Sunrise at Sunset (6 page)

Katrina curiously arched one eyebrow at him, and fell silent for a moment.
He still doesn’t remember
, she confirmed. She was surprised that the little hypnosis trick during his childhood had worked so well.
However, he obviously has some orphaned sense of awareness in the back of his mind
, she assessed as an afterthought.

“You’re looking at me like I’m the subject of a study,” he noted with a hint of amusement.

“Sorry,” she apologized before carefully answering his original question. “I’ve only been in Atlanta for a few months now. I relocated here earlier in the summer.”

He frowned and nodded. “Oh, I see.”

Katrina hoped that would be the end of that line of thought for the moment.

“Well then, what about pastimes? Shopping? Reading?” he politely inquired, but with an immediate sense that it was a horribly generic place to start.

“Oh no,” she gently chided. “I asked you to tell me about yourself.”

He grinned at her and remarked, “Busted.”

“Indeed,” she observed with mock-imperiousness.

Caleb thoughtfully sipped his tea before continuing, “I grew up in Ohio near Columbus. My mother raised me from a fairly young age as a single parent.”

“Divorced?” Katrina casually asked.

He frowned. “Abandoned, I think.”

She raised an eyebrow at that and gently ventured, “You sound as if you’re not certain.”

His frown deepened as he stared into his tea. “My father wasn’t necessarily a kind man, you see,” he explained in a vague manner. “And he drank. But one day he simply disappeared. My mother said he just left, and then we never heard from him again.”

Katrina was fascinated by his recollection.
Your father was a sadistic, despicable man, Caleb
, she thought to herself.
I’m glad I killed him
, she added. Still, she maintained a neutral expression for Caleb’s benefit.

“Mom raised me from that time. But something changed in her after my father left,” he recalled. “She ensured the household was stable again. She had a great job in Columbus working for a mortgage processing company, and she worked her way up to senior mortgage processing supervisor before she passed away. She never remarried though; never dated much, either. Although she didn’t like to talk about that much.”

“Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman, Caleb,” Katrina said.

“For the most part,” he agreed with a frown. “But she was kind of a paradox to me sometimes.”

“Oh?” she tentatively asked.

He smiled as if remembering something and explained, “After my father left, Mom became pretty obsessed with security around the house. She took a self-defense class, bought a shotgun, and made sure we had a great home security system. But she never wanted me involved with any of that. When I asked if she would take me to the self-defense class so we could do more together, she wouldn’t let me. And when I asked her to take me shooting, she nixed that pretty quickly, too. It was as if she wanted to shelter me or something.”

Katrina silently nodded as she absorbed and analyzed every word.
She wanted to keep you away from violence. She feared it would take its hold on you, as it did your father.

“I asked her once what she was afraid of,” he added almost as an afterthought. “And she would never really answer me. But I kept thinking…”

Katrina’s eyes darted to meet his. “Yes?”

The corner of one side of his mouth rose slightly. “I know it’s crazy, but I kept thinking…it’s like she was waiting…waiting for something to come after us.”

Your father
, she mused.
Don’t worry, Caleb. He’s gone forever
, she willed with her piercing green eyes as she bored into his with a sudden intensity.

He stared into Katrina’s eyes, which fleetingly appeared so cold to him, and felt a shiver go up his spine before abruptly looking away from her.

“Are you okay?” she softly asked after practically seeing the shiver run through his body.

“Sorry,” he replied. “It’s nothing.”

I scared him
, she silently chastised herself. Katrina reached out and caressed her fingers lightly across the hand holding his tea, and he looked up with a shy smile. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” she offered sincerely.

“It’s strange, but I feel like I could tell you anything,” he earnestly observed. “And we barely know each other.”

“Nonsense, we practically traveled through history together for a whole eight weeks,” she countered with a grin.

They both laughed and quickly sipped their tea for a few moments. Then Katrina broke the silence. “So, you had some questions for me, as I recall,” she ventured in an uplifting tone.

