“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?”

“Gideon, you can"t go if that"s the scenario,” Anwyn said emphatically. “There"s no way I want you walking into that. No. Absolutely no.”

“It"s fine,” Gideon said shortly.

“You already knew this,” she realized. “Of course you did.” And though Daegan had made his feelings clear, she felt anger at him anew as well, at the whole helpless situation. Well, fuck that. She wasn"t helpless. “I"m calling your brother. He will keep you from going, baby or no baby. He can come down here and babysit you after we chain you in that cell in my dungeon.

See how you like being caged up like a rabid animal with people treating you like you don"t have a brain.”

“Anwyn.” Gideon stepped forward. He made the mistake of lifting a hand as if to touch her face. She slapped it away, but he caught her hand in one of those lightning-quick moves that reminded her of his training. She wrenched free, however, meeting his roused blue gaze with a furious one of her own. For the moment, she ignored Daegan. One ass-ripping at a time.

“If you can go down in some blaze of glory, defending me, that"s okay? Even if it leaves me without a servant, alone?”

“I have no intention of getting killed, Anwyn,” Gideon said, but his gaze said something different.

“I"ve had enough of this. Of your damn death wish, the one you"ve been carrying since the day you met me. If I don"t get to kill myself, neither do you.” The jolt of reaction from Daegan startled her. The vampire"s eyes darkened in shock, and his surprised anger filled her. She"d thought it was obvious, but she was deep in Gideon"s mind, had studied different aspects of the man than Daegan had. Men didn"t always see the things that the women who loved them did. Her servant was about to make it worse by confirming it, though.

“We both know I"m not a good long-term servant for you. If I can help get you through this part, then you"ll be all right. You"ll find someone. Hell, someone like James. Someone who knows how to serve. To submit.”

Anwyn stepped forward. At her accusation, Gideon had retreated back to the doorway, his arms crossed, the knives holstered, thumbs hooked under his armpits, his body radiating tension. “Do you want to be my servant, Gideon?”