Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3)

by Primo, Jaz

  Satisfied that he was properly chastised, her mood lightened while she continued, “And I’m sure the days will pass quickly for you. Between visiting with the other human companions and enjoying the daylight sightseeing, the sun will set before you know it. Besides, you won’t be straying too far from the conference facility without me.”

  “Really? Afraid I’ll get lost or something?” he teased.

  “You do have a remarkable track record for trouble when you’re out exploring,” she wryly observed. “However, Alton mentioned that human guests are being asked to remain on the property unless escorted by vampires or conference site staff. However, the property is over a hundred acres in size. They have a golf course, tennis courts, riding stables, a small lake for fishing, arboretum, and a host of other diversions.”

  “Oh,” he absently replied as he envisioned a stretch of tall metal fence topped with barbed wire and interspersed with occasional guard towers like some immense prison.

  “I’m sure it’s merely a request,” she reassured him. “Hungry?”

  His eyes widened with interest. “I could eat.”

  She rolled her eyes and pressed the staff button on her seat. In a remarkably short time, a cheeseburger, fries, and cola arrived, as well as a slice of chocolate cream pie. She marveled at her mate’s seemingly bottomless appetite.

  Have to work off some of those calories for him when we get to Slovenia, she thought with a slight leer while watching him eat.

  It was a lengthy flight, and Caleb took the opportunity to shower and get some sleep on the small bed in their cabin. Their journey involved scheduled stops in New York City, Paris, and Zurich to take on additional passengers before finally landing in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Fortunately for the vampires, the plane touched down at Ljubljana Airport precisely as the afternoon waned towards sunset.

  An indoor corridor leading from the hangar to a covered parking garage simplified the process of disembarking and transferring to the vehicles waiting to transport them to the conference hotel, located just north of Jereka. An upper roadway for embarking and arrivals was supported by a series of thick concrete pillars, which sheltered the entire disembarking and departure area. A vanguard of SUVs and passenger vans was parked next to the curb.

  While surveying his surroundings, Caleb took note of the dark sunscreen-coated windows on each vehicle. He counted at least a dozen vampires among the group of twenty travelers that gathered around him. In addition, there were at least six vampires among the group of individuals helping to organize everyone. A tall, dark-haired vampire wearing a tailored gray suit approached Katrina from one of the SUVs.

  “Ms. Rawlings?” he inquired in a deep, formal voice.

  Katrina cautiously scrutinized the fellow before her. “Are you one of Mr. Rutherford’s men?”

  The vampire inclined his head in a respectful manner. “Bibbens, ma’am. Mr. Rutherford insisted that you receive a private escort to the hotel,” he explained while gesturing politely to the nearby black SUV. Another suit-clad figure sat patiently in the driver’s seat.

  Though recalling Alton’s mention of arranging for a private shuttle ride from the airport, Katrina paused. Quickly withdrawing her cell phone, she sent a text message to Alton, simply stating, “Bibbens?“

  Seconds later the reply arrived, “Yes, plus driver.”

  She ignored Caleb’s curious expression. “That’s fine, Bibbens. Lead on.”

  As he opened the rearmost door for entry, the vampire informed them, “We’ll leave immediately. The others will follow soon after.”

  Katrina nodded to him as he shut their door and proceeded into the front passenger seat.

  Caleb noticed that the front cab area was separated from the back by a smoked pane of glass that had a small sliding window built into it, much like he had seen in a limousine. He then spied what appeared to be a small cooler built into the console before them. Opening the lid, he spied bottled water, cans of cola, and two packets of blood.

  “Alton knows how to soup up a vehicle,” he commented absently while removing a can of cola. He recalled a similar amenity’s being added to one of Alton’s limousines in England.

  Katrina reached up to caress the back of his neck with her fingertips, eliciting a small shiver.

  It was well past sunset when the SUV approached the region around Jereka. While the distance was merely eighty kilometers, it took longer than expected to traverse the roads due to their often meandering and circuitous route. Unfortunately for Caleb, he was unable to appreciate the scenery due to the nighttime conditions. However, Katrina’s vampire vision was uninhibited by such limitations, and she acutely studied her surroundings while seated beside him in the back seat. He dejectedly leaned back into the plush leather seat.

  She noted his reaction with sympathy. “I’m sorry, my love. I know you’d like to look around. There’ll be so much more for you to see once we get there.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure you’re right,” he replied, and then proceeded to close his eyes for a short nap.

  Wish I had vampire vision, he lamented. Being a human sure sucks sometimes.

  He hated to admit it, but he was often jealous of his vampire mate and her peers. While trying to drift off to sleep, he began weighing all of the pros and cons in his mind. Granted, they had to avoid daylight, which he had noticed particularly annoyed them during long summer days. But there were so many more advantages to being a vampire. Physically, they were extremely durable, immune to diseases, faster, and stronger. They had amazing vision in both light and dark conditions, keen senses of touch and hearing, and a seemingly endless amount of energy.

  Hell, he darkly considered, they only sleep for a few hours every other day while I’m spending one third of every day slumbering.

