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When Caleb&039;s eyes fluttered open, the room wasn&039;t as dark as before, and he realized frolow that a la on his stomach, and one side of his face was pressed into his pillow Upon trying to move, he winced as his neck and upper back muscles ached in protest

"Oh, crap," he moaned

He rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes Feeling the bed jiggle slightly, he re down at him She leaned over him with her hands planted on each side of his body and kissed hireeted with a war better?" she asked

His ht before, and he frowned "Oh, that&039;s right I think I&039;m okay"

She continued to hover over him as she studied his features, and he noticed she was already dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved turtleneck "Wha-what tilanced at the clock across the room "Almost ten-thirty, my love"

"Geez!" he exclaimed "I need to haulhere all day"

But she pressed her palently back onto the bed "No hurry, it&039;s Saturday And Gil only roused an hour ago," she reassured him

He relaxed somewhat and studied her eyes for ainto those beautiful orbs

The corners of her htly in aain

He deliberately blinked and looked past her face to regain his concentration "What&039;s next?" he asked

"I called Alton last night after your outburst," she replied She related how Alton had listened intently to her story ofCaleb as a child, as well as all the events that transpired, including taking the dead body of Caleb&039;s father with her that night to bury him in an undisclosed location Her former mentor had been very patient and waited until the very end to ask clarifying questions Finally, he had reain that Katrina had feared he had hung up on her He explained how tricky hypnosis was and ventured how difficult it ht be to alter what she had done

"Alton said he knows of a va psychiatrist who h he&039;ll have to provide details later He suggested we ht be able to address that when you and I visit hiland"

"That&039;s kind of him, of course But I&039;?" he asked pointedly

Her expression was unreadable as she fell silent for a moment "He was syued and said that it answered a few questions he had about your and my relationship I&039;y on the subject But he did have a e for you"

Caleb&039;s eyebrows rose "Yeah?"

She sain He said, &039;Tell Caleb that, to be brutally honest, I&039;m concerned for him and want to help as much as possible&039;"

He smiled at the use of their special phrase "brutally honest" to indicate the sincerity of his co polite Katrina studied his reaction carefully and wondered if there were e than what had been stated

"That was very kind," he replied

She decided not to press the topic "You gave Paige a bit of a scare last night too She&039;s very concerned"

He grinned shyly "Really? She&039;s a good friend, and a great guardian We&039;re tight"

"Even closer, I think," Katrina observed and kissed him softly on the lips But I&039;ly, so long as it rery?" she asked

"Sure!" he replied brightly

She shook her head "When are you not?"

He adopted a mock-insulted expression, and she used her hand to dishevel his hair even et that cute butt of yours out of bed," she prompted with a sly smile

"How about breakfast in bed?" he countered with a se and swiftly wrapped her right ar hi his body around until his toes touched the carpeted floor He nearly lost his breath and teetered unsteadily as he landed on his feet, but she steadied him with her arrateful

"Wha --" he started, but she crushed her lips to his

His arms encircled her waist, and he pulled her towards his body as they kissed "I&039;ll be up soon," he proainst his body and countered, "I sense you&039;re already up" What a nice way to start the day

He flushed slightly regarding his body&039;s excited reaction as she pulled deliberately away from hilancing back over her shoulder with a s in silence

"Da his head

After he showered, shaved and slipped into a pair of jeans and a Georgia State baseball sweatshirt, he proceeded upstairs and immediately smelled the fresh scent of pancakes He s fresh pancakes over a griddle Paige stood next to her, watching with an amused expression, while Gil sat at the kitchen bar counter eating a stack of three large flapjacks

Katrina glanced at Caleb from over her shoulder as he walked closer to the stove "Ready for soe looked at him with a raised eyebrow and an expression of awe and asked, "When did all this cooking stuff start?"

He grinned "Just recently Kat&039;s a great cook, actually"

Katrina se reached out to pull Caleb into a sideways eave hi, kiddo?"

"Better, thanks," he offered as his right ar

Katrina slipped three pancakes onto a large plate and handed it to him "Eat up," she quipped

"Mmm," he hu, Gil How&039;d you sleep?"

Gil&039;s eyes played over to Caleb&039;s fresh pancakes, and he looked back over his shoulder at Katrina

She anticipated his request and asked, "How ratefully before returning his attention to Caleb "A good night for ht Pretty sore in soood kind of sore I wouldn&039;t pass up again tonight, if you catch e shook her head as she lass ater She sat the glass down in front of Caleb while glaring at Gil "A little too much info, Gil"

Caleb sree eance and coreat, Kat!"

