by Terry Spear
“He could…crap!” The shark bit into Arman’s lifejacket.
Beating the shark’s nose with both fists, Arman yelled ancient curses. Levka reached over and grabbed one of the ties to Amie’s lifejacket before she drifted away. When Levka moved, Caitlin tightened her grip on him.
“I’m not letting go of you,” he tried to reassure her.
Caitlin clenched her teeth, her eyes still shut tight. “Vlad, he said he was a vampire. That you all were, and that I’d be his. He said his league approved it, not yours. Then he bared his sharp pointed fangs at me and sank his teeth into my neck.” She shuddered. “I tried to break free. He telepathically communicated to me that it would hurt more if I struggled. I couldn’t quit fighting him. After that, I don’t remember what happened.”
The shark released Arman’s lifejacket and disappeared underneath the black waters.
“I came to your rescue,” Arman said, his voice strained, part of his lifejacket shredded. “I appeared in your stateroom when I sensed your distress and found Vlad at your throat. I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the lifejackets, pulled you free from Vlad, and flew out here to where Levka and the girl floundered. I knew Vlad wouldn’t try to fight me for you over the ocean.”
“You saved me when you don’t believe in helping…mortals?”
Arman shrugged. “I’m afraid Levka’s a bad influence on me.”
“You said you can fly? Why can’t you take us out of here?”
“We’re not…” Arman moved in closer to Amie again. “…not capable of flying when we’re in water. I guess it’s like a bird that isn’t a waterfowl, getting its feathers too wet. Anyway, we don’t have the capability to fly long distances over water either. Like over the ocean. Rivers, small lakes, ponds are all right. We have to use ships just like…”
A dorsal fin appeared near Levka.
“We’re on our way!” Ruric communicated. “The captain’s lowered a lifeboat. How in the world did Caitlin and Arman end up in the water with you?”
They noticed then the cruise ship sat nearby, idling in the water. Passengers crowded the decks to get a look at the passengers in the water. Hands pointed in their direction. Probably at the shark that kept circling.
“Hurry the boat up! We have a bull shark ready to make us its next meal,” Levka responded.
The lifeboat’s engine roared in their ears. Smoke billowed out the stern of the cruise ship, and Levka realized the ship itself might still be in danger.
The shark bumped Levka, and his heart jumped. Releasing Caitlin, he turned around and socked the shark in the nose as hard as he could manage. On land his strength was such he probably could have put his fist through the cartilage. But in the water, he was barely more than a mortal except for his mental abilities.
“Grab hold!” a crewman shouted and tossed a rope.
Caitlin treaded water with no lifejacket, her eyes wide with fright. Levka swam to her, wrapped his arm around her, and grabbed the rope when Arman wouldn’t take it.
As quickly as they could, they pulled Caitlin into the lifeboat. Levka helped Arman lift Amie in next. “Her clothes caught fire,” Arman said, his voice grave.
Arman and Levka scrambled to get aboard as the bull shark slid by, brushing against the boat.
One of the crewmen cursed out loud when he saw how big the shark was.
Turning the craft around, another crewman taxied back to the cruise ship.
“How bad is the fire?” Levka asked, pulling Caitlin into his arms. Someone had wrapped a blanket around her. She looked exhausted from the ordeal, not to mention the blood loss.
“As soon as we get you folks on board, we’ve got to head back to the Virgin Islands. We’ll put into port and make arrangements for passengers to fly home.”
“That bad?” Levka asked.
“We should make it into port,” the man said, with a heavy Greek accent.
Caitlin closed her eyes and nestled her head against Levka’s chest. He looked over at Amie, but the crewman shook his head.
Arman said privately to Levka, “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Caitlin or while we were still in the water, but Amie’s burns must have been too severe. She died peacefully sometime after I first took hold of her.”
As soon as they boarded the cruise ship, Amie was carried away on a stretcher, and Levka turned to see Vlad watching Caitlin and him, his look as deadly as the shark’s. Levka tightened his arm around her shoulders still wrapped in the blanket.
