Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) (19 page)

He was amused by her bored tone.

“What? Yes, ma’am, I’m sure it’s a crime that the kitchen brought cold food to your room, but it’s honestly not a security matter,” she explained with an incredulous expression.

He had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Well, you could always withhold a tip,” she suggested.

She patiently listened as the animated woman’s voice complained back at her. Finally, she rubbed at her eyes with the fingertips of her free hand and said, “Um, ma’am, let me transfer you to the desk manager. Please hold.”

Her fingers quickly played across the telephone’s keypad, and she stated, “Yeah, this is Turner. I’ve got an angry eater on the line for you. Something about cold food. Good luck. Here she is.”

With that, she hung up the phone and cursed under her breath.

“Geez, I hate this job already,” she muttered.

He couldn’t help but grin back at her in response.

At the sound of the main office door, her eyes darted to the visitor. Caleb swiveled in his seat to view a young man holding a brown leather briefcase in one hand.

The Mediterranean-looking fellow uneasily looked towards the major’s office and asked, “Is Major Pietari here, please?”

Paige frowned at the man’s awkward behavior, but smoothly answered, “Nope. The major stepped out, but I expect him any moment. Can I help you?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll just come back later.”

Then he abruptly turned and departed the office in what seemed a hurried fashion.

“Strange,” she observed.

Her attention quickly returned to Caleb.

“Just what are you doing down here, anyway?” she asked. “Katrina brings you all the way to Europe, and you want to just sit around a hotel security office?”

“Yeah, well, I was just on my way to get something to eat. Afterwards, I guess I’ll look around the place. Kat’s note said I needed to occupy my time until evening.”

“Fine, but if you don’t like the food, just keep it to yourself, okay, kiddo?”

He chuckled and shook his head at her. Despite Kat’s absence, he was happy that Paige was around. His surrogate vampire was such an important part of his life.

As if sensing his emotions, she smiled back at him for a moment. She loved his kind nature and easy disposition and was quite attached to the young man.

Under different circumstances, he might even be mine
, she thought on a whim.

However, her smile quickly faded, and she silently chastised herself for letting her thoughts stray in such a direction.

Dangerous territory
, she estimated before refocusing on the monitors before her.

“Okay, okay, go get something to eat, or I’ll have to ticket you for loitering,” she teased with a dismissive wave of her hand.

As he rose, Major Pietari walked in and scanned the office before settling his gaze upon the sandy-haired human. Caleb immediately extended his hand. The major suspiciously peered at him before gripping his hand.

“Caleb Taylor,” the young man offered with a shake.

“Major Kivo Pietari,” the tall vampire replied. He shifted his attention to Paige, critically observing, “No visitors while on duty, Captain.”

“Um, I was just leaving,” Caleb interjected. “In fact, Paige just admonished me about loitering.”

The major’s sharp eyes fell upon him as if studying him for a moment. Then he merely grunted in reply.

Caleb proceeded to the door. Before closing the door behind him completely, he heard Paige inform the major, “You missed an odd little visitor a few minutes ago.”

Following his visit with Paige, Caleb went to the hotel’s central restaurant for an early lunch. There were only a few patrons dispersed throughout the dining room, none of whom he knew, so he quietly sat and observed his surroundings while he ate. He noticed that the staff all seemed polite, though pensive, for some reason. Perhaps they weren’t used to being around vampire guests.

Then the thought struck him that he was surrounded by seemingly ordinary human staff, and he wondered how the vampires had managed to maintain any sense of privacy concerning their gathering with so many potential “loose lips” around. All it would take is one discreet phone call or email to the media, and the place might be crawling with press.

Well, maybe not the mainstream press at first
, he mulled.
More likely the tabloids expecting an outlandish gathering of vampire-wannabes trying to host a Goth conference.

He shook his head and made a mental note to ask Katrina about it later.

