Debra’s expression changed, that inward look when a servant was receiving a communication from her vampire. It filled Alanna with envy. The emptiness of her soul and the solitary state of her mind were a daily ache, even if the last time a vampire had been there it had been to shred them. “My lord Brian is coming,” Debra said. “He has Lord Daegan with him.”
Alanna wanted to know more about Niall and Evan, but that would have to wait. She’d seen Lord Daegan only briefly at a couple of Council meetings. His anonymity was necessary to do the Council’s bidding, so he wasn’t a regular visitor at the castle. As he slid into her room, she noted the tall, dark-eyed vampire’s purposeful way of moving, the emotionless countenance that suggested he could decapitate or stake one of his brethren with the ease of breathing.
Sliding from her chair, she went to her knees in automatic deference, a graceful fold of motion.
“None of that, now. He’ll get delusions of grandeur, expect that bullshit out of me.”
Gideon, Daegan’s servant, put his hand under her arm, brought her back to her feet. The strength of his grip, tempered by the fact that he was handling a woman, was familiar. Even if she didn’t glance up into the same midnight blue eyes, she would have known Jacob was his brother. Gideon had a harder, rougher look, but the steady attention that could fluster a woman was the same.
Jacob and Gideon were not like her and Adam. They hadn’t become servants at the same time, nor for the same motives and circumstances. Gideon had been an exceptionally successful vampire hunter, slated for death by the Vampire Council. He’d been part of the team who’d set explosives at the previous Vampire Gathering, where Adam and his Mistress had been killed.
She’d wanted to hate him, but the world was more complicated than that. Ironically, he was the first who understood and acknowledged her grief over her brother’s death. In a surprising twist of fate, he now had two vampire Masters, Lord Daegan and Anwyn. Anwyn was still a fledgling by vampire standards, but she’d been a Mistress and owner of a BDSM club as a human, so her direct look and air of dominance had made her a complement to the vampire world from the beginning. She stood at the door, watching the proceedings silently, but Alanna could feel Gideon’s connection to her and Daegan like a three-pointed star, shining painfully bright.
Drawing her hand away from Gideon, Alanna stood alone. Her job was service, not to be comforted. It was forgivable, their lack of understanding, because he, Jacob and Debra were Randoms, those who’d come to their vampires by happenstance and choice, not selected from birth as she’d been. However, that didn’t absolve her of the requirement to courteously rebuff such gestures. That was what set an InhServ apart, made them the elite in the servant ranks.
It’s a charade, all of it.
She was too tired to block the thought.
“While Lord Daegan is not going to mark you, Alanna, he is going to taste your blood.”
While she didn’t require an explanation, Gideon added, “It’s similar to giving a bloodhound a piece of clothing. He can pick up your scent easier later if needed.”
She nodded. She’d kept her eyes down and now sensed the three men exchanging glances with Debra. Whatever they were communicating apparently did not delay what they intended, for Gideon’s hands were on her shoulders, steadying her as Lord Daegan swept her hair away from her neck. As she automatically tilted her head toward Gideon, giving his Master access to the artery, her chin brushed both men’s fingers. Daegan’s hands overlapped Gideon’s on either side. It was an interesting intimacy, because she picked up reassurance in it.
Stephen had certainly never cared to reassure her when he marked other servants, for he had a household of second-marks. Perhaps the vampire assassin was not as emotionally detached as he always seemed. Flicking her gaze up to Gideon’s face, she saw he had his eyes on the vampire. From his intent focus, she was sure they’d locked gazes, something she never did with a vampire. Some vampire–servant relationships were different.
“If anything starts to feel wrong, or you’re in pain, he wants you to tell us.” Gideon shifted his attention to her. “That’s an order. Got it?”