Caitlin slipped her arm around Levka’s waist. “I don’t really believe in vampires, but if I did, what’s about to happen now?”
Chapter 19
Ruric and Stasio hurried to join Caitlin, Levka, and Arman.
“How Arman and Caitlin ended up in the water is what I want to know,” Ruric said, his face covered in soot. “The cooks are preparing a makeshift meal on one of the upper decks. Most everyone has been fed. But we need to make sure Caitlin—”
“Caitlin’s already eaten, though she might need some water,” Levka said. “What happened to you?”
“Trying to put out the fire, but we didn’t have much luck.” Ruric studied Caitlin for a moment, then raised his red brows. “You can’t mean to say you’ve made her yours, Levka. What will the league say?”
“They’ll agree to it under the circumstances.” Levka’s voice was resolute, but even so he seemed unsure of his words, which made Caitlin’s skin feel twitchy.
Vlad moved closer, and for the first time, Caitlin noticed how Levka, his friends, and Vlad moved panther-like, not like typical male teens. And, and now she noticed the oddest thing. Each of them had a halo of pale gold around their eyes.
“We didn’t have a chance to finish business, love,” Vlad said, bowing his head. “But you’re still mine.”
“This is not the Dark Age, Vlad, and for your information, I chose Levka to be my champion.” Figuring that sounded like the right words to say, she gripped Levka’s waist tighter, afraid Vlad still had some kind of bizarre claim to her. She didn’t feel any different though, so she couldn’t believe vampires truly existed, or that she had somehow been transformed into one.
Though she cared a great deal for Levka, thinking she could become immortal had quieted her fear of the water and of the shark, and that’s why she finally drank a drop or two of his blood. The notion it would turn her into a blood-sucking monster was too absurd to believe. She hadn’t seen any evidence of anyone flying anywhere either. Though she couldn’t reconcile the fact Arman had appeared in her stateroom without a key. Maybe he got it from Alicia.
“Alicia, is she okay?” she quickly asked, furious with herself that she hadn’t been more concerned about her foster sister.
Stasio folded his arms. “She’s been sunbathing all this time, while you fended off the sharks.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Sharks, as in plural?”
“There were two.”
She shuddered all the way to the marrow of her bones.
Rubbing her arm, Levka leaned down and kissed her forehead.
Vlad’s mouth twisted wryly. “You’ll have to excuse me for my abruptness, but I’ll leave you to contemplate your fate. I wish to remind you that the Orlando league already approved my having you. And Levka’s Dallas league did not. In lieu of this, you are mine. But under the circumstances, I’ll permit you to stay in Levka’s company until we return home. Then, you’ll obey me. Ancient rules, you know. You are a fledgling, my dear. My very own fledgling.” He gave another bow and stalked off.
“I don’t know what I ever saw in that arrogant creep!” Then she looked up at Levka. “If he’s so powerful why doesn’t he just claim me now?”
“There are four of us, Caitlin. He figures when we return to Fort Lauderdale he can call in some more of his muscle and even up the odds, or even call on more to outnumber us.”
“He’s not really right, is he? About the ancient/fledgling stuff?”
“We do have a pecking ord
er,” Levka said. “Can we return to our stateroom?” he asked Ruric.
“The fire is still burning in the stern, but our room is far enough away it should be okay,” Ruric said.
Levka explained to Caitlin as the five of them walked to the stateroom. “It’s like having elder statesmen. The ones who have lived the longest, have been in charge the longest, make most of the decisions.”
Caitlin gave a ladylike snort. “Like parents with a child.”
Levka smiled. “Not exactly. The thing of it is, many of the elders in our organization treat us as teenagers—”
She raised her brows.
“When we are much older, turned at the same time they were.”
“Don’t tell me. You’re thousands of years old.”
He looked at his friends. “Do I look that old?”
