“The soul is just as fragile as the body. Sometimes more.”

“You wouldn"t execute him if they ordered you to do it, would you?” She shifted to face him, her hands on either side of his neck.

Daegan gave her a steady look. “I would not simply do it at the Council"s behest, no. Only if he leaves you and starts taking the lives of vampires like Trey again, those whose only crime in Gideon"s mind is their annual kill to survive, or just being a vampire. I would have to intervene, Anwyn, as I would on behalf of any innocent.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I want to get up, move.”

“Easy, cher. Just another minute or two.” Running his knuckles along her cheek, he fanned out his fingers to curve behind her skull, drew her head down to his shoulder. It coaxed her to slide her arms under his, fold herself close to him.

When a nearly silent sigh lifted his chest, Anwyn realized he was savoring it, assuaging the need to hold her, have her sink into his arms like this. She closed her eyes, inhaled him. You really did miss me.

Vain woman. But his mind-voice held only amusement, and when his fingers stroked her nape, teasing sensitive nerve endings, she let out a soft noise of contentment. More than I know how to say, cher . I do not think I could have borne much more of your anger against me, and yet I am sure I deserve far more.

He hesitated. “Because I have promised there will be no more lies between us, you need to understand something else. If Gideon accompanies us, once he is known to be your servant, you will not be able to let him go, ever. Not officially. Servants are not allowed to leave their Masters under Council law, because of the secrets they hold, and their connection to their Master or Mistress. Only his death would be acceptable.”

“Brian implied something like that, though he didn"t put it that baldly.” She bit her lip. “So if Gideon survives the Council, when he gets ready to leave us, we"ll need a cover for that.”

“Yes, we will. Though may that day never come.”

“Amen,” she said quietly. “But we have to be prepared for it, Daegan. He thinks he can give me half of his heart and keep back the other half from the vampire side of me, but I can"t live like that. After all we"ve been through, even for such a short time, I"m not seeing him relenting on that, even a little bit. If that doesn"t change after the Council, I"ll have to go ahead and cut him loose. The longer he stays . . . the harder it is for me to face losing him. And with this blood . . .” She pressed her lips together. “The more time passes, the more likely it is I"ll refuse to let him go. He"d have to escape me, not leave.”

“Let"s cross this bridge first,” he responded, though Anwyn knew it was an evasion, not a reassurance. She swallowed over the ache in her chest.

“Daegan, you promised you"d help me protect him. No matter Fate, or his being a testosterone-poisoned warrior, or my needs, how on earth does us taking him to the Council honor that promise?”

Daegan pressed his lips to her temple, spoke against it as his fingers curled against her upper arm, stroked. “The grim reality is that the Council knows about Trey. Knowing Gideon has become your servant may change their position on that. As I"ve told you before, you are the only thing that may save his life.” He took a firmer grip on her. “Plus, it"s a two-way street, cher. He does better when you"re close to him, as you do with him. Taking care of you, that has become the most important thing in his life. He knows your being accepted into the vampire world will make things much easier for you. It gives him a purpose, keeps him by your side.”

She mulled that over. “You said you could protect me, even if I had a full-blown attack in their chambers. Does that mean you have some kind of veto power over their actions?”

“Yes and no. I exist outside of the structure of the Vampire Council and the vampire world, for reasons I mentioned at our dinner the other night. Just trust me when I say they will not act against you without my consent.” The dangerous note to his voice told her that his confidence in that had nothing to do with his diplomacy skills. Even as a shiver went up her spine, she didn"t doubt him.

She tilted her head up to gaze at him. “You promised to protect me from Council execution.

Promise me the same protection for Gideon. Swear it.”

Gazing down at her a long moment, he nodded. “I swear it. Aside from your safety, nothing will be as important to me, Anwyn Inara Naime.” He put a finger over her lips when she frowned. “He and I are in agreement on this. You come first to us both. You have to live with that. But if it eases your mind, I will also tell you that he must go because that is what Fate demands, not because it is what I want, Anwyn. I would prefer to keep him safely here as well.”

She mulled that over. “Will you be going with me in front of the Council, or do I do that part alone?”

Daegan cupped the side of her face. “I should have said this to you, a long time ago.

