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Visitors

Caleb spent the better part of the next two days trying to occupy his tiht from his apart cable television and movies from Kat&039;s expansive DVD collection Caleb counted no fewer than six hundred fil back to the 1930s It was definitely an eclectic collection, which generated a pleasant distraction

Katrina felt much less distracted the past couple of days and wasn&039;t even irritated when he periodically interrupted her at the coued, and she had deliberately been more attentive towards hi room or a movie in the theater room Once in a while she wandered in to watch him prepare a meal and eat or slu she didn&039;t do was explain any of her preparations, activities, or possible plans She ree the conversations back to safer topics when he tried to make unwanted inquiries That infuriated hiree in the large bed in her sublevel room and usually curled up with hih she was rarely beside hi at the co rapidly between a cascaded series of individual s Other tiht or in some kind of trance On rare occasions when she spoke on the telephone, she whispered, often leaving the room to continue the conversation elsewhere On two occasions, Caleb found her in the study at the far end of the first floor He wasn&039;t sure what she was doing, but it involved some paperwork andonly a sliver of light, and he respected her subtle signal for privacy, even though he peeked in to confir his unusual circuht or day His only detere of time was his watch and the clocks in the house He discovered that watching the local news at various times helped deter his sense of detach the local weather coverage, he craved a walk outside to experience thedescribed or shown Granted, he wasn&039;t reallymuch, as Atlanta&039;s mid-December weather was usually sunny and in the upper forties to mid-fifties

What impacted him most was that Christmas was less than three weeks away, and this was the first tiht as - Chiravity of their situation, he was too ehts on or plans for Christs were going, it was likely to be dark, oue va happened to Katrina while she was trying to protect hiination plagued hi happened to Katrina? hein love with Katrina, Caleb had become completely smitten with her presence in his life Her very existence fascinated hih her vath of the attraction that he felt for her frightened hi he could hope for in a lover, friend, and companion

Most recently, he discovered that Katrina had an occasionally short temper coupled with a propensity to be somewhat authoritative towards hi qualities, she seemed to have his best interests at heart so far Despite that, he knew that he loved her He owed his life to her a number of times over already Who else can I say that about in ainst one of the large, spiral-fashioned oak colu room at the back of the house The rooe, widescreen television inset into a niche above the fireplace

For no discernable reason, Caleb glanced to his left towards the partially visible front entry area Katrina stood at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor She leaned against the banister railing, watching hiht frolow on her pale colance over her, if not for her striking long, red hair cascading around her shoulders

"You look deep in thought," she observed

Actually, you look lonely and forlorn, ht It was painful to be so secretive with him the past few days, but it was better he wasn&039;t involved in her plans to address Chimalma Likely, he wouldn&039;t approve of her plan or hersilence the better part of valor

He folded his ar there?"

"A while," she responded casually "Long enough to see a host of eative thoughts and feelings and return to happier ti of sorroept through her

He nodded while e leather couch Leaning back into the cushion, he stretched his legs out in front of hiesturing with his hand for her to join hi hi to her, instead watching her graceful transit towards him He marveled at her body&039;s fluid, rhythmic motion, and wondered why he hadn&039;t paid more attention in the past Perhaps because he was usually so focused on what they were doing or where they were Would anyone who took the time to look at her see her like I do? he wondered

She sat down beside hiht arainst the inside of his shoulder

"What were you thinking about?" she asked softly Maybe uely "You seem much more settled the past couple of days"

She sry and irritable"

He smiled at her quick interpretation of his evasive coled his face to meet hers and quickly kissed her on the lips "Sorry, but yeah," he confirry, it&039;s true," she explained introspectively "I&039;ry And I&039;ry with you, my love" But let&039;s not dwell on that topic, shall we? she mused "Have you eaten yet?"

