Daegan didn’t comment on it, she was sure because he assumed Gideon was just impatient, listening to what he called the “farce” of vampire civility. She understood that she had to learn as much as she could about that world, but as Daegan shared his insights, there was an unfortunate side effect. Gideon, having to attend the same lessons, learned about a world he’d spent much of his life trying to destroy, a world into which he was now integrating himself solely for her benefit and protection. It meant that each day, he faced that fork in his soul that had been ripped there by circumstances.
Despite the power of that struggle, it was the fuse winding amid it, the one most likely to set off the full powder keg, that worried her the most. His fiercely deliberate, unacknowledged desire for Daegan kept growing, almost faster than his deep concerns about her attending the Council, and the temporal nature of their relationship when she embraced a vampire’s life fully.
While cleaning the blade, Gideon had been drifting into some rather graphic images of her body twined with his. At first it had been memory only, remembering the night after their dinner. The sweet lovemaking, his mouth on her breast, her hand passing over his hair, the slick, easy penetration and tight clasp of her cunt around him, welcoming and holding him.
But as the memory spun into new imaginings, his hands performing the cleaning and sharpening by rote, he devised rougher, more demanding scenarios, things such as what they shared in the Queen’s Chamber. It had distracted her enough to miss a couple points of Daegan’s lecture. She’d wondered if Gideon was doing it on purpose, since she knew he could sense when she was in his mind, but he seemed trapped in his own head tonight, almost oblivious to her presence.
Her being in his mind wasn’t a deep or intentional probe. It took so much effort to stay out of his head at this point, that he’d made it clear he was fine with her drifting in the upper layers if it was easier for her to focus on more important things, like controlling her bloodlust and the shadow voices in her head. They’d also found that her drifting in his head helped keep those voices quiet.
That was how she knew what had disturbed Gideon enough to send him to the weapons room. It wasn’t what Daegan was saying, but how he was saying it. The sensual lift and drop of the syllables was what bothered Gideon. As he’d listened, the vampire had become a third member of the carnal triangle in her vampire hunter’s mind. Touching them both, gripping, demanding . . . taking control of Gideon’s responses as the three of them gave and received pleasure.
When Gideon recognized the turn of his personal fantasy, he’d snapped to his feet as if he’d been bitten, retreating to the weapons room to exorcise the unwanted but undeniable desire.
Though he was never easy in it, Gideon was far less resistant to her dominance when Daegan was absent. In his soul, Gideon was a strangely conservative creature. But below that, where his sexual self was laid bare, she knew he couldn’t deny his fascination with the other male. How he couldn’t quite keep himself from looking at the vampire. It amused her, because nothing with a pulse could help appreciating Daegan’s sexuality. She understood the vampire allure better now, because of how her staff had reacted to her before her bloodlust attack. But vampire allure or no, Daegan had something extra.
The mystery, the aura of unquestionable command, the hard body, beautiful cock and intriguing face, all sensual planes and shadows, dominated by the dark eyes and sinful mouth. She’d often wondered what he would look like with his hair long and silky, rather than cropped short the way he kept it for the work he did.
“At some point, the three of us need to cover servant etiquette. He’ll need to observe it to avoid drawing more attention to him.”
She tuned back in to Daegan. “But we won’t be bringing him to the Council audience. He’ll stay on the plane or somewhere farther away, where he can monitor my mind and give me the cues I need.”
At Daegan’s expression, she rose slowly. “He intends to go in there with us?”
“He does. I have not been able to dissuade him.”
“It’s not a matter of dissuading. He’s not going.”
“It will be dangerous for him, but he’s resourceful—”
“Oh my God.” She stared at him. “You’ve already agreed to this. Discussed it with him. I thought we’d agreed—”
“I did not break my promise to you,
cher
. It was his decision to share with you, not mine. He has waited too long, however, and I feel you need to know. To be prepared.”
Letting Daegan get closer to her soul was another way to help her balance, like having Gideon in her mind or her in his, but at times like this it was a bittersweet pleasure. She’d wanted that closeness, and now doubted his heart far less, but residual anger could still flare when he made executive decisions like this one. “I may not know much about your world, but taking one of the most successful vampire hunters into Council headquarters seems like signing his death warrant.”
“He’d be coming as your servant.”
“And that will make it all okay? Can you guarantee he’ll be safe the same way you’ve promised me that I will?”
“No,
cher
. But it’s not my choice to make.”
“Damn right it’s not.” She ignored the narrow warning glance he shot her way. “We’ll call his brother and Lady Lyssa. Tell them what may happen. Surely the two of them will sit on him until we get back.”
Daegan rose from the couch, his face getting that implacable set that made her want to simultaneously rage and despair. “They have a child, Anwyn. Vampire infants are rare and highly valued in our world. If the child has two parents, neither will leave him, nor bring him into a dangerous situation, until he is past the age where he could be taken and passed off as another vampire’s child.”
“Gideon wouldn’t hurt his own nephew, and I won’t be a danger to them. I won’t even be close to him.”
Daegan raised his brow. “You’d take away his free will, just like that?”
“To save his life? Absolutely. You told me almost the same thing, when I tried to take my life. Is it so different because I’m a female, under your protection?”
His lips twisted. “My double standard toward women is hardly a revelation.”
“Why do any of us have to go? Why not just send them a fax or an e-mail? Videoconference, for heavens’ sake. This is the technology age.”
“Because the Council is very rigid on certain things. When a vampire is made or killed, they require a personal audience.”
Anwyn was watching his face, and now bit her lip. “So if punishment must be meted out, it can be done swiftly.”
“No harm is going to come to you there,” he said immediately, his expression hardening. “If I thought there was
any
danger to you, I wouldn’t take you, no matter their requirements.”