She neatly slipped a fresh stack of pancakes on Gil&039;s plate with her large spatula and lightly ran her fingernails down the back of Caleb&039;s neck in silent response, causing hiood, Katrina," Gil offered "Thanks"

Paige used Caleb&039;s momentary distraction to slip a forkful of his syrupy pancakes into herexpression "Tasty, actually," she offered with surprise

"Want some?" Katrina asked her with a smirk

"Make &039;em with blood, and I&039;ll consider it," the spunky vaross," Gil e popped him playfully on the back of the head with the flat of her hand and teased, "Ha! Just wait until you try burning soain"

"So, what are we doing today?" Caleb asked

"How about we go around town and take in soether"

Caleb stopped chewing and looked sidelong at the young e just rolled her eyes

"The ladies are vahttiily "Sorry, they just seeazed wide-eyed at Paige, who slowly reached out her hand towards Gil&039;s neck fro into the back of his head

"How long have you known Paige exactly?" Caleb asked warily while noting Paige&039;s reaction out of his peripheral vision

"Oh, just a feeeks now," Gil replied as he continued eating his pancakes, oblivious to the shakingwith her closed fist behind his head

Katrina stifled a laugh and interjected, "Maybe Caleb can take Gil out for the day to scope out soht"

"Please, take hi Paige was actually annoyed with hie&039;s part by offering, "I&039;ll show Gil soested, we&039;ll locate so How&039;s that?"

Before long, the two men were on their way To Caleb&039;s satisfaction, Katrina had been kind enough to let them take her Audi out for the day He drove them past a nu some historic plantation homes, museums, the Centennial Olympic Park, Civil War locations, the Atlanta Zoo, and a host of other noteworthy attractions He stopped at a nu his West Coast visitor&039;s interest However, Gil seeued by the heart of the city itself and was curious about the locations of some of the city&039;sto alternative rock

By rab a beer and a bite to eat Caleb began a quick search on the car&039;s GPS for possible locations, but Gil pointed to a random bar just up the street Caleb realized that they weren&039;t in the safest part of town, but relented after sensing the enthusiasm in Gil&039;s demeanor The bar was a reasonablylot teemed with sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks In fact, Caleb took note of the fact that their sports car was the only actual car in the parking lot A large-fraave the, wary look as he walked past their car to head into the bar

By the time the two of them crossed over the threshold of the front door, Caleb wondered how poor a choice they had ritty, hard-nosed types Even the furniture looked nearly as worn and hard as the clientele, relegated to a variety of scratched oak tables and chairs that looked as though it was generations since they had been refinished The stools lining the worn-looking bar were vinyl-covered, though e Strait blared from a jukebox across the room, and some older model televisions mounted above the bar displayed rodeo,events Most of the faces in the roo froust Obviously, despite the inclusion of their leather jackets, Caleb&039;s college sweatshirt and Gil&039;s Green Day concert t-shirt failed to ied with a wary expression

"No wayman from California retorted as he strode purposefully up to one of the available wooden tables He pulled out a worn chair and plopped down

"Just great," Caleb muttered as he followed and pulled up a wooden chair opposite him

A short, blonde waitress who appeared in her forties wearing faded jeans and a polo shirt with the bar&039;s nahtly raised eyebrow "You two stayin&039;?"

Caleb looked across the table at Gil, as taking in the decor in the roo and replied, "Well Peggy, it kind of seeht I&039;d better ask first What can I get you?"

Gil immediately popped up with an order for a Modelo Especial on tap, and Caleb ordered a bottle of Samuel Adams

"I&039;ll be back in a minute," the waitress responded "Menus are on the table"

As Caleb reached for one of the worn-looking menus, he heard a chortle frouys were sitting, including the large-framed man with thewas followed by a deep voice razzing, "Hear that, Wes? No salt or lio with that Modelo for the punk-rocker"

A round of chuckling ensued, including so, followed by the response, "Hell, I haven&039;t heard about anyone ordering old Sam Adams since he died at the Alaed painfully It always incensed him when people made such inaccurate historical references Still, it wasn&039;t as if the guy would care to know that Sam Adams was actually a reference to Sa father from the American Revolution It would just escalate tensions, which was precisely what Caleb didn&039;t need at the uess you&039;d know since you were there!" another teased

A round of laughter ensued, followed by the thus on a tabletop One fellow boo men over here!"

The waitress appeared with Caleb&039;s and Gil&039;s beers, plopped them onto the table, and barked at the et to you in ashop

Peggy&039;s dearded Caleb "You boys ready to order so from the menu?"

"Any recoarded hiested, "Drink here, eat soer, well-done, and some fries, please," he requested politely as the waitress scribbled on a sy looked at Gil "And for you?"

