by Terry Spear
“Have you known Caitlin long?” Vlad asked. His voice was controlled, but she heard the bitterness.
Levka opened his mouth to speak, but Caitlin patted his shoulder. “He saved me from the water.”
Vlad’s black gaze shifted quickly from her to Levka.
“Someone had to do it,” Levka said, shrugging.
Caitlin cut into her broccoli. She hadn’t lied. He had saved her from the pool last night, after all. Did Vlad assume she meant Levka had saved her from the ocean a year ago?
Vlad sipped his water. “You’ve known her for an awfully long time without making her your mate.” His cold voice sent chills down her spine.
“We’ve been at an impasse. You know how delicate these arrangements can be. But she’s agreed to be my mate.”
Vlad’s eyes widened. “Really.”
“Mate?” Alicia asked, bug-eyed. “You mean, like, marriage? Mom and Dad will never agree to it.”
Caitlin had thought Alicia and Lynne were too busy discussing Dylan’s weird actions to have noticed their conversation.
“Does she know what we are, Levka? Have you told her what becoming your mate will entail? What about your league? Have they approved this?” Vladic asked him privately.
As soon as Vladic began to speak telepathically, Levka knew the tracker would locate them. A dark-haired man with steel gray eyes quickly approached the table. “Good evening. Might I have a word with you gentlemen, alone?”
Vlad stared at the man. “Who are you?”
“I’m a member of the Dallas league.”
Caitlin choked on her water. “The tracker,” she said under her breath.
The man quickly turned to look at her. Her cheeks reddened.
“Do you mind if we finish dinner?” Levka asked, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“No, go right ahead. I’ll meet the four of you in the Blue Lounge.”
“I’ll keep you company, Caitlin,” Vlad said with a smirk.
“I’m going with Levka,” she said.
The man said privately to Levka, “Tell the mortal she cannot come.”
“Sir, the lady is with me.”
The man considered Caitlin for a moment more while she lifted her chin under the scrutiny. To Levka, he said, “You will always be trouble. Very well, meet me following your dinner.” He strode off.
“He’s with the Dallas league?” Vlad asked, his eyes and lips smiling. “Did someone get into a bit of trouble?”
Chapter 13
When they resituated themselves in the Blue Lounge after finishing their dinner, Vlad sat at the bar, but the conversation would be kept private so Levka wasn’t sure why he came to watch. Caitlin sat next to Levka, and though he wanted to hold her hand, he resisted the urge under the watchful eyes of the tracker.
“I’m Mr. Petroski,” the tracker said first. Then he spoke privately to Levka and his companions. “You disobeyed the league’s ruling on non-interference in mortals’ affairs.”
Levka said, “But—“
Mr. Petroski motioned for silence.
Caitlin patted Levka’s leg. “Are you masking your communication, Levka? I thought you couldn’t do that.”
Petroski stared at her. “Can you speak telepathically?”
“Yes.” She smiled broadly. “And I’d like to join a guild, too.”
He looked back at Levka and spoke privately again, “Do not tell me you want the girl.”
“I do. I want permission from the league to okay our union.”
“No.”
Levka’s face heated. “The last time—“
Again, Petroski motioned for silence, then leaned forward in his chair. “You have disobeyed the league’s ruling six times this year already and it’s only March.”
“That’s only twice a month,” Ruric said.
“That’s six times more than the league allows,” Petroski said. “The league could have you eliminated for your constant disobedience.”
Levka shared looks with his friends, but none of them revealed how they felt.
“But the league doesn’t want to get rid of its claim to having the highest number of royal members—for now. So you have been given a task.”
“With the condition Caitlin is mine.” Levka took her hand and squeezed. Even if he didn’t make her his in the vampire way, if he had the league’s permission, he hoped that would be enough to keep Vlad’s hands and teeth off her. Even other leagues would have to honor their commitment.
Petroski glanced at her and shook his head. “You cannot name conditions, Levka.”
“What’s the job?” Stasio asked, giving the tracker a cutting glare.
