“Unless you want strings attached.” He smiled.

  She gave him a dark smile back. “You are full of surprises.”

  “Always. And there’s more where that came from.”

  “No doubt.” She kissed his cheek, then hurried out of the restaurant. He couldn’t help feeling dismayed that he couldn’t have spent more time with her. As soon as she was gone, he took his seat again, waiting for the bill. He realized then he hadn’t tried to compel her to do something. Man, whenever he was around her, he could barely think straight. He reached out to Levka. “Have you seen any sign of Gareth?”

  “He was in the restaurant with you. As soon as Ruric saw Gareth coming out of the restaurant, he went to speak to him, but your new girlfriend followed Gareth out. So Ruric did a quick turnaround. Are you certain she’s not a vampiress?”

  “At this rate, there are too many coincidences. I would say she could be. From all outward appearances, she’s human.”

  “But?”

  “She’s independently wealthy.”

  Levka swore telepathically.

  “I know.”

  “She could still be a hunter, or a vampire assassin and she’s probably here to kill him. Unless we want to save Gareth’s hide, we need to not have any contact with him and not see any more of her.”

  “Unless she’s just one of us and clueless.”

  “How likely is that?” Levka asked.

  “Unlikelier by the second. Unless I can change her mind, if she is after him.”

  “Do you even want to? He gives our kind a bad name.” Levka sounded serious.

  “We give our kind a bad name—at least as far as the league thinks. Listen, we’ve all heard the rumors, but do we know if they’re really the truth where Gareth is concerned? No. I vote in favor of giving him the benefit of the doubt. What do you think they’re saying about us?” Stasio would not give up on his cousin, like his brothers had.

  “That we’re as much trouble as Gareth.”

  “Right.” Stasio finished eating his meal.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Levka totally surprised Stasio by asking him the question.

  Usually Levka came up with the plan and everyone agreed with him. Or made alternative suggestions, and then he decided what they would do. Stasio supposed it was because Gareth was his cousin, and Stasio had already spent some time with Jasmine.

  “Her name is Jasmine, and I’m going to track her down,” Stasio said.

  “Be careful. If she is an assassin and she learns all of us are also on the league’s terminal list, we’ll all be in trouble.” Levka paused. “We’ll help you with this. If any of us see her, we’ll inform you and you can let us know how you want to handle it. In the meantime, we’re trying to reach Gareth.”

  “Thanks, Levka.”

  “Don’t make us regret it.”

  “I’ll try not to.” Stasio couldn’t say for sure, because if he contacted Gareth, and she knew he was related to him, she could very well plan to take him down also. Especially, if she’d learned he was in just as much trouble. That was, if she was a vampire, or a huntress and here to eliminate his cousin.

  Stasio paid the bill, then hurried out of the restaurant, and practically ran into Jasmine, thinking she was in hot pursuit of Gareth. He really hadn’t expected her to be right there. “Sorry,” he said to her.

  “It looks like you have some urgent business to take care of also,” she said.

  “If you won’t sightsee with me, I’ll be stuck going with my friends.”

  “Stuck. Seems an odd way to describe doing things with them.”

  He smiled. “I guess stuck isn’t quite the word I had in mind, but if I can’t take a beautiful woman out to see the countryside instead, being stuck with my friends sounds like it fits the scenario.”

  Jasmine smiled at him. “You are a charmer.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Do you want to take a walk around the gardens?”

  He wanted to go much farther away than that, to prove to himself she wasn’t after Gareth. If she was sticking close to the castle where Gareth could be staying, and not just getting a bite to eat, Stasio’s worst nightmare could be realized. No way did he want to terminate Jasmine. He only eliminated other vampires who were attempting to kill him. So, it was always a defensive measure. Though, if she was trying to kill him, he would have to defend himself.

  He saw his friends coming, minus Caitlin. He assumed they wanted to meet Jasmine so they could learn what they could about her. Did they believe she distracted him too much? Or that she’d cast a spell over him, and he would let down his guard? As wary as he and the others were, his guard was always up. Well, except for the part about compelling her to do something.

