Page 14 (1/2)

Surprise Guest

Caleb never detere and Katrina at his aparte in their behavior He wasn&039;t able to put his finger on it exactly, but they seemed more attentive to his location in and around the house Thinking he was being paranoid, he tested the idea one afternoon by waiting until both vampires were in different areas of the house He went into the basement where the wine and spare blood supplies were kept, shutting the door to the kitchen behind hi a book while perched on the edge of the workbench tabletop After approximately twenty minutes, he heard the door at the top of the stairs tentatively open

"Hey, kiddo?" Paige inquired

"Yeah?" he replied nonchalantly

She paused "Everything okay down there?"

"Uh, sure," he said "You need ?"

Another pause "Nah, just a whi oncehe&039;d been correct It&039;s not paranoia if people are actually looking for you, he resolved

He set his book aside and folded his ar about his new revelation He&039;d had enough of feeling paranoid about possible threats in his life Clearly, Katrina and Paige still harbored so Chimalma&039;s death

He had hoped that with Chio back to the life that he and Katrina had been living Instead, he still peered around corners for potential assailants A life lived in fear is no way to live at all He considered perhaps Alton was correct Until he conquered his fear he wouldn&039;t be able to be a better mate to Katrina Perhaps he wouldn&039;t be able to appreciate life truly, either

Leaving his book on the tabletop, he walked purposefully up the stairs to the kitchen He proceeded resolutely to the front entry area, calmly opened the coat closet, and slipped his leather jacket on Then he unlocked the front door

Fortunately, Katrina had ceased prograe could address anyone who er considered that soht try to exit the house unannounced He smiled as he opened the front door to reveal a western sky with the afternoon sunshine strea noise from the house alarm indicated the door had been opened

It&039;s ti: confrontin the sublevel rooazes abruptly met at the sound of the double beep Katrina&039;s eyes then shot to the security systeh the front door

"Caleb!" she shouted as both va the ability of a hue to the doorway and into the hallway of the e was close at her heels

"Caleb!" Katrina shouted again as she ran

They both raced towards where the sunlight was bathing the entry, heedless of the i pain But the front door closed in front of thee&039;s eyes ide as Katrina sped to the front door, sla, "Get back here, Caleb!"

When Katrina turned around, her eyes were blazing green with anger

As Caleb casually walked down the steps to the driveway, he heard a slalanced back with a wide-eyed expression

Katrina shouted, "Get back here, Caleb!"

He shivered, realizing that he had better continue facing the current fear, because there was already another one destined for him

The late winter afternoon sun blazed towards the western end of the clear blue sky He realized the sun would be setting soon, and he needed to proceed before then When darkness fell, he had a whole new probleh the current endeavor, he sardonically considered that he ht not survive the next one

Caleb breathed the cool air in deeply through his nose, appreciating the fresh, crisp scent of winter, and turned his face to the sunlight as he stood in the yard

His cell phone ca hi it, but decided an argu in the front yard wasn&039;t hoanted to focus his attentions

However, he realized he was only postponing the inevitable After setting his phone&039;s ring option to vibrate, he walked towards the side of the house in the direction of the public park area He&039;d confront his fear on a park bench

"Caleb Taylor! Get back inside the house, right now!" Katrina admonished loudly over the sthy pause, and a much calmer version of her voice played over the speaker "I promise I won&039;t be upset, esoave hih this, but he knew that if he didn&039;t confront his fears he would always be dependent on others for his protection or peace of mind Not that he didn&039;t appreciate such protection: he merely needed to have confidence that he could stand on his oo feet Besides, it wasn&039;t as if there would be any danger It had been nearly a week since Katrina&039;s return, and no alar events or indicators had presented themselves

Caleb&039;s cell phone buzzed threea voiceh the park to the bench where Katrina had revealed her secret to hiht

His phone buzzed in a es, and he glanced at each e "She&039;s mad She&039;s reallythat when Paige was concerned it was a bad sign The second text was fro for you" He felt a shiver from the top of his neck all the way down to his lower back

"Oh crap," he e He typed, "Kat, love you always C" Then he slipped his phone into his jacket pocket

Sitting on the park bench, he stretched both his ar back to appreciate the western sky as the sun began its descent Perhaps it&039;ll befor granted these days

New feelings replaced the anxious ones of a few o: freedo the house unprotected and confronted the unknown Such a sh he almost wished someone would ju Perhaps then, if he survived, Katrina wouldn&039;t kill him later Ha! That&039;d be hilarious, heher protection! The irony of the unlikely event alh out loud

The sun continued its descent, and he patiently awaited his fate He was perplexed in a strange way as the late sun washed across his face in the cool breeze I wonder why I haven&039;t done this sooner It was all very liberating to hi to snatch my life and snuff it out Well, at least not today, anyway

