Chapter Fifty-six
The music was loud, the atmosphere far from romantic but for Kate and Colin it didn't matter. It was as if no one else in the world existed.
She leaned across the table and took his hand in hers. "If you had told me this is where we'd end up, I wouldn't have believed you."
"I know." Colin replied as he leaned close to kiss her. "I never would have thought it would work out."
"But it did." Kate said, her eyes sparkling.
"Yeah it did." He grinned back at her.
She took his hand and threaded his fingers with hers. She wouldn't have believed it could be like this. That her father would actually let them be together. She was overjoyed and overwhelmed with all that had happened in the last two weeks.
Colin gazed at her, never had he imagined that he would be looking at a face as beautiful as hers and knowing to the depth of his soul that she truly loved him. Him. The way he was, despite the family he came from.
They were so wrapped up in each other they failed to notice someone approaching the table.
"Hey handsome. You never called me." A husky voice broke through and shattered their moment.
Kate eased back and looked up at the girl standing next to the table. "Can I help you?" She said, her voice dangerous.
"No. But Colin can." Ariel said with a confident smile. She ran her hand over the top of Colin's head and traced the like of his jaw with her finger, her touch almost possessive. "I thought we had something going. Did it mean so little to you?"
Colin's blood began to boil as he cringed from her touch. "I have no idea what you are talking about." He said quietly.
Kate looked from Colin to the girl and back again. Something inside her was screaming that danger was close by. She looked up at the girl and realized what it was.
She was looking into the eyes of a vampire.
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"A martini, little brother, and keep them coming." Chris said as he settled at the bar.
"Rough day?" Jack replied with a grin.
"Interns. I can't believe I was one of them once. Surely I wasn't like them ever." Chris clutched the drink in his hand and brought it to his lips, sipping deeply. The first taste was bliss, the second delightful. Three more Chris thought with a sigh, and he'd reach ecstasy.
He drained his glass and motioned for another. Jack complied and gave him two martinis this time. Chris looked at him with distain. "Where'd you learn to bartend? I'll have another just one at a time."
"It's not for you…" Jack started to say.
"It's for me." Elizabeth finished as she sat on the stool beside him.
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He should go home. Rafe went out to get dinner but couldn't help himself. Alison likened him to a superhero on occasion but he had to laugh. No superhero he knew ever called on evil while on his way to pick up pizza.
He stood at the overlook gazing at the town he'd made his home. The town where he chose to raise his family. He'd managed normal for eighteen years and he knew it was too good to be true. In the back of his mind he knew this day would come.
Alison's face filled his mind. An image of her and their children make his blood race and his heart pound. He would do anything he could to keep them safe.
Anything.
"You rang, Slayer?" Caleb sighed as he walked behind him.
Rafe turned and looked him in the eye. "I did. I thought - you know - if you're done terrorizing my children - that you might want to speak to me."
"Me? Terrorize? No such thing." Caleb regarded his ring and then looked up at Rafe. "Let me tell you that daughter of yours is quite feisty. Tried to take me out with a three inch heel. Didn't have the guts to go through with it, though. Runs in the family I guess."
The image of Kate fighting Caleb made Rafe want to scream. Rafe turned away and took a deep breath before started to speak. "Everything was fine. We were fine. We lived on opposite sides of the world. It worked out well - don't you think?"
"I'm here for my son, Slayer. Not for you." Caleb said then. He looked down and then up at Rafe again. "I'd stay out of your way - except you're trying to keep him from me. Opening your arms to him, having your temptress of a daughter take hold of his mind."
Rafe wasn't at all comfortable talking about Kate and Colin's relationship, but he couldn't let him talk at all badly about his daughter. "I didn't approve of it either. Vampire. But it happened, and he makes her happy." Rafe stared at Caleb again. "That's all I want." He said softly. "That's all I ever wanted."
Caleb stared back, his gaze mocking. "Happiness is overrated Slayer."
"You've never had it." Rafe replied. "How would you know?"
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"I'm sorry - I can see you know Colin, but I didn't catch your name. I'm Kate." She said with an artificial grin. Colin knew she was about to lose it.
"Ariel." The girl replied, still concentrating on the task she'd been sent to accomplish.
Ariel's red nails traced over Colin's jaw again. "Did you just get a manicure?" Kate heard herself ask.
Colin looked at Kate strangely. Ariel gave her a weak smile and glanced at her blood red nails. "Maybe. What's your point?" She said with much more confidence than she should. She didn't know what she was up against.
"They look nice." Kate said as she swatted Ariel's hand from Colin's face. Her fingers closed around her wrist like a vise. "I'm going to say this one time only. Either you get your hands off him now or I'll break each one individually."
"My nails?" Ariel replied with a nervous laugh.
Kate squeezed tighter. Her voice was dangerous as she said. "Your fingers."
Ariel fought panic. The man who sent her didn't warn her about this. About the way this girl would look at her, the way it seemed she could see right through her, the way it looked like she could snap her in two with her bare hands.
"Go home - little girl." Kate whispered a warning as she stood, her grip still tight on Ariel's wrist. "Go tell the big bat that it won't work. I see the plan - but you're a cheap version of the real thing."
"Kate…" Colin stood beside her and put his arm around her waist. "Leave it alone."
Ariel finally got a clue. Her eyes were wide with fear. She struggled with all her might to get away.
Kate wasn't done. "You tell him that he's going to lose, because he pissed off the wrong slayer this time." She squeezed tighter and grinned as Ariel cried out in pain. "Your powers are so weak that I could get rid of you using a toothpick sweetheart so you'd better listen up." Hatred laced her voice as she finished. "Keep your skanky hands off of him. Take your cheap clothes, your cheap shoes and your…" She sniffed the air and pretended to gag. "..cheap perfume and get the hell out of here. Go now, while you still can in one piece. If I even get a feeling your thinking of coming near him I'll make good on my promise."
Ariel summoned up the last of her courage and spat back. "Which one?"
"Guess." Kate said as she shoved Ariel across the room with a flick of her wrist.
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"Sleep your way through Europe? On your second American tour?" Chris asked as he stared at Elizabeth.
"I deserve that." She replied.
"You deserve much less than that. You don't even deserve me speaking with you." Chris drained his glass again and slapped it down. He shoved himself away from the bar and moved towards the door.
"Am I really that bad?" Elizabeth said, her voice shaky.
Chris turned and glared at her. "You're really that selfish. You ran the first sign that you'd have to share time with someone else. The minute the spotlight fell off you - you were gone in a flash. It took a lot for me to open up to you Elizabeth. It was a mistake."
He looked at her sadly and finished. "I don't make the same ones twice." He finally eased out the door.
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Caleb yawned. "Did you call me out here for a happiness lesson because I have to tell you - it reeks of boring."
"No. I called you here to say the following. Stay away from me. Stay away from Alison and stay away from my kids."
"You should exchange the white picket fence for barbed wire. You live in a prison or a house, Slayer?"
Rafe ignored him. "My life is fine as long as you stay out of it."
Caleb sighed again. "Do you need a reminder that we are intertwined - in more ways than one now?"
Rafe knew in his heart that if it came to it he'd do it. It would be hard but they'd live in peace. "I need nothing from you except to leave them alone. If you don't…"
"If you don't what?" Caleb replied.
"I'll leave." Rafe said, his voice steadier than he felt. "And I'll take you with me."