Gabriel's Mate

Gabriel nodded. “I’ll get you their names and addresses. But you’ll probably have to steal the medical info. Thomas can help you get access: he can hack into any electronic system. I’ll talk to him.”

“Good. It will help. Once I know what peculiar things her parents suffer from, I think I can confirm my suspicion.”

Gabriel leaned forward in his chair. “So you have a suspicion? What is it?”

Drake simply shook his head. “I can’t say anything so far. If I do without any proof, you’ll most likely just call me crazy.”

“Tell me. I promise, I won’t call you crazy.”

“No. First we need to get information on her parents.”

Gabriel didn’t like it that the doctor kept his suspicions to himself. “Fine. But there’s one thing I insist on.”

Drake raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever you find, I will be the first you tell. You won’t speak to Maya about it. I alone will decide if and when to tell her. I know better what she can take right now. And frankly, I don’t want her to have to deal with anything else right now. She’s too fragile as it is.”

“Fragile?” Drake asked. “She’s a vampire. There’s nothing fragile about that.”

“She isn’t aware of her strength yet, or her urges. She can’t control them. I don’t want anything to upset her right now.”

Drake rose. “As you wish. Who do I send the bill to?”

Gabriel grunted. “What do you want for it?”

“Don’t worry. For this job, cash is perfectly fine.”

Gabriel got up from his chair and walked to the door. “You have my address.”

Before Gabriel opened the door, Drake asked, “Is there anything you wouldn’t do for her?”

He threw a look over his shoulder and glared at the doctor. “Just do your job. My feelings don’t matter to you.” But they mattered to Gabriel.

***

Impatiently, Gabriel knocked at the entrance door of the modern home that hugged the hills just below Twin Peaks. The views from the home had to be stunning. Thomas sure had some nice digs. It didn’t surprise him. As a vampire who’d lived close to a century, he, like many of their other colleagues, had accumulated a large amount of wealth.

The door swung open and Thomas appeared in the frame, clad only in a towel wrapped around his lower body, skin glistening from a recent shower.

“Sorry, Thomas. I should have called. We can talk later,” Gabriel said.

Thomas waved him in. “Just come in. If you show up unannounced, I suppose it means it’s important.”

Gabriel stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. “Thanks. Appreciate it.” His eyes roamed around the great room with its open-plan kitchen, trying to avoid looking at Thomas’ half-naked body. He didn’t know Thomas as well as Samson or Amaury did, particularly since Thomas had never lived in New York and Gabriel very rarely ventured out West. Seeing another man only partially dressed normally didn’t bother Gabriel, but it was different with Thomas. He had no idea what the etiquette was when conversing with an almost-naked gay man. Did you look? Didn’t you look?

“So, what’s up?” Thomas asked, seemingly entirely comfortable in his present state.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “I’ve just been to see Drake. Maya is still rejecting human blood.”

Thomas shook his head. “We’ll have to force-feed her if that continues, otherwise she’ll starve.”

“That won’t be necessary. She started feeding from me this morning.”

“From you? She’s craving vampire blood?” Thomas ran his hand through his wet hair, the motion showing off his muscled torso.

The sound of the entrance door opening again made Gabriel turn his head toward it. He recognized Eddie trotting in. Eddie’s gaze first fell on Thomas and lingered there for longer than Gabriel had expected.

“Hey,” he greeted them.

Thomas wiped his hand on his towel as he looked back at Eddie. “Didn’t know you hadn’t slept here today.”

Eddie shrugged. “Time got away from me. By the time I looked, it was too close to sunrise to make it back.”

“Don’t tell me you bothered Nina and Amaury to let you stay.”

Eddie waved him off. “God, no. Those two are going at it day and night—I’d never get a wink of sleep.” He grinned, his young face smirking, dimples and all. “Who knows what my sister sees in him. That guy is just totally overpowering.”