“I must go,” Blake said, sadly.
As he did, Caitlin had a sudden sense this was the last time she would ever see Blake alive again, too. The feeling caused a pain in her heart. She tried to pretend it wasn’t there, but deep down, she knew it was.
She looked at him one last time. She saw him staring back at her, and it pained her more than she could say.
“I don’t know what to say,” Caitlin said.
Blake took a step forward, standing just a few inches away. He reached up and held her cheek in his hand, smiling.
“Don’t say anything,” he said. “I know that you love Caleb. I’m happy for you. I’m happy for you both. But just do me one favor,” he said, looking at her. “Just tell me one thing…. In the past, once, long ago…tell me that you loved me.”
Caitlin felt her eyes well up with tears and pain. She wanted more than anything to push thoughts of Blake completely from her mind. But, she had to admit, there had been a time. Once. When she did, indeed, love him. She thought back to Venice, to their magical time together. The costume ball. His dying for her in the Roman Colosseum.
Slowly, her voice trembling, Caitlin began to speak. It was hard to breathe.
“I…there…was a time…once… Once, I loved you.”
Blake stared at her for several seconds, then finally, slowly, nodded. Satisfied.
He lowered his hand from her cheek. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. Then, he reached down and placed something in her palm, and closed it.
Then, without another word, he leapt into the sky.
Caitlin stood there, in shock, her heart in a million pieces as she watched Blake fly away, over the streets of Jerusalem, up higher and higher, towards the Mount of Olives, his wide black wings flapping. She knew, she just knew, that she would never see him again. She watched him disappear for far too long, wondering why they’d ever had to meet in the first place.
She looked down and slowly opened her palm, afraid to see what he’d placed inside. Her heart stopped as she saw a small, well-worn piece of sea glass.
And, despite herself, she burst into tears.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Now Caleb understood. As he stood there, looking up at the blackening skies, now he understood why he and Caitlin were meant to part ways. She wasn’t destined to be here. She wasn’t destined to witness this slaughter, to die with all of them, here, on this mountain. She had a different destiny.
He, Caleb, was the one destined to die today. In her place.
Caleb felt the old warrior inside rouse itself. He raised his chin proudly, held out his chest, and breathed in, jutting out his jaw, holding his ground. It was the stance of a warrior prepared to meet his death—and to go down with honor.
Caleb reached down and instinctively extracted his sword from his scabbard. It slid out with a metallic noise that echoed in the hills.
All around him, Aiden’s coven members did the same.
Except for Aiden. He merely stood there, looking as relaxed as ever as he closed his eyes and merely raised his staff before him. Caleb could sense the energy radiating off of it. He had never fought with Aiden before, not shoulder to shoulder like this, and he wondered what it would be like.
Caleb’s heart started beating faster as the black cloud grew thicker, came closer. The sound grew louder, incredibly loud, a million vampire wings flapping up above. As they descended, Caleb could see them taking aim, right for them.
As he stood there and raised his sword, bracing himself for the attack, he could feel the approaching army, before it even hit, coming at him like a gale force wind. The sound grew louder and louder, as the skies blackened. The entire horde descended, aiming right for them.
Caleb looked to his left and right, and saw Aiden’s men holding firm, veteran warriors, all holding the line. None of them even flinched.
The army approached. 100 yards…50…20…. Caleb could begin to see their faces. As they got close enough, he was shocked to see who was in front, leading the charge.
There, right in the center, was Kyle.
Caleb could not believe it. He was sure that Kyle was dead, gone forever. He could not understand how he could be here.
And there, beside him, he saw Rynd, another creature he was sure was gone forever. Caleb could not understand how they could be back in existence.
Beside them he recognized vampires from his days in New York, when he was infiltrating the Blacktide coven. Vampires who he knew were gone forever. He could not understand how all of them could be here.
And then, suddenly, it hit him. And the realization struck him deeper than any sword, than any battle.
At that moment, he realized that all these creatures had been brought back from the other side. Resurrected. And there was only one weapon in the universe that had the power to do that.
The Shield.
The Vampire Shield.
Caleb’s heart sank, as his breath was taken out of him. They had found the Shield first. They had beaten them to it, and had already used it. These creatures, these thousands of demons, had all been resurrected with the Shield, dragged up from the depths of hell. The shield had fallen into the wrong hands.
That meant they had no chance. No chance at all of survival.
As they got even closer, Caleb looked up and saw Sam—and beside him, Samantha, a face he had not seen in years. As he saw Sam getting closer, he could see Caitlin’s face in him. It was hard for him to see his brother-in-law like this, so transformed, fighting for the other side. But there was nothing he could do. He would have to face off with him.
A moment later, there was impact. There came the awful sound of a million clashing swords and wings, as Sam came down, right for Caleb, a horrible grimace on his face. He raised his sword and brought it down right for Caleb.
Caleb stood there proudly and met his sword with his own, blocking it. There was a loud clash, and an instant later, dozens of vampires landed all around him.
Aiden’s warriors fought back bravely, blocking and dodging and ducking and slashing back. There was the clang of metal on metal, weapon on weapon, as they all fought expertly. Caleb caught a glance of Aiden: amazingly, he hadn’t moved. He stood very still, his staff up before him, eyes closed. It was as if there was an invisible bubble around him, a shield, and everyone who flew towards him bounced back as they got close. He was untouched, standing there in his bubble.
But Caleb didn’t have that power. He could feel the power rippling through Sam’s sword slash as he blocked it, the vibration of the metal shaking his entire body. He slashed back—but Sam was too fast: he blocked Caleb’s every blow, and immediately slashed back. It was the toughest battle of Caleb’s life, and he was being pushed back, with nowhere to go.