by Primo, Jaz
The prone vampire’s left hand darted to claw at Paige’s right one as it squeezed his neck, but the blonde vampire menacingly seethed, “Do something, please. Just give me a reason.”
His hand immediately dropped away.
“Apologize,” she insisted in a flat, lethal-sounding voice.
Or I’ll kill you right here, she darkly resolved.
The male vampire’s glowing blue eyes met hers before darting to stare up at Caleb with a fierce expression.
“A misunderstanding, human,” he growled.
“Do it better,” Paige flatly insisted.
The vampire paused as if considering his options then whispered, “My apologies, human.”
“No harm,” Caleb quietly offered as he rose from his knees to stand while rubbing at his sore neck. “Apology accepted.”
Paige released her grip on the vampire, who moved in a blur to extricate himself from the rather humiliating public circumstance. Caleb watched him depart, but then his attention quickly returned to Paige as she stood and gathered him in her arms in a welcoming embrace.
“You okay, kiddo?”
“Yeah, sure, I’m fine,” he murmured, still a little dazed by the rapid series of events.
Satisfied that he was unharmed, she chirped in a lilting voice, “It’s good to see you, tiger.” Gone was the lethal-sounding tone of moments prior as the young vampire calmed herself in practiced manner, a technique that had taken years for her to master.
He gratefully returned her earnest hug.
“This is your secret overseas contract job?” he incredulously whispered in her ear.
“Yep,” she replied in an enterprising manner. “Captain Turner, second in command of security for the conference site, at your service. Got a swanky uniform jacket and everything.”
He pulled away from her slightly to note the embroidered silver captain’s bars sewn into the collar of her navy blazer, as well as the security badge over the left pocket. He was momentarily gratified by the unlikely coincidence of her position in contrast to her rebellious personality. Then the ominous circumstances of a few minutes prior returned to the forefront of his thoughts, and his countenance darkened considerably.
“Thanks for the help,” he genuinely offered.
She beamed and darted to kiss him gently on the cheek.
“Babysitter’s always on duty, tiger,” she whispered in his ear.
I’ll always be there for you whenever possible, kiddo, she silently added.
A sense of gratitude mixed with happiness washed over him, and he tightly embraced her in response. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, savoring both their closeness and the relief that he was unharmed. Then she pulled away slightly with a mischievous expression.
“Okay, break it up, or I’ll have to cite you for public display of affection,” she teased with a smirk in typical Paige Turner fashion.
He chuckled and shook his head at her, but quickly noticed that everyone in the immediate vicinity was intently staring at them.
Paige seemed to notice as well and announced in an authoritative voice, “There will be no fighting in my lobby! And show’s over, so stop gawking.”
Most people either returned to their previous activities or relocated to another part of the lobby. Moments later, the clamor of voices and activity returned to its former levels. A tall, pale-skinned man wearing a uniform similar to Paige’s, but with a major’s rank on the collar, stopped a dozen feet from them. The fellow’s features suggested to Caleb that he might also be a vampire.
“Captain Turner? A word, if you please,” the man beckoned in a displeased tone.
Aw, crap, Paige thought.
“Looks like the boss is calling,” she muttered to Caleb. “Catch ya later. Gotta run,” she added before turning on her heels to catch up with the man.
Caleb watched her depart and tried to refocus his attentions on the lines of people waiting to be checked into the hotel.
Okay, this is no longer any fun, he thought. And I may have lost my place in line, too.
Realizing that most of the humans around him were curiously staring at him, he absently rubbed at his neck again while trying to ignore them.
“You two seem to know each other,” a young man wearing jeans standing next to him observed with some amusement. He was approximately Caleb’s age and height, but had slightly curly blonde hair and green eyes. His accent suggested that he might be from the New England area.
“Er, yeah,” Caleb acknowledged as he held out his hand to shake. “Caleb Taylor,” he prompted. “Pleased to meet you.”