Gil&039;s face turned oddly introspective "So, about the nacho platter Is it pretty good?"

Her expression turned a mix of sour and amused, and she retorted, "You been to the state fair before and ordered nachos?"

Gil shrugged "Yeah, I guess so"

"Well, these ain&039;t as good as those," she replied

Gil froith distaste and offered, "Uh, yeah Well, I&039;ll just have the saer, too"

The waitress smirked as she wrote on her pad, and then silently walked back towards the kitchen Gil and Caleb silances, and one of the burly fellows at the nearest table muttered to his buddies, "Five dollars says they can&039;t even finish eatin&039; those greasy burgers"

Caleb ignored the co of his beer and asked, "So Gil, what do you think of Paige so far?"

The rocker considered his question "Well, she&039;s a free spirit, you know But I like her, and she&039;s a hell of a lot of fun out clubbing And damn, she rocks that body, man But you probably already know that, eh?"

Caleb frowned "Not really, Gil I haven&039;t been out clubbing with Paige At least, not yet She keeps threatening to gether body, we&039;re almost like family, you know She lowered and took a long pull from his beer

"What?" Caleb pressed

"Well, it&039;s just the way you two act," Gil began carefully "Listen, I ain&039;t an idiot, Caleb You&039;re not her fa like a sister and all that And then there&039;s the way she pressed against you last night Damn, Caleb My buddy Skeet has a sister, and they don&039;t look at each other the way Paige does you Although Skeet and his sister aren&039;t all that close, I guess Hell, I don&039;t know I just know nobody ever looked atof concern run through hie, she&039;s really more like a sister to me I mean, I really care about her But I&039;m not a threat to you and her It&039;s cool"

Gil took another swig of his beer and cast a glance to the men at the nearby table ere distracted with fresh beers froarded Caleb with a rinned, "Hey, no proble from Gil and lowered his voice as he leaned across the table "No Gil, you don&039;t You&039;ve got it all wrong about Paige She&039;s like el, a protector I mean, she&039;s saved my life on at least two separate occasions since last fall I owe her my life, for God&039;s sake But I want her to be happy, and if you do that for her, then I&039;m all for it Got it?"

Gil responded with a quick nod and half-grin before being distracted by so pointedly at the old jukebox along the back wall and watched hiested, "Hey Gil, I&039;d just leave well enough alone there if I were you We&039;ll finish eating and head out of here, okay?"

But Gil seemed deter e the sound around here, at least while we&039;re stuffin&039; our faces"

Caleb just shook his head and watched as the young man strode confidently over to the old jukebox and sorted through the available titles He fed dollar bills into the jukebox, and there was a pause as titles loaded In ano less than with Green Day&039;s "When I Coreat," Caleb re a s of beer and casting a wary glance at the rowdy fellows seated nearby The , but paused as the music blared Their narrowed eyes followed Gil all the way back to the table, glaring at hiin&039; punk rock shit," one of the rowled "I told Butch he shoulda kicked that da to pack it withof beer and silently considered how quickly they could ly Fortunately, the men seemed to be content to just curse and coy arrived with their burgers and fresh beers, and she seeuys," she announced "And good job on the e Strait or Brooks and Dunn for a change"

She departed quickly, leaving Caleb and Gil exchanging surprised expressions Both shrugged and returned to their burgers and beers Everything seemed more sedate for a short ti That&039;s when the three guys at the nearby table divvied up money to pay and rose to leave Each of theainst either Caleb&039;s or Gil&039;s chairs while walking past

"Friggin&039; yuppies," grumbled the ed into the back of Caleb&039;s chair while passing

Caleb discreetly rolled his eyes at the co like young urban professionals, particularly dressed as they were Ignorance is definitely bliss with some people

"Redneck bastard," Gil uy walked away

The , "What was that, punker?"

Gil sed his bite of burger and started to say so, but Caleb cut him off with, "He said &039;better eat faster,&039; that&039;s all"

The burly fellow sneered, shook his head, and cursed under his breath while continuing to the door to leave Caleb relaxed somewhat once the last man walked out and looked over at Gil with barely contained conte?" he chastised "Those guys are just blowhards Geez, let&039;s just eat and get the hell out of here"

Within minutes, Caleb finished his beer, and both of them declined another refill when the waitress stopped by with their bill

"I hope you weren&039;t bothered by those guys ere in here," Peggy suggested "They&039;re just a bunch of complainers who usually shoot off their mouths Butch, the owner, threatens to ban them from this place, and they usually simmer down"

