Bound by the Vampire Queen (63 page)

Intentionally or not, Lyssa had apparently honored their loyalty by bringing that matter to a close.

The servants shifted back as Barbra’s servant, a slim redheaded male, dropped to the floor with a similar strangled cry. A tall blonde knelt at his side, her hand on his shoulder, her face reflecting quiet, neutral compassion as the inevitable happened and he followed his Mistress to the other side.

Kane had started up his wailing again, so Anwyn moved to a corner positioned behind Daegan, a protected place where she could better keep the babe’s focus on her. Moving to her side, Jacob brushed his knuckles along his son’s cheek, a reassurance to calm him, even as he kept his right wrist gauntlet poised toward the cluster of servants, ready if needed.

The doors opened, Gideon and Daegan permitting the staff to enter with two stretchers, Torrence following in their wake. They all hesitated at the sight of a lifeless vampire and the dead servant, but when Lyssa beckoned to them, they came forward, albeit cautiously. “When Lord Belizar and his servant are cared for, come back and retrieve her and her servant. You may place her in the inner courtyard for sunrise disposal and bury her servant where appropriate for his loyalty to her. Jacob?”

“My lady?” He left Kane with a tug of his short hair, a further reassurance. The toddler was playing with the necklace Anwyn wore, the sparkling amber distracting him. As Jacob stepped to Lyssa’s side, he was calmly solicitous as a servant should be, despite the emotions roiling through him. A grim smile slid through her eyes, still more than a bit dangerous.
You have ever failed to have a poker face, Sir Vagabond. There was never anything to worry about.

If that were the case, you’d let me see all the way into your mind, into your physical well-being.

At the proper time.
“Once we deal with things here, contact Dev and advise him his mistress, Lady Daniela, has been appointed to the Vampire Council. I will expect her here as soon as she can choose an acting overlord to handle her territory’s affairs. She should plan to stay here several weeks to orient herself as a junior member, until I decide where to move the Council’s base. We definitely need a change from this depressing environment.” Her gaze flickered distastefully over the heavy stone walls, the ominous darkness of them.

A pained grunt drew their attention. It was Vincent, reacting as Jessica slid the steel shaft out of his back so the servants could move him onto a stretcher. She also removed that one stray arrow from his shoulder, and as she did, she made a small noise of distress. The arrow, shot at such close range, had pierced through Vincent’s shoulder and plunged into hers when she grabbed him. Blood bloomed on her blouse, but she gave Jacob a reassuring look as she tossed the arrow aside.

“I will meet with Lord Mason, Lord Daegan and Lord Uthe now,” Lyssa told the rest of the Council.

“Shortly thereafter, I will visit each of you to mark you as I’ve designated, so you should go to your personal chambers and remain there until I come to you. Later tonight, we will have a civilized, pleasant dinner, vampire style.” She flashed fang. “It will be a celebration, so dress accordingly.”

The Council members exchanged glances and moved toward the door with their servants, while those commanded to remain held their positions.

Jacob could tell Mason had his attention divided between the retreating vampires and his own servant. Jessica had put herself into one of the few chairs that had not been knocked over. Though she held her hand over the wound in her shoulder, the blood had already slowed. She was healing, and from her internal expression, she was reassuring her Master of that. Jesus, she was tough, but Mason was going to tear him a new one. Jacob decided then and there he’d tell him it was Gideon’s arrow.

As the double doors closed securely behind the vampires and their servants, Mason was already going to her. Lyssa nodded once in satisfaction, as if to herself.

Jacob, I’m going to fall now.

He was there in a flash, catching her. Daegan brought another chair, placing it near Jessica. Lyssa glanced at the girl as Mason knelt by her, jerking open the first two buttons of her blouse to push it off her shoulder and see where the arrow had gone through the flesh, just inside the line of her lacy bra strap. “Well played, Jessica,” Lyssa noted.

The young woman lifted the other shoulder, turning her gaze to Jacob with a smile. “When it comes to a fight between vampires,
never
forget the servants.

That’s what he told me.”

“And who do you think taught
him
that?” Gideon said gruffly, but he gave her hair a gentle tug where he stood to her left, positioned between both Lyssa and Jess. Jacob’s concern for the young servant reflected in his eyes as well.

“My lady, are you all right?” Mason was obviously steadier now that he had his hands on his servant and could physically assure himself of her well -being.

“Nothing draining my servant dry won’t cure.” She gave a wan smile. “These first few days as a full vampire again, I apparently need three or four on standby.”

“Did you know what she was going to do?” Daegan asked Mason.

Mason shook his head, locked gazes with Lyssa.

“She told me once she was in range of my mind.

We’ve been linked for several centuries now. She trusted I would follow her lead.”

“And my trust in you is never misplaced. Not ultimately. Though for an interminably long time, I do remember you stubbornly refused to support having a Council.”

“If you’d done something like this a few decades ago, maybe I wouldn’t have.”

“You’re right.” Lyssa’s admission surprised Mason, Jacob could tell. “You were always right about their nature. I think it took immersing myself in what the Fae nature is to understand ours better. But I think there will be room for both our viewpoints, in time.”

Leaning forward, despite her obvious weariness, she closed her hand on his, while giving Jessica’s arm a brief touch. “I am very sorry I put your servant in danger. I would never have asked that of her, or you.”

“She pretty much took matters into her own hands.” Mason gave Jessica a brooding, stern glance, but one with pride in it. “She does that, no matter how often I beat her.”

Jessica had only a smile for that. Caressing her Master’s face, she trailed her fingers through the long copper-colored strands of his hair. “Jacob had excellent aim, my lord. Nothing to fear.” Jacob winced, and her eyes laughed at him, telling him she’d intentionally busted him. But if she was teasing him, she was okay. Perhaps Jessica, like Gideon, was more comfortable in a situation where she was fighting, rather than waiting for things to happen to her.

