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She smiled at him and kissed his mouth. “I love you too.”
Then they got quiet, and their attention shifted to Stasio as he headed back to the restroom.
Levka shook his head. “I’m gladInever get sick on a plane.”
2
Stasio usually agreed with Levka’s plans, but going to Wales and staying at his old castle? That was a recipe for disaster. But maybe Stasio was feeling so negative about it because he was so sick. Sometimes, he could manage flying on an airplane, but not when the air was this turbulent.
He settled back in his seat and finally fell asleep, only to be awakened as the plane landed. Thank the heavens.
“I got us three rooms at the Castle Royale,” Ruric said.
“Castle Royale?” Stasio was feeling more than annoyed. It was bad enough that the castle didn’t belong to him any longer, but the name should have remained the same, for nostalgia’s sake, at the very least. “I hate to see all the changes they have made.”
They headed for the car rental counter.
“Let’s buy some things that we’ll need before we go to the castle,” Levka said, then added telepathically,“But after we’re settled, Ruric and Stasio can make a blood run. Then we’ll come up with some plans for what we’re going to do as far as staying long-term somewhere.”
Stasio glanced at a girl watching them as she made her way to the rental cars. Maybe she was just intrigued by the four males in the party. But he hadn’t lived as long as he had without learning to be wary. Instead of warning the others, he backed away from them and walked over to the other side of the row of cars and joined the girl.
“Do I know you?” Stasio didn’t expect her to say anything but no. He didn’t knowher. And she probably wasn’t interested in them either, but maybe she was curious about them since they all appeared to be teens like her.
“I don’t know.” Her lips smiled fractionally, but the smile was pure show. “Do you?”
He cleared his throat and noticed his companions were quiet, listening in on his conversation with their enhanced hearing, most likely wondering why Stasio would be checking out the girl. They knew he wouldn’t have her join them to offer Caitlin blood. Only the rogues consistently fed on humans for the power and control. As if the rogues truly had any power over the humans other than their ability to hypnotically entice their victims to give into their needs. Otherwise, it just wasn’t done. Well, except in an emergency.
Which, unfortunately, Stasio and his companions had to do quite often when it came to finding forms of travel and places to live.
Private blood banks were stocked and monitored for every occasion, and at many locations where vampires lived. The vampire, under the guise of a blood donor organization, paid humans a goodly sum to donate their blood, though the humans wouldn’t know that the blood was used for vampire consumption. Likewise, the vampires had to pay a premium for the blood, which was why some chose to get their meal from the source. The only other time they could do so was in an emergency. But still, procedures had to be followed, cases reported and documented, and reviewed. Not that all vampires, except Arman, who diligently tried not to break any rules, did so. If they were on the run, like Stasio and his friends, then protocol went out the window. Which madethemrogues. Though they saw themselves as a different class of rogues. They only sought to help others in need, no matter if they were human or vampire. They hadn’t intended to break any rules just to defy authority.
Someday, they would like to be able to be more open about who they were. Even though most of the vampires were good guys, humans didn’t always trust them. And sometimes, for good reason.
Police forces, or individual citizens sometimes, hired vampire hunters to eliminate rogue vampires. But who was to say that the vampire was a rogue? If a vampire wasn’t, yet was targeted for termination, why wouldn’t he fight back to save his own life? So, Stasio and his friends kept a low profile, and at least with the Dallas League, the vampires were never to get involved in human affairs. Let them figure it out for themselves. But if an innocent human needed rescuing, Stasio and his friends had defied the vampire league rules on several occasions. Mostly, they hadn’t got caught at it. Luckily, this last time they got involved, the police thought the situation between them and the boys who had targeted the girls was gang-related and had nothing to do with vampires. Thankfully.
They were fine for now, able to go for long periods without needing blood and they ate and drank human food and liquids, which helped them to blend in. Except for Caitlin. She was so newly turned that she needed small amounts of blood more frequently, at least twice a day, sometimes managing to skip a day if they were lucky. He hoped she would soon be able to last longer between feedings. They could go a considerable time without any blood themselves, but they’d been vampires for a very long time. It was hard to remember what it was like when they had first been turned.
Stasio glanced at the pretty girl, her hair long and dark and shiny. Maybe because he was so fair-haired, dark-haired girls appealed to him. He smiled. “Are you just visiting Wales?” He thought she had an American accent. New York, maybe, but so slight it was hard to tell. It was impossible to recognize the vampires from the humans. Unless the vampire showed off his extended canines.
“Here’s my row.” She didn’t answer his question and headed down the row of compact rental cars with keys in hand.
Stasio tried not to make anything of the fact that she didn’t answer him. She probably thought it was none of his business concerning what she was doing there, though he wondered about her being alone in a foreign country. Maybe she had family or friends somewhere nearby, but she wanted to drive her own rental car. Or maybe she was wary of his intentions.
Then he wondered how she could get a rental car when she looked like she was around nineteen or so and most rental car places didn’t rent out to teens. They only got theirs because Ruric was so good at hacking into computer systems and making reservations, but also, as long as they could use their vampiric abilities on the rental clerk to persuade her that they were of legal age, no problem. They could tell the person they were a hundred years old, and he would believe them.
Except in Caitlin’s case. She was a witch, and she could use different skills, but hadn’t needed to yet.
In the worst way, Stasio wanted to talk further with the dark-haired girl, get to know her, and…bite her. It was still a natural instinct, even if they had rules against such behavior. They were human after all—just changed because of the Black Death that had killed so many. Some who had survived the plague had enhanced abilities—to see in the dark of night, to fly, to telepathically communicate, to shift into animal forms even—the older the vampire was, the more enhanced their abilities. The only real downside was the need for blood.
For Caitlin, they couldn’t risk going to a league-run blood bank and alerting authorities that they were back in the area. They would have to break into a human-run one.
The girl disappeared behind some vans, and Stasio hurried to join his friends as they headed down a different row.
“Well?”Levka asked telepathically when Stasio didn’t share his concerns right away.
“She is not one of us,”Stasio communicated back. At least if she was, she hadn’t responded to his telepathic comment. Then again, she hadn’t responded to his question spoken aloud either. After having lived so many years, it was more gut instinct than anything else. Unless she was an assassin, a vampire who was sent out by a league to terminate a rogue vampire, he figured she was just a woman who looked young enough to be a teen. He didn’t believe the league would send a young woman to do the job when there were five of them she would have to eliminate. Though he and his friends wouldn’t be as suspicious of a single female either. They were careful to channel their psychic conversation with each other so that no other vampires could listen in on their private talk.
“And you know this because?” Levka asked, ever wary.