He chuckled and leaned back into the bench as he appreciated the reht

When the sun was nearly ready to drop beyond the western horizon, he felt the chill increase with the winter breeze He zipped up his coat up and rubbed his hands together

He turned his head in the direction of the estate and saw a large area shielded by dense trees from the nearly completed sunset Katrina stood like a statue in her blue jeans, black boots, and black leather jacket Her eyes glowed bright green hat he anticipated was likely anger Her red hair was down, and itcreature all its own His eyes continued to take in her visage, both terrible and beautiful at the same time She appeared both lovely and lethal, the perfect vision of a vaarded hih hi her feral beauty, and turned back towards the pink glow on the western horizon with his arain stretched across the back of the park bench He lifted his face up slightly, as if presenting hiht a lanced over to see Paige in jeans and a red leather jacket standing in the distance just inside the forest&039;s tree line She regarded hih her blue eyes weren&039;t illuminated, her expression was one of both concern and aze to the western sky as darkness fell on the surrounding area His sunset was over No sunlight rereement But calht, after all I&039;ve looked fear in the face once, and now I&039; a sharp intake of breath to his left, his eyes darted to see Katrina standing not ten feet from him He blinked only once, and she suddenly towered directly before hiht, as well He gazed up into Katrina&039;s eyes cal what fear?" she asked in a cold, level tone

He deliberately paused and then callared at hiround "What?" she prompted in a steely voice Afraid of me?

He smiled, looked directly into her eyes, and explained, "I&039;in to love you without fear"

Katrina was duhtly

"I&039;m ready to die now, but I want you to know I love you and alill, no matter what," he said softly with his arms stretched across the back of the bench

"Alton," Katrina seethed between clenched teeth What crap is he filling Caleb&039;s head with now? A chat is in order, she vowed

The glow in her eyes dissipated slowly in the passing silent e closed her ht with a relieved expression Both vae leaned away further in order to observe Katrina&039;s expression

"I love you, too," Katrina whispered with resignation Paige casually leaned back against the bench

Caleb used each are around the shoulders and pulled thehtly to press against him

"The two most important woht to kiss Paige lightly on the cheek, and then turned to Katrina to place a warm, soft kiss upon her cool lips

She stared back with a penetrating gaze and initiated a longer kiss of her own "Nobody&039;s suffering retribution tonight, I suppose," she stated with a resigned sigh

Paige grinned, turned her head to Caleb to kiss hied a bullet, kiddo"

"What he dodged was an angry, deliberate fang bite," Katrina whispered

Caleb smiled in silent satisfaction at he sat with his arms around his two favorite vampires while a nearby park lalow upon them

On the walk back to the estate, Caleb held Katrina&039;s hand and appreciated how forgiving she had been regarding his need for a leap of faith He gazed up at her with a cheerful slared back at him and maintained a stern expression However, as she held his hand, she lifted it to her lips and fir to press his luck

At the house, Paige announced that she needed to get out for a while Since she was a social creature, Caleb i at the estate was as difficult for her as it had been on hied into a trendy red dress and her new strappy, red high-heeled shoes, warning everyone not to stay up for her, and departed in Alton&039;s rental car

"Clubbing," he ventured absently, watching out the sitting roouess?" Katrina asked with surprise "I&039;ll be in the sublevel roo with Alton," she added darkly

"Your lair," he alanced over her shoulder at hiruht on with you"

He tried to erase a smirk as she stalked out of the room He almost felt sorry for Alton as he considered her dark mood - almost, that is While the stately vampire&039;s advice had been helpful, it had annoyed Katrina considerably in the end His mind pondered other advice that Alton had offered and realized he would need to start a workout regimen to prepare his body for phase two However, it was apparent he still had a lot of work left to do in phase one He shrugged and went to the kitchen for soerator when the doorbell rang, and he went to answer it

Katrina absently surfed the Internet while holding the cordless phone in her other hand talking to Alton She quickly recounted Caleb&039;s unplanned adventure that evening in a very displeased tone of voice

"So, just what other advice have you been giving to my mate?" she demanded

There was a pause at the other end before Alton calmly answered, "I ht aid hi of the varal to his development as a successful mate for you"

"He&039;s already a successful mate, Alton," she muttered irritably "And did you tell him he needs to confront his fears more assertively?"

"Well, yes," he replied "It&039;s a liberating journey that will only help him develop into a well-rounded, independent person," he reassured her

She stopped clicking herhe&039;s codependent?" she snapped

"Well, I know that&039;s probably so to you as an alpha female, but -"

"Bullshit, Alton," she interrupted "So, you&039;re a lay-psychologist now?"