The fellow returned the handshake. “Aiden Henderson. Nice to meet you, too.”
A petite-framed young woman standing in front of Aiden turned to look at Caleb with an appraising expression. She had medium-length blonde hair and brown eyes and appeared quite trendy in her pair of Capri pants and turtleneck sweater.
The young lady thoughtfully assessed Caleb. “I thought that you were with the red-headed vamp?”
“So true,” he awkwardly replied. “Actually, the blonde vampire, Paige, is my surrogate.”
“You have two?!” the woman demanded.
“Not exactly,” he hedged. “You see, Katrina, the red-headed lady, is my mate. It’s kind of complicated, really.”
Boy, is it ever, he earnestly conceded.
“Actually, I suppose you could say that they have me,” he wryly added.
“So, you serve them both, then?” asked a man with a French accent and a scandalized expression who was standing in another line to Caleb’s right.
“Well,” Caleb began, but abruptly stopped. “Wait. Just what do you mean by ‘serve’?” he challenged.
The young Frenchman laughed, followed by Aiden and the blonde lady standing in front of him. Caleb chuckled despite himself, suddenly happy for the lighter mood in the room.
The Frenchman held out his hand. “I’m Reynard Dautry.”
Caleb returned the shake while introducing himself.
The blonde woman offered, “Madison Baker, but everyone calls me Maddy.”
“So, Caleb,” Aiden said following the brief introductions. “You were saying about serving two vampires?” he pressed with a raised eyebrow.
Caleb winced and shook his head as everyone else grinned at his expense.
* * * *
Katrina made her way through the crowd to where Alton stood next to a medium-height Native American woman with long, jet-black hair. As she approached, she realized that the woman was a vampire, though one unfamiliar to her.
Alton warmly embraced Katrina and placed a discreet kiss on her cheek, which she returned in kind. “Welcome, my dear. I’m so happy that you and Caleb decided to attend the conference. I trust your journey was uneventful?”
Parting from his embrace, her eyes quickly darted to the stranger to her left, who pleasantly observed their exchange. “It’s good to see you again, naturally. And yes, it was a lengthy, but pleasant flight here. Although Caleb was disappointed that the night spoiled any appreciable view on our drive to the hotel.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll have more than enough time to see everything in the days to come,” he replied. “But I’m being rude. I’d like you to meet Talise Penbroke. She’s been kind enough to accept my invitation to attend the conference.”
“Katrina Rawlings,” she greeted the vampire before her.
Talise brightly smiled. “The pleasure’s all mine, Ms. Rawlings. Alton was just singing your praises before you appeared in the lobby, actually. Though I only know you by the reports of your most recent exploits with Chimalma, I’m nevertheless honored to meet you.”
Katrina politely nodded, and her attention returned to Alton. “You look like there’s something on your mind.”
“Not here,” Alton replied as he gently used each arm to steer the two women across the expanse of open lobby towards the open doorway of an unoccupied conference room.
As they glided into the room, he smoothly pressed the door closed b
efore turning to address the two women.
“Talise appreciates my view of the need for this conference. Her specialty in international law may come in handy,” he explained to Katrina.
“I’m primarily a corporate attorney, but I worked with courts in the Haig on International Law for a number of years prior to that,” offered Talise.
“When the conference begins, I’ll be presiding as Chair, but I’ll need a Co-Chair. Talise will ensure that there’s a motion to nominate you,” Alton explained.
Katrina’s eyes widened with surprise, and she sharply looked at her former mentor.
“Co-chair? Alton, I agreed to attend just to listen and consider, not to ride shotgun over the herd,” she warned.
“Understand that your presence here is important,” he quickly countered. “A number of the others respect you over the Chimalma affair. Besides, I need someone who’ll keep the others in line if chaos erupts.”
“Oh, so now I’m supposed to be your sergeant-in-arms, as well?” she shot back. “Alton, I promised Caleb that I’d spend quality time with him while we’re here. I’m not looking for a full-time job on this trip.”
