Gabriel's Mate (21 page)

“This is obviously not working the way we anticipated. Let’s try something else.”

“Wiping memories?” she asked, hoping they could erase all those embarrassing incidents from people’s minds.

“No. You’re not ready for that.”

Maya pouted. She was a failure. And she didn’t like that feeling at all. Already she was a truly odd vampire who craved the blood of her sire instead of that of a human. Then she went into heat when vampires shouldn’t go into heat because they were sterile. And now she couldn’t even master mind control. How pathetic was that?

“Get me that bowl of nuts from the end of the bar,” Thomas ordered.

Maya looked as the small, nearly empty bowl, which nobody seemed to claim. “But you don’t eat.”

“Just get it.”

She took a step toward it, but Thomas held her back with his arm. “With your mind.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“The same way you broke that glass and moved that bar stool. Just do it.”

Unconvinced that it would work, Maya merely gave the whole thing half her attention.

Bowl, move and stop in front of Thomas.

She jolted when the bowl indeed moved and slid along the bar until it came to a halt in front of Thomas.

“I thought you didn’t want to teach me another skill.”

“I didn’t. This is you. And only you. It appears,” he dropped his voice and moved his head closer to her ear, “that you can’t impose your mind on humans, but you have no trouble with inanimate objects, which, if I might add, none of our kind can do. I think you’re unique.”

Unique. “Don’t tell me that’s another word for
special
. I don’t want to be special. I want to be normal,” she snapped. Couldn’t she at least be a normal vampire? Or was that too much to ask?

“Now, now,” Thomas’ calm voice tried to soothe her, “not everybody is lucky enough to have an extraordinary gift like that. There’ll be a day when you’ll be grateful you have this skill.”

Maya huffed. “I doubt it.”

“Thomas!” a male voice called out only a few feet away from them.

Thomas spun his head to look at the man. Maya watched the young blond man as he came closer. She sensed his aura and knew immediately that he was a vampire. So this was what Yvette had been talking about.

When he stopped close enough to touch, Maya noticed the glare Thomas leveled at him. “Eddie, what the fuck are you doing in a gay bar?”

Before Maya could figure out why Thomas was so angry with him, Eddie addressed her. “I’m Eddie. I’m one of the guys who found you that night.”

Maya stretched out her hand, and he took it. “Thank you. I’m very grateful.”

“You’re welcome.” Then he looked back at Thomas. “And I wouldn’t be here if Gabriel hadn’t sent me to find you. That man is livid.”

“Why’s Gabriel upset?” Maya asked before Thomas could reply.

Eddie grinned. “He got back to the house and found it empty. Now he’s sent every single v—uh, bodyguard,” he corrected himself, “out to search for you.”

Maya’s hair on her neck stood. “What’s his problem? I’m just out with Thomas.”

“Apparently he didn’t authorize you to leave the house.”

“Authorize?” A cold shudder raked her body. Control. Somebody was trying to control her again. Again? Why did this feel so familiar? A strange sense of
déjà vu
filled her. She’d never let anybody control her life. So why did it feel like this had happened before?

A flash of a memory came and went just as quickly. Too quickly to register what it was. Control—it was the only word her brain could form. Had there been somebody in her past who’d wanted to control her? Instinctively her hand went to her neck, to the spot where the rogue had bitten her, where he’d lodged his fangs into her and drained her. A blast of cold air washed over her, like the fog this city was famous for.

Suddenly everything felt wrong. She felt fear clamp down on her and realized that she’d never again feel safe. Now that she knew what was out there in this world, the cocoon of safety she’d thought herself in when she was human didn’t exist. It never had, it never would again.

“Maya,” Thomas’ voice jolted her.

“Yes?”

“I said we’d better get back,” Thomas replied. Then he looked at Eddie. “And you’re coming with us.”

“What if I wanted to hang out here for a while?” Maya could tell that Eddie was merely teasing, but she wasn’t sure Thomas picked up on that.

“Out. Now.” Thomas’ tone was harsh and unyielding. Eddie answered with a grin and a wink toward Maya.

