A Bloody London Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 2) (8 page)

Devon’s eyes darted to Caleb where he was lying on the ground nearby and back to Katrina. “Understood,” he agreed. “And once again, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I invite you to Marietta, where you must grant me the opportunity to solidify an agreement and reintroduce myself in a proper fashion.”

Katrina nodded curtly, and Devon turned to depart into the thick pine trees next to the trail. But then he stopped and looked at Katrina with eyes that no longer glowed. “My word is honorable,” he insisted. “What was your name again? Your mate mentioned it, but I don’t recall.”

“Katrina Rawlings of the Atlanta area.”

Devon’s eyes widened. “Wait, the one that killed the Aztec who was murdering other vampires?”

Katrina’s face turned stony, but she nodded. “That’s me.”

Devon sighed, shook his head, and muttered, “Yeah, just my luck.” He turned to look at Caleb and offered, “My respects to him. I’ve never encountered a human who fought so hard before. He’s a tough little bastard, and he gave almost as good as he got.”

Katrina scowled. “I’m sure he’s happy to hear that.”

“Thanks, asshole,” was all Caleb managed to rasp in response as he glared at the vampire from where he lay on the ground.

Devon frowned deeply, turned away from them, and disappeared quietly into the forest. Caleb blinked, and when his eyes opened again the hulking vampire was nowhere to be seen. A fresh wave of pain shot through his ribs as he tried to take a deep breath, and his head felt woozy and ached.

Katrina moved in a blur as she both sheathed her knife and sped to Caleb’s side. She knelt beside her prone mate with a concerned expression, removed the leather jacket she’d been wearing, and laid it over his prone form.

“Everything will be okay, my love,” she tried to reassure him.
I’m taking care of you
.

He murmured something unintelligible and escaped the continued pain by welcoming the darkness as it finally overcame him.

* * * *

Caleb heard Katrina’s voice talking when he regained consciousness, though he couldn’t immediately understand what was being said. He shifted his body slightly, resulting in pain, and realized he was lying in a bed. He slowly opened his eyes to discover the room was dimly lit, and he recognized the estate’s sublevel room. He moaned while lifting his hand to his head as dull aching persisted behind his eyes, which he closed tightly.

“I have to go, Alton. He’s finally awake,” Katrina urged in a near whisper. “I’ll call you soon.”

Caleb felt the edge of the bed shift next to him, and he opened his eyes to see Katrina sitting beside him in a pair of cotton lounge pants and a t-shirt. Her gentle fingers caressed the skin on the side of his face, and her warm smile soothed him.

“Welcome back, my love,” she offered.
I’m relieved he’s finally regained consciousness
. She was confident his body was healing, but worried he might have a mild concussion.

He felt disoriented and somewhat confused as he tried recalling anything beyond blacking out on the hard ground in the forest, but nothing came to mind.

“What happened?” he asked. “How long have I been out?”

“Twelve hours or more,” she replied. “How do you feel?”

He tried to swallow and noticed his throat felt raw. “Like hell, but better than back at the forest.”

She retrieved a glass of ice water from the nightstand, and he noticed a blood-tinged syringe lying nearby. His eyes met hers with a curious expression.

“How bad was I?” he asked before drinking greedily. He realized from the syringe that she must have injected him with some of her blood.

“Bad enough, my love. You had a couple of broken ribs, likely a mild concussion, and I’m fairly sure from the sounds in your chest that you had fluid in one lung,” she replied grimly.

“Holy crap,” he muttered. He had no idea his body had endured that level of punishment.

“I should have killed him,” she half-lamented.

“You didn’t?” he asked with a frown. “I only remember lying on the ground and blacking out.”

She explained how she agreed to a truce and Devon’s promise to establish an agreement for restitution with her. What concerned her was that he had no recollection of any of that dialogue, although he had seemed semi-conscious at the time.

“You took a lot more punishment than I thought,” she said. “What do you remember?” A pang of guilt flowed through her as she wished she had been faster in tracking him down when she heard him shouting her name in the distance.

