“Yes. They need to see this. We will wait, make sure Sarah and her friends get home.” Daegan knew. Knew how it was eating at Gideon"s gut, seeing those hopeless faces, the lank hair, the blood and bruises in places that no woman should have them. Those pretty dresses, meant to work a guy up but not to do . . . not to do what had been done to them. Gideon closed his eyes. Did Daegan know all that because he knew him better than Gideon wanted to admit, or because Daegan shared his feelings on it? Did it matter?
“Be easy, Gideon. Anwyn will be safe. If there are marked servants here, they will scatter.
They are no threat to her or anyone else. When Lord Stephen"s role is determined in all this, I expect he will be replaced as Master of this territory. And on the Council. That may be the least of the punishments he faces.”
“Maybe you"ll get to be the one who takes him out.”
“If the Council does not authorize it, I will take care of it, regardless.” Daegan"s mouth was a firm line, his face resolute in a way that Gideon wholeheartedly supported. “He will answer for what he did to Anwyn.”
Gideon tried to move, and choked on the vicious wave of pain that squeezed his chest in a vise. “Jesus.”
“Shhh. Easy. Do as you"re told for once and stay still. She"s coming.” Daegan shifted so Gideon"s head was braced on his thigh, his hand still pressed on the wound in a way that comforted and reassured, even though Gideon told himself he didn"t need coddling.
“You know”—Daegan studied the opposite wall with great interest—“you could have held back, let the shot find its true mark. Then you would have had her to yourself. I guess you didn"t think of that in the heat of the moment.”
“No, damn it, I didn"t.” Gideon coughed, had the remarkably horrible sensation of his own blood bubbling up into his throat. “But . . . time machine . . . handy, I"ll go for the . . . do-over.”
Daegan looked down at him. “If I"d been at my full strength, I would have seen them. Your noble act would have been unnecessary.”
Gideon shook his head. “Still think you"re invincible. How"d they get you . . . on that table, Superman?”
Daegan grimaced, his lips twisting. “Snipers were already hidden and in position when I arrived. I might have sensed them, but the girls" plight distracted me. Though I don"t think that was part of their plan. They don"t know what mercy is, and wouldn"t have expected it from another vampire. However, they took me through the chest, the throat and the stomach with their arrows, and the arrows were poisoned. It was enough to debilitate me temporarily. Then they set upon me, beat me into unconsciousness, and used a similar form of narcotic to keep me incapacitated, along with the titanium chains and electrical charges. Most drugs have no effect on me, so I"m sure Brian will want to test my blood, see what it was.”
“Might be good . . . not to give him your Kryptonite. She"s going to need you . . . for a long time.”
“She will need us both. Don"t even think of dying, vampire hunter. You are not getting out of this that easily. She responds to your temperament far better than mine.”
“Can take out . . . ten vampires, but can"t handle one . . . vampire fledgling . . . shrew. Going to tell her.” Gideon closed his eyes, though, and was mortified to feel wetness on his face.
“Not tears. Pain. Fuck, this hurts.”
“I know. It will be all right.”
Gideon managed to shake his head. “I screwed up, Daegan. She . . . already knew I didn"t belong, but I convinced her of it, for real. Too much happening here, and yet . . . I couldn"t put it aside.” This time the coughing almost vaulted him off Daegan"s lap, but the vampire"s arm was around his chest, bracing him. The male was curved over him, pressing his jaw against Gideon"s temple, keeping his head from exploding.
“Enough,” Daegan said, with stern firmness this time, easing him back down. “Emotions run high in battle. It changes afterward. Shut up and save your strength.” Gideon indulged him, though he told himself if it didn"t feel like an elephant was slowly depressing his wide gray ass on his chest, he would have talked about anything he damn well
pleased. Then he noticed Daegan studying him in that intent, disturbing way he had, the way that made it hard for Gideon to meet his eyes, but he couldn"t look away this time.
The vampire stroked his hair back along his temple. It wasn"t the gentle touch of Anwyn"s slim fingers, but the caressing strength of the large hand didn"t feel bad, so he decided not to complain about it.
“No one has ever saved my life before, Gideon Green. I thank you for it.”
“Don"t . . . get all mushy. You"ll try to kiss me. Fag.”
A light smile touched Daegan"s firm lips, but his gaze slid over Gideon"s mouth like a caress, or the kiss Gideon claimed to fear. “You"d be in a poor position to stop me, if I wanted to do so.”
“Haven"t brushed this week. Onions for breakfast. Healthy dose . . . of garlic.” He wheezed then, and more bloody froth gathered at his lips. “I would have . . . you know. Given you blood. If you needed it. Wouldn"t have been thrilled, but . . . you know.”
