way through trees and over wildly overgrown plant life on the path. Suddenly she looked around and wished for her shotgun. "There aren't any jaguars that like to take this path, are there?"

Maria laughed. "No, they stay away from the village and our paths. The smell of cooking fires . . ."

Her voice trailed off and Keely knew they were both thinking of other fires.

"I'm so sorry," Keely said. "I can't begin to imagine how much you've suffered."

Maria's shoulders slumped but then squared again. "Alejandro will take us out of here. We have only ever had random attacks before; a single vampire would try to take one of us. This has only happened twice in the entirety of my life. But this-this is organized warfare and we cannot stand against it. If your man were to stay with us and guard us . . . I heard of his magic. But you cannot stay, can you?"

She turned to fix a measuring stare on Keely, hope mixed with resignation in her eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. We will stay until your P Ops unit comes, but we must finish up our . . . mission and return home."

Maria nodded. "We understand. Alejandro will save us."

The words fell from her lips like a benediction, and Keely, who rarely noticed interpersonal relationships, had a sudden flash of insight. "He's your man, isn't he? Alejandro?"

"I would like that," Maria said, blushing. "But he still thinks of me as a child."

They rounded a curve in the path and a stream lay in front of them, sparkling in the sunlight that danced on its surface. Keely stopped and took a deep breath, content to see something beautiful after the night's terror and death.

"We will wash up and you can wear these clothes, if you like," Maria said shyly, holding out the bundle in her hands. "They are mine and we are very nearly the same size."

Keely looked at Maria's voluptuous curves and doubted her own less bountiful shape would fill out any of the other woman's clothes, but didn't let anything but thanks show on her face as she gratefully accepted the fresh clothes. Well-fitting clothes, after all, were the last thing on her mind, even if the teensiest bit of vanity wanted Justice to see her looking at least almost as pretty as the beautiful Maria.

They stripped down to their underwear and waded into the stream to wash, sharing a bar of soap that felt like silk and smelled like delicate jungle flowers. Keely washed her hair, too, and nearly cried with the sheer relief of being clean again. When they were done, they headed for the stream bank, chatting about inconsequential things, striving for mundane and normal as a respite from horror and death.

The loud crack of a branch breaking rang in the air, and they both froze. Maria started crying, and Keely put her arms around her. "It can't be vampires, not in the daytime," she soothed, while wondering what other dangers they'd overlooked in their little bathing adventure.

But it was no unknown danger that stepped out from the jungle, but Justice and Alejandro. Justice took her breath away, again, as if she were seeing him for the very first time. He'd changed into different clothes, simple jeans and a dark T-shirt, but his glorious blue hair hung loose and damp all the way to his waist, and the muscles of his chest and arms filled out the shirt in a way that had her wanting to tear it off and climb all over him.

Naked.

She crossed her arms over her chest when she realized her nipples were poking out through the wet fabric of her bra in response to the heat pouring through her body. All she had to do was look at him to want him.

Smiling a little goofily, she finally met his gaze-and flinched. Fury darkened his eyes to black, and his clenched jaw gave Keely the feeling that he was fairly upset.

Possibly at her.