Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5)

by Jaz Primo

  “These gentlemen will escort you outdoors,” he said.

  Kat stood to Alton’s right, watching me.

  The taller of the two men reached out to shake my hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Taylor. I’m Wes Chamberlain, daytime security coordinator.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “If you would permit me, we’ll proceed toward that exit,” he said, gesturing toward the nearest metal door.

  As we exited the hangar, bright sunshine beamed down upon us. I raised my hand to shield my eyes as both the view and scent of the ocean assailed me.

  Then I realized that the airport appeared to be placed in the midst of the bay.

  “This is—,” I said. “Wow.”

  “Mr. Taylor,” prompted one of the guards. “It’s my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the British territory of Gibraltar.

  * * *

  Gibraltar was beautiful.

  Alton had outdone himself; something I let both he and Kat know the moment I returned inside the hangar.

  The temperatures were in the mid-sixties and the abundant sunshine was an added bonus compared to the pea-soup fog of London.

  “Enjoy the sunshine, my love. However, the windows to our suite aren’t UV-coated, so please mind the curtains during the day,” Kat reminded me.

  It was the least I could do.

  Our first day there was the day before Thanksgiving, and was one of the most relaxing that I had experienced in weeks. I toured part of the island with a local resident—a charming young lady named Clarissa—who had been hired by Alton. I was so happy that I didn’t even mind the security detail that accompanied us.

  Fortunately, Clarissa never even asked about them.

  That evening, Kat and I spent quality time enjoying Gibraltar’s diversions. It was definitely a popular tourist destination, teeming with a vibrant night life that frequented its restaurants, clubs, and numerous festive outdoor settings.

  The next day was Thanksgiving. As Kat and I were out very late the previous evening, I slept in the next morning. I also saved my appetite for what Alton promised would be a savory and traditional Thanksgiving menu.

  The evening was designated as a formal dinner. Kat and I attired in formal eveningwear; she in an elegant silk dress and me in a dinner tuxedo.

  Kat’s hair was pinned up into place high above her shoulders, revealing the pale skin of her neck.

  She looked ravishing.

  Our setting befitted something from a fairy tale with our dinner being served upon a banquet table on the roof of our luxury hotel.

  The evening felt remarkably warm thanks to strategically placed heaters. However, even receiving a chill would have been worth it; the view was breathtaking.

  As an added surprise, Alton arrived looking dapper in his tuxedo, but also accompanied by his human mate, Dorianne Rousseau or, rather, Dori as she preferred to be called. She looked stunning in her white satin evening dress, and her hair was done up in a manner that completed the look of some fabled princess.

  She and I embraced and she gave me a friendly kiss on the cheek.

  “Caleb, it’s wonderful to see you again,” she said. “It feels like forever, in fact.”

  “Dori, you look spectacular,” I said. “And it does feel like forever since Slovenia.”

  As a special agent with Interpol, her help had been absolutely instrumental in our survival at the vampire conference in Slovenia over the summer.

  “Well, shall we take our seats?” Alton asked, gesturing to the elegantly laid dining table placed in the center of the open roof.

  I noted the six empty chairs to our party of four and looked at Kat, who merely shrugged to my silent query.

  “Are we waiting for two others?” Dori asked.

  She was one of the most observant people I knew, especially for a human, but certainly even compared to most vampires I knew.

  “Ethan said that he might come,” Alton said. “Though I haven’t heard back from him in a day or so. And as for Paige…”

  A pang of disappointment washed through me. I wanted so very much for both of them to attend.

  Kat reached out to lightly touch my shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “The night is still young,” Dori spoke up. “But I think neither of them would want us to miss out on such a grand event.”

  She flashed me a supportive look; one that I could scarcely discount.

  “It certainly looks amazing,” I said.

  “Indeed,” Alton agreed. “As host, I’ll place everyone.”

  As if such a thing were even in question.

  Alton sat at the head of the table, with Dori seated at the opposite end in the hostess position, while Kat and I sat beside each other to Alton’s right.