She heard the doorbell ring and frowned at the security system screen to her left Kind of late for a visitor, she mused

Her eyes widened with horror, and she screamed, "Caleb!" The phone hadn&039;t even hit the floor before she sped like a blur to the top of the stairs

"Katrina? What&039;s wrong?" Alton demanded after the handset dropped to the floor

Curious, Caleb opened the front door and thought he heard Katrina yell his na visage before hias/Chiht ear was ht side of her face The hair on the entire right side of her head was , save for soaunt shade of white Her hazel eyes blazed brightly, and she wore an evil gris

"Hello, Caleb," the harsh sounding voice rasped "Missright hand, and it was leveled at his chest He started to yell out, but felt his body being pushed aside as if hit by a truck His body landed onto the carpeted floor of the adjacent sitting room, nearly a full fifteen feet fro

The crossbow in Chiht Katrina directly in the chest with a dull thud She gasped, butas Chiured vampire punched Katrina in the jaith her free hand while firing the crossbow again, the arrow bolt catching her a few inches above the first ih Katrina&039;s body as she yelled, "Run, Caleb!" She grabbed Chimalma by the neck with one hand and threw her further into the house towards the kitchen

Their two bodies beca exchanges Both coainst furniture, fixtures, and walls

Caleb gathered his wits long enough to realize the battle had moved further into the house He juh hisa run for the front door to flee, helike a statue "No!" he yelled in frustration

He wasn&039;t running for safety this time His lover, his mate, needed help, and he wasn&039;t about to abandon her But hishe could use as a weapon And this ti to cut it! He gathered his resolve and raced back into the entry area towards the hallway and nearly ran into the wall as he tried to stop Loud snarling noises and a series of subsequent crashing sounds came from the interior

His mind flashed with an epiphany, and he raced down the hallway towards the study He flipped on the light switch, and his eyes fell onto the sword in the glass case that had belonged to Katrina&039;s husband He lifted the casing off and cast it onto the floor Snatching the sword from its wooden holders, he nearly dropped the heavier-than-expected weight, which shifted in his novice right hand

Wasting no time, he raced down the hallway as fast as he could

The two va rooe table was sht Katrina&039;s wounds were bleeding more freely as she wrestled with the centuries-old Aztec vaurement, Chimalma seemed to have the upper hand in the battle, and Katrina felt her strength ebbing

Katrina rip, but the elder vaer from her waistband sheath and held it overhead as she readied to strike down at Katrina&039;s chest Chiht hand choked Katrina&039;s neck in a deathlike grip, while she grappled with the ar to blow soht!" Chimalma spat veno the sword over his head with both hands, running towards Chi to strike her down Katrina&039;s eyes widened for only an instant, but it was enough for the disfigured valanced back over her shoulder, and she jerked her left hand away froer at Caleb as he charged

The knife flew through the air and imbedded into his upper left chest quadrant with a force that caused him to fall backwards froh his chest and shoulder, and the sas propelled forward across the floor frorip on the hilt

The blade skittered across the tiled floor towards Katrina, and she rab the hilt as it started to slide past her She whipped the blade upwards and plunged the tip of the sword into Alondra&039;s heart, causing the varabbed at one of the arrow bolts stuck in Katrina&039;s chest with her free right hand and pressed it into her further, causing Katrina to screarab the hilt of the iht hand and deftly snapped the end of the blade off, leaving the tip stuck in the other vampire&039;s heart

"Bitch!" Alondra cursed

With one fluid sweep of Katrina&039;s right arm, the remainder of the blade swooshed upwards and to the left, neatly separating the vampire&039;s head from her shoulders As Caleb looked up from the floor with horror, Alondra&039;s head rolled across the floor, spraying aits path The body slumped to the tiled floor with a squishy thud Chiainst the far wall, an expression of shock still evident A second later, the broken sword clattered to the floor as Katrina collapsed to her knees in exhaustion

Despite the blade ied to crawl to Katrina&039;s side as she rolled into his ared in a panicked voice

She felt her energy ebbing as the blood continued to seep froh thefrom the area around her heart She was exhausted from the effort of her last actions, and Katrina realized that death was finally co fear, she felt an odd peace fall over her Glancing into Caleb&039;s shocked face, she felt genuine re"

She felt his body shaking with fear as he held her

"You&039;re healing?" he inquired shakily, but hopefully

"Not fast enough," she moaned

"No!" he demanded "You can&039;t die! You can&039;t leave h Caleb&039;s chest, and he felt like he was going into shock "Not you," he shook his head as tears welled in his eyes "Not now!"

