Free Gabriel's Mate by Tina Folsom Page B

heard the release of the crossbow’s string a split-second before the wooden stake whizzed through the air. Pure reflex made him jump. He landed in the murky water up to his waist, mud and silt working themselves into his boots and pants.
    “Don’t come back, vampire.”
    Gabriel watched her stomp off the balcony into the houseboat, slamming the door behind her. It appeared he had to come up with another way to convince the witch to help him.

Eight

    “No!”
    Gabriel heard the high-pitched scream the moment he stepped out of the car he’d just parked outside of Samson’s house.
    Maya! Somebody was hurting her.
    He sprinted to the entrance, jammed his key into the lock and pushed the door open a split-second before he charged into the house without even bothering to close the door behind him. His muddy boots left a mess on the pristine floor, and his clothes were still damp from his unexpected bath. Carl would probably stake him if he saw the mess he was leaving in his wake.
    Another scream came from the kitchen. “Let go of me!”
    A moment later, Gabriel burst into the room. The scene he met with wasn’t at all what he’d expected. Instead of an unknown intruder, his own colleagues Thomas and Zane were holding the struggling Maya against the wall, while Yvette was trying to pour a bottle of blood down her throat. Maya kicked viciously, her face furious, her lips pressed together now, refusing the bottle Yvette held against her lips.
    “What the fuck is going on?” Gabriel shouted and rushed to jerk Yvette away from Maya. “Let go of her, now. All of you.”
    Neither Thomas nor Zane complied.
    “She won’t drink,” Yvette explained as she let her gaze run over his form, a question mark clearly written on her face as she saw his muddy pants and boots.
    “I said, let go of her, now.” Maybe it was the fury in his voice or the fact that his fangs had pushed through and were showing, but Thomas and Zane instantly dropped their hold on Maya. She immediately moved toward him. Gabriel cupped her shoulders with his hands.
    “What happened to you?” Thomas asked.
    Gabriel gave him an impatient look. “Don’t ask.” There was no way he could explain his visit to a witch. Besides, he was the boss and didn’t owe anybody an explanation. Gabriel’s eyes scanned Maya’s body for any injuries. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded, but said nothing. Instead, she sought shelter in his chest as if she hadn’t noticed his damp and messy clothes. Gabriel welcomed her trust in him, yet wondered why she felt comfortable with him. He was just as much a stranger to her as the others—a rather wet stranger at that.
    As he put his arm around her back, he looked back at his colleagues. “Explain yourselves.” He caught Yvette’s look, which focused on his arm around Maya. The flash in her eyes could only be interpreted as jealousy. The realization caught him by surprise. He’d never given Yvette any reason to believe that he was even remotely interested in her other than as a valued colleague. Or had he leaned on her too much for companionship and she’d interpreted him wrongly?
    “She spit out the blood,” Thomas claimed. “We called the doc, and he said to get her to drink.”
    “Where’s Drake?”
    “On his way,” Thomas replied.
    Gabriel pulled away slightly from Maya to look at her face. “Is that true, that you didn’t want to drink the blood?”
    “It’s disgusting! It tastes vile. It makes me puke,” she spat.
    “We weren’t lying,” Zane snapped.
    Gabriel shot him a furious look. “And I guess it was your idea to restrain her and force her to feed.” He didn’t need to wait for Zane’s answer to know he was right. “May I remind you that this is not World War II, and you’re not in a torture chamber.”
    Zane’s eyes narrowed. Gabriel watched as the cords in his second-in-command’s neck bulged. At the same time, he felt Maya’s body tense. Her instincts were sharp, he realized instantly.