Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) (35 page)

“Sure, that sounds nice,” he ventured and wrapped his arm around her waist to lead her in that direction.

But her body remained firmly planted in place, and his torso twisted with a lurch to look at her curiously.

She’s like a statue when she does that
, he marveled.

“Actually, why don’t we briefly run by Alton’s suite and pick up him and Dori? They can join us for dinner,” she prompted.

It won’t take long at all.

He suspiciously frowned. “Well, okay. That’s a nice idea, actually.”

He quickly wondered if his and Dori’s plans would still be actionable after dinner or not. He doubted it with neither of their vampires preoccupied.

“Excellent. Let’s go,” she said, taking him by the hand to lead him to the nearby elevator.

Caleb knocked on Alton’s suite door, glancing up at Katrina for what must have been the third time in two minutes to gauge her expression. For some reason, he couldn’t help thinking that she was up to something.

Then again, between her and Alton, they’re always up to something
.

She contentedly looked down at him and soothingly rubbed his lower back.

Dori was the one who answered the door, and she looked none too pleased to be there. Her violet eyes were hard, as if she had just been arguing. She warily fixed Caleb in a manner that made him feel like turning to flee back down the hallway to the elevator. It was like a rabbit silently warning a fellow bunny, “Danger! Run!”

“Hi, Dori,” Katrina warmly greeted her. “Caleb and I thought that you two might want to join us for dinner.”

Dori absently reached over her opposite shoulder to scratch at her back. “Certainly,” she politely replied. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Dori,” announced Alton’s diplomatic voice from inside. “That sounds like Katrina and Caleb. Have them come in, why don’t you?”

She said nothing and stepped aside to allow them to enter. Katrina pleasantly smiled at her as they passed.

Good girl
, she noted.

Alton appeared to be tinkering with items from a large, black briefcase made of a composite material. Since the opened case lid was facing him, Caleb couldn’t see what was inside. He observed Dori again, and she looked back at him with a miserable expression.

“Why don’t you two have a seat, and I’ll be right with you,” Alton suggested.

Katrina’s arm slipped around Caleb’s waist, guiding him over to the couch, and he looked up at his mate with a curious expression.

She wistfully looked at him and murmured, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he sincerely replied.

“Caleb? Perhaps you would be so kind to remove your shirt for a moment?” Alton asked.

Caleb froze and then looked back over his shoulder at him. He noticed that the tall vampire was holding what looked like a large metal syringe, and it almost made him cringe.

“Just what the hell is
that
for?!”

Alton innocently shook his head. “It’s really nothing.”

“The hell it is. That’s
something
.”

Katrina reached over to help lift his t-shirt up, but he quickly slapped at her hands and pulled it back down.

“Just wait a damned minute! Somebody better tell me what the
hell
is going on here!”

“Shhh, nobody’s doing anything to harm you, my love,” Katrina soothingly offered as she patted him on the shoulder. “Just take your shirt off for a moment, and it’ll all be over soon. It’s a completely painless process.”

“Oh no, not until somebody tells me what this is all about,” Caleb insisted.

Another fleeting glimpse of Dori’s visage indicated that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“We’re merely inserting a small implant on your shoulder,” Alton explained as if it were the most common thing in the world. “It rests just beneath the skin. You’ll never even know it’s there. Katrina will even numb the area for you.”

“What
kind
of implant, Alton?” he pressed.

“It’s a tiny tracking beacon,” Katrina answered. “It’s for your protection so that we can locate you in the event that you mysteriously disappear again.”

He suddenly realized why Dori seemed so unhappy. Apparently, she had one installed, as well.

Well, that puts a big damned wrinkle in our plan
.

“Great,” he sarcastically retorted, “It’s just like tagging a herd animal. Is that what we are now?”

Katrina’s mouth became a thin line, and she frowned at him. “That’s insulting, Caleb. Nobody’s trying to demean you. We just want to keep you both safe, that’s all.”

“I think I’ll pass,” he flatly retorted as he stared into Katrina’s eyes.

She briefly closed her eyes. When she reopened them, Caleb stared into the determined eyes of a resolute vampire.

