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“No.”
“Did I bother you in any way?”
She smiled. “No.”
“Then unless you have a really good reason why I shouldn’t stay with you, I’ll be here for your protection. We still don’t know if anyone will come to the estate who was on the elder’s side and might try to eliminate those of us who had terminated the elder and his followers. We think we are safe, but we need to always make sure.”
“You know you could have just said you wanted to stay with me.” She finished the bag of blood and licked her lips.
He smiled in the most wickedly fun way and joined her under the covers. “That especially.”
Jasmine felt better, revitalized after having fed, but she was still tired from all the fighting and her arm was starting to ache and itch at the same time, so she knew it was healing. Truthfully, for the first time ever, she felt safer with a vampire partner teaming up with her—even if he was a rogue—who could watch her back while she watched his.
He was just as good a fighter as she was, and she loved his protectiveness too. She hadn’t really expected him to stick by her so close, except when he was fighting a vampire who had pulled him away from her side. But she thought he was remarkable also for constantly wanting to protect Caitlin like the others did. In her line of business, she’d never witnessed a group of vampires who had looked out for each other to such a degree. She realized, because of that, this was just where she wanted to be.
* * *
The next day Scotty,William, and Angus came to see them at the elder’s estate.
Jasmine and Stasio were seated together on a sofa, cuddling with each other, feeling refreshed and like they were dating for now, no longer on the run, just enjoying each other’s company.
“You’re bringing good news, I hope,” Levka said as he and Caitlin relaxed on a sofa together.
“Aye, we thought the last elder that we took down was going to capitulate, but it was all a ruse.” Scotty and the other men with him joined them in the living area.
“What kind of causalities did we suffer?” Stasio wanted to know if the lives lost had been worth it. Yes, he was glad they were living under a newly formed league with new rules, but still, he wanted to know just how many had died for the insurrection.
“One-hundred fifty of our rebels died. There are still a few diehards of the old regime who escaped, but we’ll either track them down and convince them to live and join us in the new beginning, leave the territory for good, or terminate them,” Scotty said. “What about all of you? Are you enjoying your accommodations?”
Even though that was a lot of vampires who had been on their side who had lost their lives, that was a much smaller number than Stasio had worried it would be.
“Yeah, we love it here,” Ruric said. “Elder Ferguson has all the latest technologies installed on his estate. Motion-lighting, an entertainment center room, the newest design in kitchens. It’s amazing. Though we love our castles in Wales, there’s something to be said about having all the high-tech toys.”
Arman just shook his head. Stasio had heard him swimming in the pool at some God-awful hour last night, so he knew Arman didn’t think the place was all that bad.
“We’re comfortable, thanks,” Levka said.
“You were injured?” Scotty asked Jasmine, seeing her arm wrapped in a bandage.
“Yes, but I’m healing.”
Scotty nodded. “Good. As long as you want to stay here, you’re welcome to. Just consider it your own estate for helping us to oust the old regime.”
Stasio was surprised. He figured one of the new council members would want to take over the elder’s house.
“Yeah, that works for us,” Levka said, all his friends agreeing.
“Okay, well, we want to get started on setting up some new rules right away, so we would really like your input on it,” Scotty said.
Stasio was really astonished that the Scots would want them to help with setting up their new rule here, but he was glad they could give them some input. He only wished they could do that back home and they could take over their castles again. Though he suspected living apart from his friends wouldn’t be the same if they were once again running their own castles.
After they gave Scotty their feedback, he left and Jasmine said, “I need to return to New York.”
Everyone looked a little surprised. Probably Stasio the most of all. He thought she planned on staying with them—with him. She hadn’t indicated in any way that she wanted to leave them behind once they had helped Scotty and his people overthrow the league. He felt dejected, but at the same time, he wanted to go with her to keep her safe.
“I need to take care of a matter with an elder and his granddaughter in New York. I don’t like to leave loose ends. I certainly don’t want the elder to put another vampire like Gareth on a terminal list just because he had dated his granddaughter and then called it quits with her. The elder needs to be reported to the other elders for his own rogue behavior,” Jasmine said.
“Do you think they’ll listen to a vampire assassin? They’ll most likely believe the elder’s version of events and he could say anything.” Stasio wanted to do something about the elder also, but he didn’t want Jasmine to be terminated over it. That was the problem with the elders ruling the Leagues. They could get away with just about anything and there was no accountability to anyone for their own actions.
