by Tina Folsom
“You’re right. You can handle it. But when it gets too much, when you feel it becoming too overwhelming, you’ll have to let me know. Promise?”
“And then what are you gonna do?”
“Everything in my power to make things right.”
She gave him a hesitant smile. As if anybody could make things right again. This was a world of demons, vampires, and witches. A world she knew nothing about. A world that was frightening, a world where evil reigned. And a single Stealth Guardian couldn’t change that. Maybe an army of them. An army who knew where the demons were vulnerable. She knew now where she was needed. “You’ll need my help for that. You’ll need my visions to fight them.” She looked into his eyes. “Let’s do what Wesley suggested. Let’s go to this Gabriel and see if he can help me dive deeper into my visions.”
“Even if that means you’ll have to relive the horrors of those visions?”
She swallowed away the fear. “What I see can’t hurt me now. Not anymore. It can only help us.” It was time to face her fears. And with Logan by her side, she was strong enough to do it.
~ ~ ~
The walk to Gabriel’s house in Nob Hill, a fancy downtown neighborhood, wasn’t far, but the streets leading to it were steep. Logan didn’t break a sweat, but he noticed Winter breathing heavily on the sharp incline, so he slowed his walk. He wasn’t going to ask her if she was alright, since clearly, she didn’t like him fussing about her. He liked that about her, too. She wasn’t prissy. She played the cards she was dealt and made the best of it.
“We turn right here,” he said and pointed to the next intersection. He’d been to Gabriel’s house on a couple of occasions in the last two years, and though he didn’t remember the exact street address, he recognized the street and the house visually.
Like so many houses in San Francisco, Gabriel’s was an old Victorian, a magnificent home he shared with his vampire mate and their three children. It was early afternoon, and though Logan hadn’t called ahead, he expected Gabriel to be at home.
“That’s his house?” Winter asked with awe in her voice. “It looks amazing.”
“Wait till you see the inside.”
Side by side they walked up the steps leading to the dark wooden door. There, they stopped and Logan put his hand on Winter’s arm, making her look at him.
“There’s something you should know about Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“He has a disfigurement, a long scar reaching from his ear to his chin. It’s not a pretty sight, and it may give the impression that he’s a violent man. The contrary is the case. I don’t want you to be afraid of him.”
“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll do my best to ignore it.”
“Good.” Logan pressed the doorbell and heard the chiming sound inside the house.
Moments later, the intercom crackled and the light of a camera shone into his face.
“Is that you, Logan?” a male voice came through the speaker.
“It is. Who’s this? Ryder?”
“No, it’s Ethan.”
The buzzer sounded, and Logan pressed against the door, opening it. He held it open for Winter, ushered her inside, and followed.
Within seconds, Ryder and Ethan, as well as their sister Vanessa, appeared in the entrance hall, each coming from a different direction. They were young adults now, with Vanessa being the youngest at age twenty, and Ryder the oldest at twenty-three.
“Oh my God, did something happen?” Vanessa asked. “Does Dad know you’re here?”
Vanessa, who reached him first, hugged him quickly then stepped back.
“He doesn’t, though I really need to see him.” Logan reached his hand out to Ethan and shook it. “Hey, Ethan. Good to see you.”
Then Ryder offered his hand in greeting. “Did you bring us some d—” He stopped himself when his gaze fell on Winter. “Oh, hi, I’m Ryder.”
“Hi, I’m Winter.”
“You can speak freely in front of her. She knows everything about us.” Then he nodded at Ryder. “And, no, I didn’t bring you any demons to blow up.”
“Blow up?” Winter asked, her gaze darting between Logan and Ryder.
Ryder grinned. “I’m doing explosives training right now. With Quinn. And blowing up some demons would be immensely fun.”
“So gross!” Vanessa said. “Splattering green blood all over the place. Yuck!” She shook her head then smiled at Winter. “I’m Vanessa. And don’t listen to those two oversized blowhards. So far none of them has blown up any demons yet.”