She chuckled. “No. You look like you’re about my age, but you act a lot older sometimes.”
“Good, you had me worried.”
“I don’t believe any of this, you know,” Caitlin said, as she watched Ruric unlock the door.
Stasio bowed his head and vanished in thin air before her eyes.
Her mouth dropped open.
Arman disappeared next.
She grabbed Levka’s arm. “Don’t you dare do that to me, too.”
Ruric opened the door.
Their faces solemn, Arman and Stasio stood inside the room.
“I…I can’t do that, can I?”
“No, not right away.” Levka guided her into the room.
She collapsed on the couch. “Did you wipe Dylan’s mind of knowing Alicia and me?”
Levka bowed his head. “He was too dangerous to both of you. It was best he didn’t remember you, as if you didn’t exist. Everyone else who knows differently, thinks he’s playing a con game. Alicia gave up on him, which was the best thing that could happen.”
“Besides,” Stasio said, “Ruric discovered two of the boys who started the fire, and Dylan was the one who instigated the whole thing.”
“Have they arrested them?” Levka asked.
“In custody,” Ruric said.
“Poor Amie.” Caitlin collapsed on the sofa. “They ought to get life for hurting her the way they did. So what are we going to do about arriving in Fort Lauderdale?”
“I haven’t come up with a plan yet,” Levka said.
“What about this job of yours? You’ll have to return to Dallas, and…” Caitlin glanced out the window. “What will happen to me?”
“I’ve been trying to figure out what to do, Caitlin.” Levka crouched before her. “You have to come with us. I can’t leave you behind. Now that you’re a fledgling, you need an ancient’s protection. My protection, though all four of us will always be at your beck and call.”
“What about what Vlad said concerning the Orlando league approving I could be his, and the Dallas league not granting approval?” She rolled her eyes. “I feel like a piece of property.”
Levka smiled. “It’s just our way. We take a mate and protect her until she’s strong enough to protect herself.”
“Great. You didn’t tell me I’d be in danger from other…other, well, if I believed in them…vampires.”
Taking a deep breath, Levka reached for hand and held it. “Caitlin, you were already in danger from the others. We are drawn to those we can’t control. If others had known about you—”
“What about the others who came to see Vlad that time? Were they like him?”
“More than likely. And that’s why he was perturbed. He probably didn’t want them to know about you.”
“If he wanted me so badly, why did he abandon me for a year?”
Levka shrugged. “Maybe he was having trouble getting approval from his league. Or maybe he was having doubts about turning a prospective mate who could fight him. I truly believe he intended to have you even before he learned I wanted you though.”
“But what about the league business?”
“I will take you to the ends of the earth and live in sin with you if they don’t approve our mating.” Levka grinned.
“Oh, that’s just great.”
“We’ll go with you,” Stasio said.
Arman grunted. “Just when I thought we’d get back in the league’s good graces.”
Caitlin leaned back on the couch. “What if I don’t want to be like you?”
“You don’t have any choice, Caitlin.” Levka’s face wore a slightly worried frown. “Vlad drained too much of your blood. You were near death. I offered my blood to you freely, and without coercion you accepted.”
“If you don’t count saying you would sink to the bottom of the ocean and join Caitlin in death not coercion,” Arman said.
Levka gave him a scalding look, then faced Caitlin again. “Even if the league doesn’t officially approve, we’re blood-bonded. Forever, we’re tied to each other.”
“What if we don’t get along?”
“We’ll have our ups and downs. I’m certain of it.”
Caitlin looked at the zig-zag carpeting. “My foster parents will kill me.”
“We’ll have to wipe their minds of you. You’ll start over again.”
“In Dallas? If you have to work there, and Vlad will be bugging me still in Orlando, shouldn’t I move to Dallas?”
“She should,” Arman said, “if we’re ever to make it right with the league.”
“They have to approve of her being turned or we’re back to the beginning,” Ruric said.
Caitlin squeezed Levka’s hand. “Prove you’re a…a vampire. What special abilities do you have?”
