Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5) (24 page)

“
Belarus?”

I started to say something more, but didn’t
really know how to proceed, nor was I curious enough to want to
pursue the matter further.

Vampire politics were getting more and more
convoluted.

“
Where’s my two newest
fanged handlers?” I asked.

“
They’re upstairs in their
rooms,” she replied. “And please try to be polite. They’re highly
qualified and they’ve already earned Alton’s trust, which you know
isn’t easy to acquire.”

“
Fine, fine. I’ll try to
be civil,” I said. “But they do understand that I have nighttime
things to do, don’t they?”

She gave me a wan look. “They’ve been
briefed on your need for research, as well as some social time away
from the house.”

That made me feel somewhat better.

However, I still didn’t like them.

“
Please try to get along,”
she said.

I kissed her. “Yep.”

Then I headed out the door, accompanied by
an unusually quiet Roman. He was yet someone else I had to try to
patch things up with.

Sometimes relationships seemed like more
trouble than they were worth.

* * *

My day had been rather uneventful, but
mostly I was satisfied just to have a day pass without a major
incident.

I texted Kat from the main library again,
where I was doing some additional research. Fortunately, she was
going to be able to have dinner with me before going to the airport
to catch her flight.

She texted me:
I’ll send the twins to escort you.

My thoughts returned to the very old book
before me; though it was less a book and more a compilation of
years of medical research notes that had been bound together by an
early European physician and researcher.

A student aide walked over to me and looked
at the various books stacked around me.

“
Would you mind if I
reshelf some of these?” she asked. “It would help me get out of
here earlier this evening.”

“
Sure,” I said, and sorted
through the ones that I didn’t need anymore.

It was a shame that I couldn’t just check
most of them out and then review them back at the house, but they
were all part of a rare collection that had been bequeathed to the
university’s foundation. As such, nothing could be removed from the
reading room.

Fifteen minutes later, I looked up from
where I sat to see Dane and Lyra entering the room and looking less
than enthused about it. He wore a long black leather trench coat
that appeared to drift away from him as he walked, while she wore a
somewhat Goth-looking outfit, complete with dark eyeliner.

“
And the vampires have
arrived in cliché fashion,” I murmured.

They both stopped before the table I sat at,
Dane staring down at me while Lyra nibbled on the edge of one of
her fingernails.

“
It smells musty in here,”
Dane said.

“
These stacks house a rare
and very old collection,” I said.

“
Damn, I split a nail
tip,” Lyra said, seemingly oblivious to what I had said.

A young guy carrying a short stack of old
books eyed her longingly while walking by.

“
Ew. Go back to your panel
van, freak,” she said with a mock look of horror.

The guy quickly averted his gaze and hurried
on his way to a nearby table.

“
Studying hard or hardly
studying?” Dane asked.

“
Research,” I said. “Or
maybe just killing time.”

“
I can think of a helluva
lot better places to kill some time,” he said.

“
Or kill someone,” Lyra
added.

I frowned at her.

“
What?” she
asked.

Dane thoughtfully rubbed at his chin. “Look,
I love chit chat as much as the next fellow, but we’d better get
going,” he said. “The General is expecting us.”

A student sitting within earshot of us
looked over with a curious expression.

“
Oh, I just love those
funny nicknames of yours,” I said.

Dane looked over at the guy. “Yeah, me and
those nicknames,” he said, giving the guy a hard look.

The student quickly returned his attention
to the book before him.

I gathered up my notes into my backpack and
then remembered I had stowed a couple of books from the public
stacks to take with me to check out.

“
I have to stop by the
circulation desk on the way out,” I said as we exited the reading
room. “Have you two known Kat very long?”

Lyra remained silent.

“
Not as long as some,”
Dane replied. “But long enough to know that she doesn’t like to be
kept waiting.”

“
I might be an exception
to that,” I said.

I noticed a glint in his eyes. “Maybe, but
then, who would want to keep a lady waiting?”

“
Touché,” I
said.

“
Oh, I’m just getting
started,” he said.

They walked ahead out through the main
entrance while I checked out the books I wanted.

I walked outdoors and saw them leaning
against the wall near the doors. However, I kept my stride and they
followed a few steps behind me.

“
Do you walk everywhere?”
Dane asked.

“
Walking’s good for a
person,” I replied. “Besides, parking’s at a premium around here
and the fees are outrageous.”

He chuckled.

I stopped to let them catch up to me.

“
You’re amused?” I
asked.

“
The parking fees? I’d
wager the tuition alone is absurd,” he replied.

As if I had any idea what Alton and Kat were
paying for me to be at Yale. It suddenly made me see myself as one
of those typical spoiled rich kids.

Crap! Was I one of
them
now?

I turned and started walking again.

“
Yeah, absurd,” I
said.

“
Where do you want to go
later tonight?” Lyra asked.

I looked over at her with a curious
expression, but she gave me a flat look.

“
Dane,
” she clarified.

“
I dunno, sis,” he
replied. “Depends upon what time we’re free. Maybe we’ll just
wander about; get to know the place better.”

“
Hey, I can recommend a
potential place to check out that’s fairly close,” I
said.

“
Yeah, I bet you can,”
Lyra said. “It’s probably known for its milkshakes and is chock
full of lonely nerds who date their hand, just like that guy back
in the library.”

“
Hey, haven’t you heard?”
I asked. “Nerds are the new cool.”

I glimpsed a fleeting smirk from Dane, but
Lyra gave me a flat look.

