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“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
He wondered why she seemed so bothered that he’d be left alone. Defenseless? Helpless? Well, he was kind of that for the moment. But it didn’t bother him, too much, except for the part of being weak.
“What’s wrong, Caitlin?” With his vampiric gaze, he caught her gaze and held her captive. For a moment, he wanted to control her, to will her to take him back to his cabin, and offer her blood to him. Not in a hundred years had he felt the urge so strong to have a female companion.
“I…” She turned away from him, breaking the connection.
Not since Cassandra had been in his life had he ever met a girl who could break the bond he made between them. He seized Caitlin’s wrist, wondering if in his weakness he’d lost the ability to control a mortal’s mind now, too. “Caitlin, what scares you about my being alone?” He forged the connection with her mind again, but once more she resisted and pulled away. Again, he lost the ability to find out what troubled her, distressing him even more than being confined to the wheelchair.
“I’ll send a porter to help you. You’re right. I have to keep an eye on Alicia.” Caitlin hurried off, spoke to a man dressed in a white crew uniform, then dashed down a spiral staircase.
He felt he was seeing dear Cassandra all over again, except not light-haired and dark-eyed like her, but raven-haired and blue-eyed. The memory of Cassandra’s life slipping away as he cradled her head in his lap filled his vision. He wanted to cry out like he did then, kill the bastards who had murdered her, satisfy his need for revenge, but nothing would bring her back to him.
The porter headed in his direction, breaking into his morbid thoughts, but Ruric’s voice behind Levka heated his blood. “I’ll take him, thanks.”
Levka jerked his head around, sending another shard of pain through his chest. He glared at Ruric, who grinned back at him. “I knew you liked the girl.”
“Where were you guys?”
“Around and about. You know if this had been a real drill, we would have had you in the lifeboat already.”
“Where are the others?”
“Getting to know a couple of the girls. We’re supposed to be on a vacation, too. As soon as you’re feeling better—”
“What about Stasio? Is Arman keeping an eye on him?”
“They’re double-dating, sort of.” Ruric took Levka back down the elevator to their room. “I’ll baby-sit Caitlin’s foster sister so you can spend time with Caitlin.”
“Forget it.”
“She’s got the hots for you. I wouldn’t let her slip away.” When Levka gave Ruric another glare meant to make his friend quit this nonsense, Ruric smiled and unlocked the door. “Did you want to change for dinner? First night, we have arranged seating and—”
“We’re sitting together, right?”
Ruric wheeled him into their room. “Yes. We’re seated together. But there’s room for four others, eight to a table. A few small tables are reserved for couples. If you want me to make different arrangements for you and Caitlin…”
“I’ll get room service.”
“They don’t offer room service on this cruise.” Ruric flipped through the shirts hanging in the closet. “It’s a dress-up night. Which shirt do you want to wear?” He held out a white one and a pin-striped shirt.
“Got anything black?”
Ruric gave an exaggerated sigh. “Whatever His Majesty desires. She’ll think you’re in mourning. Or a Goth.”
“Quit it, Ruric. No more about the girl.”
Ruric handed him the shirt. “She’s like Cassandra, isn’t she?”
Levka glowered at him.
“Isn’t she?”
Levka tried to jerk off his shirt, but shrill stabs of pain streaked through every nerve.
Ruric helped him to change. “I couldn’t read her mind. She’s like Cassandra. She must be telepathic, I think, but very controlled. And despite what you say, I know you want her.”
***
