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A connection achieved without effort, words or even thought Who understood where her h she knew there was no logic to why she felt that way He certainly wasn&039;t over a thousand years old But when she ith hih every step, every century Carnal was talking to a few of the type she&039;d seen too , s as they were, hungering for change just so they could feel i So much to learn, and yet they would burn down their school before the lessons could be taught Such was the way of the world, and of youth If it were not Carnal standing with theent toward thes were like a grounded boat captain colide past She&039;d once been a part of that flow, but those tie some- what because of her absence, but it would still floard She had to believe that You are not God,ended, even her "There you are " Lady Daniela&039;s arh hers "Ev- eryone down there assu your dance part- ner decision, exa us all like we&039;re insects under a microscope I&039;ve never seen sotheir hair, their breathThe fit of their trousers " Perhaps Danny was the next best thing to Jacob They&039;d ravitated toward Lyssa despite their differences in rank as if they were two inseparable schoolgirl friends, and Lyssa had surprised herself by welcoant to be self- conscious Even if they could see themselves in a mirror, they&039;d never use one " "HmmThat&039;s the truth
That overlord from Florence needs a better servant He&039;s needed to blow his nose for the past two days Every tirow- ing out of his nostrils "
"Oh, gods, that&039;s far too graphic " Lyssa covered an undignified snort of laughter with her hand "But so true " Lady Daniela&039;s gaze shifted, stilled Her eyes spar- kled appreciatively "However, on the brighter side, it looks tothe about it " Lyssa rolled her eyes "Danny, if you don&039;t stop fawning over that cocky servant of yours, he&039;s going to be hopelessly spoiled " "Cocky is a way to describe Devlin, on several different levels He&039;s one of a kind, the cheeky bastard But" Danny adjusted her stance, and with her arh Lyssa&039;s, she forced her to turn to- ward one of the arched entranceways "Notabout yours " She hadn&039;t knohat Jacob earing tonight After con- fir early in their relationship he had the ability to attire hiuidance, she&039;d found she liked being sur- prised by it, to enjoy the impact on her senses when he appeared He&039;d outdone himself The room was filled with vampire lalamour for humans was far easier than for other vampires, and for the enetictheir species exceptionally attractive Perhaps it was evolution, a helpfulindication they were soend and night- mare folklore liked to depict Jacob was handso that But as she&039;d known fro, it was ainst a vampire&039;s and it could not compare But his charisence and resourcefulnessThe erous and deadly, all sorated into his physical appearance in a way devastating to the female senses Put that in a tuxedo and Lyssa was sure she wasn&039;t the only woht in her throat
He was tall enough to pull off the stail coat he&039;d chosen Perfectly pleated dark slacks, dress shoes that shone Black studded shirt instead of white He&039;d chosen a Nehru collar with a white satin ribbon edging that left his neck unencumbered by a tie His hair, so often tousled at ho his hands back through it as he worked, was brushed to a silk h forehead The trilea her attention to his lips as it always did, the softness contrasting with the firm man- ner in which he held them She raised a brow at Daniela&039;s chuckle "What?" "Nothing " Danny ht Lord Belizar ht " Lyssa blinked She experienced trepidation at being caught so baldly besotted until Daniela gave her a droll look, re her that Australian vampires were far more laid-back than their Eu ro- pean and Eastern cousins And that Danny was very young and irrepressible, by vampire standards "You responded"--Danny cleared her throat and did a credible imitation of Lyssa&039;s ies, Lady Daniela " Lyssa ht&039;s Council Court There will be hty affairs discussed " Danny shot her a look "Undoubtedly, aze was pulled back to Jacob As if she needed another reason to be captivated by him, he&039;d found her instantly and waited until she aze to proceed into the room While every servant in the rooed her visibly, first and foremost, and waited for her attention to proceed, to be sure she kneas there, available to her needs She had the impression of it like the heat of his body curled at her back while she slept Now, glancing at her often, he roup with one hand at his back, the other loose at his side A comfortable pose that allowed hireeting to each person
