Xavier struggled forward, stumbling, his murderous gaze on her. Gideon shouted out a warning, tried to get past the two crawling vampires, but he needn"t have worried about his Mistress.

He never saw a hint of fear. When the big male fell, she moved back toward him, slipping the mask tie over her head to free both her hands. Bending with a predator"s grace, she picked up one of her abandoned stilettos just as Xavier crashed to the floor at her feet. Gideon"s heart skipped a beat at how close the monster was to her. However, dizzy and fumbling, Xavier was unable to push her away as she straddled him. Her eyes bright with cold rage, fangs bared, she slammed the heel of her shoe into his chest. Fueled by vengeance, she brought her fist down on it like a hammer. The impact was so great she caved in his chest, making sure those five inches of wood went straight into his heart.

She twisted it with a snarl, and earned a dying bellow of pain. Shaking himself out of his moment of pure admiration and adoration for her, Gideon straddled the other two helplessly wriggling males and staked them with the wooden-bladed knives. When he spun around, Anwyn was back on her bare feet, her eyes still wild.

“Think I can"t take him with these heels now?” she demanded, her voice muffled by the filter mask.

It took a second to recall his thought about her shoes, barely an hour ago. But she wasn"t seeking a response. She was back at Daegan"s side, hand on his mask to steady it, to make sure he didn"t inadvertently inhale the now-dissipating fumes. Though most vampires didn"t breathe when unconscious, Brian had explained the fumes could still enter the nasal membranes or soft tissue in the roof of the mouth if they didn"t take the precaution.

Brian"s chemical worked on the same theory of high-noon daylight, making vampires more sluggish, the reaction enhanced by a factor of ten. It had no impact on humans. Gideon had wondered if the Council knew Brian was not only researching vampire weaknesses, but making weapons out of them, but knew it was far more likely he was making them with their blessing.

A worry for another time.

He covered the door as she secured the straps for the mask over Daegan"s ears. Then she disconnected the battery holding the wires with a competence that suggested she wasn"t unfamiliar with electric shock, at least as a BDSM tool. As she pulled the needles out of his arms and throat as gently as she could, she studied the pale face, the closed eyes. “He needs blood, Gideon. A lot of it.” Her head came up. “Go into the next room. In that first cell.” Gideon glanced at her sharply, as if he"d caught something unexpected from her mind. “You"re not suggesting those girls—”

“If it would save his life and not take theirs? In a heartbeat,” she snapped. “But there was a refrigerator there, remember? I"m willing to bet they bank human blood in case of emergencies. Go get as much as you can carry. Unless you have some moral objection to that.” Knowing she sounded shrill, she closed her eyes, fighting her unreasonable anger with him, out of proportion for the moment. The bloodlust boiling through her, the cacophony of voices in her head, were way too roused by this environment.

When he pivoted on his heel without further comment, going into the next room to find the fridge, she located a fan in the corner. Turning it on, she waited a few key seconds before she took a cautious inhalation without her mask to confirm the fumes had dispersed adequately.

Putting a hand on Daegan"s far-too-still face, her throat got thick as she removed the mask and stroked his hair, bent to touch his cold mouth. Thank God Xavier and his men hadn"t favored human servants. If they"d dropped dead on the floor above at the moment she and Gideon had taken their Masters" lives, it might have brought a larger force of vampires down here. As it was, it was getting too close to dawn. Soon the club doors would be closing, and she was sure this lower level was where Xavier"s men passed the daylight hours, probably toying with those poor girls in the next room, and whatever fresh victims they brought down.

Tapping into Gideon"s mind, she found her servant had met an obstacle. The girls still aware enough had shrunk back in fear as he came into the cell. He spoke to them quietly, told them they were trying to get them out of there, but they needed to stay put for now. However, Sarah, the girl who had been in a fetal position, apparently was quite tough, as Xavier had said. At Gideon"s words she"d made it to her feet, albeit swaying on legs that were far too thin. The feral look in her eye said she was cognizant enough to recognize escape was near, but her mind too altered to hear what he was saying. The twisting agony in Gideon"s heart shot pain through Anwyn"s when he had to shove the girl back forcibly, closing the cell door. They couldn"t risk her running aloft and calling down the others any sooner.

It’s all right, Gideon. We’ll take care of them all.

Yeah. A little late for that.

His hot hatred and revulsion for vampire kind boiled over into her brain, nearly upsetting that cauldron of simmering bloodlust. She had to fight it down, enough that when he brought her the blood, she could manage only a curt nod. “Watch the door.” His hands were clenched into fists, his gaze on Daegan"s too-pale face, but he complied.

