Brice went limp, his eyes rolled back in his head, and his knees buckled so that he began to topple to the floor. Francesca easily caught him with preternatural strength, easing him to the floor, reaching to open his shirt, frantically seeking to find if his airway was open. “Gabriel!” She reached for him almost automatically. “Help me.”
He was there instantly in her mind, a soothing calm in the eye of the storm, assessing the situation. Francesca was attempting to breathe for Brice, but no air could make it through his passageway. When she tried to enter his body using pure energy and light, there was some obstruction she could not pass. Gabriel was grateful that she had suspected him only fleetingly, had turned instantly to him for aid. She was beginning to trust him far more than she realized.
“Lucian, I know you are there.” Gabriel was very calm. “You are killing this man. Let him be.”
“You do not fight your own battles.” It was a taunt, a reprimand. Francesca renewed her efforts to enter Brice’s body to heal him, but the obstruction was like a brick wall. Sharing Gabriel’s mind enabled her to “hear” the exchange between the twin brothers.
“Who is this man that you do not remove him when he causes you such annoyance? You have grown soft, Gabriel. You expect to hoard these two women when you cannot even destroy your enemies?”
The voice was beautiful. So beautiful that Francesca had to try to block it out. It was compelling without the vampire even trying to make it so. She was frightened to think what power he wielded so easily. “Hurry, Gabriel.”
She whispered it on their own private mental path. Brice had been without air for far too long.
At once she heard the soft, beautiful laughter echoing in her mind. “She is begging for the life of this worthless human. Your woman, begging for the life of another male. What does that mean, brother? You cannot even keep your woman.”
It was shocking to discover that the private path used between lifemates had been so easily invaded by the vampire. It was unheard of. Her heart began to beat loudly. She felt very vulnerable and she was desperate now to save Brice. Gabriel, however, remained as calm as ever, completely unruffled. “Keep this between the two of us, Lucian. You are becoming rather tedious with these displays. Showing off for women is beneath you. Are you so afraid, then, that I am not paying enough attention to you? I will come to you at once if that is your desire.” He was searching for a path to locate the vampire.
All at once, Brice coughed and choked, gasping for breath. Francesca felt the unmistakable ripple of power. It filled the spaces around her, vibrated in the air, and then it was gone. She shuddered, sitting back on her heels beside Brice, her hand on his shoulder, her large dark eyes anxious. “Should I call someone?”
“Water,” he croaked, his voice strangled and hoarse. His hands groped their way to his neck rather weakly.
Francesca could feel Gabriel’s frustration as he realized that once again the vampire had slipped away before he could pinpoint his exact location. Since there was nothing she could do to help Gabriel, she hurried to find a cup of water for Brice, nearly spilling it as she helped him into a semisitting position.
“It was Gabriel,” he accused, his voice rasping. “I felt his hands on my throat strangling me.”
“Brice, it was not Gabriel. He is nowhere near this hospital. You were choking. I cleared your airway so you could breathe.” She made the suggestion calmly and clearly.
Brice’s eyes flashed at her. “It was Gabriel. I even smelled him. It was his hands around my throat and he tried to murder me. I saw him. I know I did and you’re trying to cover up for him.”
“There is no use trying to persuade him otherwise, Francesca.” Gabriel said it softly, matter-of-factly, not bothered by Brice’s opinion of him. “Lucian is far too powerful for you to overcome the compulsion he has buried in this man. I have seen him destroy an entire army. When we hunted together he often ordered a vampire to rid the world of its existence using only his voice and it was done without a fight. The vampire ended his existence without so much as a struggle. You know vampires will do anything to continue their life, yet Lucian is able to control them with only his voice. You have no idea of his power. Allow Brice to think what he wishes. I will have established a perfect alibi with the judge. It will not be hard to do so.”