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He leveled her a droll look. “Trust me, I can follow your trail from a mile away, but last night, I didn’t find you because this”—he jangled the bracelet—“must have hidden you from me.”

“Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.”

Again, he dismissed her jibe. “Did your sister give you this?”

A slight narrowing of her eyes. “Did you do a background check on me?”

His nonchalant shrug was all the answer she needed.

“I told you, I’m not your enemy. I really didn’t know Zylotech had imprisoned vampires. What can I do to convince you?”

What he said next was for purely selfish reasons. “There is a way to prove your innocence.”

“How?”

His lips curved into a slow smile. “You let me read your mind.”

Unlike others of his kind who didn’t hesitate to breach a human’s mind, this was one line Marek wouldn’t cross, regardless of his misgivings about her profession and the fury burning in his gut.

Her mouth opened, closed. Marek didn’t rush her. She had to decide by herself. How much did she want her freedom?

“If I let you do this, you’ll let me go?” she asked with a thread of hope.

“It depends on what I find.”

“And how do I know you won’t use this to drive me crazy or make me do something else? Is this your way of turning me into your pleasure slave?”

“If I planned to do any of those things, I wouldn’t be asking for your permission.”

When she remained unconvinced, he tossed the bracelet to her. “Here, as a token of trust. I promise I will only check your relationship with Zylotech. Nothing else.”

Olivia slipped the bracelet on her wrists, still looking skeptical. “So how does this work? Can you really narrow it down to one specific thing?”

“Yes, but it requires your cooperation. It works like a lie detector. You will say something and think it simultaneously while I’m inside your head. That way, I can determine if you’re telling the truth. I’ll also ask you to concentrate on your memories at Zylotech.”

“If you find nothing, you’ll let me go?”

Even if she were innocent and he released her, he would follow her to Los Angeles. It was too much of a coincidence his mate just happened to be related to a witch from the LA incident.

“If I find nothing, you can go,” he confirmed, butyou won’t get rid of me so easily, he added internally. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“How can I trust you’ll keep your word?”

“I guess you’ll have to.” He grinned. “Unless you can read minds too?”

She chewed on her lips, her very pink and very kissable lips. Marek swallowed as she blew out a breath. “Fine. Let’s do this. Now.”

He bit back a smile at her in-charge tone. He could see her in the lab, wearing a white lab coat and barking out orders. The image shouldn’t have turned him on as much as it did. Bossy women weren’t his type.

“Yes. I’m going to ask again,” he said to give her time to prepare. “Did you know Zylotech was kidnapping vampires?”

Marek gathered his power and reached for Olivia’s thoughts as she replied, “No, I was not aware.”

His power hit an invisible force protecting her mind.

A familiar one.

His mate had a natural-born shield against vampires’ mind-reading abilities.