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Because Gideon tried to trip Jacob on their way into the police station and Jacob responded by using his shoulder to raht theuard on duty that they be cuffed to the bars on opposite sides of the communal cell He&039;d also threatened thee because they sandwiched him in the middle of the scuf- fle Gideon&039;s private arsenal had not helped matters While the cops had been partially uns, Jacob was sure they were running every background check on hi the data banks for international terrorists Perhaps because Jacob had been a littletwenty pounds of weapons like an action movie star, he&039;d been cuffed where he could sit on a bench, whereas Gide- on&039;s choice was standing or taking a seat on the questionable cess- pool of the floor The guard on duty was posted at a desk near the cell He kept an indifferent eye on the any wise- cracks as he worked on paperwork Their cell it off, a few petty cri white- collar kid who&039;d probably been pulled with pot in the car and was thrown in the tank to put the fear of God into hi around each other as he tried not to look toward several of thesullen coht in everyin his ribs, but he didn&039;t think he&039;d cracked any Gideon sported a sied face Despite that, Jacob wished they weren&039;t cuffed Beating on each other was preferable to staring at one another across thirty feet of space, every- thing said and unsaid vibrating in the air between the his headache worse "You look like shit, " he said Gideon&039;s head lifted "You&039;re not looking so pretty yourself " "No Iyou down "

"Shut up " Gideon turned his face away "You don&039;t get to talk to me as if you&039;reback You&039;re one of them now My brother&039;s dead You hear ainst the bars and earn- ing a sharp glance fro your terms, is it?" Idiot, stubborn, hardheaded jackass You used to sing to ht a shoulder, but to Jacob&039;s surprise, he responded, his voice low and gruff "I&039; any- one, Jacob I just can&039;t handle it anymore This is probably just the way it&039;s meant to be " The desolation in Gideon&039;s tone was as cold as death, and Jacob wondered if the analogy was uneasily close to the reality of his brother&039;s life "That&039;s fortunate " Jacob&039;s attention swung to the rear of the cell On first glance, the ed businessman, a hooker&039;s John or a DUI But he was neither of those things His eyes glittered in the shadows, and his smile revealed the hint of a sharpened tooth

Jacob cursed his focus on his brother, which had kept hi all the cell occupants The va into the shadows, screened by the restless movements of the others Of course, if he&039;d been deliberately avoiding notice until now, Jacob ardless It didn&039;t one on alert as well, straight- ening fro "Kyle Miller, " he said flatly, telling Jacob they were in trouble, if he didn&039;t have the snize that already "Tends to like to take his full quota Just another of your happy, fuzzy vae to his tone that made Jacob shoot him a narrow look "It&039;s like dinner theater, " the va seated in the deceptively casual pose, his hands linked around his knees, idly fingering the expensive fabric of his slacks "Sodramas play out here I could have used the sewers to head ho Oh, no worries"--when he nodded toward the boy, Jacob noted the vacant confusion in the kid&039;s eyes, the lingering afters as he first thought--"I&039;ve already supped well I&039;m not interested in blood However, I think I&039;ll be kill- ing him " He indicated Gideon "As you can tell, he&039;s known to ed to his feet, the cuff bringing hiuard would not only end up dead, he wouldn&039;t even get the door unlocked before the vampire struck at Gideon He wouldn&039;t even knohat had happened At thetracked, everyone else involved in their ownthat wasn&039;t life threatening In the meantime, Gideon hadn&039;t aze as if he wasn&039;t hampered by a lack of weapons and limited mobility With a jolt, Jacob realized Gideon had perhaps had other reasons for wanting tofor hope from the only reason to live he had anymore--his brother--Gideon would have seen Jacob&039;s betrayal as the last straw