“Teen troublemakers make up the most of the league’s problems. You’ll be required to police them. We’ll provide a list, you find them, and report back to us, and we’ll bring them in for counseling or punishment as we see fit.”
“I’m game,” Ruric said, shrugging, “if it gets our names off the list.”
“Turning in those who break our vampiric laws sounds good to me,” Arman said.
Stasio rolled his shoulders. “Fine with me.”
Levka turned to Petroski. “It’s a deal if I can have Caitlin.”
Petroski stood. “I will get off at Caracas, next stop, and fly home. We’ll be in touch.”
Clenching his teeth, Levka asked, “What about Caitlin?”
The tracker considered her, then faced Levka. “It’s hard convincing a mortal she should give up a way of life she’s always known. Some love the way of the vampire, others do not. You’re drawn to her, I suspect, because she’s telepathic, and you cannot control her. Am I right? The truth is, sometimes it’s just easier taking a mate you can brainwash.” Petroski smiled, and the look was purely wicked.
“Is that what you did?” Levka asked, unable to hide his irritation.
Petroski’s smile faded. “No. I took a woman who fought me every step of the way. There are advantages and disadvantages to every relationship. None are perfect. Compromise is the key. But when you turn the girl, there is no going back for her, or for you.”
Petroski paused. “Good day, gentlemen.” He gave them a curt nod of his head, then gave Vlad a harsh look and left the lounge.
Vlad moved his drink to where the others were seated.
“How come you can mask your telecommunications, and you wouldn’t tell me you could?” Caitlin asked Levka. She definitely had an edge to her voice.
“I don’t think everyone can do it, Caitlin.”
She pulled her hand away from him. “What did the tracker say?”
Vlad motioned to her with his drink. “Has Levka not told you what we really are?”
Caitlin looked at him, sitting slouched on the arm of the sofa. “What?”
“Abominations. Genetically-mutated monsters. Big mosquitoes, blood suckers. Technically, vampires.” Vlad gave her a lopsided grin.
“You’re drunk. And you’re underage.” She turned to Levka. “What did the tracker say?”
“We’re to track down our kind, who are causing trouble.”
“The wolves after the wolves,” Vlad said.
“What did Vlad say privately to you, Caitlin?” Levka asked.
“He said you were big mosquitoes.” She figured Levka and his friends would laugh, but none of them did. In fact, they looked mortified. “He said you’re bloodsuckers, genetically-mutated monsters, vampires.”
Still, no one laughed or said anything.
“But then again, he’s drunk.”
Dylan walked into the lounge with two of his friends, but none of them even glanced in the other boys’ direction. Following closely behind, Alicia nagged at him. “What do you mean you’ve never seen me before in your life?” Her makeup was tear-streaked and her voice sounded soggy. “Dylan, quit walking away from me! How can you say you don’t know me?”
He snapped his head around. “Quit stalking me! I’ve never seen you before!” His friends said nothing in response, and Caitlin knew th
ey knew differently. But being his friends, they kept silent.
Standing next to Alicia, Lynne cleared her throat. “Dylan, you’ve been seeing Alicia for three months now. Really hot and heavy. Heck, you were even found outside of her stateroom naked.”
The guys with Dylan chuckled.
His glare silenced them. “I’m sure the whole ship knows about that. But I don’t know who she is, and like I told the ships’ officers, I don’t know how I got locked out of my room like that.” He stalked off.
For the first time, Alicia seemed to see Caitlin. “Tell him! Tell him you found us together, and that guy,” she said, pointing to Levka, “threw Dylan out of our room.”
Caitlin looked at Levka. What had he done to him? She’d never heard of anyone using hypnosis to wipe someone’s memories out. And she didn’t think Dylan would be embarrassed enough over being found in the hall naked to pretend he didn’t know Alicia. He wouldn’t have cared after the initial humiliation. Knowing him, he’d probably have worn his disgrace like a badge of honor.
“Maybe he’s so ashamed about this morning, he wants to keep his distance for a while. The chaperones on this trip probably really chewed him out about it,” Caitlin said to her foster sister.
Alicia glared at Caitlin, then tore off after Dylan. “Dylan! Wait up. You even gave me this hickey!”
