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"Paige texted htly through his hair

He s about you, of course," she replied with a grin She bent down, held his body against hers gently and pressed her lips to his cheek to pop a quick peck against his skin just as Paige frequently did

He chuckled "Froe?"

She smiled and nodded and kissed hireedily despite his exhaustion, and he felt her hand supportively wrap around the back of his head Her soft lips nipped at his skin lightly as she kissed h next to him on the bed with her arain

You&039;re aht with satisfaction as he drifted off to sleep

Caleb aith a yawn and a sense of confusion His perception of ti his body&039;s recovery, and the situation hadn&039;t been helped being in the less sublevel He scanned the di his arlance at his watch, he felt an ache permeate his shoulder and back

It was already midday Sunday, which meant he had slept for another twelve hours orhe only had part of the weekend left before he was expected back at work At that er He reached over to the nightstand and elass of water in a er

He returned the glass to the nightstand and perched his body up on one ar pocket door into the roo inside with a grin In a blur of motion, she suddenly appeared at his bedside He sain by how quickly vampires could move when they wanted to

"Welcome back to the world of the conscious, sleepy head," she teased "You&039;re looking much better, my love"

He nodded "I feel better, too"

"Do you feel up to a shower? I&039;llto eat while you freshen up"

It was then he noticed her attire She was dressed in a fashionable pair of blue jeans, black turtleneck sweater, and stylish black leather boots

"Yeah, that sounds fine, thanks," he replied absently "Going out?"

She gently stroked the side of his face with her fingertips and explained, "Yes, once the sun goes down, of course I plan to ht It&039;s iement with him while the iron&039;s still hot"

He considered that for avas, but found that his recent experiences were just too fresh in his mind to move beyond them

He&039;s not happy about that, she noted But then, I can&039;t say that I blauess I don&039;t need to ask you to be careful," he said with resignation as he reached out to grasp her hand "I don&039;t trust him"

Katrina reassured him, "I&039;ll be just fine And I hope you don&039;t o"

"Uh, no Not on my to-do list," he replied tersely

She nodded and pulled his hand up to her face to rub the back of his hand against her cheek, which elicited a brief s the mysterious Devon Archibald

After she went back upstairs, Caleb showered, shaved, and changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt He went upstairs to the kitchen where Katrina had just finished preparing his food She laid out a plateful of turkey bacon, wheat biscuits, and a tasty-looking cheese omelet There was also a jar of black raspberry ja tea, a blend she had introduced to him that had become one of his favorites

He wrinkled his nose at the turkey bacon as he sat before the kitchen counter and sniffed at a piece before nibbling tentatively on one end

Katrina rolled her eyes "It&039;s healthier than pork with fewer calories and less fat, but supposedly just as tasty as regular bacon"

He shrugged and adopted a playful smirk as he offered a slice of the bacon to her "Oh, really? Care to try sorimaced and stated erocer was the one who said it was as good as pork It&039;s all just stinky dead ly and tried a bite of the oood, Kat," he offered "You&039;re getting pretty good at cooking breakfast"

She s at her watch

"I need to call Alton before I go, and there are some emails I need to respond to," she explained before hastily kissing hi fanto wonder just how many other vampires there are in the world And we&039;re apparently a lot ave us credit for"

"Why are they interested in you all of a sudden?" he asked while taking a bite out of a jam-slathered biscuit

She paused to contemplate his question "Well, this is the first ti spree of their own kind like this The last time was, of course, also by Chimalma She was viewed in the same way that huhtfully considering her comparison

Her eyes sparkled as she added, "But soued about you, as well It seenificantly to Chi his life to save me"

His eyes rose to stare at her intently, and his fork remained suspended in etting out about that?" he inquired suspiciously Great, that&039;s all I need, ed "I mentioned it to only a couple of vampires in confidence One must have spread the details to others"

He frowned and set his fork back down on the plate "That&039;s not the kind of attention I&039;m excited about, Kat"

She patted hiently, "But I suspect most of my kind aren&039;t specifically interested in you for the most part Many probably view you as &039;that devoted human of hers&039; Everyone thinks that I was the one who issued the killing blow and rid our coe of sorts However, I&039;ht on your iht If you&039;d chosen not to pick upto aid me"

She let her voice trail off as she conte to Chimalma Likely, she would have hunted Caleb down and tortured hie would have been able to hide his turned out the way they did No, she was ecstatic

Caleb nodded and noted her distant expression He tried to refocus his anxious feelings by picking up his fork and continuing to eat

Katrina broke fro what he was thinking "You know, a few of my kind are jealous by the level of sacrifice and commitment you showed to me," she said proudly I&039;ht with satisfaction while playfully running her fingers through his hair

"I&039;d do the sa a ed the subject "So, just howaround in the world?"