Now he just didn&039;t give a shit at all, which made him hazardous on a lot of levels, mostly to him- self For the first time in his life, Gideon needed Jacobfor help or wanting it, but that was too bad Jacob wasn&039;t going to let his stubborn brother&039;s ass get wasted by so to happen, " Jacob declared Kyle&039;s gaze shifted to him "You&039;re brothers You&039;re the prettier of the two " "Told you, " Gideon said, though he didn&039;t shift his gaze "Asshole, " Jacob respondeddeadly focus on their eneuard&039;s attention Now the other in While they hadn&039;t followed the exchange, they certainly could sense so "Knock it off in there " The vaered in areas less than comfortable "Perhaps when I&039;m done, I&039;ll take some dessert, after all I can make you hard as I drink, human, " he whispered "Increase your pleasure and your prudish embarrassment I bet your brother hasn&039;t seen you jack off since you were young enough to share a roo uard starting toback If he ca you in a position to stop me " "Perhaps not " Jacob inclined his head with cold courtesy "But my Mistress can blow you away like dust " In a blink, the vas exposed He had a hand on the back of Jacob&039;s neck, fingers snarled in his hair Jacob steeled hi The guard called out, telling Miller to move his ass back, his hand on his radio, a breath away fro for backup

It was all white noise as far as Jacob was concerned He kept his focus on thea cool reserve, showing no fear or doubt even against the vampire&039;s heavy wave of co his nose and lungs, but it was neutralized when atteood thing was it appeared to have confused the guard, as rocking on the balls of his feet, torn between heading to- ward the cell, punching his radio and going back to his desk Kyle&039;s nostrils flared, telling Jacob he&039;d detected his Mistress&039;s marks, and not just the ones she&039;d ads Sexual e after they&039;d occurred, even after bathing On the first night she&039;d brought him to her home, Lyssa had rubbed her slippery response on his limbs, his cock, his chestIt had been a sensual experience he remem- bered vividly, and she&039;d told him it was one of the ways she would mark him as hers to other vamps Since then, she&039;d done it several more times "Who is your Mistress,between bloodlust and self- preservation "Lady Elyssa Amaterasu Yamato Wentworth " The vamp tensed, but didn&039;t retreat "You lie " "You know the h to detect whoto risk her wrath if I speak true? Does she even know you&039;re in her territory? My brother is under oddamn protection, " Gideon snapped "Get away froot the balls " "Lady Wentworth&039;s servant wouldn&039;t be in a jail cell like a bar- room brawler In the company of a va about you says servant to me Whoever&039;s ser vice you are in, you have not been in it long He or she won&039;tto look ot closer AnotherJacob&039;s, an idea so repugnant Jacob thought heto call his bluff, and he and Gideon were going to die Even if he and Gideon had been are chance of killing them Cuffed to the cell bars, they were sheep staked out in a wolf &039;s den "I think you need to remove your hands from my servant, Kyle And every other part of your presence " Kyle&039;s gaze snapped to the cell door Lyssa stood next to the guard, a cale impassively Despite her stillness, Kyle reacted as if she&039;d swooped down upon him like a bird of prey He backed aith none of his earlier grace, knocking into the cluster of s inmates They shoved him aside, too interested in the appearance of a wo features to react to the insult Kyle&039;s use of coimbalance, confusion, a loud mental clatter Lyssa&039;s was like the ht The inar quips, just stared at her openuard moved to the wall and pressed the buzzer to open the cell door It slid open, but no one moved It was as if time had stopped, and the only sound was the distant noise of the police station offices up- stairs When Jacob glanced over at his brother, he found Gideon was as cal, his expression was even more blank and unaware "Don&039;t do that to him, " Jacob said "My lady, please " "He&039;s seen much wear since I saw him last, " she observed, not without a trace of compassion in her cool tone "Don&039;t worry about him His weary ive hiaze shifted to Jacob, the jeweled beauty of her green eyes striking hiut I oken froer you were oblivious to until too late because of your preoccupation with your brother As a result, I had to get here without adequate tiet you ho to pay for that Her e ht withdraw from him like this for a little while He&039;d wanted the thirdhie impulse to run away from her and his brother, from the con- flict in his heart they represented He wanted to tell her he was sorry, though he kneasn&039;t He wanted to cross the distance between them, kiss the hem of her dress, wait for her touch on his head like a benediction Despite the circumstances, he couldn&039;t help his response to her The emotional impact of his brother&039;s current state made him crave her on every level He&039;d just tried to convince Gideon what it was about her, and here it was, active, thru in the air The third mark had made it almost unbearably powerful, the connection they had He was torn betanting to do anything she asked and needing to resist her, to perversely prove his love was ical compulsion to an otherworldly creature Flatterer Her voice was a whisper in his mind, unable to be re- sisted I know that, Jacob I also knohat you&039;ve been doing today All of it I think it&039;s best you don&039;t defy me anymore After all, you did say he was under my protection, correct? "Do I have your obedi- ence?" "To the best of my ability, my lady " " `Yes, my lady, &039; will do " "I don&039;t wish to lie--" "Oh, for the love of God, your honesty is fair killing h the rooainst the wall Jacob thought if Kyle could have dissipated and materialized beyond the bars, he would have done it However, despite the popu lar movies, that was not a power vah that door, past Lyssa Kyle wasn&039;t that brave He stayed where he was

