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Mason paid court to Lyssa, ignoring any attempts by anyone else to speak to him When the dance was over, he offered her his arm and escorted her to a quiet and secluded spot on the far end of the outside verandah Moonlight provided a spectacular view of the ocean When she leaned against the rail, he casually pressed against her back, looping an arive her body his support if she needed it "When did you last feed?" "A few hours ago " She looked out over the rail, her gaze coursing over the view "The boy is very devoted to you " "I&039;ve learned h to know he&039;s not a boy I was blessed to have him come into my life at this point " Lyssa laid her head back on his shoulder "I guess we&039;ll be fueling the gossips, you and me Where have you been, Mason? You&039;ve been missed " "Only by you The rest just miss my influence and wealth " "Well it&039;s hard toand affectionate nature " He s her cheek "You break my heart, dearest "

She tilted her face up at the tone of his voice, and saw the pain in his eyes "You know " "Thanks to Thomas And to the delicacy of this beautiful face of yours " At her alarmed look, he shook his head "No one else would see it I just know you I can tell so her head, she turned her face into his large palrateful, Mason " "Oh, bollocks on that, " hein a world that doesn&039;t contain Lady Elyssa Wentworth? The only wo more than the sound of her voice " "The only woht " "Noouldn&039;t say that I was in a weakened condition Wal- lowing into poison myself with alcohol You knockedsorry for myself " She reached up, touched his jaw "You didn&039;t have to come " "I know that But I have very few people I love, ard You are one of them And the boy you consider a capable man is still huain "Your heart isn&039;t stingy If anything, it&039;s too tender I saw one like you less than a o A rief, his guilt You men of honor Such foolish creatures you are " "We are But it&039;s unforgettable women such as yourself who de- stroy us with your loss " He paused "He took the third" "He did " She looked away, out into the gardens "He insisted and ICouldn&039;t deny hied "He&039;s yours en- tirely, body, heart and soul You&039;d break him only if you left him be- hind Trust me " His amber eyes flickered "I know " Tears welled in her eyes and she hastily blinked theh his hand rose and lay on her nape His thu the strands of her hair over her shoulder

"It&039;s funny, " she said quietly at last "Before Jacob, I was ready to die Had accepted it These past two yearsThe awfulness that Rex became Thomas&039;s lossWhen I found out I was sick, it didn&039;t bother me so much, not from a personal standpoint But then Jacob ca my entire life Now that I&039;ve found hireedy is that? To have been given so ht love, eternity isn&039;t long enough " "Lady Lyssa?" Lyssa straightened and turned with Mason Brian stood a re- spectful distance fro a lighter tone "I&039;d intended to grace you with tonight&039;s dance and had to settle for this scoundrel who didn&039;t have the courtesy to arrive on time I&039;m not even sure he has an invitation " Brian looked between the his mind to the point he couldn&039;t quite comprehend the banter "It would have been my honor to dance with you, ize Lord Belizar and the others have convened in the Council chaently Lord Mason, they asked if you could attend as well " "It&039;s a long walk to those chah heels, " Mason ob- served "Perhaps a chair could be arranged" "I can walk, " Lyssa said "Certainly, " Brian said at the say for the interruption "We&039;ve already arranged for it " Even now a traveling chair was being brought onto the verandah via the stairs by a quartet of the naked and roup of executioners, their faces hidden When they came to a halt, they blocked the stairs "I&039;ve not lived this long by being stupid, or unaware " When Ma- son reached out a hand to her, Lyssa stepped back to the balcony rail Jacob, where are you? She struggled with the effort to hold back her panic when her atte of confusion

The holes in her shields were so frequent now she barely expended the effort to keep his mind out of hers ex- cept when absolutely necessary, perhaps because she didn&039;t want to knohen she co deaf, wondering why everyone wasShe hadn&039;t questioned her decision to per the last several weeks Or why more and more she preferred to hear hihts when he was at a distance It had increased the strength of her reception Now, she could hear hih a cell phone, devices she&039;d always disliked intensely and never needed She strained to bring that voice in focus Knowing he was talking to her, she nevertheless couldn&039;t hear him clearly The panic that flooded her noas another wave of what she&039;d felt at the ocean when Jacob was hurt Brian and Mason hadin on her like she was a wild ani- et away If she didn&039;t break a limb If she did, she wouldn&039;t have time to heal before they&039;d be on her You&039;d muss your dress, my lady It&039;s a beautiful dress, all the more so because you&039;re in it She closed her eyes, her hands balling into fists at the effort of grasping that voice, holding on to it Her temples started to pound Nausea heaved in her sto her back, a faint burn, soory of symptoms Jacob, where are you? There was a vocal reaction of surprise and affront in the gardens below A breath later, Jacob finished scaling the trellis, a shorter dis- tance frohtly onto the tiles in bare feet, tux still in place He was breathing hard, as if he&039;d come at a dead run from wherever he&039;d been "I am here, my lady At your back, as always " Lyssa closed her hand on his forear She wanted into his head Still couldn&039;t get there "What&039;s going on?"