Daegan snorted. “We all seem to have found servants with an incurable streak of disobedience.” He gave Gideon a shove. The hunter grunted.

“Yeah, aren’t you lucky that way?”

“That is not the word I would have chosen.”

“Anytime you want to switch out a pit bull for a fucking arm poodle, nothing’s stopping you, Mr.

Wear-Armani-to-a-Fight. Good thing you didn’t get blood on it.”

“The night is still young.”

“I have to be able to walk out of those doors as strong as I walked in,” Lyssa said. She gave Gideon an amused glance. “I’ve had enough of your blood for now. Too much of it and I’m afraid I'll start swaggering and cursing like a sailor. I'll get some from Jacob, but I need more. Lord Uthe?” The quietest member of their group stepped forward now. “My lady?”

“Will you give me the honor of allowing me to drink from your servant?”

“You are head of Council now, my lady. You may demand anything you wish from me.”

She heard the mix of emotions in the polite tone.

He, too, had known Belizar for many years. They’d been friends, as much as vampires knew how to be, even though their viewpoints differed. In hindsight, she wished she’d put her support behind Uthe as the Council head years ago, though at the end of the Territory Wars, when there was still so much unrest, it had made more sense to put a more warlike figure in that position. Rex had agreed with her, though of course, he would have.

“I am not going to mark you, Uthe,” she said.

“Though I will let the rest of the Council believe I have done so. You are the type of person I want on this Council, but I want you here fully. If you do not agree with what I have done, I will release you tonight, and strip nothing from you. I will continue to regard you with the highest honor and respect, and seek your counsel.”

“If you are saying you want me on the Council specifically for my ability to question and challenge you, with the best interests of our kind in mind, then I accept that privilege.” He held her gaze a long moment, then dropped to one knee before her, so she did not have to look up at him. His voice became rougher. “My lady, I serve no one without question, but I have ever viewed you as our queen and would serve you as such. I would be honored if you’d allow my servant, Mariela, to replenish your strength. You will definitely need it for the days ahead.”

Mariela now stepped to his side. She was the one who’d comforted Barbra’s servant in his passing.

Tall and blonde, with dark brown eyes, she had the athletic movements of a female Amazon, and a quiet steadiness and subtle intelligence that complimented her vampire master well.

Lyssa took his hand, squeezed it hard. “Thank you, my lord. I accept. I will draw from Mariela first.

Her blood should strengthen me enough to visit each Council member and mark them as I indicated. I will do that alone, with Jacob as my attendant.” She shook her head, anticipating Daegan and Mason. “I have made my point and Belizar has put his support behind me. I used your strength to back me for this key moment, because I did not want my son unprotected in such a volatile environment.”
No matter the Fae protection he carries.
She added that in Jacob’s mind, saw his imperceptible nod.

They’d decided the purpose of the tattooed pendant would not be public knowledge, for concealed weapons were often the most potent kind.

Now she looked to Daegan. “I ask that you continue to watch over him while I take care of that task. Mason, be with Jessica. Give her blood, make her rest to ensure she is fully healed by dinner time.

After I mark the Council, I will retire for an hour or two with my servant to feed from him. Hopefully this awful place has a room with a fireplace to ward off the chill coming from the very stones.” Her gaze coursed around the room, encompassing all of them. “Thank you. Your loyalty means a great deal to me. I will do my best to deserve it, now and going forward.” A spark of humor went through her gaze as she glanced at Jacob.
And thank all the gods that vampires don’t take offense at being thanked.

Chapter 23

AS the clock moved toward the midnight dinner hour, Lyssa and Jacob finally arrived in the master suite that had belonged to Belizar. She’d of course eschewed the rooms where the Council had originally intended to put her. While she attended to the marking of the Council members, the staff had changed out the bedding, removed all of Belizar’s personal effects and moved them to the bedroom where he now convalesced. Someone had thought to add a large vase of vibrant flowers to the room, and kept a fire well tended in the hearth. They brought color and heat to the room, respectively.

Pausing by the flowers, she touched the petal of a bright yellow daisy and glanced at Jacob. “Your doing?”

“I know you hate the darkness here, my lady.” Stripping off the wrist gauntlets, he shrugged out of his shirt in a movement of graceful power, leaving him bare above the slacks. He stripped the belt out of it, so they hung lower on his hips, revealing the dark strip of the boxer briefs he’d worn beneath, one of the few times he wore underwear. Since the snug fit helped hold the extra arrows he’d carried along his outer thigh, she’d been more flexible about her requirement today. He pul ed those arrows out now, unfastening the top of the slacks to allow him the ability to do so.

She sat down in a wing-back chair, watching the beautiful play of muscle. As he became aware of her close regard, his movements slowed and he looked at her.

Come to me, Jacob.

His stride across the room gave her more of that visual art. She said nothing, gave him no further direction, always enjoying what he would choose to do, how he would anticipate her needs. As he reached her, he bent, slid his arms beneath her in the chair. Lifting her in that easy way of his, he turned and took the seat to cradle her in his arms. His fingers tangled in her hair, tightening. Her alpha warrior. Her knight.

“Drink, my lady,” he said. “Take everything you need.”

He shuddered as she pierced him, as he often did. Dropping his head to the seat back, a deep sigh slipped out of him as his other hand settled on her hip, stroking that line. “You worried me.”

“You worry quite a lot. Enough for both of us.” He grunted at that. Mariela’s blood had been sweet, pure, lifegiving. But there was nothing like Jacob’s blood, the blood of her full servant. Her arm was around his back, knuckles pressed to the cushioning as she stroked the serpentine shape of that third mark.
Are you worried about tonight, my protective Sir Knight?