Vampire Mistress

The sound of the television in the reading room told him where Daegan was. It figured he'd be close enough to keep an eye on her. Since he was more than capable of controlling her during an attack, he could take the risk, give her the comfort of these surroundings instead of the cell. Maybe that was the other reason she was finally at rest, the weight of the chains off of her for the time being. Her body was taking the ease her fear had denied it these past long hours.



Rising, he moved toward the sitting room. With a shock, he recognized the voices on the television. It was the security tape from his session with Anwyn. He stepped in just as he broke loose on the screen, grabbed her and slammed her into the alcove where the stained glass had been. Jesus Christ. He looked like some rabid animal, no better than what had attacked her. And worse, he could now clearly see where the glass had sliced into her back. While that had later become one gash among all those others, he was no less culpable for it.



His attention jerked to the chair. Daegan's long legs were stretched out, hands lying with deceptive ease on the chair's armrests. His dark gaze flickered up toward Gideon. “You were fortunate I wasn't here tonight.”



“She wasn't. If you had been, we probably wouldn't all be here. She handled it, though. Didn't even bat an eye, and I could have killed her in a heartbeat.”



“She's always had a warrior's courage and a fool's sense of when to make use of it.” As Daegan hit the mute button but forwarded the tape, Gideon scowled.



“You just get off on seeing me naked?”



The vampire ignored the barb, kept his attention trained on the screen. “Anwyn has watched you since you first came here. I was surprised it took her as long as it did to take over your sessions.” Daegan shifted, draped one leg over the chair arm, like a sprawling panther. “But it has been a long time since she's participated directly.”



“Maybe she was just feeling charitable.”



Daegan snorted. “Anwyn is the last woman who would take on a session because she was feeling charitable. I cannot tell what it is between you, but it is there, radiating off the screen.” Then his gaze snapped back to the monitor, sharpening like the edge of a sword.



He hit the play button, leaning forward. Gideon followed his direction. When he saw the bathing area of the Queen's Chamber, his brow creased, remembering she'd signaled all the cameras to be turned off.



Apparently, at least one of them hadn't been. His jaw set.James. While he'd likely obeyed the intention of her order, being the only one monitoring or having access to the footage, her head of security hadn't been willing to take it on faith that she'd be okay.



As much as it made him wince to see his bare ass at this angle, as his recorded self took Anwyn to the floor, putting her beneath him, Gideon had renewed respect for James Watts. In his shoes, he wouldn't have agreed with leaving her completely defenseless, either. Of course, the tape was in Daegan's hands, suggesting James might have acted out of self-preservation.



When Daegan hit the pause button, Gideon suppressed the desire to squirm. While the actual moment had been something he'd like to experience again, he didn't particularly care to revisit it with another man.



But Daegan's head whipped around, his expression giving Gideon a more immediate concern. “She has never let a man do what you are doing there. Never trusted one to lie upon her like that. Never wanted that.” His lip curled. “No human male, that is.”



Gideon recalled the peculiar stillness of that moment, when everything they both were had melted away.



It was as if they were staring at each other, soul to soul, no ground or sky, just floating. Up or down, above or under, didn't really seem relevant. The jab at his testosterone was enough to get his ire up, though. “Feeling threatened, vampire?”



Daegan smiled then, chilling enough to freeze blood. “I've had no more sleep than you, vampire hunter.



Don't aggravate me. Why did you come back?”



“I told you I would.” Gideon pointed at Anwyn's sleeping form, kept his voice low with effort. “Just because I'm not ready to commit my entire life to being on a vampire's leash doesn't mean that I don't want to help her. No matter how invincible you think you are, I know it's still going to take two of us to get her through this. She should be waking soon. Maybe we should try to give Barnabus's blood to her when she's groggy.”



“Vampires are rarely groggy when we wake.” With another of those thorough looks Gideon was beginning to detest, Daegan rose, thankfully clicking off the television. As he reached the doorway, he stopped, considering Gideon.



“I was perhaps wrong to push you so hard at a decision that is a lifelong commitment, so far from what you've known and been,” the vampire observed. “But it doesn't mean I'm completely wrong. I believe you know it as well, no matter how much it panics you. She needs you. I think what worries you most is how much you might need her.”



“We don't even know each other, not really. Hell, we haven't even had a real date.”