"Huh? No, not yet," he answered with a glance at his watch It was nearly 6 pm The day had passed, and he had barely noticed

"Co," she offered and rose to help pull him to his feet "We can chat while you eat"

Actually, the truth was she practically pulled him up froth "Did you ever have trouble adjusting to your increased strength after beco a vampire?" he asked on their way to the kitchen

Katrina considered his query with the hint of a smile She recalled the nuile ite intense acts of passion, which was a shocking wake-up call that she needed to learn control at an early stage of her vampire nature "Hm, yes, I did," she replied as he removed a pizza from the freezer

He set the oven to preheat and went about re

"I broke a nus," she replied with a smirk "There were a number of accidental injuries inflicted on others, as well"

Caleb retrieved a pizza pan from the cabinet Oddly, Katrina had a fairly well-stocked set of dishes, cookware, assorted cooking utensils, and basic kitchen appliances He wondered why she had originally gone to the trouble, but he was grateful for her foresight

"Over the years, I adjusted to my body&039;s new attributes," she continued "But it took a great deal of patience and practice"

He sat on a kitchen barstool to wait for the oven to heat She wandered over to the cabinet, relass, and proceeded to fill it with ice cubes and water froerator dispenser

"Now I act and ry," she added as she placed the glass before him on the kitchen countertop

His eyebrows rose curiously "Why water?" He preferred colas

She frowned slightly Water was important for the health of his body and his blood "I don&039;t like the a lately You&039;ve looked a little dehydrated Do me a favor and try to drink ht you are, Molass in salute

She lightly smacked him on the back of his head with the flat of her palo there" Her limited experience with motherhood as a human was a topic she avoided almost as an emotional defense mechanis it with hiht still lose control of your strength sometirin "I try to show restraint, but you ed" She ale of his innocent nature to unnerve hi deliberately to harood poker face The truth was she loved catching hiuard like that She sensed in his reactions that he enjoyed it on occasion as well

He shivered involuntarily at her sadistic visage, which thankfully was an uncommon facial expression for her A part of hiue or perhaps solance as her features relaxed The preheat warning went off, and he placed the pizza in the oven

They talked about how he spent his day and about a film he had watched in the theater room That led to a discussion about Katrina&039;s favorite filenres, including foreign filn filuages fluently besides English, including French, Italian, German, Spanish, and some forms of Chinese He was truly impressed by the revelation and realized he felt fortunate just to know some Spanish

By the end of their conversation, his pizza had finished baking, and he dished out some slices onto a plate Despite his offer, Katrina declined a slice

"There&039;s so I want to chat with you about," she ventured "You may be interested to know vampires have as diverse a set of personalities as humans They&039;re often a reflection of their former human selves"

Caleb nodded as he munched on his first slice of pizza

"But a co vaes," she continued "They often see themselves as elevated far above the status of humans and expect both respect and deference from them Naturally, the world&039;s full of people who feel they&039;re so e than their fellow humans It&039;s the sa why she chose that topic He reached for his water glass and realized it was eerator to refill it "I like to associate with vaes But they&039;re still worthy of respect, if only because of the positive, respectfulhulass of water before him He took a sip of water andwhat she said After a few et they&039;re vaently "They crave blood and see hus And while you may not necessarily need to fear the vampires I associate with, you always need to respect what they are Never forget that their appreciation for you will never h other vampires could eventually befriend you, always bear in mind I already love you I&039;er Does that," she offered with a supportive smile

"Visitors?" he asked intently as he slipped another slice of pizza onto his plate

Katrina paused "Sohtly at the revelation "When?"

"They&039;re on their way now," she replied softly "They&039;ll be here any time"

Caleb&039;s heartbeat quickened, and his appetite suddenly abandoned hilass

"Go ahead Finish eating your pizza," she offered supportively

His eyes flickered to hers Oh hell, more va, Caleb was cleaning up the kitchen when he heard the faint ringtone of Katrina&039;s cell phone As he finished rinsing the reh the kitchen with the phone to her ear

"I&039; the phone shut She stopped by Caleb, neatly using her arm to corral him around the waist, and ushered him to walk before her "They&039;re here," was all she said as they headed for the s of nervous anticipation passed through hiarage door She punched in a series of codes on the wall&039;s security panel faster than he could gather the sequence He heard the garage door opening beyond, and the lock on the se clicked twice She opened the door and followed hilass and a car rental vanity tag on the front bue bay closest to where Katrina and Caleb were standing A

Caleb noticed that it was dark outside and felt the cold night air tickle his bare arin to per just a few feet away from access to the driveway

