A Bloody London Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 2) (39 page)

She smiled broadly and quickly kissed him on the lips. “Sounds wonderful, my love. Have a good time, and mind Rob and Lynne’s advice, okay?”

He smirked and feigned innocence. “Me? I’ll be the picture of the model tourist.”

She arched one eyebrow and murmured, “Mm-hm.”

Rob and Lynne cast quick glances at each other as Caleb opened the front door and proceeded into the hallway. As Lynne passed him, Rob silently nodded to Katrina in a reassuring manner and turned to follow the others down the hallway.

Katrina stood in the open suite doorway for a few seconds before closing it behind them. She hoped that Caleb left his unexpected penchant for trouble back in Atlanta.
Still, it’s just sightseeing, right?

* * * *

Caleb enjoyed getting to know Rob and Lynne as they proceeded to various points of interest throughout the city. He didn’t ask, but realized that if Alton employed the couple and Katrina approved of them, the Fullers were likely much more than just a timid, married couple who were showing him around town.
They’re probably agents, or something
, he mused. Still, he didn’t want to seem rude by asking, and instead merely kept the conversations light and friendly.
Besides, we’re here on vacation anyway
.
It’s not like we’re on a mission or something
.
The mission portion of the trip ended with Dr. Guilhelm last night.

His mind momentarily wandered to last evening’s revelations regarding his memories of meeting Katrina as a child and the death of his father. He had been scared by what might be revealed in his memories, but was actually relieved by what he had learned. Granted, he found the vivid images disturbing as they related to his father’s demise, but it wasn’t as bad as he feared it would be. Many other unblocked memories of his father included numerous cases of physical or verbal abuse, and he hated the man for it.
I’m glad he’s dead
, he considered darkly. He realized there was a time not so long ago when such thoughts would have disturbed him.
But that changed after I met Katrina. Should that concern me, or perhaps encourage me?

“Caleb, is everything okay?” Lynne asked as she sat next to him on the Tube. Rob glanced discreetly past his wife to study him as well.

Caleb broke from his reverie and felt himself blush slightly. “Sorry,” he replied with a sheepish grin. “I was just caught up in some other thoughts for a moment. I’m having a great time, though. Thanks so much.”

She smiled at him supportively and nodded.

The three ate a light, afternoon lunch at a quaint English pub called The Cross Keys, where Caleb tried a tasty ale on tap and enjoyed a traditional English sausage entree. Later, they went by Buckingham Palace to view the queen’s impressive elite guards on duty. They took some outdoor photos of old buildings, including Parliament and the Courts of Justice on the Strand, and of course, Big Ben, the London Tower Bridge, and the London Eye. The Fullers kindly took photos of him standing before those sites as well. He thoroughly enjoyed their company and forgot they were anything more than a charming English couple showing him the sites. He also called Katrina a couple of times during the day to check in and noticed on the last call that his cell phone battery was waning.
I’ll be back in a few hours to recharge it
.

By late afternoon, they were once again riding the Tube on their way across town. When they exited the train, there was a large crowd of people in the underground boarding area, and Caleb had to squeeze between people. He shared a smirk with Lynne as both of them were brushed aside by a man carrying a violin case who seemed in a hurry.

“Probably just a mobster late for a hit,” Caleb joked loudly over the din of voices around them.

“Gonna rub somebody out, eh?” Lynne quipped with a smile, to which he grinned and nodded.

Rob suddenly grabbed the sleeve of Caleb’s jacket, and he looked up to see him focused on something along the far wall across the terminal.

“Bloody hell,” Rob muttered under his breath, catching Lynne’s attention.

She abruptly stopped and turned to look at both of them as Caleb’s eyes spied a tall, pale man wearing a gray leather jacket staring back at them with slightly glowing brown eyes.

“Go!” Rob urged to Lynne. “Get Caleb topside into daylight!”

Lynne grasped Caleb’s left arm and pulled him towards the nearby escalator heading upstairs. He saw Rob’s arm sneak inside his jacket.