Logan noticed Winter smile and was glad that the hybrids’ sibling rivalry was putting her at ease. After all, the three were just like any other young adults, carving out their place in life, and testing their boundaries with each other.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing them all blown up,” Winter said.
Ryder and Ethan exchanged a conspiratorial look and chuckled.
“I guess somebody should wake Dad,” Vanessa said and turned toward the staircase.
“Not necessary,” a deep male voice came from the top of the stairs. “With the ruckus you’re making down here, you could wake the dead.”
Gabriel came into sight a moment later as he marched down the stairs. He wore a pair of low-slung jeans and a white shirt, which was unbuttoned. His long brown hair, which reached to his shoulders and was normally tied into a ponytail, was open. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, but of course he was much older.
“Logan, don’t tell me you’re bringing us even more work than we already have?” Gabriel greeted him with slap on the shoulder and a firm handshake.
“Nothing you can’t handle,” Logan replied. “May I introduce Winter Collins? Winter, this is Gabriel Giles, second-in-command at Scanguards.”
Gabriel extended his hand and Winter shook his, but barely lifted her eyes.
“Nice to meet you,” she said and dropped her lids.
There was an awkward pause, before Gabriel said, “Pleasure. By the way, it’s okay for you to look at me. I prefer people staring at my scar rather than avoid looking at me altogether.”
Winter gasped and lifted her head to face Gabriel. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Her gaze lingered on his face, and Gabriel didn’t move, allowed her the time she needed to get used to his appearance. “It’s not as disfiguring as Logan made me believe. In fact, you’re an attractive man, even with the scar.”
“I’ve always thought so,” a female voice proclaimed from the stairs.
Winter’s eyes snapped to the woman, barefoot and dressed in a bathrobe, descending the stairs. Logan followed her gaze. Maya was a beauty with long dark hair and a sensual figure. And despite having three grown children she still looked like she was in her early thirties. Being a vampire did have its advantages.
“I’m Maya, Gabriel’s mate,” Maya said with a charming smile and took Winter’s hand into hers. “You’re human.” She turned to look at Logan. “It’s nice to see you, Logan. Though I get the feeling this is not a social visit.”
“It’s not.”
Gabriel motioned to the end of the hallway. “My study?”
Logan nodded. “Lead the way.”
18
A half hour later, Gabriel, sitting in a comfortable leather armchair in his study, let out a breath.
“So you’re a psychic. Never thought I’d ever meet one,” he admitted.
Logan watched Winter meet the vampire’s gaze, this time without avoiding looking at their host’s gruesome scar. “I guess we’re all having a lot of firsts today. I never thought I’d meet a witch or a vampire, or any kind of immortal creature.”
“Hmm.” Gabriel looked at Logan who sat on the couch next to Winter. “So you think I can help Winter with my gift?”
“That’s what I’m hoping. I think it might help to restore some of the memories she’s suppressed of the visions, trying to forget them because she thought they were nightmares. If you can unlock them, we might be able to unearth useful
information about the demons.” Logan took Winter’s hand and squeezed it. He’d done that a lot in the last twenty-four hours, and he liked the connection he felt to her when he touched her like this. “And perhaps it’ll help with future visions, too.”
“I can certainly try,” Gabriel offered and looked directly at Winter. “With your permission, of course. You must understand that if I delve into your memories, I might see things you’d prefer I didn’t. It’s an invasion of your privacy. So if you have secrets you don’t want revealed, you need to tell me now.”
Winter hesitated.
Did she have secrets she didn’t want him or Gabriel to know? After all, everybody had secrets. And sometimes those secrets could burn holes in a person’s conscience, just like the secret Logan was keeping from Winter was burning a hole in his.
“It’s your choice,” Logan assured her.
Winter took a breath and let it out. “I have no secrets.”
“Then I have your permission?” Gabriel asked.
She nodded. “How does it work?”