  “Just the garden?” he asked.

  “For now. Sure. But it appears your friends want to check up on you, or check me out.”

  When Levka drew close, she stuck her hand out to shake his, as if she knew he was in charge. He hesitated to respond, his gaze steady on hers, and Stasio knew he was trying to will her to do something. Like Stasio should have done. But a vampire, or a hunter, would know he was attempting that on her. She dropped the offer of a handshake and smiled. “I’m Jasmine, and you are?”

  “Levka. This is Arman, and that’s Ruric. Caitlin wasn’t feeling well, so she’s getting some sleep. We came down to eat, however. Are you just visiting Wales?”

  “Yes. And we might as well…cut to the chase.” She telepathically said to the collected group, “Have you lived long?”

  Rarely did humans have the telepathic gift. The same with hunters. Caitlin had been an exception to the rule. Which meant Jasmine had to be a vampire.

  Levka gave her a dark smile. “Yes. You?”

  “From the beginning. Now that we have that out of the way, I’m not exactly here on vacation. Are you?”

  “We are,” Stasio said, speaking out. They had no intention of telling her why they were here.

  “Sightseeing,” Jasmine said.

  “Yes.” Stasio glanced at his friends.

  “We’re going into the restaurant to eat lunch. We’ll talk to you later,” Levka said to Stasio. “Nice to meet a fellow traveler,” he added, speaking to Jasmine.

  “Likewise.”

  Stasio took Jasmine’s hand and walked her to the gardens. It was still laid out very much the way his great grandmother had built it centuries ago. The rock borders, flowers, and vegetables, but now there were fountains and waterfalls.

  “This is beautiful,” Jasmine said.

  “It is. If you were turned early on, where were you living then?”

  “London. You?”

  “Here.”

  She smiled. “You could really show me the sights after all.” She seemed to like the idea, and for once, he relaxed a little.

  “I could.”

  Then she turned and was staring at someone. Her heart started beating faster and Stasio turned to see who she was watching. She pulled Stasio in for a kiss.

  It was Gareth, and Stasio knew that she was after him. She wasn’t a huntress, but an assassin. He telepathically said to Gareth, as he was still kissing her, “This is your cousin Stasio, and I suspect you have an assassin after you.”

  Gareth touched a red rose and was looking at it. He smiled darkly. “Stasio, my friend. Are you close by?”

  “Near a fountain in the garden, but I believe the woman I’m with is a vampire assassin, and she’s after you.”

  “Not you too?”

  “I don’t think she knows about me. You need to leave. I’ll try to stall her here. Just leave.”

  “I owe you, cousin. Are the rest of the princes with you?” Gareth wandered through a gate into another section of the garden.

  “Yeah, and Levka picked up a mate.”

  “You’re kidding. Levka? No way.”

  “He did. Just leave, Gareth.”

  “You’re not going to take the assassin out for me, for us?” Gareth asked.

  “No. She’s not after us.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Stasio didn’t want to tell him, but he went ahead and did for his cousin’s safety. “Jasmine.”

  “Jasmine. So I’ll take her out.”

  “No, go, Gareth. Leave, before she can eliminate you.”

  “Alright. I’m on my way out of here. I can’t believe you’re hung up on a vampire assassin!”

  Then Stasio escorted Jasmine to another section of the gardens, glad she didn’t want to follow Gareth. He hoped Gareth would just leave. Knowing his cousin, Stasio could imagine him wanting to destroy the assassin, then leave.

  Stasio took her all over the gardens, saving the rose gardens for last. When he walked into them with her, Gareth was gone.

  Stasio sighed with relief.

  4

  Jasmine had a job to do. She shouldn’t trust this group of vampires. She knew it was foolhardy to do so. If they were from Wales, they could very well be assassins after her target. She never knew when her league would put out a call to the place where they thought the target was headed and then the local league would send their own vampires, even though she had permission to take down the rogue. They would do that sometimes, to ensure the target was eliminated. She would be so pissed if that was the case. She wouldn’t earn a dollar for the job, and she would have spent all that money flying out here for nothing.

