by Primo, Jaz
“I met with Alton and Dori a few minutes ago,” Paige said.
“How is she?” Katrina asked, suddenly ashamed that she hadn’t called or gone by to check on Dori. Alton had done so much for Caleb and taken such an interest in him.
As if sensing her friend’s concern, Paige reassured her, “She’s fine. Sore, but she’ll be okay. And don’t worry, Alton said to tell you to stay here with Caleb. They plan to come by to see him tomorrow morning.”
Katrina frowned. “But the conference –”
Paige held up her hand. “Alton’s already rescheduled the start time for one o’clock, after lunch. I’ll take over for you here when it’s time.”
Katrina nodded appreciatively. Suddenly, the conference meant so little to her by comparison to Caleb’s well-being. It was as if her priorities had shifted one hundred and eighty degrees in a matter of seconds.
“Dori and Alton shared some of the details with me concerning what happened,” Paige ventured.
She explained everything that had taken place from the time Dori and Caleb arrived in town that morning, as well as the suspicions they were following up on that led them to the storage building in the woods.
“But none of it makes any sense,” Katrina insisted once Paige had finished.
“I know,” Paige said with a shrug. “We’ve got nothing to go on, and the only two people truly implicated are either dead or sitting in the town jail.”
Katrina’s eyes narrowed. “Except for Baldar Dubravko’s role in everything.”
“That’s if Baldar Dubravko even has a role,” Paige corrected her. “Right now, all we know is that Caleb apparently saw the fellow meeting with people late one night in town. There’s no grand conspiracy there. And besides, until Caleb wakes up to tell us what he saw, we don’t have much more to go on.”
Katrina didn’t like her friend’s tone and sharply looked at her. “You don’t think there’s anything to it? Why would the lieutenant act so wantonly towards Caleb and Dori then?”
“Hey, for all we know, the lieutenant and his cohorts don’t like foreigners,” Paige retorted. “All I know is our boy’s seemed pretty bored and also has an active imagination.”
“So, they simply mouthed off and ran into the wrong locals?” Katrina pressed. “Wrong place at the wrong time, so to speak?”
“I’m just sayin’,” Paige replied.
They both fell silent and sipped at their mugs of blood for a time.
“I’m sorry,” Paige finally offered in a quiet voice.
“No, it’s okay. You could be right,” Katrina replied.
Her eyes drifted to the bedroom beyond and became a distant stare. She recalled the recent happiness that she and Caleb had shared on their camping trip before the conference became a pressing topic in their lives.
She merely wanted to enjoy spending time with him as they built their life together. The machinations of vampire politics suddenly paled by comparison to a simple day spent with Caleb. She adored his kind nature, was drawn to his fit physique, and relished the compelling way that his blood called to her. Another moment’s reflection was all that was required for her to wish that they hadn’t even come to Slovenia.
* * * *
As if matters hadn’t already become complicated with Dori and Caleb’s experience with the local police, the conference itself progressively devolved into discord and chaos. After sitting at Caleb’s bedside overnight and into the next morning, Katrina was compelled to reconvene with the rest of the attendees at Alton’s insistence. Though polite, she greeted her former mentor in a disinterested manner as she sat to his right at the head of the table.
You’d feel differently about this if Dori had been more seriously injured, she thought.
Then a wave of guilt flowed through her as she realized the delicate balance that Alton was trying to find in spearheading the diplomatic endeavor before them.
As if in silent reply to her thoughts, Alton slipped a small folded piece of paper to her while shuffling agenda paperwork. It read, I can only imagine what you’re feeling, and I know where you’d rather be. Just know how much I appreciate your help. – A.
She maintained a neutral expression as she folded the note and slipped it into her folder of paperwork. The edges of her mouth upturned slightly as she focused her attention upon him.
He turned to address the group to initiate the day’s topics. For a few scant seconds, a fond feeling washed over Katrina.
Alton understands me better than I give him credit for sometimes.
As on previous days, two opposing factions of perspectives propelled the discussions, or rather, debates. The pro-unification faction wanted to discuss far grander issues than the mere concepts of cooperative agreement among their kind.
The opposition decried the loss of independence or individual control at the mere mention of collaboration or cooperation. A much smaller group of neutrals merely listened, waiting to see who would gain the upper hand.
Alton did his best to operate as mediator, but the opposition kept leading him to take sides on a matter, as if goading him to commit to a perspective. Katrina clearly saw the tactic for what it was, a ploy for them to cry foul under the auspices that the moderator’s view was biased from the start.
She admired her friend for his sense of measured patience and unwavering commitment towards his duties as chairperson. She realized how useful his past experiences dealing with squabbling English nobles many centuries ago were for the task before them. In some ways, she envisioned how suitable he would be to lead the group in a more autocratic setting.
Still, she conceded that may have been in part to how well-favored she was in Alton’s eyes. She did her best not to smirk at that thought while listening to another tirade from Dominic Ambrogio on the unsuitability of the conference without a larger representative group of vampires in attendance.