  Katrina eyed her mate and noted the tension in his body language. His arms were folded in front of him, and he maintained a tight-lipped expression. She quietly released her seatbelt and slid to the center of the seat to sit next to him, supportively draping her arm across his shoulders.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” she whispered into his ear before lightly kissing him on the cheek.

  He kept his eyes shut and sourly replied, “Being human is such a drag.”

  She silently congratulated herself on gauging his mood and purred in his ear, “Well, I love you as a human. I simply adore you, in fact.”

  He tried to restrain the beginning of a smirk. “I’m practically blind compared to you.”

  “You have beautiful eyes,” she cooed.

  “I’m a weakling,” he added. “You practically have to avoid knocking me over half the time as you speed around the house.”

  She was beguiled over his dour wit, grateful that his eyes were still closed. “You’re resilient for a human. Your body is tantalizingly fit and attractive to me.”

  He paused to appreciate her compliment, but then continued, “We lose quality time together because I have to waste so much time eating and sleeping.”

  Somewhat true, she silently conceded. But I don’t mind that much, really. I enjoy sharing the time with him, no matter the circumstance.

  “I enjoy watching you sleep. You’re so innocent and peaceful-looking. I love listening to the sound of your heartbeat and the blood rushing through your veins. And I’m starting to enjoy cooking for you, especially now that I’m getting better at it. To tell the truth, the smell of cooked foods actually bothers me less as time passes,” she said.

  Disagreeably grunting as his eyes remained closed, his mind raced with additional ammunition to substantiate his dark mood.

  Admittedly, she’s come a long way in the cooking and food-tolerance areas, he grudgingly admitted. He began to feel a little self-conscious over his continued brooding.

  He appreciated the sincere tone in her responses and whispered, “I just wish we were more equal, that’s all. And it’s easy to feel like my life is so out of control sometimes, whereas you have everything in such an orderly state.”
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  She snickered and whispered in his ear, “Ah, but you already know how I like to be in control, my love.”

  “Ha, so true,” he agreed.

  He contemplated ammunition to raise additional arguments, but in the end, he merely sighed with resignation.

  Katrina hugged him to her, having sensed his silent surrender. She used her spare hand to turn his face towards hers and planted a passionate kiss on his lips.

  “I may have control, but you’re the one who commands my heart,” she insisted. “Human or not, I love you. Little else matters to me than our life together.”

  He slowly opened his lids and gazed into her beautiful emerald eyes. He loved her so very much and was humbled by the impact that he had on her.

  “I love you too,” he murmured and deeply kissed her.

  After a moment, their lips parted, and she pulled away from him slightly. She leaned his head against her shoulder while lightly running her fingers through his short hair then returned to appreciate the passing scenery around them. A short time later, she sensed his body go limp against her, noting that his breathing had grown more rhythmic as he was lulled to sleep.

  Katrina appreciated the quiet journey to the hotel. It gave her time to think, while occasionally glancing down at her sleeping mate. The affection that she felt for him was unparalleled, rivaled only by the love she had felt for her late human husband, Samuel. It felt odd in some ways to think of Samuel so infrequently, save for when Caleb came to mind. The association between them was uncanny, and yet comforting.

  For centuries, the pain she had felt at the memories of her late husband and children eventually caused her to shut those thoughts away, relegating them to the basement of her mind where the remainders of her past human life resided. Like the earthen graves in which her family members were buried, such thoughts had been swept from the forefront of her daily musings.

  But now, with the addition of Caleb in her life, she once more felt compelled to seek the comforts of what had been her human existence, if only to share them with the happiness that he brought into her life.

  My love, she thought as she valued the young man next to her.

  Some time later, the small sliding window before them opened to reveal Bibbens’ face.

  “We’re ten minutes from the hotel, Ms. Rawlings,” he quietly whispered in deference to the slumbering human beside her.

  She acknowledged him before the glass slid quietly back into place.

  Katrina lightly used the back of her fingernails to caress the side of Caleb’s face, causing him to breathe in deeply. Stirring, he opened his eyes, which rolled up to seek hers in sleepy fashion. He stretched in the seat, momentarily rubbing at his eyes with his fingertips.

  “Are we there?” he asked before yawning again and lazily glancing at his wristwatch.

  She shook her head at his adorable manner and whispered, “Not yet, my love. But we’re close. I thought that you might want to see our approach. I’m told it’s quite a sight whether at nighttime or in daylight.”

  A few minutes later, true to Katrina’s earlier statement, the white glow of lighting surrounding the conference site loomed into view from the base of the pronounced mesa before them.

  It appeared as a glowing oasis among the dark mountainous area surrounding them. A two-lane asphalt road cut into the sharply sloping, forested landscape with street lamps attached to metal utility poles at sparse intervals. Caleb suspected that the curvy roads were twice as dangerous to navigate at night, despite the strategic placement of sturdy-looking metal crash rails before the road seemingly dropped into nothingness.

  After a short time, the monotony of the tree-lined road gave way to a rising incline. A gentle, pronounced arc revealed the conference hotel in all its majesty. An elaborate frontage of vast grassy ground interspersed with full, tall trees and an occasional park lamp spread out before the majestic driveway leading up to the main facility.