“You won’t feel anything. I’ll put my hands on your head—it works best with a physical connection—and I’ll concentrate on your mind and try to connect with it. I’ll see only the things you’ve seen and if I see blockages, I should be able to unblock them for you, so any suppressed memories will rise to the surface again. I have to warn you, though.” He made a small pause. “If there are painful memories within the visions that I’m trying to unlock, you’ll feel the pain again. Be prepared for it.”
“I’m ready. Do what you need to do.”
“Well then,” Gabriel said and motioned to Logan. “Would you mind if I took your seat?”
Logan rose and changed seats with Gabriel, so Gabriel was now seated on the couch next to Winter, facing her. Logan knew from others who’d been through this process that there wasn’t actually anything to watch. All he would see was Gabriel laying his hands on Winter’s head, eyes closed, and minutes later the vampire would be able to retell what he’d seen in her memories. Logan leaned back in the armchair and waited.
Gabriel put his hands on Winter’s head and closed his eyes. His breathing seemed to calm, his chest rising and falling evenly. Not a sound could be heard in the study. Logan glanced toward the only window of the room, which offered a partial view of the garden. Anybody else would have been surprised to see that the curtains weren’t drawn, though it was daytime, but Logan knew that all the vampires associated with Scanguards had vampire-proofed their homes by applying a special UV-impenetrable film to the windows, shielding the inhabitants from sunlight.
Logan was admiring the invention, when he suddenly heard Winter give a loud gasp. He snapped his gaze back to her and Gabriel.
Logan shot up from his seat, but whatever was happening was already unfolding and couldn’t be stopped. Gabriel screamed, a cry of agonizing pain like a wounded animal, his hands still connected to Winter’s head. Winter’s hair was standing up in all directions as if electrified, the tips shimmering with blue light, throwing off sparks that shot right into Gabriel’s face.
“No! Stop!” Logan cried. He charged toward them, hoping to separate the two, but a wave of electrical current hit him and flung him back, making him crash against the armchair.
Helplessly, he watched as burns spread on Gabriel’s hands and face and Gabriel continued to cry out in pain.
“Winter! Stop! Let him go!” Logan yelled, as he scrambled back to his feet and lunged for the couch.
He would have thrown himself between the two, had somebody not pushed him out of the way in that moment. By the time he managed to snap his head back to the scene, the person who’d charged in had ripped Winter and Gabriel apart and catapulted Winter against the wall next to the window. There, Maya was squeezing Winter’s neck with one hand, baring her fangs.
“No, Maya! Stop!” Logan yelled and rushed toward her, knocking over the armchair in the process. “She didn’t mean it! Stop, Maya! Don’t hurt her!”
But Maya wasn’t listening. She growled at Winter, whose eyes were open now, staring at the vampire woman with naked horror—as if she’d just woken up and didn’t know what had happened to her.
Logan reached Maya and grabbed her arm. She turned her head, snarling at him, her fangs fully extended, her eyes glaring red, looking at him as if she didn’t even see him. Only rage controlled her now. Rage, and the need to protect her mate.
Logan had always known that a vampire would protect his mate to the death. Now he saw with his own eyes that a vampire female was no different.
“Maya! Baby, no!” It was Gabriel’s voice, raspy, but firm, that now sounded from behind them.
Logan whipped his head to him. He’d landed on the floor next to the couch and had burns all over his hands and face, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.
“Gabriel, please stop her. Please! Don’t let her hurt Winter.”
Gabriel managed to jump up and rush to them. “Maya, baby, look at me, I’m fine. I’m unharmed.” He put his hand on his wife’s arm. She turned her head and looked at him. “See, I’m alright, baby, nothing happened.” Slowly he eased Maya’s hand from Winter’s neck and pulled his wife into his arms.
~ ~ ~
Winter, finally able to breathe again, coughed, knowing she was lucky to be alive. Maya had been prepared to kill her. She’d seen it in her eyes.
Logan snatched her and pulled her to his chest. She was grateful for the comfort, because she was shaking.
“It’s alright now, love, it’s alright,” he murmured to her and stroked his hand over her head.
