“Oh my god! You did it to me!” She shoved at him, trying to force distance between their bodies. Two of the parlor’s patrons, the only two people there besides them and the man attending the counter, looked over at them as she raised her voice.

“Shh,” he tried to soothe her. “Yes. This is true. But I would never hurt you.”

“You stole my energy without my permission! You…you…” Her hand went to the back of her neck and she felt for the wound that should be there. She hadn’t noticed the sore spot until the moment she touched it.

“Renee, I must always take from my resources without their permission. It is the only way I can survive. Can you imagine? What if you had to ask a cow for permission before you slaughtered it to become your meal? Or a chicken? Or any piece of vegetable? If these things were sentient and intelligent would they willingly volunteer? A lawful energy vampire like me only takes what we need, leaving our resources safe and even content, with good memories of friendship from the encounter. We don’t hurt—”

“It’s a violation!” she hissed at him.

“I’m sorry you feel that way. But if I removed the block to your memory about last night, you might feel differently.”

“Yes! Do that. We’ll see how different I feel!”

“Very well. Look at me. In my eyes.”

“You’re not going to try anything devious are you?” she asked skeptically. “How do I know you won’t just wipe away my memory of all that’s happened so far?”

“I could do that. It would be easier for me. But…” He looked hard into her eyes. “I am trusting you. Everything ingrained within me, everything I have used to protect myself these past centuries, has me feeling I should do exactly that. Wipe your memory. Leave you none the wiser. But I am trusting that you will understand why our existence must be kept secret from the world. At least for now. It is not really my place to choose to allow you to be aware of our existence, but I am doing it anyway. As I said earlier, I do not want any lies to come between us.”

“This is a pretty big lie.”

“It is a secret, not a lie. But I am aware that I sometimes must lie in order to keep this secret. Now I must have faith in your heart and faith in your intellect that you will understand why the secret must be kept.”

“I doubt I will see it the way you do,” she said coldly.

“We will see,” he said. “Now look into my eyes and try to relax. I cannot use hypno on you if your adrenaline is pumping.”

“Or you would have done it already?” she asked bitterly.

“Perhaps I would have. If only to protect you. I don’t think you appreciate the danger knowing this secret will put you in.”

Actually, Renee could imagine quite clearly the danger she would be put in, but she was not deterred.

“Do it.”

“All right. Think back to last night. We were in the snow, standing in front of your door. My mouth touching yours.”

His voice went low, sounding husky and soft, his expression telling her that he was remembering exactly as she was remembering. Then again, there wasn’t enough hypnotism in the world to make her forget that kiss. It had been so deep. So intense. For a moment she doubted whether it had been real at all, doubted whether or not it was a trick as well, but then as the moment replayed in her memory she knew that it was real. As real as the battle moments ago had been. She felt warm at last as he unblocked her memory of what had happened after the kiss.

“Those kisses were amazing. They all but brought me to my knees. I had to taste you. I had to take your energy into me…had to know what it would feel like. And it so fulfilled its promise. You remember now? Yes? The electric feel of you nourishing the starved places of my soul and body?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “I remember.”

It had been so highly sexualized a moment, the act of him feeding on her, that it had felt nearly orgasmic. Remembering it now made her flush with warmth, chasing the last of her chills away. And now she no longer felt violated. Instead she felt craving. What would it feel like, to feel that again and this time be allowed to remember every moment of it while it was happening? The back of her neck tingled at the idea and she had to look away from him as she colored.

“You see? It was not so bad an experience. I am sorry I did not ask your permission. But I promise that in the future I will. That is, if there is to be a future between us.”

“I don’t understand. Why bother with me at all? Why not rob me of all my memories and be done with me? Is it because of my investigation?”

“It may have started out that way, may have begun as a means to an end, but it has since become something more. Something with a life all its own. Something I wish to discover with you.”

He touched her face then, his fingertips caressing the rise of her cheek slowly. It was an intimate gesture and one she felt keenly.

“So what happens now? Why were we attacked?”

“I’m afraid that is my fault,” he said. “I am a man of some importance in my world. There is an historical event taking place amongst the e-vamps—the energy vampires—a treaty of gigantic consequence. Taking me out or taking me captive might have some influence on the queen. I should hope not. I would hope that the benefit of the many would far outweigh the life of a single vampire, but perhaps they think I would be leverage enough to make her reconsider.”

“You must be very special to her.”

“I wrote up most of the treaty, so my hand has been heavy in this endeavor. It may be that this was a random attack, only…”

“Only?”

“I was attacked last night as well, after leaving you in your bed.”

Renee colored as she remembered him undressing her and tucking her into her bed. But her self-consciousness was immediately tempered by the import of his words.

“Two attacks in as many nights cannot be coincidence.”

“No. It cannot, can it?” He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. He winced and she remembered he had been savagely bitten there.

“Did he take energy from you?” she asked with new concern.

“A little. Nothing of consequence. Just remember, when dealing with a sycophant it cannot be killed except by severing the electrical connection between the brain and the rest of the body. The back of the neck. It’s key.”