Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4) (22 page)

What if she didn’t want me in a forever sort of way?

A lump formed in my throat as that notion plagued my imagination.

Rejection was one of the worst feelings in the world.

I think I’d almost rather be dead.

Had I died once before when I visited that state of nothingness? Was that the afterlife?

A raccoon burst from the trees to my right, startling me. It raced past me, skittering across the road to disappear into the night.

I removed my ear buds, staring into the treeline and listening closely for anything unusual.

A slight breeze shuffled the pine limbs together in a restless fashion. I heard an owl hoot in the distance but little else.

The snaps of breaking twigs sounded and I warily turned to confront whatever was there.

I spared a look back toward where my vampire escort had been only minutes prior, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Paige appeared out of the treeline, brushing a stray leaf from her short hair.

“Stupid raccoon,” she said. “He gave away my position.”

“Where’s my persistent tail?” I asked.

“On your persistent little ass, silly,” she said with a smirk.

“Oh, fun-ny,” I said.

She shrugged. “I sent him back home.”

“What’re you doing here? Did Kat send you or something?” I asked.

“You and your whiny indignation can dry up, Miss Prissy Pants,” she said.

I gave her a dirty look.

“So, are we walking or just standing around here all night?” she asked.

I shrugged and resumed my trek along the road.

“Babysitting me tonight?” I asked.

“Nah,” she said.

“Spying?”

“Nope. Big sister tonight,” she said, brushing her shoulder against mine with a slight shove.

I couldn’t help but smile.

My century-old, way-shorter-than-me big sister.

We walked in silence for a time. While I hadn’t been craving company, it felt somewhat comforting to share my walk with her.

“You looked pretty angst-ridden back there, kiddo,” she said.

She had a way of reading me in a manner that was sometimes even keener than Kat.

“Yeah,” I said. “Heavy thoughts, I suppose.”

Problems with my relationship type of thoughts.

“She’s merely concerned for your safety,” she said. “In a smothering kind of well-intentioned but I’m-the-bitchy-boss sort of way, that is.”

I nodded. She had Kat pegged. But then, she’d known Kat for most of her vampire lifetime.

“She drives me crazy sometimes,” I agreed.

“Yeah, well, in case you hadn’t already noticed, you seem to know how to push her buttons, too.”

I looked over at her and saw the satisfied expression on her face.

Yeah. Maybe I do after all.

“I just need to figure out which button to push to get her to let me go to London with her,” I said.

She chuckled. “Good luck with that.”

“She doesn’t have the right to make that decision for me,” I said. “I should be able to make some demands, just like she can.”

She fell eerily silent.

“You really don’t want to go there, sport,” she finally said. “Neither of you do.”

“Why not?”

“Because one or both of you will say something you may regret for years to come,” she said. “And that doesn’t help either of you in the end. One of you needs to take the high road on this and give in to the other.”

She made a sobering point, one I pondered at length as we walked.

Who’ll blink first, Kat or me?

I felt as if I was the one always giving in to her demands. But then, was that merely the downside of courting an alpha female?

Furthermore, would she ever give in, or stubbornly pull us both over the emotional cliff just to make a point? Who’s more suicidal?

Then again, I’d been the one to risk oblivion by getting blasted with sunlight over a week ago.

I sighed with exasperation.

Tonight’s not my night for gambling, it seems.

“You sigh just like a steam engine pulling into a station,” Paige said. “Or maybe a teenage girl.”

I cast a dark sidelong look at her.

“Hey, it’s
your
sigh. I’m just sayin’,” she said.

I jammed my hands into my jeans pockets and glowered at the road ahead.

Teenage girl, indeed.

Maybe a break was exactly what both Kat and I needed to gain some perspective on our relationship.

Who knew? Maybe she’d grow to miss me.

And perhaps this ‘teenage girl’ needs to mature some more.

If so, then why did that last thought generate such a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach?

Crap. I’m so damned tired of feeling insecure.

The time had come for me to take charge of my life for a change; time to realize my independence.

Hell, after what I just went through, it’s my golden opportunity to have a new lease on life.

I pondered my options for a time.

“Maybe I’ll go back to college,” I said.

Paige reached out in a blur of movement to grasp my upper arm, halting our walk.

“
You’re
giving in?” she asked in a surprised tone.

I frowned. “Why not? You said one of us needed to take the high road.”

She slowly blinked. “Yeah, but I meant
her
.”

I shrugged. “Sur-prise,” I chimed.

I continued my walk down the road, leaving her standing in what appeared to be a state of shock.

I’m going to do it. It’s time for a change of scene, and maybe a chance to get my bearings in life.

It’s time for me to embrace my recently recovered human life.

She appeared beside me again amidst a swish of air. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Not really,” I said. “But then, that’s the wonder of it, isn’t it? I’m sure as hell going to find out one way or another.”

She regarded me with a quizzical expression.

“Besides, I just might need this more than I originally thought,” I said, looking up the road to study an approaching car.

After the vehicle passed us, I glanced over at her and noted she was frowning, appearing to be deep in thought.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“Not for sale right now,” she said.

I let it slide.

As we walked on in silence, I was happy that she’d shown up.

In fact, the earlier wave of anger that had welled inside of me had already begun to dissipate.

However, she remained silent for quite some time as we walked together.

Finally, I stopped to catch my breath. Even at only a brisk walking pace, my body had gotten winded.

It was probably going to take quite some time for my body to be back in its former shape.

“We’d better head back now,” she said softly.

The subdued sounds of the night enveloped us on the way back to the addition. I hadn’t realized how far we’d walked; our return seeming to take forever. But then, maybe that was due to the somber mood that we’d both fallen into.

