Sunrise at Sunset (39 page)

She saw Chimalma’s dark-clad form standing over Alton as he lay on the ground and quickly realized that he was seriously wounded. She unraveled the steel cable wound over her shoulder and raced towards her target from behind. Anger flared like a volcano inside her as she closed in.

Chimalma raised her machete to strike down at Alton when Katrina deliberately hissed. The renegade vampire’s head twisted to glare at her with an incensed expression.

Alton used the split-second opportunity to stab at Chimalma’s calf muscle with a combat knife unsheathed from his web gear. The short blade impaled her leg seamlessly, and the Aztec vampire screamed in pain.

Katrina immediately took advantage of the situation to lasso Chimalma’s neck with the steel cable and jerk with all of her strength, causing the injured vampire to choke and grapple at her neck while dropping her machete. Katrina hauled on the steel cable with a swift ferocity, fueled by the severe angst and anger welling up inside of her. She was nearly feral as she pulled the renegade vampire to the ground.

Katrina moved in a blur to punch at Chimalma’s face, stunning her so she could wind the steel cable around her arms and chest, effectively rendering her temporarily immobilized. The vampire gnashed her fangs and hissed in anger and pain as Katrina repeatedly and ferociously slammed her gloved fist into the woman’s head until Chimalma’s head was severely bloodied.

The pain that Katrina felt in her hand was nothing compared to the agony of the idea that Caleb might be dead, combined with the concern she felt for her wounded friend. Alton lay on the ground on his back, clutching at the hilt of the knife protruding from his abdomen.

“Go!” he yelled in a raspy voice.

Katrina wasted no time, and hauled the still-hissing vampire over her shoulder and sprinted into the woods like a demon-possessed rocket heading straight towards the kill zone.

“Kill me, but your human pet is dead forever!” Chimalma seethed in an agonized voice with Alton’s blade impaling her calf.

“Die, you bitch!” Katrina yelled as she swiftly arrived in the designated clearing overlooking a large river near a sheer cliff.

She threw the ancient vampire into the clearing and grabbed at the combat crossbow at her waist. Katrina fired two bolts into the vampire, who howled with pain and thrashed on the ground. One of Chimalma’s feet caught Katrina’s legs, and she fell to the ground, dropping the crossbow. Rather than continue the melee, Katrina turned to flee as she grabbed for the detonator on her web gear.

She glanced back only momentarily to see Chimalma already hobbling and disentangling herself from the steel cable that encircled her body. Rather than wait any longer and risk her escape, Katrina pressed the detonator button and fell face-first onto the ground as simultaneous bursts of individual explosions erupted. She squinted into the maelstrom and saw Chimalma’s body engulfed in a fiery inferno.

It was an explosion of fantastic proportion and would likely usher people to the area in a short time. Katrina rose to her feet once the initial heat wave passed her, and as she stumbled away from the area, her thoughts were immediately of Caleb and Paige.

Her fingers fumbled with her cell phone as her hands trembled with a mix of nearly overwhelming anger and fear. She shakily scrolled through the auto-dial until arriving at the estate number, hesitating a split second before pressing the call button as fear welled up in her chest and throat to nearly uncontrollable levels.

The phone rang five times before she heard Paige’s voice.

“Katrina?” asked Paige anxiously.

“Caleb,” was all she managed to say without her voice’s collapse into wails of tears and anguish.

There was a momentary pause, and then Paige answered reassuringly, “Caleb’s fine. We were attacked in force, but we managed to stop them.”

Katrina immediately sank to her knees onto the cold, hard ground as her arms fell to her sides, and she began sobbing uncontrollably. A raw cascade of stressful emotions from the thought of Caleb’s potential death came crashing out.

“Katrina?” came Paige’s concerned voice. “Katrina? Are you okay?”

It was a number of moments before relief took over and she was able to speak again.

Katrina managed to tell Paige that Chimalma was dead, and that she was returning to aid Alton. On her way, she spotted two guards dressed in hunter’s camouflage who had apparently been patrolling the other side of the grounds until the explosions sounded. She took the time to stalk them until she could get close enough to strike.

Knowing Alton was injured, she realized that he would need fresh blood if healing were an option. To save time, she flew out of the darkness at both men, and before they could react, knocked one to the ground with a swift kick and smashed the other man in the face with a high-velocity punch of her fist. The latter man hit the ground in an unconscious state with a thud. The other guard was attempting to recover when Katrina swiftly jabbed him in the throat to disable him. He began gasping for air, and she punched him on the side of the head to render him unconscious.

