Alyssa Day – Atlantis Unleashed

The third book in the Warriors of Poseidon series, published June 2009.



Eleven thousand years ago, Poseidon’s warriors swore an oath to protect humanity from those who stalked the night. Now those powerful forces are uniting. So are two souls who are all that stand between justice and eternal darkness…
A warrior prince…
Lord Justice made the ultimate sacrifice for his brother and paid for it with unimaginable torture. Now he’s back, rescued from death, his sanity shaken, and his mission inescapable to search for the lost Star of Artemis. But the beautiful human female whom he has sworn to protect is shadowed by an evil that could destroy them both.
A woman of science…
The archaeological artefacts of Atlantis speak to Dr. Keely McDermott, sharing visions of life long ago. The ancient revelations have cast her into a world between past en present, between reality and illusion – and, when she meets the fierce Atlantean warrior assigned to guard her, between terror and temptation. As their two worlds collide, so too will danger and desire…


Another book with a blurb that is complete nonsense. So, don’t read it when you read the book, just enjoy the story, which is so much better than this blurb thinks it is.

Dr. Keely McDermott is an archaeologist with the Ohio State University, and she is very good at her job. Which is partly due to her unusual gift of psychometrics. When she touches an object, she sees a vision of the past. And sometimes, she is sucked into the vision, and sees everything through the eyes of one of the participants in the events. Which is not easy, and really tires her out. So Keely goes through life, wearing gloves, never touching people, and without friends, labelled: different, or even a freak.
Her parents never accepted her gift, or her curse. Taking her as a little girl to one shrink after another, who all labelled her difficult, and not one believed her stories. Keely loves her parents, but has not much true contact with them.
Her one comfort throughout the years has been the little wooden fish she found at a dig years ago. She has visions of a beautiful blue-haired warrior carving it, about two hundred years ago. And of course, no man can compare to him, and her visions of him. Least of all the man who betrayed her so harshly a couple of years back, after she trusted him with her secrets.
When she gets home from an important dig in Rome, until the local Were’s threw her out and took over the site, she is dead tired. She cannot risk falling asleep aboard an airplane and touching the seat, or the passenger next to her. Her office is more her home than her house, which is only a place to eat and sleep. Everything is exactly how she left things, with a nice layer of dust on top of it.

After checking her phone messages (none), she gets a visitor. A man who claims he is from Atlantis, and she is invited for a visit. Of course she doesn’t believe him, until he unsuspectedly rips off her gloves, and presses a jewel in her hand. She is thrown into the vision immediately, seeing an event that took place 7000 years ago, involving the High Priest of Poseidon and his beloved wife. Having not have the opportunity to prepare for the visions and the shock, the vision is brutal. Liam is extremely sorry, but he had to make sure she is a true object reader. And now Keely has to choice to go to Atlantis with him, or have her memory wiped, and her biggest competitor and arch-enemy go in her stead. Which is not a choice at all, really.

Meanwhile, in Atlantis, the search for Lord Justice continues. It has been four months since he went with Anubisa, the Vampire Goddess, and so far, not a trace of him has been found. Brennan, Christophe and Alexios are searching for gatherings from the Apostates cult, hoping to get some information from the vampires leading the cult in honour of Anubisa. Worshipping pain and depravation. They have just located a gathering and have made a grand entrance, when Brennan, the quiet, emotionless one, gets insane. He murders he vampleader, and threatens to kill all of the humans, until a nearly naked woman comes out of hiding behind a sofa. Brennan claims her as his own, which is so not him. Alaric arrives just in time to put Brennan in a kind of stasis, and they take the both of them back to Atlantis, were Brennan is place in the hospital. The woman happens to be an investigative reporter, who has some knowledge about Justice, and what the vampires are up to. And while Conlan, Ven and Alaric are talking with Tiernan Butler about the Voic she claims Justice is in, a strange portal opens. It is a dark place, but two figures can be seen, walking toward them. Finally they recognize Justice, he seems to have found a way out for himself, at last.

And now all things are happening at once. Liam and Keely arrive, Conlan, Ven, Alaric and Tiernan are there, and the portal where Justice is looming. His vision locks onto Keely, and he seems to go insane! Erin arrives, and she tries to sing the portal open. But the only thing happening is, that the sounds are coming through now, and no one is really happy with that. But it is al to no avail, Anubisa created the Void, and the only way in or out, is through a death sacrifice. Both Conlan and Ven offer up their lives, but Justice will not have it. Then his companion, a Greek soldier who was with Alexander the Great, and trapped in the Void for over two thousand years, sacrifices himself. Justice doesn’t think he is worthy of such a sacrifice, but has to come out now. But the torture he endured has shredded his self control, and his Atlantean half is fighting with his Nereid half. They both recognize Keely as their Soulmate, and Justice just takes her, and disappears with her.

Keely is afraid of this strange man who abducts her, but she does recognize the warrior of her visions. He is beautiful, even under all those layers of filth and blood. He scares her, but she knows he will not hurt her. But when he claims her as his own, she rebels. She is an independent woman, and will have nothing to do with those cave man attitudes. They are trapped in a cave beneath the Nereid Temple, where Justice used to come as a child. But he has no idea how to get out of it again, as his Nereid half took care of their arrival. And his Nereid half is battling him for control. It wants to ravage Keely, with or without her consent, and urges Justice to just take her as his own, to claim her, and never let her go. With Keely’s help Justice stays in control, and together they search for a way out of the caves. But when Keely touches Justice’s sword when he gives it her to feel safe from him, she is drowned in the visions it carries. She sees the whole of Justice’s past, from his unborn status through his childhood, his warrior training, his torture, till now. Justice is horrified with what he has unknowingly done, and vows to protect her. But he is very glad with what she can tell him about his past, and most importantly his parents. Apparently, his mother did love him, even though his father never could.

Finally out of the cave they head for the palace to tell Conlan and Ven what Keely has learned, and as a result, the both of them set out to the jungle to find the lost Star of Artemis, one of the lost stones for Poseidon’s Trident, and rumoured to heal a broken mind.


Another fast paced novel, where a lot has happened, and the first seeds are sown for the next books in the series. I loved Keely from the start, even though she had a rotten childhood and life, she is still a compassionate woman. She can feel for Justice, even when he abducts her. And the descriptions of the soul meld are so lovely, and different for each couple, just like each romance is different. More and more lost abilities seem to surface in those dangerous times, needed to fight the vampires dominion over humanity.
And what can I say about Justice? He knew his father the King despised him from his birth, but he never knew the real reason. Poseidon cursed him to never tell the truth to anybody, or he would have to kill that person. So even though he knew Conlan and Ven are his brothers, they did not. Can they really welcome him into the family? His fighting with his other half, talking to himself, he is one great warrior!
Yes, he is overprotective of Keely, but she also keeps him sane, and makes him appear more human.

It is clear to me, that Brennan has found his mate in the reporter, even though Alexios is interested in her as well. As for Christophe, I find I like him less and less in each book. I do wonder about his story. Riley’s pregnancy is going well, but she insists that she and Conlan be married before the birth. She knows the postponement was necessary, but now her patience is at an end. Her baby will be born legitimate! Even if an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas has to do the ceremony! And of course, Conlan bows to her wishes.
My heart still bleeds for Quinn and Alaric. But perhaps Keely’s vision changes things for them as well. If Quinn accepts him that is.

Yes, another good book about the Warriors of Poseidon. I want to start in the next book right away!

8,5 stars.