Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5) (17 page)

“
I’ll get your change,”
she said.

I walked past her to exit. “Nope, the rest
is your tip. Take care, okay?”

“
Sure thing,” she said.
“Thanks again, Caleb.”

As I exited the building and walked toward
my scooter the wind felt even colder and I heard thunder in the
distance.

“
Caleb,” Bel said from
behind me.

I turned to see her leaning out through the
front door.

“
Thank you,” she said.
“That was very brave and kind of you.”

“
My pleasure,” I
said.

I pulled my skull cap helmet on, feeling a
little awkward as I mounted what had to be the least masculine
machine in the county.

I waved to her as I pulled out onto the
street.

* * *

I made it back to the cabin just as the
lightning and thunder exploded in the darkened skies.

After securing my scooter on the front
porch, I went inside and laid my damp jacket over a nearby dining
room chair.

Then I went to the fireplace to arrange some
chunks of wood for a fire, if only to cut the slight chill that I
felt. As I squatted down to light the kindling, I reflected upon
all that had transpired at the café.

Then Bel’s voice replayed in my head.

It doesn’t matter much where you go,
everyone has problems of some sort…

Had traveling across the country, eventually
ending up in Tar Hollow, actually helped to solve any of the
problems that I left behind in New Haven?

Not really.

The difference isn’t whether you have
problems; it’s how you choose to confront them.

Who would have thought that I would receive
such sage advice in such a remote, one-horse town?

I plugged my small set of external speakers
into my iPod and turned it on.

As evening set in, the flash of lightning
momentarily lit the cabin’s windows and thunder sounded
outside.

I looked out the nearest window to see the
rain beginning to fall, heavy droplets striking against the glass.
Then another flash of lightning illuminated outdoors, revealing a
semicircle of six individuals just inside the treeline outside the
cabin.

“
Oh, shit,” I
muttered.

Chapter 14

Caleb

My first thought was that Bel’s ex, Kevin,
had secured some muscle to work me over following our encounter at
the diner. At least, he struck me as the sort of guy who might do
something like that.

Though their appearance outside startled me,
I remained calm and carefully waited for another flash of lightning
to permit further inspection. However, they had disappeared from
view by that time.

The sound of my heartbeat thrummed in my
ears as I contemplated any number of other unsavory possibilities.
Unfortunately, the prospect of one or more of them being vampires
came to mind.

Suddenly I wished that it might merely be
Kevin and some thug acquaintances.

I retrieved my jacket and extracted a combat
knife and one of the flashlights with infrared bulbs from an inside
pocket.

Regardless of whether they were vampires or
humans, the odds dictated one against six, and that certainly
wasn’t a ratio that favored me.

A knock at the door caused me to start.

They’re knocking?

I waited, half-surprised the door wasn’t
already flying off its hinges and inward at me.

Another knock sounded.

I took a deep breath and, in that singular
moment, I decided that I wasn’t going to make things easy on
whoever was waiting outside for me. I’d make them work for it.

I used the fingers on my flashlight-wielding
hand to twist the knob as I steadied my knife for action. The
door’s hinges creaked as a slight gap opened.

My breath caught in my throat as I lightly
thumbed the switch on my flashlight.

My eyes narrowed as a flash of lightning lit
up the porch area.

“
Hello, Caleb,” greeted a
familiar voice.

Katrina stood before me, her long leather
trench coat swaying slightly in the wind as rain blew onto the
porch. Her emerald eyes practically glowed.

“
Still alive, I see,” she
said.

How ironic was it that Skylar Grey’s “Back
from the Dead” played over my iPod speakers?

“
So it would seem,” I
said. “For now, anyway.”

“
May I come in?” she
asked. She looked at my bike parked on the porch to her right. “Or
are you planning on running us down on your Moped?”

I curtailed a sour expression, though
inwardly I was admittedly relieved that it was her and not Kevin or
other enemy vampires. Never mind that she was likely angry with
me.

“
Did you come here just to
insult me?” I asked.

She gave me a dark look. “Don’t even go
there.”

There were times when I knew better than to
push topics with her. This was clearly one of those times.

I opened the door and stood aside.

As she slipped past me, I looked out at the
group of five vampires standing in the rain, staring back at me
with curious expressions.

“
What about them?” I
asked. “Sort of a small army you have there.”

“
It took a small army to
find you,” she said. “But they’re fine where they are for
now.”

She leaned past me and issued a rapid series
of hand motions.

The vampires stepped back into the treeline
and practically melted into the night.

I shut the door and turned to face her.

She glanced down at my hands. “Are you
planning on stabbing me, or merely giving me a dose of UV?”

“
What? Oh, sorry,” I said,
practically dropping the knife and flashlight as I placed them on
the nearby dining room table.

She removed her wet leather coat and tossed
it over the back of one of the wooden dining room chairs. Her boot
heels made heavy thumps on the wood planking as she walked over to
my iPod and switched it off.

The ensuing silence felt palpable.

I stood there, wondering what I should say
first. There were suddenly so many thoughts and feelings running
through my mind that it seemed impossible to sort them all at
once.

With more heavy thumps from her boots, she
made her way back over to stand before me, towering above me, a
look of disapproval evident on her face.

“
I’m very cross with you
at the moment,” she said. “But at least you’re safe.”

She reached out and tilted my head upward.
Then she slowly bent down to briefly kiss my lips in a firm, almost
possessive fashion.

“
I was worried sick about
you,” she said.

As she pulled away from me slightly, the
flat of her palm slapped the side of my face, shocking me.