“I’m afraid that’s not an option, my love,” she declared with a note of finality.

Enough games, Caleb. This is for your own good, after all.

“No,” he repeated, though his resolve was shaken somewhat by her visage.

“Remove your shirt. Now,” she commanded.

Her arm reached across him and firmly planted him against the cushion. She stared directly into his pale blue eyes and deliberately willed her eyes to flash at him brightly for a mere second.

He pulled away from her at that fierce sight. Then he realized that he wasn’t going to win the dispute at that point. All he had left to maintain was his dignity.

“Fine,” he relented and began stripping his shirt off.

It didn’t give Katrina any pleasure to force her lover’s hand in the matter. But more than anything, she couldn’t endure another helpless feeling of wondering if he were okay, as well as where he might be. He was too important to her.

Caleb looked away from her and dejectedly sat with his shoulder slightly slumped forwards. He allowed his torso to be turned away from her, offering his back to them. Alton moved closer to him from behind the couch, and he felt Katrina’s lips on his skin a little higher above his left shoulder blade.

She kissed him once, and his muscles tensed in response.

Despite the audience of Alton and Dori, Katrina deliberately kissed Caleb’s shoulder twice more with her soft lips. Finally, she placed her tongue against his skin and waited for a time until it was properly numbed. Alton waited for her to pull away then deftly injected the tip of the needle. With a single push of the syringe, a tiny metal object was deposited just beneath his skin.

Before bleeding ensued, Katrina pressed her tongue against his skin, waiting for the entry point to seal.

A moment later, she lightly kissed the spot and said, “There. Done.”

Now I’ll have some peace of mind for a change.

He started to reach over his shoulder to touch the spot, but she lightly swatted his hand.

“Leave it alone for a short time so it can properly heal,” she insisted. Then a brief memory of kissing his wounded arm as a child played through her mind, and she recalled having said the same thing to him as an eight-year-old boy. It was an odd recollection.

He slipped his shirt back on as Alton happily asked, “Well then, anyone hungry?”

The four of them proceeded to the main dining room for dinner, though Katrina and Alton did most of the talking over warm glasses of blood as Dori and Caleb traded dejected looks and mostly picked at their meals.

“I thought that we might take in a movie tonight,” Alton merrily suggested. “There’s a theater in Jereka that’s open until midnight.”

Dori forced a diplomatic expression. “I’m sure that’s fine,” she politely responded.

“I think it sounds delightful,” Katrina replied in an upbeat tone.

Caleb was having none of it and merely frowned. He felt somewhat resentful towards both his mate and Alton. As Katrina’s fingers lightly touched his hand, he immediately looked away.

Alton drove the four of them to Jereka in an SUV. Despite his aggravation, Caleb admired the vampire’s keen driving skills on such a dark road. It seemed that the vehicle progressed at an unusually high rate of speed for the curving mountains road. He surveyed what little he could see through the side window of the back seat, pointedly ignoring Katrina beside him.

He’s really angry about earlier
, Katrina thought ruefully.
Still, it’s for their own good.

“I don’t mean to seem impertinent, but I don’t speak fluent Slovene,” Caleb dryly observed. He had learned a few key phrases and courteously tried using them when possible, but he could barely hold a reasonable conversation with the locals in their native language.

“What?” Alton asked.

“The movie,” Dori supplemented. “And neither do I, for the most part.”

“It’s in English,” Alton supplied as he deftly maneuvered through a tight curve at a brisk speed.

Caleb gritted his teeth and wondered how the stately vampire had managed to arrange that little feat.

He probably purchased the theater or something
, he speculated.

Once in Jereka, Caleb was impressed by how busy the small city was in the evening. People bustled about much like they would in any city in America. The theater was a quaint-looking structure reminiscent of an earlier period when theaters were a special and unique civic attraction.

Inside, people milled around as Caleb noticed that the movie posters were all labeled in Slovene. The universal smell of popcorn permeated the lobby, and his mouth watered. While Alton purchased the tickets, Katrina casually observed Caleb and Dori as they stood quietly waiting.

