Sunrise at Sunset (52 page)

“Oh, please be alive, Kat,” he slurred in a dry, raspy voice.

The red-haired vampire of his dreams suddenly came into view over him, and his arms flailed out and upwards to wrap themselves around her neck in a weak bear hug. But a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder and chest as he did so, and he winced noticeably. “Kat!” he exclaimed with a gasp tinged with a mixture of both sincere relief and physical pain.

Katrina’s eyes were glistening with tears despite her smile as she gazed into the face of the young man who had captured her heart and soul. She maintained herself in a statue-like form above him as he struggled to use his arms to pull himself upright. “Careful, my love,” she urged as her arms reached behind him to help brace his body into a sitting position.

Caleb swayed slightly, as if he weren’t fully equipped to remain upright, but Katrina’s arms pulled him against her body as she scooted next to him. They held each other as if the world depended upon their bodies’ being pressed together into one.

“Thank God you’re alive,” he managed to say, despite his dry throat. He felt an elated sense of relief surge through his system as he held her in his arms. His lips found the side of her neck, and he kissed her reverently.

She smiled brightly at the feeling of his soft kiss against her skin, and she ran one hand soothingly across his face while supporting the back of his head with the other. “You saved my life yet again, Caleb,” she whispered with awe. “Only this time, you gave of yourself. In the past, many humans have died as I took their blood. But no human has ever willingly sacrificed himself and rendered his blood unto me before. I’m still alive right now because of you, although it was very misguided.”

He smiled, though her reference to saving her life twice made no sense. “And I would do it again in a minute for you,” he assured her.

She frowned but said nothing for the moment. She didn’t want him pulling a stunt like that ever again, whether for her benefit or not. But that was a topic for another time.

Paige smiled at the heartwarming scene playing out before her.

“Besides, you saved me from Chimalma,” he added, soberly recalling the images of Katrina’s battle with the angry, disfigured vampire.

“But not from your injuries,” she whispered darkly.

A frown clouded his face as she pulled away from him so she could look into his face with a serious expression. “What do you mean?” he insisted.

“You saved me with your blood,” she explained. “But you lost too much blood yourself, and even after providing you with fresh pints of blood we had in storage, your body was dying from the wound you received.”

“But –” he began with confusion. “Your blood would have saved me, just like when I was sick with the ‘flu.”

She smiled sympathetically. “Your blood was mixed with mine in such a large quantity that you diluted the strength of my vampire blood until my body could metabolize and convert it. There simply wasn’t enough time for that to happen. You were dying, and there was nothing I could do to save you.”
His eyes widened with comprehension, and he stammered, “But I’m alive. Then how-”

“Paige’s blood saved you,” Katrina interjected.

He gazed at Paige sitting on the far edge of the bed and noticed an endearing smile on her face. “Your blood? You saved me?” he asked with surprise.

Paige smirked and quipped, “Ah, what’s a little blood among friends?”

But his face turned serious, and he crooked his finger at her. “Come over here,” he insisted quietly.

Katrina watched intently as Paige scooted down the bed until she was perched next to him. He took the petite vampire’s hand in his own and pulled on her arm to draw her closer to him.

Paige’s eyes tentatively darted up to Katrina and noted the red-haired vampire’s imperceptible nod of approval. She allowed her body to be drawn more closely to him and drew her arm across his waist as she leaned in towards him.

He kissed her on the cheek affectionately and whispered, “Thank you for saving my life again. That’s twice in less than a week, and I’m eternally grateful.”

Paige started to pull away from him, but suddenly felt Katrina’s hand pressing at her back to push her further towards him. She turned her face slightly until her lips met Caleb’s and kissed him once very lightly and briefly on the lips. He seemed completely surprised by that, but responded to her kiss in kind.

“You’re more than welcome, kiddo,” she offered, and then added in a more serious tone: “But you owe me nothing. From now on, your best interests are also my concern.”

He swallowed and looked anxiously up to Katrina as she hovered above them from the other side of the bed. But instead of seeing jealousy or concern on his lover’s face, he saw only a small smile of approval, and he frowned with confusion.

He felt a shift on the opposite edge of the bed, and when his eyes turned back to look at Paige, she was already gone. He heard the small panel door to the sublevel room slide shut before his eyes could even register her new location.

Looking up at Katrina with a wide-eyed expression, he asked, “What was that all about?”

“Congratulations, my love,” she offered softly. “You’re probably the first human to have both a vampire mate and a surrogate protector.”

“What?” he asked incredulously.

The corners of her lips upturned in a partial smile. “Try to think of her as a sisterly vampire guardian-angel in your life now.”

“I’ve never had a sibling,” he whispered with wonder as Katrina smiled with refreshing approval at the idea.

The next day, Katrina exited the bathroom carrying a small basin of steaming water, a dry towel, and a washcloth and went to sit at Caleb’s bedside. She placed the basin on the nightstand and looked down at him with adoring green eyes. He smiled back up at her appreciatively.

“You’re too weak to shower, so I’ll give you a sponge bath today,” she ventured with a warm smile.

“I’m not a big fan of sponge baths,” he replied darkly.

“Except when you receive them from me,” she countered while removing the bed sheet to reveal his nude body before her. She gazed down at his young, lean, muscled body approvingly and offered, “You’re beautiful, Caleb.”

He looked away and blushed slightly as he muttered, “Men aren’t supposed to be beautiful, Kat.”

“I know beauty when I see it,” she admonished with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

He said nothing and merely gazed across the room as she rinsed the washcloth in the basin and started with his feet and legs. He felt somewhat helpless and infirm lying in the bed as she bathed him, but admitted her ministrations felt much better than he expected. The washcloth was warm and soothing to his skin. But he felt a little embarrassed as he envisioned Paige walking in on him. “Where’s Paige?” he asked pointedly.

