Caitlin felt her heart sink, as Caleb approached and as she caught a glimpse of his troubled face.
She felt that he was getting ready to break up with her. He was going to tel her that he had invited her here too quickly, that he hadn’t real y thought it through. That it had al happened too fast. That he wasn’t cut out for domestic life.
That he wanted her to leave.
As he walked closer, she could see the redness in his eyes, and her heart pounded. Had he been crying? Then there was no doubt about it. He was bracing himself to tel her something that she did not want to hear.
Caitlin felt herself trembling with upset.
“Caitlin,” he said softly, looking down at the floor.
He could not even look her in the eye. That could only mean one thing.
Caitlin had never felt more upset. Where would she go now?
“Caitlin—” he began again.
But she held out a hand, and stopped him. Whatever words he was about to speak, she didn’t want to hear them. She didn’t want to have his words of rejection echoing in her mind forever.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she said, her voice shaking.
His eyes opened wide in surprise. “You do?” he asked.
Caitlin nodded. “And I don’t want to hear it.”
Caleb looked disappointed. She couldn’t understand why.
She was saving him the trouble of having to break up with her.
“I’m sorry this al happened so fast,” Caitlin said. “Maybe if it happened slower, things would’ve worked out better.”
Caleb looked puzzled.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m leaving now.”
And with those words, she turned and marched out on him.
“Caitlin!” he cal ed out behind her.
But she didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to hear him tel her that he loved her, but that he loved Sera more. She couldn’t bear to hear those words.
Caitlin found herself crying as she hurried through the main hal and then out the door of his house that she had grown to love so quickly.
She looked down and saw Ruth at her feet, whining, and she picked her up, and held her tight, kissing her, as tears ran down her cheeks.
Caleb fol owed her out the front door.
“Caitlin, wait, please!”
But she couldn’t. She took a few running steps and leapt into the air, Ruth in her arms, and within moments, she was flying, flying, far away from this place.
CHAPTER TEN
Kyle strutted right down the middle of a wide, cobblestone boulevard, late at night, cutting through the center of Paris.
He felt relatively satisfied, having just come from the red light district, and having fed on several more prostitutes. He could stil feel their blood swirling through his veins, and slowly, he was beginning to feel himself again.
He hated time travel. Hated it. And he hated Caitlin for making him do this. He thought of al the fun he was missing back in New York, of the raging war— his war—and fumed at her. He fantasized of al the ways he would exact revenge upon her. Gradual y, his spirits began to lift.
Kyle turned down al eyway after al eyway, keeping an eye open for any more victims, but finding the streets empty. It was nearly daybreak, and it seemed most people had gone to sleep. He had already drank his fil . If he kil ed any more victims at this point, it would just be for pure recreation.
Kyle thought back, through thousands of years, when he and his friends would go hunting humans for recreation.
Those were the days. He remembered times when they would fil the streets with corpses, not even bothering to feed. They had such fun watching them die. It had been one of his favorite games.
Nowadays, vampires were so conservative. They only kil ed to feed. And they only fed as much as they had to. When Kyle kil ed Caitlin and figured out a way to return to the future, things would change. He would make kil ing humans a national sport once again.
Kyle turned down the street, and final y found what he was looking for: a massive, round building, with huge stone columns and marble steps. It had a grand dome, and looked ancient. In fact, it didn’t look that different from the Pantheon in Rome. Which was fitting, because this was a Pantheon, too. The Pantheon of Paris.
Kyle remembered the building wel . It was an important place for his coven, a place they had always been. It was very different from the Pantheon in Rome: the vampires here were much more chaotic, more disorderly, more democratic. In New York, or Rome, if someone stepped out of line, the leaders would step forward and have them kil ed on the spot. Here, the covens were run by committee. On the one hand, Kyle respected that, because he hated authority. On the other, he also enjoyed watching people get punished who were out of line, and watching them get kil ed before his eyes.
Kyle thought of his old friend Napoleon, and guessed that he’d already have taken control of this coven. They were probably al inside it, arguing about something right now.
They were a contentious bunch.
Kyle bounded up the marble steps three at a time, eager to see him, to let them know who was boss. Napoleon had power, but not nearly as much as Kyle. After al , Kyle had survived for thousands of years, while Napoleon was stil a child.
Kyle kicked open the massive doors and strutted inside.
As he suspected, the huge marble building was completely packed with his own kind. It was chaotic. The enormous, marble room was shaped in a circle, with huge columns framing it in every direction. It had a marble floor, and an arched ceiling, culminating in an oculus. It was as grand as the Pantheon in Rome.
Except this one was fil ed with vampires screaming and yel ing over each other, pushing and shoving. As he suspected, they were in the midst of a heated debate.
And at the center of the crowd, standing on a podium, was Napoleon, yel ing to be heard.
Kyle pushed and shoved his way through the crowd, elbowing people as he strutted right to the center.
As he did, the huge crowd slowly began to gain awareness of him. He was so tal , he towered over everyone else, a foot above the crowd, and his scarred face gave people pause. Slowly, the room began to turn his way.
Kyle had no intention of waiting his turn. He had urgent business. He had an agenda to fulfil , and Napoleon and his people could be of service to him.
Kyle took two huge steps and leapt up onto the platform. As he did, he reached up, grabbed Napoleon by his shoulders and hoisted him high in the air, until he was at eye level with Kyle.
The entire crowd gasped, and grew quiet in shock.