  It was then that I noticed the discreet placement of a handful of vampire guards stationed around the roof, accentuating the fact that holiday dinners had changed significantly for me these days. Not even the continued tensions between opposing vampire factions took a day off.

  A series of waiters proceeded around us as Alton was presented with a bottle of vintage wine for his approval. Our first course consisted of savory baked bread and salad accented with fruits and nuts of the Mediterranean region.

  “This is really wonderful, Alton,” I said. “Thank you for arranging this for us.”

  “My pleasure, dear boy,” he said. “As fate may have it, our little trip paired quite nicely with a meeting that we had today with—”

  “Dear, I’ll have no shop talk at Thanksgiving dinner,” Dori admonished. “After all, this is Caleb’s and our family night.”

  “What? Oh, certainly, my dear,” Alton said.

  I grinned at her with appreciation, to which she inclined her head toward me.

  “I’m so happy that you could attend, Dori,” Kat said, raising her wine glass in homage. “You’re working veritable magic already this evening. Wouldn’t you agree, Alton?”

  Alton appeared momentarily flustered as he raised his glass in kind. “Um, quite so.”

  I adored Dori.

  The main course of our meal soon arrived, and I looked down at my platter-sized plate, arrayed with thick slices of roasted turkey, herb dressing, garlic mashed potatoes, grilled mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, and a portion of sweet potatoes in a glaze.

  More fresh bread was brought to the table as a server topped hot gravy upon my meat, stuffing, and mashed potatoes.

  I glanced aside to note that Kat’s plate had everything except the turkey, though I noted what appeared to be fresh fruit compote in place of it.

  “Oh, this is amazing,” I said, breathing in the fresh scent of my food.

  “I’m happy that it meets with your approval,” Alton said.

  “Truly, it’s perfect,” I said. “Thank you, Alton.”

  He smiled at me. “My pleasure. Happy Thanksgiving.”

  The food tasted so wonderful and flavorful that I completely lost awareness of the otherwise scenic view around me.

  “Caleb, what are you most thankful for?” Dori asked.

  “Food aside, of course,” Kat added.

  Everyone laughed as I gave her a bland look.

  “Each of you,” I said, glancing at the two empty chairs across from me and feeling a pang of sadness. “It’s definitely the people in my life that matter most.”

  “Well said, Caleb,” Dori said. “I feel much the same.”

  After I finished cleaning my plate of any remaining morsel of food, I leaned back in my chair.

  “Everything tasted wonderful,” I said. “And yet, I can’t wait to see what’s for dessert.”

  “Oh, I scarcely have room left for that,” Dori said, sitting back from her plate, which was still nearly a third full of food.

  “Do you hear that?” Alton asked.

  I looked at him. “Hear what?”

  A helicopter quickly rose above the top of the roof behind Alton, hovering in place.

  “What the he
—” I started to say.

  Everything seemed to erupt all at once.

  Black-clad figures leapt from an open door at the side of the helicopter onto the roof.

  Our guards immediately responded with gunfire. My world spun as Kat grabbed my arm and rolled me onto the decorative rug beneath us.

  I raised my head in time to hear gunfire erupting around me and see Kat moving in a blur toward the nearest attackers.

  Another helicopter appeared out of my peripheral vision. More black-clad attackers sprang onto the rooftop, some firing automatic weapons, while others bore swords.

  Dori threw her plate at an oncoming attacker and engaged him with a table knife, though the figure slammed her back onto the roof’s hard surface.

  I scrambled to my feet, grabbing at the upturned dining chair beside me. As Dori’s attacker pointed his assault rifle at her, I swung the chair into an arc, slamming it against him and knocking him aside. His rifle fired wildly as rounds impacted the dining table beside me.

  Dori was upon him like a feral cat, repeatedly stabbing him in the neck with her table knife.