Katrina ie as he looked outside "Don&039;t even think aboutvoice froe door button to close the bay door If who I think is watching is out there, you need to stay where you are, Caleb, she thought But rather than explain herself, she decided her gruff command would have to do He probably thinks I&039;ine shut off, and the driver&039;s side door opened as Caleb gave a heavy sigh He turned to give her a dirty look over his shoulder as the bay door closed fully

"Be nice We have company," she whispered with a brief poke in the ser

A dark-haired man over six feet tall who looked to be somewhere in his late thirties to early forties exited the vehicle He was of solid build and wore dark gray casual slacks and a white, long-sleeved dress shirt His pale complexion ht smile that displayed his perfect white teeth He walked around the back of the car to the passenger side

Katrina ood to see you, dear friend," she greeted hihter mood than she had displayed recently

"It&039;s been too long, lish accent

Caleb felt an ih he kept his facial expression pleasant and respectful

The ht hazel eyes and appeared soed from the embrace with Katrina and iht hand to Caleb

"Alton, I&039;m pleased to introduce you to my mate, Caleb," Katrina offered froreen eyes

Caleb took his hand and irip He also carried himself with an air of authority Caleb momentarily wondered if he were titled or not "Pleased to reeted the enially

"Sir Alton," Caleb ventured formally

"Just Alton," thesmile "It&039;s a pleasure tothe lanced at Katrina, inked at hi sound coh that his body physically jolted with surprise His heart skipped a beat, and he stared at the trunk warily Both Alton and Katrina looked sharply towards the rear of the car, but neither seeht now!" came a muffled female voice from inside

Alton moved past Katrina to the rear of the car and activated a button on his key remote, and the trunk lid snapped open Calebwell away fro to be in her e of the roomy car trunk and frowned up at Alton sourly "It&039;s about ti woman snapped "Next time you can ride back there"

Her face was beautiful, and her hair was straight and tri Caleb of a Charleston dancing girl from the 1920s She was approxied by a pair of deni Alice Cooper concert T-shirt Her general appearance was like one of the young college students Caleb taught in his history classes, except for the unusual hair style But she didn&039;t appeara moment&039;s reconsideration, Caleb noted that her T-shirt seee Still, he found her to be striking on a nuht blue eyes seeht of Caleb standing aardly before her He was still trying to ascertain why she was in the trunk

"Hi Caleb Taylor," he offered a little nervously while extending his hand to shake hers

"Hi" She returned his handshake and offered an appraising grin "I&039;e Turner"

The pun almost made him chuckle "Heavy reader, are you?" he quipped with a shtly at the reference, and her pearly-white teeth glearinned broadly "Oh, I like you already"

Though she was friendly, Caleb was unsettled by the view of her glinting teeth It e&039;s eyes were a penetrating blue and appeared to target Caleb as she stared at hie between her friend and her mate Her eyes darted to Alton speculatively, and she noticed that the corners of his mouth were upturned in a subtle sood start

Paige etically Katrina shtly as her are muttered as she popped a kiss on Katrina&039;s cheek "Been too long, Katrina"

"You too, Paige," Katrina replied ware&039;s cheek

A quiet , both still s appreciatively Caleb wondered what the back story ith theested, breaking the momentary silence as she noted Caleb&039;s reaction

Caleb moved ie leather duffle bags Alton opened the rear car door and effortlessly pulled out two large black suitcases from inside He followed Katrina into the house Caleb shouldered both duffle bags, one over each are observed as she followed Caleb "But I can carry s, thank you"

Caleb s into the house, he thought he heard the sound of Paige inhaling deeply froe," she whispered

A sled

Caleb took Paige&039;s luggage to one of the guest rooms upstairs The youthful blonde vampire silently followed Caleb into the room and stared at his on the bed Her expression was both appraising and unsettling, and he only brieflyfashion before quickly departing

"Thank you, Caleb," Paige called in a reaze

"You&039;re welco downstairs

Katrina directed Alton to a guest rooe&039;s, but further away fro Caleb&039;s quickly retreating footsteps down the stairs

"He doesn&039;t knohat to e," Alton surmised with an amused expression

"It took me years How about you?" Katrina countered with an upraised eyebrow

He chuckled deeply "She&039;s really quite charet used to her dynamic personality"

