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On principle, Jacob h Debra&039;s roed his pruri- entidea to try out on his sensual lady When he finally departed the library, he found Gideon as well as Elijah Ingra area Elijah sat in the driver&039;s side of his liainst the side of his own car close by, thu, Gideon looked even more like the mean son of a bitch he was A couple of inches taller and broader than Jacob, he&039;d inher- ited their father&039;s dark hair rather than their mother&039;s auburn brown h Gideon shaved, the dark shadow along his jaw never fully went away He was pure muscle There were no soft spots anywhere on Gideon, unless one counted theone another Since each possessed the skill to take the measure of the other within three blinks, they&039;d settled down like a couple of yard dogs deter a single twitch "This man says he&039;s your brother, " the limo driver offered as Jacob approached "Funny Last time I saw him he said the exact opposite "

"Mh the open"You still need a ride? I don&039;t have anywhere to be until late this afternoon " "I guess not " Jacob cut a look at his silent sibling "If you can run the things you picked up by the house and just leave theate, that&039;ll be good Be sure and send ive e area I&039;ve still got a working thuht do soret Get the other aro home with her and not look back But he&039;s never been all that shtened "If you think that, seeram observed, deadpan Jacob stifled a chuckle as Gideon&039;s lips twitched "See friends without me, " his brother said "They&039;re easier to make and keep without you around, " Jacob said without rancor "You don&039;t tend to approve of my choices in friends " The humor disappeared "Lady Lyssa isn&039;t your friend, Jacob Whatever else you think she is, fine

But I can promise you, she&039;s not your friend " It was uncomfortably close to what Debra had just told hi to be the tone of this conversation, I&039;ll just ride home with Elijah here " Gideon scowled "Oh, pull the railroad spike out of your ass and get in the damn car " "There&039;s that brotherly affection I know and love " Jacob nodded to Mr Ingranition "You have my number, son " "He&039;s a little protective of you, " Gideon noted as the li lot "When did you break your aro " As Gideon turned to open the car door, Jacob noted his brother had a new scar at his te into the hairline It looked like an iainst a brick wall

He wondered what their parents would think of them now The parents they&039;d last seen alive on an idyllic day at the beach, when the only va boys Even there they hadn&039;t dwelled long, for a child&039;s raphic possibilities As if he were following the direction of his thoughts, Gideon&039;s expression altered froood diner around the corner Let&039;s go there and talk "

The brunch offering was good As if they both were aware of the po- tential for disruption if they tried to talk before satisfying their ap- petites, they ordered and consumed the special in silence The portions were sizeable, catering to the construction workers who cas to refuel on the higher calorie count they needed The exception was one table near the two men, where a pair of elderly women shared a postbreakfast pot of coffee Since the construction workers were si, the diner was relatively quiet except for the co chatter of the to it and salt to- ward Jacob&039;s left side just as he thought about needing it While Lyssa would call it more evidence of the psychic intuition she sus- pected ran through his fa fa care of his younger brother He thought he knew Jacob through and through, and in a way, he did Gideon just preferred to pretend certain things didn&039;t exist As they both slowed down and ca "How long have you been in town?" he asked "A couple weeks When Carnal left his territory, we thought wehi Carnal?" The dayup "He likes to think he&039;s a badass He takes out his full Council- sanctioned quota of huotten cockier and is takinghis tracks Most of his victims in the past two years have been violent cri a person infected with evil spurred the natural aggres- siveness of a va the problee unwelcome attention from hue- ment in that direction A vampire needed blood to live, but actually only needed to fully drain one huth and faculties Lyssa had argued strongly for li the number of human lives taken by a vampire to one kill per year as a result The Vaher nuly opposed to any limits at all "Lately he&039;s been in theHe&039;s found a loophole There&039;s no limit on the number of ser- vants a vaure he&039;s going to pay Lyssa a visit while he&039;s here, etiquette and all, and be- cause he&039;s always had such an obsession with her So we thought--" "Don&039;t, Gideon " Jacob held up a hand "I can&039;t hear any of your plans " "Are you listening tohis servant for a while so they don&039;t `count&039; to- ward the quota " "You&039;re not telling led to keep it easy, friendly "Let&039;s not talk shop What&039;s going on with you, other than staking vampires?" Gideon stared at hi innocent girls? Even if you&039;re in a position to help? We&039;re trying to--" "Gideon, " Jacob said sharply, "shut up I&039; a third mark "

