she hesitated then. when a wave of emotion surged forth, jacob almost went to her. she battled it back down, not wanting kane to sense it, of course, but jacob knew her eyes were wet. she'd lived through a lot of things, including the loss of another child, centuries ago. she knew better than anyone that every day could be the last, that this journey might be one from which they wouldn't return. it wasn't a dramatic observation; just the way their lives were. usual y she shut herself down to handle such realities. however, staring into the face of the child that was one half of herself, who expected she'd always be there because that was the oblivious faith the young had, she lost a grip on those shields. leaning down, she kissed his head, pressing her lips hard to his fine cap of hair, her own curtaining him as she gave him her touch, her scent.

"go to her," jacob said to jess. "she'l want to leave him playing there, so he won't see us go." the girl nodded, moved down the slope. jacob sensed mason at his shoulder.

"you know," the older vampire said. "my relationship with jessica is . . . complicated. far beyond the rules of the vampire council-fuck all of them."

jacob bared his fangs in a feral grin, appreciating mason even as his eyes remained on his lady.

"however," mason continued, "if prizes were going to be handed out for the most complex and hard-to-understand vampire-servant relationship, you and lyssa would win that ribbon hands down. you know that."

"what? she has vampire blood, but she's not technical y a vampire anymore. and i used to be

human, and should have a fledgling's skil s, but i have hers instead. what's complicated about that?" jacob shot him a wry look.

"and she's your fully marked servant."

"i fully marked her. she's not my servant."

"jacob." mason drew the younger man's attention with the serious note. "you know how i feel about lyssa. it would take far more than the loss of her vampire powers to make me view lady elyssa ameratsu yamato wentworth as anything less than the dangerous force of nature she can be. i don't mean any disrespect to her."

"i know." jacob shifted. "but it's not merely sentiment, mason. you've seen her come out of the forest in her fae form, transition back to human, so to speak. and while i hope your gaze has not lingered too long before she puts on her robe, i'm sure you've noticed it. she doesn't have a servant's mark. but i stil have mine."

all third-marked servants bore a skin mark, a spontaneous occurrence when the final serum was administered. jacob, whose vampire transition should have eliminated his ful -servant mark, stil bore the silver fossil-like serpent imprint up the line of his spine. some things were beyond the ken of man or vampire, but mason knew that in everything he was or did, jacob saw himself as lyssa's servant. her protector, her lover, whatever she needed.

while jacob observed that belief privately as well as publicly, there was a practical purpose for the public side. only three vampires and their trusted servants-mason and jess among them-knew that lyssa had lost her vampire abilities from that turning.

that kind of vulnerability was dangerous as hell in their world.

jacob's background as a trained fighter had helped him gain command of lyssa's former strengths relatively quickly, though he stil had the occasional bout with a fledgling's bloodlust if he got pissed off. however, as much confidence as mason had in jacob-those strengths being a formidable combination with his unshakable loyalty and courage -he found the knowledge of lyssa's own burgeoning fae skills an additional and considerable reassurance. one could never have too many weapons in the arsenal.

unfortunately, the fae queen's summons meant that lyssa's growing gifts had opened herself up to dangers from the other side of her family tree.

mason put his hand on his shoulder. "al i'm trying to say is, she means a great deal to me. if there's anything i can do . . ."

"you'l be the first i cal . as well as gideon. we'l come back, mason. never underestimate her."

"i don't. i never underestimate either one of you." jacob hoped that was true. he had a great many concerns related to a trip to the fae world and the things that could go awry, but first they had to find a needle in a haystack. though finding an actual needle in a haystack was probably easier than locating a dryad in downtown atlanta.

lyssa passed most of her time on the plane sleeping, stretched out on the comfortable cushions, her head pil owed on his thigh. she'd spent most of the daylight hours before jacob and kane woke talking to jessica about the child's care, but he knew that wasn't the only reason she sought refuge in oblivion.

they'd slipped away while the baby was occupied with jessica. his last glimpse of his son was his face screwed up in concentration as jessica showed him how to press his heels into the concrete horse's sides. even while dozing, lyssa kept her hand linked with his, that connecting pressure a reinforcement for both of them. it was the first time since kane's birth that they'd been away from him.