But Maya didn’t feel like smiling. She couldn’t allow anybody to control her, least of all Gabriel. If she did, she would lose what little of herself was left. She’d already lost her sense of security, her humanity, and her livelihood. She had to hold onto the last thing she had left: control over her decisions. She couldn’t allow anybody to make those for her.

Eighteen

Gabriel balled his hands into fists. How could Thomas show such poor judgment by taking Maya out of the house without sufficient backup to protect her? Had he already forgotten that the rogue was still out there, ready to attack her a second time? He couldn’t risk anything happening to her. He’d only just found her—the only woman he’d ever wanted for himself—and nobody had the right to take her away from him.

The fear in his gut churned to anger. Without Maya in his life, all light would vanish from it. After the hours he’d spent with her in bed where she’d allowed him to touch and kiss her, he’d felt happier than he ever had in his entire life. He’d floated on Cloud Nine until he’d met up with Zane to get a detailed update on his investigations.

The results Zane had presented had been bleak. Of all possible vampire males who could be responsible for the attack on Maya, some of Scanguards’ own were on the list. A frown crossed Gabriel’s face when he recalled the names on the list: names of vampires whose whereabouts couldn’t be confirmed at the time of the attack. Men he’d known for a long time: three excellent guards from Scanguards, and even Ricky and Zane were on the list.

Zane, straightforward as he was, had admitted to him that he too didn’t have an alibi, at least not one that could be verified—apparently he’d been at some dive fucking anything in sight. And true to his
modus operandi
, he’d wiped everybody’s memory of him. Apparently, Ricky had done the same at a different nightspot. Considering his recent breakup with Holly, that was to be expected and certainly not unusual.

Gabriel swallowed away his doubts. No, nobody that close to them could be responsible for this. If he couldn’t trust his own people, who could he trust? But still, could he simply dismiss the possibility because they were one of them? Zane had been in Maya’s room when she’d woken, but he had made no attempts at approaching her since. Was it deliberate? Was he staying away from her so he wouldn’t attract any attention?

And Ricky—he’d shown up at the house, and his lustful look hadn’t escaped Gabriel when he’d shaken Maya’s hand. He couldn’t really blame the fellow either. Maya was beautiful. Who wouldn’t lust after her?

The noise of two motorcycles halting in front of the house interrupted his dark thoughts. Gabriel rushed to the door and swung it open to see Maya rise off the back of Thomas’ Ducati. Eddie was riding the second bike. Gabriel had known instinctively that if somebody could find Thomas, it would be Eddie. After all, he spent the most time with him.

Still seething with anger over Thomas’ irresponsible action, he suppressed his urge to run to Maya and take her into his arms. He had to deal with Thomas first and make it clear to him that any further actions that endangered Maya couldn’t be tolerated and would be punished.

As the three marched toward him, Gabriel stepped aside to let them enter. He slammed the door as soon as they were inside the foyer.

“Did you have any idea what you were doing, Thomas?” Gabriel thundered. “Maya  could have been attacked out there.”

“Gabriel, she was never in any danger.”

Gabriel crossed the distance between him and Thomas and went nose-to-nose with him. “You had no right to take her out of the house and put her at risk. I forbid you to—”

“Gabriel, stop!” Maya cut in. He snapped his head toward her and found her standing with her hands at her hips. “That’s enough. I asked Thomas to get me out of the house. I’ve been cooped up here for days. You can’t keep me locked up here forever.”

“Is that what you thought? That I’m keeping you prisoner?” All he’d done was protect her. Didn’t she realize that?

“It sure feels like it,” she grumbled under her breath, but Gabriel had no trouble picking up her words. They hurt.

“I was only trying to protect you. The rogue is still out there. He could strike at any time—you’re not safe out there.”

“I’m not safe anywhere! But you can’t protect me from everything.”

“I can,” Gabriel protested. “And I will. Even if I have to—”

“Lock me up and watch me twenty-four hours a day?” Maya tilted her chin up, defiance clearly written in her beautiful face.

“That’s not what I wanted to say.”

“But you were thinking it. I’ve led an independent life up till now. And I won’t change that—not for you or anybody else. Nobody will control me.”

He took a step toward her, but she raised her hand, making him stop in his tracks.