"There&039;s nothing for you to fear at all, h to ood news to share with the Council He&039;s found the cure to the Delilah virus, and he can adht enough dosages " Despite their audience, he cradled her face, tipping it up to his "You&039;ll be around to enchantas you wish " "You told the the bile doith effort, though the headache was starting to make speech difficult "It was time, my lady When I heard about the cure from Debra, I knew--" "I can&039;t hear youInside ht here,her in his arently setting her on it She held on to his neck, drawing his face close "You are telling me true?" "I told you I would never be false to you, et it taken care of " "I ant to knoorks, " she said as they lifted her "I won&039;t have"--she let go of hiers to her te in wartsOrdead " "Yes,his face as he urged the servants forith their precious cargo He exchanged a glance with Mason The Middle Eastern vaot down the stairs well enough, but as they reached the bottoardens, Jacob stopped abruptly "Wait Put her down Now " Brian spoke the question behind hi up an ice bucket left on an outside table, he quickly du Mason and Brian&039;s vieith his broad back as she doubled over, a cry co from her lips He held her hair out of the way as she vomited blood, but when she rocked forward on another spasm, her body contorted as if she&039;d been struck

Pain exploded in his own body Jacob staggered, the ability to breathe suddenly restricted, weakness overwhel him Mason leaped to his side as he dropped the bucket, stu to one knee When his lady desperately reached out for hiers around hers Mason was not quick enough with the bucket to keep her next expulsion fro the front of her dress She vomited far more than Jacob had ever seen When Brian eased her back, she had the pallor of a true corpse, so that would never be mistaken for a va "Jacob " The light in her eyes was cri "Take her quickly, " Brian snapped The servants hesitated Though it felt as if he were ripping off a liers His lady&039;s face warred between panic and a Herculean effort toaway the control of a lifetime, both mentally and physically It pained hi such a battle with it "I&039;ll make sure he&039;s behind you every step of the way, my lady Council chambers Go " Mason snarled the command The servants bolted forward The next wave of pain knocked Jacob back to his knees "No Jacob--" Lyssa cried out to hi her fast on the chair, rim "I shouldn&039;t have done this to you Help hiot hiht behind you " Mason knelt and got Jacob&039;s ar the otheras you can, " Jacob et her to Council chambers " "She may not want this, " Mason said under his breath as they lanc- ing back often to confirht now, " Jacob h it felt as if a baseball bat was being applied to his rib cage He didn&039;t want his lady feeling this kind of pain "Let&039;s save her life, then solicit her opinion " "She would say that&039;s typical" "Lady Lyssa is a force of nature A constellation A guiding force They need her Bad things cooes " How many like his brother would die if Carnal and his kind took over? What would happen to servants like Debra or Devlin? At the tightening of Mason&039;swith her for a handful ofwith Thomas, Jacob knew her influence was felt far outside of her terri- tory Would the Council be able to maintain control of vampires like Carnal without her? Not just her pohich was considerable, but the power of exa that for centuries the bulk of the to control their bloodlust to be like her, and the rest had been too afraid of her power to go against the Council "I&039;ve been successful keeping her out of your head only because she&039;s not yet figured out it&039;s not the disease separating you If the episode she&039;s having ebbs, she&039;ll know And tear a strip froet there quickly to preserve your sanity " "She&039;s not going to agree to this " "She&039;s not herself, " Jacob repeated and grunted Mason slid his arht "If you&039;re going to throw up, do let me know so I can move out of the way " "YouLet my lady&039;s blood ruin her dress She&039;ll consider itEqual payony his lady was suffering, he adripped Mason&039;s coat at the shoulder, his hold strong and desperate enough to rip the seams "I can do this She needs me for this ButShe&039;s soLonely I&039;m justA human SheYou make sure; you swear to ets so lonely

