But even her vampire strength was no match for his.
Despair and hatred mingled in her head as disgust for him made her feel nauseous. When he pulled her flush against his body and pressed his hips into hers, it was as if he’d flipped a switch inside her brain. She suddenly remembered him.
For weeks he’d chased her, pursued her first with gifts and fancy dinners, then with threats. She’d immediately seen it in him, the fact that he was obsessed. And it had scared her then. She remembered the one night when he’d come to the hospital, the night when he’d almost raped her. Had her unconscious patient not suddenly flatlined, and the monitor he was hooked up to not alerted the Code Blue team, which had shown up within seconds, he would have succeeded.
Instead he’d wiped her memory right there. But her memories were back now, and she would not let him succeed now. He would never touch her again.
She concentrated harder, remembering the poker near the fireplace.
All her energy went into this one item. Her body tensed from the effort.
With a surprised grunt, Ricky suddenly let go of her and pulled back. His face distorted in pain and disbelief as he turned his head and looked at his flank. Maya followed his gaze and saw the poker lodged in his side, blood trickling from the opening.
“You bitch!”
She knew it wouldn’t kill him, but it gave her some time.
Maya raced from the room and down the stairs. She jerked the front door open and ran into the night. Her eyes darted frantically up and down the street, not sure which way to run. She let instinct take over and turned west toward the part of the city she knew best.
At the next stoplight she saw a flatbed truck which carried flattened cardboard boxes. She eased onto the back of it taking shelter behind the cargo, making sure the driver didn’t see her. When the lights turned green, the truck jerked into motion.
Thirty
Gabriel jumped out of the car, his long legs eating up the distance to the front door of Samson’s house. It stood wide open and light spilled onto the steps. Not a good sign.
The panic that had already gripped him earlier only intensified at the sight of the empty foyer and the silence in the house. He instantly saw the dust on the floor, together with a cell phone, some loose change, and a ring – Carl’s ring. Oh, God, no! Ricky had already been here.
The grief for his friend and Samson’s loyal servant almost made his knees buckle. But he couldn’t—wouldn’t be weak now. Not when Maya… “Maya! Maya!” he yelled, not expecting any answer. He knew what he would find.
Taking three steps at a time, he ran up the stairs and stormed into the guestroom that Maya had been occupying. The stench of blood instantly assailed him. His eyes zeroed in on a metal fire poker, which lay on the rug, its tip covered in blood.
Gabriel inhaled and for an instant, he felt relieved. The blood wasn’t Maya’s. She had fought him. A sense of pride spread within him, only to be instantly replaced by more fear. He recognized the blood as Ricky’s. Was he dead or had she merely injured him before he was able to take her away with him? There was no tell-tale dust on the rug so he had to assume both of them were alive.
He stared at the blood covered metal stick and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather his strength. He couldn’t lose her, not now, not when he’d just paved the way for them to be together.
Before he could turn to leave the room in order to search for them, he felt a stab in his head. A split second later, his eyes looked at the scene in front of him, a scene that had played out in this very room only minutes earlier. He’d tapped into Maya’s memories. How, he didn’t know. This had never happened to him before. He’d never been able to access somebody else’s memories unless he was physically close.
Maybe his connection to Maya was so strong, he didn’t need to be close to her to tap into what she’d seen.
Gabriel concentrated and watched as Ricky kissed her brutally. He saw how she used her new skill to disable him so she could get away from him. As she ran out the door, he saw everything through her eyes, including the streets she looked at, the truck she jumped onto.
His feet carried him downstairs and out the door. He slammed it shut and headed for the Audi. While concentrating on traffic with one eye, his inner eyes kept the connection with Maya’s memories. He recognized the streets and houses she’d passed as the truck she sat on drove further and further west.
She’d gotten away from him, but Gabriel didn’t delude himself for even a second that Ricky wasn’t on her heels already. He had to get to her first and make sure she would be safe.
The truck stopped at a red light, and Maya jumped off. They’d reached the east end of Golden Gate Park. She realized the sun would come up soon, and she needed to find shelter before it was too late.
p. While it was tempting to run to the hospital which was only blocks away from the park, Maya knew Ricky would expect her to hide out there and find her. No, she had to go somewhere where he wouldn’t suspect her and hide until she could summon help.
She crossed the meadow and passed the children’s playground with its carrousel. The tennis courts lay to her right. While there was a club house where she could find shelter from the sun, it would be swarming with people as soon as the sun came up and the first tennis players arrived for an early morning game. She wouldn’t be safe there for
