Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4)

by Primo, Jaz

  “S-shit,” I mumbled.

  The sharp pain in my head worsened, as if that were possible, and my vision blurred.

  “My head,” I said before darkness overcame me.

  As my awareness drifted away, I heard Paige’s frantic, distant-sounding voice.

  “Ethan, we need you! It’s Caleb; he’s badly hurt!”

  Chapter 11

  Katrina

  My mate, the love of my life, looked like a frail figure as he lay on the gurney before me.

  The ambulance ride with Caleb was the longest of my life, despite the fact that we probably couldn’t have arrived there any faster.

  The entire event had been a horrible, shocking nightmare.

  Normally, I felt in control of any situation, but now, I felt completely numb inside.

  As I languished in the emergency room hallway just outside the examining room where Ethan and others worked to stabilize Caleb’s condition, my emotions were dark and morbid as my mind raced with a jumble of thoughts.

  Why hadn’t I seen Caleb in the hallway? Had I been so blinded by my anger with Paige? Will he be okay? Why is it taking so long to stabilize him? Is he brain dead?

  The implications of that last question filled me with horror and despair that cut me to the core of my being.

  I leaned my head back against the cold wall next to me.

  “Ma’am, you can’t be here,” a nurse said, grasping my arm.

  The look that I directed at her caused her eyes to widen in near shock.

  I recognized her expression; my eyes must have flashed.

  “Oh my,” she muttered, her eyes locked onto mine. She quickly crossed herself, and I half expected her to thrust a cross before my face.

  “Leave me be,” I ordered in a voice so deathly quiet that I almost didn’t recognize it, forcing my thoughts at her like a lightning strike.

  The nurse appeared near-mesmerized and turned to wander down the hallway toward the reception desk.

  “Red,” Paige quietly cautioned, suddenly appearing beside me. “We’re receiving unwanted attention.”

  With a fleeting look at the closed door leading to where Caleb was, I permitted Paige to lead me to a relatively unoccupied corner of the expansive nearby waiting room.

  Another nurse approached me with a clipboard of paperwork, and I somehow managed to think clearly enough to complete the ridiculous insurance and information forms.

  “You’re his sister, got it?” I asked Paige, ensuring that Caleb would have family listed and present.

  “Of course,” she whispered, gently placing a supportive hand on my shoulder.

  I listed myself as his fiancé, hoping it would grant me a modicum of access to him.

  We sat beside each other for what felt like endless, painful hours; Paige never left my side.

  It’s my fault that he’s here.

  I still didn’t know which one of us had harmed him during our melee.

  Maybe it didn’t really matter in the end. It was my fault, no matter the answer.

  I had failed to protect him.

  It was unforgiveable.

  Numbness threatened to overwhelm me, and I hazily realized that I must’ve been slipping into a state of shock.

  A small commotion of voices from the direction of the examining rooms brought me back to the present.

  Paige’s attention perked up.

  “Red,” she urged, grasping my arm in her small hand and half-pulling me to stand.

  I had to deliberately move at human speed to avoid making a scene, revealing my preternatural speed.

  It was painstakingly slow to say the least.

  We no sooner made it near the doors leading into the emergency ward when Ethan appeared in his lab coat. I saw small drops of blood permeating the fabric in places.

  I breathed in and immediately recognized the scent.

  Caleb’s blood.

  His attention focused upon me with a calm expression that I somehow found infuriating under the circumstances. “Follow me,” he said quietly.

  We accompanied him to a small office where an orderly was eating a sandwich.

  “Clear the room please,” Ethan ordered in a commanding tone.

  The orderly practically leapt up from his chair to exit the room, and Ethan shut the door behind him. I absently noted his authoritarian presence, so businesslike and self-assured.

  Caleb was in capable hands.

  “We managed to stabilize Caleb’s condition somewhat, and we’ve rushed him upstairs for a CT scan,” he said. “I can’t tell for certain until I see the results, but every indication suggests that his condition is extremely critical. The X-ray image wasn’t very detailed, but there’s an indication he may be hemorrhaging blood on the brain.”

  Oh, shit.

  I closed my eyes, vainly trying to wake from the nightmare that was taking place.

  Paige quickly darted from the room and I heard her voice in the hallway. “Alton? It’s Paige.”

  * * *

  The sun had already risen by the time that Caleb had been moved to a private room on the fifth floor.

  That was followed by more interminable waiting.

  Each minute felt like a clock ticking down to oblivion.

  Time was suddenly my nemesis, gloating over me. By late afternoon, I was ready to scream as I sat at his bedside, holding his hand and staring down at his calm-looking features.

  He was unconscious and hooked to a number of IVs, as well as oxygen.

  I felt so damned powerless.

  At least my dear friend, practically a sister, Paige, was here with me.

  My dear friend, who I’d been trying to beat the shit out of only a few hours ago.

  Some friend I was.

  But what could I say? It was something that’s happened between us from time to time over the decades. On occasion, I was angry with her; other times she was pissed off at me.

  At least it was a shared experience.

  We were like two competitive, slightly dysfunctional sisters. Inevitably, one got annoyed with the other enough that it occasionally came to blows.

