Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) (17 page)

“Foraging with humans?” Caleb quipped. “That cheese will clog your arteries, you know.”

Reynolds fully focused his striking brown eyes upon Caleb with a sparkle of genuine amusement, and he grinned in response.

“I happen to like fruit and cheese, even after all these years. And as for the arteries, I’m not so worried. That’s one of the perks of being a vampire, I’m happy to say. However, as your doctor, I must advise you limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly that fried pork on your plate.”

Caleb peered down at his plate.

Too true
, he conceded.

His attention quickly returned to the suave vampire before him.

“If I happen to see Paige tonight, I’ll be sure to track you down for a brief introduction.”

Reynolds appeared genuinely pleased by the suggestion. “I’d really like that, Mr. Taylor.”

“Please, Caleb,” he insisted.

“Caleb, then,” the vampire replied. “But only if you’ll call me Ethan.”

“Agreed,” Caleb said with a nod.

“Dr. Reynolds? There’s someone I want you to meet,” an ebony-skinned female vampire wearing a blue silk dress beckoned from nearby.

“Please excuse me, Caleb. Until later,” Ethan offered with a nod as he popped a small chunk of cheese into his mouth and walked off towards the woman who had called to him.

When Caleb finished loading his plate and grabbing a glass of iced tea from a nearby drink table, he spied the throng of humans gathered at the small tables not far from the buffet.

Aiden waved for him to join in, and he made his way to the bistro table where Aiden stood before a plateful of food. Caleb shook hands with him and introduced himself to another young man in his late twenties named Ryan from Ireland and a young dark-skinned woman named Chloe who had a West-African accent.

“Why’s everyone clustered around here?” Caleb curiously asked after sampling the food on his plate. Everything tasted amazing to him. In all the excitement of their arrival, he had almost forgotten that he hadn’t eaten since before their plane landed that afternoon.

“Are you kidding?” Chloe asked as if he were daft. “Smart fish don’t swim in chummed waters with sharks, my friend. My Isaac told me to sit quietly unless called for.”

Caleb easily detected that she seemed unsettled by the growing quantity of vampires in the room.

Ryan agreed, “Sabira told me much the same thing. She said to mingle with the humans, so here I’ll stay. I’m no chancer.”

Caleb appeared perplexed, and Aiden supplied, “Someone who pushes their luck.”

“Oh,” Caleb said while glancing over at the other humans gathered nearby. Many spoke with each other in hushed tones with wary expressions.

These people honestly look like they’re afraid of getting eaten or something
.

He continued to eat and engage in pleasant conversation with Aiden and the others and made a follow-up trip to the buffet and drink table. To his surprise, the humans continued to nestle in their corner while the vast majority of the room was interspersed with crowds of vampires who mingled back and forth between the groups like a giant chat-fest. Every once in a while, a vampire would glare over at the gathering of humans, mostly with a hungry, longing expression one might expect from a predator sizing up its prey.

After Caleb finished eating, he focused on Aiden in silent question. The curly-haired man responded with a brisk nod, and they both moved in unison away from the table. Aiden appraisingly looked at Caleb as he quickly surveyed their surroundings.

He spotted Alton talking to two male vampires on the far side of the room, also accompanied by an attractive brunette woman wearing a red dress, who stood next to him with her hand gently draped across his left arm.

“You
humans
have a good evening,” Caleb remarked as multiple people looked up to stare at him and Aiden.

“You two are daft,” Ryan chastised in his thick Irish accent.

“Good luck,” Chloe called to them.

“You’re kidding,” one woman commented loud enough for Caleb to hear.

He strode purposefully through the room with Aiden in tow. Some vampires briefly noted the two of them as they passed, others falling silent as they sensed a human approach. Barely halfway across the room, Aiden’s mate, Talise, grabbed his arm to pull him aside, leaving Caleb by himself as he purposefully completed the final distance to where Alton stood. The dark-haired vampire immediately focused his full attention on the young man.

“Ah, Caleb, my dear boy,” Alton began with overt approval. “It’s so good to see you. I’m happy that you agreed to accompany Katrina to Slovenia.”

Caleb reached out to shake his hand. “Me too. And it’s always good to see you, Alton.”

