Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis Read Online Free PDF Page B

Aurora intoned in a voice that crackled with
disuse.
    Alexis felt a pang of guilt at the
look Adonis threw her. He’d saved her life. She didn’t want to
appear ungrateful and was sorry that she obviously had.
    But the fact remained that she did not
want to stay, even if they wanted her to. That snake she’d married
thought he’d gotten away with murder—a double murder. She wasn’t
about to allow him to enjoy the life he’d deprived her father of,
to reap the rewards of the years and years of hard labor her father
had put in just so he could retire in comfort.
    Almost as one, the elders turned to
look at her. On their faces she saw varying degrees of sympathy.
Aurora spoke.
    “ Alas, as worthy as your
cause is, it is not so simple. In our society, you would have the
right to exact vengeance upon the one who murdered your father. But
we cannot allow you to simply leave. If you are determined upon
this course, you must submit to memory drain.”
    Alexis’ jaw dropped, a sense of horror
washing over her. She didn’t like the sound of that, at all.
“Exactly what are we talking about here?”
    “ We cannot allow you to take
your memories of us with you. They must be erased.”
    Alexis forgot all about being naked.
She leapt to her feet, furious, horrified. “No way in hell are you
touching my brain!”
    The counselors looked unmoved by her
outburst.
    “ It is the law,” they
intoned in unison.
    “ Well, you can just take
your damned laws and stuff them!”
    Aurora looked at Thor. He strode
toward Alexis purposefully.
    Alexis leapt over the chaise, dancing
just out of his reach, glancing behind her to make sure no one else
was sneaking up on her blind side.
    The crowd seemed frozen to their seats
in shock.
    Adonis had made no move in her
direction either, but his expression was one of
amusement.
    The elders looked neither shocked nor
amused, but remained seated. Alexis doubted they would be much of a
threat anyway and focused on Thor.
    Thor wore an expression that was a
mixture of surprise, discomfort and irritation.
    “ Halt!”
    Alexis stuck her tongue out at him,
daring him to come after her.
    He lunged.
    This time Alexis was prepared for his
amazing speed. She leapt into the air, catching him square across
the jaw with a butterfly kick.
    No one was more stunned than she that
it actually worked.

Chapter Three
    Alexis was racing toward the edge of
the platform almost before she landed. Reaching the edge in three
strides, she leapt from the dais and ran along the walkway that
surrounded the platform, heading toward the nearest exit. She hoped
it was an exit.
    She’d almost reached her goal when a
woman sprang from one of the lower benches, landing in front of her
and effectively blocking her path.
    She was probably the most beautiful
creature Alexis had ever seen in her life.
    It gave Alexis a perverse kind of
pleasure when she executed a perfect flying kick, felling the woman
on the spot. Without pausing, she leapt over the woman’s prone form
and raced down a long, shadowy corridor.
    These people lived near the water. She
knew there had to be a boat somewhere.
    She heard the pounding of footsteps
behind her before she was halfway down the corridor … too heavy for
the woman, undoubtedly Thor. She’d hoped for a longer head start,
but the sound kicked her adrenaline up several notches and she ran
faster, so fast she slammed into the wall when the corridor took an
abrupt turn.
    She barely broke stride, but she could
hear the footsteps coming closer. Ignoring the pain in her arm and
shoulder, she picked up speed once more, flying through the open
doorway at the end of the corridor so fast the wind whistling past
her ears almost deafened her to pursuit.
    She needed to stop and get her
bearings.
    She didn’t dare.
    It was morning now, she saw, still
early, but bright enough she could see at a glance that she was on
the rise she’d seen when she and Adonis approached the city. With
only a slight pause, she