Caleb thanked her and took care of the check with cash, y Barely ten est fans had left, Caleb and Gil were exiting the bar out to as a sunny, waret to pick the bar," Caleb re seemed fine, until they spotted the three trouble around Katrina&039;s car at the side of the building where they had parked Caleb shook his head in near disbelief as he stared at the throng of uy with thehier ran through hied to keep himself in check as he walked slowly towards their car Theas they cast incendiary glances towards Caleb and Gil

"Hey, assholes!" Gil snapped as he walked a little faster than Caleb towards the car

"Just get in the car, Gil," Caleb warned, deactivating the alar the three htly

Caleb swore under his breath as the mustached man barreled forhile Gil shifted next to the car Gil barely had tiut, causing hirowled as the other twohappened so fast after that Caleb barely realized that one of the two ed to pivot his body, only catching a glancing blow to the left side of his head

Soh hie The memory of Devon Archibald&039;s attack on hihtning flash Only this tier and resentuys weren&039;t vampires, an important notion occurred to him: they were only huan to flow in his body without the need to think as so Katrina had drilled into his head activated Of the twohim, the second fellow, a red-haired man, aimed his fist at Caleb&039;s stomach while his buddy recovered his balance frorabbed the red-hairedhis clenched fist into the front of the asped with a choking sound, and fell forward onto his knees onto the asphalt parking lot

The first uy with curly hair, recovered and punched Caleb in the lower back around his kidneys Pain shot through hi like the pain froh stamina to whirl and catch the ht elbow Caleb heard a crunching sound as his elbow slammed into the bearded uy reached up to cup his face with both hands

One glance at Gil revealed he was quickly losing in the briefbetween the two men Thehi into the side of a beat-up old pickup parked next their car The young rocker sluily down to the asphalt after that

Caleb rushed forwards to side-kick at theto the ground Caleb landed punches against the left side of the guy&039;s head and jaw, requiring only three sharp blows before the guy fell unconscious onto the blacktop with a heavy thu the red-haired man who he&039;d hit in the nose with his elbow Blood still ran down the guy&039;s ainst the left side of Caleb&039;s face, popping his head backwards The hed into Caleb with a left blow to his ribs, but Calebhim As the red-haired man fell backwards, Caleb slaainst the pave as he rolled onto his sideat the back of his head

Caleb breathed heavily while glancing around for witnesses as he grasped Gil by his arhtly, see to recover his wits and looked at Caleb with a surprised expression

"Where the hell did you --"

"Just get in the da down into his left eye

"Shit, no, dude! I better drive," Gil insisted as he picked up the keys from the pave wicked bad"

Caleb cursed and fell into the passenger seat of the car as Gil raced around to the other side, hopped into the driver&039;s seat, and revved the engine He peeled out of the parking lot and into the late afternoon light traffic

"Shit! I&039;m not even sure which way is hoed to remove his blood-covered sweatshirt, wadded it up, and used it to press against the bleeding side of his face as he attelanced at the GPS, punched the preset for home, and barked, "Just follow the GPS!"

"Okay, just chill," Gil snapped "Don&039;t get all cracked out onhe had so in his head He shifted slightly in the seat to test his back and ribs, but didn&039;t think anything felt broken or out of place Still,He glanced sidelong at Gil, who had a bloody lip and bruises on his face, but otherwise seeht darkly Katrina&039;s sure as hell not going to be happy about this, he considered as an afterthought

It only took about twenty h that was partly due to the fact that Gil enjoyed speeding down the highway at any opportunity They lurched into the driveway, and Caleb activated the garage door opener, , "Just leave the car out We have to hose down the tire and fender, reot out of the car and walked into the garage

Katrina and Paige sat in the living roolasses of war the prospects of the prospective territorial clai to be declared by Katrina around Atlanta The quiet was broken as Gil burst into the kitchen, announcing grandly, "Ladies, your knights have returned! Hey, Katrina! Your car is one bitchin&039; lances at each another and turned to stare at Gil as he walked into the living room Gil hastily tossed the car keys across the rooht the at the the bruises and cuts on Gil&039;s face Paige finally demanded, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, shit, er, and so these three rednecks were bitching about our music Then"

While Gil rambled about their adventure, Caleb sneaked behind and past hih the kitchen and made his way down the main hallway to the sublevel cha face

As Gil rambled on, both valance at Paige with a knowing look in her eyes Caleb&039;s blood, she detere seemed to sense the same conclusion, because she jumped up fro "Wait!" she insisted "Where&039;s Caleb?"

"Caleb?" Gil asked "I dunno Maybe he&039;s hosing off the car tire"

She froith confusion, but Katrina already sped past her and was following the blood scent trail through the house

"Car tire?" Paige asked with narrowed eyes "Why would he --"

"One of those assholes peed on the car," Gil explained

Paige sighed and deain?"

