Dark Mate (MATE series) (15 page)

His other hand slid under his
jacket and pulled out a gun. He held it out behind him, and he felt
Eva's quivering fingers wrap around the gun and take it silently and
swiftly from his hand.

Strong, clever Eva.

Gabriel wrapped both his hands
around Vonetta's waist, and stared down at her. His fangs descended
as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Vonetta, why did you
have to hurt her?”

Vonetta smiled sweetly as she
wrapped her arms around his neck. “To hurt you!” she
hissed in his ear.

Gabriel tightened his grip on
her body. He could snap her spine in half, just like that. He
snarled. There was the distinct sound of bones popping and cracking.

“
No!”

Eva's voice shot through the
chamber.

Gabriel spun round, and saw
Eva kneeling on the ground. Her hands were steady on her gun.

“
Don't kill her,”
Eva said, her voice oddly and eerily calm.

“
Eva...” Gabriel
stared into her eyes, willing her to hear his thoughts.
Aim for
the heart.

Her jaw tightened. “Step
away from each other.”

Vonetta narrowed her eyes at
Gabriel. “You bastard. You brought her a gun. To kill me.”

“
No, Vonetta.” He
turned to face her. “
I
will kill you. The gun is for
her to kill me.”

Vonetta let out a
blood-curdling scream, her fangs stabbing out and her eyes glowing
with raw, demonic fury. She flew towards him, aiming for his neck.
As he moved to block her, she twisted and jerked to the side at the
last instant and lurched towards Eva.

“
You!” she
screeched at Eva.

Eva held still, her gun ready
and unflinching.

There was a flash of silver,
and Vonetta jerked back. Blood spread out over her stomach, and she
screamed in agony. Her eyes locked onto Eva, and she charged again,
her deadly nails and fangs fully extended.

Eva fired again, and this
time, the bullet found her heart.

Vonetta fell back, and with a
final scream, her body burned completely to ashes.

Gabriel closed his eyes.
Vonetta was gone. Released at last from her demonic, cursed
existence.

He raised his head and turned
to Eva.

She had been so calm, and so
strong. But now, she began to shake violently, and she collapsed on
the floor.

“
The gun...” she
stuttered. “You...you loaded the gun with silver bullets...”

“
Yes. I misted back to
my place and grabbed a weapon,” he answered quietly. “I
know you can handle a gun very well.”

She took a moment to compose
herself. “When you told me to aim for the heart, did you
mean...your heart?” she asked at last.

His crooked smile was more of
a wince. “Well...”

Eva's head snapped up and she
looked furious. “Get me out of here.”

Gabriel knelt and examined the
shackles around her ankles. “Iron, not silver,” he said.
“I can mist you away right now.”

“
You are not misting me
to your place.” It was an order.

“
No,” he smiled.

He held her gently, and
breathed against her. He felt her lean towards him, and he wrapped
himself protectively around her and misted them out of this chamber
of death and destruction.

They materialized in the PAC
Headquarters, right in the middle of Jett's office.

Eva gasped at his side as she
whirled round to see a dozen Enforcers with their guns trained on
them. “What...?”

“
Eva Stone?” Jett
asked, his tone gentle.

“
Y-yes, I'm Eva,”
she replied.

Jett nodded and turned to two
of his Enforcers. “Get her to the hospital. And inform the
NMPD.”

Two female Enforcers detached
themselves from the circle, and came to her. “Ma'am,”
they addressed her respectfully and led her towards the door.

Gabriel gave her an assuring
smile, then turned to face Jett. “I gave you my word. So here
I am.”

At the door, Eva twisted
round.

Jett met Gabriel's gaze
levelly, then nodded. “Collar him,” he commanded his
Enforcers.

“
C-collar?” Eva
sputtered.

“
Yes. He is a rogue
vamp. But since he turned himself in, he will be collared, not
shot.”

“
So...he won't be able
to...”

Jett smiled grimly. “He
won't be able to mist, or exercise any of his powers. He can't Call
any vampire he has turned, and he can't control anyone. And the PAC
can monitor him twenty-four seven. He'll have to be a good boy. If
not, we'll shoot him.”

“
Oh, I'll be a very good
boy.” Gabriel turned and winked at Eva as the Enforcers
snapped a silver collar around his neck. Gabriel closed his eyes
briefly as the silver burned into his skin, but he didn't grimace.

“
Sit.” Jett
indicated a chair in front of his huge desk. “Let's have a
chat. We need to talk about rogues and rules.”

Gabriel pulled out the chair
and sat down. He could still feel the guns on his back.

As Jett picked up the phone
and contacted some Council members, Gabriel turned and met Eva's
brimming eyes.

He started, but she was
smiling at him. She nodded and allowed the two Enforcers to escort
her out.

Eve changed out of her police
uniform and left the station. She waved to her partner, Rupert Lee.
“See you, Rupert. Goodnight!”

Rupert jiggled his car keys.
“Want a lift?”

“
Widow's Parlor is just
around the corner. I think I'll walk,” she smiled.

“
Ah.” Rupert
nodded. “Getting your weekly pedicure. Getting all prettied
up for your hot date. But, aren't you two mated already? Mated..and
still dating?” Rupert sounded incredulous. “Wow.”

Eva shrugged. “What can
I say? Gabriel's a die hard romantic.”

Rupert snorted.

Eva chuckled and strolled down
the street. Rupert was her new partner. Her old partner, Kirk
Onaga, had retired. But even though Rupert was young, ambitious, six
foot tall with a lanky, athletic build, she was still faster and
stronger than him.

It was one of the side effects
of having a Master vampire's blood in your body. She could run like
the wind for miles and still not feel breathless. And just two
nights ago, she had wrestled two beefy, armed robbers to the ground
without breaking into a sweat.