"Many," she temporized, "Probably hundreds Maybe more"

His eyes widened as he conte in blood: soh involuntary ht sent a shiver down his spine, and he felt the world shrink a little bit in that moment He was suddenly very appreciative for how compassionately and kindly Katrina treated him as her mate

Katrina left to attend to e Caleb alone in the kitchen to clean up As he washed dishes, he wondered what kind of events would unfold once she announced her desire to claihts darkened soe of Devon Archibald&039;s face fore

Katrina sat at her coh e her exploits with Chimalma One was from Selesta in Brazil, another from Medyev in the Ukraine, and a third from Vince in Juneau, Alaska She marveled at the continued stream of inquiries from around the world Vaes seeh, but there appeared to be an undercurrent to each of the out to her for acknowledgeet to know her better

She picked up the phone handset next to her and dialed Alton picked up by the second ring

"Hello? Katrina?" he asked tentatively

She wondered what he would say if it were Caleb instead of her calling Then she frowned, wondering if he wouldn&039;t be as surprised as she i?" he asked in his crisp English accent

"Oh, I&039;ht now"

"Still?" he asked, although his tone failed to convey surprise

What es," she said "Although I&039;ll have to answer them later I have business with Devon Archibald in Marietta tonight"

There was a pause before he inquired, "You&039;ve decided on a pact with hiet there"

"So, you still o," she repeated, although part of her was still surprised she hadn&039;t killed Archibald Caleb had been injured severely and ht have died had she been even seconds later than she was A pang of guilt shot through her at the thought

Maybe I should have killed hiain She had lost count of how many times she contemplated that in the past twenty-four hours

"A pact could be helpful to you, you know," suggested Alton "There may be times when Devon could prove useful, particularly if you needed another set of eyes to watch over Caleb"

She conceded such a benefit Paige had been enjoying her life in southern California, so she wasn&039;t exactly handy to assist Caleb in a pinch Still, her ht be unrealistic given their most recent encounter There are so et the i me?" she asked pointedly

After a pause, he replied s in the undercurrent of va the specifics, but perhaps I&039;ll know et to London in March"

She frowned, pondering his revelation "Do you think all the recent attention I&039; to do with such a rift?"

"Perhaps, but as you&039;ve pointed out, we&039;ll have to see how things go," he hedged "Anything more on the subject would be unhelpful speculation on h to realize he wouldn&039;t speak on a subject until he was ready, so there was no reason to waste tined herself to keeping an openIt annoyed her that so on hed heavily Why does everything have to be so damned co turns out when I return later tonight"

"Good luck," he offered "And please giveup

The drive to Marietta was uneventful and gave Katrina quiet tiize how to proceed with Devon Archibald

Her thoughts drifted to Caleb, who had been less than happy that she was , he told her how he felt as if an aggressor&039;s hostile actions were being ignored in favor of a suy and wondered if he had been watching too much cable network news lately Still, she couldn&039;t blaarding her own resolve that night

Upon entering Marietta, she paid closer attention to her car&039;s GPS regarding the proper route to Devon&039;s hohborhoods located on the outskirts of the don area She pulled into the narrow, cracked driveway in front of the house, her eyes sweeping the structure before her The two-story, square brick home was an example of utilitarian architecture from the late 1950s or early 1960s A series of narros spanned the front of the house, each with closed blinds

There was no garage, and only a single car was parked in the driveway As she exited her car, she briefly noted the older model Pontiac sedan, which had a faded paint job She paused in the chilly night air to glance up and down the length of the neighborhood, noting surprisingly little traffic at such an early hour Many of the surrounding hohts, and most driveere occupied by at least one vehicle

She approached the front porch with its halo of light around the lamp fixture next to the front door She chuckled at the wholly unnecessary waste of electricity given her kind&039;s night vision and wondered why Devon had bothered with the gesture She rang the doorbell and waited patiently She heard a figure approach the door from inside before the deadbolt made a sound