His brother went stock-still, his fork frozen in otten so that when Jacob inter- cepted, sla his brother&039;s wrist to the table between thelasses and plates julances "You don&039;t have to see it, " Jacob said evenly Gideon jerked back "I knew you&039;d lost your fucking mind Your moronic pacifist ideas about va a vampire should be a death sentence " "No, of course not Just because they kill humans, it doesn&039;t make them all bad " "Contrary to popular myth, you know vampires only have one food source, " Jacob retorted "Huht to survive They&039;re predators, Gideon Like wolves or lions They&039;re not automatically minions of evil " Gideon blew out a ferocious breath "Yeah, Carnal&039;s just your basic trying-to-survive guy Tell that to the sixteen-year-old houess we can consider it charity, since it interrupted the burgeoning kiddie porn career her pimp boyfriend planned for her " Jacob shook his head "I&039; Carnal isn&039;t scu they aren&039;t all like that " "But Lady Lyssa isn&039;t like you, Jacob Don&039;tshe is " Gideon enunciated each syllable between clenched teeth When Jacob pointedly picked up his juice, took a swig, he blew out another exasperated breath "I completely lose touch with you for months except for the occasional postcard, and then you resurface right under my nose as some vampire bitch queen&039;s lackey Did you even think about what&039;s involved? She seduced you, is that it?" "Gideon " Jacob put down the glass carefully "I&039;htened "That&039;s it, isn&039;t it? She compelled you, whatever you want to call it You can break out of it, Jacob Shit, she&039;s queen of all of them She can screith any man&039;s head It doesn&039;t matter if you did it in the heat of the moment That&039;s their talent, seduction Even this bastard Carnal, when he turns on the charm, no woman can say no to him "

"Gideon--" "We could trick her Get her into a coffin, bury her underground or put her in the center of a concrete slab She couldn&039;t do anything to control you--" "You even think about hurting her, I&039;ll kill you " While h that the remarkable parts of it were lost in the women&039;s chatter and the sounds of utensils and waitstaff, the cold statement hit a pocket of dead air Jacob paid no attention to the turning heads, furtive glances He kept his gaze locked on Gideon&039;s In his ht hi as his brother However, the startled look that flashed across Gideon&039;s face ard since Gideon had seen hi he&039;d defend with every- thing he was No matter what she did to him "I&039;m sorry " Jacob wiped his mouth, set aside his napkin "I didn&039;t mean to throw it down like that, but you don&039;t listen I trained to be her servant for almost a year I have lash scars on iven him those fift y lashes on the cold stone floor of the monastery before he&039;d ever come and offered himself to her Now thoseof the third mark, and Jacob felt their presence at all times, like her physi- cal and mental touches "I&039;ve committed myself to her She&039;s the woman I&039;m meant to be with To protect " My lady He would have said it, but he didn&039;t want Gideon to mock hi how Gideon would react But Gideon was his only family, his only constant in life except the restless desire that had driven him to find his lady For that reason alone he had to say the simple truth Maybe it would have been better if they&039;d fought before the er was better than having the break- fast roiling in his stoht in his chest "She dies, you die You understand that? You stupid, fucking idiot "

Gideon shook his head, ignoring the sharp looks froet this at all Does this have so to do with us? With our parents? What?" "It&039;s a choice I ree with everything you do, but I&039;ve helped you kill vampires that crossed the lines " Jacob inclined his head "There&039;s a balance in na- ture, and vampires are part of it " "They threaten our survival--" "How?" Jacob demanded "Billions of us, less than five thousand of the are rare, while we breed like rabbits " "What if the Council is overruled and et the upper hand? What then?" Gideon&039;s eyes narrowed "Yeah, I&039;m not as dumb as you think I am We do have our spies We know the political cli The first imperative is hurity " "Oh, Jesus " Gideon sat back in the booth, scrubbing his hand over his unshaven face "The chivalry bullshit--" "Yeah, that bullshit, " Jacob interrupted hi up "You used to re what you do, and that&039;s why I followed you, at first But there&039;s a difference between killing for a just cause andto satisfy the emptiness in your own soul You need love to remember that, Gideon To balance it " His brother stopped pressing at his temple and stared at him "I love you Look hoell that&039;s turned out " "Cheap shot, " Jacob said "She&039;s been alive for centuries You&039;ve never hunted her Why is that? You could have taken her out the first night I saw her, when I ith you When her husband broke her arm and she was off by herself " Gideon picked up his iced tea and took a s as if he tasted soer monsters in line The Council she created serves that purpose " "No, that wouldn&039;t be enough It&039;s et?" "She saved my life Once " He swiped at his mouth with a napkin

"Got knocked out in a fight with a va that moved Apparently one of her and Rex&039;s territory va next to me and the vaed irritably--"after she told er life as a Christian missionary in the Sudan " "That sounds like Lady Lyssa " Gideon ignored that "But the debt&039;s even now She saved my life but stole my brother Even if she&039;s one of those who only take out one hus who don&039;t deserve to die " "I&039; the situation doesn&039;t suck " Jacob spread open his arers behind his head and tapped at the base of his skull, his muscles tense "It&039;s a Hobson&039;s choice But say you&039;ve got a decent vamp who takes their one kill a year to stay alive and in con- trol of their powers And you have a decent human who has to die A one-to-one relationship How do you ment? One va off and killing all the wolves when they come and take down one of their number It&039;s a balance, Gid Not fair, not kind, not even close to co to choose a huht Defend hiet away; maybe he won&039;t Maybe he&039;ll kill the va that it&039;s okay for a va that we&039;re the only species that doesn&039;t accept that be- ing prey may be a part of Nature&039;s cycle for us " Jacob blew out his breath, brought his hands slapping down on the table surface The waitress who&039;d been approaching with more coffee backed off, went to another table "We&039;re expected to try and stay alive Whatever the Powers That Be, I don&039;t think they intended us to exterminate an entire species to make us a hundred percent safe " Gideon&039;s eyes narrowed "What are you going to do, little brother, when she orders you to help her take down her annual kill? Tarnish that arra dinner to a vampire?

