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“Where are we going?” Ruric asked, his voice echoing off the ancient stone walls, nearly a thousand years old.
It was hard for her to imagine that anything could be that old.
“Don’t you remember the way through the underground passages?” Gareth asked.
“It has been a good long while since I’ve played down here—wait, I hear the water, smell the sea. We’re going to the sea gate?”
“Yes, I came by boat. It’s docked here. I’ll just take it out of here and head back to the village where I parked my car,” Gareth said.
“We’ll return to the castle after we see you safely off,” Ruric said.
“There’s no need,” Gareth said. “I’ll be—” Gareth paused talking, though he kept walking at a quickened pace.
“Jasmine stopped Pierre from going after you for the moment,”Stasio telepathically told Gareth, Ruric, and Caitlin.“They’re in the lobby talking. Arman and Levka are with me watching the situation.”
“Ha! I knew Jasmine had the hots for me,”Gareth said.
“She’s angry that Pierre is trying to kill you for the commission and take it from her.”Stasio sounded annoyed with his cousin.
“It’s a good thing you’re not really an assassin or you would know just where to find me,”Gareth said.
“Be careful, cousin. I miss the fun we had together, and I know you’re no more a rogue than any of us are.”
“Likewise, Stasio. I’m at the boat. I’m sending your friends back through the tunnel safe and sound. Thanks once again, cousin. I owe you.”
“We have your back, always,”Stasio said.
Then they ended the conversation and Gareth led them to the boat dock where his boat awaited him. He gave Caitlin a hug and smiled, his blue eyes full of mischief, and he looked so much like Stasio in that moment. “I probably couldn’t get away with that if Levka was here.” Then Gareth hugged Ruric. “Until we meet again, my old friend.”
“To the future and beyond,” Ruric said. “Chart your own destiny and if we can ever be of any help to you, you only have but to let us know.”
They parted ways, Gareth waving from his boat, and then Ruric hurried Caitlin back through the tunnels.
“I’m taking you a different way back,” Ruric said.
“Oh?”
“It’s a longer way, but it will come out near our rooms. You can cloak us, and I’ll let the others know when we’re safely back.”
“All right. So why is Gareth alone and not with all of you?” Caitlin asked. It appeared that they all really cared about him, so it seemed strange that they weren’t together.
“His older brothers are hunters, not vampires. They hunt our kind down and Gareth didn’t want us to be caught up in his problems.”
“But you’re considered rogues too.”
“Which is another reason he wants to be on his own.” Ruric smiled at her. “He doesn’t want to get caught if assassins are after us. He doesn’t believe how much help we can be to each other. He believes it’s safer for him to be on his own.”
“Maybe he will realize how important you all are to each other now.” Caitlin felt sorry for Gareth. He seemed like a likeable guy. None of them should have to be on their own like that.
“Levka,”Ruric telepathically communicated to all of them,“we are headed back to the room.”
“Let me know when you are there,”Levka said.
* * *
Jasmine pokedher finger at Pierre’s chest, furious with him when she learned from the New York League hewashere after Gareth. She’d asked her league about Stasio, but they didn’t know anything about him, saying he was probably a Welsh assassin.
“This is my case, Pierre,” she said. “Not yours. I contacted the league, and they said you asked where I had gone, knowing darn well I was after a rogue.”