She immediately gathered up the two men and carried them back to where Alton was still lying on the ground. He pulled the wavy-bladed knife from his abdomen, and blood flowed out of the wound. Katrina dropped the two guards to the ground and bent down to begin licking at Alton’s abdominal wound. After some time and effort, she was able to seal the laceration partially. However, her friend had lost a lot of blood and was barely conscious.

She grabbed the nearest guard and deftly used her knife to slice into his throat so the man’s blood began flowing from the cut. She held his neck over Alton’s mouth, and the vampire began drinking. His hands flew up to the man’s body and held it in check as he continued to feed. It took only a short time to drain the man of his easily acquired blood, and Katrina moved to the second guard in the same manner. Alton only needed half as much blood from his body and lay on the ground as Katrina cast the guard aside.

“We have to go soon,” she insisted as she inspected Alton’s abdominal wound.

“Go,” he insisted. “I’ll catch up. You need to get to Caleb.”

She smiled warmly at her friend. “I called them. Everything’s fine. And I’m not leaving you.”

He managed a wan smile. “You did very well, Katrina. I’m proud of you today.”

Katrina cracked a grin. “You better be proud of me every day.” She bent down and kissed him warmly on the lips. “Thank you,” she muttered gently. “For everything.”

“You’re always welcome, my dear,” he said with a smile and cautioned with a raised eyebrow: “Best be careful. Caleb would be jealous if he saw that kiss.”

She smiled slyly. “He won’t mind. He’ll get much more than that from me once we return home.”

Given the DNA evidence on the two guard’s bodies, Katrina took the time to break into the storage building and procure some gasoline. She doused the bodies thoroughly and set fire to them. She also threw Chimalma’s blade into the fire and burned the ground where Alton’s blood had spilled. By that time, he was in good enough shape for her to help usher him away from the location. She was suddenly happy that the facility was so far removed from the nearby town.

They returned to the cabin, where Katrina loaded the vehicle with their remaining belongings. She drove them to the nearby private airport, where another chartered aircraft was waiting to take them back to Atlanta. Fortunately, their flight schedule suggested that they would arrive back at the estate in the waning hours prior to dawn.

And while Alton seemed anxious for their return to Atlanta, Katrina was beside herself with anticipation.

Chapter 11

The Return

C
aleb thought that he heard voices as he stirred from his dreamless sleep, not the distorted kind of voices that might plague the mentally ill or addicts, but rather a series of muted tones speaking in hurried and urgent fashions. His eyes opened slowly, revealing not pitch blackness, but illumination from a dim glow through the sheer curtains of the bedroom window. While it was still nighttime, moonlight emanated into the room from beyond.

Sitting up in bed, he slipped from beneath the sheets and into his blue jeans. He didn’t bother with a T-shirt and went to the open doorway. Caleb no longer bothered shutting the bedroom door unless he was changing clothes. A friendship had formed between him and Paige, bonded forever through a shared sense of survival and the battle for it.

He stood listening in the hallway. The voices came from the downstairs sitting room, across from the foot of the stairs. He could see the open French glass doors leading in, though not the interior of the room itself more than a few feet, and he strained to understand the voices as his heart raced.

Alton’s voice registered in his mind.
They’re back already!

Caleb tip-toed to the top of the stairs and stood statue-like, gripping the banister with his right hand for balance in the darkness.

“...watching him closely after that...” Paige noted.

“...seems like a normal reaction...changes to be expected...” muttered Alton’s voice.

“…changes? Don’t know the half of it...” Paige countered.

Caleb frowned, trying desperately to hear more.

“…kidding?!...attacked a gunman with a crow bar?” Katrina demanded incredulously.

Upon hearing Katrina’s voice, his pulse increased, and his heartbeat pounded in his chest. The anticipation of actually taking Katrina in his arms built.

All conversation downstairs abruptly stopped.

Katrina appeared, staring up at him from the foot of the stairs outside the sitting room. She wore black denim jeans that fit her like a glove and a royal blue, loose-fitted, sleeveless blouse. She stood with her bare feet slightly parted and set, and her arms were folded across her chest. Her shock-red hair was pulled tightly over her head into a ponytail.

Caleb gazed upon her face, wholly unprepared for what he saw. Her pale features were hard, and her green eyes were glowing heatedly. They were angry eyes. She was still a vision of beauty, but her visage was tinged with both fierce and predatory qualities. She stood resolutely, appearing fully as the image of a classic vampire, both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Any normal person would have fled running in terror, but he held his ground.

