by Tina Folsom
Seventeen
Maya took a deep breath before she stepped into the kitchen. She felt invigorated by her shower and by having slept in Gabriel's arms. He had given her more pleasure by touching and kissing her than she had ever felt during regular sex. When she was with him, things felt right again in her life. Almost as if everything was normal again, no, not normal—better.
For the first time since the transformation, she had a true awareness of her new body. She felt how her senses were attuned to her surroundings, how her body processed stimuli differently. It was a strange experience, almost as if this wasn’t her body, but somebody else’s. Somebody else's, because for the first time in her life, she’d felt true sexual satisfaction in this body. Or maybe it wasn't that she had a vampire body now, maybe it was all because of what Gabriel had done: he’d showered her with tenderness and passion without taking any pleasure for himself.
Maya knew Gabriel was in the kitchen even before she entered it. He'd slipped out of bed an hour before sunset, reassuring her that he would want nothing more than spend the entire night in bed with her. But he had work to do.
Gabriel greeted her with the smile of a satisfied man plastered on his face and drew her into his arms.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked against her lips.
“Only up until you left the bed.”
His lips curled upwards before he brushed them against her mouth. Then he straightened himself, and his face turned serious again. “I had to get in contact with my people. I spoke to Ricky, but he hasn’t been able to get in touch with your friends yet. I guess they are harder to pin down than we thought.”
“I could page them if you want.”
Gabriel shook his head. “And tell them what? Ricky said that a neighbor saw Paulette leave with an overnight bag.”
“Oh, I forgot. She has that one-day seminar in Seattle once a month and likes to go there the night before so she won’t be too tired.”
“Good. Then she’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll tell Ricky. As for Barbara, he’s trying to catch her at the hospital.” He looked at his watch. “I have to meet with Zane now. Do you want to feed before I leave?”
The thought of sinking her fangs into his neck made Maya feel flushed again. If she fed from him now, there was no way he would leave this house within the next hour or two, because for certain she would drag him back to bed.
“No, I'm fine right now.”
He gave her a look she thought might be disappointment. “If you say so.”
Maya stretched her arms out and put her fingers to his lips. “You know what will happen if I feed from you right now, don't you? So why don't you go and meet with Zane. In the meantime, I’ll work up an appetite.” She licked her lips. “I'm sure I'll be ravenous when you get back.”
The wicked glint in his eyes made her heart beat twice as fast as before.
“Good. I look forward to dinner.”
She followed him out into the hallway, where Gabriel called out, “Thomas, where are you?”
A moment later, Thomas emerged from Samson's study. “What do you need?”
“Take care of Maya. I have to go see Zane.” Before he turned, he added, “Any news on the phone records?”
Thomas shook his head. “AT&T’s servers are still down. I’m having Eddie monitor them. He’s supposed to call me as soon as they are up again.”
Gabriel nodded. “Thanks.”
After a quick kiss on her lips, he was gone. Maya turned around to look at Thomas. “What phone records?”
“Yours—we’ve figured that maybe the rogue called you at some point, especially if you were dating him.”
Maya cringed at the thought. She could have never been intimate with somebody so evil, could she? Would she have recognized what he was like early enough—before she’d jumped into bed with him? Why could she not remember anything about him? For a moment, she closed her eyes and concentrated, but no flash of memory came.
“You okay?” Thomas’ voice sounded concerned. “It was touch-and-go for a while there. Are you well?”
She was acutely aware that Thomas knew full well what she and Gabriel had been doing during the last few hours, and she felt surprisingly tongue-tied about it. When she lowered her lids to avoid his gaze and only mumbled a quick “yes,” he clicked his tongue.
“There's nothing wrong with what you guys did. Gabriel is a good man.”
“I barely know him, but for some reason, I do know him. Does that make sense?”
“As I said, it's all good.”
Maya lifted her head and smiled at him. She liked Thomas and knew she could have an easy friendship with him. “Thanks. About those phone records: I get itemized online bills from my cell phone provider. Would that help?”
Thomas nodded eagerly. “Sure would. I can’t hack into AT&T right now, so if we can access the records any other way, it would speed up the search.”
“I only have the last three months online. This month’s isn’t available yet.”
