Gideon. Jacquelyn Frank
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the way of that, not even if it were Prince Charming himself who needed to tend you.”
Isabella tossed back her head and laughed aloud at that, appreciating the mischievous sparkle in the other woman’s eyes. Legna was impressively unmoved by the power of the male Demons who surrounded her night in and night out, century after century. Isabella had appreciated that from the moment she had met the female Demon.
This brave characteristic in her friend had served as a model for Bella, teaching her to put her foot down and stand up for her rights and perspective even before her own ability to absorb and use the powers of those around her had come into play. Other Demons had learned to respect her long before they had been forced to respect the magnitude of her awesome ability to render anyone from any Nightwalker race completely powerless.
Luckily, this was the same power that had forced Isabella into being included in Legna’s terrifying Summoning during her and Jacob’s aborted wedding ceremony. It was that same power that had nullified the damaging effects of the pentagram that had caged them together.
Even though the experience had been terribly harrowing, Isabella was constantly grateful to have had a hand in sparing her friend the fate of being Transformed. Among other things, it would have destroyed Jacob to be put in the position of hunting the sister of his King, forced to destroy her before she destroyed others. Jacob’s relentless sense of duty and his respect and love for Noah would have made his course clear, but Jacob carried his failures hard, and he would have blamed himself for not doing more to save one so important to the man he looked on as a brother as well as monarch.
No one meant as much to Isabella as Jacob did. Perhaps not even her sister Corrine, whom she loved with all of her heart. Jacob was her heart and her soul, and she would be deeply affected if he were to ever suffer that magnitude of pain. Worse yet, the responsibility could have fallen to Isabella herself, destined by that newfound ancient prophecy to hunt the Transformed. She had been born with the genetic code for her special abilities just for that purpose, unaware that they were lying dormant, waiting only for the day she and Jacob finally crossed paths.
Jacob had experienced the untenable situation of enforcing those he had once been friendly with. There had even been times when he had been required to destroy them after they had been perverted into the monsters a pentagram’s black magic forced them to become. But Isabella was so much softer in the heart and so new to her Enforcer role; she had not yet been confronted with destroying a Transformed Demon she had once known and cared about.
It was her deepest fear that she wouldn’t be able to do so when the time came, and Legna immediately became aware of the weight on her friend’s heart as the expecting woman considered the possibility. She did not mean to intrude, but Legna’s power was always “on” just like Bella’s was, and the effort to control it came when trying to shut it off or lower its effect. She had allowed herself to relax too much during their conversation and had inadvertently picked up on Bella’s serious emotions.
Legna kept her countenance, not sharing her knowledge with her friend about her fears. Isabella was half human and used to a more private lifestyle than that of Demonkind. Legna had come to realize that Bella was disturbed by the seemingly intrusive habits of those Jacob knew.
In fact, the biggest offender was Gideon. He would never wait to be given leave to come and go, no matter how many times Bella lost her temper with him. It was his nature to believe his way of thinking was correct and the ways of the human woman were utter nonsense. After all, he had survived ages and a great many threats more impressive than the temper of a hybrid Druid female.
Just then, as if bidden by Legna’s thoughts, a strange silver light sparkled into the room, winking instantly into the form of the great medic.
Instinctively, Legna surged to her feet. Whenever she and the Ancient occupied the same space, she could not fight the urge to go on the defensive. She and Gideon had a history of hostility, born out of a brief moment of foolishness and painful words. It was a moment that Legna could not allow herself to forget, for all her forgiving nature, and one that Gideon continually denied ever happened quite the way she remembered it.
It wasn’t exactly Gideon in the room. It was an astral projection of him. This was the way a Body Demon traveled quickly. In this form, they were able to sense and feel everything around them. The only thing that limited a Body Demon’s astral form was the inability to use their inborn powers of healing others. He was powerless, to an extent, in this form, but Legna had learned never to underestimate the eldest of her kind. It seemed the longer they lived, the more potent they became and the more tricks they learned. She wouldn’t put any ability she could conceive of past the great Ancient.
“Legna,” he greeted her coolly, nodding his silvery head with respect, his starlight-colored eyes flicking over her form briefly. “You are looking well.”
“I am well, thank you,” she returned just as cordially.
Gideon turned to Bella, giving her a slight bow as well.
“Enforcer. You are well, I trust?”
“Yes. I would be better, however, if you could somehow manage to squeeze the concept of knocking on the door into that vast intellect of yours,” she remarked sardonically, clearly not expecting it to happen anytime soon.
“I do not recall Legna striking upon the door before her entrance,” the Ancient noted offhandedly.
That caused both women to exchange startled looks and then face him with dual accusing stares.
“Just how long have you been here, Gideon?” Legna snapped, her irritability escaping her control and eddying outward in a tangible ripple of emotion.
“Obviously long enough,” he replied, clearly unperturbed, “to know you did not knock when you arrived.”
It seemed to make perfect sense to him, while causing both women to seethe.
“You mean to tell me you were floating around my house all this time? Spying on us?”
“Hardly. I arrived only moments before Legna did, and when she appeared I thought I would be kind enough to allow you both some minutes to visit before I intruded.”
“Gee, you’re all heart,” Bella said tartly. “Did it not occur to you for even one second that our conversation was a private one, and that it was rude to listen to it?”
“No.”
Legna and Bella both exhaled large breaths of frustration at the male Demon’s unconcerned shrug.
“There was nothing of an extremely private nature within the conversation that I can recall,” Gideon added, his bright eyes glancing over both women as if he were trying to figure out an illogical puzzle. “Your obvious irritation is senseless.”
“Yeah,” Bella said dryly. “It would be…to you.” She clearly gave up, waving the matter aside with a hand. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked of the medic.
Legna didn’t immediately hear his response. Her ears were ringing with her continued outrage. The last thing she would have ever wanted in a million millennia would be for Gideon to hear her defending him or his behavior, touting how skilled and majestically Ancient he was. He was already so infuriatingly arrogant! But he had flown around in his nonvisible astral form, listening to her reassure her friend about his abilities, no doubt basking in it and preening the whole time.
Gideon’s eyes flicked over to her, the strange silver light within them giving her an eerie chill, almost as if he had just been privy to the rancor of her thoughts. It is an illusion, Legna argued with herself. It was a disarming trick he constantly used to maintain the upper hand and a position of advantage. He always seemed to have a bagful of these subtle psychological tricks at the ready, but she was a Mind Demon broaching Elder caliber come half a century or so, and she’d be a simpleton if she could not recognize them.
Legna turned her back on the implacable mercury stare, dismissing him and the entire conversation he was having with Isabella. She folded her arms across her slender stomach, moving with a soft whisper of silk