His gift for recall of names and sta- tus was impeccable When he encountered Devlin, his teeth flashed in a grin at whatever thehe&039;d already developed a comfortable male rapport with the Australian That set herself and curl her toes in her open sandals She thought of hiht, the way he&039;d closed his hand over hers on the brand at his hip When she&039;d taken him back to their room, she&039;d feathered her lips over ithis cock with the fine line of her cheek before she&039;d ridden him to climax Rex had tried to control and dominate her, but in the end he&039;d had no ability to do so because she never trusted hih to let him into her soul Now she&039;d put her heart and soul as well as her physical well-being into the hands of a mere human And she&039;d never felt safer in her life Around him, the ballroom somehow became fantastical with its array of characters He was surrounded by things that were teer her reality, but there he was in the middle of it The soul who had bound hihts of the chandelier sent out rays that sparkled in her vision It occurred to her that he, Bran and Mr Ingras in her life these last couple of months She wanted to experience only as real fro else Why had she even come here? The reason seeistering the startled look on Daniela&039;s face, she had no chance to ue excuse, for Lord Uthe stepped onto the platforht she&039;d turned at his approach Apparently Danny came to the same conclusion, because her puzzled expression van- ished and she respectfully withdrew "It&039;s nearly nine,their hair and the fit of their trousers An unwelcoainst her waist, a hts so far away from who she was, had been What she wanted
Lyssa made herself rest her hand in Uthe&039;s, her lips pressed to- gether to keep fro suddenly ex-panded exponentially She didn&039;t have stage fright, didn&039;t even knohat this was It wasn&039;t the virus That was the only reassurance she could give herself, for suddenly her throat was so tight she could barely speak Uthe brought her to the edge of the platfore roo his voice as the ballroo off a headache "My lady As our revered queen, ays ask that you lead off the first dance of the Ball Will you honor us and one fortunate gen- tleed your preferences this year and wish to choose a lady?" There was soht be eligible were a palpable energy in the large roo it, those assembled quieted further with hushed expectancy The candlelit chandeliers were lowered, other light sources diive the main floor and herself the focus She well understood the perceived significance of this moment Back in Atlanta, in the far more casual atmosphere of her study, she and Jacob had reviewed a short list of candidates critically Brian had been the easy choice It would be clear she was honoring him for his scientific advances on behalf of their species, but no one would sur but respect for the farvampire and his well-known father The last time she&039;d been here, she&039;d been with Rex and Tho off his spectacles Now Rex was dead, killed by her hand Thomas had died alone in a monastery No, not alone Jacob had been with him The first time she&039;d danced with Rex here, he&039;d been pleased with the prestige of the honor, but more than that, he&039;d wanted her He&039;d believed in the Council she&039;d built He&039;d fought at her side He hadn&039;t been a kindleader, a man to respect And he had loved her Until he lost his hts were dim, but they still hurt her eyes She wanted utter darkness Her eyes were burning, trying to fill with ently She turned a desperate glance toward him "We are on par, you and I, " he said "I have no ns upon you If it would be easier this first time since your husband&039;s death, I will be happy to" He let it drift off, a courtesy No Never in her many centuries of life had she allowed her con- trol to slip voluntarily Though it was a savage internal struggle, one during which her mind told her she would be wise to take Uthe&039;s of- fer, she shook her head She didof thanks for his kindness Then she wasoff the platform, toward the center of the floor where a circle had been opened to allow her rooaze travel over the ar- rayed faces as the second hand on the ornate clock over the orchestra reached aat when that final ninth chime tolled was her chosen partner He would come to her, meet her on the floor Decades before, it was the decisive move that confirmed to all she intended to accept Rex as her hus- band Now she passed over overlords, ladies Region Masters Council , oddly She alhtened in one self-delusional ht choose hiain When she coursed fully over the rooan the same examination in a counterclockwise motion Brian was not readily visible In case of his absence, she had several neutral choices like Uthe, where she could bestow the favor with little expec- tations beyond the dance She saw at least two of those choices in the crowd But she didn&039;t want any of the and this tide of emotional response was attributable to the disease, but even Uthe had sensed what Jacob had pointed out to her before, in his quiet, logical way
She was a woman who&039;d lost her husband and hu the end of her own life All these rituals she&039;d last shared with RexIt was overwhel at times She wouldn&039;t live to share Christmas with Jacob That bothered her She liked Christmas Would she have made it this far these past few months without him? She doubted it She needed to tell hi too full of hione beyond that Her skin shivered with desire for onethe line of her spine in her low-backed dress, one ainst hers in the turn of the waltz The clock began to chi the beats of her heart rather than the counts of the clock She let her gaze linger over the alternate choices, saw the hum- ble appreciation for the consideration in their eyes It ell- known she often bestowed her second and third choices with a strike or two of the clock before she settled on her final choice The crowd shifted as the sixth chi A few s those who knew they were not coaze by ninety degrees, turning precisely on her heel The murmurs died away, bitten off by indrawn breaths The last chime echoed in a now completely silent ballroom The preternatural stillness of varavity of the moment She could tell Devlin, as he stepped back froh he loved his own Mistress well, perhaps he was even a little disapproving Yes, the Aussies were overned therind it under the point of her heel Jacob moved forward, the tap of his dress shoes loud on the floor of the ballroo shades of wood While there was no falter or hesitation to his steps, the set of his mouth was tense