Katrina smiled, sensing the reason for his inquiry. “She went out for a while this evening,” she reassured him. “I don’t expect her for many hours.”

He seemed outwardly relieved by her response, and his body relaxed somewhat, much to her relief.

“Oh, Alton called to check on you a couple of hours ago,” she offered casually as she ministered to him.

“Really? What’s new with him?” he asked.

“He hopes that you’re back on your feet soon,” she replied. “And he left a message for you. He said, ‘To be brutally honest, I’m extremely proud of that young man.’”

He smiled, recognizing the phrases used.

She raised a curious eyebrow, reflecting, “Strange, though. He normally doesn’t use a term such as ‘brutally honest.’”

He shrugged innocently. “Maybe some new catchphrase he’s using nowadays?”

“Hm, perhaps,” she replied suspiciously and frowned. A few quiet moments passed as she worked her way up his body with the washcloth.

“1823?” he asked playfully, though mainly to change the subject.

She looked at him curiously and determined the nature of his comment.
Still trying to guess my birth date
, she mused. “Nope,” she replied simply.

He sighed, and she frowned with consternation as she rinsed the washcloth in the basin water. Noting her serious expression, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Katrina was suddenly struck by how brief life was for humans and how unexpectedly it could end. She also recalled a heated conversation with Alton prior to leaving on their hunt for Chimalma. He had reprimanded her for not telling Caleb more about herself.
Perhaps it’s time to start having those conversations, rather than putting them off.

“I was just thinking back to a recent conversation with Alton,” she muttered vaguely. She helped him roll onto his side facing away from her so that she could wash his back.

“Oh,” he replied absently. He appreciated the feeling of the sponge bath more than he had expected to.

She dried his back with the bath towel, momentarily considering how she had met Caleb when he was just a child and how he had helped retrieve blood for her. But she quickly decided that would be a topic better saved for some future date. To be honest, she still wasn’t sure how to broach the subject and needed time to consider it further.

“There. Feel better?” she asked gently as he rolled onto his back again, pulling the bed sheet up to his chest.

He nodded and smiled. She bent down to him and warmly kissed him on the lips. “Thanks, Kat,” he said.

She smiled back, appreciating the earnest look of innocence on his face. She loved him so much and made a spontaneous decision. “My love,” she prompted as he looked up curiously. “I was born in April 1506, three years before Henry VIII became King of England, although I have no record indicating the exact day of that month,” she said softly.

Caleb’s mouth dropped open.

“My God, you’ve lived over five hundred years already,” he quietly noted.

She reached out to hold his hand as she continued, “My family’s name was Holcot, and I was given the birth name of Catherine. We were only of a middling level of wealth, though my father owned quite a bit of land in England. I married a wonderful, loving man by the name of Samuel Lawnder, whom you remind me a great deal of, actually. He was a farmer and a reserve soldier in the king’s army, and my father bequeathed to us our initial parcel of land as part of my dowry upon marriage. The sword that I killed Chimalma with was Samuel’s and his father’s before him.”

Caleb’s eyes were wide with awe as he listened to the story unfolding before him.

“I bore two children for Samuel, a son named Hugh, and a daughter named Margery. Samuel was taken from us by the first wave of influenza ravaging the countryside. Our son and daughter both died within a year after their father, but by smallpox. I was devastated and became withdrawn and distant,” she continued morosely.

He reached out with his free hand to pat her hands, which were occupied holding his other hand. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered with a glassy-eyed expression.

She smiled supportively, her pain all but numbed by the passage of time and all too many tears cried centuries prior. Her voice strengthened as she stared down into his pale blue eyes and proceeded with her revelations.

“I was thirty years old and residing at my father’s estate when I met a traveling nobleman who stayed with us. His name was Jean Antoine de Medici, and he was a vampire. My family had no idea and allowed him to stay as a courtesy. He held papers of introduction from regional nobles, you must understand. He stole me away in the middle of the night and took me to a large estate in the highlands. Over a period of a week I was turned, and on Saturday, November 11, 1536, I officially transformed into a vampire. It was the same year Anne Boleyn was beheaded by King Henry VIII. After the turning, my life, my world, changed forever.”

Caleb was in too much shock to speak, and his heart rate increased twofold. She looked down upon him with concern, but decided that he wasn’t in distress, merely astounded by her story.

“There’s so much more, but we’ll leave that for another time,” she whispered before bending down to kiss him.

He returned her kiss numbly, but continued to stare up at her with wonder. He couldn’t believe that he had actually just heard the story she told him. “Thank you for telling me that,” he whispered with sincerity and appreciation.

“I owe you so much more, my love,” she replied softly and with a brief sadness in her eyes.

“But wait,” he interjected as something dawned on him. “If you’re from England, why don’t you have an English accent like Alton?”

She smiled with amusement. “Alton embraces his English roots and deliberately chose to maintain his English accent over the years. However, I found out very quickly that the English weren’t embraced positively in many parts of the world. I learned to neutralize my accent over a few hundred years. Besides, I no longer consider myself an English citizen. Now I’m a citizen of the world, and I no longer feel compelled or limited by political or national boundaries.”

The explanation made sense to him and merely reinforced in his mind how wonderful the woman before him was. “You’re amazing, Kat,” he mumbled with awe. “Why would you want me? I’m just an ordinary human.”

She smiled down at him adoringly and reached down to grasp his face in her hands. She moved her face to his until their noses were touching. “You listen to me, ordinary human,” she quipped before turning serious. “You’ve given me the reason to want to live again. I want to share the world with you and experience everything with renewed appreciation. You’ve restored my interest in continued existence.”