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She frowned at him, then sipped her water, her whole body chilling a bit. He hadn’t lied, yet she was disturbed by his response. His comment was a typical response from a vampire, who hadn’t established a better alibi. She realized her mistake. As a vampire, he could have regulated his heartbeat so that he didn’t appear to be lying to her. That sure changed things between them. Then the thought occurred to her. What if he and his friends were vampire assassins too? He said he moved all over. Often, they did, looking for new contracts, looking to end a rogue vampire’s existence.
She sure didn’t need any competition. Gareth washerjob. She was certain Stasio was Welsh, or had lived there some time ago, and so he could very well have gotten a contract locally to take Gareth down, even though he said he’d been in Florida most recently. That could be his cover.
“So you’re here just to see the sights?” Stasio asked.
“Yeah. I’ve never been to Wales before. What about you?”
“Me too. First time for everything.”
Again, she was sure he wasn’t telling the truth. His heart rate was calm and consistent with speaking the truth, but his slight Welsh accent was telling her a whole other story.
Their meals were served then, and they ate mostly in silence. She was glad she could still enjoy meals and make it appear she was still human. Especially around vampires on her target list.
* * *
Stasio couldn’t believethat his cousin Gareth was here. The guy was a total screw-up, furious still that he was a vampire and not a hunter, even after all these years. If he was on anyone’s terminal list—which, knowing him, he could very well be—that meant a hunter or vampire assassin could be looking for him also. That’s all they needed—was for one to be after Gareth and find Stasio and the rest of his friends here.
Stasio wasn’t surprised Caitlin had called him on his cell phone though. She was trying to get the word to him without telepathically communicating it to him. He would have to remind her to text messages because a vampire close by could hear both their voices on a cell phone.
Gareth was as bold as they were for staying at Stasio’s castle. Unless he was just passing through. He used to live here too, with two of his brothers, but they’d become hunters and hadn’t been turned into vampires like Gareth had. Which had instantly put them on opposing sides of the battlefield.
Not too many knew they were brothers, Gareth being the youngest. They’d kept their distance from him all these years and Stasio knew that had to hurt. Stasio figured that was why Gareth kept getting into trouble. Stasio wondered if Gareth’s hunter brothers ever thought about him. Stasio knew Gareth thought about them. He’d been close to them before the Black Death had taken its toll.
Stasio finished his medium rare prime rib and sat back in his seat. Jasmine was still working on hers. It was just as rare as his. Not that humans didn’t eat their meat that way too, but it just made him consider that she wasn’t strictly human.
“You sure put that meal away fast,” Jasmine said.
“Yeah. It’s a bad habit. I’m always eating on the run, so I have to do so quickly. Do you like the prime rib?”
“Hmm, yeah, and being that it’s free, it’s even better.”
He smiled, thinking about the strings-attached comment. He really would like to take her out, to show her the countryside, but not if she was a vampire. Not that he wouldn’t love to have a vampire girlfriend, but being on the run all the time made that difficult. He certainly didn’t want to get a girlfriend into the same mess he was in.
“Maybe you would like to take in some sights with me,” he ventured. Okay, so her comment about being independently wealthy was a vampire saying, though some humans actually were. He couldn’t assume she was a vampire for sure. He’d been listening to her heartbeat, every time she’d answered his questions, and not once had it accelerated. Which meant she could be controlling it, like he was controlling his. The only time hers had increased rapidly was when he’d said he had the same kind of income.
When he’d finished texting Caitlin back, he’d noticed Jasmine was looking at a place behind him. He’d caught her glancing in that direction a few times. Nowhere else, as if she was watching someone. He didn’t want to make it obvious that he had noticed, so he didn’t want to look over his shoulder to see what had stolen her attention from time-to-time.
She finished her baked potato and was about to take a stab at her broccoli, saying, “Sightseeing? No, I don’t have the—” Her gaze rivetted to the same place behind Stasio, and he fought looking over his shoulder to see what the matter was.
Her heartrate had accelerated, and she quickly set her fork down on the plate. “I hadn’t realized how late it was.”
“You haven’t looked at a watch.”
She pointed to the wall behind him. “Beautiful grandfather clock.”
He glanced over his shoulder and saw the clock his grandfather had purchased centuries ago. Stasio was glad it was still there.
“Sorry. Thanks so much for dinner, but I’ve got to go.”
He stood, trying to use his human movement, rather than his much speedier vampire movement, and cupped her face before he kissed her. It was a sweet kiss, yet he felt his blood stirring for more, and both their hearts were pounding.
When he released her, her cheeks were full of color. “No strings attached. Truly. Enjoy your stay in Wales,” he said.
She just stared at him, as if she’d forgotten her urgent mission.
“Unless youwantstrings attached.” He smiled.
She gave him a dark smile back. “Youare full of surprises.”