The door opened slowly, and the tall, broad-shouldered figure of Devon Archibald appeared before her He was dressed in gray slacks and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled partway up his arhtly, as if just recently shaved and rubbed with lotion He appeared htly wary However, he sly as he stood before her The notion of his unease struck her as huiant

"Welcos," he offered in a deep voice "Please colided past him and into a s up to the second floor To the right was a short hallway that passed the kitchen and led to a dining roo roo Katrina noted a sht as she entered, populated by older volumes of classic literature A flat-panel TV sat atop a faux wood stand to the left of the entrance, and the re roo end tables, a worn leather recliner with a slass-topped coffee table set before the couch The walls were painted flat white, and there were only three pictures hanging in the room, each of pastoral wildlife scenes

"I welcome you to my home, such as it is," Devon said "Won&039;t you please sit down? May I offer you a glass of water or perhaps soht be e of one end of the couch, distracted by the revelation that the vampire had no blood supply at his home "No, thank you," she declined politely "Pardon , but did I hear you correctly that you have no blood stock?"

He took a seat in the recliner near the couch "I regret I don&039;t For one, I prefer fresh blood over stored And for another, the expense is cuet"

Katrina frowned His statement bothered her in that Devon apparently hunted his blood from fresh sources, a fact that portended potential co in proximity to Atlanta

"So, you don&039;t subscribe to a blood delivery service?"

"Alas, no," he responded "I hunt when "

"But doesn&039;t that tend to make your stay around hue stature, and your blood need is likely beyond the regular capacity of live donors on a frequent basis," she ventured

Devon inclined his head in deference "That&039;s correct However, I make it a point to reside in locations with easy accessibility to populations of wildlife, such as deer"

"So humans --"

"-- are usually prey of opportunity, which is less coer animals Huular diet of chicken"

The edges of her ivings, there was so she liked about hiht to be an opportune steak, though I was actually stalking a wild boar the night I ran across him," he supplied

"So pork was on the ht," she offered wryly

Devon grinned, displaying a set of large white teeth "Exactly"

Katrina nodded thoughtfully

"How&039;s your mate?" he asked

Her expression turned serious "Caleb&039;s feeling much better, thank you But his injuries orse than I expected once I got hiies, of course," he offered "I&039;ll do ies in person when, that is if, I see hiravity of my visit, she considered That easily explains the undercurrent of tension when he answered the door

"Tellback in a more relaxed fashion Her assess of his background

Devon settled back in his chair, steepling his fingers before him "I was born Thadeous Devon Stevens in 1928 near Tho poor, and of course, being African American meant that life was even harder because the jobs were scarce for people of color My father worked on a road construction crew, and my mother was a seamstress and laundry worker While in my twenties, I worked odd jobs just about anywhere I could find thee thirty, where Idown the back alleys on ht entertainment

"Her name was Nadida Kendrick, and after only a brief conversation, she offered eneral laborer at her estate Her property was vast, one of the largest spreads I&039;d ever seen at the tiroundskeeper, but within acoordinate the remainder of the staff she employed I discovered from one of the maids that the previous estate coordinator disappeared abruptly from her employ with no indication why he would&039;ve left"

Devon paused, as if collecting his thoughts

"Ms Kendrick, as we called her, never came out at daytime, and instead see a few evenings each week And though soeneral public, she was always pleasant around me and the other staff After about a year of employment, she revealed herself as a vaht in 1958 to the sound of shouting coe barn she stabled the horses in When I went to investigate, I saell-dressedto attack her with a pitchfork, so I intervened Little did I know the lady really hadn&039;t needed my help, but she seemed touched by my sense of chivalry It was then I found out what she was," he said He paused and looked at Katrina with a curious expression

"Please, continue," she encouraged

"I was scared at first, of course But she assured an to appreciate how being different was asAfrican American was to me in a predorew closer as she observed my trustworthiness and continued loyalty Eventually, we became lovers In retrospect, I suppose it wasn&039;t really true love, per se, but rather an inti of ed my appreciation for classic literature and helped educateseemed fine until 1963 when that part of the country erupted with the early civil rights uprisings You see, Nadida ealthy in her own right, but she was a eted for retribution by whites who opposed civil rights She said she needed to relocate to another part of the world because she&039;d stayed in the area far too long She sensed that her increased visibility was starting to raise additional suspicions As for me, I didn&039;t want to leave the country, but she promised she wouldn&039;t force me to Instead, she offered me immortality as a reward for my service and companionship before she left She stayed only a h to providemy new vampire life Then she sold the estate and left the country I&039;ve only heard from her on two occasions since then, but we haven&039;t seen each other since she left me in early 1964" Devon stared across the roo sohts