Caitlin would have laughed, except the implications Levka and his friends could do more than they were saying sent a chill into her bones.
Vlad got off the arm of the couch and stumbled over to Caitlin. He reached down to touch her hair, but Levka moved so quickly from his seat, his actions didn’t register until he’d yanked Vlad halfway out of the lounge.
“She is mine,” Levka hissed, pulling Vlad out of the lounge. “Don’t ever try to touch her again.”
“Sorry, Caitlin, but I can’t hold my liquor,” Vlad communicated to her. “I’ll see you later.” He staggered out of the lounge as Levka helped propel him forward.
“If the league wants you to enforce the guild laws in Dallas, you won’t be moving to Florida,” Caitlin said to Levka’s friends, realizing all of a sudden that Vlad would be free to pressure her.
Ruric ran his hands over the arms of his chair. “You need us, Caitlin, and we need you. So, never fear. We’ll work everything out one way or another.”
“I wouldn’t hold you to anything. I mean, it’s important for you to be in good standing with your guild, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say,” Arman said. “Believe me, I didn’t want to cause trouble.”
“Did you hear the girls screaming?” She couldn’t believe as sweet as Arman was he wouldn’t want to protect the girls.
Arman looked sheepish. “I warned Levka there would be problems if we interfered.”
“I’m glad Levka felt otherwise.”
“And you see what it got him? Three bullets and big time trouble with the league.”
Her heartbeat quickened, and she faced Ruric. “Three bullets? You said he’d only been shot once.”
Ruric gave Arman a disgruntled look. “Levka would not have wished it said he had been so slow to respond that he took three bullets.”
Caitlin frowned, wondering how he even survived. It must have taken him more than a few months to heal. “You should have told me.” She looked back at the doorway to the lounge. No sign of Levka. “Does Dylan really not remember Alicia? Or is he faking it to be mean or something?”
Ruric raised the palms of his hands heavenward. “Who knows?”
“Levka knows. I’m sure of it.” She looked down at the blue carpeted floor, then faced Stasio. “Let me see your teeth.”
“Pardon?” His blond brows arched with the pitch of his voice.
“Your teeth. Give me a nice big smile.”
Stasio smiled at her, the look pure amusement. “Did I pass inspection?”
“Beautifully.” She turned to face Arman. “Let me see yours.”
He folded his arms, his face unreadable.
“Come on. The next time I see Vlad, I want to be able to tell him I inspected everyone’s teeth, and none of them were overly pointed like a vampire’s.”
Arman opened his mouth to reveal clenched teeth.
“Good, now yours, Ruric.”
He gave her a sparkling grin.
“Great. No excessively scary teeth. In fact, you all have beautiful smiles.”
Ruric waggled his red brows.
But everyone’s gaze shifted to Levka when he walked into the lounge and headed for the bar. He did not look pleased. After getting a tray of sodas, he joined them. “Sorry about Vlad. Apparently he cannot hold his liquor.”
Grabbing one of the glasses, Caitlin said, “He’s underage and shouldn’t have been drinking in the first place.”
Ruric reached for a soda. “Caitlin inspected our teeth and found them all to be satisfactory.”
Levka didn’t say anything, and she wondered if he was still P.O.ed about Vlad.
“I haven’t inspected your teeth,” Caitlin teased, hoping to get him in a better mood.
“Someone’s planning to pull some prank when we reach one of the islands,” Levka said, ignoring her comment.
Why was he communicating telepathically to them? Caitlin wondered. “I heard you talking about this earlier. Do you know who it is?” she asked.
“They were male teens,” Ruric said. “But I haven’t heard their voices since. It’s a big ship with twenty-four hundred passengers. Hard to monitor everyone’s conversations. I keep eavesdropping, hoping I’ll discover who they are.”
Yawning, Caitlin said, “I didn’t get enough sleep again last night. I think I’ll lie down for a while.”
“Escort her to her stateroom, Arman, will you?” Levka asked, his face tense, annoyed.
She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. Why keep speaking telepathically and why did he send Arman with her?