  A series of tasteful exterior lights elegantly accented the gathered buildings. The central hotel was only five stories tall, but extended along the width of the numerous acres of lawn set before it. A series of windows lined each level of the hotel, and the roof was covered in a giant, coppery dome. A three-story section of the facility was connected to the hotel by a smaller, one-story length of building. The smaller section was lined with large windows across the length of the first floor, and the roof was domed with glass tiles.

  “Pretty impressive-looking,” Caleb mumbled, thinking, Expensive-looking, actually.

  “And that’s just the portion you can see from the front,” Katrina explained. “There’s a host of things to do here. And you missed the small town of Podjelje that we passed through earlier. It has some quaint-looking shops and restaurants.”

  Best of all, boredom shouldn’t be an issue for him if I get stuck in prolonged meetings, she rationalized with satisfaction.

  He observed the lengthy approach to the side entrance of the conference facility. This looks promising.

  After their vehicle circumnavigated the large curve around a central gazing pool accented by an elaborate statue of a stately-looking man riding a large horse, they parked beneath a small tent-like structure assembled before the large side entrance. The sides were drawn up, leaving the area visible from all angles, but Caleb suspected that it was intended for sheltering daytime arrivals.

  Their SUV stopped directly before the glass entrance, and the vampire sitting in the front passenger seat exited to open Katrina’s side of the vehicle.

  This might be just the relaxing change of scenery that I need, Caleb hopefully contemplated as the driver opened the back of the SUV to remove their luggage for the approaching attendants.

  As they passed through the main entrance into the lobby, it was apparent from the clusters of bodies that many of the participants had only recently arrived. Navigating their way through the busy lobby, Caleb noted a variety of humans intermingled with vampires bustling through the large open area.

  As it was the first time that he had seen so many vampires all in one location, he felt slightly unnerved. Admittedly, he wasn’t certain that every person he visually identified as being a vampire truly was. However, upon careful scrutiny, he had noticed that many vampires maintained a bearing and attitude that set them apart from the average human populace.

  For example, a number of vampires strode through the throng of people with an air of superiority, as if waiting for the sea of humanity to part for them at will. He noticed that a number of humans deliberately shied from those vampires, often pressing closer to their vampire companions. He was immediately curious as to how other human mates related to their vampires compared to him and Katrina.

  Katrina momentarily studied her mate and deciphered the curious expression on his face.

  “I sense a social streak surfacing in my mate. Let’s focus on getting checked in first, okay?” she whispered in his ear.

  Despite the fact that their luggage would be automatically delivered to their suite, they were expected to observe the standard check-in process at the main desk. The area was crowded with those who had just arrived, as well as those who had arrived earlier but hadn’t yet been checked in. While there were additional hotel employees manning the main desk, the mere size of the crowd indicated that it might be a longer wait than Caleb preferred.

  Katrina visually swept the room, catching the eye of Alton and a female vampire standing next to him. He motioned for her join them.

  Bending down to whisper in Caleb’s ear, she apologized, “Alton’s beckoning. Probably wants me to meet someone. Do you mind?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Not going anywhere anytime soon, I think.”

  She winked at him and made her way towards where Alton stood.

  It appeared to Caleb that most of the people waiting to check in were much like him, which suggested that the menial task had been foisted upon the human vampire companions. He observed the disorderly gaggle of men and women, who ranged in ages
from early twenties to mid thirties, and noticed a number of people glancing at him as well. He was struck by the notion that the scene was similar to the first day of school when all the kids sized each other up.

  Suddenly, his body lurched forwards and to the left as someone slammed into his right shoulder.

  “Hey!” he exclaimed as his head whipped around.

  A tall, dark-haired man dressed in expensive-looking trousers and sport jacket glared at him with slightly glowing blue eyes.

  “Watch where you’re going, human,” he growled.

  Caleb’s jaw clenched at the vampire’s gruff tone.

  “I believe you ran into me, actually,” he corrected.

  The vampire’s right hand darted out in a blur, grasping his neck in a vise-like grip that caused him to gag slightly from the impact. Caleb’s hands immediately pried at the hand gripping him, but he was unable to dislodge it. The vampire’s fingers uncomfortably tightened around his neck.

  “Someone should teach you to respect your betters,” the vampire insisted as the people around Caleb stared wide-eyed at the exchange.

  A pale hand appeared out of nowhere to grasp the vampire’s wrist while another tightened around the fellow’s own neck. In a blur, the vampire was thrown backwards onto the floor while Caleb was knocked to his knees from the sudden motion. The vampire’s body was summarily slammed against the tile floor onto his back as a short figure wearing a navy blazer and slacks hovered over the prone figure.

  Paige Turner’s blue irises brilliantly blazed with rage as she glared down into the offending vampire’s face.

  “Touch him again, and I’ll end you!” she growled through clenched teeth.

  Caleb’s eyes widened at the scene taking place before him, and his mind reeled upon realizing that Paige was his unexpected rescuer. A number of nearby humans and vampires stood watching the display with a mix of curiosity and surprise.

  “Let me go, or I’ll –” the dark-haired vampire threatened.