Gil started to speak, but Paige grabbed hi, "Never et you cleaned up first And don&039;t bleed all over the new carpet; Katrina&039;s had it less for than a month"

Caleb removed his bloody t-shirt and dropped it to the tile floor atop his blood-soaked sweatshirt As he washed his face in cold water, the bathroo sound and Katrina&039;s voice

"Caleb? Caleb, are you okay?" she insisted with concern

"Fine Everything&039;s fine," he reassured her, "I&039;ll be out soon"

Outside, Katrina exhaled a deep breath and shook her head Yeah, right That&039;s typical guy talk for, "I&039; overit down," she ordered

Caleb winced from her tone and held a damp washcloth over the left side of his face where it was still bleeding He unlocked the door and turned back to the sink to the freely flowing cold water

The door opened, and Katrina literally towered over him from behind as she looked into the ently, grasping hi hi the cuts and bruises on his knuckles and pulled the washcloth away froash above his left eyebrow, the cut on his right cheek, his bleeding lip, and the bruises on his face "Oh, Caleb," she gasped softly

Paige appeared behind Katrina, scrutinizing Caleb with a clenched jaw and steely expression "How rily

"Three," he replied as Katrina took the washcloth from hiave as good as we got"

"We?" Paige dubiously challenged She had not noticed e to Gil, which hting

Katrina used the washcloth to dab at the cut above his forehead and ue over the wound to seal the cut The taste of his blood sparked aof thirst in her, but she quickly suppressed it

"Well, Gil helped," Caleb insisted

"Hold still," Katrina complained as she held his face in place fir the cut

"Do you think they followed you?" Paige asked

"Don&039;t know They were still lying on the parking lot e left," he replied absently, appreciating Katrina&039;s ministrations as the pain in his face ebbed

Katrina pulled away from him and looked at her ot tired of being beat upon by everyone, it seee considered hie asked

As Katrina returned to lick at another cut on his face, Caleb considered the question briefly and replied, "They did The waitress said they were trouble on the car ent out to the parking lot I tried to avoid a fight, but there it was"

Katrina listened closely to his response, but felt that so fro his head into the bathrooe replied "Gil, Caleb&039;s a little hazy on how that fight got started Care to enlighten us?"

Caleb started to speak up, but a hard look frouys harassed us in the bar and attacked us after we left"

Paige pressed, "You didn&039;t happen to antagonize them, did you?"

"Aw, c&039;mon, babe," he retorted "Just &039;cause sos, you think I started this?"

"I&039; people off, Gil," she reave ended up in fists flying Bouncers tended to get busy around you"

Gil sht, too"

But Paige wasn&039;t amused "Yeah, well, you don&039;t, as I recall And you appear to be in pretty good shape coht now, too"

He puffed up his chest a little and shot back, "Oh, so now it&039;s ht so fists than he did?"

"Gil --" Paige warned

"Hey, chill Anyway, babe, I always told you I&039;hter," he continued, to which she scoffed derisively

"Lame, Gil If you can&039;t finish thee snapped

He made a sour face "Well, old Caleb here sure took care of those bastards Hell, he iping the floor with &039;em!"

Katrina heard Caleb&039;s teeth clench, and she whipped her head around to address Paige and Gil in a flat voice, "Take it upstairs We&039;re busy here" She didn&039;t like what she was hearing, although a sie&039;s had occurred to her, as well

Gil took a deep breath, exhaled, and left

Paige moved past Katrina to stroke Caleb on the less injured side of his face with her fingertips lightly "Nice job, kiddo," she co out for Mister Trouble"

"Yeah, sure," he replied with a slight nod, although he wasn&039;t particularly enthused about taking Gil out on the town again anyti Katrina and Caleb alone in the bathroom

"I&039;m proud of you, ht in the forest, when I said that if Devon were a human the results could&039;ve been quite different?"

Caleb nodded

"Huainst you today And soet, either," she re the victim," he remarked acidly

But his tone made Katrina frown, and she considered it would be iressed Attitude was important, but so was control She momentarily wondered at the condition of the three ht have reported Caleb to the police Her experience had shown that often enough the victorious victi as the perpetrator if the loser pressed charges first

But then, I&039;ll deal with that if I have to Dead es

"I want to lie down for a while," he reh him "Got any aspirin?"

After a welcoht side beneath a blanket, Katrina curled up alongside him The room was dimly lit from a table lamp across the room, and he was unsure what tiently

He yawned "Yep How long was I asleep?"