“Caitlin, whatever you do, do not invite Vlad into your room.”
She gave him a perturbed look, as if she would even think of doing such a thing.
“I mean it. He’s dangerous. Don’t invite him into your room, ever.”
“I’ll be all right.” She hurried off the sofa without bothering to give Levka another look. Was he angry with her for having gotten involved with Vlad? It wasn’t her fault the guy was a jerk.
Maybe Levka was irritated with her because he was having to deal with all her problems—Dylan, her fear of the water, now Vlad. She straightened her shoulders. She didn’t need anyone to protect her. Glancing to her side, she found Arman shadowing her. He gave her a small smile.
All right. So she’d ask Arman what was wrong with Levka. Serve him right.
Chapter 14
“I take it you want us to look again for whoever plans to cause trouble on the ship, Levka?” Stasio chugged down the rest of his soda.
Levka clenched his teeth, but no matter how much he tried to sheathe his canines, the anger simmering in his blood kept them extended. “Yes.”
Ruric grinned. “Can’t get your canines under control? You shouldn’t have let Vlad rile you so.”
“He’s after Caitlin, and you know how much trouble he can cause if he doesn’t get his way.”
“All right, well, I’ll go back to searching for the guys who are intending mischief. You coming, Stasio?” Ruric tied his curly red hair into a tail and pulled his faux light saber out. Examining it, he said, “There shall be one less Ferengi blood flea after we’re through with the vermin.”
Stasio shook his head. “Ferengi blood flea?”
“Sure, when flaked, they’re a Ferengi’s favorite delicacy.”
“Star Trek or Star Wars?”
“Star Trek, my friend. I cannot remember any kind of insects in Star Wars.” The two sauntered out of the lounge.
Levka finished his drink. “Is Caitlin in her room yet, Arman?”
“Yes, I just dropped her off. What now?”
“We dock shortly at Caracas. Did Ru
ric cancel Caitlin’s excursion to the city?”
“Yes, as you wished.”
“Good. The place is not safe for her, and I further fear if Vlad went ashore with her, he’d try to spirit her away.”
“What are we going to do about the rest of the islands?”
“Accompany her.”
“Where is Vlad?”
Levka finished his drink. “Sleeping it off. Let’s join the others in search of the troublemakers.”
***
In her stateroom, Caitlin slipped under her covers to take a nap, still annoyed Arman wouldn’t tell her what was wrong with Levka, though she was certain he was angry with her about her involvement with Vlad and the trouble that was causing. Even though Arman tried to cover for Levka, saying he hadn’t had enough sleep the night before, she didn’t believe it. Well, maybe he hadn’t had enough sleep, but that wasn’t the reason for his strange behavior with her. He was mad at her. She’d bet the allowance she didn’t have that he was.
Just about the time she drifted off to sleep, Vlad spoke to her telepathically. “Shorry, Caitlin. Forgive me?”
She tried to ignore him, though she wasn’t sure how to block his telepathic abilities. Still, she wasn’t going to respond to him, hoping he’d go away.
“We shtop at Venezzzuela next,” he said slurring the words. “Venezzzuela. You going ashore?”
Softly snorting, she tucked her arms under her pillow and cuddled closer to it, shutting her eyes and listening to the low roar of the ship’s droning engines.
“Venezzzuale,” Vlad said one last time.
But two hours later, before she was fully awake, she heard Vlad’s impatient voice again. “We are at the port of Venezuela. Invite me in, and we’ll go into the town together.”
Invite me in. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Was it one of those odd terms like Levka had used, “mated”? Why not—I’m here to take you to the city? Why—invite me in? He had no need to come into her stateroom, and yet vaguely, she recalled Levka pleading with her to invite him in when she sat frozen to the balcony floor. She stretched, yawned, and sat up in bed.
“Caitlin, invite me in.” This time Vlad was more insistent, which didn’t help her to wake up slowly from her nap. Then she glanced at her watch and realized they must have reached port, and if she didn’t hurry, she’d miss her bus. She grabbed her hat, purse, and sunglasses, and dashed for the door.