"I&039;m so sorry, my love," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek She could feel the ereatly surpassed the pain coursing through her own body

"Don&039;t do this," he pleaded as an idea dawned on hiht hand and ed to pull them from her body The blood flowed freely, but he used each of his hands to cover a woundThen, despite the blade still sticking from his upper chest, he forced his neck onto Katrina&039;s , "Take my blood It&039;ll help you heal"

She was so weak by that point, but she could feel the pulse in his soft neck against her lips The survival instinct within her is protruded in her asped

"Hurry!" he urged as he pressed his neck onto her parted lips

But she ed breaths, "No It&039;s not enough Just live your life Do it for ently settled her body onto the floor Fate was so cruel to hily always had been His loved ones were either abusive or taken from him too soon in life He finally found the one person who made him complete, who made him feel alive for maybe the first time in his life And he didn&039;t want to live if she weren&039;t there to live alongside hi, he ran the back of one bloody hand across Katrina&039;s cheek as she closed her eyes Feeling bewildered, he searched wildly in hison the floor next to the the intense pain frorasped the sword in both hands and pressed the edged portion of the re blade to his neck Then, before he lost his nerve, he ran the blade across his throat with a painful thrust Pain seared through his neck, and he dropped the blade with a clatter Blood readily seeped froash

"I love you," hehis neck over her ed through her body as she felt herself drifting into a drea feral awakened A rich, sweet taste was in her mouth as her lips clamped onto skin, and her arure above her like a vice

Katrina heard a gasp froure, and her mind quickly returned to a conscious state She realized with horror that Caleb was in her arms as her e in her was too great Her body was in command, not her rational mind The red-haired valy before, and it actually terrified her She felt part-ani all at the sah her body, yet her mind was repulsed by it Time seemed to stop as all that existed was her insatiable thirst and his labored heartbeat and breathing

At soer as her sense of conscious control also began to return She forced her tongue onto the skin of Caleb&039;s neck, pressing it there to prevent his continued bleeding Terror rolled through her as she was uncertain if she had already taken too much blood from him She sensed only a faint heartbeat froathered saliva in her mouth and held it around his neck wound Tiain as she impatiently waited for his wound to close Her lips parted, and she gently licked at his wound area She wasn&039;t sure if she should reht tear, and she didn&039;t know if she had the strength to heal hi his body against hers His breathing continued to be shallow, and she worried for his survival She wouldn&039;t forgive herself if soer beca how he could have been so insane to do what he did But then she also felt intense love for hi if he died from his efforts

This isn&039;t supposed to be how it ends She was supposed to have left him safe so he could continue his life He deserved a normal life, one with a norrow old with his partner and watch their children grow and develop A life without me

She wasn&039;t certain what ti needed to happen for hi his body close to hers So to return, and she felt her wounds slowly repairing theel Caleb ca blood still lingered in her mouth as she whispered to him, "I love you I&039;ll love you forever"

The rental car screeched to a halt in front of the estate, and Paige barreled through the front door with a cell phone in her hand She tore her high-heeled shoes from her feet and cast them aside as she looked around frantically She had driven like a demon possessed once the call from Alton arrived, and she stayed on the phone with him as he described what he&039;d been able to hear after Katrina dropped the phone

"Holy crap!" she exclai the carnage before her

Her eyes took in the horrific scene in the dining room, and she rushed to where Katrina still held Caleb close to her body

"Red," Paige urged as Katrina&039;s weak, tired eyes looked back at her with anguish

"He&039;s dying," was all she ?!" Alton demanded over the cell phone

"Katrina&039;s injured, but recovering," Paige said hurriedly "But Caleb&039;s hurt badly There&039;s a dagger in his upper shoulder area"

"Massive blood loss," Katrina nearly shrieked

Paige&039;s face flashed with horror as she realized what had happened "Katrina drank too ," she muttered desperately

"Get to the blood supply Start an intravenous drip iathered hi Katrina&039;s weak hands from around hiently on the king-sized bed She raced back upstairs to the refrigerator in the kitchen and quickly sorted through the various blood types re on the shelves

"Type A positive," Katrina&039;s strangled voice called fros of blood and frantically tried to think of where to get the other supplies she needed "Katrina! I need tubes and needles!" she yelled frantically

"Basee sped into the base the last ti to save Caleb&039;s life She spotted a black leather ht it with her back upstairs She raced back to the sublevel rooe prepared the blood for him She stuck hi to the other apparatus Grabbing a letter opener from the desk, she stabbed it into the wall above the bed with incredible force, i it into the sheet rock-covered concrete wall She hung the bag of blood fro out of his shoulder and was uncertain how to proceed Racing back upstairs to the dining room, she found Katrina with the cell phone in her hand

"have to turn hie challenged "He&039;s too weak And we have to deal with the dagger now!"

"Bring e carried her tall friend to the sublevel rooed to prop herself up on one arm and absently dropped the cell phone onto the bed beside her She grasped the dagger in her free hand and looked up to Paige

"You have to close the wound," she insisted "Just like I did after I bit hi as saucers, and she shook her head "I don&039;t know if I can-"