Gideon by Jacquelyn Frank Page A

become overly detrimental or antagonistic. Bella herself did not even bat an eyelash worrying over things like jealousy. She was probably the most trusting soul Gideon had ever met, her hopeful youth and unblemished naïveté sometimes so pleasing, even while it made her vulnerable to the future pains that came with being a part of their species.
    Gideon had just moved a significant distance away from the little Druid when a violent dust devil swept into the room, coalescing with a twist into the form of the Enforcer. Jacob was a male of awesome power, and though his was a lean, athletic build, he radiated that fact from every pore. The Earth Demon could manipulate mighty forces of nature, such as gravity itself, with a mere thought. Next to Fire Demons, Earth Demons were the most powerful of their kind. This was why he had been chosen to be the one to hunt the renegades of his own race. The implacable depths of his dark, warning gaze as he fixed it on the medic said much about what being forced to hunt down and sometimes even destroy those he had once called friends had made him capable of. Gideon and Jacob had done battle only once. It had been enough to give them both a healthy respect for each other"s abilities, as well as creating an underlying tension between them that might never resolve itself.
    “Gideon,” Jacob greeted coolly, moving in the blink of an eye to enfold his beloved mate into the protection of his embrace. When he looked down into her face, he softened in that remarkable way Gideon didn"t think he would ever get used to. It almost relieved him when Jacob"s nearly hostile gaze returned to him. “I thought we had agreed you would warn me before you visited with Isabella,” he said, his tone so even that it was every inch threatening.
    “I had expected Isabella to warn you herself. After all, she is the one in constant mental contact with you.
    Not I.”
    “And you are capable of projecting yourself to me before you appear to her just as easily.”
    “You were hunting, Jacob. I decided to let you finish your task in peace. This was to be only a brief visit. And as you see, we are thoroughly chaperoned.”
    Gideon gestured to Legna, who, in a remarkable way he had begun to notice, had managed to make herself go completely overlooked. Even Isabella seemed to suddenly realize she had forgotten all about her friend"s presence. But now the stately, graceful woman was turning a soothing smile on the tense people half a room away from her.
    “Jacob, it is good to see you.”
    Jacob grinned at Legna, nodding his head. “How is Noah?”
    Legna quirked a brow. “Did you not see him in the Council?” She glanced from one Enforcer to the other, then to Gideon. “I understood that Noah was in Council with you all this morning, discussing the necromancer threat.”
    “Yes, we were. But he was... unsettled, after discovering Daniel beneath the Council table,” Jacob informed her.
    “And he had words with Councillor Ruth, as usual,” Isabella added, rolling her eyes in reflection of her feelings about the cantankerous Elder. “We all did. I swear, that woman gives me ulcers.” Isabella hugged her mate to herself in comfort. “I believe she still blames Jacob for the death of her youngest daughter"s mate. It"s unfair. How could any of us have known any sooner than we did?”
    Legna"s spine straightened suddenly, the strong emotions that burst from Jacob forcing her to catch her breath as they pummeled her. She realized then that Jacob had never forgiven himself for that lost life.
    Before Bella had come to them, Jacob"s primary duty had been to keep Demons and humans apart, believing as they all had for thousands of years that humans were too fragile to withstand the seduction of a Demon. During the Hallowed moons, the full moons of Beltane in May and Samhain in October, Demons were compelled by a mystical explosion of sexual compulsion.
    It was believed that it was originally meant to perpetuate their