Anwyn tore the seal off the first packet and brought it to Daegan"s lips.

“It"s cold, love, but drink. It will bring back your strength. Wake up. Daegan, we don"t have much time.” She took a deep breath, blasted him in her mind as well as with her low, urgent voice. We’re in danger. I need you.

He came awake with a sudden snap, his hand clamping down on her wrist in a painful vise that could have broken human bones. As it was, it wrenched a gasp from her, but he was too immediately disoriented to gentle his touch. He was drinking, though, pulling hard at the packet in her hand, draining it. She fumbled to reach the other, trying to pull the seal off it one-handed. Ignoring her curt order, Gideon came back and did the task for her. Sliding the empty one from Daegan when he drained it, Gideon brought the next to his mouth. Daegan"s hands closed over Gideon"s fingers as he drank. Gideon held that contact until Daegan was able to hold the packet on his own; then he slid his hand free.

Anwyn put a hand on his shoulder, another on Daegan"s, drawing strength from the fact the three of them were here, together, and alive. At least for the moment. She didn"t know if vampires could drink so fast that it would make them sick, but fortunately it didn"t seem to be the case. As Daegan gulped down four of the containers, color started to come back to his face, his eyes growing more alert and sharp on the two of them. By the time he finished pack five, he was sitting up without aid, his feet planted solidly on the floor.

The burn lines of the live wires didn"t seem to trouble him, and she assumed they were already healing. Other than that, there were no marks on his naked body, save for a pair of crossed ugly slashes high on the inside of his thigh. A branded X. For that scar to remain, Xavier had seared it with Daegan"s own blood, the only way to permanently mark a vampire.

He"d wanted Daegan to carry his brand. She wished she"d dispatched the piece of shit in a more painful way.

Could have been worse, cher . He talked several times about cutting off my cock, putting it in a blender and making me drink it. Daegan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glanced around. “Are my clothes anywhere around?”

Just like that. Fully in command of the situation, now that his sensibilities had been restored, but Anwyn sensed he needed more. “You"re not at full strength. You need some fresh blood.”

“I"ve had enough to get us out of here.”

“But not enough to finish the job you came here to do.” She knew he wanted that, felt it from him in a low-level pulsing fury that matched her own. She didn"t care about what the Council would or wouldn"t do to her. She wanted those vampires taken down because they"d hurt him, bound him. She didn"t have to reach out far to know Gideon felt the same way.

“Getting you both to safety is my first priority,” Daegan said evenly. Gideon had found the cabinet where they"d stored his weapons and clothes. Daegan yanked on the jeans without bothering with the torn briefs, ignored the tattered shirt. Shrugged into the duster and loaded it with his weapons. The state of the clothes, the bloodstains on the jeans, told her how many injuries he"d initially sustained when they took him down. He twirled the sword, loosening up his wrist, sheathed the knives.

“She"s right,” Gideon said. “And it"s not just about payback, Daegan. They"re holding prisoners in the next room, and half of them won"t be able to walk out on their own. If we leave them, they"ll kill them before we come back. She"s right about the blood, too.” Daegan twisted around as Gideon shed his torn coat, revealing his bare upper body, though he left the collar on. “Take it from where you need it.”

Anwyn was surprised, warmed by it. Until Gideon locked gazes with her. Might as well give it to him before you make it an order. Right, Mistress?

Gideon excelled at wry humor in high-pressure situations. She knew that. But the deepest layers of his soul were at high tide, darkening any light, and the comment didn"t hit her as casual wit. He was horrified by what had happened down here. Female victims were always the most difficult for him to handle. His mind was replaying ten years of layered images, the things he"d seen vampires do to his kind.

His kind. She swallowed. Had she really just thought that? In such a short time, was she already identifying more with the vampire she"d become than with the human she"d always been? Remembering the flicker in his gaze when she"d commanded him to go get blood out of the women"s cells, she realized that was what he"d seen in her eyes, what had given him pause.

And she couldn"t deny it.

Not very long ago, he"d expressed amazement she"d handled everything that had been done to her so well. On that same note, she wondered that he"d managed to get this far at her side without having more moments like this, when his passive angers reared up and struck like venomous snakes.

Regret crossed Gideon"s face, apparently realizing how the comment had struck her, but before he could reach out to her, Daegan surprised them both. Picking up the coat, he tossed it back to Gideon.