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“He’s living in New York?”
“Yes.”
“What will he think about this situation between you and me?”
“That you’re a rogue and you’ll get me into trouble. He would take care of you in a heartbeat, but I’ll protect you. Unless you begin flirting with some other vampiress. Then the deal is off.”
Stasio smiled at her.
“Ugh, you have that same smile, only a lot more devilish. I bet all the vampiresses fall for you.”
“Not me. Just when I believe we’re going to settle down for a while, we’re on the run again. It doesn’t help any potential relationships at all.”
“Not unless you drag that girl into your world, and she has no escape.”
He laughed. “You still have a choice.”
“What about you? Do you have any family left?”
“No. They died when we were turned. My friends, Levka and the others were my best friends growing up and they are like family. Well, except I do have my cousins, Gareth and his brothers. They were not happy that Gareth and I had become vampires, but the plague dealt with everyone in a different way. I always figured what didn’t kill us made us stronger. At first, Gareth’s brothers only associated with other hunters. They didn’t want to be seen being involved with us. They couldn’t see vampires as anything but predators. But over the years, as we began to establish blood banks for ourselves, paying for blood, just like the blood banks were set up for humans in need, the hunters began to change their view of us. Despite this, it would be years between times that we saw his brothers. Of course, they stayed in Wales, and we had to leave. And Gareth wasn’t in Wales a lot either.”
“Why wasn’t he with you? It would seem to me if you’re such good friends, you would want to stick together. Especially when Levka and you said being together meant you were better able to protect one another.”
“He felt with all of us being together doing what the League said was wrong, we would be more at risk. So he has always gone on his own. Not only because he didn’t want to get caught up with what we got involved in, but he didn’t want us to be in trouble for his actions either,” Stasio said.
“Okay.” That was admirable.
“Have you ever targeted a vampire that you felt the League had wronged?”
She took a deep breath. “We’re only told who we’re to take down and where they’re located. Or at least their last known location. Sometimes we know who they are right away. We get a name and know that the person had taken the life of several innocent humans. I have no qualms about eliminating them before they do any more harm. But some, we really have no idea about. Gareth had done something in New York to earn the League’s wrath and he was put on the list. They contacted the Welsh League, and they gave them their okay to send me to go after him in Wales to eliminate him.”
“You don’t want to know what he’d supposedly done wrong?” Stasio asked.
“Yeah. Now I do. Sure.”
Stasio called up his cousin. “Hey, Gareth, Jasmine wants to know why the New York League targeted you.” He put it on the speakerphone.
Gareth laughed. “Nowshe wants to know? Who signed off on it? Elder Michaels?”
“Yeah.” Jasmine suddenly became suspicious of the elder’s motives since Gareth knew just who had put him on the list.
“Figures. I was dating his granddaughter, Edith, and she was completely spoiled. I told her I couldn’t date her any longer because she was always wanting more and more. Jewelry, the best dining out, nothing but classy for her. Which would have been okay if she’d been appreciative of it, but she wasn’t in the least bit grateful, as if the world owed her everything on a golden platter. Anyway, when I wouldn’t see her any longer, she was furious. She texted me, called me up, berating me as a worthless vampire that was beneath her. I guess she made up some story about me to her grandfather and he put a hit out on me.”
“No,” Jasmine said, elongating the word. That was truly awful, and here Jasmine would have terminated Gareth for no good reason.
“Yeah. You know it doesn’t take much or doing anything really bad to be put on a termination list,” Gareth said.
“Wow. That’s all?” Jasmine was shocked to the core.
“Aye. That’s why you can’t trust all the elders or their rules. They need to have more accountability,” Gareth said. “Not blind faith in handing out true justice.”
“Okay. Sorry, Gareth, for not learning the truth of the matter before I came after you. Of course, if I had and refused to take the assignment, they would have sent someone else eventually.”
“Well, I have no idea what my ex-girlfriend actually told her grandfather. I never told her about my past, and I never did anything that she could have known about that would have defined me as a rogue.”
“Then she and her grandfather are both rogues!” Jasmine said.
“Correct.”