  Afterward, we made up eventually and everything would be okay again; at least, until the next eruption.

  Our spats rarely got out of hand or went to extremes. And despite our occasional grievances, I loved Paige dearly.

  Only this time, the person that means more to me than life itself got caught in the crossfire between us.

  I took a deep, steadying breath as waves of anguish threatened to overwhelm me.

  No, I’m a terrible friend and sister. And now, in the end, I’m not even a very good mate.

  “I’m not good enough for you, my dear Caleb,” I whispered. “I’m too dangerous for you.”

  Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I let them fall where they may.

  The door to the room abruptly opened and, in the blink of an eye, Paige was standing at my side, holding me and cradling my head against her stomach.

  “Shh, it’s going to be okay,” she said.

  “You don’t know that,” I said.

  She said nothing as she continued to embrace me.

  Minutes later, the door to the room opened.

  “Ethan,” Paige said.

  I sniffled and pulled away from Paige. I gratefully accepted the tissues that she pressed into my hand and dabbed at my eyes.

  Once I focused on Ethan, his eyes were tight around the edges. He held a blue patient folder in one hand, which appeared half-stuffed with paperwork and charts.

  “Let’s have a chat in my office, shall we?” he asked.

  I frowned at him curiously. “Here’s fine.”

  He gestured toward Caleb and pointed to his ear with one finger.

  I hadn’t even considered that he might be able to hear us at some level.

  Ethan remained silent and somber-looking as Paige and I accompanied him to the third floor to his office.

  This can’t be good…

  The tension level rose to such
a furious height inside me that I wanted to scream.

  Ethan’s office was a small, spartanly furnished affair with a single, shuttered window.

  He closed the door behind us and gently tapped the edge of the folder against his open palm. My eyes were drawn to it as a feeling of foreboding washed over me.

  “We need to bear in mind that he already had a rather serious concussion,” he said.

  “Let’s not rehash that,” I said. “Just tell me where we are.”

  “The CT scan results are in,” he said. “As I feared, he has a subdural hematoma, also referred to as a subdural hemorrhage.”

  My heart sank.

  “Essentially, he has a pocket of blood gathered on the surface of his brain. In this case, it’s in the area around the base of the skull near the brain stem,” Ethan said.

  “Well, is he going to be okay? Will it heal?” Paige asked in a tight voice.

  I looked into Ethan’s eyes, seeking anything hopeful or positive.

  “We suspect that the bleeding is filling the area around his brain very rapidly, compressing vital tissue as is progresses,” he replied. “Unless we operate immediately, Caleb’s probably going to die. Even then, there’s no guarantee that he’ll survive the surgery.”

  “We can inject him with some of my blood,” I said. “It will heal him.”

  “I considered that, as well. However, I’m afraid that’s not good enough,” Ethan said. “The blood needs to be carefully applied directly into the brain, near the damaged area. But too much would start the transformation process, which his body wouldn’t survive in its current state. Too little, and well, he dies anyway. There’s simply no precedent for this; at least, not that I know of. I don’t even have any idea of how much blood to safely use for something like this.”

  “No,” I whispered as my legs gave way and I crumpled to the floor.

  Every bit of strength and courage that I embodied, every ounce of alpha female that had enabled me to confront nearly ever challenge or threat over the centuries, was suddenly spent and useless.

  I’d finally confronted an insurmountable challenge.

  “Red!” Paige said as she and Ethan bent down after me.

  I curled up into a fetal position on the floor, crying uncontrollably; my body wracked with sobs and anguish. The pain was unbearable and I simply wanted to die.

  “Shh, stop that,” Paige soothed, holding onto me and brushing her fingers through my hair. “Caleb needs you now.”

  The door to Ethan’s office opened abruptly, and I glanced up to see Alton striding confidently into the room, dressed in one of his fitted charcoal gray suits.

  Tears streamed down my face. “This is all my fault. I just want to die.”

  “Katrina,” Alton said, immediately squatting down to sweep me into his arms.

  “How in the hell did you get here so quickly?” Paige demanded.

  “You’d be surprised what I can accomplish when I need to,” he said.

  “As in defying all laws of time and space?” she asked incredulously.

  “I was already in the States. Never mind that now. Dammit, somebody give me a status report,” Alton ordered in his crisp, English accent.

  * * *

  Alton had reached down and pulled me into his lap like I was some overgrown child, just as he’d done only a couple of times in my past. He sat and patiently listened to everything Ethan had already revealed to Paige and me.

  There had been a couple of occasions that felt like an eternity ago, when I’d been rather vulnerable in my post-human existence; Alton had been the rock that I’d needed.

  My mind felt numb as I felt his arms enfold me protectively. My eyes caught Paige’s as she stared back at me with a shocked expression.

  I wanted to escape to someplace quiet and safe.

  Moreover, I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. I wrapped my arms around Alton’s neck and pressed my head against his chest for the first time in centuries.

  Given the hopeless circumstances, he was the only potential solace, the only remaining safe harbor, available to me.

  Escape. Think about anything else.

