Would she have to stay away from her parents to keep them safe? Never see them again? She couldn’t do that. She loved her parents. They’d given her every opportunity in life, supported all her endeavors. She couldn’t divorce herself from them. The thought hurt too much.

And her work? If she was truly a vampire, she could kiss her job goodbye—she couldn’t remain a doctor if the sight of blood made her hungry and think of dinner. Just remembering the few drops of blood on Gabriel’s lips made her salivate. She’d never smelled anything so delicious. Her stomach growled at the thought. Oh God, how she wanted blood. This was more severe than any of her chocolate cravings had ever been.

Besides, who wanted a doctor who could only work when it was dark? She wouldn’t be able to serve her patients when they needed her. She would have to hide what she was. For sure, nobody would want to come close to her once they knew she was a vampire. Hell, she herself wouldn’t want to get close. She couldn’t really blame anybody else.

They would see her as a monster that hurt people. And wasn’t that what she would have to do? Instead of helping people, she would have to hunt them and feed off them. An ice-cold shiver went down her spine at the disturbing thought. It was probably what Gabriel had meant

when he’d whispered to her that he’d take care of her and teach her everything she needed to know. Teach her to bite humans?

Frustrated, Maya slammed her fist into the tile wall. It instantly cracked. Stunned, she pulled her fist back. With horror, she stared at the tile, then back at her fist. She felt no pain when clearly the impact should have hurt a little. She was too strong. She could easily hurt somebody without even wanting to, without knowing what she was doing. No, she could never see her parents again—what if she crushed her mother just by hugging her?

She pushed the tears back, not wanting to fall apart again. Somehow she had to deal with this, come to terms with her new life. Gabriel and his friends seemed to have themselves under control. So, somehow they must have managed to deal with their lot. There was no reason why she couldn’t. She expected full well that it would hurt, that her transition wouldn’t be easy, but she was a strong woman. Somehow she had to try.

Maya swallowed hard. She had to forget what her old life was like. The more she cried over it, the harder it would be to settle into this new one. She tried to cheer herself up by reminding herself that the attack—of which she had no recollection– could have killed her.

As hard as she tried, however, she couldn’t remember what had happened. All she recalled was the sound of her heels on the pavement, the thick fog that night, the darkness. Even thinking back now, a cold shiver ran down her spine despite the hot water of the shower. Why couldn’t she remember? Had she been so traumatized by the attack that her mind blocked out all recollection of it?

She’d heard of patients who’d temporarily lost their memory of a traumatic event. Was that what had happened to her? She closed her eyes and forced her mind back to that night. She’d parked the car, then she’d walked to her apartment building. And then, nothing. Only fog, darkness—a burned out light. Maya concentrated and tried again until her shoulder tensed and she spun around and opened her eyes. The white of the tiles was all she saw.

She reached for the faucet and turned the water off. It was useless to try too hard. Things would come back to her when she was ready, she was certain. She would take it one day at a time. Or maybe that was one night at a time: days were probably off-limits to her from now on.

She had questions, hundreds of them, and somebody better be answering them very soon.

As she dried off, she heard the bedroom door open and light footsteps echo in the room. A scent drifted into her nostrils: it wasn’t Gabriel. She would have recognized his scent anywhere. It was strange and fascinating how her sense of smell, as well as her sense of hearing, was so much stronger now.

Maya wrapped the towel around her torso and walked into the bedroom.

Yvette stood next to the bed and laid a few pieces of clothing onto it. Without turning, she spoke. “You’re about the same size as Delilah. I’m sure she won’t mind if you wear some of her stuff.”

“Thanks. Yvette?”

The woman turned and Maya had another chance of admiring her beauty. Her model looks were only diminished by the slightly sour look on her face. “Yes?”

Maya shifted from one foot to another. “I’m thirsty.” She felt as if she’d just confessed that she needed a shot of heroine. And in her own eyes it was just that: forbidden and dark.

Instead of giving her a disgusted look, Yvette actually smiled. Maya could easily imagine how men flocked to her when she turned on the charm. “That’s to be expected. I brought you a couple of bottles.”