“Yes. Rest easy.” Daegan"s eyes darkened and he wiped the froth away, cradling Gideon"s face. “She"s coming. Hang in there, Gideon.”
He sent a follow-up into Anwyn"s mind then, so strongly that Gideon received it.
Hurry.
When Anwyn arrived and knelt beside him, her blue-green eyes were hard, her mouth taut with worry for him.
“You shouldn"t have come back,” Gideon managed for form"s sake. “Wasn"t safe.”
“Shut up.” She glanced at Daegan. “What does he need?”
“Just your blood, cher. I"ll tell you when to stop.” Daegan began to draw his knife, but before he could complete the motion, Anwyn had her wrist to her mouth and punctured open a vein. Swiftly, she brought it down to Gideon, her blood welling up fast and bright.
As always, the smell of it activated his taste buds. He"d assumed that was part of the bonding between them, but he"d had a similar reaction in the past to Daegan"s blood. He was too tired right now to deny it.
Putting her wrist to Gideon"s lips, she shifted to take Daegan"s place when he rose. Though he watched over them, he moved a few feet away to talk to the women, give them an idea of what was about to happen. It gave them some privacy, so Gideon could focus on Anwyn"s beautiful face. Her hand cradled his jaw, helping to steady him as he drank, and that brief touch was blissful. He inhaled her through all his senses, though his eyes closed as he did it.
He still couldn"t handle the reflection in her eyes, the way he looked, taking blood from her arm. Nevertheless, strength and health flooded back into him, in addition to an absurd, lazy arousal. It never failed to amaze him, how her nearness, or putting his mouth on her flesh, could do that, no matter that he couldn"t have gotten to his feet, let alone gotten anything else up right now.
She was withdrawn, pensive. Maybe just worried, as Daegan had said. Her hands were gentle, firm, but she could have been twenty miles away. He didn"t have the strength to really plumb her mind, see if she was near a seizure.
“Mistress . . .”
“Shhh, Gideon. I"m fine. I want to take care of you. Just drink.” Anwyn stroked Gideon"s hair as he obeyed, relieved to feel the chest wound under her palm closing. The shoulder puncture was likewise healing. Daegan"s gaze kept flicking to her, so she knew Gideon wasn"t the only one who sensed something amiss. It didn"t matter. She was locked down right now on purpose. If she loosened the latch on her emotions at all, she was going to become shrapnel, flying out and striking everything within reach with lethal intent.
They"d assume, rightly, she was a little overwhelmed by everything. Though she ran a BDSM club, Atlantis was, after all, all about consensual pain and pleasure. While it tapped into the most raw and volatile areas of a person"s psychology, it was in a controlled, civilized environment with rules, and the underlying rule was love and respect, or at least healthy lust.
Even that, while sometimes bordering on violence, was never criminal or evil in its intent.
She"d experienced the evil of her uncle, of Barnabus and his cohorts. But seeing something like this, where evil was a daily practice, a method of operating that connected closely to the vampire propensity for domination and brutality . . . she"d known they were going to face something terrible tonight, but perhaps it was good she hadn"t expected this to be as truly heinous as it was.
Exposure to it made her comprehend better what Daegan and Gideon faced in the profession they"d chosen, with two such different perspectives. Still, whereas Gideon dealt with the fallout with entertainment tabloids and bitterness, Daegan had exorcised his demons in the time he spent with her. It had merely amused her in the past, the pleasure he took in the smallest things. On her days off, his favorite pastime was to lie on the sofa and watch her read.
Requiring nothing other than that she indulge his regard. Sometimes she could tell he was just listening to all the minute sounds of the apartment. Her breath, rising and falling, the tick of the clock, the hum of the refrigerator, and probably myriad other things she couldn"t hear with human ears.
If this was what his life was like when he wasn"t with her, she would never again feel amusement with his need for such tranquility. Only tenderness, and gratitude that the gods had brought him home to her once again.
She definitely wanted to be gone from this place, gone from Berlin, and back home. But there was more to her pensiveness than that. She"d heard some of the things Gideon had said to Daegan, and those words had twisted a knife in her heart. He was right and wrong at once.
Right, in that he"d convinced her tonight he didn"t belong, would likely never belong. Wrong, in that he thought she"d come to the realization because he"d screwed up. She wanted to push away the painful knowledge lodged in her breast like Gideon"s arrow, avoid the pain of pulling it out, exposing it to scrutiny. But truth was truth, however it happened.