It seemed having an infusion
of vampire blood wasn't so bad after all.

Oh, and it slowed down her
aging. She never had to buy another jar of anti-aging cream ever.

Eva walked into Widow's
Parlor, and smiled at the receptionist. “Hello Amelia, busy
night?”

Amelia Jones looked up from
behind the counter. “Hi Eva, Gabriel's not here.”

“
I'm here for my
pedicure,” Eva protested a little too loudly. “I'm not
here to see him!”

Amelia grinned. “Right.
Come on then, step this way.”

Eva followed Amelia down the
corridor. The place was packed. Widow's Parlor offered tiptop
massage and grooming services at affordable rates. She had to admit
that Gabriel ran the place really well. All the staff he hired were
collared paranormals. These were reformed rogues, or at least rogues
trying to be reformed. They had been rogues, and had been caught and
collared by the PAC Enforcers. It was difficult for them to secure
stable, permanent employment. Most employers took one look at their
collars and showed them the door in a hurry.

Gabriel had managed to get in
touch with Amelia Jones through the PAC. Amelia was in between jobs
at the time, and rather wary of Gabriel's offer. After all, he was
her Master, the vampire who turned her. But eventually, they had
shaken hands, and now, Eva could see that Amelia was happy to be
working for Gabriel. In fact, with both of them wearing PAC collars,
Gabriel was no longer her Master, and Eva was glad to see a tentative
friendship forming between them.

It hadn't been easy, but
Gabriel was serious about staying on the straight and narrow.

Oh, I'll be a very good
boy.

And she knew he was doing it
all for her.

Master vampires were proud,
egoistical creatures. It was humbling, even humiliating, to Gabriel
to turn himself in and allow the Enforcers to collar him.

He was proud, but he wasn't
too proud for her.

And he was making a new life
for himself, and for the rogue paranormals he employed. She was
pretty proud of him, but she still kept a careful distance. Every
week though, she dropped by for her pedicure, and Gabriel always came
out to talk to her, and ask her out. It was something she made him
do.

“
Ask me out,”
she'd told him. “Take me out on dates, and let me get to know
you. I know we're...mated, but I want to take my time with you,
since...you know, a mate is forever. And just so you know, I'm not
moving in with you. Not just yet.”

Gabriel had looked confused,
and had put out his hands in bafflement and surrender.
What
gives? Is this some kind of bizarre,
N
ew
A
ge
human ritual? To prolong your mate's agony?

But he had agreed to do as
she'd asked. “Sounds...fun,” he said cautiously. “And
strange.”

Their dates had indeed been
fun. Gabriel was smart, witty and funny, once he let his guard down.
He could laugh at himself, and make irreverent, outrageous jokes
about all the PAC members. She felt relaxed, happy and safe with
him. The more she got to know him, the more she realized that he was
everything she wanted in a mate, a partner.

Gabriel had started up the
business and kept the name “Widow's Parlor” in memory of
Vonetta. It was a small, sweet gesture, and Eva knew that he wanted
to remember Vonetta as she was, as an innocent, young human woman and
not as the ruthless, bloodthirsty demon she'd become.

In fact, the “Widow”
name had flourished and grown under Gabriel's management. Within a
short time, he had opened two blood bars, “Widow's Bar”
and “Widow's Haunt”, and business, according to Amelia,
had been brisk.

“
We get staff discount
at the bars,” Amelia had told her happily. “The price of
blood has gone up, so...I used to get the watered down stuff from the
other blood bars, but now, I can go to Widow's Bar and get a good,
stiff drink without burning a hole in my pocket.”

Eva felt so proud of Gabriel.
He had really done a lot. For the paranormals in New Moon City, and
for her.

Eva leaned back in her chair,
chatting with Sonia as she did her nails. Sonia was a collared
werejaguar and a single mom of an adorable werejaguar cub. From
their conversations, Eva could see that the girls respected and
trusted Gabriel. He was a good boss. He treated them fairly and
paid them well. And if customers became unreasonable or abusive, he
protected them. Sonia told her that Gabriel had once sent a big, bad
wolf crashing out a window because he had stuck his paw up Sonia's
skirt.

“
You should have seen
him. Gabriel hauled that wolf up by the scruff of his neck and sent
him sailing towards the moon. There, look at that window. We had it
patched up, but if you look closely, you can still see the outline of
a big, dumb wolf,” Sonia joked.

Just as Sonia finished up,
Gabriel poked his head round the booth and grinned at them.

“
Good evening, ladies,”
he purred.

Sonia giggled. “She's
all ready for you.”

Gabriel smiled at her. “You
look beautiful.”

Sonia leaned in and whispered
loudly to Eva, “He says that to all the girls.”

“
I do not!”
Gabriel huffed, pretending to look outraged.

Sonia laughed and made a
shooing motion with her hand.

Eva blushed as Gabriel kissed
her on the cheek and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.
“I'll see you next week, Sonia,” she called over her
shoulder.

As they stepped out of Widow's
Parlor, Eva asked, “Where are we going?”

“
Um...” Gabriel
looked a little flustered. “I'd planned to get the movie
tickets, I swear I did! But it turned out to be a really busy night
at Widow's Haunt,” he hurried to explain. “I think I'll
have to employ more wait staff. I was rushing around and there were
so many things to see to. I...there's no excuse. I forgot. It
just...slipped my mind. Argh!” He looked highly frustrated
and furious with himself. “And when I remembered, it was too
late. And all the good restaurants were already fully booked! Maybe
we could try that little cafe round the corner...”

Eva leaned in and pressed her
lips to his mouth to stop him. When she pulled back, he was staring
at her in amazement.

“
You're not mad?”