Page 77 of Kiss of the Vampire

“Vampires heal fast, Caitlin,” Vlad said, as if he’d read her mind.

Now she realized the wounds weren’t even self-inflicted. He must have gotten blood from meat in the ship’s kitchen.

“I’m here with Levka.”

“And his friends. What’s one more? Even that pesky Dallas tracker is wandering around here somewhere.”

“You saw him?” Caitlin asked.

“Back that way.” Vlad motioned with his arm. “So what kind of trouble are you in now?” Vlad asked Levka with a devilish gleam to his eye.

Levka moved Caitlin around to his other side, isolating her from Vlad.

She couldn’t help being amused by his protective possessiveness. “If you’re all vampires, how come you can be out in the sun? Aren’t you supposed to burn up in the sun’s rays?”

Vlad humpfed. “A myth perpetuated by fiction writers.”

“Ah. So then what about your aversion to crosses?”

“What we are has nothing to do with religious persuasion.”

Glancing up at Levka, she observed his solemn expression, then she asked Vlad, “Do you have a reflection in mirrors?”

“Again, this has nothing to do with what we are. We have a need to replenish our blood. That is all.”

“And you heal quickly.”

“Yes.”

And you can’t go into someone’s room unless invited, she thought to herself as she recalled Levka’s insistence she not invite Vlad in. “What about earth?”

“What about it?” Vlad asked.

“Don’t you have to sleep on your native soil?”

Vlad laughed. “Sure, stuffed in my pillow, though housekeeping has a fit about it. And I keep it in my shoes during the day so that I can move around.”

“I see. What about you, Levka?”

“If I have dirt in my shoes, it’s by accident.”

Loving his sense of humor, she wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a warm embrace. When Levka leaned over and kissed her head, his lips turned up just a hair.

“We’ve seen, Petroski,” Ruric warned. “I don’t like it. Since he’s here, it means he’s not satisfied.”

***

After the tour of the botanical gardens, they returned to the ship, but everyone seemed to be ill at ease. Levka’s friends didn’t even join them for lunch.

For the third time, Caitlin asked Levka, “Why are your friends not joining us?” Though she enjoyed spending time alone with Levka, she worried his friends’ absence was an omen of ill-tidings. She lifted another slice of pizza to her lips.

Levka gave her a polite smile, but his dark eyes seemed worried. “I’ve told you twice they were tired and would grab a bite to eat later. Are you sleepy?”

“Exhausted. I’m going to lie down after we eat.” But she didn’t believe Levka for a moment. “Were they worried the tracker would get on the ship?”

When he reached over and patted her hand, she pulled it away to show she didn’t like it one bit. She was not going to be pacified.

“Nothing to worry about,” Levka assured her.