Caleb nodded, but felt suddenly unprepared for where to start with his questions. Unfortunately, she recalled his initial lame series of questions.

“Reading? Absolutely. Shopping? On occasion,” she answered. “Although mostly I’m a people watcher, you could say.”

“Really?” he inquired with interest, eager to engage her with anything remotely relevant that he’d failed to ask at the beginning of their conversation. But something in her response struck a chord in him; perhaps it was in the way she said it. “Do tell,” he urged. “About people watching, that is.”

She pursed her lips while considering him from across the table. “People hold a special interest for me,” she said. “I guess you could say I’m a hopeless student of humanity.”

“Ah, hence the history class,” he confidently replied. “Was there something about the class that caught your interest in particular?”

The left side of her mouth upturned in a clever half-smile. “You could say that.”

“Well, I hope I was helpful to you,” he offered as he took a sip of his cooled tea. He was surprised how much he enjoyed the flavor and made a mental note to order it again.

“Oh, you were,” she assured him. “I’m feeling much more confident moving forward with my informal research now.”

“Good,” he replied appreciatively. “I’m glad to hear it. What’s the topic?”

You, of course
, she thought. “Initial history-related teaching techniques of new faculty at community colleges,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“Ah, so you were auditing me then,” he teased with a knowing smile.

“Exactly,” she stated, all too aware of how close he was to the truth.
And you passed with flying colors.

“But tell me more about you,” he insisted. “Where are you from? What brought you to Atlanta? Do you have family nearby?”

She genuinely appreciated his refreshing sense of curiosity instead of focusing entirely on himself, like so many other men she had met over the years. But she knew a little more about him than the seeming strangers that came and went in her life.
Her life
, she sardonically mused.
A life of what?

He seemed to note her momentary distraction and misunderstood the nature of it. “But I’m being too nosy tonight,” he muttered with reservation as he finished off his cup of tea.

She considered him with an amused smile.
So shy
, she mused.
How very charming and uncommon today.
“Not at all, Caleb,” she proceeded before backtracking. “May I call you Caleb?”

He seemed taken aback that she would ask and replied, “Please do. It’s not like you’re my student anymore. Now we’re just two people getting to know one another.”

Sure
, she thought. B
ut only one of us is a person. The other is a vampire.

“I felt a strong pull to be here, though I’ve never lived in this state before, much less the city of Atlanta,” she began. “As to where I come from, I’m a resident of the world. And I don’t have family here, or anywhere. Any family I had are already dead.”

His face fell with a sudden realization. “Really? Me, too.”

He relayed to her that his mother had been his only family to speak of. Her parents were older when they had her, and she had no siblings. His father, Ted, had an estranged relationship with his parents, so Caleb never got to know them. He wasn’t even sure if they were living or how to get in touch with them. Ted had a brother named Brian, but Caleb had only met him once as a child, and he wasn’t sure where his uncle even lived. He explained to the beautiful, red-haired woman before him that he was alone in the world, just as she was.

Katrina closely listened to the story of Caleb’s family, but frowned with concern when he suddenly seemed ashamed for a moment, and then quickly fell silent.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized as his face turned a shade of crimson. “I’ve monopolized the conversation again.”

She warmly smiled at him from across the table and reached out to grasp his right hand he’d placed before him. His fingers smoothly wound around hers in return, and he smiled.

“Caleb, I want to know everything about you,” she insisted. “We’ll learn more about each other with every topic that comes up.”

He was simply awestruck by Katrina. He had chatted more about his past with her in the coffee shop in an hour than he had the whole six months with Melanie, perhaps more than with any other woman he had dated. And it wasn’t as though he didn’t get along well with women, it was just that the women he had dated weren’t as interested in him as much as in what he could do for them.

Katrina noticed his distracted expression and offered, “A penny for your thoughts?”

