Page 57 of Kiss of the Vampire

“Levka knows. I’m sure of it.” She looked down at the blue carpeted floor, then faced Stasio. “Let me see your teeth.”

“Pardon?” His blond brows arched with the pitch of his voice.

“Your teeth. Give me a nice big smile.”

Stasio smiled at her, the look pure amusement. “Did I pass inspection?”

“Beautifully.” She turned to face Arman. “Let me see yours.”

He folded his arms, his face unreadable.

“Come on. The next time I see Vlad, I want to be able to tell him I inspected everyone’s teeth, and none of them were overly pointed like a vampire’s.”

Arman opened his mouth to reveal clenched teeth.

“Good, now yours, Ruric.”

He gave her a sparkling grin.

“Great. No excessively scary teeth. In fact, you all have beautiful smiles.”

Ruric waggled his red brows.

But everyone’s gaze shifted to Levka when he walked into the lounge and headed for the bar. He did not look pleased. After getting a tray of sodas, he joined them. “Sorry about Vlad. Apparently he cannot hold his liquor.”

Grabbing one of the glasses, Caitlin said, “He’s underage and shouldn’t have been drinking in the first place.”

Ruric reached for a soda. “Caitlin inspected our teeth and found them all to be satisfactory.”

Levka didn’t say anything, and she wondered if he was still P.O.ed about Vlad.

“I haven’t inspected your teeth,” Caitlin teased, hoping to get him in a better mood.

“Someone’s planning to pull some prank when we reach one of the islands,” Levka said, ignoring her comment.

Why was he communicating telepathically to them? Caitlin wondered. “I heard you talking about this earlier. Do you know who it is?” she asked.

“They were male teens,” Ruric said. “But I haven’t heard their voices since. It’s a big ship with twenty-four hundred passengers. Hard to monitor everyone’s conversations. I keep eavesdropping, hoping I’ll discover who they are.”

Yawning, Caitlin said, “I didn’t get enough sleep again last night. I think I’ll lie down for a while.”

“Escort her to her stateroom, Arman, will you?” Levka asked, his face tense, annoyed.

She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. Why keep speaking telepathically and why did he send Arman with her?

“Caitlin, whatever you do, do not invite Vlad into your room.”

She gave him a perturbed look, as if she would even think of doing such a thing.

“I mean it. He’s dangerous. Don’t invite him into your room, ever.”

“I’ll be all right.” She hurried off the sofa without bothering to give Levka another look. Was he angry with her for having gotten involved with Vlad? It wasn’t her fault the guy was a jerk.

Maybe Levka was irritated with her because he was having to deal with all her problems—Dylan, her fear of the water, now Vlad. She straightened her shoulders. She didn’t need anyone to protect her. Glancing to her side, she found Arman shadowing her. He gave her a small smile.

All right. So she’d ask Arman what was wrong with Levka. Serve him right.

Chapter 14