“It sure sounds like he might. Too bad such behavior wouldn’t label him a rogue and we could eliminate him.”

  “You don’t know how often I’ve wished that! I’m going to run up to my room and I’ll see you for dinner at six?”

  “Yeah, sure, meet you down at the lobby or the restaurant?”

  “The restaurant.”

  “See you then.”

  Jasmine left and Stasio headed to his room. When he reached it, Arman and Ruric were talking and both raised their brows at him as he walked into the room.

  Since Caitlin and Levka were a couple now, they had the adjoining room.

  “Levka said he wants a meeting with all of us as soon as you were free,” Ruric said. “At least the little assassin is pretty. Worth a kiss or two.”

  Arman shook his head. “You’re going to get us all into a lot of hot water.”

  “She doesn’t know the league considers us rogues,” Stasio said. Which was the only good thing going for them right now.

  “And if she learns of it?” Ruric asked.

  “Maybe the kiss they shared was a way to seal a bargain. A compromise, his freedom with a warning, should she learn who we really are,” Arman said, “but would that save any of us?”

  Stasio realized they’d been watching the two of them kissing. Was nothing sacred? He telepathically communicated to Levka, “I’m here, if you are ready to meet.”

  “Come.”

  “Come on,” Stasio said to his companions. “It’s time to plan what we’re going to do next.”

  When they entered the room, Levka motioned to the sitting area where Caitlin was sitting on a loveseat. Everyone else took seats on the sofa and chairs, but Levka who stood behind Caitlin. Stasio knew Levka was agitated, though his expression was solemn, but he would be sitting beside Caitlin if he were truly at ease.

  “I wish you could cast a spell on Jasmine,” Levka finally said to Caitlin, “but none of your witch’s spells are useful against a vampire, no matter what you try.”

  “I can make her fall in love with someone,” Caitlin reminded him.

  Levka snorted. “As if that would help us.”

  She shrugged. “You never know when it might come in handy.”

  “Stasio has got that covered,” Ruric said with a smile. “No witch’s spell or vampiric persuasion—that wouldn’t work anyway—needed.”

  Levka arched a brow as he considered Stasio, waiting for an explanation.

  Exasperated with his lifelong friends, Stasio folded his arms across his chest. “She was trying to avoid Pierre Rivers seeing her, so she kissed me.”

  “Pierre Rivers?” Levka groaned. “That guy has a reputation for being the best assassin around for his youthful appearance. Or worst assassin, in our case.”

  “Jasmine thinks I’m an assassin.”

  Ruric laughed. Arman shook his head. Levka growled. Yeah, Stasio knew Levka would not be happy with him.

  “Assassin.” Levka rubbed his chin with his hand.

  “Yeah. Jasmine thinks Pierre is after Gareth, her assignment. She thought I was after him also, well, all of us, but I said you were just friends, and I was using you as my cover. I warned Gareth to leave. I don’t know if he has or not. You know him. He can be obstinate,” Stasio said.

  “Have you told him Pierre could be after him?” Levka asked. “That guy doesn’t wait. He strikes whenever he sees a chance.”

  “Not yet. I had to tell you what I learned first.”

  “Tell him.”

  Stasio secretly communicated to Gareth. “I don’t know if he’s after you or us maybe, but Pierre Rivers is here.”

  “The assassin?”

  “Yeah.” Most vampires were aware of him, whether they were rogues or not. “And the other one is still after you. I let her assume I was one too.”

  “You, an assassin? All right. I’m out of here.”

  Stasio couldn’t believe his cousin hadn’t already left!

  “If you know what’s good for you, all of you would vanish too,” Gareth said.

  “We will, just in case the assassins turn their attention on us.”

  “Happy hunting.” Gareth ended the telepathic communication.

  Stasio sighed with relief. “Okay, Gareth is leaving.”

  “Good,” Levka said. “We don’t need to worry about him too.”

  “What about us?” Ruric asked. “If Stasio has Jasmine under his spell, that’s one thing. But Pierre is a different story. Do you want me to make some plane reservations to somewhere else?”

  Stasio groaned. “Can we just get a car and drive somewhere else? Or take another cruise ship?”

  “The last cruise ship I was on turned deadly for me,” Caitlin said. “So I’m all for anything else but.”