As the chime&039;s final note vibrated away on the air, he reached her, perfectly ti to one knee, he bowed his head, perhaps trying to soften the adverse effect of what she&039;d just done But she extended her hand, bade him rise When he brushed it with his lips and rose, she dropped in a low curtsy before hi the swell of htened, she used the pressure of his hand to draw her back up to stand before him It was expected to be adored by one&039;s servant, but the way her skin burned with pleasurable fire when he looked at her as he did nowGods
How could they not see it? My ladyBrian is not here, but we had some other choicesI didn&039;t look for Brian, or any of the others A pause as he digested that, the light of his blue eyes fierce on her face A light that did not hurt her eyes in the least Concerned he ht be, but she&039;d also reached into his soul and touched hi Hadn&039;t he said so fro? Is this wise? What can they do? Kill us? His lips tugged in acknowledght, Sir Vagabond Only yours Not just now, but to the end of my life He sed When he backed up a step, he took her with hih she&039;d chosen one of her pre- ferred slow and languid 1920s torch songs as the ain as she dipped into aher other hand as she straight- ened, he drew her into his arlanced over her shoulder with an imperious, faintly annoyed look The ive the violinist his cue The first pure, sad note quivered in the air, joined by several other string instruments
Jacobbetween the none of that She moved into him so he had to slide his hand more fully around her waist, his hand on the small of her back and point of her hip as she wished The dress she&039;d chosen for tonight was a black sheath with a transparent overlay of jet sequins The front neckline dis- played her creatively raised boso for her necklace of blood rubies and diaes cut in a jagged, lightning pattern held fast by a transparent piece of black net e the ink tattoo of one she&039;d had Jacob put on her shoulder She could feel the heat of his hand through that trans- parent net Closing her eyes, she let hi her He was a good dancer A wonderful lover A ined the picture they made, like the top of a e of her skirt rippling as they turned, stepped She didn&039;t try to listen to his thoughts, but she wasn&039;t closed to hi deeper into hie of eh her soul as he swirled her around the floor Once the clock hand changed to the first minute after nine, oth- ers could join theht-lipped and for their va inshe wanted in focus was Jacob She was flying, the rest like a cherry tree&039;s blosso around her in the void "My stepfather did that once, a long, long tio Do you re- member? I stood under the branches and he shook the " That&039;s what Heaven was Cherry blosso around her as a handso on her eyelids, the tops of her breasts, his hairThe safety of a protector, the passion of a loverWhen she reached up to touch the hair feathered over his brow, Jacob gently caught her hand, tightening his grip
Pressed his lips to her knuckles My lady, I sense you are not yourself Perhaps we should retire as soon as is acceptable-- Black and white In a blink, color beca heat exploded as rage, scattering the cool, tranquil touch of the er Locking her fingers around his hand without care for her strength, she narrowed eyes that had become filmed in red "I&039;m not your servant, Jacob Don&039;t propose to order" A ed the steps without faltering Another fraction of pressure and she&039;d break several of his fingers That didn&039;t concern him It would be a welcome distraction from the tidal wave of fear that filled him They were under the scru- tiny of everyone,him as if they&039;d be happy to tear out his vitals Devlin&039;s description of what happened toundue influence over their Mistresses was uncoressive toward Lady Lyssa&039;s servant? He suddenly was all too aware that if an attack came, he was her only protection If they took hiin to deteriorate quickly The s will be so sharp they can almost occur midsentenceWhen that occurs, the physical attack will come quickly on the heels of the ee, and it will be far esHe should have ht, when he&039;d helped her dress, he knew he should have He just hadn&039;t wanted to believeHe&039;d been stupid The cell phone was in his pocket The other dancers were giving them a wide berth Normally, he knew they would have maneuvered to be close to her, to win the fa- vor of a word Instead the circle of space they left around her was filled with a buffer of hostility, suspicion "May I cut in?" Jacob turned, his hand still cla ar a va