Levka pointed to the wall behind the beds. “Listen. What do you hear?”
Closing her eyes, Caitlin listened.
A man was arguing with someone in the stateroom next door. “I told you we should have taken a flight to Hawaii. Rotten kids. They ought to string them up.”
Caitlin opened her eyes wide. “He must have raised his voice.”
“No. Our hearing and sense of smell is much greater than mortals’.”
“And you can vanish and reappear places.”
“Only places we’ve been before. We can’t enter a private dwelling unless we’re invited in.”
Caitlin slapped her legs. “Vlad! How did he come into my stateroom? I never invited him in. He shoved his way into the room, but he couldn’t have if he hadn’t been invited in, right?”
“He probably convinced Alicia to let him into your room earlier. As long as someone is easily brainwashed, the vampire can gain entrance. Which reminds me, unless it’s one of us or someone we say is all right, don’t invite them into the place, whatever happens.”
“I…I have to tell you something, too. I told you already, but I…I don’t think you were listening. Or believed me.”
Levka didn’t look concerned. But she was.
“I’m a witch.”
Levka and the others smiled.
She frowned. “Really. I am.”
Suddenly the P.A. system came to life. “We have docked at the port and evacuation of the ship is mandatory. Secure all of your belongings before you depart. No one will be returning to the ship.”
Levka helped Caitlin up from the sofa. “Don’t leave my side, whatever you do.”
“Because of Vlad?”
“He has had a taste of you. He’ll want to finish the process and claim you for his own. So stick close to me. The others will keep an eye out for us, too.”
She was certain they meant well, but she couldn’t shake the fear Vlad would get around Levka and his friends somehow and get to her. But once she was on land, she could use her magic again. Although, her parents had always taught her to keep it secret from others.
She glanced at the mirror before they departed the stateroom. “How come you have gold around your eyes and I don’t?” She turned to look at Levka. “Are you sure I’m really one of you?”
“A plague changed us many years ago,” Levka said, hurrying her out of the room. “We’re anc
ients, but those who have been changed by a vampire’s bite do not exhibit this same condition. Only vampires can see this. Therefore, you are vampiric.”
“Most vampires revere us for being ancients,” Ruric said.
Caitlin glanced at his superior smile and shook her head.
Arman chuckled.
“Arrangements for airline transportation need to be made once you depart here,” a crewmember announced on the P.A. system. “Busses will take you to the airport, and accommodations will be made for those who can’t get flights out by this evening.”
A light rain was falling over the port when Caitlin and her friends walked down the gangplank. “What about Alicia?”
“Her school chaperones will ensure she gets home all right. We’ll have to return to your foster parents’ place to wipe their minds that you exist.” Levka glanced down at Caitlin, tightening his hold on her hand. “How do you feel?”
“Normal.”
He gave a small smile.
“Not that you aren’t normal,” she quickly said, as she felt the blush rise to her face.
Vlad looked in their direction, then boarded a nearly full bus. The doors shut, and the bus drove off.
“You’d think he’d stick closer to us,” Caitlin said.
“I’m betting he wants to get to the airport soonest to get a seat, contact who he can back home, and prepare for our arrival.” Levka steered Caitlin to the last bus. But when Vlad’s bus vanished from view, Levka guided Caitlin and his friends in the opposite direction and headed down the pier.
“What are we doing?” Caitlin asked.
“Going on another cruise.” Levka pointed at one of the cruise ships among the three others. “It’s getting ready to leave, and we’re going to be on it.”
“This is a cruise for the newlywed or the nearly dead,” a crewman said to another privately, though Caitlin could hear their words clearly as she boarded the ship.
Levka smiled at her when she furrowed her brow at the men. “Eavesdropping?”
She shook her head. “Not trying to.”
“Yeah,” the other crewman said. “How many do you think will keel over this time?”
“By the end of the cruise, five. The two we dropped off in St Martin are part of the count though.”