“Keep moving, no matter what, Caleb,” Lynne urged as she pressed at his back, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of her husband.

“But Rob --” he protested.

“Rob’s fine. He’ll be fine,” she urged and pushed him onto the escalator. “He knows what to do.”

Somehow Caleb doubted that. He had been attacked by vampires before and knew how utterly futile it felt to combat them.

At the top of the escalator, Caleb heard a brief gunshot, followed by people screaming. Lynne looked behind her, hesitating. She turned to Caleb with a desperate expression and ordered, “Get up to street level and call Alton or Katrina! Just stay in the daylight, no matter what!”

Caleb nodded and hurried towards another escalator leading further upstairs. He stopped after ten feet to look back, but Lynne had already disappeared downstairs. He turned to continue to the escalator, but spotted a tall, blond man wearing a dark suit coming down the escalator, urgently pushing past people as he descended. Caleb noticed his complexion was very pale, and the man glanced up with slightly glowing violet eyes.
Crap, another vampire!

Crowds of animated and scared-looking people were pouring upstairs even as people upstairs were frozen in place wondering what had happened. Instead of getting on the escalator in the direction of the other vampire, Caleb turned towards a small corridor leading away from the area. He quickly proceeded down the abandoned, tiled corridor. It ended in a metal door with a push-bar handle, which he hit at full force as he hurried forwards. Instead of leading upstairs, the concrete steps led down. But rather than backtrack and risk running into the vampires, he proceeded downstairs. At the foot of the stairwell was another heavy, metal door, which he barreled through like the previous one.

He entered into a dimly lit concrete corridor, realizing he’d likely made a bad mistake. The door shut behind him with a metallic thud, and he whirled around with a horrified expression as he grasped at the metal door handle and pulled. It didn’t budge an inch.

“Damn!” he cursed and peered tentatively down the darkened corridor before him.

His hand flew to his belt to withdraw his cell phone, and he flipped the face open, muttering, “Hope I get a signal.”

He tried scrolling through his contact list, and then stared at the blank screen with a puzzled expression. He tried actuating the power button a couple of times, to no avail. He removed the battery, reinstalled it, and tried turning the phone on. Again, nothing.
Worse than no signal
.
No charge.

He slipped his dead phone away in its carrier and walked carefully to the end of the corridor where it opened into an underground subway tunnel. There were only occasional dim lights placed in the ceiling, giving the tunnel an eerie ambiance.

“Pick a direction,” he mumbled, finally turning right.

He walked for a short distance in hopes of finding another side corridor that might host another potential exit, but found the tunnel continuing in a slightly curved fashion. He heard the sound of a train in the distance, which grew progressively louder. Anxiously looking for a place to step off the track area, he quickened his pace forwards. He thought it was too far away to turn back and was relieved when he found a small alcove set in the wall that appeared big enough to squeeze his body into. Thankfully, the niche was more than adequate, though he was less than enthused by the feel of the moist, cold concrete at his back.

The oncoming roar of a train drew closer as he remained in the niche. A rumbling accompanied the noise until a train sped by his location with a roaring rush of air. He clamped his hands over his ears and tightly shut his eyes until the train passed. Stepping from the niche, he proceeded onwards. His mind wandered back to the fate of the Fullers, and he prayed they were okay. He struggled to focus on his present situation instead of allowing his growing anxiety to get the best of him.

Caleb soon arrived at a branch in the tunnel, and he was forced to choose between right and left. He took the left tunnel, walking at an increased pace. The tunnel was much quieter until he heard the roar of another train in the distance, which failed to grow louder and eventually faded away. Time passed, and he finally located a small side corridor leading away from the tunnel. It looked like the passageway that had brought him into the tunnels, but seemed older and less utilized. The brick wall appeared antiquated, and there was only a single light at the front of the corridor. He considered abandoning it for another further up the tunnel, but instead removed a keychain flashlight from his pocket and flipped it on.