  “What if we leave in the morning after Jasmine and I discover Gareth has vanished? Then I can keep up the ruse that I’m an assassin and we’ll just go our separate ways? If we just leave tonight, she would probably become suspicious and she could target us next. I’m supposed to have dinner with her—”

  Ruric smiled. “He’s smitten with the lady assassin.”

  “It’s all part of the ruse. Do you want me to give us all way?” Stasio couldn’t help but sound annoyed with his friend.

  “So you plan to have dinner with her and then assassinate Gareth?” Levka asked.

  “Yes, only Gareth will already be gone, unless Pierre takes him out before he has a chance to get away.” Stasio prayed his cousin would make his escape alright.

  “Do you plan to dine alone with Jasmine?” Arman asked.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll have room service,” Levka said, “but what if Jasmine believes I’ve turned Caitlin?” Levka’s expression and his voice were dark and protective.

  Stasio knew if Jasmine had any plan to kill Caitlin, suspecting she was newly turned, Levka would take Jasmine out himself.

  “Jasmine seemed to believe my explanation that Caitlin had received some bad blood or a virus and was okay now. It happens sometimes,” Stasio said.

  “Okay, well, Jasmine’s kissing you won’t stop me from killing her if she comes after Caitlin,” Levka warned.

  As much as Stasio abhorred the idea of killing a vampiress he was interested in, he said, “I would take care of her, Levka. Don’t worry.”

  But Levka and their friends didn’t seem reassured. “I want you to stay in your room until the appointed time and check on Gareth telepathically after a while to make sure he got safely away.”

  “I will.” Stasio planned to without Levka having to tell him, but Levka had that inborn need to be in charge and make sure everything ran smoothly.

  To Ruric, Levka said, “We’ll drive to Scotland and see if we can find a safe haven for a bit.”

  “For first thing tomorrow?” Ruric asked.

  “As soon as we need to leave. Everyone needs to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, no matter the time,” Levka said.

  Everyone agreed, though Stasio wished he could have breakfast with Jasmine in the morning before they left. She probably would be leaving for New York anyway, as soon as she learned Gareth was gone.

  But then Gareth suddenly telepathically contacted Stasio. “I can’t get away. Pierre is after me. If you could distract him, I’ll escape through the secret passages.”

  “Gareth’s in trouble,” Stasio warned his friends. He was already headed for the door.

  “Wait,” Levka said.

  “Pierre’s after him. You remember the secret passages only my family knew of? And you and the others, of course, because we used to play in them, but he’s going to try and escape that way. He needs someone to act as a diversion. I’m going. You can’t risk it.”

  “We’re all going,” Levka said. “Except for Caitlin.”

  “I’m a witch,” she reminded him and headed out the door with the rest of them.

  “A beautiful witch that I want to keep alive,” Levka said, annoyed.

  Stasio figured by now, Levka would realize Caitlin had a mind of her own and wouldn’t be bossed around or left behind, no matter how dangerous the situation got. Not after all she’d been through already.

  “I don’t like the plan,” Arman said. “If Pierre didn’t realize we were rogues, he will think so once he sees we’re helping Gareth escape.”

  “He won’t see Gareth,” Caitlin said.

  Everyone glanced at her as they hurried down the hall to the stairs.

  “He’ll disappear.” She snapped her fingers.

  “Your invisibility spell,” Levka said, light dawning. “But you have to go with him.”

  “You distract Pierre. I’ll go with Gareth,” she said.

  “And me,” Ruric said. “He won’t trust you. And you won’t know how to find him.”

  “All right. And Ruric.”

  Stasio was glad that Caitlin had fit in with their little pack of vampires without any issue. She’d needed friends when she hadn’t had any, and it was as though she’d always been with them. Except she was always coming up with a new spell she’d learned that surprised them.

  Gareth sent a message to Stasio. “I’m in the stairwell in the north tower.”

  “We’re meeting up with you. Levka’s got a mate, Caitlin. She’s a witch and she will cloak you and Ruric and herself, making you invisible.”

  “Leave it to Levka to end up with a witch for a mate.”

  Stasio smiled. It had been a surprise to all of them when they’d just been trying to lift Levka’s mood after having been so badly wounded and Caitlin was there, trying to cheer him up. She’d been good for him. Levka was just lucky she and his friends had been there for him.

  “Where’s Pierre?” Stasio asked Gareth.

