Sam landed on the sand, several feet from the body, and approached it slowly, his heart pounding. As he reached it, he knelt down.
Hand shaking, he reached out to turn it over. A part of him was in denial, shutting it out—but another part of him, deep down, knew who it was. He sensed her vibration even from here. But he didn’t allow himself to believe it could be true.
He turned her over, and everything good that was left within him died.
It was the woman he loved most in the world.
Polly.
Sam grabbed her and pulled her up, holding her, feeling her limp body in his arms. He shook her, trying to revive her. He looked down and saw she had been stabbed in the heart, and that nearly all of her life’s force had left her. He felt hot tears pouring down his cheek, as he realized that nothing could possibly save her. There was the slightest flutter in one of her eyes, and he could see that she was still clinging to life.
He hugged her tight, crying over her shoulder, hoping, willing her to come back. Sam couldn’t understand how the thing you loved most in the world, at the moment you loved it most, could so suddenly be taken away.
“Sam,” he heard her whisper in his ear.
He pulled back and looked at her; it had been so faint, he wondered if she had even spoke.
He put his ear to her mouth.
“I need to tell you something,” she whispered again.
Sam felt his heart pounding with remorse, grief, regret. Why hadn’t he gotten here sooner? Who could have possibly done this?
But for now, all he wanted was for her to live again. The sight of her like this pained him more than anything he’d ever encountered in his life. He willed for her to come back to him.
“I’m pregnant,” Polly whispered into his ear.
Sam’s eyes opened wide in shock, as he pulled back and looked at her, wondering if it was true.
For the slightest second, a smile crossed her face.
Then, in a flash, it stopped.
Her body went entirely limp, and her eyes opened wide, unblinking.
Sam knew, at that moment, she was dead. He felt it in every pore of his body, as if his own life had just been taken away.
Pregnant. Polly. With his child. Their child.
And now dead.
Both of them.
It was all too much for him to take.
Sam cradled her tight and rocked her, torn apart by anguish, feeling his heart torn to bits.
He leaned back and, fangs extended, roared.
It was a primal roar, one that shook the entire lake, the forest, causing such a vibration that ripples spread across the water and trees shook in their place. It was the sound of a thousand elephants, and it shook the ground itself. As the roar went on and on, it raised the hairs on every beast, on every creature, for a thousand miles.
It was a roar of a creature that had nothing left to live for.
It was a roar of primal fury, of vengeance.
As Sam’s eyes watered over, as everything that he loved in the world died within him, a new filter fell over them. It was a filter of violence and bloodlust and revenge. A new spirit, contained deep within him, was now summoned, unleashed. Sam felt it rise up through every pore of his body.
It was a spirit of supreme, unstoppable rage. Rage so powerful that it wouldn’t discriminate, that it would destroy anything and everything in its path. As Sam snarled, and his eyes turned red, and his fangs lengthened, the muscles in his neck and shoulder bulged, beyond what they’d ever had.
He rose to his feet, holding Polly, and roared again.
It was the roar of an animal that was ready to destroy.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Blake flew with Scarlet in one hand and Ruth in the other, flying as fast as he could to get away from the incoming army. He had been horrified to witness Polly’s murder, and shocked to have watched Scarlet taken out that vampire’s eye. He had sensed a great disturbance in the area, and had flown there, just to check. He had arrived just at the moment that Polly was stabbed, and when he’d witnessed it, without thinking, he’d dove down and scooped up Scarlet and Ruth. It was too late for Polly, he could see that.
But it was not too late for Scarlet. After all, Scarlet was Caitlin’s daughter. And Blake still loved Caitlin. Even if she didn’t love him back, he felt there would be no greater way to express his love for her than by rescuing her daughter. Even if it was her daughter with Caleb.
Not that that was his only motivation: Blake would have rescued any helpless child, and in the brief time he had gotten to know her, Blake had fallen in love with Scarlet. She was unusual, advanced beyond her years, and Blake could tell that she would grow into an incredible soul. He knew that saving her would risk his own life, and now, he had an army on his tail. He was vastly outnumbered. He couldn’t understand how an entire vampire army could be attacking Skye. There was the ancient vampire law that no coven could attack another by crossing water—unless they were invited. But who would have invited them?
Had Polly? he wondered. After all, she was lying on the beach, dead. But why would she have done such a thing?
Now was not the time to contemplate. Blake put on his fastest speed, and dove for the woods.
He knew these woods better than anyone, and as he entered them, he ducked and weaved, twisting and turning, outfoxing the others.
When he was sure he had lost them, he circled back around, and headed back for the castle.
Blake knew he had to get back to the castle, to his own coven, Aiden’s men, the King’s men, and warn them all. Scarlet and Ruth would be safe inside, and then, between his people and the King’s human warriors, they could all fend off the attack. The castle was a ground they could hold, and fortify. He only wished that Caitlin and Caleb were there now, to help them.
Blake burst out of the treeline, and finally the castle came into view. He flew over the footbridge, over the moat, landed in the courtyard before its massive doors, and ran right through them, still holing Scarlet and Ruth. As he was running, a part of him registered that there were no human warriors standing guard outside of it, and that the doors were wide open. He was too flustered to pay it close attention, though; if he hadn’t been in such a rush, he would have registered what an ominous sign it was.
Blake screamed out as he ran. “AIDEN!” he shouted. “TAYLOR! TYLER! CAIN!
BARBARA!”
He ran room to room, up the stairs, holding Scarlet and Ruth as he took the steps four at a time.
He finally made it to the roof.
Several of his coven members were there, gathered together, standing at the parapets and watching the skies with grave concern. He was relieved to see them all here, and also relieved to see Samuel, Caleb’s brother, who luckily had been staying here for the wedding. He was also relieved to see dozens of other friendly vampires, those who had come for the wedding and were still here.