She turned her gaze to him. “So they want to see him humiliated. Owned. A true slave. Like dragging kings through the streets of Rome behind a chariot, in chains.”
“Possibly. It is hard to predict. Council politics can be a maze.”
“Everything in me is screaming that this is a bad idea. Daegan, if they hurt him, if they try to take him from me, I won’t be able to stop a seizure. I won’t be able to stop myself from doing whatever bloody, terrible, violent thing I need to do to protect him.”
Lifting her up and taking a seat on the bench, he drew her to sit next to him with his arm stretched out behind her, pressing against her shoulder blades. “What you will need to do to protect him will be what you do best. Be a Mistress. That is your greatest weapon to protect him and protect yourself. The world you’re about to enter is Atlantis, one hundred times the intensity. There are no safe words, no rigidly enforced rules when it comes to the treatment of human servants except for those things that protect vampires and their society. What you have the power to do or protect is yours. But it is still the same world as Atlantis. You may not have my physical strength, cher, but I’ve seen you tear open shields twenty inches thick over a man’s soul, and coax it to crawl to your hand. Like a wounded puppy who finally trusts a human to care for him. You use that sorceress’s wisdom you have, and you’ll be fine.”
She wanted to believe him, didn’t want his words to increase her worry, but they did. Daegan made a firm shushing noise in his throat, reminding her she couldn’t get agitated, not right now. She had a legion of demon creatures in her head that they were trying to lull to sleep. The image of tiny horned gargoyles in cradles, rocking along the vine-like pathways of her neurons, came straight from his head, but she couldn’t be amused. “Daegan . . .”
He put his hand on her face, stilling her. “Think of it this way. There are two scenarios if you force him to stay behind. First, that Fate outwits me, and some harm does come to you, but he wasn’t there to try and help. Or Fate is kind, my sword is sharp enough, and no harm befalls you. Can you guess what happens after either one of those outcomes?”
She set her jaw, but couldn’t refuse that direct gaze. “If I get hurt or killed, and he isn’t allowed to be there, I’ll become another Laura in his mind. That will end him. If I don’t get hurt, then I obviously didn’t need him, and he’s as inconsequential as he believes himself to be.”
“The soul is just as fragile as the body. Sometimes more.”
“You wouldn’t execute him if they ordered you to do it, would you?” She shifted to face him, her hands on either side of his neck.
Daegan gave her a steady look. “I would not simply do it at the Council’s behest, no. Only if he leaves you and starts taking the lives of vampires like Trey again, those whose only crime in Gideon’s mind is their annual kill to survive, or just being a vampire. I would have to intervene, Anwyn, as I would on behalf of any innocent.”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “I want to get up, move.”
“Easy, cher. Just another minute or two.” Running his knuckles along her cheek, he fanned out his fingers to curve behind her skull, drew her head down to his shoulder. It coaxed her to slide her arms under his, fold herself close to him.
When a nearly silent sigh lifted his chest, Anwyn realized he was savoring it, assuaging the need to hold her, have her sink into his arms like this. She closed her eyes, inhaled him. You really did miss me.
Vain woman. But his mind-voice held only amusement, and when his fingers stroked her nape, teasing sensitive nerve endings, she let out a soft noise of contentment. More than I know how to say, cher. I do not think I could have borne much more of your anger against me, and yet I am sure I deserve far more.
He hesitated. “Because I have promised there will be no more lies between us, you need to understand something else. If Gideon accompanies us, once he is known to