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It wasn’t natural to Adaned to a well-placed Mistress, a born vampire as an overlord of a territory in Spain

And noas dead

That hy she’d done it, gone to Lord Brian when she’d learned of Lord Stephen’s deceit against the Council Her own selfish pain for Adam A servant accepted that a Master’s or Mistress’s sins were their own There was no need toThe Master’s as the only coardless of what kind of person he was The point was the service

It had been a ivable weakness, a purely emotional decision Adam had loved her sothey wouldn’t share the same household, he’d chosen to share the same life she did, the sarieve hio any further with that, Alanna began a meditation discipline, intended to center and focus herhad beco

A knock on the door interrupted it It was Debra, bringing her severaltreatiously If that wall fell, Stephen could not only set upon her ht tear her apart if he detected the challenge of a second-ain, Alanna nodded "I understand Can you telluseful about my service tomy new Master?" She’d never served a vampire without the title of lord, and she didn’t know Evan’s last name, so she ith the honorific "Did hepaint on me?"

"Yes, he did," Debra said "At that point, Lord Brian illing to attee your mind, no matter the scientific merits"

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that "And Niall is Scottish?"

"Yes He’s a forceful personality, for a servant Much like Jacob" Debra’s serious eyes twinkled "A definite alpha"

Alanna ree hands on her face, the way he’d spoken to her She’d responded as if his words were coht about that

"You calest tranquilizers had an effect It influenced Lady Lyssa’s decision about their custody"

Debra’s expression changed, that inward look when a servant was receiving a communication from her vampire It filled Alanna with envy The emptiness of her soul and the solitary state of her mind were a daily ache, even if the last time a vampire had been there it had been to shred thean with him"

Alanna wanted to know more about Niall and Evan, but that would have to wait She’d seen Lord Daegan only briefly at a couple of Council s His anony, so he wasn’t a regular visitor at the castle As he slid into her room, she noted the tall, dark-eyed va, the eested he could decapitate or stake one of his brethren with the ease of breathing

Sliding froraceful fold of randeur, expect that bullshit out of an’s servant, put his hand under her arrip, te a wolance up into the saht blue eyes, she would have known Jacob was his brother Gideon had a harder, rougher look, but the steady attention that could fluster a woman was the same

Jacob and Gideon were not like her and Adam They hadn’t become servants at the same time, nor for the same motives and circumstances Gideon had been an exceptionally successful vampire hunter, slated for death by the Vampire Council He’d been part of the tea, where Adam and his Mistress had been killed

She’d wanted to hate him, but the world was more complicated than that Ironically, he was the first who understood and acknowledged her grief over her brother’s death In a surprising twist of fate, he now had two valing by vampire standards, but she’d been a Mistress and owner of a BDSM club as a human, so her direct look and air of dominance hadShe stood at the door, watching the proceedings silently, but Alanna could feel Gideon’s connection to her and Daegan like a three-pointed star, shining painfully bright

Drawing her hand away from Gideon, Alanna stood alone Her job was service, not to be co, because he, Jacob and Debra were Randoms, those who’d come to their vampires by happenstance and choice, not selected from birth as she’d been However, that didn’t absolve her of the requireestures That hat set an InhServ apart, made them the elite in the servant ranks