Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis Read Online Free PDF

strangely quiet for such an enormous
group.
    Adonis stepped forward.
    “ Speak,” the High Councilor
admonished. “The mind talk causes her pain.”
    Adonis glanced toward
Alexis.
    “ I wish to keep her as my
mate,” he said finally.
    Alexis’ jaw dropped. Just like that?
Was she supposed to have a say in this?
    The High Councilor turned to look at
her. “You may.”
    Alexis stared at the Councilor in
surprise. “May what?”
    The High Councilor looked annoyed,
glanced at the others on the platform, then looked at Alexis. “You
asked if you might have a say in the decision. Speak.”
    “ I didn’t….” Alexis stopped.
Everything about this place was absolutely bizarre. It couldn’t
be—could it? “You read minds?”
    “ We converse.” The High
Counselor hesitated. “Your people call it telepathy.”
    Alexis’ thoughts went chaotic.
Foremost in her mind was her earlier encounter with Thor. She
turned a horrified gaze upon him, wondering if he could read her
mind too, and if he had—trying frantically to recall exactly what
had gone through her mind then. Unfortunately, she could remember
far more than she wanted to.
    It seemed to her that if they were
going to release her from her inhibitions, they might at least have
had the courtesy to make her forget what she was thinking while
under the influence.
    He did not so much as glance in her
direction, but he blushed.
    Alexis felt the blood rush to her
cheeks until they were lit up like a neon sign. She covered her
face with her hands. Just kill me now, she thought. I’m going to
die of embarrassment anyway, or worse, live.
    With a tremendous effort, she pushed
the memories to the back of her mind, striving for composure. She
looked at the one Thor had called the High Counselor.
“Why?”
    “ We cannot be heard by your
kind if we only converse telepathically. Sound carries. No one,
without telepathy, can hear thoughts.”
    “ So … you all just decided
one day to go telepathic?”
    The creature looked amused. “Something
like that. I am called Aurora.”
    Alexis flushed beat red, realizing …
she blocked that thought.
    Aurora’s brows lifted. “You are not
like the rest of your kind.”
    Alexis didn’t like the sound of
that.
    “ This was merely a comment,
not a judgment.”
    “ I’m sorry. I don’t mean to
be disrespectful, but I find your reading my mind very
rude.”
    Aurora looked displeased. “You are an
outworlder, an intruder here. Our right to protect ourselves
supersedes your right to privacy.”
    Alexis’ lips tightened. “Fine! Give me
my damn clothes and I’ll leave! I’ve got unfinished business I need
to take care of anyway. And MY kind don’t walk around naked. And
that … that watchdog of yours dragged me here without so much as a
scrap of cloth to cover me!”
    Alexis felt a massive wave of anger
and disbelief roll over her. She knew, somehow, that it was the
reaction of the entire crowd to her little speech. The problem was,
she wasn’t entirely certain which part of it had offended
everybody. Maybe all of it?
    She turned to find Thor glaring at
her. She glared back at him.
    He decided to ignore her.
    She sniffed contemptuously and
returned her attention to the High Counselor.
    “ Thor is the Guardian!”
Aurora pronounced imperiously.
    “ Yeah, so he
said.”
    “ Enough!”
    Alexis shrugged, trying to hide her
uneasiness, wishing she hadn’t allowed her nervousness to lead her
into openly aggressive behavior.
    Aurora turned to Adonis. “I must deny
your request.”
    Adonis seemed to struggle with his own
anger. “Why? It is obvious she carries latent genes of the race.
Few, even among us, could have broken the hold.” He threw Thor a
smug glance.
    Thor ignored him.
    “ You have broken the first
law. You cannot be rewarded for having done so, regardless of the
circumstances. If she had chosen you, it might have been considered
after a suitable punishment. But she has denied you,” one of the
elders in front of