Sunrise at Sunset (31 page)

“Hey, kiddo. Alton’s in the front sitting room and wants to chat with you,” Paige issued from the doorway before she disappeared from sight.

He stopped the movie and proceeded down the hallway to the front of the house.

“You rang?” he quipped from the doorway. Alton gestured towards the couch. He plopped down and stared inquisitively at Alton, who sat in a high-backed reading chair with one leg crossed over his knee.

Alton steepled the fingertips of opposing hands against each other while gazing at Caleb with an introspective expression. “How to begin,” he muttered.

Caleb sat patiently, trying not to feel unnerved by the sober-looking vampire’s close inspection of him.

“You’re an unusual selection for Katrina,” Alton commented absently, as if speaking more to himself than Caleb.

“How so?” Caleb asked as his eyes darted to the vampire’s.

The corner of one side of Alton’s mouth upturned slightly in a wan smile. “She was surprised by her attraction to you, actually,” the vampire commented before adding with a raised eyebrow, “But then, the manner of your meeting was rather unusual, so she had more time to be intrigued with you at another level.”

Confusion immediately spread across Caleb’s features as his mind raced to decipher the vampire’s vague commentary. It didn’t make sense to him.
Why is meeting through a college class so unusual?
He was likewise jealous of Alton’s more complete knowledge of Katrina.

“Typically, Katrina has selected mates more closely matching her own disposition,” Alton observed with a distant expression, as if recalling events long since past. “But they were inevitably a poor fit for one reason or another,” the vampire continued before Caleb could inquire further. “They challenged her authority or tried manipulating her for their own agendas.”

“Katrina mentioned that eventually she killed them all,” Caleb supplemented, recalling her brief revelation.

Alton’s eyebrow rose. “That’s true in all but one case.”

Of course, the suicide
. Caleb remembered what Alondra, or rather Chimalma had said about that, as well. “Katrina’s had rotten luck picking mates,” he muttered.
Then again, I’ve had rotten luck picking girlfriends in the past
, he considered.
Katrina broke that streak for me, though lately our relationship seems strained at times.
He wondered if they were operating under unique circumstances, perhaps even for a vampire.

Alton frowned as he watched emotions play across the young man’s face. “Granted, her suitors were ill-fated. Yet her past selections were based upon understandable criteria for a vampire: blood, sexuality, wealth, influence, and power. These were all qualities that brought something to the table that she either craved or needed for her own agenda. Quite similar to other vampires, really.”

Caleb’s expression grew troubled while considering those criteria, realizing that most didn’t qualify for him. He was living a very humble lifestyle financially and had no important political or social connections to bring to the table. He certainly wielded no power as a faculty member of a small community college. However, he had blood to offer and felt that he was a good sexual partner to Katrina. At least,
he
thought so.

Alton seemed almost amused by Caleb’s introspective manner. “Caleb,” he quietly interjected.

The young man’s eyes darted back to the vampire.

“It’s possible that you’re a better fit for her,” Alton offered with a hint of encouragement. “You bring a more peaceful, sincere element into the mix. You’re a new dynamic for her, Caleb.”

Caleb’s facial expression became more hopeful.

Katrina’s icy voice suddenly announced, “New dynamic? Not entirely true. My human husband was similar to Caleb.”

Caleb’s eyes darted to the room’s entrance to see her leaning against one side of the door frame with her arms crossed before her and looking particularly displeased. However, Alton failed to seem surprised by her appearance and acknowledged her with a partial wave of one hand.

“Alton,” Katrina warned. “I don’t appreciate you airing my past so openly without my consultation.”
Please don’t push my life story on him before I’m ready
, she silently willed.

“He deserves to know something,” Alton replied crisply. “It might have saved needless bickering between the two of you recently.”

“There hasn’t exactly been time,” she retorted with annoyance.

“You should’ve made time. That is, if you want someone left to care if you return home or not,” Alton retorted with a momentary flash of his hazel eyes.

Caleb viewed the exchange with some concern. But he was too riveted to say anything, feeling that important details were finally coming to the surface.

“And why are you suddenly so interested?” she demanded hotly. “You’ve never bothered before.”
Where were your concerns years ago when all the other men in my life were taking advantage of me?
she fumed.
Now, when I finally have someone sincere and caring in my life, is when you want to get involved?

“This one’s different. He actually makes you happy,” Alton noted pointedly. “And you haven’t experienced happiness in some time, I recall.”

“I’ll thank you not to play matchmaker in my mate selections,” she admonished.

“Oh, I don’t know why I bother,” he noted while throwing his hands in the air.

Katrina’s expression softened somewhat, and she took a deep breath. She appeared by Alton’s chair in a blur to lay a hand across one of his shoulders. “Because you care,” she offered with resignation. “And I appreciate your efforts.”
It’s hard to hold a grudge against you, dear friend
, she conceded.
Good friends are hard to come by for a vampire.

Alton smiled and reached back to pat her hand with his own.

Caleb relaxed as he mulled over everything from the past few minutes. Things were beginning to make more sense to him.

“The young man has promise,” Alton noted, as if he weren’t in the room.

Katrina perched on the edge of the couch next to Caleb and wrapped her arm around his shoulders affectionately. “I know,” she said while smiling at him warmly.
He shows more than promise
, she thought.
I love him
.

Alton glanced at his wristwatch. “Time is short, Katrina. If you’re going to have him, you need to make haste.”

Have him?
Caleb wondered.

Katrina noted his confused look and leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I want you now.”

