Chapter 3

Cassie blinked against the blazing Greek sun as she stepped onto the fishing boat. This wasn't the research vessel she was used to, but it would have to do. She joined Nikos at the railing as the boat motored out of the tiny harbor toward the open Mediterranean.

"Are you sure we weren't followed?" she asked.

Nikos nodded. "Yannis drove us through so many back alleys, there's no way we were tracked here."

He studied the coordinates scribbled in Cassie's notebook. "If these are accurate, we should reach the spot in a few hours."

Cassie tried to calm her racing mind as the shoreline faded from view. Had it really only been yesterday she'd been examining ancient ruins, no idea her mundane research would bring her to the brink of the archaeological find of the century?

She gazed out at the sea glittering in the sun, picturing the secrets that might lie beneath its waves. The ancient metropolis lost to the ocean depths. What had really happened to the mythical Atlantis?

Her imaginings were interrupted by a noise in the distance. She turned to see a sleek powerboat speeding toward them. Cassie's stomach dropped.

"Cronus." Nikos' expression was grim.

The powerboat roared alongside them. Masked armed men grappled onto their boat. Cassie's heart pounded as she and Nikos were seized by the intruders. One man held a gun to the captain's head, shouting angrily in Greek.

Their assailants were only interested in Cassie and Nikos. They were dragged aboard the powerboat, which accelerated away. Cassie exchanged a desperate look with Nikos. How had Cronus tracked them down again? And what did they want?