The vampire shook his hand and pulled him into a fraternal half-hug as the woman on his arm stepped aside with a shy smile. Caleb suspected that the two other vampires were taken aback by Alton’s unusually warm greeting, though he wasn’t certain. As he stepped back, Alton immediately gestured to the beautiful brunette to his left.

“Caleb, I’m pleased to introduce my companion, Dorianne Rousseau,” Alton offered with a sparkle in his eye.

The woman was about Caleb’s height and appeared to be about thirty years of age. However, her most striking feature was her violet eyes. Though such vivid eyes were normally a telltale sign of a vampire, he was momentarily uncertain if the woman before him were a human or not.

“
The
Dorianne Rousseau?” Caleb inquired with a hint of awe.

She seemed caught off guard by his hint of reverence and curiously considered him.

“I fear that you have me confused with someone else. I’m not anyone of notoriety,” she politely countered.

Caleb demurred, “Ah, but surely someone with as beautiful a visage and name to match deserves to be greeted as such.”

She laughed in a delightful manner as Alton shook his head and muttered, “Silver-tongued scamp.”

“Please, call me Dori,” the woman introduced herself as she reached out her hand to shake his.

“Caleb Taylor. My pleasure, Dori,” he offered while accepting her hand and gently grasping it.

The woman stared back at him with a look of approval.

“Ah, so you’re Caleb Taylor,” she slyly assessed. “I see what Alton meant regarding your charming sense of humor.”

He was genuinely caught off guard by her, and he looked to Alton.

“I might have mentioned you to her, actually,” the stately vampire hinted.

“Indeed. I’ve heard enough about you already, Caleb, that I feel I know you,” she complimented him. “It’s nice to finally put a face to a name, though.”

Caleb didn’t quite know how to respond once the tables had been so expertly turned on him, so he merely nodded politely.

Alton smoothly introduced the two vampires next to them, but later Caleb honestly didn’t recall their names. His attention was repeatedly distracted by Dori and how remarkable the woman seemed. If she were human, she was the most comfortable-looking human in the room.

Why hasn’t Alton mentioned her before?

His focus quickly returned to Alton.

“I’m afraid I must circulate the room a bit more to try and greet everyone before the evening passes, Caleb,” Alton apologized. “However, I think it important that you and I make some time in the near future. There’s much for us to discuss.”

“Certainly, I understand. And I’d like that very much, Alton.”

“We’ll talk more again soon, Caleb,” Dori promised as Alton led her away towards another group.

The two remaining vampires momentarily looked at Caleb curiously. Then each made the gesture of shaking his hand again before also gravitating to other groups of vampires. Caleb surveyed the large room until his attention focused on where the majority of humans were still gathered together.

You know, they actually look like sheep huddled together in a flock for protection
, he determined. Suddenly, he was glad not to be there with them.

His eyes momentarily met Aiden’s across the room, and the young man winked before returning his attention to Talise and another vampire. Caleb couldn’t help but feel quite pleased with himself. Amidst the politics and hidden agendas of those around him, he felt that he had discovered a kindred spirit in Aiden Henderson.

“Hey, kiddo,” Paige’s voice announced, startling him slightly.

He turned to greet his surrogate vampire, noting the curious expression in her bright blue eyes as she studied him, still attired in her official security outfit.

“You looked like you were in a trance for a moment,” she observed. “You okay?”

“Me? Oh yeah, I’m fine,” he assured her. Then he recalled his earlier promise to Ethan. “Are you off duty now?” he asked.

“Ha! Are you kidding? The major’s had me running around non-stop after the lobby incident –” She stopped midsentence, afraid it would sound like she was blaming him for what had happened.

“I should’ve let it go and just apologized to the jerk,” he lamented. He didn’t like hearing that the event had caused problems for her.

She took his chin between her fingertips, much as Katrina had done on occasion, and turned his face towards hers.

“Stop,” she quietly ordered. “You did nothing wrong today, and I’d do it again without hesitation. The major’s just being...well, the major. Nothing more.”

“Understood,” he said.

She released her grip on his chin, though her serious expression remained.

“Do you have quick minute?” he asked.

