Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis by Madelaine Montague Page B

dazed, it
took several moments for Alexis to recognize the woman who stood
only a few feet from them, pale with fury, despite obvious efforts
to hide it.
    Wonderful! Alexis thought. As if Helen
didn’t hate me enough already only for breathing!
    Alexis glanced from Helen to Thor. He
looked about as uncomfortable as anyone she’d ever seen in her
life.
    Unfortunately, Alexis couldn’t think
of a thing to diffuse the situation.
    She should not feel sorry for Thor. He
had cheated on Helen. He deserved the worst tongue lashing she
could give out, at the very least.
    But she was just as guilty. Helen had
very clearly staked her claim.
    And, in the end, wasn’t a woman more
to blame, or at least as much? Men were biologically inclined to
rut with every female that crossed their path. Not that that
excused their behavior. They had a brain. They had the choice of
using it. They didn’t have to give in to their animal instincts.
They could learn a little self control.
    On the other hand, to be perfectly
fair, women were just as inclined to excuse their own behavior
because of their biological makeup, throwing tantrums and/or crying
jags because it was ‘their time of the month’ and it was hard to
control their emotions.
    “ Actually, it was my idea. I
was bored.”
    Helen’s gaze could have drilled a hole
through her chest. The look she gave Thor was almost triumphant.
“Really? So soon? Poor Thor. I guess that puts you in your place.
Perhaps she misses Adonis?”
    Alexis flushed beat red. So much for
acting civilized and pretending nothing had happened.
    Up until that point, Thor had merely
looked harassed. The mention of Adonis, however, was sufficient to
bring a glare in her direction.
    Alexis felt her jaw drop in surprise
before indignation took its place. How dare he look as if she’d
cheated on him!
    In the first place, he knew damned
well Adonis hadn’t finished what he’d started.
    In the second, it wasn’t any of his
damned business anyway!
    She was on the point of telling him as
much when she realized she probably didn’t have to. He would have
read her thoughts as easily as he might have heard her voice had
she spoken aloud.
    He did not, however, look either
contrite or mollified.
    If anything, he looked angrier than
ever.
    “ I do believe I’ll just find
the festival myself,” Alexis said coldly.
    She tried to push past him. He grasped
her arm, pulling her to a halt.
    “ We will all go to the
festival,” he said grimly.
    “ Oh joy! This will be such
fun!” Alexis said sarcastically.
    Helen said nothing, merely slipping
her arm through Thor’s, almost with a smug look at Alexis, even as
Thor took Alexis’ hand.
    Silence reigned between the three of
them as they moved in the direction of the bright lights Alexis
could now discern in the distance.
    She had a feeling, however, that Thor
and Helen were deep in telepathic discussion.
    After a moment, Alexis pulled her hand
from Thor’s, wrapping the cloak more snugly against her. He glanced
at her, but said nothing.
    Alexis focused on her
surroundings.
    She was beginning to develop a
headache. She wasn’t certain whether it was because they were
nearing an area where many people were gathered, all chattering
telepathically and therefore bombarding her brain with waves she
could feel, even though she could not discern the speech, or if it
was her own efforts to filter out interlopers.
    In the end, the cause didn’t really
matter. There wasn’t anything she could do about it.
    Despite her headache, she was able to
look upon the festival with some interest. It looked much like a
county fair. Stalls lined several narrow thoroughfares, each filled
with the wares of the merchant presenting them. In truth, she could
see little difference, at first, between the festival and the
market she’d noticed when she’d passed through on her first day on
her way to find Adonis’ home. As they reached the center of
activity, however, she saw that the festival