After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry Page B

today, Caroline. I know I hurt your feelings and wounded your pride today in the park, but that was no reason to go suicidal on me!”
                  Suddenly, she was on her feet, her eyes blazing with an anger that she was finding almost impossible to control.
                  “Where do you get off?” she hissed. “What I do is my business. If I decide to run head long into traffic, it’s none of your concern. And give me some credit. You may think I’m a stupid half-wit, but I had the sense to come back here. See, this is me. Here.”
                  “I spent all day looking for you,” Christian said through clenched teeth.             
                  “Nobody asked you to,” she said through equally clenched teeth.
                  “You could’ve died today!”
                  “Chris, we’re all gonna die someday! You can’t save the world!”
                  And just like that, his anger disappeared. He felt himself deflate like a balloon. Because the thing was, he was supposed to save the world. That wasn’t just his job. It was his entire reason for being. Taking a close look at her, he could see she was still angry, but that her anger, too, was subsiding.
                  “I was worried about you,” he admitted. “You shouldn’t have run off like that.”
                  “I wasn’t out to get myself killed,” she answered back, her voice much more calm, though a little uneven. “I was just angry with you.”
                  He didn’t answer. He didn’t know how to. He knew what she wanted, and he wanted to be able to tell her yes, she could help him find and kill the Master Vampire. But if he did, he was as good as killing her. But if he didn’t, she would probably go on hating him for as long as he was in New York. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.
                  Lorenzo, who had been silent through the entire episode, finally spoke, startling both Christian and Caroline.
                  “If you are both done, might I have the floor for a moment?” he asked. Christian blushed, ashamed that he had allowed his temper to get the better of him, that he had acted in such a manner in front of Lorenzo.
                  “The way I see the situation,” the old priest said, standing up and approaching the two younger people, “is that Caroline is going to be a certain target now due to her witnessing the attack on her family, which means she must remain with us, no arguments allowed.”
                  Christian and Caroline both remained silent, waiting for Lorenzo to continue.
                  “The problem here is the same one you, Christian, yourself faced several years ago. What to do with this thirst for revenge? Obviously, Caroline’s cannot be channeled as yours was. Still, it would be unhealthy to keep inside. It would be suicide to actively pursue your family’s killers, Caroline. This you must understand.”
                  She looked as if she wanted to argue, but wisely, she waited for Lorenzo to finish.
                  “It will do your family no good if you are killed. How can you help them then?”
                  Christian looked at her, and for the first time, she seemed a bit ashamed, as if she had never considered this. She hung her head a bit.
                  “What I propose is this,” Lorenzo continued. “I have many books to go through that I hope will give us hints and clues about the Master Vampire and how to kill him. While you are with us, Caroline, I could use your help in researching these things. As much as I hate to admit it, I am getting older. I get tired more easily and my eyesight is getting weak. Having someone here to read with me would be a tremendous help. I would like Christian, however, to