Carpathian 08 - Dark Legend

he can guess at the mental and emotional trauma. It does not touch him once she is no longer his patient. That bothers you."
    Francesca turned away from him and began to walk along the sidewalk. "Maybe you're right, Gabriel. I don't know. I'm very confused." He had torn out her heart. He would again when he left her to follow his twin, as he must. She could feel the touch of his mind gently reaching for hers. She hastily forced herself to think of Skyler, to focus on the teenager.
    "I know you're confused, love, and it is no wonder that you are," Gabriel said softly, but he was watching her with his intent black gaze.
    "For now we should concentrate on how to bring Skyler home and provide a decent home for her. We will need to decide which memories to erase completely and which to minimize."
    "I don't think we have the right to erase the things she's been through, but it wouldn't hurt to dull the memories so that she can deal with them. The most important thing is to help her feel safe, to trust us. I think she needs that more than anything else," Francesca said softly, worried. "Of course, she's missed most of her schooling, too."
    Gabriel shrugged indifferently. "That is the least of our worries. We can impart knowledge should there be a need. At this point she needs stability and a decent home life. Once she has the things necessary to build her confidence back, school will come."
    "Helping her will be a huge commitment, Gabriel. I do not ask that you share it with me."
    "I felt her pain. She is a mere child. But she will soon be a woman. A woman who has psychic ability."
    Francesca swung around to face him once again. "Are you certain? I thought she might, because the connection between us was so strong."
    "I could not mistake such a gift. I am thinking she could not be in better hands than ours. We can see to her happiness, protect her, and safeguard her should the undead detect her presence. She is so young and has suffered so much already, we cannot allow her in harm's way. And when she is grown, she may be a lifemate for one of our people."
    Francesca stiffened. "She will be free, Gabriel, to choose her own destiny. You will not call in the males of our race and hand her over. I mean it. She has suffered much at the hands of males, and our race is domineering and at times brutal. She has it in her mind to avoid all relationships of such a nature and we must respect her wishes. She may never fully recover from the damage done to her."
    He laughed softly and curved his arm around her slender shoulders. "We males are never brutal to a lifemate. I believe we have a mama tiger on our hands. You are a very formidable lady. The kind I would choose to be the mother of my child."

    She made a face at him. "I don't think you should bring that up just now. It could get you in trouble." She didn't sound as if it would. Her tone was mild, teasing even. Her dark eyes were smoldering but there was a softness about her mouth that belied her flare of temper.
    "Skyler will be a well-loved young lady in our household. I will cherish her and offer her the protection I would give my own daughter. She will be happy, sweetheart, very happy. I would never allow someone to claim her ruthlessly without her consent as I have done to you. You forget she may not be compatible with any of our men. I believe in destiny. If she is to be claimed by one of our males, let him find and court her as he should. He will treasure her all the more. As I do you." He thought it and the words shimmered in the air between them.
    Francesca blushed a vivid scarlet, her long lashes sweeping down to hide her pleased expression. There was such a sincerity about Gabriel. She loved his Old World accent and his intense smoldering passion barely hidden beneath the thin veneer of civility. His emotions were stark and devastating, raw and real. He looked at her with such need, such hunger, he took her breath away.
    Francesca kept her eyes focused straight ahead. Gabriel could so easily overwhelm her, swamp her with his hungry passion. No one had ever needed her before, the way he seemed to do. She had always thought of him as being entirely self-sufficient, yet now she saw he was utterly alone. A warrior endlessly walking the earth in search of the enemy. She didn't want to sympathize with his loneliness, to admire his honor.
    "You are smiling again. That faint mysterious smile that makes me want to pull you into my arms and kiss you. I promised myself I would