After lunch, he decided to familiarize himself with his surroundings and walked through the main lobby past the various support offices and conference rooms. He came upon two suit-clad vampire guards standing outside the large reception room he had been in the prior evening with Katrina. He recognized both guards from the night before and politely nodded, and each acknowledged him in recognition.

On the back side of the hotel, he came upon a small cluster of boutiques and shops presented in a manner reminiscent of a shopping mall. Light filtered down from above, and he looked up to see large glass panes laid out as an elaborate skylight that ran the length of the small corridor of shops. The light seemed terribly subtle for the clear skies, upon which he noticed that the panes were treated with what must be UV-dampening material. As he proceeded on his tour, he realized that all of the windows in and around the hotel and conference center were likewise treated.

After nearly an hour of wandering, he retrieved a digital camera from his room and journeyed outdoors. The surrounding mountains were breathtaking, and the grass and trees were lush and green. Flower gardens decorated the hotel landscape, as well as a number of small fountains and park benches. He snapped photos as he walked and idly greeted a number of humans whom he recognized as other vampire companions.

Once again, he noted the starkly different demeanors of the hotel guests from the hotel staff. The sole exception seemed to be the security guards who randomly patrolled by. The guards maintained a confident air as they casually strolled about the grounds. Caleb noted a seemingly large quantity of guards on patrol as he walked throughout the acres of land constituting the hotel property.

Paige and the major must have their hands full coordinating such a large staff
, he absently determined.

He sat on a park bench facing a large expanse of forest leading away from the main hotel grounds. He made a mental note to explore the forest another time and instead merely appreciated the warm sunshine as it beamed down upon him.

“This is excellent,” he muttered, closing his eyes and tilting his face skywards. “Finally, some peaceful relaxation.”

Minutes passed as he basked in the sunlight, leaning back against the bench while stretching his legs out before him.

“There you are,” came a familiar woman’s voice.

The slight French accent was unmistakable, though Caleb started with surprise and opened his eyes to pan in the direction of the brunette-haired visitor. Only as the sunlight caressed Dorianne Rousseau’s pale skin was his mind finally convinced that she was human and not a vampire.

“Hi, Dorianne.”

“Dori,” she pleasantly corrected him. “Is this seat taken?”

He made a welcoming gesture as he sat up from his reclined position.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she quietly observed as she sat down beside him.

“It’s everything Europe should be,” he acknowledged with awe.

He never thought that he would ever have the opportunity, or funds, to visit the places he had been since meeting Katrina.

I’m one lucky guy.

“I confess, I take it for granted sometimes,” Dori admitted. “My home is in Paris, but my career regularly takes me across Europe. It’s a nice perk of the job.”

He offered a curious expression, hoping that she would say more, but she seemed oddly content to leave it at that.

“I’ve been to London recently, and it was both unexpected and amazing,” he offered.

He thought it best to leave out the part about mysterious vampires haunting the Tube.

“I would imagine. Alton told me about your little subterranean adventure,” she said with a smirk.

He frowned at how the normally secretive vampire had shared such sensitive information with her.

“So, have you and Alton known each other long?”

She warmly smiled. “We met nearly a year ago at a business meeting in The Hague, and he immediately caught my attention. My employer assigned me the responsibility of arranging a presentation for Alton and his associates, which, as a research analyst, I specialize in. Despite my practiced expertise, his eyes kept distracting me, and I practically had to fight to remain focused.”

She paused to giggle while covering her mouth with her hand in a manner that Caleb found enchanting.

“Following the presentation, I felt so embarrassed that I left the building as soon as I gathered my materials. But he took the initiative to find me before I returned to Paris and literally swept me off my feet. To say that I was pleased would be an understatement. We’ve been seeing each other regularly since then, actually. He’s, well, wonderful in so many ways.”

Caleb enjoyed her recollection, but he was surprised that Alton had never mentioned Dori to him until the previous evening.

How odd
, he thought.
I wonder if Kat knows.

However, he conceded that Alton was a very private person and a hard nut to crack. He chuckled at how often Kat found it equally infuriating.

“Have I said something amusing?” she queried.