“Better than nothing.”
But after spending half an hour looking through the cell phone bills, Maya had to admit defeat. “I know all those people: friends, patients, colleagues. There’s not a single unfamiliar name among them. Sorry.”
Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “It was worth a try.”
“Maybe he called me on the landline—unfortunately I don’t get itemized bills for that.”
“Don’t worry. As soon as the servers of the telephone company are back up, I’ll access the records and have you look through them. In the meantime, there’s not much else we can do about that.”
Never one to sit around idle, Maya felt restless. She was sure it would take hours until Gabriel was back. “Do you think you could teach me a few things? Gabriel mentioned that you do mentoring.”
“That's right; I have a new vampire under my wings right now. It's a very rewarding role.”
“What do you teach him or her?”
“Him,” he answered. “I teach Eddie how to control his urges, how to use his special skills.”
Maya smiled at him. “Gabriel told me you’re the best at teaching mind control.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Starting with the hard stuff—you’re ambitious.”
“I’ve always been an A-student.”
“This is a little different than studying. It’s got more to do with emotions than with knowledge. I think we should wait and work on some more elemental skills, like how to control your strength.”
Maya squared her chest. “No. I want to learn mind control. And I want to learn it now.”
Thomas smirked. “Gabriel is going to have his hands full with you.” Then he laughed. “Does he know yet?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re headstrong.”
“He’s a smart man; he’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“Okay then. But we need somebody to try mind control on.” Thomas wrinkled his forehead. “Ever been to a gay bar?”
“Why are we going to a gay bar?”
“Because it’s the least likely place somebody will recognize you.”
Maya shrugged. “If you keep the lesbians away from me, I’m game.”
“Deal. Just don’t keep the cute guys away from me.”
“As if I could.” Maya looked Thomas up and down. He was a formidable specimen of the male kind, and the way he filled out his leather pants was distracting to say the least. Thankfully, she had her heart set on Gabriel; otherwise, she would be in serious trouble falling for a gay man.
“Thanks. That’s nice of you to say.” Thomas seemed surprised at her comment.
***
Half an hour later, she and Thomas squeezed through a throng of people to get into the Q Bar in the heart of the Castro. He used his body to drag her behind him through the crowd which miraculously parted to let them through. The bouncer barely looked at them before he waved them in.
Maya voiced her suspicion. “Did you use mind control on—�
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He cut her off. “Don’t use those words. Call it ‘skill’ while we’re in public.”
She nodded, doubting anybody had heard her in the crowded bar where the music blared and everybody tried to shout over each other. “Did you use your skill?” she asked instead.
She knew she didn’t have to shout. Thomas could hear her just fine, as she could him. In fact, she noticed how she was able to tune in and out of conversations at will.
“I didn’t have to. The bouncer knows me. I don’t waste my skill where it’s not needed. It takes energy. If you use it to excess, it exhausts you. Only use it when it’s necessary. And never on one of our kind.”
Maya nodded. “Yvette told me already.”
“Good. Then you’re forewarned. Very few of us can avoid a battle and pull their skill back once we’re attacked.”
Curiosity overtook her. “Can you?”
Thomas gave her a serious look. “Too personal a question. I’ll pass.”
“Sorry.” She turned toward the bar, not wanting to see his reprimanding look.
With a hand on his shoulder he turned her back to him. “There are things each of us keeps close to his heart—you’ll understand one day. We all have things we won’t talk about. Just like you do.”
Maya’s breath hitched. What did he know about her? For a few moments, she felt frozen in time.
“Maya, I can’t read your mind, so relax. I have no interest in knowing what you don’t want anybody to know. Someone else might though.” He winked and grinned. “Now let’s start with our little lesson; otherwise, I might be accused of just using you as an excuse to go out.”
The tenseness in Maya’s shoulders eased, and she smiled back at him. “You mean you weren’t?”
“If you tell Gabriel that I was, I swear I’ll tell him you forced me.”
“You’re a nice guy, you know that, Thomas?”
He tossed a look to his right, then his left. “Don’t say that so loud, woman. If that news spreads, I’ll never get another date around here.” He frowned in mock anger. “Nice guys don’t get laid.”