The diplomatic vampire held up his hands in placating fashion. “Now, now, there’ll be plenty of time available for Caleb, as well. Truth is, I really need your help on this, Katrina. A number of the attendees are representing some very powerful and suspicious elder vampires in the world, who naturally prefer their anonymity in lieu of attending. Nevertheless, their proxies may be persuaded to favorably report events if things are handled properly, which could tilt things in our favor here.”
“Just what do you mean by our favor?” Katrina inquired.
Talise’s eyes played between her two fellow vampires, somewhat like observing a tennis match in play.
Alton paused to rub his fingertips contemplatively across his lips as if stalling to consider his response.
“You know,” he carefully began, “a formalized agreement among our kind might help to curtail future Chimalma-like events in the world. It could also help to reinforce the importance of communication by our kind before interloping on declared territories. Take Mableton, Georgia, for example.”
Katrina silently conceded her former mentor’s logic. She of all people didn’t want to see another vampire charging around the world wantonly trying to kill off rivals and their mates.
“I suppose if the Co-Chair is primarily a position of formality,” she hesitantly ventured.
“Oh, most assuredly,” Alton quickly agreed. “Just help me keep everybody in line, that’s all I ask. If we can merely maintain and encourage a civil dialogue, it might just pique the interest of enough of us to –”
“All right, I’ll get the specifics from you later,” Katrina interrupted with a raised hand.
She of all people knew how Alton could drone on once he was energized about one of his ventures. Then her jaw clenched with another realization.
Caleb’s not going to be happy about this, she ruminated. She had promised him a sort of vacation if he accompanied her.
An urgent knock sounded at the door.
“Come,” Alton announced.
The door opened only partially, and the youthful face of a female vampire with hazel eyes appeared.
“Um, Ms. Rawlings, Mr. Rutherford, there’s been an event in the lobby that you should know about.”
“What kind of event?” Alton crisply demanded as Katrina’s focus shifted to the vampire before them.
“Everything’s fine. But Ms. Rawlings’ mate was involved in a disagreement with another guest,” she replied.
Katrina yanked the door open, causing the vampire to lose her balance as she bolted past her with Alton and Talise closely following.
* * * *
Paige casually strolled through the throng of people on her way over to her supervisor. Major Kivo Pietari was nearly six feet tall and sported short-cropped red hair. His brown eyes were dull-looking as his stare pierced through her. He may have seemed an imposing figure to most, but Paige was far from being easily intimidated.
Okay, so he’s pissed, she realized easily enough. Not that it really matters when it comes to Caleb’s safety.
The major motioned for her to follow him, and they made their way into a small clerical office off of the main lobby. Seeing nobody on duty at the desk, Pietari closed the door behind them and turned to address her.
“What the hell was that all about, Captain?” Pietari demanded while staring into Paige’s bright blue eyes.
“The vampire threatened a human patron,” she casually explained. “We don’t allow bullies to intimidate our guests, do we?”
One of his eyebrows suspiciously rose.
“A little more restraint would have been in order, I think,” he emphasized. “But then, he was no ordinary customer, was he?”
She absently folded her arms before her as she stared into Pietari’s eyes. “No.”
“I see. You didn’t mention having a mate in your interview.”
“I don’t, exactly,” she hedged, thinking, It’s really none of his business.
“Then why –” Pietari pressed.
“Look, I’m that young man’s surrogate vampire,” she brusquely explained. “It’s a special arrangement with his mate. Suffice to say, I’m a guardian of sorts for him. Listen, this isn’t something I’m interested in discussing further, if you don’t mind.”
He silently observed his subordinate for a moment before asking, “Just who is his mate, exactly?”
“Katrina Rawlings.”
Pietari’s eyes widened in a manner that suggested the name meant something to him, which Paige noted with some interest.
