Free Gabriel's Mate by Tina Folsom Page A

snort indicated that she didn’t give a damn about the recommendation.  “To do what?”
    “I need a problem taken care of,” Gabriel confessed.
    “You should know better than to come to one of my kind for help. None of you can be trusted.”
    Gabriel went out on a limb. “If that was the case, you wouldn’t have told Drake where to find you. After all, he’s one of us.”
    “Is that so?”
    He saw her face and her frown. What was she trying to tell him? Was Drake not to be trusted, or was he not one of them? Gabriel knew for sure that Drake was a vampire—his whole aura radiated with a certain frequency and that was the way vampires recognized other vampires. Clearly the witch wanted to throw him off his game.
    “I want nothing for free.”
    “And I’m not doing any favors,” she countered.
    “I ask none. I have means to pay you.” Gabriel already knew that she didn’t want cash because he’d read her memory—an image of her bank statement—when he’d mentioned payment. She wasn’t interested in any more than she already had. But he had to tread carefully. Giving out things other than cold hard cash could come back to bite him one day, literally. It would be better if he could convince her to take hard currency.
    “Money is cold,” she answered.
    “So is loneliness.” If he could get her to take his case, he would have to hook her in first.
    “If you didn’t suck people’s blood, you wouldn’t be lonely. Ever thought of that?”
    “I don’t bite people.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Ah, you’re one of those who think of themselves as more civilized because you drink it from a bottle. Doesn’t make a hell lot of difference to me. It’s still human blood.”
    “It’s donated. Nobody gets hurt.”
    “Somebody always gets hurt,” the witch claimed.
    Gabriel shook his head. “We pay for what we take. It’s not any different than you purchasing crow’s feet for your potions.”
    She shrugged. “Unless you have something valuable to trade, I’m not interested in helping you.”
    “Don’t you even want to know what it is I need help with?”
    “Couldn’t care less, vampire. Whatever ails you, I bet you deserve it.”
    “That’s harsh, even coming from a witch,” Gabriel responded, not yet giving up.
    “Isn’t the sun coming up soon? Maybe you should leave?”
    “I always get what I want.” He gave her an intense look. He’d never tried mind control on a witch, but it was worth a try. If she didn’t want to play ball, maybe he could manipulate her. The ultimate goal was worth it.
    “Stay out of my head, vampire. I’m stronger than you. Go back to your own kind. There’s nothing here for you.”
    Knowing that tempting her with money wouldn’t work, he tried to appeal to her humanity. “Have you never felt so lonely you thought the whole world had shut you out?”
    There was a short pause. Had he gotten through to her? “You chose this life, vampire.”
    Gabriel had, but he was an exception: he’d chosen vampirism. The majority of the older vampires like himself were turned, many against their will. These days, their society punished those who turned humans against their will—back in the old days, nobody had stood up for the innocents and their rights.
    Only a handful of his kind were born into this life, and those were the hybrids, the lucky ones who could live in both worlds, the human and the vampire one, walk both in the light and the shadows. “Nobody really chooses this. We all get thrown in one way or another. Did you choose to be a witch?” he countered.
    “None of your fucking business, vampire.” She waved the crossbow. “Now go back to your own kind, and leave me be. I don’t need any trouble. Not the kind you’ll bring with you anyway. People like you are bad for business.”
    Gabriel squared his stance. He wasn’t leaving. “I need your help.” And he wasn’t beyond begging either.
    “Can’t take no for an answer. Fine. Then try this.”
    He