Proceeding into the narrow passageway, he failed to hear any noises or voices.
It’s probably a dead end up here
, he mused. After a short walk, the corridor led into a small, open area that appeared completely abandoned. However, he noted a newer looking leather couch that one might find in an office waiting room or lobby.
That’s strange
, he thought.

He shined his small light around the approximately twenty-foot square room and spied a small niche. He walked to it, noting a deteriorated metal door set into the wall. The handle appeared antiquated, and an old deadbolt lock was set into its dingy metal facing. He tried the handle, but the door was secured in place.

“It figures,” he groused. “Probably just goes to the Land of Oz or Alice’s rabbit hole, anyway.”

He sighed and dejectedly headed back to the tunnel. When he arrived, he turned right and proceeded onwards. Not long afterwards, he heard another train in the distance, which grew progressively closer. He shrunk into another alcove formed by two large concrete pillars until his back pressed against the cold, damp cement wall. The rumbling of the approaching train reverberated through his body via the ground and wall behind him. The train sped by with a screeching and whooshing roar, a gust of air sweeping over his body as it passed. He shut his eyes tightly to the onslaught and waited a few seconds longer once the train had passed before opening his eyes again.

“Crap, that’s loud!” he cursed as the sensation of the train still seemed to vibrate through his body.

Gathering his wits, he proceeded down the tunnel towards what he hoped would be another boarding area where he could rejoin humanity. He proceeded into the barely lit darkness and concentrated on keeping his footing, pausing occasionally when he thought he heard a rustling sound around him. His nerves were on edge, feeling as if at any moment a vampire would rush out of the darkness at him. He hated the idea that he was essentially weaponless and felt vulnerable due to both his reduced visibility and increasing disorientation.

After a time, he heard another quickly approaching rumbling in the distance. He hastily sought another niche in the tunnel wall and pressed his body into the space.

The train roared past him like the previous ones, and he gritted his teeth while closing his eyes until it passed. Once the train was gone, he opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and proceeded up the dismal tunnel. He had quickly grown to despise the subterranean detour and was anxious for it to be over. He proceeded down another lengthy stretch of dimly illuminated tunnel and avoided yet another approaching train.

Following its passing, and after a much longer interval, he heard another train approaching and sought another niche in the wall. The increasing rumbling noise and accompanying vibrations unnerved him, and he forced himself into the nearest wall space.

“Damned trains!” he shouted with frustration.

The train whooshed by with a roar and a bone-jarring reverberation. He closed his eyes tightly and waited as the air rushed past his body, which shook from the tremulous vibrations working their way through his muscles and bones.

Caleb released a deep breath he’d been holding, feeling weary from his seemingly never-ending journey, and slowly opened his eyes again once the train had passed. But instead of staring into the darkness, he was staring into a black cotton sweater. His eyes widened from the scent of cherry blossoms, and he quickly looked up into Katrina’s glowing emerald eyes.

“You’re such a handful sometimes,” she lightly chastised him, but with an adoring expression on her face. She deliberately hid her relief at finding him safe, having feared the worst when she learned he had disappeared near the tunnels.

His arms immediately wrapped around her waist, pressing her against him in a bear hug. “You don’t know how freakin’ glad I am to see you,” he muttered.

She smiled down at him, fully appreciating his firm embrace, and wrapped her arms around him protectively as she felt his rapid heartbeat thrumming from deep within his chest. However, she also detected the tension in his body and realized just how alarmed he must have been over the situation.
Of course, hearing him yell in the tunnel was a good indicator of that
.

“Are the Fullers okay?” he asked. “I heard gunshots before Lynne went to help Rob.”

“They’re both fine,” she assured him. “Alton called me while I was on my way to find you. The vampire attacked Rob, but was deterred by a gunshot wound to his neck. By the time Lynne arrived to aid her husband, the injured vampire had escaped into the tunnel.”

“What about the other one, the blond vampire?”

“There was another?” she asked. She hadn’t recalled Alton’s mentioning two vampires on the phone.

“Just how did you manage to find me down here?” he asked, continuing to hug her a moment longer. He savored the comforting feel of her body and scent of her cherry blossom lotion.