Once again, Alton patiently reminded the persistent fellow that the conference’s mission was to formulate basic premises to advance their kind on a global scale after the summit concluded. Katrina clenched her jaw while silently wishing she could rush over to snap the complainer’s neck for impeding the discussion.
Hmm, perhaps I’m a little autocratic, too, she assessed.
The moment quickly passed, and her mood darkened again.
God, how I hate this conference.
* * * *
By mid-afternoon, Caleb managed to sit upright at the small table in their suite wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants as he took another bite of his cheeseburger. The mere act of chewing sent aches through his jaw.
Dori sat across from him wearing designer jeans and one of Alton’s long-sleeved shirts while picking at a salad with her fork. Caleb’s swollen and bruised face gave him the appearance of the loser from an intense boxing match, while Dori’s swollen lower lip and reddened left cheek suggested she had been in a domestic dispute.
Each was keenly aware of the aches, pain, and soreness accompanying their sorry physical states. It was their mutually unpleasant conditions, coupled with wanting to avoid the stares of staff and visitors alike, which caused them to sequester themselves in the suite in the first place.
“Still curious about that storage building?” Dori asked.
Caleb stopped chewing, glared at her with a dower expression, and mumbled, “Not on your life. I’m too sore to care right now.”
“Agreed,” she said with a nod. “And besides, Alton told me not to go to town without him.”
He continued chewing, albeit tentatively.
After swallowing, he offered, “Yeah, Kat made it quite clear, in that stern but friendly way only she can pull off, that I wasn’t to leave the conference property without her or Paige.”
He felt like a child who had been grounded, though he wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous, either.
“Baldar Dubravko’s up to something,” Dori affirmed. “We just don’t know what yet.”
“Not that I can convince Katrina of that,” he cou
ntered. “She doesn’t want me anywhere near him.”
He recalled his attempts to get Katrina or Paige to go look at the storage building, but each declined on the grounds that relations were strained enough with the town while the mayor’s internal investigation continued.
A knock at the suite’s front door interrupted them, and Caleb shuffled slowly across the room to answer it. Madison Baker and Aiden Henderson greeted him, and he made a sweeping gesture with one arm to invite them in. He winced from the pain that shot through his shoulder at the attempt.
“Maddy, Aiden,” he politely offered, “this is Dorianne Rousseau, Alton’s mate.”
“Dori, please,” the violet-eyed Frenchwoman insisted. “And I recall being introduced to each of you at the reception that first evening.”
The two visitors hesitantly glanced at each other before Aiden spoke up.
“Uh, Caleb, we just came by to check in on you and see how you’re doing. We thought maybe you might want us to pick up something for you in town.”
“Nah, thanks. There’s not much I really need,” he appreciatively replied.
Maddy and Aiden focused on Dori, who merely shook her head.
“Well, we’re not actually going into Podjelje right now, given all that’s happened,” Maddy hinted.
“Oh?” Caleb asked.
“Alton and the other vampires voted first thing this morning to ban all hotel tourist access to Podjelje, except when in the company of a vampire,” Maddy said. “At least until the investigation is over.”
Caleb’s eyebrows rose with surprise. “I see. So, where are you two going then?”
“Yeah, well, we’re actually headed into the town of Jereka,” Aiden explained. “It’s further away, but a nice day trip. And it’s larger than Podjelje. But we’re the lucky ones because we made the first roster.”
“Roster?” Dori asked.
“My mate, Talise, said that Alton convinced the other vampires to accept new traveling terms for the human companions. No groups larger than twelve, and there must be a human security person with every four tourists. It’s pretty competitive getting on the roster right now. It seems that everybody’s anxious to see more of the country all at the same time,” Aiden explained.
Caleb and Dori exchanged meaningful looks before returning their attention to Maddy and Aiden.
“Yeah, I guess I can see the allure of venturing out,” Caleb conceded.
“Well, anyway, we’re leaving in the next half hour or so and wanted to check to see if you wanted anything,” Maddy offered.
“Oh, well, thanks,” Caleb said. “I’ll probably just go down to the lobby bookstore and find something to read.”
“Just a friendly word of advice for you two,” Aiden offered. “Most of the human companions are pretty irritated with you that you’ve drastically curtailed their sightseeing liberties, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you get a cold reception from them for a while.”
“Oh, really?” Dori irritably asked.
“Hey, not us,” Maddy retorted with an upraised hand. “We figure you two must have run into something really wrong in town. You, in particular, don’t seem like the kind to cause trouble.”
“But then there’s Caleb,” Aiden interjected, “A lot of folks think that after yesterday and the earlier scene in the lobby that first day that you might just be one.”
“One..?” Caleb vaguely alluded.
“Troublemaker,” Maddy said.
He adopted an offended expression, and his mouth gaped open slightly.
That’s outrageous!
Dori smirked, discreetly covering her mouth with one hand, and Aiden bit the inside of his lip while smiling.
“Oh, come on,” Caleb stammered. “I’m a trouble-magnet, at worst.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Aiden replied. “And we’d better get going. We don’t want to lose our seat on the shuttle.”