He smiled across the table at her. “That’s quaint. Nobody says that anymore.”

She adopted a smirk and countered, “Well, I’m a bit of an old-fashioned girl.”

He absently nodded at her and marveled that he was actually sitting at a table with such a beautiful, articulate, and gentle woman.

“And being an old-fashioned girl,” she continued, “I better get you back at a decent hour to get your car, or your girlfriend will be scandalized.”

Caleb immediately frowned and asked, “How did you know I had a girlfriend?”

Her expression remained pleasant, but her mind raced for an answer.
That’s what happens when you let your guard down so easily
, she scolded herself. Then it hit her.

“Well, the first night after class,” she innocently explained. “Wasn’t there a woman holding an apple outside your office?”

He slowly nodded, and his frown dissipated somewhat.

“I mean, I’m old-fashioned, but absolutely no students actually do that anymore,” she offered with a smirk.

He smiled back at her with a nod, while she inwardly smiled at her good fortune and quick thinking.

Chapter 2

A Myth-Understanding

C
aleb was elated upon waking the morning after his chat with Katrina at Starbucks. While shaving, he fondly reflected on their visit. After brushing his teeth, he contemplated his Friday; the last weekend before the second eight weeks of the fall semester started. He was grateful for being scheduled to teach only day classes this time. Instead of dwelling on Monday, he focused on spending the day pursuing his own interests, which included working out at the indoor gym on the top floor of his apartment building. It was another perk that, in addition to the parking garage, helped rationalize the increased rent that he paid for his otherwise small apartment.

As he worked out on the elliptical and upper body equipment, his thoughts shamefully wandered to Katrina. Despite the guilt over thinking about her instead of Melanie, his thoughts took on a journey of their own. He realized that his subconscious was trying to tell him something, but he stubbornly insisted that Melanie was the individual who was supposed to be the center of his attention. Following his workout and a shower, Caleb dressed and called Melanie, just to see how the Florida trip was going.

“Hey, Mel,” he pleasantly offered.

“Oh, hi, Caleb,” she tentatively replied.

“Did I call at a bad time?”

“Oh, no,” she offered matter-of-factly. “Greg and I were just talking about stuff as we followed behind Candace’s car.”

“What happened to the original plan of carpooling in the minivan?”

“Well, the van was idling funny, so Candace loaded four people into her car, and Greg offered to drive the two of us behind them,” Melanie explained. “Wasn’t that nice of him?”

Oh yeah, Greg’s a real hero
, Caleb thought with annoyance. “Yeah, real nice,” he muttered darkly.

The connection’s signal strength seemed to falter, and Melanie said, “Listen, I think we’re losing the cell tower signal out here, so I’ll call you tonight from the hotel.”
“Sure,” he replied. “Be careful, okay?”

“You got it,” she absently replied before the line went dead.

Call it paranoia, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this trip
, Caleb irritably considered.

Katrina lounged before an elaborate oak computer hutch in an oversized basement serving as bedroom, entertainment room, and study at her estate. Daytime was often a boring period for her as she awaited dusk. She had already checked her various foreign and domestic investment accounts and shifted some funds to her bank account in Atlanta. She was passing the time Web surfing, following up on some emails with fellow vampire acquaintances around the world, and longing for sunset.

Her mind was preoccupied with contacting Alton and reviewing the information he had provided to her regarding the lost contact with two vampire associates in Europe. It appeared that Garett from Paris had disappeared entirely, and Alton had found no trace of where he might have disappeared to. Equally curious was the question of why Garett had gone underground so hastily. There was also the odd matter of Octavia from Trondheim, who was normally rather social for a vampire, but who had stopped interacting with her peers as abruptly as Garett.

Vampires didn’t require a lot of sleep, so Katrina had a lot of time to mull over both situations, which were beginning to appear connected. Unfortunately, there were still too many unanswered questions, and she hoped Alton’s continued investigations would prove more fruitful.

