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Caitlin attempted to move around Levka, but expecting the worst, he blocked her view of Vlad.
“You didn’t even try to see me for a year, Vlad!” she shouted.
“Willing to fight for her?” Vlad showed his fangs and lunged forward, but Arman appeared and pounced on him from behind.
Levka continued to shield Caitlin’s view of them as Stasio got into the brawl.
“Let me see him! I can help,” Caitlin said, sounding highly annoyed and extremely frustrated.
Levka shook his head as he thought how one sweet human girl could fight a vampire with a dark-hearted lust for her, and kept her behind him so she couldn’t witness what was happening.
Monkeys and birds chattered in the forest, making a raucous melody, hopefully masking Vlad’s hisses.
Before either Stasio or Arman could do much damage to Vlad, he vanished.
“Stop this, Vlad!” Caitlin said, still trying to get around Levka.
“We’ll get cleaned up and meet you at the second fall,” Arman said, his and Stasio’s mouths bloodied from the fight.
They both disappeared.
“Vlad’s gone,” Levka announced, allowing Caitlin to see for herself.
Caitlin stared at the trail where there was no sign of anyone. “Where’d he go?”
“He must have worried someone might come. Let’s go to the second waterfall. Then it’ll be time to return to the ship.”
“But I thought he was going to fight you.”
“I did, too, but he just took off without another word.” He took hold of her hand, noting the way she kept looking for signs of Vlad.
By the time they made the forty-five minute hike to the taller fall, an overheated Caitlin, her cheeks flushed, hurried to strip out of her clothes. Spying Arman and Stasio nearby, she waved, then dove into the pool.
Breaking the surface of the water, she said, “Cold, cold.”
Stasio and Arman joined Levka at the water’s edge and though Levka tried to tell himself she was okay, there were fewer people here to rescue her if she had a panic attack.
“I got a good bite into Vlad’s neck,” Arman said.
“As did I,” Stasio added. “He won’t be bothering the two of you for the rest of the day.”
“He’s going to continue to be a problem.” Lekva folded his arms while he watched his mermaid swim in the glass-like water. “Vlad couldn’t make up his mind about Caitlin before, but now it seems no amount of dissuading him—”
“Short of killing him will stop him,” Arman finished Levka’s communication.
Levka nodded. “But I can’t kill him in front of Caitlin. We have to be alone.”
Stasio shoved his hands in his pockets. “No deal. Too risky. For nine hundred years we’ve been a team. You’re not facing Vlad alone. This isn’t medieval times. You’ve decided you want Caitlin, and she doesn’t want Vlad. That’s as far as it needs to go.”
Levka looked at Arman.
He shrugged. “It’s as Stasio says. We’ve been watching each other’s backs too long to stand on the sidelines now. One for all, and all for one. It’s always been our way, and no sense changing it now.”
Caitlin climbed out of the water. Chill bumps dotted every inch of her bluish skin. “Brrrrr,” she bit out between chattering teeth.
Levka helped her into her clothes. “The hike down will help warm you up.” He rubbed her back as they headed down the path.
“I wasn’t afraid. Did you see?”
