Caleb was happy in this time and place. He loved being here, with Caitlin and Scarlet and Ruth and all the others, and he felt relaxed, as if he could let his guard down. The search for the final key was of course in the back of his mind, but he knew there was little that could be done until the new clue’s location revealed itself to Caitlin.
Until then, they could sit back and enjoy. After all, how often did one get married? He was happy to take some time and slow down, and focus on the wedding. He just wanted things to remain the same, to go smoothly, at least until the wedding was over. After that, they could allow their mission to take them wherever it needed to go.
Caleb reflected on all the times and places he’d already been with Caitlin, and he realized, once again, how much he loved her. She had truly become a part of him; at this point, he couldn’t imagine life without her. Once again, he felt a brief pang of anxiety, as he wondered what would happen once they found the final clue. Would they still be allowed to be together? What would their future look like?
As Caleb stood there, leaning against the cold stone rampart in the October morning, wondering if they would ever have a family together, suddenly, there came a voice:
“There you are.”
Caleb wheeled, surprised that anyone else was up here. A part of him immediately recognized the voice, but another part refused to believe it could be possible.
Caleb’s heart stopped as he turned and saw her. Sure enough, it was her. Standing there, not ten feet away, facing him. Looking as intense and passionate as she always had.
Sera.
Caleb was speechless.
She took a few, deliberate, steps forward, smiling crookedly.
“Miss me?” she asked.
Caleb started to answer, then stopped. He had no idea what to say. He was at a total loss for words. How could she possibly do this? Appear here, and now, at this time and place? When his wedding was just hours away?
Then again, he realized he shouldn’t be surprised. She’d always had a way, as long as he’d known her, of appearing at the worst possible moments, of ruining anything and everything good in his life. He felt his frustration building.
“You don’t have to answer,” Sera continued, getting closer. “I can sense it. You miss me terribly. But you don’t have to worry any longer: I’m here now.”
She took a few more steps forward, and then reached up to lay a hand on his shoulder, putting on her most seductive look.
Caleb took a step back and let her hand fall in the air, not wanting to be touched by her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked coldly.
She slowly shook her head.
“That’s the Caleb I always knew,” she said. “Still playing hard to get. Still afraid to let your feelings for me be known. But that’s okay. I know how you truly feel.”
“You must leave, Sera,” Caleb responded. “I’m sorry that you came, but you are not welcome here. This is our time now. Caitlin’s time, and my time.”
Sera scowled.
“Don’t say her name in front of me,” she spat. “She doesn’t count. You know that. You merely turn to her because you cannot have me. I know that you long for me.
“I’ve arrived, before your wedding day, to save you from what you don’t really want. This is your chance. Your last chance, before you make the biggest mistake of your life. Come back to me. To our home, to France. We will start a new family. We will be happy, like we’d been before.”
Caleb shook his head, amazed at how deeply she still lived in fantasy, especially after all these years.
“I am truly sorry,” he began, “but I have not loved you for centuries. I thought I made that clear. I’m not playing a game. I’m not playing hard to get. I sincerely do not have feelings for you anymore. So I ask respectfully that you leave me now. And that you do not return.”
“Then you admit you had feelings for me once?” she asked.
Caleb thought about that. “Once. Centuries ago. Lifetimes ago.”
She smiled. “That’s all I needed to hear. If you had feelings for me once, you can have feelings for me again. After all, I have not changed.”
“But I have,” Caleb answered. “I’m not the Caleb that you once knew. I have grown, and changed. Caitlin has changed me. I love her now. I really do. And I will marry her. I look forward to marrying her. And nothing that you can say or do will ever make a difference.”
“And what about our son?” Sera snapped, practically in tears. “Jade,” she snapped again, using the name as a weapon. “Have you so conveniently forgotten about him? Does he mean nothing to you?”
Caleb felt tears well in his eyes at the thought of his son. He missed him dearly, every day, but nothing he could would bring him back now. He’d finally come to peace with that.
“I’m sorry, Sera, but Jade is gone. Nothing we can do will ever change that.”
Caleb turned and began to walk away, realizing that nothing he said would change her mind, and hoping that maybe she would just disappear.
But moments later, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder, and felt it yank him, spin him back around.
Now, she was scowling, her face transformed by rage.
“You dare to disrespect me?” Sera asked. “Me? The one that you have loved for centuries?” She looked Caleb up and down, as if he were an insect. “How far you have fallen. Now you are just a pathetic creature.”
“Are you finished?” Caleb asked.
Her face deepened with rage.
“No. I’m not finished. I will never be finished. No one rejects me. No one!” She was practically spitting the words, like a madwoman. “Today, you have made the greatest mistake of your life. If I cannot be a part of your life, then neither can she. And if you will not have me as a lover, then you will have me as an enemy. On this day, right before your wedding, I lay upon you a curse: I pronounce that I will devote the rest of my life tearing you two apart. Destroying what you have built. From here on in, I am your sworn enemy.”
Caleb saw the different colors flashing in her eyes, and as he did, he felt the seriousness of her curse – and it sent a cold shiver up his spine. It was like a curse uttered from the depths of hell. And he could tell that she meant it.
Before he could open his mouth to respond, Sera suddenly turned and launched into the air, flying away, her huge black wings flapping.
As Caleb watched her rise into a fog, he felt a deepening sense of apprehension. He felt the cold and the damp rise up around him, and he knew that wherever she was flying, it couldn’t possibly be good.
Chapter Twelve
As Kyle swung in the air, upside down, tied by his feet to the silver rope, he looked up at Rynd – those large, lifeless black eyes, that awful scowl – and watched him swing the huge silver sword, aiming right for his throat. He knew this moment might be his last on earth. In a way, Kyle was relieved. He had been living for centuries too long, he knew that, and death might bring a peaceful reprieve.
On the other hand, as Kyle thought about it, he realized that death, in his case, would not bring a reprieve at all – but rather a quick descent into hell. He knew what he had to look forward to was a millennium of battling with demons, of being tortured by sick creatures, and he was not especially looking forward to. More importantly, he still had unfinished business on earth. He thought of Caitlin, of Caleb, of Sam, of how much he hated them all, and of how he just couldn’t leave without tearing each one of them to pieces, making them suffer as he had suffered – and it gave him a whole new determination to live.
Kyle summoned one last breath, and quickly screamed out the one thing he knew that might, just might, stop Rynd from finishing his swing:
“I can lead you to the Holy Grail!”
As Kyle watched, Rynd stopped his swing in mid-air, just inches before it reached his throat. He slowly, gradually, lowered it, scowling down.