“That’s good,” Thomas praised. “Your body is telling you you’re collecting your strength. It’s the energy that you gather inside you that creates the warm feeling.”

She nodded without responding, trying not to break her concentration. She looked at the man and formed words in her mind.

Get up. Go to the bar. Put your hands on the dark-haired man’s ass.

Maya repeated her thoughts and directed them toward the man again. But he didn’t move.

“Try again,” Thomas encouraged her. “Put all your energy into it. Think of nothing else.”

Again, she collected her strength and calmed her mind. All she tried to concentrate on was the man in the corner, how he sat there, eyes lowered to his beer, his hand clasping the glass. She closed her eyes and sent his thoughts to him again, telling him to put the beer down and get up. The sound of a shattering glass made her snap her eyes open.

She stared at her victim. Before him on the table were the remnants of the glass, the spilled beer running down the edges of the table. With horror, he stared at his hands, which had crushed the glass.

Maya spun to face Thomas. “Did I do that?”

Thomas nodded. “Did you tell him to break the beer glass?”

“No, of course not. I told him to set the beer down and get up.”

Thomas rubbed his chin. “Hmm. That’s odd. Let’s try again. But I think that poor sod’s suffered enough for one night. I think he needs a bit of a treat right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Watch.” Thomas turned away from her and looked into the direction of the hunk at the bar. A moment later, the man turned and looked toward the guy in the corner. Without hesitation, he walked toward him, sat down next to him and took his hand.

Maya tuned into their conversation.

“I’m an EMT. Let me look at your hand. You don’t want that to get infected.”

The shy man gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“Why don’t I bandage that up for you? I live just around the corner and have a first-aid kit at home.”

Maya picked up on the suggestive look the EMT gave the shy man. A moment later, the two got up and left the bar.

“You’re a genius. How did you know that guy was an EMT?”

Thomas grinned. “I dated him before.”

“But he didn’t look as if he recognized you,” Maya protested. Or was it usual among gays that they pretended they didn’t know each other after things were over?

“That’s because he doesn’t. I wiped his memory after it was over.”

Maya opened her mouth to make her displeasure known, but Thomas raised his palm. “Security measure. I’ll teach you some other time. One skill at a time. And just so you know, no, I didn’t use my skill to get a date with him. I can still get laid without it.”

Maya smirked. She’d never doubted that he could attract other men.

“Now back to the task at hand.”

“What if I never learn it?” She hated failure.

“You’ll learn it. Don’t worry, we all did.”

But Thomas’ optimism faded with every try. First, Maya managed to pop a button off a man’s jeans while trying to get him to walk to the bathroom. The next time she tried to persuade a man to walk up to the bar to make a pass at the bartender, a bar stool knocked the man into his groin and stopped him in his tracks.

“Ouch,” Thomas grimaced.

“I’m not doing this on purpose,” Maya assured him. She was getting frustrated by now. As hard as she tried to concentrate, she was unable to make anybody do anything at all. Instead she kept on moving objects around.

“This is obviously not working the way we anticipated. Let’s try something else.”

“Wiping memories?” she asked, hoping they could erase all those embarrassing incidents from people’s minds.

“No. You’re not ready for that.”

Maya pouted. She was a failure. And she didn’t like that feeling at all. Already she was a truly odd vampire who craved the blood of her sire instead of that of a human. Then she went into heat when vampires shouldn’t go into heat because they were sterile. And now she couldn’t even master mind control. How pathetic was that?

“Get me that bowl of nuts from the end of the bar,” Thomas ordered.

Maya looked as the small, nearly empty bowl, which nobody seemed to claim. “But you don’t eat.”

“Just get it.”

She took a step toward it, but Thomas held her back with his arm. “With your mind.”