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Then she noticed the redhead, the brunette, and the boy in the wheelchair behind him. All smiled at her except for the one sitting in the wheelchair. Did he feel bad that he was confined?
He quickly looked away from her. Did he think she pitied him? Taking a deep breath, she realized at once that she did.
“Hi,” she said, not usually that outgoing with people she didn’t know. But there was something about them that made her feel more welcome than the group she came with from her own high school. Snobs, all of them. She was an outsider. A foster teen. Someone who didn’t belong. “You must all be from the same school.”
“They said they’d let us into our room early,” the one in the wheelchair said to his friends, ignoring her.
His voice was brusque, and again she sensed he felt embarrassed for being different. Disregarding his rudeness, she stuck her hand out to him, determined to offer her friendship. “I’m Caitlin MacEvin from Orlando, Florida.”
The boy ignored her. She took his hand and shook it anyway. But he didn’t shake her hand back, and she noted then he didn’t seem to have any strength. Horrified that he might be dying and wished to be left alone, she felt a twinge of remorse.
His brown eyes darkened to midnight when he looked up at her, then he turned to the redhead and said with an authoritative voice, “To my room.”
She stepped aside, and the boys continued on their way. Each of them glanced back at her, warmly smiling, except for the one in the wheelchair. Apparently, at least as far as they were concerned, they liked her and maybe hoped she could bring their friend out of his shell. Caitlin loved dealing with lost causes, except when it came to Alicia. But this guy, she was going to befriend. At least she hoped.
Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Chapter 3
Levka shook his head as Ruric helped him onto the gaudy pink and orange floral couch sitting beside the suite’s large balcony window. The black, orange, and gray zigzag carpeting was enough to make him dizzy again. Two queen-sized beds covered in the same wild flamingo pinks, orange, and black, with touches of turquoise hurt his eyes. What was worse, black mirror tiles covered the walls and reflected the bright colors, making it appear there were double the number of brightly-colored couches and beds in the surprisingly spacious stateroom. The robin’s egg blue of the Applewood Bed & Breakfast Inn looked good about now.
Turning his attention to Stasio, Levka said, “I swear you dropped your backpack on that girl’s feet on purpose.”
“Not I.” Stasio grinned, opened the class door to the balcony, and looked out. “She’s pretty and she likes you. Good start, I should think.”
The sea breeze blew a tangy fishy smell into the air conditioned room.
“She pities me.” Levka held his chest to quiet the discomfort.
“She likes you.” Ruric unpacked a bag. “Do you want me to bring her to you so you can…feed later?”
Levka growled. “I told you already, I only want bottles of blood. And if I ever finish healing, I won’t even need that for a few days.”
“I’m going to check out the facilities and the girls.” Stasio waggled his blond brows.
Levka glanced at Arman.
“I’ll go with him.” Arman opened the door to the room. “After a while, they’ll be calling the lifeboat drill.”
“I’m not going.”
“Everyone has to go, Levka. Maybe Caitlin MacEvin will be assigned to the same boat.” Stasio shut the door behind Arman and himself.
Ruric turned on the T.V. “She was cute, you know. You haven’t shown any interest in a girl in eons, Levka. Maybe she would be good for you.”
“Go, Ruric. Keep the others out of trouble. I don’t want to hear this nonsense from you or any of the others about this girl.”
“Do you realize whenever you begin to get better after you’re injured this badly, you’re an ogre?” Ruric grinned, then left Levka alone, like he wanted.
Levka had seen Caitlin MacEvin speaking to the blond with the spiked hair and hard blue eyes. What bothered him most was her words to him, “So be forewarned.” And the guy’s cavalier response, “Really. See ya around then.”
At first, he thought the guy was her boyfriend, but not after he heard the tone of their voices, or the words they spoke. Was he stalking her?
Levka stared at the T.V. but didn’t see the screen, his mind studying the memory of her, the way her blue eyes and lips smiled at him, the way the ocean breeze caught her black hair and caressed her cheeks, the warmth of her hand in his.
He snorted. She pitied him. Him, a prince of darkness and former prince of Wales. He who could barely stand—but had the strength of several grown men when he was uninjured—would not be pitied by a mere mortal girl.
The public address system crackled in his room: “The lifeboat drill requires all passengers to secure their lifejackets and go immediately to your lifeboat station. You must use the diagram in your cabin, and you must use the stairs as all elevators will be shut down during the lifeboat drill. The lifeboat drill is required of all passengers, and crewmembers will be inspecting passengers’ rooms, so no one can remain behind.”
