by Morgan Rice
“GO!” she commanded, loudly.
He could hear the anger in her voice, and was surprised by her ferocity.
“Can I see you again?” Sam asked.
Kendra looked away, as she finished buttoning her blouse.
“Go see your little vampire friends,” she snapped. “They are clearly more important.”
Sam could see that there was no consoling her, and he didn’t want to waste any more time. He would have to deal with this later.
He kicked the horse and gal oped off, racing down the hil .
He only hoped Aiden would stil be there and that he could, final y, see him.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Caitlin stood in the sparring ring, surrounded by al of her coven members, Aiden watching intently off to the side.
After their training in the woods, he had brought her back to ring. She had been sparring—and winning—for hours now, and the crowd had grown considerably. She had fought nearly everyone in his coven, and had defeated them al .
She was now down to some of their very best warriors.
Word had spread, and now al the royals had gathered, too.
The marble steps were completely fil ed with them, along with tons of onlookers.
Caitlin felt as if she had come into her own. She fought with a skil unlike any she had ever experienced. She felt more fluid, more in control. She felt as if she knew what her opponent would do before he even did it. Whatever Aiden had taught her—and she stil wasn’t even exactly sure what that was—had sunk in deep, and as she fought, she heard his words in her head. Your own worst enemy is yourself.
The only one who can defeat you is you. This is about what you’re becoming.
She tried to sense things on a different level in battle. She even closed her eyes from time to time, and tried to feel the vibrations around her, to feel her opponent’s energy. She felt how she was rooted to the earth, and felt more and more her connections to physical objects. They came at her with swords, with lances, with al kinds of weaponry, and she tried to feel her connection to each one. There is no separation between you and the objects. The only separation is in your mind.
She became a much better fighter than she could have ever imagined. As two of Aiden’s biggest, meanest looking warriors charged her at once, one with a javelin, and the other with a long chain and bal , swinging wildly, she felt completely unfazed. For the first time, she no longer felt subject to her anger, her fury, her emotions. Instead, she waited patiently.
As the javelin was hurled at her, ful speed, she merely waited to the very last moment, and dodged out of the way.
It went flying by her, missing her by a mil imeter, and as it did, she reached up, and managed to grab it in mid-air.
She then, in the same motion, broke it in half and sent it flying back at her attacker—and its blunt tip hit him hard in the chest, sending him flying on his back.
In the same gesture, without pausing, she took the other half and caught the chain and bal in mid-air as her other opponent swung it at her. She yanked it from his hand sent it flying. She then took the butt of the javelin and jabbed him hard in the solo plexus. He dropped to his knees.
The crowd erupted into applause and admiration, as Caitlin stood there and faced Aiden, waiting for more.
“Long swords!” Aiden yel ed.
An attendant appeared, throwing a long sword her way.
She grabbed it in mid-air, waiting to see what opponent was left that could face her.
Aiden looked at her meaningful y, and she could tel that he was reserving someone to fight her that would truly throw her off guard.
“Blake!” he yel ed out.
Caitlin’s heart dropped. It couldn’t be.
From out of the thick crowd of vampires and royals, there emerged a single man, holding a long sword, with a scowl on his face.
Caitlin’s heart stopped. It was real y him. Blake.
He looked at her with cold, impersonal anger, and it broke her heart. What hurt her most was that there didn’t seem to be any recognition at al .
Aiden had chosen his final warrior wel . He had clearly designed the sparring to throw her off balance, to stir up her emotions in the midst of battle. And it had worked.
She no longer felt grounded, no longer felt herself. She struggled to get back to that grounded feeling, but it was not coming. She felt unnerved, on edge. She felt unable to control her storm of emotions.
Before she could col ect herself, Blake charged. He held his sword high, over his head, with perfect form, just as a good warrior should. He came in hard and fast and swung down right for Caitlin’s head. Caitlin could not believe his speed. They were only wooden swords, and the blow would not have kil ed her. But stil , it would have hurt her a lot. It was clear now that Blake did not remember her: he attacked her as he would his fiercest opponent.
Caitlin managed to duck out of the way, at the last second, as the wooden sword grazed her head.
She was stunned by it, and by Blake. But not hurt. At least not yet.
He turned and faced her again. Something in her could not get her to summon her skil as if she were facing a normal opponent. She knew she should lunge, should attack. But she just couldn’t bring herself to. Instead, she found herself remembering that time, in the Colosseum, when he gave up his life for her. Her heart broke with the thought of it. With the thought of how much she owed him.
He attacked her head-on, and she blocked his blows, blow for blow. But she did not attack back.
She could not get herself to.
Final y, after several swings, their swords locked, and he came in close to her, grunting and sweating, as he tried to push her down with al he had. Just inches away, she could see the anger in his face. And she could tel that he did not remember her at al .
“Blake,” she grunted, shoulder to shoulder. “It’s me. Caitlin.
Can’t you remember?”