Caleb’s eyes darted to hers, focusing on the sly smile and playful sparkle in her green eyes that he loved so much. “Are you still angry with me?” he asked softly. It hadn’t been long since their most recent argument.

“There’s no time for anger between us,” she quietly replied. Soon, they would be engaged in a venture from which she might not return if things went badly.

Caleb swallowed hard, and his eyes darted to see Alton staring at them with an amused expression. His eyes darted back to Katrina in time to see her face hovering before his. He felt her soft lips touch lightly upon his own.

He pulled away from her, and she tentatively gazed back at him. He smiled slyly while rising from the couch and backing away from where she still perched on the cushion.

She began to frown with a degree of uncertainty.
Where are you going?
she wondered.

“If you can catch me, you can have me,” he stipulated before turning and running out of the room and up the stairs to the upper level of the house with all of his speed.

Alton laughed in the background as Caleb was almost halfway up the stairs.

“Run, kiddo!” Paige yelled from somewhere nearby.

Caleb felt an arm around his waist, which spun him around as he was propelled up the stairs in a blur. The breath was nearly taken from him as he felt his body flung against a bed in the first guest bedroom nearest the stairs.

Katrina’s lips pressed against his in a warm, passionate kiss before pulling away. He stared up at her slightly glowing green eyes and grinned.

“Caught you. You’re mine,” she whispered slyly.

“Well, a deal’s a deal,” he muttered and felt her lips press against the soft skin of his neck. What he really wanted to say was,
I’m glad that I’m yours
.

She kissed him affectionately, savoring his taste and scent.

He felt her warm, moist tongue against his neck and the beginning of a numbing sensation there. As Caleb turned his neck slightly for easier access, he felt Katrina’s fangs extend to his skin.

The bedroom door gently closed behind them, followed by the sound of soft giggling. “Crazy kids forgot to close the door behind them,” Paige muttered with a smirk while floating down the staircase to the first floor.

The time with Katrina passed quickly for Caleb. One moment they were sharing each other, and then it was the next morning -- that was, at least according to his watch. He was even more oblivious to the passage of daytime and nighttime since Paige and Alton’s arrival nearly two days ago. It was morning, and he woke with a start as Katrina pulled away from where they lay together in bed.

Caleb’s hand darted out at her from underneath the covers to grasp at her, and he managed to catch her arm in his hand.

“Somebody’s getting faster,” she noted slyly.

“Don’t go yet,” he pleaded in a sleepy voice.

She sighed and leaned over to kiss him briefly on the forehead. “I’ve got to shower, and then it’s time to pack,” she whispered before slipping from the guest bed and into the nearby bathroom.

He watched her beautiful, pale-skinned body depart and muttered, “Me too.”

Katrina spent most of the morning packing. Caleb began packing things too and was surprised that nobody was trying to stop him. Once again, the clock seemed to take on a life of its own, and it was early evening again. But unlike the earlier part of the day, there was a palpable tension in the air. It was nearly time to go.

Alton and Katrina staged their luggage near the front entry area, while Caleb brought his suitcase to the sitting room immediately adjacent to the front door.

Both Alton and Katrina were dressed in business casual attire, and each wore sober expressions. Caleb looked down at his blue jeans and blue denim shirt and considered changing clothes. However, he was afraid that if he left the room things would proceed without him, and he wasn’t ready to concede.

Meanwhile, Paige stood nearby in a pair of black jeans and a red turtleneck sweater. While her face was neutral, she was nervously nibbling at the tip of one fingernail.

Caleb stood defiantly before Katrina, squaring his shoulders, and staring up into her green eyes. One corner of her mouth upturned slightly with amusement, though her eyes were steeled with determination.

“You’re staying here,” she said flatly before he could say anything.

“You’re not leaving me behind,” he insisted with narrowed eyes. “I’ll only end up following you once you’ve left.”

Her eyes flashed green for only a moment before returning to their normal state. She took in his defiant stance, as if ready to take on all three vampires single-handedly. Her eyes played across the determined, set look of his eyes, and she felt a surge of admiration for him. At that fleeting moment, Caleb reminded Katrina of her human husband of so many, many years ago. All of the qualities were there: a gentle nature, caring and compassionate, determined, honest, intelligent, and utterly handsome.

A satisfied expression played across her face, and Caleb frowned with momentary confusion before setting his jaw firmly again.

Alton watched with a semi-amused expression, while Paige appeared somewhat sad. They both knew that his battle was lost before he ever fought it.

“That’s why Paige is staying behind with you,” Katrina issued plainly. “She will keep you here and keep you safe.”

“Operation Babysitter ready for action,” Paige offered with a playful grin.

A split-second look of surprise crossed Caleb’s face. He frowned with confusion, unaware that all three vampires weren’t going together. And it was then he belatedly realized that Paige didn’t have any luggage prepared. He exchanged quick glances between Paige and Katrina. “Babysitter? No, you need all of us for this. You can’t afford to leave anybody behind.”

“Katrina and I can handle this,” Alton reassured in a steady, convincing tone of voice. “We’re well suited for this task.”

Caleb’s pale blue eyes were immediately determined again, but Katrina had noticed his flash of confusion from a moment ago.

“We’ll have a great time, Caleb,” Paige offered with a hopeful expression. “We can watch movies, play some chess, and maybe even toast some s’mores over the fireplace together!”

Caleb just looked at Paige as if she weren’t in her right mind. Refusing to be distracted by the short, blonde-haired vampire, he shook his head and returned his complete attention to Katrina. “I’m going with you,” he issued slowly and deliberately in a steady, confident voice as he folded his arms before him.