  A metal door slammed open behind me, followed by fresh gunfire, which I desperately hoped was ours. I turned just in time to see Alton’s security detail engaging in the foray.

  Out of my peripheral vision, a figure rushed toward me, and I spun to confront a sword-wielding attacker.

  Luckily, my clumsiness kicked in at a timely moment and I tripped, falling backward onto the roof’s surface. As my assailant adjusted his attack, I swiftly kicked at his kneecap and he fell to one side while howling in pain.

  I reached out to wrestle the sword from his hands and we battled for control. Unfortunately, he was a vampire and I felt his strength quickly overtake my own.

  “Caleb!” Kat screamed from somewhere nearby.

  That’s when Dori appeared, firing a captured rifle directly at the vampire’s head, which exploded in blood and gore before me.

  She swiveled her body to fire at other attackers near us while I wrestled the sword from the dead vampire’s grip.

  Gunfire, shouting, and the sounds of battle surrounded me.

  “Caleb, behind you!” Dori shouted.

  I pivoted with sword at the ready, slamming the blade upward into the gut of an attacker who was swinging his blade downward at me. The attacker’s blade cut into the roof’s surface, very nearly slicing into my foot.

  Dori fired two rounds, each impacting the attacker’s head and neck.

  I tried to extract my sword from the vampire’s stomach as he toppled off to one side.

  Looking up, I glimpsed Kat engaged in a swordfight against two attackers simultaneously.

  Things were frantic, though it appeared that we had more forces on the roof than did our attackers.

  My orientation faltered as another helicopter rose from above the roof line to my right.

  “Guards! Concentrate fire on the chopper!” Dori shouted.

  A hail of gunfire impacted along the length of the helicopter as its door opened, hitting some of the attackers standing inside. The helicopter quickly veered away as two assailants fell from the open doorway and disappeared amidst screaming.

  Then I caught sight of Alton, a sword in each hand, engaged in combat with two attackers. His swords moved in a blur.

  An assailant slammed into Alton, knocking him backward.

  “No!” I yelled, running toward them.

  Alton’s attacker held onto Alton’s tuxedo jacket, pulling him beyond the roof’s edge.

  I threw myself against the concrete parapet, grabbing after Alton as he disappeared from view before me.

  I clumsily grasped his wrist, even as his weight pulled me further over the side with him.

  Chapter 25

  Caleb

  A moment of vertigo washed over me. I felt myself sliding over the roof’s edge, clinging to Alton’s wrist.

  One of my legs managed to catch onto the parapet. Pain instantly ripped through my shoulder from the yank of Alton’s body weight.

  I heard yelling and saw Alton’s attacker plummeting downward even as I felt Alton’s hand grasping my own.

  Alton looked into my eyes with a horrified wide-eyed look that I’d never seen on him before.

  “Hang on,” I said between clenched teeth.

  The problem was that I didn’t have the strength to pull him up.

  He seemed to grasp the situation rather quickly and his eyes turned steely.

  “Caleb, you have to let me go,” he said flatly.

  “N-no,” I stammered, straining to hold onto him. “I won’t.”

  “You must,” he urged. “You’ll die if you don’t.”

  My eyes clouded with tears as I realized that he was definitely right about that. I felt my leg slowly losing its grasp on the parapet above.

  They say that in times of danger, your life flashes before your eyes, but it wasn’t true for me. I only felt pain through increasingly blurry vision.

  “You’re family,” I rasped. “I can’t lose you.”

  “But Katrina can’t lose you,” he said. “Let go. It’s okay, Caleb. It’s my time.”

  No, it wasn’t okay. It couldn’t be his time!

  Not even close.

  Not ever.

  I loved Alton like the father I had always wanted.

  Suddenly, I understood the advice that Father Brookins had given to me. I instantly realized that I knew the person I wanted to be.

  Alton let go of me and my sweaty hand began losing its grip on his wrist.

  “No!” I yelled, frantically struggling to tighten my grip.

  Someone screamed from the roof above.

