She stepped in, slowly rubbed her hands on his shoulders and removed his shirt. She led him closer to the fireplace. This time, he did not refuse.
“A full-fledged vampire?” he asked, breathing heavily. “Immortality?” She leaned in, then placed her lips on his.
There was a brief moment when he paused, and she wasn’t sure if he would give in.
But then, suddenly, he kissed her back, with full force, filled with a passion she had never anticipated. He picked her up into her arms and carried her to the pile of furs by the fireplace, and as he did, she knew that this night would change everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Caitlin walked through a field of torches. It was night, and the field was ablaze, a thousand spots of light flickering in the wind, as she walked down a meandering path. She was wearing her long, white wedding gown, and beside her, holding her arm, was her father.
She looked over at him, and he was smiling back. They walked down an endlessly long wedding aisle—but in place of a crowd on either side of them were flaming torches. At the end of the aisle, Caitlin could see, in the far distance, stood Caleb, at the altar, waiting.
There were so many questions Caitlin wanted to ask her father, so many things she wanted to say to him. But she didn’t feel it was the right moment to speak, while he was walking her down. She could feel, though, how proud of her he was, and it made her feel good. She didn’t want him to hand her off to Caleb—she didn’t want him to ever leave—and she tried to slow their steps, to savor every moment.
Suddenly, she felt something, and looked back and saw that the trail of her dress had caught on fire. The fire crept slowly up the fabric, heading right for her.
Her father looked at her, still smiling, not noticing.
Caitlin tried to back away from it, frantic. “Daddy, please help me!” she screamed.
“Find me, Caitlin. You have to find me. There’s just one key left. And then we will be together.” Caitlin felt the fire creeping closer to her, her whole dress a ball of flames. She could feel the heat, feel it about to scorch her skin. She knew that, in just moments, she would be burned alive.
“But I don’t even know where to look!” she pleaded. “Please! Help me!”
“The Isle of the Celtic Saints,” he said.
He suddenly turned, and held her shoulders firmly, and looked deep into her eyes. Somehow, she knew, that as long as he was holding her, the fire would be kept at bay.
“The Isle of the Celtic Saints,” he repeated, more firmly.
Then, suddenly, he disappeared.
And as he did, the fire raged all around her. Caitlin threw her head back and screamed.
Caitlin sat upright in bed, screaming, swatting at the blankets around her, as if to put out a fire.
Caleb woke beside her, grabbing her shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” he yelled. “What is it?”
Caitlin jumped up from bed, throwing the covers, looking all around her for any trace of fire.
But there was none.
Still breathing hard, she slowly collected herself. It was just a dream, she realized. But it had seemed so real, so vivid. She felt as if her father were still in the room with her.
She turned and looked about the room, and saw that dawn was breaking, its first weak rays streaming through the castle window.
Her wedding night, she remembered. It was over now.
She looked around again, still disoriented, and realized she had spent the night with Caleb, and now it was over. It was already the next day.
“Caitlin?” Caleb asked.
But she needed time to think. She walked slowly to the window and looked outside, staring out at the landscape around the castle in the early morning sun, trying to collect her thoughts. It was getting harder and harder for her to tell the difference between dreams and reality these days; they almost seemed to blur into each other.
“Caitlin?” came Caleb’s voice again, concerned as he crossed the room towards her.
There were just embers of a fire still burning in the fireplace, and Caitlin wrapped her hands over her bare shoulders in the cold, stone room, as she closed her eyes and tried to recall her dream.
She saw her father. Heard his message. She felt certain that it was more than a message; it was a clue.
The clue for where to go next.
She turned and faced Caleb, now only a few feet away.
“The Isle of the Celtic Saints,” she said. “That’s what my father said to me. He said to look for him there.”
Caleb’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Do you know it?” Caitlin asked.
He nodded. “Of course,” he said. “I have heard of it. It is a very sacred place in the vampire world.”
She looked at him, eager to know more.
“It must be a reference to the island of Eilean Donan. It was settled by the Celtic Saints in the sixth century. On it, there is a castle. An ancient fortification. Yes, it would make perfect sense. It is not far from here. And if there are any clues left to be found, I can think of no place more fitting.”
“Then that is where we must go next,” she said.
“Mommy? Daddy?”
They both turned to see Scarlet standing before them, dressed in her night robe, her hair tasseled, obviously having just woken up.
Scarlet ran into her arms, and Caitlin picked her up and hugged her.
“I had a bad dream,” Scarlet said, over Caitlin’s shoulder.
Caitlin could feel her crying.
“I dreamt that you died,” she said. “I dreamt that you told me you were going away. You left me.
And you never came back.”
Caitlin felt her stomach drop. On all nights, her wedding night, for them both to have dreams filled with such darkness and premonitions. It didn’t bode well, she thought.
But she tried to put it out of her mind. Instead, she looked over and exchanged a glance with Caleb. They were both thinking the same thing: Scarlet. When they embarked on their mission, what should they do with her? Of course, they couldn’t bring her. Anywhere they were going, there was sure to be danger. And it would also slow them down if they needed to fight. It would be much safer for her to stay here, in the safety of the castle, in the safety of this kingdom, with Polly and Sam, all of Aiden’s people, and all of the human warriors to watch over her. That was the responsible thing to do.
But Caitlin also didn’t like her dream. Was it a bad omen? Scarlet clearly had deep powers, too, and Scarlet’s dream did not give Caitlin the best feeling about leaving. Scarlet leaned back and stared into Caitlin’s eyes, and Caitlin had the uncanny feeling that she was reading her mind.