At her snarl, the others had shifted, herthe calm she&039;d imposed upon them Even children know a parent sometimes prefers to hear a lie I know your soul, Jacob Just say "yes,it&039;s true "Yes, my lady " He couldn&039;t help the smile her impatient words almost coaxed froaze he doubted he was successful A fleeting breeze and a quick impression were the only evidence she&039;dhis skull to the filthy concrete wall at the back of the cell With minimal pressure she could crush it Jacob was sure Kyle was all too aware of that He&039;d survive it, but he&039;d wake up in a hospital under huht of day "You ever touch what belongs to ain and there will be no- where you can hide So that you remember" Kyle let out a cry and held the side of his face, blood surging froers at his ear Lyssa flicked away the piece she&039;d taken, the dia lost in the debris and trash that littered the floor of the cell, Jacob felt a bit nauseous Dirt fro to loosen the backing and filch the diaies, o, he stayed bent over, trying to convey obsequiousness and hold on to his ear, protecting himself as best he could "If I&039;d truly believed--" A howl, and he was holding the other ear A bigger piece tossed away this time Jacob watched it roll and stop behind the Nike- covered heel of the mesmerized kid, Kyle&039;s earlier meal "Don&039;t lie, " Lyssa said "Go hoht Don&039;t let ain You won&039;t sur- vive it " He nodded, backing away fro blood on his shoulder before he spun toward the door The guard still held it open Looking around the room, Jacob saw she held fi fteen men in a hypnotic state with no visible effort at all, his brother included He didn&039;t care for the way the men looked at her, under her control or not, but he supposed Lady Lyssa couldn&039;t help but mesmerize any o for the charhts "Maybe you should have tried more of that on your brother You wouldn&039;t have landed up here " "I didn&039;t have much time to use it Even if I&039;d wanted to " She arched a brow "Are you telling Mommy he started it?" He shot her an annoyed look and this tiht, controlled gesture Drawing closer, she rested her hand on the joining point of his shoulder to his neck, ran a proprietary hand over his chest, the sore ribs "You&039;re in pain " "It&039;s not bad,a couple aspirin won&039;t cure " "Mmm " Now she raised her attention to his face, took his chin andthe swelling and bruising "I wasn&039;t talking about your body The third aze shifted to Gideon So deadly in her expression warned Jacob Quickly he twined his fingers with hers on the cuffed side, drawing her atten- tion to hi to protect me, make decisions that are mine to make " Much as it was my decision to accept the third mark She withdrew her touch

"Release the hoes " She looked between hi one another for assault--I assu to hold you for That&039;s what the police will remember after we&039;ve left " "Why would the diner owner--" "I paid hih to convince him " The cop unlocked the cuff on his wrist, went over to Gideon and did the same

Jacob rubbed his arm, eyed her as she studied him Why didn&039;t you just let me rot in here a day or so? Perhaps I didn&039;t care to spend the evening without my servant Before he could reply to that, she&039;d turned away "Follow me "