Despite her attempts, her normally unshakeable concentration was distracted with thoughts of Caleb. Katrina had enjoyed their brief visit the prior evening, and longed to spend more time with him. Needless to say, he definitely held her interest. The only problem was that his social life was complicated by Melanie, which meant that Katrina’s own interests in him were also handicapped by the woman.

Oh, how I dislike Melanie
, Katrina mulled with a clenched jaw. She realized that she needed a viable, innocent reason to try to interact with Caleb again.
Something that won’t put me on Melanie’s radar too much.

Maybe I should just kill Melanie
, she brooded.

Katrina felt that she was supposed to feel a pang of guilt for thinking so shallowly about humans. But for some reason, guilt failed her at that moment. Instead, there was a prospective sense of feral satisfaction.

She banished the idea from her thoughts entirely, though not because it might cause Caleb some degree of sadness, but because she needed to keep the body count to a minimum in order to avoid raising suspicion among the authorities and starting unnecessary manhunts. As a matter of practice, thanks to the blood bank, she usually lived in an area for rather long periods with virtually no need to kill anybody. Already, she’d dispatched one human in the short time since arriving in Atlanta. But that was to protect Caleb. Katrina resolved with complete clarity that no body count concerns would deter her from protecting him. It seemed that her concerns for him were still as strong as when he was a child.

“Angel Caleb,” she sighed out loud with a contented smirk as she considered the formerly innocent little boy who’d grown into such an attractive, intriguing young man.
He’s unlike the other men in my past
, she mused,
but in a good way
.
So kind, endearing, and sincere. Yet, there’s a definite vulnerability in him, a weakness, perhaps. He’s damaged from his past. Strength lurks dormant inside him, but he doesn’t seem to realize it yet. I can help him harness that over time, I think.

She froze in place, wondering why he meant so much to her when so few humans had during her time as a vampire.
Because he’s special to me
, she determined. Such a connection springing from a solitary day surrounding a singular event nearly twenty years ago might seem unlikely to most. Yet it had been pivotal to her continued existence. If not for him, she would likely be dead.
I’ll be grateful to him forever for his simple, guileless effort; an act of selfless assistance.

But could someone rationally expect to base a relationship on such a flimsy premise? She scoffed, breaking the silence around her. Many in her past had presumed to claim more from her and under much less pretense.
And they all died for their selfish efforts. But not Caleb. He’s altogether different
, she confirmed with a smile.

Whimsy struck her, and she picked up her cell phone from the tabletop.

After time spent doing laundry that afternoon, Caleb was once again at the office that evening, preparing some minor changes to his lesson plans, when his cell phone rang. He’d expected it to be Melanie, but noted that it was Katrina.

“Hello?” he asked with a distinctly pleased tone.

“Hi, Caleb, It’s Katrina,” she greeted him cheerfully.

As if I wouldn’t recognize her beautiful voice in the middle of a hurricane
, he considered, stifling a chuckle as he realized his unintended pun. “Hi, Katrina,” he replied with a smile. “What’s up?”

“Just a quick history-related question,” she began mysteriously. “If I wanted to read up on Andrew Jackson, what authors would you recommend?”

He smiled, pleased that she was calling to ask him for advice. “Well,” he began as he playfully swiveled around in his desk chair, “the bio by H.W. Brands is a gold standard, but I actually enjoyed the Jon Meacham bio even more.”

“Excellent, thanks for the suggestion,” she replied.

His eyes glanced at the small bookshelf in his office, and he spied the very book he had just mentioned. “In fact,” he began hopefully, “I happen to have the Meacham book right here in my office. I’d happily loan it to you.”

“I have some errands to run, so I maybe I’ll drop by and pick it up,” she ventured. “That is, unless you were leaving soon.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” he confirmed a bit more energetically than he’d intended.

He had no way of knowing that she was pausing to grin on the other end. “Great, I’ll be there in…shall we say, half-hour?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he confirmed with a smile before snapping his cell phone shut.