The impact stung like hell.

“
Wha—”

“
That was for all the
worry and fear I felt while desperately trying to find you,” she
said.

I was almost willing to admit that maybe I
deserved that.

Almost.

“
I left a note telling you
not to worry about me,” I said. “And I sent periodic emails that I
was safe.”

She gave me a wan look as she drew her
smartphone out of her vest pocket to make a call. I took the
opportunity to rub at my still stinging skin.

“
I found him,” she said.
“He’s safe…for the moment.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she pointed
her index finger at me in a warning fashion.

“
Don’t start with me,” she
said, placing her phone in speaker mode and setting it upon the
dining table.

“
You’re on speaker now,”
she said.

“
Young man, it goes
without saying that I’m extremely disappointed in you right now,”
Alton began. “You gave us all quite a bit of a scare and caused no
small amount of disruption both in the UK and the States. What the
hell were you thinking?”

He sounded reminiscent of a father scolding
his teenager.

“
I wasn’t trying to scare
or worry anyone,” I emphasized with a meaningful look at Kat. “I
repeatedly checked in, in fact, just to make sure you understood
that.”

“
Yes, well, despite all
that I’d still probably strangle you right now if I was there,” he
said.

Kat’s free hand moved in a blur and her palm
once more impacted the side of my face.

Thankfully, it was the opposite side, though
my jaw nevertheless ached from the impact.

“
Hey!” I snapped. “Enough
with the slapping already!”

“
That was for Alton,” she
said.

“
Fine, he’s pissed. You’re
pissed. I get it,” I said. “But I’ve had more than enough of
feeling everyone else’s pain for the moment.”

Nobody said anything to that.

In fact, the awkward silence built to an
uncomfortable level.

“
Yes, well, I’ll let the
two of you sort things out from here,” Alton said. “Caleb, you and
I are going to have a long chat the next time we see each other.
Understood?”

“
Yeah. Got it,” I
said.

“
Goodbye for now,” Alton
said.

Kat pocketed her smartphone and stared at
me.

“
Yes?” I asked, waiting
for what I believed to be the beginnings of an argument.

“
You should’ve thought
about the possible cause and effect before you just up and ran
away,” she said. “I’ve tried to convey to you in the past that your
actions have consequences.”

“
I didn’t run away,” I
said. “I just had to clear my head; regain some perspective. I
needed to think.”

“
About what?” she
demanded. “What did you have to think about that you ran halfway
across the country to consider? And why alone? Why from
me?”

How could I explain?

“
You probably wouldn’t
understand right at the moment,” I said. “And besides, I didn’t
exactly run from you.
You
were already halfway across the
planet.”

“
How can I even begin to
understand you when you won’t even talk to me about it?” she asked.
“You shocked me when you just up and left. You didn’t even try to
discuss things. You just abandoned us.”

I looked into her eyes and saw both pain and
anger directed at me.

“
Abandoned?
” I asked.

“
Yes, abandoned,” she
said. “You, running off like that. What you did hurt
me.”

Despite the aggravation I still felt, a pang
of guilt surged through me.

Admittedly, I probably could’ve handled
things better, I supposed.

“
Well, I wasn’t trying to
hurt you,” I said.

She stared at me.

I stood my ground, though just barely, and
looked her in the eyes.

“
Or make you angry with
me,” I added.

She stepped closer to me, towering above
me.

“
Did you honestly believe
for one moment that striking out like that wouldn’t make me feel
either angry or abandoned?” she demanded.

At that moment, I didn’t know what to
say.

“
Well?” she
asked.

“
I–”

“
I’ve given you
practically everything you could need or want, including my love,”
she said. “Never mind what Alton’s done for you.”

“
I’m grateful
for—”

“
And yet you abandoned it
all at the drop of a hat,” she said.

Roiling emotions inside me boiled over.

“
No, you don’t understand
at all,” I insisted. “Sure, you and Alton have provided so much for
me…a home, tuition, bodyguards, and what not. But you’ve also taken
something very precious from me.”

The words, however raw, tumbled from my
mouth before I even realized I’d said them.

A look of shock appeared on her face.

She arched a single brow at me. “What have
we taken from you, then?”

“
You,
” I said. “I don’t care about big houses, or tuition, or new
cars, or any of it. I only want you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve
already given myself to you, fully and wholly. I have given you my
full commitment. I am your
mate
.”

I shook my head. “But nowadays only in
absentia.”

“
That’s not fair,” she
said. “You know why I’ve been away, and it’s certainly not by
choice.”

“
Still, it’s not what I
want,” I said. “I want to be with you, not thinking longingly about
you while you’re somewhere halfway across the world. Half the time
I don’t even know if you’re alive or dead until the next text
message appears.

“
Hell, after everything
I’ve recently experienced, I know for certain that all I really
need is to have you in my life,” I continued. “And on a regular
basis.”

She placed her index finger below my chin,
the sharp tip of her fingernail pressing dangerously into my skin,
and she pressed upward.

I tilted my head upward in compliance as she
drew even closer to me until I felt her warm breath against my
face.

“
Don’t you toy with me,”
she said. “If this is a ploy to defray blame over how you’ve
behaved—”

“
I’m not toying with you,”
I said. “You’d know if I was lying.”

I saw the hard look of assessment in her
eyes.

“
Fine. You’ve acted out
and made your dramatic, so-very-emotional point,” she said. “What’s
next, then? I’m supposed to just ignore what you’ve
done?”