He described his encounter with the hulking vampire, including as much of the dialogue as he could recall. He told her how he initially used pepper spray against Devon, followed by his pocket knife to stab him in the leg, and finally his attempt to kick him in the knee or groin to try temporarily disabling him.

She adopted a look of approval, admiring his tenacity and fortitude, though surprised he had engaged in so many melees with Devon. “So that’s why you’re a ’tough little bastard,’ then,” she surmised. “I’m proud of you, my love. It probably saved your life until I was able to find you.”

He grimaced. “Great. I got my ass kicked by another vampire. Real valiant, that was.”

She smirked at the level of aggravation evident in his tone and kissed him on the forehead. “Archibald said he never saw a human fight as hard as you did.”

“Sure. Then again, maybe he hasn’t attacked many people before.”

She considered that line of thought. “I did get the impression he wasn’t particularly skilled in combat, but rather more of a brawler. Or perhaps he isn’t that old a vampire,” she speculated. “But he was a brute-sized fellow. He probably hasn’t encountered many people capable of putting up a fight. Obviously, you were a surprise of sorts.”

“Obviously you were too,” he added, recalling brief images of how handily she had engaged Devon in combat.

She bent down and lightly kissed his lips. “My previous years of combat experience came in handy. But more importantly, I think you’re getting better at fighting vampires. If he’d been a human instead of a vampire, I’m pretty sure he would have fared very poorly. You seem to have thought quickly on your feet with the resources you had available. We’ll continue adding to your fighting skills in the future.”

“Yeah, well, thanks for playing Find Caleb again,” he said with a scowl. “Given the added challenges, I suppose you get to pick the prize.”

“I already picked him.”
And hopefully I’ll do a better job of protecting him when he needs it
.

He nodded, exchanged a warm kiss with her, and reached out to stroke her affectionately on the thigh. He was relieved she had arrived in time to help him, although he wouldn’t mind being able to take care of himself better in a fight. He resolved to learn how to put some serious hurt on a vampire for any future repeat performances. And with the way his luck typically went, he had the feeling he needed all the help he could get. Then his thoughts turned to the unlikely nature of his encounter.

“Just what are the odds of my running into him out there like that?” Caleb asked. “I’m either the unluckiest guy in the world, or there’s a hell of a lot more vampires out there than you’ve implied. Either way, I’m not encouraged.”

“I’m way ahead of you,” she agreed grimly.

“Of course you are. But then, you’ve been conscious for the past twelve hours too,” he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Devon said he was hunting for wild game, which makes sense on a wildlife preserve, so it’s likely you were merely a target of opportunity. For all we know, he’s been visiting the location regularly.”

Caleb considered that and recalled, “I think he said something about not seeing anyone out there on a winter’s night before.”

She frowned. “I’m curious about how many vampires are wandering around Georgia. I’ve never taken much interest in other vampires, but now I have a mate with an apparent sense of adventure, so I have incentive to be curious. This business with Devon has made me consider declaring a territory.”

Caleb frowned. “So, what do you mean by that exactly?”

She sighed. “Well, in vampire terms, I would be announcing my location and declaring a specific area as my personal interest. That has the added detriment of garnering unwanted attention by the vampire community, but it means there should be more communication from the socially active of my kind who might travel through here or relocate nearby.”

“I’m really kind of surprised to hear you say that, Kat,” he ventured quietly.

“It was Alton’s idea, actually. I prefer as much anonymity as possible, but our recent exploits with Chimalma have unexpectedly launched us into the spotlight.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been receiving emails the past couple of weeks from vampires I didn’t even know existed. Apparently, about half of the emails are congratulating me, and the other half just want more details regarding what happened.”

Caleb’s surprised expression spoke volumes. “So, you’re a celebrity now?”

Katrina shrugged. “Not me. Us. A number of emails have pointed out that you’re one of the few humans to survive a vampire attack from Chimalma.”

He grimaced and added bitterly, “And an attack from the Incredible Vampire Hulk, Devon.”

She smirked at him and shook her head slightly.
Always the comedian
.

He moved gingerly to the other side of the bed, and she frowned.

“Where are you crawling off to?” she asked.

He managed to make it across the bed and swung his legs over the edge with an effort. His body felt like it had been pummeled, but at least it seemed functional.

