Kerrelyn Sparks: Eat Prey Love

He gathered her into his arms and held her tight. He would never risk losing her. Even if she decided she wanted to risk the transformation, he had the power to stop her. All he had to do was refuse to bite her.

The next day, Caitlyn said their farewells to the were-tigers, then she and Carlos headed toward the Akha village. It was a misty morning with the clouds settled low in the mountains. Her freshly washed clothes soon felt sticky against her body, but she reminded herself that extra humidity was good for her skin.

And extra sex was good for her spirits. For a man who had once avoided her like the plague, Carlos was making up for lost time. They’d spent the night making love, with short snatches of sleep in between.

After three hours of hiking, they arrived in the Akha village. Ajay invited them to his house for lunch, and she told him about the cave and how Tanit had died.

“We need to call our friends so they can help us revive the soldier,” she explained.

Ajay nodded. “If you go to the top of the tower, you can get a signal from Chiang Mai. We call our tribesmen there who sell our silver crafts in the bazaar.”

After lunch they climbed to the top of the watch-tower, and Carlos called the number for MacKay S & I.

Caitlyn leaned close so she could listen.

“Yo, Catman,” Phineas answered the phone. “What’s up?”

It felt strange to hear the Vamp’s voice during the day, but it was nighttime in New York.

“Hey, Phineas. We saw something strange here in the mountains.”

“Oh yeah? What have you been smoking?”

Carlos snorted. “There’s a vampire around here somewhere, and he left a lot of dead bodies in a cave.”

“No shit?”

“We found a body that looks like it’s been in a vampire coma for about forty years.”

Phineas scoffed. “That’s whack, man. That dude is dead.”

“He hasn’t decayed. And he’s an American soldier, a major in the Marine Corps.”

“Shit. I guess we should wake him up.”

“I think we should try,” Carlos agreed. “It’s daytime here. I’ll call again when the sun goes down and it’s safe to teleport here.”

“I’ll probably be in my death-sleep then,” Phineas muttered. “I think the closest Vamp we’ve got to you is Kyo in Japan. I’ll leave him a message. And Angus will want to know about this, too. He’s in Moscow, so you’ll have to wait till the sun sets there before he can teleport out.”

“We’ll be here. Thanks.” Carlos hung up. “We have to wait till tonight.” His eyes gleamed as he looked her over. “How will we ever pass the time?”

She smiled. “I believe the honeymoon suite is still available.”

I t was after midnight when Carlos was finally able to contact Angus in Moscow. The head of MacKay Security & Investigation had been awake for ten minutes, and he’d read the report that Phineas had forwarded to him. He teleported straight to Carlos in the tower, bringing his Moscow operative, Mikhail, with him.

As Carlos shook hands with Mikhail, he wondered how old the Russian vampire was. Mikhail looked like a medieval Viking warrior, with his white-blond hair braided down his back and his piercing blue eyes constantly searching for danger. He appeared to be the strong silent type, for he barely said a word as Angus introduced him to Carlos and Caitlyn. He wore his sword on his back like Angus, but where Angus preferred his blue and green plaid kilt, Mikhail opted for black leather pants.

Kyo from Japan had arrived an hour earlier, and he’d already tested the homing device Carlos had left in the cave. He’d safely teleported to the cave and back. Then he entertained himself by showing off his samurai sword to the men in the village and flirting with the young women.

In the tower, Angus set the ice chest he was carrying on the wood-planked floor. “Emma packed us a supply of synthetic blood in case we manage to revive the soldier in the cave.” He nodded at Caitlyn. “How are ye faring, lass?”

She smiled. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“She’s doing a fantastic job,” Carlos said. “I don’t know how I would have managed without her.”

Angus nodded with a hint of a smile. “Then it’s going well? You havena run into any danger?”

Carlos shifted his weight. “Our guide, Tanit, is in the cave, dead. Impaled on a spike.”

“Bugger,” Angus muttered.

Mikhail merely lifted an eyebrow.

“The cave was booby-trapped,” Caitlyn explained.

“Och.” Angus winced. “I’m glad ye both survived.”

Carlos shifted his weight again. “Actually, I died.”

“Again?” Angus gave him an incredulous look. “Lad, ye have to stop doing that.”

“He did it to protect me,” Caitlyn rushed to his defense. “He saved my life.”

“Well, that’s good.” Angus retrieved his cell phone from the sporran that hung in front of his kilt. “I’m calling Robby in Budapest, so he can join us. Just in case we run into a few angry vampires.”

After a few minutes, Robby arrived with Zoltan Czakvar, the coven master of Eastern Europe.

Zoltan frowned at Angus. “I heard something exciting was going on, and you didn’t invite me.”

“Yes, the excitement is hard to bear,” Mikhail murmured with a deadpan expression.

Angus chuckled and slapped Zoltan on the back. “Ye’re always welcome, old friend.”

Zoltan greeted Mikhail and Carlos, then smiled at Caitlyn. “Good evening. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“This is Caitlyn.” Carlos wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “My wife.”

Zoltan shook his head ruefully. “I’m always too late.”

“Did ye say wife ?” Angus asked. “When did that happen?”

Caitlyn smiled. “The tribal leader said a few words over us. It’s not official.”

“Yes, it is,” Carlos grumbled.

She gave him an impatient look. “It’s not legal.”

“We’ll make it that way as soon as we get home.”

“Are you proposing to me?”

“I thought I already did.”

“Enough!” Angus held up his hands. “We have a job to do.”

Robby smirked. “They sound like they’re already married.”

Carlos shot him an annoyed look. “You’re one to talk, Big Red. I bet you asked Olivia for permission to come here.”

Robby frowned, remaining silent.

Carlos snorted, then handed the homing device monitor to Angus. “Kyo already tried it. It works.”

“Where is Kyo?” Angus asked.

“There.” Mikhail pointed across the village. “I’ll bring him.” The Russian vanished, then reappeared seconds later with a hand firmly grasping Kyo’s arm.

“What?” Kyo looked around, then jumped back from Mikhail. “Holy cow! You big as a truck.”

“We’re ready to go,” Angus announced. “Kyo, since you’ve been there before, take Carlos with you. I’ll take Caitlyn. Mikhail, bring the ice chest.”

A few seconds later Carlos materialized just outside the cave. He checked to make sure Caitlyn was all right. Then he pulled the flashlight from his belt, turned it on, and headed into the cave. “Our guide called this a Temple of Death.”

“It smells like death,” Angus muttered.

Carlos wrinkled his nose. Caitlyn covered her mouth and coughed. Tanit was definitely still there.

Inside the cave, Carlos pointed his beam of light at the skeletal remains of the Buddhist monk. “This poor guy activated the first booby-trap.”

“We think he left the prayers.” Caitlyn aimed her flashlight at the yellow strips of paper above them. “He was trying to keep the evil power in the cave from escaping.”

“And ye believe the evil power is a Chinese vampire?” Angus asked.