  Alton.

  He was my dear friend, my former mentor, and had been the only vampire who sheltered and nurtured me when I thought all had been lost in my world. Suddenly, I felt like that same helpless, nearly broken woman he’d taken pity on over five centuries ago.

  I owe everything that I’ve become to him. He’s the reason I learned not only to adapt and survive, but to flourish. He trained me to be an alpha.

  And then the renewed sense of anguish that surged back through me was once again too much to bear. There was little respite from it, even in Alton’s protective embrace.

  I felt irreparably broken.

  “Katrina!” Ethan said, drawing me back to the present.

  My eyes immediately found his.

  “The recommendation and medical consensus is to proceed with the operation,” Ethan said. “We have to relieve the pressure of blood around the brain.”

  What do I do?

  “I concur,” Alton said quietly.

  “As do I,” Ethan agreed. “But it’s not my place to say. This has to be Katrina’s decision.”

  I felt everyone’s attention on me, and I glanced up at the other faces in the room.

  Think, dammit. Think.

  “I agree. We have to operate,” I said weakly. “It’s the only chance he has.”

  Despite sound logic, I felt as if I’d just bestowed a death sentence upon my mate and lover.

  “You’ll need to apply some vampire blood near the damaged brain stem area, as well,” Alton said.

  My head jerked up to stare him in the eyes. “You heard what Ethan said about that. It’s too dangerous. We don’t even know how much to use.”

  The corners of Alton’s mouth edged upward slightly. “Indeed, you likely do not. However, I do,” he said confidently. “I’ve learned a thing or two in eight hundred years.”

  I was too shocked to speak as I stared at him.

  “I can do this, Katrina. You have to trust me,” he insisted.

  “I do,” I mumbled, somewhat dumbstruck. “I trust you.”

  While I’d have gratefully embraced any far-fetched effort in order to save Caleb’s life, a single spark of hope flared merely from Alton’s confident tone.

  It seemed as if there was nothing the nearly millennium-old vampire couldn’t do.

  At least, I hope so.

  In fact, it was his long-distance advice to Paige over the phone last year that had enabled her to save Caleb from a near-mortal wound at the hands of a renegade vampire.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  He said nothing but merely pressed his lips to my forehead in a soft kiss. With that kiss came a sliver of a chance that the heavy curtain of doom clouding my mind might lift.

  With luck.

  “Right then, my dear. Let’s get ready to save that young scalawag of a mate of yours,” he said good-naturedly into my ear, his warm breath tickling my skin.

  I looked over to see Paige’s tear-filled eyes staring back at me as Ethan held her in his arms.

  “Now, off my lap, young lady,” Alton gently said. “I have hasty phone calls to make, a hospital administrator to bribe, and a surgery to prep for. Doctor, if you would be so kind to arrange immediate introductions for me.”

  He half-lifted me from his lap as I struggled to stand, wiping more tears from my eyes. He spared only an additional moment to take hold of my chin between his strong fingertips.

  “No more of those tears, dear lady. Caleb’s going to need that alpha lover of his back again very soon,” he said in an almost paternal manner.

  “How can you be so certain of that after what I did to him?” I asked.

  He smiled in a completely disarming fashion.

  “Never worry. He’ll forgive you, Katrina. I understand that young man far better than you think,” he said with an uncharacteristic wink.

>   I half-choked, half-chuckled back at him with a nod.

  How could he be so damned chevalier?

  Then, like a monarch venturing out into his kingdom, he departed the room with Ethan trailing behind him.

  He’s practically vampire royalty, of sorts, I suppose.

  “That dude is so in control of things,” Paige said.

  “He’s a force of nature,” I said.

  “No, you’re a force of nature,” she countered. “He’s more like gravity on a planetary scale.”

  I frowned at her. “Where did you get that from?”

  “The Science Channel,” she said with a shrug. “One of Ethan’s fixations. You can’t help but pick some of that stuff up, I suppose.”

  I shook my head at her as she regarded me with amusement.

  A fleeting split-second of quasi-normality felt almost reassuring, given the past day or so.

  In fact, I craved it, drinking it up like cool water in a hot desert.

  Then it was gone, passed by like a shooting star.

  Paige was so dear to me, and yet, I’d been driven into such a rage that I had half-wanted to kill her the previous night.

  “I’m sorry for last night,” I said.

  “Are you kidding?” she asked. “We’ve been about two decades overdue for our next big fight.”

  However, she regarded me sadly and then hugged me in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry, too,” she said. “I should probably learn to keep my opinions about relationships to myself; particularly yours and Caleb’s.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, well, I need to try to be less bitchy and controlling, I suppose.”

  “Nah, our boy seems to like that sort of thing,” she said. “Well, maybe not the bitchy part.”

  I separated from our embrace to stare down at her.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Oops, there I go again,” she said, quirking her lips together.

  * * *

  Daytime went and evening again as I sat at Caleb’s bedside, holding his hand in mine and whispering words of encouragement to him.

  “I can’t lose you, my love,” I whispered in his ear, feeling every syllable resonate in my heart.

  I hope he can hear me.