A Chase of Prey (A Shade of Vampire #11)(46)

“Dogs,” Caleb growled.

His chest was still heaving. I couldn’t help but smile at his agitation. I supposed that he came from a time when men behaved more conservatively around women.

I slid my arm around his waist and reached up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you,” I whispered.

He glanced down at me and frowned. I thought he was about to respond when Micah’s voice sounded out from the other side of the square.

“Rose. Caleb.”

He ran over to us. Too fast. I winced, looking around the square and hoping nobody had noticed his speed.

“What did you get?” he asked, staring at the boxes Caleb was carrying.

“Pizza,” I said.

“What?” He flipped open the boxes.

“Pizza. It’s a type of bread covered with cheese and other tasty things. Just try it. I think you’ll like it. Oh, and also some salad.”

“Hm. All right. Thanks.” He walked away with the two boxes—I assumed he was heading back to the ship to eat.

I supposed that we could have followed him, but we still had more than an hour left, and I wanted to spend this time outside, alone with Caleb.

I pointed to an empty bench opposite a guitar player who had set up in front of the fountain in the center of the square. Caleb and I walked over to it and sat down. I began munching on a slice of pizza. I’d almost forgotten what real food tasted like.

I looked up to see Caleb watching me eat. I felt bad that he couldn’t try some. As I continued munching through the pizza, I was reminded of a prank my mother had once pulled on my father, involving a piece of toast. Smiling, I lifted my eyes to Caleb. He’d stopped watching me and was now looking out across the square at the guitarist.

“Caleb,” I said, finishing my mouthful. “When was the last time you tried real food?”

“I don’t remember.”

I was half tempted to try out my mother’s prank and feed him a piece of pizza, but I didn’t. It would just taste like sawdust to him.

“Why are you smiling?” he asked.

“I just remembered a joke my mother once played on my father.”

Caleb looked away, his jaw tensing.

There was an awkward silence as I began munching on my salad. We still hadn’t talked much about him returning to The Shade.

“You’re worried about my parents.”

“Well, your father and I didn’t exactly part on the best of terms,” he said bitterly.

Caleb still hadn’t answered my question whether he even wanted to return to The Shade with me. I had assumed he would, to get his curse removed. But even then I hadn’t known for sure that he would want to stay with us. Perhaps now his curse was no longer on him, he was only returning to The Shade to drop me off. I sensed he’d been deliberately avoiding the question. My mouth felt dry at the thought of him not wanting to stay with us.

Having finished my meal, I moved the empty boxes aside and reached out to touch his hand. “Caleb, you don’t need to worry about my parents. It will be awkward at first, but I promise you they will understand. The real doubt I have in my mind is, do you even want to live with us in The Shade? You haven’t exactly been enthusiastic about it.”

He breathed out slowly, the sunset reflecting in his deep brown eyes.

“Because if you don’t,” I continued, “I understand. I… I mean, I want you to stay with us. With me. I just don’t want to pressure you into something you don’t want to do. If you don’t, I’m not sure where you’ll go. B-but I hope I’ll still be able to see you—”

Reaching forward, he laid a finger over my lips.

“You talk too much sometimes.”

“And you talk too little.”

He stood up. Hands in his pockets, he paced the ground in front of me, kicking at stones with his feet.

“I can’t pretend that I’m not uncomfortable about it,” he said. “I can’t help but think I’ll feel out of place there. But if your parents invite me in… I’ll try it.”

I smiled, tears brimming in my eyes. He didn’t know how happy he’d just made me.

He reached down and held my head in his hands, placing a gentle kiss over my forehead. Then he looked up at the clock in the middle of the square.

“We should return to the boat now.”

I couldn’t have been more enthusiastic to agree. Caleb’s decision ringing in my ears, we couldn’t return to The Shade fast enough.

We left the square and headed back toward the marina. Walking hand in hand, I could barely contain my excitement any more.

“The first thing we’ll do when we arrive back is go to visit Mona,” I said. “We’ll convince my parents together about what happened. My brother’s always been on your side. He saw how you first rescued us from Stellan’s people… We’ll need to find you a home on the island. I’m not sure my parents will allow you to stay in my room. But we have plenty of spare rooms in our apartment. And I’m sure we can ask the witches to create a home of your own, so you have your own space…” My voice trailed off.

Caleb was being disconcertingly silent again, and I began to grow worried again that I might be overwhelming him with my ramblings. I realized he might not have lived anywhere but that frozen island and in that bleak castle for centuries. It would be a shock to his system coming to live with us rowdy lot in The Shade.