He looked up with a hopeful expression and continued, "Since then, I&039;ve moved around the country and adopted the na shift work in either iven ed to work as a bouncer frouard for a tireplant here in town and still do work as a bouncer at clubs on weekends when I need so she had heard, including Devon&039;s rather huhtness seeenuine, and a part of her sympathized with his circumstances despite her intention to re Still, she couldn&039;t allow her emotions to enter into her decision as to whether he would live or die that night But she felt a suilt over that, as well Why shouldn&039;t I kill hiarded Katrina curiously as the silence grew and pro else you want to know?"

She broke frohts and noticed an old copy of Dickens&039; A Tale of Two Cities sitting on the end table next to his chair A place es approximately three quarters of the way to the end Looks like he&039;s still reading the classics

"Do a lot of reading?" she asked

He glanced absently to the book at his left and replied with satisfaction, "Yes, actually I&039;m a varied reader for the most part, but I still reread the classics It reminds me of reed before falling silent "So, do you have any questions about who I am?"

"I admit that I&039;ve already made some discreet inquiries to learn more about you," he conceded cautiously

"Understandable" This should be interesting

"I discovered you&039;ve earned quite a reputation aan warily "I had no idea how popular your recent experience with killing that Aztec vaular contact with our kind, you see"

"Really?" she proenerally don&039;t have much in common with other vampires I prefer human blood, but try to keep a low profile in my own co ani around others What few human contacts I maintain are shallow because I haven&039;t found anyone I trust enough to reveal my secret to"

I&039;m so fortunate to have Caleb, she affirmed

"My prior experiences o to dispose of a body and relocate to another part of the country," he continued "And as for vampires, I see that with soht prove fatal Although I&039;ht be possible in my case"

She nodded ie of the couch, allowing herself easy access to the combat knife hidden at the small of her back beneath her leather jacket The time had co the tied politely "And I can honestly say you have an intriguing and cohtly and quipped, "At least I was able to recite it out loud one last tihtly in aain to others, if we can reach an agreehtly "What did you have in mind, exactly?"

"You seeht be helpful to ested tentatively "I may need for you to check into concerns within the pockets of territories that I plan to claiht need some additional assistance in the area of personal security"

He adopted a slightly amused expression "Soht now"

"Very true, I&039;m afraid," she ad his security, either with or without his acceptance And not everything has to be done so overtly or even within his spectruued by that statement "Would I need to take orders from Caleb?"

Katrina&039;s eyes narrowed "Within reason, of course, though never when they countermand my explicit instructions But no matter the instructions, one rule is paramount: he must be protected or defended at the expense of any other objectives"

"Your reat deal to you," he observed respectfully

"He&039;s everything to oals, or interests"

Devon nodded with coet the picture Now, pardon me if what I&039;m about to ask seeht now for attacking hih, not that I&039;, you understand"

Katrina fell silent as she considered his pertinent question "You ht be surprised to learn I don&039;t have a precise answer for you on that right noever, rest assured that I&039;ic as I deem necessary," she stipulated

The broad-shouldered vahtly unnerved by her statement and arched an eyebrow in surprise

"Suffice to say that, in all honesty, I thought there was soation," she continued "And yet, your continued longevity strongly depends upon your sense of personal integrity and in not proving me to be mistaken in my leniency"

His eyes widened "Just before you arrived tonight, I checked e fro round check on your behalf I believed her only because of the warning in her ?" Katrina asked with an arched eyebrow

Devon nodded "Yes I thought it rather strange, because her ested you&039;re quite experienced at killing both humans and vampires She recommended I accept any reasonable offer made to me and stated that if I weren&039;t on , I probably wouldn&039;t live through the night," he recalled warily "She also had a nickname for you," he added with a hint of ahtened into a thin line "Oh, really?" Just who the hell isin my business now?

"She said you were &039;a red-haired bitch&039; when you get angry," he replied soberly

Her expression turned steely "And just as this vae," he replied

She froze in place, though nearly wincing fro to strangle you, my little blonde-haired friend

Devon still seeitimate?"