“Okay, then, teach me.” Maya was curious now. If she had to embrace her new life, she would make the most of it. And if this meant she got some superpower, then even better.
“Good. Here’s what you do. See that man nursing his drink in the corner? He’s shy. I want you to make him get up and walk up to that dark-haired hunk at the bar and put his hand on his ass.”
Maya looked at the man Thomas was referring to. He sat in the corner, his lids lowered as if he was ashamed to be here. Every so often, he led his beer glass to his lips and sipped. She felt sorry for him. He clearly didn’t feel comfortable. Then her eyes drifted to the dark-haired man at the bar. She looked him up and down. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Thomas. He’s got no chance.”
“That’s precisely the point. That’s why you will help him. You’ll plant the confidence in his mind so he can walk up to that guy and ask him out. You’ll control his mind to think he has a chance.”
Maya shook her head. “How?”
Thomas looked straight into her face. “Look inside yourself. Concentrate on your heartbeat. Then concentrate on the man in the corner and tell him what to do. Send your thoughts out to him. Try it.”
She took a few deep breaths, then tried to shut out the noise from the bar. She’d done yoga before, so she tried to remember what it felt like to center her body and calm her mind. A pleasant warmth filled her body. “I feel warm.”
“That’s good,” Thomas praised. “Your body is telling you you’re collecting your strength. It’s the energy that you gather inside you that creates the warm feeling.”
She nodded without responding, trying not to break her concentration. She looked at the man and formed words in her mind.
Get up. Go to the bar. Put your hands on the dark-haired man’s ass.
Maya repeated her thoughts and directed them toward the man again. But he didn’t move.
“Try again,” Thomas encouraged her. “Put all your energy into it. Think of nothing else.”
Again, she collected her strength and calmed her mind. All she tried to concentrate on was the man in the corner, how he sat there, eyes lowered to his beer, his hand clasping the glass. She closed her eyes and sent his thoughts to him again, telling him to put the beer down and get up. The sound of a shattering glass made her snap her eyes open.
She stared at her victim. Before him on the table were the remnants of the glass, the spilled beer running down the edges of the table. With horror, he stared at his hands, which had crushed the glass.
Maya spun to face Thomas. “Did I do that?”
Thomas nodded. “Did you tell him to break the beer glass?”
“No, of course not. I told him to set the beer down and get up.”
Thomas rubbed his chin. “Hmm. That’s odd. Let’s try again. But I think that poor sod’s suffered enough for one night. I think he needs a bit of a treat right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Watch.” Thomas turned away from her and looked into the direction of the hunk at the bar. A moment later, the man turned and looked toward the guy in the corner. Without hesitation, he walked toward him, sat down next to him and took his hand.
Maya tuned into their conversation.
“I’m an EMT. Let me look at your hand. You don’t want that to get infected.”
The shy man gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
“Why don’t I bandage that up for you? I live just around the corner and have a first-aid kit at home.”
Maya picked up on the suggestive look the EMT gave the shy man. A moment later, the two got up and left the bar.
“You’re a genius. How did you know that guy was an EMT?”
Thomas grinned. “I dated him before.”
“But he didn’t look as if he recognized you,” Maya protested. Or was it usual among gays that they pretended they didn’t know each other after things were over?
“That’s because he doesn’t. I wiped his memory after it was over.”
Maya opened her mouth to make her displeasure known, but Thomas raised his palm. “Security measure. I’ll teach you some other time. One skill at a time. And just so you know, no, I didn’t use my skill to get a date with him. I can still get laid without it.”
Maya smirked. She’d never doubted that he could attract other men.
“Now back to the task at hand.”
“What if I never learn it?” She hated failure.
“You’ll learn it. Don’t worry, we all did.”
But Thomas’ optimism faded with every try. First, Maya managed to pop a button off a man’s jeans while trying to get him to walk to the bathroom. The next time she tried to persuade a man to walk up to the bar to make a pass at the bartender, a bar stool knocked the man into his groin and stopped him in his tracks.
“Ouch,” Thomas grimaced.
“I’m not doing this on purpose,” Maya assured him. She was getting frustrated by now. As hard as she tried to concentrate, she was unable to make anybody do anything at all. Instead she kept on moving objects around.
“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 Thom
as 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.”