The back of her neck tingled with sudden awareness. Michael had stopped just behind her.
"I'm sorry,” he said softly.
His breath brushed warmth across the back of her neck. She tensed, but made no move to turn around.
“Why did you do it?"
"It's easier than arguing."
An honest enough answer. And so very similar to the excuses Tommy had used. “Could you control me as easily?"
He moved past her, his arm brushing against hers. Heat trembled across her skin. She rubbed the spot were their flesh had touched and watched him warily. His face was still, expressionless, but she sensed the turmoil beneath the calm exterior.
"I do not know,” he said. “I hope I never have to try." Tommy had tried, and sometimes succeeded.
The clock on the Town Hall tower down the road bonged into the silence. She counted the tones. Midnight, the hour when all things dark and dangerous came out of hiding. Things like Michael, maybe. She met his gaze again, the uneven pounding of her heart abnormally loud in the growing silence.
"If you ever do try—"
"You would never know,” he said quietly. “As the waiter never knew." She clenched her fists in impotent fury. The ease with which he'd taken the waiters’ thoughts made it clear his abilities were very strong. Where Tommy had haunted her dreams, and Jasper relied on traps to snare her mind, Michael would merely walk in and take. She could so easily become a puppet to his will. He swore softly and grabbed her arm, shaking her lightly. “I would never do such a thing to you." Yet he wasn't averse to reading her mind. She wrenched free of his grip. “Unless you had no other choice."
She could see the truth of her statement reflected in his eyes.
"I have made a promise to keep you safe,” he said softly. “Though I am a man of my word, I will not stay where I am not wanted. Do you still wish me to accompany you home?" She opened her mouth to say no, then hesitated. Intuition whispered the warning not to let this man go. She needed the protection he offered, yet she couldn't ignore the darkness she sensed was so much a part of him.
Evil far worse waited somewhere in the night.
She shifted her stance and crossed her arms. “If you are a man of your word, will you make me a promise?"