She returned a half-sitimate pain in the ass sometimes But one of the dearest, best friends I&039;ve ever had

"So, as to an agreement between us, then?" he pressed

Katrina&039;s expression turned serious again "Only if you agree to my terms: defend and protect Caleb, address any concerns within reereed duration"

"What duration did you have in mind?" he asked carefully

She wondered as both fair and reasonable for nearly killing her h her, and she cursed herself for trying to assign a value against Caleb&039;s life "What do you think is reasonable?" she countered

He seeht Finally, he shrugged slightly and offered, "Ten years?"

Katrina realized how youthful in bothbefore her really was Ten years was like the blink of an eye to most vampires But he had barely been turned for forty years, so he was still thinking in finite hu had the issue not related to someone so dear to her or for consequences she deeh time, after all Caleb will be thirty-six by then and in the prime of adulthood as a human, or quite possibly in his infancy as a vaarded Devon and agreed, "Ten years it shall be"

Devon stood and reached out with his right hand to shake, and Katrina rose to return the gesture Their hands le s," he insisted "And I keep to ations"

She raised an eyebrow and agreed, "Good As do I"

They released hands, and she withdrew a business card from an interior jacket pocket She handed the card to him and instructed, "This has my home and cell phone numbers, email address, and home address written on it Never share it with anyone unless I stipulate otherwise I will contact you in the near future to confirm my territorial declaration before I announce it Feel free to contact me if you have questions, concerns, or information you think would be helpful"

Devon nodded

"Any questions for me?" she asked

"Just two, really First, hoould you prefer to be addressed? And second, what do I need to know about your associate, Paige?"

She ad

"You may call me Katrina," she offered "I take it you prefer Devon?"

"Yes, please," he replied in his deep, baritone voice

"And as for Paige, she&039;s Caleb&039;s surrogate guardian and protector You should defer to her orders so long as they aren&039;t in conflict with my own I&039;ll introduce you to her at the earliest opportunity," she explained,towards his entryway to depart She wanted to return home to Caleb as soon as possible

"I understand," he replied

"Oh, and oneback over her shoulder "Feel free to call Paige by her nickname"

Devon raised his eyebrows "What&039;s that?"

"Goldilocks," she slyly replied as she walked towards her car Right back at you, ht with a mischievous smirk

He watched her depart, and then sloalked back inside his house

When Katrina returned to the estate, she found Caleb lounging on the couch watching television in her chae seely "I&039;lad that&039;s out of the way"

But he failed to look up at her as she leaned over the back of the couch to gaze down at him

"You didn&039;t kill hihter mood turned subdued "No, but we caeures," he noted with displeasure

"Caleb," she placated, "please try to understand Devon didn&039;t target you h he did fail to observe the courtesy of taking you at your word that you were a va otherwise I spared his life, and he&039;ll repay his debt to us by assisting us for a period of tireat, Kat," he spat "So, I nearly die, and he gets community service How nice that you made a new friend in the end"

She resisted the inclination to sigh and instead fluidlynext to where he was half-sprawled across one end

"My love," she urged patiently, "he&039;s not a friend And this arrangement will be of mutual benefit to you, as well He will serve as a protector to you as needed"

He turned to her with a stoic expression and answered flatly, "I already have Paige as an additional protector I don&039;t want his assistance I want him dead"

She was taken aback by her mate&039;s veheood-natured young man she had known thus far She reflected upon his recent exposure to violence, including the near-fatal attack of Chimalma the past Dece well How is an innocent, gentle person supposed to react to such violence in his life? More to the point, what to do now? Patience above all else

"My love, it&039;s true that Paige is your assigned alternate guardian, but she&039;s in California," she explained "You need sohtened noticeably, and he glared sidelong at her "Look, I can&039;t make you kill hi about it, in fact But I&039;ll be da froed

But he interrupted her "Look Pardon me if I take it personally when someone tries to kill me And I don&039;t care about the justifications, or the va on here I just hate him Okay?"

She realized further discussion on thethe issue one day at a time Still, she felt her decision was a reasonable one and hoped he ht see the potential benefits once his temper over the topic had abated However, she feared it would beto take a shower," she announced "Perhaps someone would like to join me?"

"Thanks, no," he replied "I took htly dejected expression and sighed "I see," she replied and rose to make her way across the rooe into following her shower Apparently, it&039;s going to be a less than a for both of us It appears I&039;ll have time to call Alton with an update, after all