Whenever you need me, I will be at your side. And I will never, ever leave you. What I do may take me from your side for short periods, but I will always come back. Unless you yourself decide you no longer want me in your life.” His gaze took on a gleam she knew well enough to feel it uncurl warm fingers in her belly, tug equally at her heart and lower. “But you will have to be very, very convincing in that argument, I warn you.”

As he pressed his mouth to hers, desire unfurled, telling her they would soon be stretched out on the soft patch of planted grass a few feet away. While anticipation for that built, she held on to the reassurances he"d given her, and hoped that Fate would be kind. Though it might be challenging lightning to strike her down, she felt like the gods owed her a bit of a break.

She"d willingly give that break to Gideon, if it could keep his ass safe to come back here. No matter what happened after that, even if she had to let him go, there would be some comfort in knowing that he walked somewhere in the world.

Carrying a major part of her heart.

11

“YES, I get it,” Gideon responded impatiently, for what felt like the hundredth time. “If any vampire looks at me, I"m supposed to tuck my head down, wring my hands and say, „Yes, Massa Boss." Have I missed anything?”

Daegan threw him a speculative look over the Wall Street Journal. “You could just walk around on your knees the whole time, wearing a hair shirt on your back and nettles up your ass.

That might be degrading enough.”

“Would you two shut up? This is marvelous.” Anwyn stretched out on the lounge seat, and sighed happily. “I think we should live on this plane.”

“Yeah, it"s easy to fight vampires when you have all the nifty toys, like a Gulfstream. You need real skill to take them down with your wits alone.”

“Which is why I find myself amazed you"re still alive. But then I remember there has always been special guardian angels for half-wits.”

Anwyn rolled her eyes, hopped off the seat. Daegan emitted a mock growl as she crash-landed in his lap, crumpling his paper beneath her pretty ass, snugly encased in a dark skirt. “If you two boys don"t behave, I"m going to spank you both and tell the stewardess not to give you any cookies.”

“After that maneuver, I think you"re the one who needs the spanking.” In a quick twist, Daegan had her flipped, despite her shriek of outrage, and swatted her.

Seeing that generous bottom wobble under his smack made Gideon harden, even as their casual playfulness ruefully amused him. And hurt. He couldn"t bring himself to be part of it.

There was too much going on with him, inside and out. Anwyn"s internal demons had been planted in her. His were of his own making. Since the wine and cheese night"s revelation about Laura, and the weapons room thing he really didn"t know how to classify, he"d been carrying a darkness on his mind. He couldn"t shake it. Anwyn wanted to talk him through it, but there was nothing to talk about. When she eased off, he expected it was because Daegan had convinced her it would be best to let him work it out. The vamp"s accurate intuition rankled Gideon as well. Everything was making him cranky, but then, he"d warned them he was an unlivable bastard, right?

Gideon remembered the determined look in Anwyn"s eyes, the grip of her hands during that intense moment on the mats. She"d ordered him as a Mistress to believe he was hers, not just in that moment, but forever, and he didn"t know whether to be dismayed or consider it fucking hilarious, the way his heart had leaped at the idea, wanting to believe it like he was a gullible kid.

He wanted to tell himself she was lying, or that she didn"t know what she was saying. After all, he"d been around long enough to know things usually lasted only as long as they were beneficial to everyone involved. How much he might be needing her . . . and possibly other things . . . was irrelevant to her future needs. And of course that wasn"t the fucking point. They all knew he had his line in the sand. Though it seemed forces beyond his control kept dragging him over it, that was because he knew she really needed him right now, and he"d do things he wouldn"t normally do to handle that. But in the long run, he couldn"t be what she needed. They all knew it, and he was getting damn sick and tired of having to repeat it. To himself most of all.

The only sure thing was this meeting. Getting her through this, making sure she was okay.

Whatever happened after that, happened. It was time to stop brooding over it. Jesus, there was a gorgeous woman flitting around the cabin in a playful, flirtatious mood and he was crazy about her. Why was he wasting time on the inevitable, instead of maximizing every moment?

She"d struggled out of Daegan"s grasp and was now stalking Gideon, where he sat slouched in his seat, eyes half-closed. She had to know he was alert and watching her, but she made the dash anyway at human speed. As she tried to leap upon him as she had Daegan, he rolled out of her way, making a few seconds" headway before she tackled him and they rolled to the plane floor, she laughing, and he with an armful of female. In a way too adorable to resist, she settled down on his chest with a contented feline sigh, as if ready for a nap.