Sera suddenly took two bold steps to him, draped her hands around his throat, and with one quick motion, yanked him hard towards her.
Before he could react, she planted her lips firmly on his, kissing him with tremendous force.
Caleb recoiled, disgusted. He reached up and shoved her away. And as he did, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone landing on the parapet beside them.
Caitlin.
*
As Caitlin approached the island, she felt hope rising within her again. Her head was clear now.
Caleb, she realized, had done nothing wrong after all. She had been stupid. She should have given him a chance to explain. For all she knew, Sera had come uninvited, and there was absolutely nothing between them. Why had she been so rash?
As she swooped lower and the island came into view, she saw the huge stone castle sprawled out below her, the scores of vampires down there on the ground, training in the torchlight. It was a beautiful place, and she was grateful that Caleb had taken her here. She started to feel that everything would be OK after all, as she took one final turn and rounded the bend, landing on the upper rampart.
But as she came in close, as she landed, her heart stopped within her.
There were Caleb and Sera. And this time, they were kissing.
Kissing. The thought of it pierced Caitlin’s insides worse than the Sword. She couldn’t move.
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. They were kissing. Kissing.
So, they were together. There was no misunderstanding this time. He was still in love with her.
He had tossed Caitlin out as if she were nothing. And he had done it all right in front of her eyes.
Caleb rushed over to her, and this time, Caitlin didn’t run. She stood where she was, frozen in shock, as she felt the rage well up within her. She felt herself becoming fierce, fiercer than she had ever been as a human.
“Caitlin,” Caleb began, “this is not what it seems. Please, let me explain—”
But as Caleb approached her, as he began speaking, Caitlin simply reached out a finger and pointed at the horizon.
“LEAVE!” she screamed, scowling.
It was an order. It was not a question, and it didn’t leave open any room for discussion.
Caleb stood there, frozen himself, apparently shocked at her ferocity. He must have seen how resigned she was.
“I SAID LEAVE!” Caitlin screamed again. “I never want to see you again. As long as I live!”
Caleb stood there, looking shocked and hurt himself, like a little boy who had just been scolded.
It looked like there was so much he wanted to say to her, but that he could also tell she would never hear a word of it.
He slowly lowered his head, despondent.
He turned and walked to the edge of the rampart, took two long strides, jumped onto the edge of the railing, and leapt off. He was soon flying, his giant wings flapping, and heading off into the night.
Caitlin could see Sera turn her head and look after him, watching him fly away, looking worried, like she wanted to fly after him. But she also looked torn, like there was something she wanted to say to Caitlin before she did.
Sera suddenly took several steps towards Caitlin, coming within feet of her.
“I hate you,” Sera said, slowly, her voice dripping with venom. “I will always hate you. You tried to take my man away from me. And it will never work. Caleb doesn’t want you. He wants me. Only me. And that’s the way it’s always been.”
Caitlin was in too much of a fury to bother responding, and she had nothing to say to her anyway.
Sera’s wings expanded behind her, as she got ready to depart. Before she turned, she leaned in close to Caitlin, and whispered one last thing: “I have something with Caleb that you will never have. Not as long as you live. I’m sure he never told you, and I’m sure he never will.”
Caitlin stared back at her with equal rage, wondering what else this vile creature could possibly tell her that could cause her any more upset than she already had. She didn’t think it was possible.
But as she heard her next words, she realized that there was, indeed, something that could make her feel even worse.
“Caleb and I have a child.”
NINE
Samantha found herself escorted by two hulking vampire guards down the stone corridor. They stood close, but neither dared grab her arm. She was too senior of a warrior to them—they would never cross such a line of disrespect. Despite their size, despite the fact that they were male, she was a much more powerful warrior than both of them—and they knew it.
They led her down and down, deeper into the bowels of their coven, towards Sam’s chamber.
They descended another flight of stone steps, the sound of their hard, leather boots echoing off the walls. It was getting darker and darker as they went, the vaulted corridors lit only by a sporadic torch.
Samantha was furious as she walked. She wanted to kill these two guards on the spot, but she couldn’t just yet. She needed them to lead her to wherever it was they were hiding Sam. She needed to rescue him.
How stupid Kyle was. Did he really think that she cared so much about her own life, about her own honor, to bring Sam back, and to kill him in front of everyone? He must have thought her as much a pawn as the others. He had a lot to learn. She was different. Very different. She had not survived for thousands of years by deferring to other people. She did what she wanted, when she wanted. And sometimes, that required bold action.
They turned down yet another corridor, this one deeper and darker than the others. The chambers beneath their coven in City Hall were endless. One could get lost wandering them for years. It made a very convenient place to keep prisoners. In fact, there were some legendary vampires still rumored to be kept in captivity under here, some who had been here for thousands of years. Few really knew the depths, or the extent, of where these chambers went, or of the thousand-year vampire history stored amidst its walls.
Finally, they stopped before an arched wooden door. One guard grabbed her by the arm, while the other reached into his pocket and extracted a huge ring of skeleton keys. He inserted one and turned.
As soon as Samantha heard the click, as soon as she saw the door start to move, she knew the time had come.
In one swift, decisive move, she swung her arm, throwing the guard’s hand off of her, and then spun and threw the heel of her hand right into his throat.
It was a perfect strike.
He dropped to his knees, eyes bulging wide, reaching for his throat with both hands. He was trying to open the air channel. But he wouldn’t. 3,000 years had taught Samantha how to throw a perfect throat strike, with just the right force to bring the biggest man to his knees. Within seconds, as she predicted, the big man keeled off to his side, his head hitting the stone as he passed out. He was a vampire, so it wouldn’t kill him completely. But it would immobilize him for a very, very long time.