Approximately fifteen minutes after Katrina’s call, Caleb’s cell phone rang as he thumbed through Meacham’s biography of Jackson. As he reached for his phone, he hoped it wasn’t Katrina calling to say something came up. Instead, it was Melanie.
She must’ve reached the hotel okay.
“Hey, Mel,” he answered contentedly. “How’s Florida?”

There was a pause at the other end before Melanie spoke. “Hi, Caleb. Wow, you sound pretty happy-go-lucky. Where’s the party?”

Even Melanie’s sardonic wit didn’t impair his good mood at the prospect of seeing Katrina again. “No party, just here at the office finishing things for Monday,” he said, but with a more subdued tone than before.

“Now that’s the Caleb I know,” she said. “We made it to the hotel this afternoon and just got back from dinner. I’m changing clothes, and we’re gonna head out for some club-hopping.”

“Sounds good,” he politely offered. “Having fun?”

“Actually, yeah,” she replied with a surprised tone. “It’s been better than I expected. And Greg’s really been good company, too.”

“So, do you miss me?” Caleb smoothly asked.

There was another pause. “Well, do you miss me?” she countered somewhat evenly.

“I think I asked you first,” he fenced.
Boy, as if that wasn’t a junior high response
, he chided himself.

“Well, sure,” she offered a little weakly in his opinion. “But sometimes it’s good for two people to do their own thing, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I agree,” he diplomatically agreed. He heard a male voice in the background and frowned. “Who’s that?” he pointedly asked.

“Oh, it’s just Greg,” she explained with hesitation.

“I thought you said you were changing clothes,” he recalled with some annoyance.

“Well, I just finished,” she defensively countered.

He heard another faint noise in the background.
Was that the sound of a zipper being zipped, or unzipped?

“Listen, I better get going,” she insisted with sudden urgency. “The others are waiting for us.”

Waiting for us
, he levelly repeated in his mind. “Sure,” he conceded. “Have a good time, Mel.”

“Bye then, Caleb,” she offered a little too politely.

He was still contemplating the conversation with Melanie when Katrina arrived. She was dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and an emerald blouse underneath a stylish black leather jacket. Her red hair cascaded casually around her head and down below her shoulders.
She looks amazing.

She glanced down at him with a smile as she practically posed in the doorway. Her green eyes took in the faded blue jeans he wore, as well as the way in which his trendy, dark blue T-shirt fit snugly over his muscular chest. As her eyes met his, she noticed that his eyes appeared to be slightly strained, or perhaps agitated. Her smiled faded somewhat, and she adopted a concerned expression.

“Caleb, is everything okay?” she asked.

He considered her for a moment before realizing he was feeling happier once she arrived. There was no need to mention the conversation with Melanie. “Me? I’m great,” he replied. “Thanks for asking. You?”

“Great,” she answered with a friendly smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes.
He’s being evasive
, she mused as she noted the slight change in his pupils, the sound of his voice, and the almost negligible change to the muscle tension in his face. As vampires went, she was a very observant predator.

“I’m really glad you called earlier,” he genuinely offered.

That’s honest
, she noted by reading his body language and voice inflections. She returned his smile in earnest.

He handed the paperback book to her and offered, “Please, keep it as long as you like.”

She took it, making sure to flip through to the table of contents before casually scanning the description on the back cover. “Thanks,” she offered before carefully probing, “You’re up here late again, and on a Friday night no less. Shouldn’t you be out entertaining…what’s her name?”

“Melanie,” he offered with a wry expression.

Ah, so that’s what’s bothering him
, Katrina considered, feeling far happier about that than she thought she should have. “Sorry, bad topic?” she casually ventured.

He frowned. “I’m beginning to think so.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, but her smile widened wickedly. His heart rate increased slightly as he noted her expression and misinterpreted it as potentially negative.
He’s nervous about that
, she noted.