He looked at her and final y, after seconds of struggling, spat, “You’re new here. I don’t know you, obviously.”
With that, he shoved her with al his strength, and he sent her back, rol ing in the dirt.
Caitlin rol ed and rol ed, and lay there in the dirt.
That’s when it hit home. Final y. He real y didn’t know her.
He real y was a stranger to her. She final y came to accept it, to accept the new circumstances.
She gained her feet with a new resolve. As he charged, ready to finish her off, she calmed herself and faced him as she would any other warrior. Final y, for the first time, she felt herself take control of her emotions. She realized that she didn’t need to let her emotions control her. She realized that she could control them. That she could be bigger than her emotions.
And that realization changed her life.
As Blake swung at her, while she was stil on the ground, she simply rol ed back, lifted her feet up, caught him by the stomach, and sent him flying, over her head.
The crowd oohed.
She jumped up to the ground, as he landed on his back, several feet away.
Blake jumped to his feet and spun and faced her, indignation on his face. He reached back, planted his feet, and with one sharp move, hurled his sword right at her.
It was a good move, a move that few warriors would make, a quick, unexpected move of converting a sword into a spear. And it had happened so fast, so quickly, that any other warrior would have fal en prey to it.
Caitlin saw it, but even with her enhanced senses, it had happened so quick, that she had no time to dodge or parry it. It was going to hit her.
So instead, she ground her feet to the earth, and realized it was time to use her new mental power. She summoned every bit of energy she had, and wil ed herself to use the new skil that Aiden had showed her.
In her mind, she felt the sword as it came close, felt its particles, its energy. She became one with it. And once she did, she wil ed it to change direction.
At the
last second, it did. Caitlin’s mind changed the direction of the sword, sent it flying up in the air, far above her head, and into the dirt.
The crowd gasped, as did Blake. It was incredible. Caitlin had managed to move the object without even touching it.
Clearly, she had powers above and beyond any of the others here.
Everyone was stunned.
Caitlin charged Blake now, with her bamboo sword, and went to finish him off. He lifted his Shield as she struck furiously, left and right, slashing and jabbing. She tired him down, beat him back, blow after blow. He final y col apsed to one knee, holding up the Shield. And Caitlin was but a blow away from winning the match.
But suddenly, she was distracted. She saw someone standing in the distance, amidst the crowd.
And despite al of her composure, al of her training, her jaw dropped wide open in shock, as she dropped her sword in mid swing.
Everyone in the crowd turned to see what she was staring at.
A boy stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her, also in shock.
He walked right up to her, reached out his arms wide, and hugged her.
She hugged him back, and felt her eyes wel up with tears.
It was her brother. Sam.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
As Caleb flew away from his home, from Caitlin, his heart was breaking. He had seen the hurt on her face, and the last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt her. He had never imagined he would ever leave her side. There was nothing he wanted more than to stay there, and be with her.
In fact, he had been preparing to propose to her.
But the news of his son was just too much to handle. It was not about Sera—if the message had come from anywhere in the world, he would have dropped everything and raced to see his son. Sera was, in fact, the last thing on his mind.
But Jade was overwhelmingly on his mind. He stil felt crushed by guilt for letting him die back in Venice. He would do anything—anything—to have him back. And if that meant having to interact with Sera, even briefly, he would do it. And if that meant having to leave Caitlin’s side, at least for now, he simply had no choice. As much as it pained him, he could not stand the idea of not seeing his son ever again.
Caleb flew along the coastline, watching the landscape change, watching the rol ing hil s turn to meadows then to forests, then back to hil s again. He remembered, of course, where Sera’s place had been, in a medieval vil age far in the South of France. It had been her stronghold for centuries, and he knew he would find them there.
He flew faster, wanting to race back to Caitlin, and excited to see his son alive again. He wondered how it was possible. How could he possibly be alive? He was sure that once he was dead, there was no bringing him back. After al , his son was stil not a ful -fledged vampire. He could not be resurrected.
He thought of the year. 1789. Only two years prior to the last time he had seen him. He wondered if that was it? Maybe it was because he had gone back such a short time? Maybe that meant that his son was stil alive, just two years younger. That would seem to make sense.
But it was his understanding that for a human, if one changed the future then one changed the past—and thus one’s dying in 1791 would wipe out their 1789 existence.
Meaning, Jade could not be alive now.
Caleb was confused. He couldn’t figure it out logical y, but he didn’t real y care. He just wanted to see Jade again.
Caleb dove down, lower, circling the shoreline, and final y spotted it: Sera’s Castle. It was stark and dramatic against the coastline, with spires reaching up into the sky, riddled with courtyards and terraces.
As he expected, Sera was there, below, standing on an upper rampart, looking up to the skies, watching, waiting for him. She lit up with a huge smile upon seeing him.