Either way, I was pleased once we finally passed through the addition’s main gate. As we drew closer to home, Paige looked up sharply and stared into the trees bordering the neighborhood park, placing her hand on my arm to halt our progress.

She cocked her head slightly to one angle, as if listening to something in the distance.

“What is it?” I asked. “Did you hear something?”

“Singing,” she said.

Singing?

She looked up at me with a solemn expression. “Go through the park. I think there’s somebody waiting for you.”

“Who? Kat?” I asked.

“I’ll see you back at the house,” she said, before turning to walk down the street.

What’s gotten into her?

* * *

As I topped the small incline and stepped over the short, ornamental wooden-railed fence bordering the park, I caught sight of a lone figure sitting on a bench.

Kat’s long red hair was unmistakable in the glow from a nearby light pole.

Her last words to me before I went on my walk echoed in my mind.

I don’t want you there, Caleb.

“Here goes round two,” I muttered.

As I traversed the short distance to Kat, she maintained a blank stare ahead of her.

“This isn’t round two,” she said.

A wave of embarrassment washed over me.

“Sorry. Figure of speech,” I said, taking a seat beside her on the cool bench.

“Hm,” she said neutrally.

“Listen, there’s no need to rehash our squabble,” I said. “I get it…you don’t want me.”

She moved in a blur, slamming both hands against the back of the bench on either side of my body, her face mere inches from mine, her green eyes brightly aglow with emotion.

To say that startled me was an understatement of epic proportion. She’d definitely captured my complete attention.

“I knew it. I knew that’s what you were thinking when you stormed away. Let’s get something straight right now. I never meant I didn’t
want
you,” she said. “I said I didn’t want you
accompanying me to London
. There’s a difference.”

I heard what she said, but it had still made me feel as unwanted as when she’d said it the first time.

“Understood?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Good,” she said, maintaining her steely gaze into my eyes. “Don’t ever think I don’t want you. I
always
want you.”

I felt the intensity building between us as her eyes bore into mine. It was as if she was staring into my soul, laid bare before her. It nearly terrified me.

“Now that I’ve got you back from near-death, I want you even more,” she said. “With every fiber in my body.”

She abruptly looked away. “Whether that’s safe or not is another thing entirely. I won’t willingly place you in dangerous situations. Though considering your most recent injury, being anywhere near me would seem to qualify as a dangerous situation.”

“Stop,” I said. “Don’t say that. I don’t see it that way, so neither should you.”

She looked at me with a hard expression. Then her eyes softened a bit. She leaned against me, pressing her soft lips against mine to impart a long, deliberate kiss.

As I blinked, her lips separated from mine and she reverted to her initial position, calmly sitting beside me while staring out into the night.

Despite her subdued manner, my heart raced. She could be so unpredictable sometimes, particularly when angry or upset.

“I don’t mean to unnerve you,” she said, as if reading my thoughts. “But you evoke such strong emotions in me, from passion to frustration.”

Her revelation was definitely a two-way street.

After a moment, I extended my arm across the top of the bench, encircling her shoulders.

A peace offering.

She shifted her body to nestle closer to me and placed her hand on my thigh.

Seeming much less agitated, she turned to gaze into my eyes in alluring fashion. “I love you.”

Such a simple declaration, and yet, so meaningful.

“I love you, too,” I said.

Our lips met in a warm, lingering kiss.

So addictive; I could kiss on her forever and a day.

Then her lips were gone, and she reverted to staring ahead of her into the darkness beyond.

At least the mood between us had lightened considerably, and it was nice just to sit together with her in my embrace, two people appreciating each other’s company.

This is how it should be between us. These are the moments I cherish with her.

“I wish we could go somewhere together, free from life’s troubles,” I said. “And our disagreements.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Me, too.”

I listened to crickets chirping and the sounds of rustling leaves from the warm evening breeze.

“Paige said she heard singing,” I said. “Yours?”

She nodded.

Kat didn’t often sing in my presence, though I’d occasionally overheard her voice as she accompanied music playing over her computer speakers. In truth, for someone who claimed to be nothing more than nature’s worst predator, she had a mesmerizing voice.

“Will you sing it again for me?” I asked.

She paused, and after a moment of silence, began to sing in a lilting voice; the words sounded Gaelic and pretty, though somewhat sorrowful.

Her song pierced the quiet around us, softly adding to the night’s soundtrack.

After a few fleeting stanzas, she stopped.

“That was beautiful,” I said, grasping her hand in mine. “What was it?”

“It’s called “Eibhlín a Rún,” she replied. “It’s an Irish love song that’s even older than I am; something I learned as a little girl.”

She explained that it was about a young maiden named Eibhlín (Eileen or Ellen in English) Kavanagh who was betrothed to a man she didn’t love. Then, instead of going through with the marriage, she secretly eloped with the man who was the true love of her life so they could enjoy a life of happiness together.

“Please don’t tell me you’re betrothed to another,” I said.

“I’m betrothed to duty,” she said in a somewhat bitter sounding tone. “Though you’re the one I want to elope with.”

Duty.

I pondered that for a moment.

“Duty to Alton?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I thought so.

“So, how about we simply run away and live out the rest of our lives together happily ever after instead?” I asked.

“If only,” she said. “I’d prefer that, actually.”

Yeah. Me, too.

“You really do have a beautiful voice, Kat,” I said. “You should sing around me more often.”

A sad smile formed on her face. “You’re very kind, my love,” she said. “I used to sing to my children, and then occasionally around Samuel. I stopped singing after they died.”

“Why?”

She gave a wistful sigh. “Because the lights in my human life were extinguished, and then life as a vampire was filled with more darkness than light.”

I nodded, though I had virtually no experience to draw upon by comparison.