Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4) (35 page)

“
Macbeth
? Don’t you even start, young lady, or I’ll take you across my knee right here and now,” he warned.

“Well, I never,” she said.

“Sure you have,” Kat said dryly. “And recently, I’d wager.”

Paige crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue at her. “Ethan hasn’t visited me in some time, I’ll have you know.”

“TMI,” I said.

Then I frowned. “Wait,
you
watch
Downton Abbey
?”

Paige shrugged. “There was a marathon on cable recently and I was bored. It was a lark.”

Alton cleared his throat. “Now, about Caleb’s stay during the next few days,” he said. “Katrina, you’re to take a respite while he’s here with us. You’re officially on holiday.”

“There are a couple of loose ends to tend to that we discussed this morning, though they shouldn’t take long,” she said.

I wondered what those might be, though I doubted that she’d actually tell me.

“Hm. Quite right. Well, after those, then,” he said. “Shall I drop Caleb off at the hotel?”

“Oh, no,” I immediately spoke up. “It’s a nice night for a walk, and surely we can catch the Tube.”

“Katrina?” Alton asked.

She considered me at length. “All right, I suppose we can do that,” she said. “Paige can accompany us, as well.”

“I can?” Paige asked, catching Kat’s stare. “Oh, yeah, on call. Sure I can.”

“I’d better get back,” Alton said.

As I said goodbye to him, I noticed Kat discreetly passing two sheathed combat knives to Paige, who slipped them into the back of her jeans, neatly concealed by her leather jacket.

“Merely precautions, Caleb,” Alton said in a low voice. “Since the Slovene conference, things have become quite interesting here in London, to say the least. I want you to be careful and observe any limitations that we prescribe for you during your stay. Understood?”

I nodded with a frown, wondering what sort of ‘interesting’ things had been happening in London.

“Excellent,” he said, patting me lightly on the shoulder. “Nothing to worry about, I assure you.”

Maybe I can somehow convince Kat to fill me in about it later.

As I held Kat’s coat for her and slipped into my leather jacket, I also noted that four other vampires were readying themselves to leave.

As the seven of us walked out into the night, it occurred to me that this wasn’t going to be just some intimate stroll back to the hotel.

Two of the vampire escorts walked across the street and mirrored our progress, scanning the area as they walked. The other two escorts followed a few steps behind us.

“So, you have an entourage now,” I said, holding Kat’s hand.

“Very funny,” she said. “They’re quiet, when needed. One of the vampires behind us, Thom Rowley, assists me with field communiques.”

I looked behind me at our escorts and one of the men nodded and reached up to tip an imaginary hat in gentlemanly fashion.

I nodded back at him.

We walked for a block, and I noticed there was very little traffic and only an occasional pedestrian in the area for mid-evening. The businesses and shops all seemed to have closed for the day, leaving only the street lamps for illumination.

The sound of a cell phone ringing almost startled me, and I glanced behind me.

“Are you sure? Now?” Rowley asked.

He quickly stepped forward and handed the phone to Katrina. “Mum, it’s the office,” he said.

She reduced our pace a bit while listening to the person on the other end.

“Yes. However, this is well ahead of our original schedule,” she said flatly. “Fine. We’re relatively close so we’ll escort her.”

She handed the phone back to Rowley.

“What is it?” I asked.

She frowned and appeared contemplative. “Someone’s requesting asylum from Baldar Dubravko’s former organization. Vampires jump ship from time to time, but lately it’s been a near exodus.”

The vampire who I’d killed with his own briefcase bomb back during the Slovene conference hadn’t seemed like someone I’d enjoy working for either.

“You trust them when they do that?” I asked.

“Trust is earned,” she said. “But we provide them with an opportunity if we detect sincerity.”

“What if they don’t seem sincere?” I asked.

She didn’t answer my question.

“We’d agreed upon a specific date for her safe transfer, but our central office said she’s afraid she’s under surveillance and wants it to be tonight. Now, in fact,” Kat said while motioning to the vampires across the street.

She drew everyone into the nearest alleyway.

“Inia Sabine’s transfer to us is happening right now,” she said. “We’ll provide safe escort. Threats are unknown, though she claims she’s being followed. We’re closest, so we’ll convey her back to the Red Griffin.”

“What about your mate?” one of the vampires asked.

“I don’t like it, but there’s no time,” she said with a hard look at me. “He’ll accompany us. Paige and Lamport are charged with his protection. Let’s move.”

I was in near-awe as she quickly assessed the situation and confidently issued orders to everyone.

She really did seem like a general.

She spared me a reassuring look, but I sensed that it bothered her to have me along at all.

I’m not helpless, and I’m surrounded by vampires.

“Paige is in charge,” she emphatically stated to me. “And remain as silent as possible, please.”

I nodded and she lightly ran her fingertips across my cheek.

Once again, two vampires from our group headed to the opposite side of the street while Rowley stepped up beside Kat. Paige and the remaining vampire fell in alongside me.

We walked at a brisk pace on a circuitous route through the city. I was certainly seeing the ‘city behind the city’ as we made our way; the side of London that few, if any, tourists or visitors saw.

The streets seemed darker and the alleys more ominous than where we had just come from. A number of the passersby and bystanders loitering around the vicinity weren’t particularly savory-looking, in my opinion.

Steam rolled out of an alley that we passed and I thought I saw a dim set of yellow eyes peering at me from out of the fog.

I tried to bring it to Paige’s attention, but she raised her finger to her lips and ushered me forward by pressing her hand to the small of my back.

