A Bloody London Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 2) (35 page)

Caleb casually strolled down the formally corporate hallway on his way to the next available window to gaze upon another part of the city. Fortunately, Alton was correct that the views were actually quite amazing from such heights. But it only hastened his desire to pick a direction and start walking. Then he felt guilty and berated himself for being so dense.
It’s not like Kat’s going to be able to just start roaming the streets until evening anyway.

He would have liked to call or text Paige about their arrival and share his initial reactions to London, but he dutifully followed Katrina’s advice to avoid contacting her.

Caleb passed a vampire in a business suit as his mind returned to what he and Kat might do to pass the time until evening. It wasn’t as if he wanted to experience all the sights without her, despite the added benefit of improved vision during daylight. He kept walking, not really paying attention to the hallway before him.
Although it’s not as if she’ll have any problem seeing at night
.
Are some of the museums even open at night? How about tourist attractions?

Suddenly, he looked up and found himself staring at a solid, metal-reinforced door that looked more like an armory entrance than an office access. He frowned and looked at the information panel posted on the wall next to a numeric keypad and badge scanner. The panel read,
Data Center
.

“Where all the vampire geeks are kept, I presume,” he muttered with a chuckle.

“Hey,” spoke a gruff British voice from behind him. “Who are you? What are you doing there?”

Caleb spun around to see who was addressing him and noted two tall men in dark suits standing at the end of the hallway from where he had wandered. They were both pale and solid in stature. With one glance into their slightly glistening eyes, he realized they were vampires. He watched them guardedly, feeling a sense of panic rise inside, and his eyes darted around him nervously as he instinctively searched for an immediate exit. The two vampires watched him intently and began moving slowly, deliberately towards him in an almost stalking manner.

“Stop!” echoed Alton’s commanding English accent from somewhere nearby.

Alton and Katrina appeared at the end of the hallway some distance behind the two vampires, who both froze in place at his command. Caleb noted that Katrina’s arms were folded before her as she wore a stern expression, while Alton seemed almost amused by the scene before him.

“This is Mr. Taylor,” he explained. “He’s a personal guest of mine and shall share courtesy access with Ms. Rawlings to the upper floors of the tower during their stay in London.”

“Sorry, Mr. Rutherford. But we didn’t notice them on the sign-in roster,” one of the vampire’s explained.

“Er, yes,” Alton replied. “Well, that’s my fault, actually. I escorted them up personally.”

Both of the suit-clad vampires nodded towards Caleb and turned to depart the hallway heading away from him and past where Katrina and Alton were standing. The tall, pale, blonde woman wearing a dark business suit that Caleb had seen earlier appeared behind Alton and Katrina and smiled in a practiced, professional manner. Aside from being quite attractive, she had green eyes, much like Katrina’s.

“Ah, Ms. Kendrick,” Alton greeted the woman. “Would you please be so kind as to escort Mr. Taylor to the best viewing locations on the upper floors? Then bring him back to my office and add their names to the guest roster, please. We wouldn’t want any future misunderstandings, now, would we?”

“It would be my pleasure, Mr. Rutherford,” the woman replied in a dutiful, practiced manner and employing an accent that sounded Danish or German.

Caleb offered a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders with resignation at Katrina while she smirked at him and shook her head. She turned to follow Alton back around the corner, leaving Ms. Kendrick standing at the end of the hall with a welcoming expression.

He walked towards the woman with a tentative look on his face, extended his right hand, and offered, “Hi, I’m Caleb. Pleased to meet you.”

She smiled genuinely, shook his hand, and replied, “Marla Kendrick. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Taylor.”

“Caleb,” he corrected her gently.

“Of course, Caleb,” she accepted while studying him curiously. “Please feel free to call me Marla.”

He nodded, and she gestured with her hand in the direction of the hall behind him. He turned to walk alongside her and glanced up to look into her green eyes. They definitely reminded him of Katrina’s, though he realized that they were paler somehow, almost washed out, and yet distinctive in their own way compared to a human’s.

“Our immediate destination is further back and to the left,” she explained, frowning slightly as she noted him observing her closely. He deliberately averted his gaze to avoid seeming rude.

