Once Burned

“Did I mention they were on their way down?” Maximus muttered before the gym door swung open and four people entered.

The first was a short-haired brunet whose grin made me assume he was the one who’d greeted Vlad with the taunt. He was also handsome in a too-pretty way that made me think with less muscles, a wig, and some makeup, he’d look great in a dress.

Vlad’s scowl vanished into a smile as the brunet’s gaze swung in my direction as though he’d somehow heard that.

“Looks as though she’s put you in your place as well, Bones,” Vlad drawled.

“So it seems,” Bones replied, winking at me. “But while I’ve worn many disguises, I draw the line at a dress.”

My mouth dropped. Another mind reader?

“You’re shit out of luck, because almost all of us in this group are mind readers,” announced the redhead by his side. She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Annoying, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I said emphatically.

Behind the brunet and the redhead was an Arabian-looking man with black hair as straight and long as mine, and a slender blonde who must be the other aforementioned wife. If most of them were mind readers, then I guessed none of them were human.

Maximus bowed once more and then left the room. Vlad walked over to me and rested his hand on my shoulder.

“Leila, this is my friend and honorary sire, Mencheres, and his wife, Kira,” he said, indicating the long-haired Middle Eastern man and the blonde. “Also let me introduce my friend, Cat.” The redhead, and for some reason, she looked familiar. “Her husband, Bones”—here Vlad smiled coolly at the short-haired brunet—“is not my friend.”

“You two,” Cat muttered, shaking her head. Then she held out her hand to me. “Great to meet you, Leila.”

I looked at it and cleared my throat. “Ah, sorry.”

“Leila has unusual abilities,” Vlad said, breaking the awkward moment. “She gives off electricity, particularly her right hand. She also divines psychic impressions through touch and can glimpse events from the past, present . . . or future.”

Cat whistled through her teeth. Mencheres blinked once before turning his unsettling black gaze onto me.

“Extraordinary.”

The way they all looked at me made me feel like the instrument Vlad once casually likened me to. I also jump through flaming hoops for REAL, ran through my mind before I could squelch the derisive thought.

“Oh, you’re right,” Cat said, aghast. “We’re giving you the freak stare! How rude.”

“I’m used to it,” I replied. At least they hadn’t gawked at my scar as openly as most. Then I looked at Cat again. Now I knew why she’d seemed familiar! She was the really depressed girl I’d glimpsed when I touched the door frame in my room. Whatever she’d been upset over at the time had been strong enough to leave a mark.

“Huh?” Cat said, frowning. “I’ve never met you before.”

I rubbed my head. “No offense, everyone, but it was bad enough when only Vlad was eavesdropping in my mind. I don’t think I can handle a group of people doing it.”

Mencheres stepped forward and laid his hand on Vlad’s arm. “Leila, a pleasure to meet you. Vlad, my friend, walk with me.”

He didn’t move. “I’ll see Leila to her room first. She injured herself only a short time ago.”

Bones looked at Vlad and then at me. He sniffed, oddly, and a slow smile spread across his features.

“No need, Tepesh, we’ll be glad to escort her. If it’s the same room my wife stayed in, she’ll remember where it is.”

Vlad bristled, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear I smelled smoke.

“What makes you think you can tell me what you will do with my guest in my house—”

“Vlad,” Mencheres said, drawing his name out with a touch of censure. I expected him to round on the other vampire with even more anger, but he let out a frustrated sigh.

“You brought him here. You knew this would happen.”

“Let them escort her,” Mencheres said in a more cajoling tone. “Besides, you requested that I come here because you have a question to ask, and you won’t want to ask it with Cat or Bones nearby.”

“Hey, why not me? We’re friends,” Cat protested.

“Yes, but you tell him everything,” Vlad said with a jerk of his head toward Bones. “Kira can come, though.”

Kira grinned mischievously at them before linking her arm with Mencheres. “Good to meet you, Leila.”

“Yeah, you too,” I said, piqued that I didn’t get to hear this question, either. It was probably about how best to use my abilities, so you’d think I should at least be privy to it.

The three of them departed, leaving me with the vampiric versions of Ken and Barbie—which I regretted thinking as soon as Cat let out a snort.

“Thanks, I think.”

“Sorry,” I said while grinding my teeth. “It was a compliment because the two of you are really, uh, pretty.”

Perfectly so, and not just their features. Their skin was pale and creamy, not a visible flaw on an inch of it. Just looking at them made me feel as though my scar stretched and widened until it covered half my face and all of my arm.

“Oh, I have scars, too,” Cat said, tapping her leg. “Stake puncture, right here. Stab wound in my stomach, another one on my back—”

“Stop, please,” I said, holding up my hand.

“Really intrusive when your thoughts aren’t your own, isn’t it?” Bones stated, giving me a speculative look. “Used to drive my wife barmy before she changed over, but”—here his voice lowered—“there’s a way to limit what someone can listen to, if you’re interested.”

My eyes widened. Was I interested? I’d give all my teeth for some mental privacy right about now!

Bones grinned. “Thought so. See, it takes a rare form of willpower for a human to block a mind-reading vampire from their thoughts, and most people don’t have that. But what you can do whenever you suspect you’re being eavesdropped on is sing something wretched to yourself.”

“Sing?” I repeated doubtfully.

A nod. “In your mind, of course, but remember—it has to be so annoying and repetitive that it distracts the person from breaking past that mental melody.”

Cat looked at Bones with open suspicion. “I think I know why you’re doing this, and it’s mean—”

“Tepesh has it coming,” Bones interrupted, his tone hardening. Then he smiled at me. “Go on, try to block me.”

I understood that Bones wasn’t helping me for altruistic reasons, but if it gave me a shield against Vlad reading my mind whenever he wanted . . . well, then his enemy was my friend. Annoying and repetitive, huh? I thought back to the eighties music my mother had loved listening to. It had certainly made me crazy when she’d play the same songs over and over.

I began to mentally sing the lyrics to “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Bones tapped his chin.

“I like where you’re going with this, but dig deeper.”

I sighed and began to think of other songs. Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” had been played to death, but it was too apropos considering my own state. I decided on Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” and repeated the chorus a few times in my mind.

Bones nodded. “Better, but still not slit-your-own-throat annoying. Come on, Leila. Do you want this or