A single fleeting view of her beautiful, violet-colored eyes was all it took for him to understand how Alton might be intrigued by her.

“Sorry,” he replied. “I kind of hate to admit this, but Alton’s never actually mentioned you to me.”

An endearing expression played across her face, and she laughed in a beguiling manner.

“Why am I not surprised?” she said. “I suppose he does keep his cards close to the vest. Likely, he was waiting to see if things worked out between us.”

“I guess they must have then,” he surmised. “Because here you are.”

“Yes,” she noted with a satisfied tone. “I’d like to think you’re correct.”

They considered each other in silence, though something unsaid seemed to be settled between them. It was as if a mutual comfort zone, a chemistry, had been mysteriously established.

Caleb felt strangely at ease around Dori, and he shared how he met Katrina when she had enrolled in his history class the previous fall. However, chemistry aside, he wasn’t quite ready to discuss how Katrina came upon him initially when he was eight years old. That was something altogether private, though whether Alton had already shared that with Dori or not he didn’t know.

She attentively listened to him until he was finished, and the conversation moved to a variety of other casual topics. They seemed like old friends catching up on the events in their lives. Caleb enjoyed getting to know her, and before he realized it, the sun was advancing towards the western horizon.

“We’d better head back,” Dori observed. “Alton mentioned our having dinner with you and Katrina when the conference adjourned for the day.”

Caleb recalled the note from Kat, and they rose in unison from the bench. It had been a beautiful afternoon and an enjoyable time getting to know Dori better, though he felt as if there were so much more to know about her. He thoughtfully contemplated all that he had learned and savored the waning daylight on their walk back to the hotel.

*    *    *    *

Katrina patiently waited as the remaining vampires departed the conference room. It felt like such a long day for their first meeting, and she wondered if successive days would feel the same. Part of her wished that she had declined to attend the summit at all.

Caleb and I could’ve toured Europe alone
, she brooded.

Yet, she held a fond, sometimes annoying, dedication to her former mentor. She realized that she would have felt intense guilt for ignoring his plea for her assistance.

So, here I am
.

Alton shuffled some papers and waited for a lingering attendee to depart before closing the door behind them.

“The first day’s always the hardest, breaking the ice and whatnot,” he absently said in his crisp English accent.

“You’ve got a lot more to break than ice,” she supplemented as she recognized the prevailing mindsets that had formed among the group. One third was receptive to forming a formalized interest group. One third wanted no part in any of it, and those remaining were undecided.

“We have to sway the uncommitted to tip the scales,” Alton ventured.

“Why does it matter? Those who want to join into a consortium are free to, and the others can do as they please,” Katrina declared.

“But you’re mistaken, my dear,” Alton gently disagreed. “If this conference ends without a clear consensus among the participants, everyone outside, those remaining to be recruited, will see only division. Then we’re left to forming little cliques around the world, like little fiefdoms all vying for vassals. No, I lived through that failed approach nearly a millennium ago, and I won’t endure it again.”

She considered her eight-hundred-year-old friend and the life experiences that he drew upon to form his logic. Feudal England was something less than savory on a global level, particularly for her kind. Wars would be the likely result and the end of anonymity from the human race.

“What’s next then?” she pressed.

The edges of his mouth upturned slightly.

“You and I need to frame a detailed agenda before moving forward, one based upon addressing the concerns voiced today.”

“Much of today’s discussions were over semantics, actually,” she countered.

“Indeed. But semantics conceal larger concerns, and the better prepared we are to shape the discussion around those, the more successful we’ll be,” he explained.

“You’re almost relishing this, aren’t you? This is like some big parlor game for you, isn’t it?”

“Oh, please,” he retorted with a flash of his hazel eyes. “Don’t assume that just because I was a feudal lord I’m playing at kingdom-building. I’ve seen the writing on the wall for longer than you’ve been on this Earth, and I knew it would come to this someday. I take it, then, you’d like to see the world cast into flames while we battle amongst both humans and ourselves?”