Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,172

as Daegan himself.

“I’m in agreement on everything we’ve discussed, my lord,” Evan said. “But I have one more thing to add. If you find Stephen, you can’t kill him.”

“On the contrary, I’m quite capable of it.” Daegan picked a shiny red apple out of the wooden fruit bowl, examined it. Alanna had brought it out from the RV stores for the vampire assassin and his servant. “But I expect that wasn’t what you meant. You’ve already discussed this with Uthe. Why talk to me about it?”

“Because you will be the one wielding the sword, not Uthe.” Evan spoke carefully. The assassin’s eyes were so dark that it was difficult to see the whites at times. It made him all the more intimidating, but Evan didn’t intimidate. He didn’t consider himself particularly brave; it just wasn’t in his nature to be dissuaded from his goal by power discrepancies. Niall had once likened it to the way a small terrier went after a wolfhound, certain he could take him if he could get the right grip.

“Lord Brian has an experimental treatment that might break a bond as old as the one Alanna carries from Stephen,” Evan explained. “But the treatment is a three-week process, requiring live samples from the vampire throughout. I understand the Council has its priorities, and those priorities are greater than the consideration of the life of one servant . . .”

“Far greater,” Daegan said. However, his tone was neutral, flat, such that Evan wasn’t certain if Daegan agreed with that perspective or was regurgitating the expected party line.

“You saw her tonight. She’s impressive. Brave and clever. And she’s done nothing but serve the Council’s interests in this matter. I believe her preservation merits consideration.”

“It does. But if the choice is to let him get away or take him out, I have only one choice.”

“I understand that.” Evan saw Alanna tilt her head back. She was staring up at the star-strewn sky. When her hair fluttered over her shoulder, she captured it with one hand so it didn’t impede her view. Always such a quiet, pensive thing, so hard to surprise a smile or laugh out of her. But he remembered the day in the kitchen, when she’d gotten so angry at Niall, his boot on that napkin. He almost smiled at the memory. Then he remembered the past hour, which didn’t make him smile at all. Her fear, revealed so clearly.

“With all due respect, I am asking you to please . . . do what you can to bring him in alive.”

Daegan met his gaze. “She is more than an assignment to you. More than a chance to curry favor with Lady Lyssa.”

It was the elephant in the room, the one so many vampires squeezed past, no matter how close the creature pressed against the walls of their existence. The fine line of what was appropriate or inappropriate to feel for a servant. Evan had never had much patience for what was so obvious, but he curbed his irritation now, chose diplomacy. And insight. He’d watched the way Daegan and Gideon moved together, reacted to each other.

“She’s impressed me with who and what she is,” he said quietly. “If you know me through Uthe as it seems you do, you know I study people carefully, and I judge character well. Courage and integrity are not exclusive vampire traits.” Taking the risk, he glanced meaningfully toward Gideon. “I expect with your greater age and wisdom, you already know that.”

“Don’t exert yourself on flattery, Evan. You want her.” The assassin stated it bluntly. “But there are a lot of ifs between that goal and the reality. If Stephen can be captured alive, if Brian can find a way to break the link safely, if a higher-ranking vampire doesn’t come forward, wanting her. A lot of time and cost went into training her to serve a vampire with stature, political aspirations. Does understanding that change your interest in preserving her life? Because I can assure you there isn’t a single Council member who will care overly much if I deliver his corpse.”

Evan remembered that spontaneous, terrible thought Alanna had, the first time he’d pushed her to want something for herself. I wish Stephen had killed me. Underneath the new feelings and desires, there was still so much of the InhServ, forbidden to have wants and desires. Death was acceptable, if it was what the Council ordered.

Yet he also remembered that nearly audible click in her mind when she understood she wasn’t