"Oh, I can appreciate her fully now," Katrina countered "But it wasn&039;t immediate," she recalled with a smile

"Part of that&039;s because you were always so serious," Alton noted pointedly "But I sense that Caleb has tehtly as she ad a little bit since Chimalma made her appearance"

He nodded supportively, but said nothing

"I mean, I&039;ve tried to be especially patient with him," she continued "I&039;ve really beenthan in the past"

"And he ested "His personality likely encourages you to feel that way"

She smiled shyly "Yes, I&039; ti time"

"He&039;s very different from the others," Alton noted "I could tell that upon firston Caleb&039;s many appreciable attributes He was very different from the men in her past, except perhaps for one

"And what&039;s been his reaction to our little plan?" he asked

She frowned and replied in a cooler tone of voice, "You know there&039;s nothing for hi to do what needs to be done, e should have done half a century ago"

He raised an eyebrow in surprise "You ?"

"He knohat he needs to know," she countered evenly "Nothing more"

Alton&039;s eyes narrowed suspiciously "That&039;s a little overprotective, even for you No wonder you&039;ve been arguing more lately"

Katrina scowled "I tried that with my last mate, and he co the same entle soul," she explained with soh violence in his past already Chiet to hihed softly and raised both eyebrows appraisingly "I respect that, Katrina But I recommend caution Such isolation could breed resentnation "I&039; my best here"

He considered his for Katrina&039;s former irritation levels to subside soo chat a little bit with Caleb before the night gets away from us"

After a moment, Katrina pulled away from him with an appreciative smile and turned to lead the way downstairs

They were no sooner downstairs when Caleb&039;s nervous voice could be heard in the kitchen Both valances and hastened in that direction Upon arrival, they saw Caleb backed up against the kitchen counter bar while Paige stood before him with her arms crossed

"A Coca-Cola?" she asked cynically "I said thirsty Hello? I&039;m a vampire Maybe the next tilass of soapy water"

"I&039;ized

Alton covered his , while Katrina&039;s expression became steely

"Problem?" Katrina asked pointedly

"Maybe just a little," Caleb answered nervously "It seems I&039;uests"

"Oh, I already found soe noted with a sly expression as she se," Katrina chastised her in an o va with her arms crossed

"He doesn&039;t knohere I keep the blood yet," Katrina infore levelly "I don&039;t feed in front of him"

Caleb had never observed her while she consue&039;s eyes reflected sincere surprise, and her eyes darted to look at Caleb before turning to stare at Katrina with a puzzled look "You&039;re kidding," she scoffed incredulously "There was a time when you used to drink before other hu as the donor"

Caleb&039;s eyes darted to stare at Katrina with a degree of silent shock But his an to work over as just said, and he blinked slowly as his gaze drilled into Katrina&039;s with intensity

"That&039;s enough, Paige," Alton warned in a harsh voice

"I bet he feeds in front of you, Katrina," Paige ventured withyour true nature?" Katrina dee countered "However, he already knows you&039;re a vae as his body&039;s norance," he stated flatly "I&039;m not allowed to offer you my blood, but I&039;ll be happy to retrieve some for you, if Katrina would just point me to the proper location"

Alton&039;s expression reflected azed upon Caleb with approval However, Katrina&039;s face grew concerned as she saw the tense series of e across her an

"No," Caleb interrupted coldly "I want to take care of it"

Katrina said nothing, but reached out for Caleb&039;s hand, which she grasped gently in hers, and led hi down into her s concrete steps led to a concrete rooe shelves, a couple of workbenches, and a portion of the far wall containing a series of wine storage shelves stocked with a variety of bottles of wine Iht was a erator to reveal shelves lined with a large variety of plastic bags of human blood There were a variety of blood types, and each was labeled in the saery center Caleb estimated the combined total of blood would likely constitute a sizable quantity of human bodies

"Each blood type has a somewhat different flavor to a vampire, but just like wine, each packet of blood may have a unique taste all its own," Katrina explained softly She glanced at his face to find hi the infor the word Paige&039;s earlier coreed, "Yes, so like that"

"Which ones do I take?" he asked

"Just randoh "They&039;ll let you know if they want sorabbed two of the chilled pints of blood before pausing to ask, "Do you want one?"