The film was a modern romantic comedy set in New York City entitled
Love, Unexpected
. A number of people were seated in the theater when they entered, most appearing to be college-aged. In an almost herding fashion, Alton led the way to their seats while Katrina brought up the rear, effectively ensuring that Caleb and Dori sat between them.

Caleb hastily mentioned, “I think I’ll run to the restrooms before the movie starts.”

“Me, too,” Dori agreed.

Both were surprised when Katrina and Alton kept their seats. Once in the lobby, Caleb turned to his newfound friend.

“What do we do now?” he insisted. “Aiden already offered to help us.”

“Oh, I am so furious at Alton,” Dori fumed. Her eyes darted left and right in a flighty fashion that seemed out of character for the normally confident woman. “I don’t know yet. Just give me some time to think about it. I’m not even sure if the implants poll us constantly or not.”

“How do you even know about stuff like this?” he asked. There was so much that he still didn’t know about Dori. She was a virtual mystery for all their time together.

Katrina appeared through the doors of their theater and swept the busy lobby to locate them.

“Kat’s on us already,” Caleb warned, turning his back on his mate.

“Just act as normal as possible, and we’ll meet up tomorrow after the conference starts up again,” Dori urged. “I should have some answers by then.”

She quickly walked over to the nearby women’s restroom, darting through the door to enter.

“The men’s is on the other side of the lobby,” Katrina pleasantly offered from behind Caleb.

What are you two up to?
she wondered.

“Oh, thanks,” he said.

Katrina waited for them to return to the lobby and accompanied them back to their seats. Then she disappeared again while Dori and Caleb reseated themselves next to Alton. Caleb noticed he had already acquired Cokes for each of them.

A few minutes later, Katrina quietly reappeared in her seat next to Caleb, handing him a large bucket of fresh popcorn.

“Popcorn? Extra butter and salt, just as you like it,” she encouragingly whispered as the previews began.

“Thanks,” he accepted good-naturedly and munched on the tasty snack. Dori snatched a handful or two as well.

The movie was enjoyable, and by the end of the film each of them had openly laughed a number of times. The romantic aspects of the feature weren’t lost on Caleb, and at one point he gently grasped Katrina’s hand when it appeared on his thigh. Despite still feeling annoyed with earlier events, he couldn’t deny that he loved her.

For Katrina’s part, she endeavored to keep the evening light-hearted. For one fleeting night, she wanted to act like any normal couple out on a date and leave all the dramatic vampire-themed events of the present behind them. Granted, such things would return to the forefront of their lives in mere hours, but she desperately needed to show Caleb that she could still be what she enjoyed being most of all for him: his mate and companion.

It was very late by the time Alton drove them back to the conference site. Dori dozed in the front passenger seat, while Caleb yawned nearly the entire time. He fought the drowsiness that threatened to overcome him, determined to see as much of his surroundings as the pervasive darkness would allow. The conference site had begun to feel like an oversized prison to him.

By the time Katrina and Caleb finally stood outside the door to their suite, he was no longer able to fight his fatigue. His red-headed mate observed him with amusement as he opened his mouth in a cavernous yawn, one that he thought would unhinge his jaw. He quickly squeezed past Katrina to enter the dark suite, making his way directly to the bedroom for much-welcome slumber.

Unfortunately, he ran directly into the back of the couch with a resounding “Umph.”

“Careful. And try not to fall asleep before I can give you a goodnight kiss,” she teased.

She shut the door and reached out for the light switch. It wasn’t as if she needed the illumination, but she didn’t want Caleb injuring himself on his trek to the bedroom.

As she flicked the light switch, every lamp or light fixture in the room snapped on. However, instead of the muted lighting that she expected, the room was filled with much more penetrating light.

“What the hell?” Caleb snapped as the lights in the bedroom and bathroom all popped on at once.

Katrina immediately felt intense pain, and her skin began to sizzle like bacon on a hot grill.

The next seconds passed like a lightning strike as Katrina’s hand slammed into the light switch, though it failed to extinguish the lights. Her other hand reached for the suite’s door handle, which fell away in her hand, leaving the door closed in place. She darted nearly blindly towards the bedroom but only saw more lights, so she sped into the coat closet beside her.