Morgan Rice - Betrayed

She stood there, wiping her mouth and gasping for breath. She couldn’t remember ever throwing up like that, or for that long. And it had all been blood.

She did not feel herself, and for a moment she wondered if she was really sick. Her entire body’s chemistry felt off, even for a vampire.

As she sat there, breathing, one thing started to become clear: it had not been merely a dream. It was a message. Caleb needed her, she felt sure of it.

And she would do whatever she had to to save him.

Caitlin walked quickly through the woods, Rose at her side, and finally entered the little clearing where Aiden’s home was. It seemed so quiet in the morning light, and she wondered if he was asleep.

She doubted that he was. He didn’t seem to ever sleep. On the one hand, she barely saw him, but on the other hand, he seemed to be omnipresent on the island, the guiding hand that kept the place running smoothly.

He had said, when she’d first arrived, that if she ever needed anything, she shouldn’t hesitate come to him, that his door was always open. She hoped that he meant it. She hadn’t expected to ever come to him with anything, but now she really needed it. As she stood there before his door, hesitating, she worried about how their conversation might go.

Caitlin took a deep breath and finally reached up her hand to knock – and as soon as she did, it opened by itself. Standing there was Aiden, staring back with his resolved, steel-blue eyes, expressionless. He was a hard man to read. His eyes shone in the morning light, and once again, she felt as if he were a mountain, as if he’d been on this planet for thousands of years.

He silently turned and walked across the room, leaving the door open for her to follow. She did, Rose on her heels, and closed the door behind them.

Aiden was already seated behind his desk, hands folded across his chest, patiently watching her. Caitlin, nervous, took a seat across from him.

Of course he was awake. Of course he had been expecting her. She had forgotten, as always, the psychic powers of vampires – and especially of this one. He probably already knew everything she was about to say. Nonetheless, she had to say it. If nothing else, she had to hear it for herself.

She cleared her throat, nervous.

“I assume you already know why I’m here?” she began cautiously.

He stared back, neutral. “Why don’t you tell me,” he said.

“I dreamt last night of Caleb,” she said. “That he was in danger. But it felt like more than a dream to me. It felt… real .”

“Vampires do not visit each other in sleep casually,” Aiden replied. “Every dream is a visit. An intentional visit. And every dream bears a message. We are not like humans. We can control the dream world.”

Her eyes opened wide in worry.

“Then… it’s true?” she asked. “Caleb is in danger?”

Aiden nodded back gravely. “Yes,” he answered flatly. “Very much so.”

Caitlin felt her heart sink at his words, and she stood, too agitated to sit. How could he be so casual?

“Well – what – I – what do you mean? What do you know?” she asked.

“As much as you,” was all he said.

“Then if it’s true,” she said, pacing the room, “I… I can’t just sit here. I have to go to him. I have to help him.”

“Why?”

“Why?” she asked, confused. “What do you mean, why?”

“What is he to you?” he asked calmly.

Caitlin glared back at Aiden, angry now. Why would he ask her that? He knew how much she cared for Caleb. And he knew how much Caleb cared for her. He couldn’t possibly be asking that question literally.

No, she realized. As with everything Aiden said, it carried another message, a hint. He must be asking her rhetorically. He was trying to coax something out of her, like he always did. He wanted her to work it out on her own, to vocalize it. He wanted her to put a label on their relationship, to say it out loud. He was goading her towards something.

“Caleb is my…” Caitlin began, then trailed off. What could she say? Boyfriend was too weak of a term; husband wasn’t accurate, though. What was he exactly? Caitlin didn’t know the term to describe it.

“He’s my beloved,” she finally said.

Aiden nodded back, seemingly satisfied with the response. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Again, Caitlin stared at him, sensing that he was goading her towards some revelation. He wanted to know how sure she was, how sure of her own feelings. He must have sensed something else. Yes, that was it: he must have sensed some lingering feelings between her and Blake. Yes. It was a rebuke. He wanted her to get clear on her own feelings, wanted her to decide, to know for sure who she would commit to wholeheartedly.

He was right, she realized. She did have some lingering feelings for Blake. And if Caleb was truly her beloved, then she could not allow herself to have feelings for anyone else. It required an inner discipline, and this is what he what he was demanding of her.

“Yes,” Caitlin said finally, confidently, definitively. “Caleb. And only Caleb.”

Aiden nodded. “Good. Very good,” he said. “Vampire love is a very sacred thing. It is not something to be given lightly.”

“I have to help him,” Caitlin said again, emphatically. “I feel that he needs me.”

“He does,” Aiden said. “But you won’t be able to help him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Caleb has chosen his own mission. His own fate. He’s chosen to fight for his coven, his family. He’s chosen a very noble mission. “But he cannot win. The forces of darkness are just too strong, and he’s outnumbered. He lacks the full support of his own people. He has headed into a trap. There is no way out for him. And there is nothing – and no one – who can save him now.”

Caitlin stared back, shocked, feeling as if the wind had been sucked out of her.

“It is a fight you cannot win,” he continued. “You would only be enveloped in the darkness. If you were to try, you will surely die, too.”

Caitlin, speechless, felt a hot tear stream down her cheek. Deep down, she sensed that everything Aiden was saying was true.

“I’m sorry to tell you all of this, but you have to know it all. Your mission is too important. Caleb was right all along: you are the One. And that means you are the only one who can lead us to the shield. Without the shield, the sword will wreak destruction on an unimaginable scale. We need you. Our entire race needs you. The human race needs you. This coven – your new family – needs you. This is where you are supposed to be, where you must be. Your mission is here. You must train, get stronger, and one day, you will lead us to it. It has already been written.”

“But I must go to Caleb,” she said.

“No. I cannot let you jeopardize yourself, or more importantly, our people. I forbid you to go.”

Caitlin stared back, and her sadness began to morph to resentment, to anger. She hated authority, and hated anyone forbidding her to do anything. It pushed her over the edge.

“You can’t forbid me,” she said. “I am free to stay and go as I please. You said that when I got here.”

“What I said was that you can go when you please, but if you go without my permission, you can never return. Ever. Is that a sacrifice you are willing to make?”

Caitlin stood there, stunned. She didn’t know what to think. To give all of this up? This island, her new home, her new coven? All of her new friends? To plunge into darkness, to try to save Caleb, when Aiden insists that he cannot be saved? When he insists that she would die, too?

She knew that, logically, he was right. She needed to stay here.