If he had, he was sure he would have reht His skin had the smooth olive texture of the Middle East, and his eyes were piercing a he doubted thecontacts had been available His hair was a burnished copper, long, bound back with ribbon to form a tail that fell just past his shoulder blades He was dressed in a black, long-tailed coat much like Jacob&039;s, only his shirt hite, his tie white silk and tied in a cravat style A stick pin of a griffin done in a for the ruby crest he wore on his left hand Instead of slacks, he wore fitted black breeches and polished Hessian boots His presence was causing quite a stir, which Jacob saith relief had distracted the assembly from his lady&039;s unacceptable choice of dance partner Lyssa blinked at theers discreetly on her waist as a reassurance, waiting for her cue But her rab a corner and slow it down,he was disorienting hi it yet, had only et in sync with her once or twice, and that ith her cooperation An energy reached into hi him in his Mistress&039;s mind with effortless ease Al his apprentice on the canvas, it gave him the abil- ity to circle around his lady&039;s wildly spiraling thoughts, cushioning theainst the walls of her mind The only vampire who can stand toe to-toe-with herWho has as aze So here He&039;d no doubt Thoh he didn&039;t have time to dissect the whys and hows, like how the hell Mason could get into his ut decision to trust Mason as an ally He was in over his head, and her life was far et out of here, soon
"My lady?" Mason&039;s gaze flickered in acknowledgment before he dismissed him with proper vampire indifference Jacob turned her hand over to hih she&039;d not stated her will in theat Mason Jacob could feel the wheels of her ht it with the help of the two of theh her body, so strong he felt it through his fingertips as he made himself slide them from her waist He forced himself to step back and let Mason&039;s hand take its place Lyssa blinked Once Twice "It would be my pleasure, Lord Mason, " she said at last Thank God A shudder of relief passed through Jacob, almost as violent as hers "Just Mason will do, Lyssa We knohat a farce titles are " He handed his cane to Jacob with a curt nod "Shall your servant retire frolanced at Jacob "Thank you for the dance, Sir Vaga- bond Await ave a half bow and retreated Though he wasn&039;t tied into any other minds here, the shift of reaction in the roo Appreciative laughter and amazed murmurs It now appeared as if she&039;d dallied with her ser- vant until Mason arrived, a fine bit of drama to amuse the other va she would choose a human"Just like Lady LyssaShe kno ridiculous it is, all this nonsense about fe Lord Mason to make such an impressive entranceFine entertainment" He should be relieved and pleased by the turn of events, the in- credibly fortunate save So why did he feel like Malachi had speared hih the chest with a javelin, after all? Why did he want to snarl at all of them as he left the floor? When he ave him a look that fair screa he&039;d learned froave Devlin the cane for safekeeping but kept going as if he were on an errand for his Mistress He had a third mark She could speak in his mind, after all As he reached the arched entrance to the ballrooht smile on her lips His lady appeared mysterious and in control, her usual i Like contractions coether, only in this case her behavior heralded the delivery of death instead of life But for now her new partner had his face bent close as they danced Her head was tilted back, theirthem How the hell could anyone not look at theLord Mason wasfor her When he&039;d mailed correspondence for Thomas in the last month of the monk&039;s life, Lord Mason&039;s nah he hadn&039;t known the contents then, Jacob now had the an- swer to an unanswered question Thomas had knohat fate awaited his lady, andthe vaardless, leaving the ballroo her in the care of an- otherJacob had done yet As he turned the corner into a wide corridor, he saw the hall was lined with heavy tapestries They likely allowed quick trysts between lovers who had the unusual va privacy When he ducked behind one portraying a hts Templar, he found it thankfully unoccupied He&039;d just wanted a ht the wisdom of that a bare second later when his body broke out in a cold sweat, his hands shaking He had to protect her, and yet in a blink she&039;d made it clear that if she lost control, there&039;d be little he could do to contain the most powerful vampire in the room, sick or no Fivea situation he knew he didn&039;t have the resources to address
He&039;d been counting tooan active partner in her own protection Debra had warned hiress rapidly once it hit a certain stage His lady, who&039;d meticulously prepared for sopreparations for the worst on her own condi- tion He was a fool He should have planned better He should have tried to convince her to cut her ti? They had to make it to the Court session He&039;d known that and had hoped, as he was sure she had, that she wouldThey still had no other choice, racing against the clock and hedging their bets against death Several weeks before, she&039;d realized it took too s to hihts as she developed her plans and inten- tions She just asked that he not interrupt her thinking or argue with her She knehat she needed to do, and she needed his obedience to do it She&039;d told hi He had a brain, and he would use it If Mason hadn&039;t come, they would have danced She would have ripped his aret her off the floor and that would have been perfectly acceptable treatment of a servant Equilibriuainst the cold stone of the wall When Carnal&039;s face swam up in his mind, ironically it helped him shove the last of the panic attack away No way that piece of shit was get- ting near her Tonight They just had to get through tonight Then, God willing,he&039;d have tiain his ner vousness before his first va hi to die, bro Either there&039;s nothing after, in which case you won&039;t exist to care about it, or Mo like, `Nohy did you do a fool thing like fight a bunch of vaet yourself killed?&039; And Dad will say, `At least you should have waited until you got laid by a pretty girl &039; "