while the blood connection all owed them to locate or communicate with him, he would do better for jessica and mason if they didn't use that link too often, like any child being left with trusted guardians for the first time.

when they arrived in atlanta around eight in the evening, they sent him a warm good "morning" and the emotional equivalent of a hug, but not wanting to distress him, they left it at that.

elijah ingram, the majordomo for lyssa's estate, was guardian for his young grandson john, whose bedtime was ironical y 8:30 p.m., shortly after kane was getting up. as a result, jacob had told ingram to leave lyssa's car at the private airstrip and jacob would drive them back to the mansion.

they'd visited her atlanta home a couple times since the council had rescinded lyssa's fugitive status. that had occurred just prior to kane's birth, thanks to the efforts of lord brian, lord mason and other friends lyssa had that could influence council mind-set. while the council stil hadn't decided lyssa's new status, she had free use of her properties once again. lord richard, a friend and territory overlord in her region, had been designated acting region master. he'd made it clear to council he would concede the role back to lyssa if and when they decided to restore it to her.

through a communication with lyssa, he'd also stated he considered her an honored guest in the region, not bound by the requirements of other subjects under his control.

given what he knew of richard's ambitious and sometimes ruthless nature, jacob was surprised, but he supposed he shouldn't be. his lady inspired loyalty in unexpected places, probably because she was never less than who she was. after greeting the dogs, lyssa's pack of irish wolfhounds, they joined elijah in the kitchen. the fifty-something former chauffeur, whose steady nerves and military skills had landed him in this unlikely role as lyssa's estate manager, was slicing ham and tomatoes for john's lunch box. as he did that, he briefed them on the mundane estate business that had occurred while they were away. whiskers, the kitten jacob had rescued from the inner workings of lyssa's mercedes and that john had adopted, was perched on top of the refrigerator, watching the food preparations keenly. "you jump from there onto this cutting board, and i'm going to dice up cat for lunch," ingram promised. then he grunted, put aside the knife.

"that reminds me. your mail's all on your desk, but i thought you'd want to see this one pretty soon after you arrived."

jacob straddled the stool behind her, so he saw the council seal on the envelope elijah offered. as she broke the seal and scanned the contents, her sudden tension tightened screws in his chest. she handed it over to jacob, her gaze unreadable.

dropping past the bul shit preamble, jacob reread the key paragraphs twice.

it has come to our attention that you require assistance in the protection of your newborn son. as you know, vampire infants are rare in our world and the son of our queen would be of particular significance. a strong vampire parent is needed to safeguard that life. your former servant is still a fledgling, and while you have demonstrated some capabilities, a fae and a fledgling are not the appropriate primary guardian for a vampire child.

no mention of her vampire blood at all. someone had found out about the loss of her vampire powers and let it slip to council. it wouldn't be brian, mason or debra, he was sure, which left him clueless as to how it had been discovered. he met her gaze, then returned to the letter.

you are therefore required to appear before council at its next scheduled meeting, where this matter will be determined. in light of your former position among us, we will of course consider your input in this matter, but we know you will submit to our guidance for what is best for your child. you may be assured you will still have a presence in his life, particularly if you accept relocating to a more closely supervised location. it may be necessary for your fledgling servant to serve a time in the household of another region master or overlord, as is our custom for accommodating newly made vampires.

as always, we wish you well-

she'd been on the run from the council before, but at a time when the governing body had been in disarray and not greatly inclined to pursue them.

plus, kane had been protected inside her body.

being fugitives with a vampire child barely out of his infancy would be entirely different.

at lyssa's nod, he passed it to elijah, knowing the majordomo should be in the loop. "mason's not on the letterhead yet. i expect that's a good thing." it was a reminder to them both that the newest member of the council was a strong all y. but it wasn't enough. mason was already be-holdened to council for their tolerance of jessica, who'd committed the usual y unpardonable crime of kil ing her previous vampire master. while jacob suspected the male vampire and his brave servant wouldn't give a rat's ass about that if they knew lyssa was being threatened, lyssa wouldn't want to repay mason's loyalty by putting him in the same position they faced if she could help it.