Her features relaxed somewhat, and she slyly grinned. “For you? Always.”

“Great, because there’s someone I want you to meet,” he explained as he took her hand and led her around the groups of visiting vampires.

She followed behind him with a curious expression.

Ethan Reynolds had his back turned and was passively listening to two other vampires converse when Caleb reached out to tap him on the shoulder.

Realizing that interrupting a vampire was a bad idea, Paige started to intercept Caleb’s arm and snapped, “Don’t do –”

Sensing someone behind him, rather than reacting aggressively as some vampires might have, the doctor turned very slowly and surveyed them with a curious expression. Ethan’s features quickly brightened when he realized it was Caleb.

He’s awfully well-tempered
, Paige observed.

“Ethan, I’m proud to introduce you to Ms. Paige Turner, my surrogate vampire,” he formally announced.

He quickly turned to Paige and offered, “Paige, this is Dr. Ethan Reynolds.

She warmly smiled at the doctor, sizing him up and noting that his hand was already outstretched in an immediate gesture of greeting.

Well, aren’t you just Doctor McDreamy-looking?

Ethan’s face appeared to light up even further as he beheld Paige. “It’s a real pleasure to meet you, Captain Turner. I’ve only been here for a few days, so we haven’t been formally introduced yet.”

“No, we haven’t,” she agreed. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Reynolds.”

“Please, Ethan,” he insisted.

Paige immediately liked his smile, among other physical attributes. But while the vampire seemed sincere, she was nevertheless always on her guard.

“Well, Ethan,” she began, “I suppose that you can call me Paige.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” he sincerely replied. “I look forward to working with you during the conference.”

“Hopefully we won’t need your services too frequently,” she countered.

He shrugged. “True, perhaps. But then, I’m helpful for more than accidents and injuries, you know.”

“Really? Such as?” Paige suggestively pressed.

“Well, why don’t we discuss that over a drink?” he asked, chivalrously extending the crook of his left arm towards her.

She caught Caleb’s attention, and he encouragingly winked back at her.

“By all means, lead on, Ethan,” she replied with a gleam in her eyes.

Caleb watched them wander off in the direction of the blood bar.

They could end up becoming very interesting
.

His attention quickly shifted to a dark-haired vampire standing a few feet to his left who was glaring at him with slightly glowing blue eyes. He immediately recognized the vampire from the earlier lobby incident, and his body tensed slightly.

The vampire moved slowly towards Caleb, stopping less than two feet from him and displaying a thinly veiled grimace.

“Enjoying the evening, human?” the vampire curtly inquired.

“It’s just wonderful, thank you,” he courteously replied, not wanting to create another scene reminiscent of the lobby.

Suddenly, Katrina appeared by his side, asking, “Care to introduce me to your friend, Caleb?”

She had been casually observing her mate from a distance and immediately sensed his tension upon viewing the vampire before him. Despite never having met him, she already had an idea who he was based upon her mate’s earlier description.

“We’re only briefly acquainted, actually,” Caleb calmly explained despite the tension he felt inside. “We met in the lobby earlier this evening.”

Katrina’s left arm possessively wrapped around Caleb’s waist, and she stepped forwards to address the vampire before them.

“I’m Katrina Rawlings.”

The tall vampire politely inclined his head, though with a smug expression, and grandly announced, “Dominic Ambrogio.”

“Caleb’s my mate,” she firmly noted, ignoring his air of self-importance.

The vampire’s eyes widened slightly with a degree of recognition as he surveyed the tall red-haired woman before him.

“He’s
your
mate and not the short blonde’s?” he demanded with some surprise amidst a slightly perplexed expression.

Katrina’s eyes momentarily flashed bright green, and she answered in a lethally calm voice, “Correct.
My
mate.”

He tried to appear unshaken by the revelation, but was doing a poor job of it.

“An unfortunate misunderstanding earlier this evening, of course,” he assured her.

Caleb had the impression that Katrina’s reputation had preceded her and noticed that the room had fallen silent save for the ambient symphonic music playing as numerous eyes observed the quiet exchange. He momentarily realized that with a room full of vampires, no conversation was truly private. Then he spied Paige standing just to his left with a stern expression as Ethan stood beside her.