Once Marla directed him to a few windows on two other sides of the building, he noticed that the city was quickly being covered by gray clouds, suggesting oncoming rain. She explained that sunny skies were hard to come by in London in the early spring and for him not to be too disappointed if it did rain quite a bit during their vacation. He sighed, and they returned to Alton’s office. Marla waited to shut the office door behind him before departing. Katrina turned to observe him from where she sat as he entered the office, and Alton gestured to the empty seat next to Katrina.

As he sat, she smirked at her mate and teased, “Welcome back, trouble-maker.”

“Hey, I was just standing there quietly minding my own business,” he retorted innocently.

“I’m sure you were,” she accepted diplomatically. “But then, you already have quite a track record for that sort of thing.”

“Oh sure,” he muttered with a roll of his eyes to the ceiling.
Geez, how ridiculous.
I can’t even walk down a hallway without being accosted by vampires.

“I’m just saying,” she teased gently.
You’re so cute when you’re perturbed, my love
.

He glanced up at her curiously.
Sounds a lot like something Paige would say.

Alton curtailed a smile and interrupted the exchange. “Well, what do you think of my little office building?”

“Quite impressive, actually,” Caleb complimented. “And far from little.”

“I do hope my vampire associates didn’t alarm you too badly,” the vampire added with a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

“Rather intimidating, under the circumstances,” he replied. “But I’m sure they’re quite friendly once you get to know them.”

The corners of Alton’s mouth upturned slightly with amusement, but his eyes narrowed as he stared back at Caleb. “Friendly? Not even on their best days, young man,” he admonished mildly. “And Ms. Kendrick?”

“Very cordial and polite,” Caleb replied diplomatically and looked into Katrina’s eyes appraisingly. “But Kat has more beautiful green eyes.”

Her eyes glistened, and she spanned the distance between them in a blur to kiss him on the lips.
You know just what to say
.

He smiled back at her, even as he jolted slightly from the nearly instantaneous appearance of her face before his.

Alton changed the subject in stride. “Would you permit me to treat you to lunch? Are you hungry?”

Caleb thoughtfully considered his stomach for a moment and shrugged. “Sure, I could eat.”

“He can eat, all right,” Katrina retorted. “Most anytime, in fact.” It was amazing to her how his appetite was almost as resilient as a vampire’s constitution.

Caleb cast a withering look at his mate before adopting a solemn expression. “Sounds nice, actually. And it’s not like we can really explore the city until dark anyway. I presume you know somewhere close that’s daylight-friendly?”

Alton’s eyebrows rose. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

The restaurant he had in mind was located on the tenth floor of the office building. It was called Shakespeare’s and commanded a respectable view of London via the huge windows that extended from the high ceilings to within two feet of the floor. As with the fifteenth floor, the windows appeared to be coated with an ultraviolet-resistant material.

The dining room was nearly half full, the chatter inside presenting a lively atmosphere without seeming noisy. Most patrons wore typical office business attire, and none of them stood out as being vampires upon Caleb’s cursory glance, although he readily admitted that he was no expert in identifying vampires on sight.

The pressed white tablecloths were a notable quality of the elegantly decorated dining area. The lighting was bright but not distracting, and the finished wood floors added a sense of warmth to the otherwise polished appearance of the room.

They were promptly approached by a middle-aged man wearing a black suit, who appeared to be the maître d’. Caleb felt a little underdressed for his surroundings and glanced up at Katrina with an uncomfortable expression, and she did a double-take over the look on his face. He made a subtle gesture with his fingers as he pulled at his shirt slightly, to which she smiled.

“You look fine,” she reassured him in a quiet voice before subtly teasing him, “Besides, Americans usually dress notoriously casual when abroad. Britons and Europeans have grown to expect it.”

His eyes widened as he glanced up at Alton, who was doing his best to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

“Mr. Rutherford, how nice to see you, sir,” the maître d’ greeted crisply.

“And you as well, Mr. Gibbons,” Alton replied politely. “I realize we have no reservations, but my friends are just in from America, you see. Could we perhaps encroach upon a table for lunch?”

