Gabriel shook his head. “And tell them what? They’ll drag you into a conversation and you won’t have answers for all their questions.”

“But what makes you think they’ll tell Ricky anything? No offense—” She turned to Ricky.  “—but you’re a stranger to them.”

Ricky grinned. “Don’t worry about that. I have a special gift.”

Another vampire with a special gift?

Gabriel smiled at her. “He’s right. Ricky can dispel doubts in people. That’s why he’s so good at his job. Whenever somebody raises doubts, Ricky uses his gift to make them disappear. It’s a little like mind control, but it works on anybody, even vampires. And it’s helped us many times to get difficult situations under control and avoid mass panics.”

“But won’t they notice when you’re doing it?” Maya worried.

“That’s the beauty of Ricky’s gift,” Gabriel answered for the other vampire, “they won’t even notice it’s happening.”

“That’s right. So don’t even worry about it,” Ricky said calmly and took the piece of paper. “I’ll keep you guys posted.”

“Thanks, Ricky, I really appreciate it,” Gabriel said and shook Ricky’s hand while Maya still tried to process the news. It appeared all vampires had some sort of special gift to cope with their lot. Gabriel could see other people’s memories, Ricky could dispel doubts. Did Thomas and Yvette have special gifts too? And Zane? Would she develop one too?

A moment later, Ricky was gone. She was alone with Gabriel. She was hot and found it difficult to breathe. She wanted to talk to him about what had happened.  To get answers.  But she’d felt something creeping up on her earlier. Now she recognized it for what it was.

The fever was coming back.

***

Maya stood in the middle of the kitchen looking like a deer about to bolt. Gabriel wondered whether he’d scared her so badly with his behavior that she couldn’t stand being alone with him. He wanted to make it up to her, but he didn’t know where to start. He was afraid that whatever he’d say would be the wrong thing.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked, trying to stamp out the silence between them.

“No. I’m fine. I’m not hungry.” Was she truly not hungry yet, or was she denying herself because she didn’t want to feed off him in such an intimate setting?

“You can feed off my wrist instead of my neck if that makes you more comfortable,” he offered. It would be less intimate, but still create the same arousal in him as well as in her.

Maya turned toward the door.  “I’m not hungry. I’m not feeling great right now. Maybe I’m coming down with something.”

He stopped her when she opened the door. “Coming down with something? Maya, I told you, vampires don’t get sick.” Did she have to lie so blatantly just to get out of his presence?

“Well, I don’t know about other vampires, but I’m feeling lousy, so, if you don’t mind, I’d like to lie down.” Without another glance at him she walked out of the kitchen.

He took two steps and followed her into the hallway where he watched her walk up the stairs. Shit, he’d truly screwed it up with her. He should explain things to her, tell her that whatever she was thinking of him was probably wrong. Of course, he didn’t have the faintest idea what she was thinking. But he could guess. After coming out of her arousal when Yvette had interrupted them, she probably felt disgusted with him.

“Gabriel,” Thomas’ voice came from the study.

He turned and responded, “Yes? Anything on the phone records?”

“Unfortunately, AT&T is having a problem with their servers—they’ve taken them down for emergency maintenance. I can’t get into them right now. Could take as long as twelve hours they’re estimating.”

“Damn,” Gabriel cursed.

“But we’ve examined the medical files.”

Gabriel walked to the study where Thomas stood in the door frame. He closed the door behind them. “What did you find?”

Thomas shook his head, frustration clearly written on his face. “Nothing. See for yourself. They are both as clean as a whistle. No genetic defects. Maya can’t have inherited it from her parents.”

Thomas stepped aside to let Gabriel look at the computer. He scrolled through the file, scanning page after page. Maya’s father had had a few broken bones, an appendix operation, but nothing else. Her mother’s file was a bit denser, but nothing struck him as odd. Some allergies, the occasional infection, some notes by an OB-GYN, a broken ankle.