Hell, I know you You&039;re not comfortable with that You&039;re not a killer " "I was a killer when I helped you " Jacob pushed his plate to the side "A killer takes soainst their will, whether justly or unjustly I haven&039;t got all the answers I just know I&039;m where I&039;m supposed to be " "I don&039;t understand you at all " "Yes, you do " Jacob irl you ever loved died at a vampire&039;s hand " A ic, I should have said `that&039;s Nature&039; and walked away " "No Actions have consequences Vahteen and Laura was sixteen You&039;re getting more bitter, year by year Would she have wanted this--" "Stop crawling around in er at him "I don&039;t care about their motives If I can kill every last one of therieve until his heart cannibal- izes itself Jacob reile for his brother&039;s strong personality, but she had a sweetness noto protect So the man who chose to love her would have felt doubly responsible when he couldn&039;t keep her fro killed Particularly a man who had lost his parents when he was only twelve, left with the self-iht-year-old brother His brother would keep driving hins had been there for a while Like any person with a family member addicted to a destructive path, Jacob had tried everything, even joining hi he could do alk away, refusing to support the self-destruction any heart, he realized that it appeared only to have made his brother ainst the whole world and all it had done to hurt hiht with gleas "Why, Jacob? JustWhy?" Why have you done this to ht

Because he couldn&039;t harden hiuish in Gide- on&039;s voice, Jacob took onebefore I even met her, Gid You kno I&039;ve always felt like I was searching for soe relief inside me There you are Boom The monk that trained me believed I&039;ve served her before In previous lifeti up in a sneer, he continued stub- bornly, "I don&039;t knohether I believe that, and it&039;s not relevant, regardless Now&039;s the i You remember how you felt about Laura? Barely even ine life without her fro the air between theht he&039;d beenlike Laura Don&039;t you ever put her and one of those bloodthirsty cunts in the sa man " The lady across the aisle spoke sharply, even as her friend reached out a quelling hand to her "That&039;s enough " Gideon glanced toward her "Mind your own business, bitch Stick your head back in the sand with all the rest of the brother included " "Gideon, " Jacob snapped He nodded apologetically to the tomen and noted the hostile looks fro a warning look at his brother, he spoke quietly "I don&039;t even knoho you are anyoes on that score, little brother " Biting back a response, Jacob laid a twenty on the table "I think we&039;re done here I&039;ll cover this " "With her money? I don&039;t think so " "It&039;s e hands curled in helpless fury on the tabletop, the blue eyes glaring, the jaw so rigid it looked like it would crack under the strain "As long as you&039;re like this, there&039;s nothing we have to say to each other " "Don&039;t think I won&039;t hesitate to kill you if you get in ht flashing on the water they kicked up, hter had bounced be-tween therab Gideon, knock hiht hirasp at that ie to block the pain of the icily delivered threat, but he couldn&039;t hold on to it "You sick son of a bitch " He pitched his voice low, picked up the money Gideon had swept onto the floor and laid it deliberately back on the table, under his coffee cup "Fuck you " He turned aanting nothing est proof alcohol he could find He won- dered what Lyssa would think if he caar, caffeine and alcohol It was the gasp fro from one of the workers, that alerted hied up from the table with a clatter of tableware to rae of the ladies&039; table and toppled it along with its crockery as they tu punch high on the jaw before Jacob rallied, rolled, broke the hold "You&039;re co, a hard uppercut that sent Gideon staggering back several steps and bought him the time to scramble to his own feet "No, I&039;m not You stupid, thickheaded--" With a roar, Gideon caed to take the wall between ts of booths It tangled theroup of workers who reacted far h shove and a fes took him and Gideon back to the floor, baptized by spilled food and drinks, and even more colorful curses that would have the ladies&039; ears burning Jacob blocked an- other punch, Gideon&039;s he thought, then caught his brother&039;s thrown fist and turned the both of the, seasoned, but Jacob was faster, and they were both arer to rouse in Jacob, but once unleashed it was no less violent Gideon ducked un- der the next blow and rammed his fist into Jacob&039;s sto his lip and winning first blood

The restaurant was clearing, people were shouting Jacob was vaguely aware a couple of the less sensible workers had ju to pull theive up and stand back to avoid being casualties, for the two brothers were too skilled at fighting to countenance interruption and the workers just kept being tossed to the outside Jacob ht Gideon by the scruff and slung hiency exit The alarave way under Gideon&039;s weight, but by then they were in the alley and out of the area involving innocent bystanders or destruction of property Jacob knew he didn&039;t have the funds to replace He charged Gideon with a yell, tue cans that scattered like bowling pins as they landed a them In so the rage, letting it drown out the memories of loss that had bonded them so closely as well as driven the the police sirens