Curious, she wondered.
“Oh,” he replied, though in a manner that seemed forced. Then his eyes darted to hers as if in sudden recognition of something. “You know, employees for this assignment were selected because they had no complicating interests here.”
“If I understand correctly, Mr. Rutherford is running this operation,” Paige countered. “He hired me personally, so if you have issue with my circumstances you’ll need to take it up with him.”
“Never mind. I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” he neatly equivocated. “Well, just try to keep yourself in check from now on. We don’t want to create an incident in the vampire community. Things are on edge enough as it is.”
His dismissive manner irritated her, and she took great satisfaction in her next statements.
“You should be thanking me, Major. You want an incident? Just let something happen to Caleb Taylor, and you’ll get to see the world’s second baddest-ass vampire tear into this place with a vengeance.”
“Katrina Rawlings is that much of a loose cannon?” Pietari carefully asked.
She turned on one heel and reached for the door handle to exit.
“Katrina? Perhaps.”
She opened the door and glanced back over her shoulder at him with a steely expression. “But then, I was referring to me.”
Pietari remained silent with a narrow-eyed expression as he watched his second-in-command depart the office.
* * * *
Caleb finally made his way through the line with his new comrades as each checked into the hotel and were issued room keys. He, Aiden, and Maddy were chatting near a small decorative tree when they were approached by a tall, handsome, athletic-looking man dressed in business casual attire. His medium-length black hair touched the back of his open-collared dress shirt, and Caleb noticed a stethoscope draped around his neck. He looked every bit like an actor who played a doctor in Hollywood television shows or soap operas.
His brown eyes gently surveyed the faces of each of them before resting on Caleb.
“I see by the pressure marks on your neck that you’re the guest who had a bad run-in with a vampire a few minutes ago,” he smoothly observed as he held out his hand to shake Caleb’s.
Adopting an amicable expression, he introduced himself. “I’m Dr. Ethan Reynold
s, the presiding physician here at the conference. Mind if I take a quick look at your neck?”
Caleb shook the man’s hand, which seemed warm and hard at the same time. While employing a firm grip, the man grasped his hand with a measured pressure. It was then that Caleb determined that the good doctor was indeed a vampire.
“You’re a...” he gently ventured.
“Vampire? Yes,” the doctor confirmed. “If that bothers you, I can call for one of the nurses to examine you.”
“Not at all,” Caleb reassured him. “It’s not like that. I just wasn’t expecting a doctor to be a vampire, that’s all.”
Reynolds reassuringly smiled. “May I?” he asked with a gesture to Caleb’s neck.
“Oh, of course,” Caleb replied and lifted his chin slightly to allow a better view. For some strange reason, particularly since he was a vampire, the physician’s manner made him feel oddly at ease.
Reynolds’ touch was gentle as he traced the skin of Caleb’s neck.
“Any pain, tingling, or numbness anywhere?” he asked.
“Just a little soreness,” Caleb confirmed as Aiden and Maddy curiously watched.
“Mm-hm,” the doctor hummed absently while probing for tender spots. “That’s to be expected, and as long as it dissipates over the next few hours, you should be fine.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Reynolds inclined his head in appreciation and inquired, “Someone said that the security captain took care of things rather handily. Your mate, perhaps?”
The question caught Caleb off-guard, but he smoothly replied, “Uh, no. Paige is my guardian. Katrina Rawlings is my mate.”
“I see,” the tall doctor responded with a puzzled expression. “Well, I only arrived a few days ago and haven’t met everyone yet. I’m sure I’ll run into the captain before long.”
“I could introduce you to Paige, if you’d like,” Caleb politely ventured.
His response seemed to please the doctor.
“Thank you. I’d like that very much,” Reynolds noted with appreciation. “Well, I should make my way back to the office,” he quickly offered with a nod. “Please come see me if things don’t improve by this evening. My office is on the first floor next to the interior courtyard.”