His heart almost stopped as he gazed fully upon her feral beauty. He felt butterflies in his stomach, and his breath caught in his lungs. Despite her intimidating appearance, she was still the focus of his only desire.

Katrina’s features softened slightly, but her eyes still glowed green. Caleb somehow sensed that she was moving quickly from anger to desire. The differences were subtle, but somehow he just knew.

He wanted to leap down the stairs to tackle her, but instead mustered his willpower. He steeled his expression with a frown and crooked his finger at her in a slow, beckoning motion as he tightly held onto the banister railing with his left hand.

“You left me, and I was so angry, but I missed you so much that I wanted to die. Then I almost did,” he whispered in a choked voice.

A fleeting moment of anguish crossed Katrina’s face as her sharp vampire hearing registered his comment. The corner of her mouth upturned in a feral scowl. Her fangs were already extended, making her look terrifying.

Something blared in his mind like a siren.
She looks angry -- and hungry!

Katrina heard his heartbeat thundering in his chest from where she stood at the foot of the stairs. In fact, she could smell him from where she stood: his body, his blood.

Caleb swallowed hard once and whispered hoarsely, “Am I worthy of you?”

Her green eyes flared brightly before she launched upstairs at him. He had seen her move fast, but was wholly unprepared for the rapid velocity that she displayed, or for the impact of her body plunging into his at the top of the stairs, causing the air to rush from his lungs. He lost his grip on the handrail, and his body spun clockwise before abruptly stopping, only then able to inhale air sharply.

It was a miracle that he was still standing upright, but he quickly realized why. She held him like a vice around the waist with her left arm while cradling the back of his head with her right hand. Her lips pressed into his as she almost drew the breath from his lungs.

He grasped her shoulders, pulling her to him. They kissed passionately and desperately, savoring the moment. He was both relieved and ecstatic to have her safely in his arms again…finally.

Caleb felt his excitement increase as his heart thundered, and he dug the toes of his bare feet into the carpeted floor and pressed against her with all of his strength, trying to push her towards the wall behind them.

She pulled away from his lips slightly with an entirely surprised expression. Her mouth upturned in an amused manner as she allowed her body to be pressed against the wall. Her lips quickly found his again.
I can be gracious
, she conceded.

Time seemed to stop as the heat passed to his bare skin in waves from her still-clothed body. Using all the strength in his lean form, he urged her to move sideways until she was in the doorway to the bedroom and then urged her backwards towards the bed. They fell onto it with a bounce. A feverish excitement rose in their bodies, but hers held an additional insistence of thirst.

Their faces parted by mere inches as they lay side-by-side across the bed.

Caleb frowned and asked in a slightly insulted voice, “Why didn’t you wake me when you got back?”

“I looked in, but you were fast asleep. You looked exhausted, and I wanted to let you rest,” she replied sympathetically. “I knew you were safe, and that was enough at the time.”

“Well, it’s not enough for me,” he endearingly chastised her.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a smirk.

“Apology accepted,” he said before softly kissing her lips. He pressed the right side of his face towards the bed linens, leaving his neck completely exposed for her. Saying nothing, his intentions screamed,
I’m yours.

She bent to kiss him softly on the throat. She kissed him again harder before realizing that her thirst was an intense, animal craving. He felt one of her razor-sharp fangs scrape menacingly across his skin.

“You’re insane,” she harshly whispered against the skin of his neck. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” he insisted with confusion. “You’re hungry. I can tell.”

“It’s too much. I’m so hungry. I just want to tear your throat out right now,” she rasped. “I have to feed first, or you’re going to die.”

A pang of shock ran through him as he realized just how close he was to being a meal instead of a mate. “Okay, but hurry back,” he urged.

She stared at him with intense, glowing eyes, promising pointedly, “Oh, I will.”

The bed lurched, and she was gone.

Caleb lay there listening to his heartbeat racing in his ears. He was filled with elation that Katrina was finally home and safe.

As he sat up, he heard lighter conversation and some chuckling coming from downstairs, though primarily in Alton’s and Paige’s voices. He moved to the attached bathroom and flipped on the light. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, and massaged his fingers back through his hair. After turning off the light and returning to the bed, he lay down in the moonlight and waited. His thoughts drifted aimlessly when he heard Katrina’s voice downstairs followed by Paige’s giggling.

“I’m waiting, Kat,” he teased.

Katrina appeared at the doorway with glowing green eyes, though lit with passion rather than hunger. Her red hair spilled down, framing her face like a mantle, and she held an amused smirk on her lips. “Demanding, aren’t we?” she commented while closing the door behind her.