Help herTend her roses She likes coets sad Stay with her Don&039;t go back to the desert She needsYou " "SsshEasy, boy Coht on his arm and broke into a trot to keep pace with Lyssa&039;s entourage They reached the chaods Just as Jacob gained the threshold, the varip on hi He looked at Jacob, then his gaze darted across the rooasped "We&039;re here, my lord Do not suffer fur- ther on our account " The pain was receding, a blissful sign the attack was passing However, the fact it had affected him as harshly as it had his lady told him they were close The next one could be the final one When Mason&039;s expression eased, his lady burst into Jacob&039;shiy spun around wildly First she reassured herself of the connection, then she sought understanding of what had been block- ing her Feeling her hands on his head, he looked up as she gripped his chin, her nails biting cruelly into the skin beneath his beard, into the vulnerable throat The relief at the pass of the attack fled as he realized it ree to the treatth to resist it But though strength surged back into his own li him she hadn&039;t recovered fully despite the appearance to the contrary Her eyes glittered with fire, herinto a hard line Before he could call out a warning or protest, she&039;d left hiant, thick planking cracked Lyssa&039;s head whipped around as several Councilwith hellfire When Jacob stood, he had to hold on to the edge of the table He wondered where she was finding the reserve of strength to put on this shohen he could feel her weakness in the , unpleasant heat in the sa the rooht, erraticsmall type, then her expression shifted to Brian and Debra For the h his hand had closed over the wrist of her hand, holding him pinned There was a tray on the table with sterile pads A cloth covered whatever else was on it The Council members were arrayed tensely around the cha her "No, " she whispered She released Mason "No " More firmly "Lady Lyssa " Lord Uthe spoke first "Perhaps your servant mis- represented the situation Lord Brian has found a cure to your ill- ness You can walk out of this room in thirty minutes, completely healed " "No, " she said I&039;m sorry, my lady But I will not let you die Lyssa turned The Councilinto a semi- circle around her Brian looked torn between a scientist&039;s overwhelious of his sponsors, and a man&039;s concern for her Lyssa knew he had compas- sion, but it wasfor his oell-being "I will not subreatest respect, my lady, our queen " Lord Uthe bowed His expression was stern, i- ment is already too impaired to make that decision We seek only to restore you to yourself " She curled her lip "Then I suggest you try toher dress, no one doubted she could be deadly If anything, Jacob knew it just reth she had was the only thing in question He suspected he and Mason were the only ones who kneas not as formidable as it appeared When Uthe&039;s expression shifted to Mason as if reading Jacob&039;s thoughts, Lyssa&039;s did the same

"Don&039;t even think of challenging o either way Today, I think you know I&039;ll win " He aze with a steady aood on the promise "But it would break my heart Please don&039;t make me prove it " "My lady, don&039;t--" Jacob spoke as she turned to square off with the vampire Mason tensed You be still When she flicked her attention at him like the sharp end of a knife, she was the lady he knew, even as he could feel the vibrations of dull pain There was no separation in their sy ready for the next flood of spasaze shifted to Brian "I&039;hts cor- rectly, am I not?" Her voice was ice, and Jacob didn&039;t blame Brian for the hesitancy hich he responded They atching her like a roory snake "Yes, my lady We have found a cure If we inject the serum into your servant and you drink from him, it will destroy the virus entirely That is what our cell models and data from our test subjects tell us "Test subjects?" Her voice dropped, deceptively soft "Servants you murdered " "Servants who sacrificed therettable but valued " Belizar spoke when Brian could not seem to find an answer, his disco to you, " she snapped Her gaze never left Brian "So the serum is injected into Jacob What then?" "My lady " Jacob felt his heart lurch with a different but no less potent pain as she refused to turn and acknowledge himent You&039;ve said as much nu "

Brian sed, pressed on "It infects his blood, ht pounds, " Jacob said before she sent hi look "It will take approxiration, " Brian said hastily "We draw a sample to be sure Then the vah we think someone of your size would be cured with no more than two quarts " "But it will still kill him " "The serum is deadly poison to a human, even a marked one " He nodded once, a quick jerk "He is already dead if you die, a offered in a quiet voice "You serve no one with your sacrifice " And if you live, ht and was rewarded with a flash of pain through his head like electric current Don&039;t ain His jaw hardened, and he reached out, cla her startled attention He straightened to his full height despite the fire in his gut,her fiery expression with the flared temper of his own "You told me Protect what is mine No matter what, that is my first priority " If you live, the people of your territory reree to a per- ether You can e of this group This Council needs their queen awhile longer You know they do She pulled her arm away "You bastard " He inclined his head "It doesn&039;t change the truth of it, does it, then?" She was furious, frightened,hurt and dangerous While he knew some of it was the disease,control of the situation Perhaps it would have been better that first night if you&039;d let me put you on the St Andrew&039;s Cross Put the mana- cles on you, the ones you couldn&039;t break You told eous act a person can commit to another, it&039;s an act of faith Of trust " Like now