“I knew Anwyn Naime from the moment I met her. It's like that with certain people in our lives. We know our fates will be interwoven. It may not be the way we expect or wish, but it will happen.” Daegan took another step forward, closing the distance between them. With effort, Gideon held his ground. He refused to give the bastard the satisfaction of a retreat.



The vampire's unrelenting onyx eyes showed a flicker of sardonic amusement, acknowledging his obstinance with mere inches between them. The dark hair he kept cropped so short gleamed blue-black as he cocked his head, studying Gideon's face closely. “You've been a vampire hunter for many years, Gideon. It's showing. Before long, somebodywill be faster. That, and many other things, may be telling you it is time to do something else, something as worthwhile. Perhaps more so. This situation may only be one simple story in a world full of stories, but it may be the story that you are destined to become part of.”



Damn how it looked, Gideon stepped sideways, moved back into the sitting room. As he did, his gaze fell on Anwyn once again, the pale skin, the fragile grace of her hand resting above her head. The sable hair drifting across her face, her tense mouth.



“I won't walk away from her as long as she needs me,” he said gruffly. “But you and I both know it will happen eventually, because of what she's becoming. I can't go with her on that journey, not past a certain point.” When Daegan said nothing, Gideon added, “You shouldn't have been watching the damn tape.”



“What I saw in the tape merely confirmed things I already knew about you.”



“If you don't stop saying things like that without fucking telling me what you mean—”



The vampire made a warning noise in his throat. Gideon followed his gaze to see Anwyn beginning to stir. Their charge was waking up.



At least the next step of what they needed to do was clear, even if nothing else was.



Anwyn felt as though something had died in her mouth. Her blood was boiling, while her skin was arctic to the touch. That vividness, as if she'd stepped into a television screen where the brightness and contrast were on their highest settings, hadn't abated. Though she couldn't see it, she knew it was later in the morning, because her body was weighed down by daylight. It was unnerving, because she wasn't sure if she had the strength to rise off the couch. The shadows in her mind had returned full force. Whispering and shifting restlessly, the tiny gremlins with red eyes told her things. Insidious, terrible things about what she would do, what she wanted to do, who she was.



She jumped when Daegan sat down next to her. As he settled his hip on the couch, she tried to focus on him, but it was when she shifted to Gideon, standing to Daegan's right, that she was able to balance, take a deep, calming breath. Daegan had closed one of his hands on hers, and Gideon took the other when she reached out to him. Daegan's touch was long-fingered, smooth and firm. Cool. Gideon's was callused, broad in palm, warm with human heat.



The shadows mocked her temporary dependence on the two males. Daegan could never be more than what Daegan was and, right now, despite his willingness to help her, all those latent issues of trust and power had bubbled to the surface, so she vacillated between despicable dependence and bitter resentment. She knew he could detect both, but was refusing to back away from her. It both angered and relieved her, which she wryly recognized as typically female.



Then there was Gideon, stepping into her life for a brief moment, likely to step out of it as quickly. He was probably already rationalizing his departure. No matter how powerful the connections she'd made to them, Fate decided if they would be permanent or temporary, and she knew all too well that Fate was addicted to change.



Go to hell, she told the gremlins succinctly, and led with the most normal question she could. “Did everything go all right with the club last night?”



While it might not seem a high priority to them, it had been her whole life for the past few years as it grew into a success far beyond her initial dreams. It was a stable force, and that alone made it something worth her focus.



Daegan considered her with his dark eyes. “James told me that they had a very good night, no problems.



He and Madelyn have it all covered. He e-mailed the night's receipts and deposit records to your computer.”



She nodded, but as he continued to regard her intently, with the weight of expectancy, she remembered what they wanted to do.



“No,” she said emphatically, drawing her hands away. “I told you, Daegan. I can take your blood. I'll use it and my human blood, and I'll be fine.”



“For a transition, you have to have your sire's blood,” Gideon said. His voice wasn't unkind, but it was implacable. They were in concert on this. The feeling of being trapped returned, even though her restraints were gone. The shadow voices began to clamor, pure gibberish, but the din was so loud, a tremor shuddered through her limbs.



“Anwyn.” Daegan covered her hand again, despite her attempt to evade him. “You know I respect your free will, to a point. But this isn't a choice. Don't make me force it upon you. If you refuse, I will.” His thumb stroked her palm, a balm on his harsh words. “I will do whatever is necessary to make you well, even if it makes you hate me.”