"No," she replied quietly "Thank you" She shut the refrigerator door, and he turned to walk back upstairs But she reached out and pulled him into her arms protectively He seeht-year-old boy she remembered

"It&039;s okay," he muttered absently "I&039; to convince hi a steak to a huhtly "It&039;s my fault Perhaps I&039;ve sheltered you too etting at "You were afraid I&039;d be too unsettled by all this?" he asked

"Yes," she said and kissed the top of his head "Soat you quickly How hten you away, my love

He formulated an answer as she stood with her arms wrapped securely around him "You scare me You all scare me," he replied earnestly "But I love you, and I&039;ll do what I have to do"

She silently considered hihed She was relieved to hear his resolve "Then I suppose you can stink up the house with a cooked dead bird or pig at Christmas, if you want," she conceded

He s, dead bird this tirasp, and they walked upstairs together

Paige and Alton sat in chairs in the spacious living roolasses while Katrina and Caleb sat together on the couch Caleb leaned back, stretching his arms across the back cushions as Katrina curled up next to him She wrapped one arm behind him while the other lazily draped across his waist

"Alton&039;s an "He was also an important mentor in my life He helped me better understand and adapt toabandoned by the one who turnedof financialskills I&039;m forever indebted to him"

Alton nodded his head appreciatively, but corrected her with a s Perhaps for another century or two"

Paige and Katrina both grinned

"Well, I could never abandon you, Kat," Caleb proclaily he was drawn to her

She smiled and warmly kissed him on the cheek I hope not It&039;s more than I could bear

"It happens fro blood frory for round better, but she seemed satisfied to quit the topic Alton seemed to notice as well, because he subtly raised a curious eyebrow

"As for Paige," Katrina explained with a smirk "She happened into my life purely by accident I helped to mentor her in her vampire nature at an important time in her life My experience with Alton cae and I became quite close friends, almost like sisters, and we&039;ve ree smiled with satisfaction

The conversation turned to the journey to reach Katrina&039;s estate for each of the visiting vaations in Europe once he learned Chieles and made the journey once Katrina decided how to proceed

"I&039;lance at Caleb "He hasn&039;t even asked about arded the vampire briefly and turned to look at Alton

"Katrina&039;s idea, really," Alton said to Caleb, noting pointedly: "She does everything for a reason"

Caleb&039;s e that evening Two things stood out "You were trying to hide her," he ventured "Nobody would see her, only Alton"

Katrina so, Sherlock," Paige complimented with a smirk

But Caleb frowned and continued, "Wait She also let e with the door open when you arrived Yet she hasn&039;t even allowed me to open a "

Alton raised an eyebrohile Katrina&039;s expression turned introspective

"So?" Paige countered

Caleb looked at the youthful va for a reason, just as Alton said, which e with her And that&039;s why she was so irritable when she sawa short walk out to the driveway I was only to be seen briefly and with a minimum of exposure So Katrina thinks so the house"

"Most likely," Alton offered

"Katrina wants our nuer balance of power," Caleb ventured with a se and hold an element of surprise"

Katrina smiled and muttered, "Well done" She was very i skills, particularly why she was stern with hie Perhaps I underestie&039;s expression brightened for the first tie "Katrina said you&039;re pretty intelligent"

Caleb inclined his head in silent appreciation

"And," Paige hesitated, "though I don&039;t knohy I&039;ize for the whole blood episode in the kitchen I obviously didn&039;t fully realize the situation with you two"

The edges of Caleb&039;s y accepted"

Katrina inclined her face up to Caleb&039;s neck and placed a delicate kiss upon his soft skin She was very proud of him His first exposure to other vas orking out nicely

Alton noted Katrina&039;s action with approval, while Paige grinned e offered in a perky tone "You&039;ve lared at Paige with a withering expression That was in the past I&039; less feral lately, she resolved But it&039;s hard for ed the subject

"It&039;s getting late, and I think Caleb and I will turn in," Katrina suggested "Please make yourselves co And help yourself to the blood supply Otherwise, I&039;ll rise early, and we can discuss plans and arrangee nodded with a smirk

Katrina rose and took Caleb by the hand to lead him from the roo off the room from the rest of the house