“Yes. That’s why I need you. I need somebody I can rely on.”
“What do we have?” Gabriel was all business now. This was his job.
This was what he did best. A case to sink his teeth into and turn his thoughts away from his personal problem. “Do we know who the woman is?”
“She’s a doctor. She works at UCSF Medical Center. We found her ID. Her name is Maya Johnson, age thirty-two, lives in Noe Valley. We haven’t been able to ask her anything yet. When Eddie and James brought her in, she was unconscious. I hope she can give us a description of the vampire who attacked her when she wakes. In the meantime, I’m keeping radio silence on this. It could be anybody. Until we know who might be behind this, I don’t want anybody to know she’s here.”
“That’s smart,” Gabriel agreed. Until they could talk to her, they had to play it safe. Of course that was assuming she could tell them anything. “You’ll know she’ll be in a panic when she comes to.” Not only would she be traumatized by the attack, but once she realized what she had turned into, she would truly panic.
Samson closed his eyes and nodded. “I can only imagine too well.”
“Should we bring somebody else in to help her through this?”
Gabriel knew he wasn’t the right person to guide a woman through a life altering transition like turning into a vampire. He wasn’t good with women.
“I’ve already sent for Drake. He’ll know what to do. Maybe he’ll be able to calm her down when she panics.”
Considering his own interactions with Drake, Gabriel doubted the man would do any better than he. But he wasn’t going to contradict Samson, who clearly held the doctor in high regard.
“Yeah, let’s hope he can. Should we have a woman here when she wakes up? Having a bunch of six foot something vampires gawking at her when she comes round might be a little intimidating.” Gabriel glanced into Samson’s eyes. He sure had no interest in being the one to tell her the bad news. He also wasn’t shy to delegate things he had no business doing. It was better if a woman, someone with a little more sensitivity, did the job.
“Not Delilah. I want her nowhere near the woman. You know as well as I do what a newly turned vampire is capable of. She won’t be able to control her strength even if she doesn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
Gabriel held up his hand. “I wasn’t thinking of Delilah. Yvette’s not left for New York yet. I gave her a couple of days off to do some sightseeing.” Yvette was a good bodyguard and, despite the fact that she could act a little prissy, she was solid and had a strong sense of right and wrong. He was sure the two women would bond instantly.
Samson let out a breath. “Sure. Yvette. That’s a good idea.”
Heavy steps sounded on the stairs. A moment later Carl, Samson’s trusted butler, rushed into the room. He was a stout man, heavy around the midsection and somewhere in his fifties. As always, he wore a formal dark suit. In fact, Gabriel had never seen him in anything else, and he was sure the man didn’t own a single pair of jeans.
“Mr. Woodford, the woman is doing worse.”
“Dr. Drake is already on his way. There’s nothing I can do until he gets here. You shouldn’t leave her alone,” Samson said.
“Miss Delilah is with her,” Carl responded.
Samson and Gabriel jumped up.
Panic struck Samson’s face as he bolted up the stairs. Gabriel ran after him and stormed into the guest room.
“Delilah!” Samson’s voice was full of alarm.
Samson’s petite wife sat on the edge of the bed and wiped the woman’s face with a wet cloth. “Samson, please, I’m trying everything to make her comfortable. You storming in here screaming doesn’t help.”
Delilah’s scold was soft. Her long dark hair fell into her face as she bent over the woman. Despite the fact that she was pregnant, her body showed no bump yet. According to Samson, she was only three months along – which meant she’d gotten pregnant almost instantly after the couple had blood-bonded right after Chinese New Year.
“You shouldn’t be here at all. We don’t know how she’ll react. It’s too dangerous for you.” Samson put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her up and away from the bed. “Please, sweetness, you’re taking decades off my life by doing this.” He looked over his shoulder at Gabriel and gestured toward the bed. “Gabriel, would you?”
Samson wanted him to play nurse? That was not part of the deal. He would investigate who’d done this to her, even protect her if she was still in danger, but under no circumstances would he sit by the woman’s bed and play nurse.
It was best to tell his boss right now. Babysitting a newly turned vampire female was not what he needed right now, especially not when he was expected to actually interact with her on such an intimate level.
A few interrogations, sure, he would be more than willing to do that, but not this, not sitting by her bed, taking care of her.
Hell, he would have no idea what to do. His knowledge of a woman’s body was limited to some hurried sexual interactions and many not so hurried porn movies. Surely nobody could expect him to take care of a vampire female? Where the hell was Drake? Shouldn’t he be here by now?
Gabriel turned toward Samson, who was leading Delilah out the door, ready to decline the job expected of him. But a low moan from the woman in the bed made him glance in her direction.
His breath caught in his chest as he saw her for the first time.
Gabriel heard the door close and knew he was alone with her.
The woman lay on top of the blankets, her clothes bloodstained. She wore pants and a t-shirt, a loose