Well, he&039;d acco in his lady&039;s body was ardless of what happened, it was tireed Jacob should ht were the trigger If they couldn&039;t et the Council to pass the vote and then get back on the plane, then the only thing they could do to protect her people noould be done Tears burned at the back of his throat Pulling the cell phone out of his coat pocket to start the clock on his own death seeh so far more resistant than air Since the tapestry currently protecting hihts Templar, he obeyed a sudden compulsion from thehis head Dear Lord, I don&039;t believe that her soul is da, if I&039;m worthy to follow I&039;ll know I&039;m in Hell only if I wake and find I&039;m somewhere she&039;s not Please help me do what I must do to protect her Cal through Thank God Mason had included a cell tower in the palace&039;s rades; otherwise there&039;d be no way for hiram answered, Jacob said quietly, "Start the clock " A pause "You got it, son God bless you " Another pause "Both of you " Jacob nodded, unable to speak, and closed the phone If Ingram did not hear from them within the next twenty-four hours, he would make his own call The one that would start the chain reaction to alert all of her fugitives and give them the informa- tion to find safe harbor in allied territories Jacob didn&039;t knohere his brother was now--hopefully soram would also make sure Gideon re- ceived the letter Jacob had written to his brother before he left, saying the things he wanted to say
Whatever awaited theether Hold on to ht she&039;d teased hi the tools he&039;d been using to repair a fence froain before he knew she was there When he finally caught on, he looked up to see her sitting on top of the shed, her playful sht She&039;d shrieked indignantly when he went after her with the garden hose Then he rereen like a cat in the night S to himself, he stepped out fro at brisk clip toward the ballroo even when she should be walking at a paceheels she wore "Oh!" She yelped as he caught her ar her When she smiled at him it ith an air of distracted exciteood to see you " "And you " As he studied her, he saw no self-consciousness in her face about their earlier exhibition She holly absorbed in so on? You&039;re wound up like a kid about to go to Disney for the first ti hi her hand up to her mouth, she shook her head "I&039;m sorry, Jacob It&039;s justOh, my God, I can&039;t believe" She made a visible effort to rein herself in "I can&039;t really tell anyone yet Of course, you&039;re her servant, and Brian certainly wouldn&039;t deny Lady Lyssa the knowledge, since he&039;swith Lord Belizar I&039;ood care of an to pump more rapidly Jacob hardly dared to say it While not normally able to read words froly from her he couldn&039;t miss it "You&039;ve found the cure To the Delilah virus " "Yes!" She said it in an ecstatic whisper, squeezed his arms and rocked up on her toes with ebullience
"Well"--she attempted to re- claim her objectivity--"we&039;re ninety-nine percent sure we have That&039;s why Brian&039;s been working so hard these last few days Run- ning and rerunning the data We&039;d done a limited test on affected vampire cells, but seven of the test subjects responded to the model exactly the e hoped The model simulated the vampire-servant physical connection The cure serum worked on a Canadian vam- pire, our first patient There were soe percentage down yet But it worked, Jacob It worked We got the call a little while ago from Alabama The vampire is cured And it&039;s all thanks to Andrev and Helene The servant-vaht it was How ironic is that? Oh, Brian isI&039;ve never seen hirip on both her ar, his expression battle intense "I need to speak with them Brian and Lord Belizar Is Lord Uthe with theo I think we should wait for them, because he thinks they&039;ll make an announcement at the Ball after he talks to them" "It&039;s aher down the hallway even as he said it Debra caught his ar him to a halt with fir that dayOh, God I wishBut of course she wouldn&039;t have allowed you toHow far along is she?" "Based on the description you gave e Four about three or four hours ago " He hesitated "She had an attack a fewyou said would come shortly before the next physical episode Lord Mason&039;s working on getting her out of there after her dance This evening"--he clenched his teeth,her, I noticed she had a small series of bleers over them, the skin came off She hasn&039;t noticed any pain yet, so I didn&039;t tell her " At Debra&039;s incredulous look, he shook his head "It&039;s a long story She had toher wouldn&039;t have changed her rabbed his hand, hurrying with hiht; we need to tell them now She could have less than a few hours We can&039;t lose Lady Lyssa " He cursed hi differently "Tell" She stopped abruptly then, losing even more color on her face When she looked up at him, her eyes reflected a pain he didn&039;t un- derstand When she told him how the cure worked, he did But he captured her hand, pulling her in ht be the only one capable of protecting Lyssa from other vampires He could even love and care for her But Jacob no only her servant could save her life