Ven whistled long and low. “Conlan is not going to be happy to hear that.”

“With all due respect to your brother, whether or not the high prince of Atlantis is happy with my career choices is not big on my list of concerns. Good-bye.”

Ven’s hand grasped Daniel’s arm with almost vampire-like speed. Damn Atlanteans anyway.

“Remove your hand, or I’ll do it for you,” Daniel snarled. “You presume too much.”

“I’ve been told that before,” Ven said, but he released Daniel’s arm. “You saved my life. I’m not going to stand idly by while you sacrifice your own.”

“How did you—”

“You said good-bye. You never say good-bye. Ever. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that a vampire who has lived for thousands of years might get tired of putting up with life every once in a while. Especially when every day brings a new battle.”

Daniel looked into his friend’s eyes and lied to his face. “I’m not there yet.”

Ven stared back at him, hard, but finally nodded. “Fine. Take a rain check on that beer?”

“Another night,” Daniel agreed. He watched as the prince of Atlantis, one of the few men Daniel had ever called friend, leapt into the air and dissolved into a sparkling cloud of iridescent mist. The Atlantean powers over water were both beautiful and deadly. Daniel had seen both.

He waited until the last droplet of mist had long since vanished from his sight before he spoke, repeating the words that had given away his intent. “Good-bye, my friend.”

And then he went to face the dawn.

Chapter 2

The Maidens’ Chamber, Atlantis, deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea

“They might die. They might all die.”

The frantic words sliced through the fog that kept Serai’s mind in a near-permanent state of peaceful rest. The speaker’s urgency was such that she cast around in her memory for his name, but she couldn’t find it. One of the many, many attendants who had come and gone, lived and died, while she and her sisters waited out the millennia until they were freed. After the first thousand years, she hadn’t bothered to try to learn their names. They almost never spoke to her, after all. Only around her. About her.