In the distance, I saw a petit-looking brunette wearing a trench coat standing along a brick wall just up ahead at the next intersection.

Kat motioned with her hand at us, and Paige grasped my upper arm to halt our progress. The two vampires across the street slowed but continued walking to their end of the street.

Meanwhile, Kat and Rowley briskly walked toward the woman.

As I stared at her, a set of hands reached out from inside the building she stood next to and pulled her inside.

“Help!” she yelled.

Kat and Rowley moved like lightning to aid the woman, and I quickly lost the ability to visually track their progress.

Rapid gunfire sounded to my right, and I saw two vampires emerge from the alleyway across the street with guns blazing. Paige yanked me into the alley beside us and tossed me behind a nearby dumpster.

“Stay!” she ordered.

Before I could say a word, combat knives appeared in her hands and she charged from the alley amidst a gust of air.

Lamport produced a pistol and held a long-bladed combat knife in his other hand. He stood in a combat stance, constantly scanning the entrance.

As an afterthought, I reached into my jacket pocket to grip the metal casing of one of the prototypes that Gregory Hess had sent to me.

I extracted it and held it at the ready beside me.

While I hoped it might prove useful, I was likewise afraid to find out firsthand.

From somewhere deeper into the dark alley, I heard the sound of hard-soled shoes slapping against pavement, as if people had dropped in from above.

Lamport swiveled just in time to fire two rounds before a blade slammed into his shoulder. His pistol clanked harmlessly to the concrete.

He and another vampire were quickly engaged in hand-to-hand fighting, slamming against the nearby brick wall with a dull thud.

I reached over to grab the fallen pistol, but a foot swiftly kicked it farther down the alley.

Looking up, I stared into the face of a pale-complexioned and angry-looking vampire.

“Trophies abound tonight!” he said.

Chapter 28

Caleb

The vampire snarled as a knife blade glinted above me, and I instinctively clicked on my device.

Amidst a blinding white light, a vampire’s angry-looking features quickly turned to horror as his skin sizzled before me.

He screamed in pain and his hands flew to his face as he staggered backward from me.

I wanted to do something more offensive in nature, but I was weaponless—essentially helpless.

The vampire recovered slightly, and I brandished the light before me. He shielded his face with one arm while lunging forward and lashing out at me with his knife.

Something whizzed in front of me and the vampire screamed as a throwing star imbedded in his wrist.

I heard rapid boot steps and a loud flapping noise above me, and I managed to glance up just in time to see a figure in a black leather trench coat sailing over me.

The figure practically ran up against the brick wall next to me as a lengthy glinting blade flashed in the darkness, beheading the vampire before me. That’s about the time I noticed a long, red ponytail draped down the figure’s back.

Kat!

She kicked the other attacking vampire away from Lamport, who sagged against the wall with a gasp.

Another flash of her blade attracted my attention before it was thrust into the opposing vampire’s chest.

In one fluid motion, she withdrew her blade while swift-kicking his body to the pavement.

She spun with her back to me, both of her boots clicked against the concrete, and she peered back at me in with a surprised expression, her emerald eyes practically blazing brightly.

For a moment, I was half-stunned, and I marveled at what I’d just seen.

Time seemed suspended as we stared back at each other, though most of her face was shielded by her coat.

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to click my device back off.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a rough voice.

I nodded, still too astonished to speak.

She wiped her blade against the prone body before her, sheathed her blade inside her boot, and moved over to where Lamport was slumped against the wall.

“I’m sorry, General,” he rasped.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you critical?”

He shook his head slightly. “Nah. Healing now.”

She patted him on his good shoulder as Paige appeared in the entrance to the alley.

“We’re good out there now,” Paige said. “Inia’s secure.”

Then her expression darkened. “Hey, what the hell happened here?”

“Later,” Kat growled from deep in her throat, and turned her attention back to me.

Oh, please don’t get into another fight with Paige.

She walked over to grasp me by the shoulders, relief evident on her face.

My mind still reeled from what had she’d just done. I knew she was an experienced fighter, but that was like something out of
The Matrix
.

“You’re way-over-the-top amazing,” I whispered.

She took a deep breath and let it out as a relieved expression washed over her. Then, her eyes focused upon the metal tube I still held in my hand.

“What is that?” she asked, holding her open palm before me.

I handed the device to her and she carefully examined it.

“Watch out, it—”

She motioned for silence and flicked the light on against the opposite wall.

Gasping, she quickly extinguished it. “Where did you get this?”

I shrugged. “It’s sort of serendipity, really…”

* * *

No more than ten minutes following the ambush, a panel van flanked by two black SUVs pulled up nearby.

As dead vampire bodies were moved into the panel van, the remainder of us were quickly ushered into the SUVs. I accompanied Kat and the vampire named Inia in one of the vehicles.

We were quickly transported back to the Red Griffin.

After Kat spoke briefly with Gavyn and remanded Inia to his custody, one of the SUVs transported her, Paige, and me to the Summit Towers Hotel where we had stayed during our spring vacation to London.

The hotel was a fifteen-story luxury hotel adjacent to the high-rise office building that hosted Alton’s central business offices and his penthouse.

By the time we arrived around eleven-thirty that night, the lobby was relatively devoid of guests or other social activity.

Kat and Paige appeared tight-lipped and seemed rather distant as we entered the lobby. Somehow, I had the impression that emotions were still running high from the events in the alley.

Given the tension that practically permeated the space between each of us, I found it difficult to appreciate our arrival.