  “There’s a beach down this way. Would you like to check it out?” Stasio asked.

  “Sure. That would be fun.” She knew she couldn’t take Gareth out anytime now. She had to sneak into his room and eliminate him sometime tonight. “So what’s the deal with your sick friend? Caitlin? As long as we live, we don’t usually get sick.”

  Jasmine hadn’t seen how badly wounded Levka had been when the human teen had knifed him.

  “She’s new…” Stasio paused. He hadn’t meant to mention Caitlin was newly turned. Ever. That was a no-no with the league. No turning humans. And if Jasmine knew Levka had turned Caitlin, she would know he was a rogue. Because Stasio and the others remained by his side and didn’t turn him in, they were also considered rogues.

  They were walking down the stairs to the beach and Jasmine stopped to look up at Stasio quizzically. “New…?”

  Stasio shrugged. “Something new. Virus? Bad blood? We don’t know exactly.”

  Jasmine studied him for the longest time. She hadn’t been born yesterday. She had to know something more was wrong. Like that Caitlin was newly turned. But maybe she couldn’t imagine anyone being so bold to turn a human and try to get away with it. He should have said Caitlin was experiencing jet lag!

  “Hmm, that’s a shame. I’ve had some emergency medical training if you want me to see what ails her.”

  If Stasio said no way, Jasmine might believe he was hiding what the problem was. Which he would be. If he told Jasmine she should do that, then the problem would be if Caitlin made a slip up. She was so new at this, it was easy for her to do so.

  “Sure. That would be great. I’m sure she would appreciate it.”

  “Okay. Do you still want to see the beach?” Jasmine asked.

  “Yeah, let’s do that and then we can run up to see her.” Stasio hoped she would have had some blood by then and be feeling better. He telepathically communicated to Caitlin, “Jasmine wants to see you and learn what’s wrong with you. Don’t respond to my message.”

  Caitlin really couldn’t do so safely, when a vampire could hear her side of the telepathic communication. Then Jasmine would wonder why Caitlin had responded to Stasio’s comment, but hadn’t spoken back in private.

  Then Stasio told Levka what was going on. Stasio was sure his friend of old would be angry with him and want to terminate Jasmine himself. The woman was poking her very pretty nose into places it shouldn’t be.

  “Have you dated much?” Jasmine asked Stasio, throwing him off balance as they reached the sandy beach.

  “No. You?”

  “No. It’s kind of hard when you’re independently wealthy. If I were in school, I might meet more guys my age. You’re not in school either, I take it,” Jasmine said.

  “No. How boring would that be?”

  She smiled and took his hand and strolled along the beach with him. “It’s beautiful here. I would like to watch the sunset on the water. Wouldn’t you?”

  “I have, but of course in the company of a beautiful woman, it would be even more spectacular.”

  “I should have known you were like me. You’re way too cultured to be someone from this day and age.”

  “I keep up with the changes.” Though Stasio did tend to long for the past.

  “Caitlin’s had blood and feeling much better. She’s coming down to dinner. You can tell your girlfriend that Caitlin’s fine,” Levka communicated to Stasio.

  “Will do. And quit calling her my girlfriend. She’s an assassin,” Stasio said back. He was trying not to be annoyed about it, because if she had been just a vampiress, he would have truly liked having her as his girlfriend. But she was bad news.

  Jasmine really liked Stasio. She knew nothing could come of their relationship, not with the kind of job she had. But for the time being she enjoyed his company. She wondered what was up with Caitlin though. At first, she thought maybe she was newly turned, but when Stasio was agreeable to Jasmine seeing her to determine what was wrong, she dismissed the notion. Still, it nagged at her.

