Rose peeked her head out of Caitlin’s jacket, and Roger’s eyes lit up. “Well, hello little fella,” he said, coming over and petting her.
Rose licked his huge palm.
“How did you know we were here?” Caleb asked.
“Caleb, please,” Roger said, as if the answer were obvious. “This is an island. Your scent has nowhere to go. It’s visible from miles away.”
“So you knew the second I got off the boat,” Caleb said, smiling. “And you waited to see where I’d go.”
“Of course,” Roger said. “Wouldn’t you? But I would have guessed it would be here.” Caleb looked carefully over the room. “Why?”
“There’s only one reason one of us comes to the Vincent House. The sword, right? Isn’t that what you’re after?”
Caitlin and Caleb looked at each other.
“We might be,” Caleb said warily.
Roger smiled.
“You know, the thing about that sword,” he said, “is that only the person meant to find it will. As in, The One. I know you’re not The One. And as for your friend, with all due respect…well, I don’t mean to make any assumptions, but unless she—”
Caitlin reached into her pocket and held out the small, silver key.
Roger stared at if for several second, speechless.
His jaw dropped.
“My god,” he said, in a whisper.
He looked at Caleb, as if for confirmation, and Caleb nodded back.
He exhaled.
“Well,” he said, humbled, in an entirely different tone, “this does change everything.”
He looked Caitlin over. He shook his head.
“I never would have guessed,” he said.
“So then…you know where it is?” Caleb asked.
Roger nodded. “Not here,” he said.
Caitlin and Caleb exchanged a glance.
“That key,” he said, “was accurate at one time. But not anymore. It’s a decoy. The Vincent House is no longer the place you’ll find it in. Now it’s just the place you need to go.”
Caitlin was thoroughly confused.
“But—” she began.
“The Vincent House was moved,” Roger clarified. “Don’t you know its history?”
Caitlin shook her head.
“Caleb. I’m disappointed in you—you’re slipping,” Roger chided. “It used to be in a different location. But 200 years ago, we moved it, to where it is now. The Council got worried about safekeeping. So they moved the object out of the house, and put it in a safer, more stable place. And they assigned someone to guard it. As in, me.”
Caleb studied his friend.
“I’ve been waiting for someone to arrive with that key for almost 200 years,” he said. He shook his head again. “I never dreamt it would be you.”
“Will you show us?” Caleb asked.
The man looked long and hard at Caleb, then at Caitlin.
He finally held out his huge palm, towards Caitlin.
“May I see that?” he asked.
Caitlin look to Caleb. He nodded.
She reached out and placed the small, silver key into his huge palm.
Roger stared at it. He held it up to the light. He turned it over read the inscription on the back. He finally shook his head.
“God damn,” he said. “I was sure it would be bigger.”
NINETEEN
Samantha, in the passenger seat, looked over and was impressed by how Sam handled the car. Not bad for someone his age. She was surprised by how well he handled the stick, and she forgave him his initial grinding of gears. He was actually pretty good once he got past third. She liked his aggression, especially when the speedometer hit 120. He had spirit, she had to give him that.
She leaned back, relaxing and enjoying the ride. It was a lot slower than flying, but not bad for human travel. She thought of the man who’d owned this car, that real estate broker—her morning meal—and smiled. His blood still ran through her veins, and it felt good. She was sated.
She didn’t need to let the kid drive, but she figured his days were numbered anyway, so why not let him enjoy them, go out with a bang? It would only be a matter of hours now until she’d meet his father, and find out where that sword was. After that, she could dispose of them both.
But something gnawed at her. She was actually starting to like this kid. And that bothered her more than anything else. She couldn’t remember liking a human in hundreds of years. Much less a stupid teenager. But, she had to admit, there was something about him. Some kind of kindred spirit, something she recognized. Even at his young age, she could tell he had been kicked around. He had a quality of recklessness, of not caring about the world, of knowing his days were numbered, of being ready to go out in style. And she liked that. It reminded her of an affair she’d had once with a young prince in Bulgaria, in the 1300s…
Maybe she didn’t need to kill him right away. Maybe she could keep him alive a bit longer. Take him along for the ride. Maybe, even, keep him alive after she found the sword. She could enslave him. He could be a plaything, to do with as she wished. Maybe even…
She stopped her line of thought, mad at herself. Was she getting soft?
She had to focus on the task ahead. His father. They would be there shortly, within the hour. If he was one of hers, was of the vampire race, she might be in for a fight, as he would sense her presence immediately. She had to be on guard as they pulled up.
She would do whatever it took, fight to the death if need be. This vampire was the key to the sword, the key to her coven’s victory. She would go to heaven or hell to make sure they got it.
*
As Sam drove, getting closer, letting the car’s navigation system direct him to his Dad’s address, he was confused. He had pictured his father living in a upscale town, off of a cool road, on a huge property in an awesome house.
But as the GPS announced that they were close, within a mile or so, Sam felt like something must be wrong. They were driving through a dump of a town—not even a town, really, but just a stretch of dumpy country road, with small, ranch trailers spread out here and there.
When the GPS announced that this was their last turn, Sam couldn’t believe his eyes. They drove under a huge sign that read: “Homestead Trailer Park.”
This was where his dad lived. In a trailer park.
As he slowly drove down the dirt road, past the spread out trailers, each one looking worse than the next, Sam began to feel a pit in his stomach, the familiar feeling of his dreams about to get crushed. He had been so stupid to get his hopes up. What an idiot he’d been.