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.
Before she could turn, she felt two huge, muscular arms grab her in a choke hold. It was the other one. He was quicker than she would have guessed. He grabbed her tightly, squeezing.
But he was not as agile as she. She could feel that he was strong, but lacked finesse. A young vampire, without half her experience. Probably why he had been assigned to guard duty.
She dropped to her knees, stepped to the side, swung her leg around behind his, and when she stood, he went flying backwards, she using his huge weight as leverage against him. He flew back over her shoulder, landing on his back on the stone. She could see that she had knocked the wind out of him, and before he could get up, she had already stepped on his throat, crushing it with the heel of her boot. She held her foot in place, pushing and squeezing, harder and harder, until finally, he stopped struggling, and he, too, passed out.
Samantha turned for the door. She checked both ways down the corridor, saw that no one was coming, and quickly went inside, closing and bolting it behind her. More guards would follow soon, she knew. But for now, she had time.
There he was. Sam. Seeing his face made it all worth it. He was chained against the far wall. Poor kid: he had probably been chained more in the last few days than he had in his life. He looked very pale, even for a human, and it was clear that he was in bad shape.
More than anything, he looked scared. His eyes opened wide at the sight of her, and he struggled against his chains, trying to speak, but prevented by the gag in his mouth.
Samantha hurried to him and removed the gag. He immediately started talking.
“Samantha, what the hell is going on!?” he asked in a rush. “Is this for real? Were those people really vampires? Are you a vampire? Are you going to kill me? Tell me I’m dreaming.”
Before she removed his chains, Samantha reached up, took hold of his cheeks with both her hands, leaned in and kissed him. It was a long kiss. At first, he resisted, scared, but then she felt him soften, and kiss her back.
The longer they kissed, the more she felt it. He still loved her.