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“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 they 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?”
