Bound by the Vampire Queen by Joey W. Hill Page A

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 skill's 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 bullshit 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 ally. But it wasn’t enough. Mason was already beholdened to Council for their tolerance of Jessica, who’d committed the usually unpardonable crime of killing 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.
    The flicker in her eyes, a subtle gesture, told him he had permission to see what way her mind was going. Her Fae powers were impressive and growing, but she didn’t yet have a predictable command of them. If she couldn’t disprove the leak that she’d lost her vampire powers, then they didn’t have a lot of