“Bathroom,” he replied with a groan as he fought the soreness in his body and tried to acquire his balance.

She sped around to him in a blur and wrapped her arm around his torso to steady him. “Oh, of course.”

After helping him into the bathroom, she closed the door to give him some privacy. Her cell phone buzzed on the computer hutch, and she sped over to check it. A text message from Paige was waiting for her:
How’s our boy?

Her speedy fingers typed:
Ok. Just woke up.

Healed?

Katrina responded:
Yes. Better now.

My best 2 you both. Hug N kiss kiddo 4 me.

Katrina smirked as she heard Caleb opening the bathroom door. She helped him back into bed and bent down to tuck him under the sheets.

He felt exhausted merely from the journey to the bathroom and back and sighed. He was genuinely happy to be back in bed.

“Paige texted me just now,” Katrina offered while caressing her fingers lightly through his hair.

He smiled. “What’s my babysitter up to?”

“Asking about you, of course,” she replied with a grin. She bent down, held his body against hers gently and pressed her lips to his cheek to pop a quick peck against his skin just as Paige frequently did.

He chuckled. “From Paige?”

She smiled and nodded and kissed him warmly on the lips. His lips responded greedily despite his exhaustion, and he felt her hand supportively wrap around the back of his head. Her soft lips nipped at his skin lightly as she kissed hm.

“And that was from me,” she murmured softly, curling next to him on the bed with her arms around him as he settled down to rest again.

You’re amazing, Kat
, he thought with satisfaction as he drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Caleb awoke with a yawn and a sense of confusion. His perception of time was distorted during his body’s recovery, and the situation hadn’t been helped being in the windowless sublevel. He scanned the dimly lit room, but didn’t see Katrina anywhere. Raising his arm to glance at his watch, he felt an ache permeate his shoulder and back.

It was already midday Sunday, which meant he had slept for another twelve hours or more. He stretched, realizing he only had part of the weekend left before he was expected back at work. At that moment, his stomach growled with hunger. He reached over to the nightstand and emptied a glass of water in a matter of seconds, his thirst nearly as urgent as his hunger.

He returned the glass to the nightstand and perched his body up on one arm. The sliding pocket door into the room opened quietly, and he glanced over to see Katrina peering inside with a grin. In a blur of motion, she suddenly appeared at his bedside. He smirked, amazed again by how quickly vampires could move when they wanted to.

“Welcome back to the world of the conscious, sleepy head,” she teased. “You’re looking much better, my love.”

He nodded. “I feel better, too.”

“Do you feel up to a shower? I’ll make you something to eat while you freshen up.”

It was then he noticed her attire. She was dressed in a fashionable pair of blue jeans, black turtleneck sweater, and stylish black leather boots.

“Yeah, that sounds fine, thanks,” he replied absently. “Going out?”

She gently stroked the side of his face with her fingertips and explained, “Yes, once the sun goes down, of course. I plan to meet with Devon Archibald in Marietta tonight. It’s important we finalize details on our new arrangement with him while the iron’s still hot.”

He considered that for a moment and felt nothing but animosity for the hulking vampire. He tried to look past his own personal feelings, but found that his recent experiences were just too fresh in his mind to move beyond them.

He’s not happy about that
, she noted.
But then, I can’t say that I blame him.

“I guess I don’t need to ask you to be careful,” he said with resignation as he reached out to grasp her hand. “I don’t trust him.”

Katrina reassured him, “I’ll be just fine. And I hope you don’t mind my not asking if you wanted to go.”

“Uh, no.
Not
on my to-do list,” he replied tersely.

She nodded and pulled his hand up to her face to rub the back of his hand against her cheek, which elicited a brief smile. She hoped she was making the right decision regarding the mysterious Devon Archibald.

After she went back upstairs, Caleb showered, shaved, and changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He went upstairs to the kitchen where Katrina had just finished preparing his food. She laid out a plateful of turkey bacon, wheat biscuits, and a tasty-looking cheese omelet. There was also a jar of black raspberry jam and a steaming mug of Darjeeling tea, a blend she had introduced to him that had become one of his favorites.