“I have to be able to defend myself. I can’t rely on somebody else to be there for me all the time.” She turned.

“Maya, listen.”

But she continued up the stairs. “I’m going to sleep. My mind-control lesson with Thomas has exhausted me.”

Mind-control lesson? Gabriel spun around to face Thomas, who still stood in the hallway together with Eddie.

“Why didn’t you say you were teaching her mind control?”

“Because you didn’t let me get a word in edgewise.”

Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair and let out a ragged breath. “It’s driving me crazy. When I’m not with her, I worry. Do you understand that?”

Thomas only shook his head. “You’ve got it bad. But if you don’t let go, you’re gonna lose her. She’s a strong woman.”

“Hell, what do I know about relationships? All I know is that I have to protect her. The rogue’s still out there.” Apart from his short-lived marriage to Jane, he’d never had a relationship with a woman that didn’t involve an exchange of money for services. Was he supposed to go to her and apologize, and if yes, when? Or was he supposed to wait until she gave him a sign of when she was ready to talk?

How the hell would he know! He couldn’t very well ask anybody.

“Protect her, but don’t suffocate her.”

Gabriel stared at his colleague. Had he really been too heavy-handed? All he was trying to do was to protect her from danger. He’d protected others all his life in his capacity as a bodyguard, so why would this be any different? “It seems that I don’t know the difference.”

 “Then you’d better learn it fast. Maya is unique—she won’t take any crap from anybody. And by the way, she won’t learn mind control.”

“What?”

Even Eddie gasped at the news. Mind control was an essential tool to any vampire, as important as his fangs were for feeding.

“I tried to teach her, but she can’t influence any human. Now, inanimate objects—that’s another story,” Thomas baited him.

“Explain.”

“She can move objects with her mind. Maya tried to plant suggestions in people’s minds, but instead she moved things. Glasses. Chairs. She has a unique gift.”

“But what will she do without mind control?” Eddie interrupted.

Thomas shrugged. “We’ll have to see how things develop. She might be able to compensate somehow.”

Gabriel felt worry course through him. Without mind control, she had no protection against the human world. If anything, he had to step up his efforts to protect her, not loosen the reins like Thomas had suggested. “Compensate how?”

Thomas smiled. “She needs somebody she can trust. And not a bull in a china shop who orders her around. This woman—” he pointed to the second floor. “—doesn’t like to be told what to do. If you want to remain in her good graces, I suggest you see her for what she is: an independent and strong woman. She doesn’t want a babysitter or a bodyguard.”

Gabriel nodded. Maya had been through enough. She was faced with too many changes right now. Her whole life had been uprooted and her identity put in question. What was she without her devotion to her profession, her friends, her family? He’d assumed that just because she’d responded to him with such abandon, that he would be enough for her. He’d thought that she would simply accept his help and his judgment and fall in step with him.

He’d forgotten that she was an individual, who needed to make her own decisions. And if he wanted to keep her, he had to give her that freedom. As hard as this was for him.

Gabriel remembered when he’d held her in his arms and pleasured her—not when she’d been delirious, but later, when she’d been awake and fully aware of what he was doing. She’d responded to him, looked at him with such desire in her eyes that he couldn’t think even for one second that she hadn’t wanted him then.

Maybe once he truly laid claim to her, once he was able to really make love to her, then things would be different. But he hadn’t been able to do that so far, and even if he followed her now and apologized for his gruffness, he couldn’t take her to bed like a man should. He couldn’t allow her to see him naked. She would recoil from him, and then he would lose her forever. No, he had to give her and himself the time to sort out the obstacles between them. She needed time to calm down and see his reaction for what it truly was: a move to protect her rather than control her. And he needed time to take care of his problem.

Eddie’s cell phone suddenly pinged. Gabriel turned his head and watched him open it and read the alert. “Excellent, AT&T’s servers are back up.”

Gabriel felt relief wash through him at the news. “Go, both of you, and get me the data. Just fax the phone list over once you have it. Oh, and call Yvette on your way to ask her to take over for you here.”

“Will do,” Thomas confirmed and opened the door, Eddie on his heels. With a start, Thomas pulled back and looked over his shoulder. “It appears you have a visitor.”