He started to rise from the bed, but she lifted her right leg and used the ball of her bare foot to press against his muscled chest, nudging him back onto the bed before her.

“Lose your clothes,” she quietly ordered.

He smiled while reaching for the buttons on his jeans. “The alpha vampire returns, I see.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she muttered as she slid seductively from her jeans and blouse in the moonlight.

A shiver ran down his spine as he lay naked before her. His eyes locked onto the beauty of her body as the excitement rose in his.

She moved slowly and deliberately until she was lying atop him. Her lips met his, kissing him hard.

Then time stood still as their bodies conveyed mutual love and longing.

Later, she lay across his body lazily, her hand caressing his face. “It’s nice to feel how much you missed me,” she murmured with a smile and kissed his chest. She was truly happy for what felt like the first time in an eternity.

He ran the fingers of his hand soothingly through her long hair and across her scalp. “I can’t believe you’re finally here,” he murmured. He was filled with so many emotions: relief, joy, but most of all love.

They lay together in silence for a period of time before he decided to revisit something. He started to sit up, and she moved away from him slightly with a curious expression. Realization played on her face as she watched him turn his face to the right, leaving the other side of his neck exposed to her.

“Safer for me now?” he whispered.

Her eyes flashed brilliant green for a split second, and she kissed him on the base of his exposed neck. She parted her lips, and he felt her razor-sharp fangs press lightly against his skin. He shivered only once before relaxing the muscles in his body as he leaned against his right arm, which propped him up slightly. She made a small murmuring noise in her throat.

“Somewhat safer, perhaps,” she said.

Guiding him to lay back down on the bed, she sat up and straddled his body with hers. She bent down to kiss him lightly on the neck, and he turned his face to kiss her. She kissed him on the lips only once and used her left hand to rotate his face to the right again, facing away from her. She gently pressed against his face, holding it in place.

“Kisses later, my love,” she whispered wickedly. “Blood first.”

Her lips touched the supple skin of his throat before parting slightly. She pressed her tongue against his skin and held it there until the surface of his neck began to feel slightly numb. Meanwhile, the sound of his own pulse raced in his ears.

Seconds later, Katrina’s fangs pressed against his skin, and he felt a slight prickling pressure into his neck. He remained completely still and breathed shallowly as her lips sealed against his throat. Then he heard, and felt, tiny suckling sensations as small moans of pleasure reverberated through her.

I love him, and his blood
, she thought while drawing his sweet blood into her mouth. He tasted perfect to her.

Caleb noticed that she was pressing into his neck with more pressure than she had used on prior occasions. And while not particularly painful, it was uncomfortable, and he felt stronger nudges of her mouth pressing against his neck. Time seemed to stop again as his thoughts drifted aimlessly. He felt strangely satisfied as he lay completely helpless before her, knowing it was his blood being so casually drawn by her. And yet he felt safe and loved.

She pressed into his neck with a renewed pressure, and he felt an aching sensation where her fangs penetrated for a second time. She had never done that to him before, and his muscles tightened with concern. “Sorry, my love,” she murmured as she retracted her fangs and slowed the suctioning of his blood into her mouth.

After a time, he felt her tongue pressed against his throat again, which she held there at length. The numbness spread soothingly through his neck once more, and he welcomed it after her more aggressive feeding. Finally, she kissed him on the neck and moved to lie along his body with her face against his chest.

He turned to stare at the ceiling and whispered with complete sincerity, “I love you so very much.”

She smiled, kissed his chest, and replied in a wholly satisfied voice, “And I love you, completely.”

They lay together quietly in genuine contentment, both reveling in their reunion. But eventually, his physical and emotional exhaustion took over, and he fell peacefully asleep.

However, while tired herself, Katrina remained awake, just cradling him next to her. She felt so satisfied just being there alongside him, and she wanted nothing more in life than to hold him in her arms.

He means everything to me
, she mused while listening to the rhythmic sounds of his heartbeat and breathing.

When Caleb finally stirred, groggily realizing he was alone, he opened his eyes but immediately blinked to make sure that what he was seeing was real. The room was brightened by the growing light of morning emanating through the sheer curtains of the bedroom window. He rolled out of bed and sat on the edge of the mattress for a moment. Getting up, he made his way to the window, parting the curtains to see outside for the first time in days. The sun had only partially risen. Since the room was on the front, western side of the house, he wasn’t able to receive any of the direct eastern sunlight. Still, he sighed while appreciating the simple ability to gaze outdoors at the glow of dawn.