The man seemed genuinely amused by Alton’s query and insisted, “Perish the thought, sir. We always have a table for you.”

“Very kind, I assure you,” Alton said with a smirk and looked over to Katrina and Caleb with a broad grin.

Katrina’s eyebrows rose with amusement, and she cast a brief glance to the ceiling.
Oh please
. Y
ou probably own the place
.

“Please, follow me,” Gibbons offered and turned to lead the way into the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Caleb was quite impressed and placed his hand in the small of Katrina’s back for her to proceed behind Alton.
I may be underdressed, but my chivalry is still intact.

The table they were led to was in the corner of the dining room furthest from the front of the restaurant and had a spectacular view of the city from the glass windows that flanked the table. Gibbons held Katrina’s seat for her as she sat between Alton and Caleb, her back to the rest of the dining room, thereby allowing her the best view of the city. The table was also comfortably far away from other diners.

Gibbons placed a cloth napkin across Katrina’s lap with a flourish and offered menus to each of them. Another waiter appeared seemingly from nowhere to fill their empty water glasses, while a waitress appeared to place fresh-smelling warm bread and small plates on the table.

“Perhaps some wine, sir?” Gibbons suggested to Alton.

“Indeed,” the stately vampire agreed. “Bring us the 1900 Bordeaux, please.”

Gibbons’ eyebrows rose for only a moment, but he nodded. “I’ll see to it myself, sir.”

Katrina looked at Alton sharply, and even though Caleb was uneducated regarding wines, he realized that something that old must cost a fortune.

“It’s a special occasion when friends come to visit,” Alton offered simply as he reached for a slice of the warm bread.

Caleb watched the dark-haired vampire smell the bread as if categorizing it and break off a bite to chew it slowly as he looked directly at him. “Try some, it’s really quite good,” he insisted. “Baked daily, actually.”

Katrina’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she reached out for a piece of the still-steaming bread and inhaled slightly as she held it before her. A small smile crossed her face.

Caleb selected a slice and smelled it for a longer duration than either vampire, fully appreciating the fresh-baked scent of it. His taste buds watered as he broke off a bite and popped it into his mouth. Another bite quickly followed as the flavors came alive.

Gibbons returned with the wine, uncorked it, and offered the tasting to Alton. After a moment, the vampire nodded with approval, and the maître d’ served Caleb and Katrina. Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Gibbons departed.

Alton savored the scent of the wine for a moment and took a small sip. Katrina did the same, and Caleb waited until last to taste. The flavor was full and rich, yet with a hint of bitterness to it. Caleb silently conceded that he wasn’t exactly a connoisseur of fine wine.

“An added benefit of our kind: our senses allow for a fuller appreciation of things in small quantities,” Alton prompted Caleb. “I don’t miss my human experiences at times such as this,” he added as he watched the young man with a degree of amusement.

“Stop teasing him,” Katrina admonished mildly.

Caleb frowned as he considered Alton’s comment. “And just when was your last human experience?” he asked before taking another small sip of his wine.

Katrina’s eyes darted to watch Alton as a sly smile formed on her lips. The stately vampire’s eyes narrowed and bored into Caleb’s with sudden intensity. He remained both still and silent for a few moments, as if half-studying the young man. Then his face resumed an almost bored-looking expression, and he took a moment to sip his wine.

Alton deliberately waited until Caleb took a drink from his water glass to reply, “Sometime in 1216, actually.”

Caleb choked on his water as his mind reeled over the sudden revelation. Katrina’s hand instantly patted him on the back, heedless of the risk of someone’s noticing as she moved in a blur. She gave Alton a dirty look, as well.

“Eight hundred years ago?” Caleb whispered excitedly as he tried to keep his voice low. His mind was still reeling from the vampire’s admission. He’d always anticipated that Alton’s age was a little older than Katrina’s, but not by nearly twice.

“Ah, but it seems just like yesterday,” Alton replied with a grin as he took another sip of his wine. The vampire’s disposition darkened somewhat as he stared out across the view of the city, and he amended, “Actually no, it seems like eight hundred years ago, and I still don’t miss being human.”