A sob tore from her throat. What had she done?
“Easy, easy,” Logan cooed and pressed kisses to her forehead. “I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Winter’s breathing grew steadier, and she chanced a look at Gabriel. His arms were around Maya, and she was holding on to him just as tightly as Winter was holding on to Logan.
“What happened?” Logan asked. The question wasn’t directed at her, but at Gabriel.
Maya spun her head around. “What happened? She attacked my husband! What the fuck is she?”
Winter shuddered in Logan’s arms, and he held her even closer to comfort her.
“She’s a psychic,” Gabriel said and pulled his wife’s head back to him to force her to look at him. “And it wasn’t her fault. She felt attacked by me diving into her memories.”
Both Logan and Maya shook their heads.
“But—”
Gabriel lifted his hand. “I know, she gave her permission, but it appears that a psychic’s mind works differently than a human’s. The psychic in her didn’t appreciate the invasion and was fighting back.”
Winter stared at them. They were talking about her like she wasn’t even there. But she was. And she had to say something. “I’m so sorry.” She choked the words out amidst tears. “I didn’t know how to stop it.”
Gabriel looked at her directly, a kind expression on his damaged face. “I don’t blame you. I should have realized that it wouldn’t be so easy. That a psychic is a psychic for a reason. Nobody can get into your head. It’s like a fortress.” Then he ran his hand through Maya’s hair. “Don’t be angry with her, baby.” He pressed a kiss to his wife’s lips. “Would you get me a bottle of blood? I need to heal.”
Maya tossed a look back at Winter, as if to check whether it was safe to leave her husband in the same room with her.
“I won’t let her near him, I promise,” Logan assured her.
Winter wanted to give the same assurance, but she didn’t dare address Maya directly.
“You’d better keep that promise, or I’ll rip your head off.” Maya marched out of the room.
Gabriel followed her with his eyes. “She is a fierce woman.” He smiled and looked back at Winter. “Please don’t take it personally that she attacked you. She would kill for me. And I for her.”
“I’m so sorry, Gabriel, I didn’t mean to…”
Gabriel lifted his hand to stop her. “As I said, it wasn’t your fault.” Then he sighed. “But it also means that whatever you’ve got locked away in that head of yours, isn’t for me to unlock. I won’t be able to help you.”
“Thank you for trying, Gabriel,” Logan said. “I’m sorry we caused you so much trouble.”
“Please, don’t apologize. What are friends for? I wish I could help. But maybe this is a job for Dr. Drake.”
“Dr. Drake?” Winter echoed.
“A vampire psychiatrist here in San Francisco. His methods are unorthodox, but he’s had some successes. And unlike a human psychiatrist he’s familiar with preternatural creatures. He might know how to help you.”
“But I’m not a preternatural creature,” Winter protested.
“You’re not human, Winter,” Gabriel said. “A psychic is a preternatural. Their closest relatives in our world are witches.”
Winter’s mouth fell open. “I’m a preternatural creature?” That couldn’t be. She was human. She felt human. How could she suddenly be a preternatural creature?
Logan stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “I thought you realized that when I told you that you were a psychic.”
She shook her head.
“It’s not so bad.” Then he sighed. “But maybe for right now, you’ve had enough excitement. We should let you get some rest.” Logan looked at Gabriel. “Could you give me the address for Dr. Drake so we can visit him later?”
“I’ll call him for you and set it up. You’ll have to wait for nightfall anyway. He doesn’t see patients before dark.”
19
Logan flipped the deadbolt. They were alone again, in the twins’ apartment. After the incident in Gabriel’s house, Winter had barely spoken, clearly shaken by what had happened. He’d been rather silent himself on the walk back, mulling over what Gabriel had said: that Winter’s mind was like a fortress that could withstand any invasion. He considered this a good thing, even if it had resulted in injuries to Gabriel and an attack on Winter by Maya. Winter was strong. Maybe stronger than he’d thought at first. Strong enough to hear the truth, the truth about why he’d come to her shop.