  Then Jasmine saw Pierre Rivers, one of the best assassins for his youthful age. He was seventeen, like her, in human years. He’d already stolen five of her jobs from her, assassinating the rogue vampires before she had a chance to. She was certain if he was here, it wasn’t for rest and recreation. She didn’t think he ever took a break from the job, he was so determined to eliminate the rogues who would make a bad name for them. An admirable trait, if he was going after his own targets and not hers!

  Since he was here, she assumed he had to be assigned a rogue to kill and she was certain it had to be the one she was supposed to take out. She wanted to bite him! Had he seen her? If he had, he would take out Gareth before she could safely do so tonight.

  Pierre had that going for him. He lived on the edge; any daring missions would do. If he wasn’t an assassin, he would have been the perfect rogue. At this rate, she would pay those who commissioned her to take him down. He glanced in her direction, as if he’d suddenly realized someone was watching him and she quickly pulled Stasio in for a kiss.

  She was surprised at how he responded. Not shocked, not offended, but eager to kiss her back. Their lips pressed together, and for a few minutes, she was so enthralled with the way Stasio was kissing her, she almost forgot about the threat down the beach.

  When they finally broke free of the kiss to catch their breaths, he smiled wickedly at her. “Trying to ditch an old boyfriend that just showed up?”

  She was surprised he would know what she was up to, yet he’d played along so perfectly, she’d wondered if he was an assassin again too.

  What if he was after her prey also?

  She wanted to groan out loud. She knew she shouldn’t ask the question, but what if he was an assassin and he wouldn’t mind teaming up with her? Then they could split the proceeds of the job and beat Pierre out of the mission. She would rather have only half the contract fee than lose it all to Pierre. Or Stasio and his friends either.

  “Are you an assassin?” she asked.

  He smiled. “You have nothing to worry about as far as it concerns me.”

  She knew it wasn’t a good idea to let on that she was an assassin, in the event he was a rogue. But she really thought they could work together, and she really did like him. “Unless you’re after Gareth.”

  His smile slipped a little. She knew it. He was contracted to take out Gareth.

  “Well, we have a problem. Pierre Rivers is here too, and unless I’m mistaken, he’s here to eliminate my target. Yours too, if you’re after Gareth also. I propose that you and I work together to take him down and split the commission. Pierre has cost me five jobs already and I don’t want to lose another one to him. Unless…your friends are assassins too and you don’t need me.”

  “They’re just here on vacation. They’re part of my cover, in truth,” Stasio said. “I would love to work with you.”

  “Good. We can discuss plans later, but I’m thinking tonight when Gareth returns to his room, we’ll take him out then.”

  “What about Pierre?”

  “He’s a wild card. He always does the unexpected. That’s how he has stolen my cases in the past. He’ll hit a vampire in broad daylight even. I don’t know how he does it, without someone thinking he’s a rogue and putting out a contract on him.”

  “Some assassins are borderline rogues, or full-fledged rogues with permission to kill others like them.”

  “Not us though,” Jasmine said.

  “No. We go after the fully incorrigible vampires who kill without conscious.”

  “I’ll see you at dinner time then? After Gareth retires to his room, we’ll take him down, right?” Jasmine asked.

  “Absolutely.” Stasio almost wished he was an assassin and could work with her. But not all “rogues” were that bad. Look at him and his friends. They weren’t murderous vampires on the loose, killing humans or other vampires on a whim. They just…broke some of the rules. Some of them that needed to be broken.

  He suspected Levka and the others would not be happy with him when he returned to the room and told him he was now playing the role of an assassin who was taking down his cousin while working with the beautiful assassin vampiress. He needed to tell them about Pierre too.

  “I’m off to learn where Pierre is staying,” Jasmine said.

  “Does he know you by sight?” Stasio asked.

  “Yes. Whenever he has been after my targets, he knows just who I am.”

  “Has he seen you here yet?”

  “I don’t know. He may already know I’m here. I wonder if he’s getting a list of the names of the people I’m after. That he has got some intel from the league I work for,” she said.