But Caleb was already annoyed. He did not see Jade by her side. And the last thing he wanted to do was smile back. He could tel by her expression that she was already fantasizing that this was more than a visit. It was the way she looked at him, like they were already together again.
Would she ever change?
Caleb dove down and landed on the rampart, about ten feet away from her, and she immediately walked up to him.
“My love,” she announced, triumphantly, opening her arms wide to embrace him.
But he scowled back at her, and held out a palm, stopping her from approaching.
“Sera,” he said sharply. “This is not about you and I. This is about Jade. You said he is alive.
Where is he?”
Caleb felt that he had to be firm. He did not want her to enter into any more of her fantasies of their being together.
Sera, ignoring his question, sighed.
“You pretend you do not care for me. But that is only because you care about me too deeply. I can feel your desire. It is like a beacon, cal ing to me.”
Caleb shook his head.
“You stil live in a fantasy. We are over. Now, where is my son?” he asked, more firmly.
But she just shook her head again.
“You and I, we always had so much potential. You were just afraid to let yourself feel your true feelings for me.”
Caleb stepped closer and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Sera, I’m not playing games anymore.
Where is he!?” he demanded.
She looked him right in the eyes, then slowly smiled and turned, heading down a spiral stone staircase.
“Fol ow me,” she said, her back to him.
Caleb fol owed her down the staircase, through the lower courtyard of the castle, his heart beating with anticipation to see his boy again. He wondered what he looked like, how old he was.
He fol owed sera as she walked into a huge, master bedroom, with gigantic windows facing the ocean. But he did not see any sign of him.
As soon as he walked in, she closed the door behind them.
She walked over to the huge, four-poster bed, sat on the corner of it, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt.
She looked up at him and smiled seductively.
“Caleb,” she said, “you know why you’re here.”
Caleb looked at her, puzzled.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know as wel as I do,” she said. “Stop playing games.
You know that Jade is not here.”
Caleb felt his blood go cold. He could barely speak.
“Tel me where he is,” he hissed.
She stood up, smiling wider, her shirt unbuttoned, and walked closer to him, laying one hand seductively on his shoulder.
“Stop playing dumb,” she said. “You know that our son is no longer alive.”
With those words, Caleb felt as if he’d been stabbed in the gut. He reflexively pushed Sera back, away from him.
She looked at him, shocked that he would push her away.
He felt his anger overflowing, as he realized, at that moment, that he had been tricked. He felt like such a fool.
And more than anything, he felt crushed that Jade was no longer alive.
“How could you have done this!?” he wailed, hearing his own voice breaking. “You lied! You tricked me!”
“Oh grow up!” she snapped back. “You’re not real y that naïve. You knew there was no way he could live. But our love— that stil lives. Yes, I needed an excuse to bring you here. But now that you’re here, we’re together. That’s al that matters. And now, we can have a new child!”
Caleb wheeled and began to storm from the room, not trusting himself to even look in her direction. He was too furious, and too devastated.
But before he reached the door, he felt her icy grip on his arm, her nails digging into his flesh, as she spun him back around.
Now, she was scowling.
“Don’t you dare walk out on us!” she hissed. “Not after al we’ve been through!”
He glared back at her.
“Mark my words,” he said slowly, in a v
oice of steel, “I wil never see you again as long as I live.
Whether it is this life, or any other life. Nothing you can say or do wil ever bring me back into your presence.”
And with that, he shook off her arm, and stalked out of the room.
“Caleb!” she shrieked. “Caleb! Come back to me! I’m sorry!”
As Caleb hurried up the spiral staircase, heading to the roof, he could hear her wails and screams echoing throughout the huge, empty, medieval castle. And even as he reached the roof and flew off into the sky, he could stil hear her wailing, as her screams became one with the wind and birds and crashing of the waves.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Sam walked arm in arm with Caitlin through the formal grounds of Versail es. He had been so shocked to find her here, and to see her fighting. He had been so proud, watching his big sister. At first, he hadn’t realized it was her. He had just stood there, with the others, watching in awe as the tournaments continued.
He had been shocked to discover that the greatest warrior of them al was actual y his big sister.
He was in awe of her skil s. He’d never seen anyone fight that way. It was a combination of a human warrior, and a vampire master. She moved with lightning speed, striking, slashing, dodging, doing things he couldn’t even imagine. It was like watching art in motion.
After it had been over, after they had embraced, Caitlin had been surrounded by wel -wishers, people congratulating her in every direction. Even Aiden had come over, and had nodded approvingly. Sam had wanted to talk to Aiden, but Aiden didn’t even look his way, and immediately disappeared. And having found Caitlin, Sam felt no reason to need to talk to Aiden anymore anyway.
Caitlin had clearly been in her element. Sam had felt a rush of admiration for her, and pride that he was related to her.
And what felt even more special to him was that, despite al the wel -wishers who wanted to talk to her, Caitlin only wanted to leave the crowd and walk off alone with Sam. He was delighted to see that she missed him as much as he had missed her.