“Take care, you two,” Maddy offered as she followed Aiden to the door. “If we happen to see something interesting, we’ll bring something back for you, okay?”
“Thanks, Maddy,” Dori said.
“Yeah, thanks,” Caleb dejectedly replied. “Have a good time.”
Aiden started to say something, but only nodded and preceded Maddy through the door. She winked and mouthed the word “troublemaker” as she closed the door behind them. Caleb immediately turned to Dori with an exasperated expression.
“Hey, admit it, you’ve got a track record of sorts,” she temporized.
“Oh, hush,” he snapped while folding his arms in front of his chest.
Troublemaker, indeed!
* * * *
The conference session lasted all day and into the early evening, but Caleb spent the entire time sequestered in his suite. He felt achy, sore, and in no mood to confront negativity on the part of the other vampire companions.
Paige was quite busy, but managed to check in on him periodically, even bringing him dinner from the kitchen. The spritely vampire helped improve his mood somewhat, including finding new ways to poke fun at his unsightly condition upon each visit.
“You look like one of Mike Tyson’s old punching dummies, kiddo,” she commented once. On another brief visit, she teased, “Hey tiger, I see somebody took extra turns beating ya with the ugly stick.”
Ethan also stopped by to visit during midday and again during early evening. Caleb appreciated the kind and sincere nature of the vampire physician, who reminded him a little of the London vampire psychologist, Dr. Roehl Guilhelm, who had helped him recover his lost childhood memories of meeting Katrina when she had killed his abusive father. His thoughts drifted to the revelation of memories that strangely felt so fresh and recent to him despite being from his childhood.
Well, it was a long time ago, but the memories are still new to me, he reflected.
When Katrina finally returned to the suite, it was nearly ten o’clock. She attentively evaluated his condition with a pained expression. It hurt her each time her thoughts contemplated the beating he had endured at the hands of the renegade local officials. While a simmering anger still persisted, she managed to keep it in check with increasing effectiveness.
Having been cooped up in the room all day, Caleb was quite interested in the conference events. He quickly sensed his mate’s disdain for the affair and tried not to delve too deeply into matters. Still, he was left with the definite impression that things weren’t going well.
“I really don’t know how we’re going to improve the tone, much less appeal to any sense of logic among the participants,” she noted with resignation.
“We’re?” he pressed. “I thought you really didn’t want anything to do with it?”
“I didn’t, at first,” she replied. “But now it’s starting to feel personal. Alton’s trying his best, but even his diplomatic and political skills are starting to look strained.”
“So? You can always say that you tried, right?” he said.
“I’m going to do more than try,” she assertively remarked. “So far I’ve tried to stay on the sidelines, hoping that things might wrap up quickly. But instead, things are dragging along at a snail’s pace with each and every objection. So now, I’m giving it my all, right alongside Alton. We’re planning to strategize some more early tomorrow morning before the group reconvenes.”
“They sound like a paranoid bunch,” he observed.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m beginning to feel there’s much more to it than just paranoia. The anti-collaboration faction, they have their own agenda, I think. It’s like they’re waiting for this to fail miserably, so they can proceed with something else. Somehow, I can’t help feeling like Baldar Dubravko’s steering the group.”
“I knew it, Kat,” he remarked with an intent expression. “If Dori and I can just –”
Her gaze fell hard upon him, practically pinning him to the chair where he sat.
“Stop,” she ordered in a flat voice. “You’re not doing anything, my love
, except recovering. Why can’t you just relax and enjoy the conference like the other companions?”
“But I can help,” he insisted. “Dori and I think –”
“Enough,” she commanded in an uncharacteristic manner. “I don’t want to hear another word, Caleb. Alton and I are well-equipped to handle this, thank you. Besides, you and Dori aren’t to leave the conference site without me or Alton.”
“That’s not fair, Kat,” he retorted while rising from the couch to pace the floor. “We’re not children.”
“Perhaps not,” she conceded.
She covered the distance between them in a second to stand before him and reached out to grasp him gently by the shoulders and stare down into his pale blue eyes.
“But recent events are unsettling, to say the least, and I don’t want to see you in anymore trouble. I can’t bear to see you get injured again...or worse.”
He frowned, not quite certain if she meant his own behavior was unsettling, or just that of the local authorities.
“I’m not a troublemaker,” he quietly stated while looking away from her.
She used one hand to turn his face back towards hers, staring into his eyes in a penetrating fashion. Her predatory visage bore into him, and she whispered, “You are a troublemaker, but I’m confident I can fix that.”
He started to say something, but was silenced by her soft lips pressing against his as her palm cupped the base of his neck. Despite his sore lip, he immediately responded to her passionate kiss, forgetting his objections entirely.
Gone was the angst over their conversation, replaced only by his desire to be loved and wanted and embraced. His arms slipped around her waist as her kisses continued, and he hungrily pressed his sore lips to hers.
She relished their intimate contact, but pulled her lips from his long enough to resolutely stare back into his eyes.
“You’ll remain on conference grounds for the time being.”
He started to assert himself, but she quickly kissed him on the lips again.
“Promise me,” she persisted as she pulled away from the kiss.