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.”