Gabriel blinked and released Maya’s hands before he opened his eyes again. He’d broken the connection.

Maya looked at him, her expression curious. “Nothing, right? Just like I told you.”

He shook his head. “You knew him.”

She jumped up from the couch. “That can’t be.”

Gabriel rose. “I’m afraid it’s true. He called you by your name. He was waiting for you.”

“Did you recognize his voice?” Thomas interrupted.

Gabriel turned to him. “No. Maya feared him. That fear distorted his voice. I don’t know who he is.”

“But I would remember if I knew him. I would.”

Gabriel looked straight into her worried eyes. “There’s a reason you don’t remember. He wiped your memory. A couple of times in fact.”

“But I remember things before the attack, I remember fragments. I remember being at the hospital that night.”

Gabriel nodded. “That’s because he only needed to wipe out those memories that included him. When I looked into your memories, I went back about six weeks. I think you might have rejected him, so he wiped your memory and tried again. I saw the traces of where he altered your memories so there wouldn’t be any gaps. It’s like a veil. I think he stalked you.”

He noticed the tremor travel through her body and wanted to pull her into his arms to comfort her, but he restrained himself. What if she didn’t want his touch? When he’d taken her hands to delve into her memories, she’d practically recoiled from him. Did he suddenly repulse her? Did she regret their kiss?

“I suppose when I rejected him the second time, he decided to kill me,” Maya mused.

“Not kill you,” Yvette interrupted, “make you like him. Like us.”

“But why?”

“Maybe he figured once your old life was gone, you’d accept him.” There was a sad tone in Yvette’s voice that Gabriel had never heard before. Was it the same loneliness he often felt?

“Makes sense,” Thomas added. “Take away your options and you’ll be more likely to accept what’s being offered. Sick bastard.”

Gabriel felt a much harsher curse on his lips, but stopped himself. It didn’t help to curse the things he couldn’t change. What was done was done. Now it was time to act.

They had to catch him. If this crime remained unpunished, lawlessness amongst their kind would be the result. But more importantly, he felt the urgent need to punish the man who had hurt Maya.

Ten

Maya was apprehensive about running into a neighbor as she, Yvette, and Gabriel approached her apartment. It was close to midnight, but with this being a Friday night, chances were high that somebody would come home late and see them. Gabriel didn’t seem to be worried about it.

“We’ll just use mind control on them, and they’ll never know they saw you,” he suggested.

“Excuse me?” Had she heard right? Was mind control what she thought it was?

Yvette smirked and answered before Gabriel could do so. “It’s a very handy trick, and it’s helped us stay under the radar all these centuries. I suggest you learn it quickly.”

“One thing at a time,” Gabriel cautioned and gave Maya a soft smile. Did the man have any idea how devastating his smile was when he unleashed it on her? “I want Maya to ease herself into her new life. And besides, in the beginning some of these skills can be tricky. If used wrongly, you could hurt yourself.”

“Or one of us,” Yvette said dryly. “You’d better not be trying out mind control on another vampire. It’s meant for humans only.”

Yvette’s look told her there was more to the story. “What’ll happen if I accidentally use it on another vampire—that is if I ever figure out how it works?”

Gabriel frowned. “The other vampire will automatically oppose your power and use his against you—it’s an ugly fight, and generally only one comes out alive.”

“Even if it’s just by accident?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Gabriel explained. “When a vampire feels attacked by mind control, he defends himself out of instinct. Only the stronger of the two can break off the fight before the other’s death.” He put his hand on her elbow. “It’s a dangerous skill. Thomas is the best teacher for it. I’ll ask him to teach you when things are more settled.”

“Why won’t you teach me?”

“He’s the better teacher, and you should always be taught by the best. I will teach you other things, things that I’m better at than Thomas. I want you to learn everything you need to know from the best. Only then can I be sure you can defend yourself and be safe.” The soft press of his hand on her elbow was reassuring, and so was the knowledge that he would teach her other things and wasn’t passing her off to somebody else.