She turned a startled gaze to hi had been dark sensuality, their relationship all te any human, even him? Perhaps I could have handled this better, my lady, but there was no tiift of your trust He knew his thoughts were a book for her to read, though he could tell nothing yet frory swirl of her own "Will he suffer, Brian?" She pivoted "Lie to me and I will rip your throat out " "Yes, lanced toward Jacob "The pain is excruciating But it&039;s not long After you drink from him, we may end his pain, but he will die within fifteen minutes of the se- rum&039;s administration " She turned back to Jacob "When did you learn all of this?" "About half an hour ago, aze to Mason "You, who value your self-deter to leave our species rudderless to preserve it You jumped in with both feet to take awaymy own servant in order to trap lance "As I told you, my lady I have very few friends " "I understand why much better now " Please do not blament Think Why should both of us have to die if there is an option where one of us ment is iet it back? Jacob stepped in front of her Tension emanated from the others at his back as he dared what no one else in the roo his fingers in hers She kept her ar at histo meet his eyes He extended his other hand, caressed her chin with gentle pressure, asking her by that gesture to raise her gaze

I used the best judg He couldn&039;t stand the dispassionate stare another er, the wall of silence in her mind Only his royal-blooded Mistress would divert precious energy at such a moment to convey her dis- dain His temper broke "Damn it, woman, you wouldn&039;t have listened You would have just seen in ical sense?" He grasped her upper arreen eyes shot fire at hi around her, her body quivering with nerves or fury "For centuries, you&039;ve believed that humans are here to serve your needs Why in the hell would you be willing to die with ive you your life?" Because I don&039;t want to lose you The wall shattered, and he was flooded with eripped the front of his shirt As she pinned hie and her thoughts that this moment was just the two of them, consequences be damned "Because I&039;ve lived all those centuries and never wanted anyone, anything, the way I want you Noyou, Jacob Green, that is real and true, not illusion " His stunned gaze couldn&039;t move from her tortured expression, the love that was there as well as the sorrow "My lady--" "No No " She shook her head veherip on his shirt He ran his hands up arms that had becoo home " They wouldn&039;t make it beyond this roo that out When she turned toward the double doors, Mason shifted, blocking them "Don&039;t make me do this, Lady Lyssa, " he exhorted her She moved faster than Jacob expected He could barely follow her until she caught hold of Mason&039;s lapels and tossed him out of her way Yanked at the door Just as fast, the va her fast fro to shake hi else, rabbing at the edge of the table "Mason, " he rasped, "ease your--" "She&039;s having another attack, " Debra cried out Fire roared through his blood The head-splitting pain and nau- sea et rid of it Her shields had kept her pain fro, but now he ab- sorbed her every physical and emotional reaction such that it was hard to separate what belonged to who, her eyes rolling back As she thrashed, dark, oblong marks appeared on the tender under- side of her forearms The sasped, shrank back "Do it, now, " Uthe ordered Brian Two Council va Jacob to his feet despite the fact he was doubled over and gasping for air They lifted and sla one side of hiible a blink before, Lyssa&039;s voice rolled like thunder The hoarse sound a de from Hell wouldthe floor Her hair was snarled, blood running from a corner of her mouth where she&039;d ap- parently speared herself with a fang She looked decidedly vicious "Let aze red fire "You&039;veto happen, o be beside hi between her and the door Fast as a snake and just as veno his face with her nails, slicing deep enough to tear ribbons of flesh that caught on her nails and fluttered grueso with temper Then he dropped his touch, apparently startled at the thinness of the skin under his hands It started to peel back and blacken as soon as he let go, as if the abrasion had spurred the process in that area Though her face was rigid with the pain of it, she didn&039;t let it diminish the contempt on her face by so much as a flicker

"You son of a bitch, " she said quietly His eyes were gold flint "If you live, you may choose, as we all can, to take your own life But it will be your choice, as is our way Not the way of humans, who must face the inevitability of their ownif it is your true wish or the disease speaking " "If he is dead, nothingto convince this asseht mind, you would know that " "You don&039;t understand " "Don&039;t I?" This tier in his tone, of bitterness so sharp it could al on the two Council va Jacob to the table "He has acted with honor his entire life, " she said in a quiet, ter- rible tone "Though he&039;s chosen to sacrifice everything for me, you treat him as a coward Get your hands off him If you don&039;t, I swear if I survive this I will stake you myself "