“
So, there’s this bar
called Yalehoos,” I said. “It’s one of my favs; great beer
selection.”

“
Thanks for the heads up,”
said Lyra. “I’ll be sure to avoid it.”

She was definitely a tough nut to crack.

Though I was making an honest effort on
Kat’s behalf to be polite, I really didn’t like her.

“
Now, now, sis,” said
Dane. “The lad’s just trying to be helpful.”

I looked up in time to see her give Dane a
dirty look.

“
Lad?
I’m not as young—or inexperienced—as I might look,” I
said.

“
And I don’t feel a day
older than I look,” he said.

“
So you’re siblings,
then,” I said, changing the subject. “There’s got to be a story
there.”

“
But that’s neither here
nor there,” Lyra said.

“
Hey, just making small
talk,” I said. “If you don’t mind me saying, you two seem like an
unlikely pair to be here with me. Where were you before
here?”

“
Oh, all over the bloody
place,” Dane replied.

Lyra snickered.

“
Speaking of small talk,”
said Dane. “And, if you don’t mind
me
saying, word on the street is
that your surrogate vampire—that’s a really weird thing, by the
way—has deserted you.”

“
Smart girl,” Lyra
quipped.

I pointedly ignored her.

“
So, you’re saying people
are talking about me on the street?” I asked. “My star must be
rising.”

I glanced over to see the corners of his
mouth edge up slightly.

“
Well, street’s a bit of
an exaggeration. It was really more of a run-down cul-de-sac,” he
replied. “But there was pavement, as I recall.”

“
Somebody please kill me,”
Lyra muttered.

“
Yes, please,” I
said.

Dane chuckled, but Lyra actually appeared
affronted. I reveled in my momentary victory and mulled over his
earlier reference to Paige.

“
Suffice to say, with
Paige, it’s complicated,” I said. “We’ve had a bit of a falling
out.”

“
Sorry to hear that,” Dane
said.

I looked over at him to see what appeared to
be a look of sincerity.

Then I looked over at Lyra. “I won’t bore
Lyra with the details,” I said. “Any more than she already is.”

She refused to meet my gaze.

We remained silent for the remainder of our
walk to the restaurant to meet Kat.

Chapter 19

Caleb

Kat had been gone for days. Since she had
returned to London, my relations with Lyra were still rather
chilly, but at least I was forming a cautious respect for Dane. To
my surprise, our mutual efforts at sarcasm and trading barbs
fostered an odd fellowship between us.

As for Roman, I worked to try to mend the
hard feelings that had formed, but it was also still a work in
progress.

Between breaking in new strangers, strained
relations with Roman, and Paige’s absence, the house felt oddly
empty; certainly not some place that I wanted to spend a lot of my
spare time.

As such, I spent more time away from the
house, typically at my local haunts. Fortunately, I was surrounded
by my college friends, including Chance.

On Thursday, most of the campus was gearing
down for the Thanksgiving holiday break. The following Monday and
Tuesday were technically class days, but many students planned to
leave early for home.

Even most of my friends were leaving town
Friday or Saturday, including Chance.

“
I can’t believe you’re
actually going home early,” I said to her during lunch.

“
I know, right?” she said.
“Mom wants for us to have a girls retreat since my dad is out of
town on a business trip through next Tuesday.”

“
Well, that’s
cool.”

“
Yeah, though I think it’s
mostly because Mom hates to stay at home by herself,” she said.
“But at least my dad won’t be around getting on my nerves. And it
means I get to engage in some wicked retail therapy.”

“
Sounds like you’re in for
a good time,” I said.

“
What are you doing for
the weekend?” she asked. “You could always be a third wheel with
us, you know. We need someone to help carry shopping
bags.”

“
Thanks, but I’m hoping to
fly out of town on Friday,” I said.

“
Have you already reserved
your tickets? If not, you may be screwed,” she said.

My mind reeled as I realized that I hadn’t
actually checked into that yet.

“
All taken care of,” I
lied. “What about you?”

“
Train,” she said. “And
you make it sound like you’ve got a travel agent in your pocket or
something.”

“
Fortunately, I have
access to an amazing guru who has the inside scoop on last minute
ticketing.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why do I get the
impression that you’re referring to Katrina? I’ll bet you think
she’s amazing with everything, don’t you?”

“
Well, she sort of is,” I
said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, God, Caleb’s in
love.”

Then her quirky expression changed to
something darker.

“
What’s wrong?” I
asked.

“
Isn’t that guy sitting
over at that table your friend who you hang out with a lot?” she
asked. “What was his name? Romie?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Roman sitting
by himself on the other side of the dining room.

“
Oh, yeah. Roman,” I
said.

“
Why not ask him to join
us?” she asked.

“
Nah, he looks like he’s
in deep thought,” I said.

“
You have the weirdest
sensibilities sometimes, you know? Speaking of weird, where’s your
sister lately? I haven’t seen her around.”

“
Uh-oh, hater alert,” I
teased.

“
Whatever. Paige is okay,
I guess,” she said.

“
So, where’s she been
hiding herself lately?”

My mind raced for a viable answer.

“
She’s gone out of town to
see some friends,” I said.

“
But she’s meeting up with
you guys for Thanksgiving, right?”

“
Yeah, of course,” I said.
“She’ll catch up to us by next week.”

Chance stared at me. “Okay, but my bullshit
meter feels like it’s getting ready to peg. You wouldn’t BS me,
would you, Caleb?”

I gave her my best innocent look. “Me?
Never.”