  “Last I saw, he was trying to track me through the lobby. I slipped behind a hidden panel that took me to the north tower, but I’ll have to leave it to get to the escape passages.”

  “We’re scattering,” Stasio said, “but Ruric and Caitlin will meet you at the north tower.”

  “Hurry, I doubt I’ll evade Pierre for long.”

  “I see Pierre,” Stasio said to Gareth.

  “Don’t get yourself killed over me. I should have said that beforehand. Oh, Ruric and Caitlin are here. Man, you didn’t tell me she was beautiful. We’re waiting in the tower. Is it clear to head for the underground tunnels yet?”

  “Yeah, I’m headed for Pierre. He’s in the lobby looking puzzled.” But then Stasio saw someone else targeting Pierre. He smiled. Jasmine. “Looks like your other assassin is about to thwart him.”

  “Good, then maybe you can stay out of it. We’ve left the tower and we’re headed toward the tunnels. I can’t believe that no one can see us. Your witch is remarkable.”

  “And newly turned. She’s not allowed to communicate telepathically with us when we’re in danger because she can’t control who hears her.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Levka pulled Stasio to a stop while they watched Jasmine poke her finger at Pierre’s chest, her free hand on her hip, his smile arrogant as he folded his arms and looked down at her, taking her verbal abuse. “Let her deal with him. No telling if he’d learned we’re also considered rogues, and now Caitlin and Ruric will get Gareth safely away.”

  Arman agreed.

  “Besides, if you were to get in on this situation, who would you be protecting? Pierre from Jasmine?”

  Stasio smiled. Yeah, she looked like the kind of vampiress he wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Good thing she didn’t realize he was a rogue.

  5

  “I thought Stasio already warned you to leave,” Ruric said to Gareth, sounding annoyed as Caitlin and Gareth and he hurried down one of the tunnels.

  “He did, but then I realized who was after me, and I shrugged off the concern. Jasmine has tried to kill me before. In New York. I don’t think her heart is really in it. When Stasio said Pierre was now after me also, I knew I had to leave.”

  They maneuvered down the dark tunnels dripping with water and covered in wet moss. The smell was dank and wet, and Caitlin heard the squeaking of rats in the distance. With their vampiric vision, they could see in the dark. If she’d been afraid of the dark, she wouldn’t be now. Except for in one situation—floating in the dark ocean alone with only the sharks circling.

  “What did you do in New York that caused the league to send vampire assassins after you?” Caitlin asked.

  “I protected a hunter from a rogue vampire.”

  “You killed the rogue?” Ruric asked.

  “Yeah, but you know how we’re not supposed to kill a rogue or save a hunter unless we’re registered as an assassin. We would have to have a squeaky-clean record to apply for the job. I don’t know how anyone would have heard of it though. The hunter claimed the kill for his own, assuring me that I was safe for saving his life. But if someone else had witnessed it and reported it, that could be a possibility. Or…it could be because I dated a girl name Edith and broke up with her. Her grandfather is an elder and he could very well have added me to a terminal list.”

  “The league rules be damned. They don’t make sense half the time,” Ruric said. “And if an elder has that kind of power, he needs to be eliminated.”

  Gareth let out his breath. “We need to change the rules, but you know how that worked the last time.”

  “Yeah, we narrowly escaped being terminated in Wales. Though that was so many years ago I’d hoped they’d forgotten about it.”

  Caitlin wondered if they’d be safe anywhere!

  “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 poked her finger at Pierre’s chest, furious with him when she learned from the New York League he was here 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.”

  Pierre was still smiling at her, nonplussed. Then he shrugged. “There’s nothing in the rule book that says if I see a rogue in the area, I can’t take him down.”

  “If you happened to be in the area. You weren’t. You followed me here because you knew I was after a rogue.”

  “There’s nothing in the rules that say I can’t follow a fellow assassin to ensure her safety.”

  She folded her arms. “You aren’t here to protect me. You’re here to bag the vampire and get paid for my job.”

  “It’s not your job unless you complete the mission. The only reason you keep missing out is you’re too timid.”

  “I’m not foolhardy. One of these days”—sooner than later, she hoped—“the league is going to list you as a rogue, just one arrogant mistake, and—”

  “And what?” Pierre’s blue eyes glittered with malice. “You’ll come after me and terminate me? You would never be successful.”