“But risking Gideon is okay. God, he’s right. You do think humans are expendable.” She turned away, but he reached out, caught her wrist.
“I value Gideon. But anyone is expendable, when it comes to you. He agrees with me. He’s doing this of his own free will.”
“Neither of you has the right to make that choice.” She resisted his grip, but he held on, giving her a level look.
“I make that kind of choice quite often, Anwyn. It doesn’t mean I enjoy it. But you don’t need to worry about what’s going to happen. I’ll handle whatever occurs at the Council.”
Anwyn stared at him, yanked her hand back in an unexpected move. “You did
not
just suggest I shouldn’t worry my pretty little head about it.”
Daegan abruptly dropped, spinning back to his feet in a lithe move as a knife thumped into the wall behind him. Gideon leaned in the doorway, flipping his second blade in his hand. “Just making sure you’re paying attention.”
Anwyn turned her temper on him. “He shouldn’t have to pay attention in his own home. What if you’d hit him with that?”
“He would have said ‘ouch,’ pulled it out, and promptly healed,” Gideon observed mildly, though his eyes were far from casual. “I didn’t use the crossbow or aim for the heart.”
“Well, then, what am I worried about?” She cast an exasperated look at Daegan, who’d pulled the weapon out of her wall and sent it back to Gideon with a loose, twisting toss that the other male caught. He didn’t look perturbed by Gideon’s actions. But there was a tension to Gideon’s body that showed he was perturbed about something.
“If it was my decision to tell her, you did a pretty good job of doing it yourself.”
“Perhaps because it appeared you intended to tell her when we all got off the plane together in Berlin. Where the stress of such a revelation might send her into a seizure.”
“I can’t believe the two of you are actually talking about me like I’m not here.” Anwyn stepped between the two men, interrupting the line of vision, and was incredibly irritated and amazed when Gideon merely shifted to reestablish it. The heat in the room was escalating, and while she was nursing her own anger, it didn’t cloud the fact that something far more volatile was brewing.
“She’s right.” Gideon’s eyes met Daegan’s, a challenge. “You’re the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. She deserves to know as much as possible about what to expect, even the things that will worry her, because knowing in advance will help her be prepared. If she thinks you’re holding back on her, that’s what will upset her.”
“I expect you both to trust me on certain things,” Daegan said stiffly.
“Sorry, Count Drac,” Gideon said, eyes flashing. “Long as you have those fangs, I’m not going to be turning my back on you anytime soon.”
Anwyn flinched, and Gideon glanced toward her. “You’re different, Anwyn.”
“Of course I am,” she said flatly, but she knew his mind. She’d put her life into his hands more than once now. He didn’t trust her to do that for him. Not now, maybe not ever. With her blood, how could she blame him? It still hurt.
The vampire hunter sheathed the other blade, took a couple of steps in the room. “In the past, you’ve been handling the Council alone. But we’ll be with you. You’re taking troops, and they should know the terrain, your strategy. I chose to hunt vampires alone, but when I went with others, I never John McClane’d it. Unless you’re Bruce Willis, that gets people killed.”
Anwyn bit back an oath as Daegan turned a puzzled expression toward her. “It’s a character from an action movie, an antihero who always goes in and single-handedly saves the day,” she said between gritted teeth.
Daegan pressed his lips together. “I am not that person. However, since you’re so eager to be in the loop, we were just talking about Council etiquette. You’ll need to observe certain inviolate courtesies while we’re there, in order to stay as unobtrusive as possible. And before you start being your typical smartass self,” he interjected at Gideon’s scowl, “it’s for Anwyn’s protection, not your own. She needs you, for good or ill, and if you shoot your mouth off and disrespect the Council, they
will
kill you.”
She’d asked for his bald honesty, but that hit her like a blow to the stomach. Daegan gave her a glance, his lips thinning, but turned back to Gideon. “They will not hesitate, give it a second thought, or feel a moment’s remorse. You are a servant. In their eyes, you are property, subject to the will of your Mistress in all things. If she wanted to torture you to death, that would be no concern of theirs.”
“Good to know,” Anwyn said tightly. “In case I have the urge.”
She wasn’t done with this topic of Gideon going, not by a long shot. They were hoping to barrel right over her with their combined male intimidation routine, and she wasn’t having it. However, she could set aside her own reaction for a moment, because the dangerous currents between them didn’t bode well. She wondered if she needed to warn Daegan that Gideon might have other reasons for wanting to pick a fight.
“You follow three paces behind her at all times. Never beside her, never in front. You always address her as ‘Mistress,’ or ‘ma’am.’ Never meet a vampire’s gaze directly unless he or she specifically commands it. Anything Anwyn tells you to do, you do it promptly. I know you give her pleasure with your resistance, but you need to shelve that kind of behavior at the Council.” Gideon flushed, his eyes beginning to flash again, but Daegan pressed on. “Pretend to be what you are not. A well-trained, obedient servant. Perhaps they’ll completely forget you were a vampire hunter, or be so impressed by Anwyn’s skills at controlling you, they will focus on that instead.”
“What if they threaten her?”
“Her protection is my job. Protecting your life so you can care for her, during and afterward, that is yours.”
“What about you? Do I pretend to be your little dog on a leash as well?”
Daegan gave him a cool look. “You are Anwyn’s servant, not mine. However, as I said, if
any
vampire commands you, you must obey. Anwyn has no rank among them, which means at the moment her servant is subject to serve their whims as well.”
“Wait a minute.” Anwyn broke in. “They can’t—”
“There are certain boundaries.” Daegan lifted a hand. “They won’t threaten his life or subject him to prolonged torture, though they may challenge his tolerance for pain or other . . . inhibitions he may have.” At Gideon’s expression, Daegan gave him a straight stare. “Second thoughts, vampire hunter?”