Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) Read Free Page B

her out of the corner of his eye before refocusing on his cooking. She easily detected the intensity of his curiosity.
    “The truth might surprise you,” she began. “Actually, even among some of the oldest of our kind, there seems to be some doubt as to what the original vampires, or beings, were exactly. However, it’s been generally accepted that the ‘originals’ couldn’t have been something indigenous to our planet.”
    He looked up after her voice trailed off to silence, and his eyes widened slightly. “You’re saying the original vampires were aliens?”
    She shrugged, well-acquainted with the outlandishness of the notion. “Who knows? There may not have even been more than one originally.”
    “So, was it...were they humanoid or animal?”
    Again, she shrugged broadly and focused past him to the forest beyond. “Whatever it or they were, their conversion process changed our bodies into what you see before you,” she explained. “We may not even resemble the image of the original beings. We’re all strange, mutated hybrids of them for all I know. Whatever they were, one fact remains: they were excellent predators.”
    He silently conceded the truth in her statement while turning the fish in the skillet.
It’s an amazing premise, if true. But then, maybe it’s something that will never be known. Maybe all the vampires who know the truth are all long since dead and gone.
    Eventually, he wondered out loud, “So, when and where exactly is that vampire conference supposed to happen this summer?”
    When they had vacationed in England during his spring break in March, Alton Rutherford mentioned that a special vampire conference was pending somewhere in Europe during the summer. Alton was an eight-hundred-year-old vampire and one of Katrina’s closest friends. He was also her former mentor and had taught her sword fighting, as well as financial investment strategies.
    Katrina’s mood darkened somewhat at his mention of the conference. “Early to mid-June. The exact date and location will be determined sometime in the next week or so. Alton’s supposed to call me when it’s set.”
    He tried to act nonchalant. “So, are we going, then?”
    Her eyes darted to her mate. “I haven’t decided yet, my love.” Then she sighed with what sounded to him like resignation. “But it would mean a lot to Alton if we did.”
    “Oh,” he casually replied as he finished cooking the fish.
    She leaned forward in her chair. “Has Alton called you or something?”
    He looked up at her with surprise. “Called me? No, I was just curious. I just wasn’t sure whether to offer to teach this summer or not, that’s all. I figured I’d wait until I knew more about your plans for us.”
    She settled back into her chair, gazing up at the evening sky. “I see.”
    Silent moments passed as she pondered the prospect.
    “Well, if I know Alton, we’ll probably end up going,” she finally conceded. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
    He shook his head and offered an innocent expression, “Not at all. I’ve never been to Europe. So, any chance it’ll be near Romania?”
    “You mean Transylvania, don’t you? Caleb Taylor, I should come over there and bite you in the neck.”
    He playfully snickered as he carried the skillet towards the cabin. She growled under her breath, but rose from her chair and followed him inside.
    Caleb made his way into the kitchen, where he popped open a container of pasta salad and dished some onto his plate beside the sizzling fish. She watched as he warmed a glass of blood for her in the small microwave and poured himself a Coke. Then he took his drink and plate to the dining table and returned to remove her glass from the microwave.
    “Dinner is served,” he announced while placing the glass at the table setting next to his. Then he sat down to his meal.
    “Thank you,” she offered as she sat next to him to sip from the glass of blood.
    Yum, type A. My favorite
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Caleb’s blood type,