  That’s when my leg slipped over the edge of the roof and I felt my body drop.

  My descent stopped abruptly and I was hoisted upward.

  “Alton! Hold on!” Dori yelled from above.

  Alton’s gaze turned hopeful and his grip instantly tightened around my wrist.

  “Hang in there, dear boy,” he encouraged.

  “I have you!” Kat yelled; her voice nearly a howl.

  A high-pitched sound erupted in my ears as I nearly blacked out from the unbearable pain shooting through my shoulder, back, and neck.

  The next thing I knew, I was lying on the roof staring up into Kat’s horrified expression.

  She pulled me into a tight embrace and I sucked in air through my teeth.

  “Oh, Caleb, oh, Caleb, oh, Caleb,” she chanted. “Are you insane?!”

  “Couldn’t lose Alton,” I managed to say as I held onto her with my relatively uninjured arm.

  The sounds of chaos were all around us, including the growing wails of sirens from below.

  I heard Dori crying and glimpsed her and Alton holding each other as if for dear life.

  “I know, I know,” Alton said to her. “We’re okay now.”

  Kat pivoted me into her arms and I lay against her body. Alton’s gaze fell upon me and he stared at me in a penetrating fashion.

  He disengaged from Dori and moved toward me.

  He cradled my face between his hands. “Thank you, my dear boy,” he said. “I will never forget what you did…or what you said.”

  I nodded dumbly.

  “And, I promise you, you have a family for as long as you live,” he said.

  Then he rose and took Dori in his arms in a warm embrace.

  “I love you, Kat,” I said.

  “I love you, you lunatic of a man,” she replied, gripping me tightly in her arms. “But don’t ever do something like that again.”

  I didn’t have time to reply before one of Alton’s guards squatted down beside us.

  “General, we managed to capture one of the attackers,” he said.

  “Caleb, are you—” she asked.

  “Go,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You need medical attention,” she said.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll see to him,” Dori said, staring down at us.

  Kat gently dis
engaged from me and stood beside Alton.

  “Show us,” she said.

  They accompanied the guard to the other side of the roof.

  Dori squatted to help me stand while I favored my injured shoulder.

  We negotiated our way through dead bodies and other carnage and debris. A growing sense of numbness set in as we entered the stairwell leading from the roof.

  Numerous individuals dodged by us, heading upstairs, so we kept to one side of the stairwell.

  As we proceeded onto one of the mid-floor landings, someone ran squarely into me and hugged my body, sending renewed discomfort shooting through my shoulder.

  It was Paige!

  “We just got here and I heard—” she said. “Is Red—”

  “No, she’s okay,” I said. “We’re all okay. Well, I mean, except for some of Alton’s vamp—”

  “All right, kiddo,” she said. “Hush.”

  “Paige, listen, I’m so sorry—”

  “Yeah-yeah, shut up now,” she said, hugging me tightly. “You’re ruining my moment.”

  I wrapped my good arm around her and looked over her shoulder at Ethan, staring at me with a concerned expression.

  “Well, at least you’re alive,” he said. “I’ll examine you soon. For now, I’d better go up and see if anyone else needs aid.”

  “Hello?! Having a moment here!” Paige exclaimed.

  Ethan sped past us, headed upstairs.

  Dori let out a nervous sigh and chuckled.

  My shoulder was throbbing with pain, but pain be damned, I was so freaking happy to hold Paige in my arms.

  Chapter 26

  Caleb

  My life felt like an endless roller coaster, complete with loops and inversions. And I was damned lucky that I hadn’t fallen out of the cart yet, though that was certainly due to the people in my life who served as my buzz bars.

  “…extremely lucky that he didn’t break anything, much less require surgery,” Ethan said.

  “He’s damned lucky he’s still alive,” Kat added.

  Over the past twenty-four hours, she had spent equal parts holding me close to tell me she loved me and alternatively chastising me for my heroic stunt on the roof of the hotel to save Alton’s life.