Morgan Rice - Betrayed

All of the other coven members stared, in shock. Even Polly was in shock, too dumbfounded to say anything. Aiden nodded at them: “Leave us.”

Within seconds, they all filtered out of the courtyard.

Now it was just Caitlin and Aiden alone, Caleb’s body between them.

Aiden leaned down and lay a palm on Caleb’s forehead. Caitlin stared at him, crying, hoping for any bit of hope.

Finally, after several seconds, Aiden shook his head.

“He is dead. The life force has left him. Stabbed with a very powerful weapon. The Sword, was it not?”

Caitlin nodded between tears.

“And what have you done with it?” he asked.

“I left it!” she yelled.

Aiden suddenly stood, scowling.

“Stupid girl. You have put us all at risk. Now my island will be attacked! You have brought war on all of us. Your actions were foolish. Selfish!”

“I know. I’m sorry. Please, just help,” she said.

“There is nothing I can do,” he said.

“PLEASE!” she pleaded. “There has to be something. There HAS to be!”

Several moments of silence followed, filled only by the sound of her crying.

“I am afraid there is not,” he finally replied.

“But you told me, you once said that vampires can go back in time. Is that true? You told me that my father was back in time somewhere. That means that Caleb and I can go back, together, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it !?”

She was hysterical.

Aiden stared, thinking.

“The method you speak of, as I once told you, is very unsafe. Most vampires die by trying.

Caitlin looked up at him, hopefully.

“But there is a chance, isn’t there!?” she pleaded.

“Are you prepared to lose your life?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said without hesitating.

“Are you certain of this?”

“Absolutely certain,” she said.

“Very well,” he said. “Follow me.”

Caitlin, carrying Caleb’s dead body, followed Aiden through the forest, Rose at her heels, trailed by her former covenmates.

They all entered the forest clearing, and Caitlin followed Aiden into the center, as the others stood in a loose, wide circle around her.

Aiden stood opposite her, as she lay Caleb’s body down on the grass. A large, full moon hung over them, lighting the clearing.

“There is an ancient ritual among vampires, one seldom used,” Aiden said. “Among humans, it is used as a way to kill a vampire forever. But among vampires, it is a way to resurrect them.

“You will lie here, at Caleb’s side, and we will hold a funeral service for you both, and repeat it three times. If it works, on the third time, you will both be revived, together. Either that, or you will both die for good.

“IF you are revived, you must know that it will not be in this time. You will both wake in a new life, a new place, a new time. You cannot move forward in time, so you will move backwards. We don’t know what place, or what time era.”

“But we will be together?” Caitlin asked.

“You will both be in that time and place, yes. But memories will be wiped clean. Maybe not yours, but definitely his. He has already died, so if you see him again in the new lifetime, he will not remember you. It will be like meeting him for the first time. You will be a complete stranger to him. He may not even like you. Do you understand?”

“I don’t care,” Caitlin said.

“You will also never be able to return to the present time. So you will say goodbye to this life, this current life, forever. You must be prepared to sacrifice everything you know, to go back to a foreign time and place, and be with a Caleb who will not recognize you, and who may not like you. It is also possible that you might survive the journey but that he may not. You may end up entirely alone in another lifetime. Are you prepared for all of this? And most of all, are you prepared for this to not work? Are you prepared to die, forever?”

Through her tears, Caitlin looked up again. “Please. I’ll do anything.”

Aiden looked at her gravely for several seconds, as the tense silence hung over all of them.

“Very well,” he said finally, slowly. “Lay down beside him.”

Caitlin lay on her back, on the grass, right beside Caleb. She looked up at the sky, at the huge full moon, and saw the clouds passing over it.

“Take his hand.”

Caitlin reached over, and grasped Caleb’s cold hand in hers, clasping it tightly.

Rose suddenly came running over, and lay down between them, looking at Caitlin and whining.

“Gather around,” Aiden said to the other coven members.

The other members all closed the circle, now standing just a few feet from Caitlin and Caleb, all looking down.

“Caitlin, close your eyes. Imagine a time and a place. Imagine where you would like to be, what time you would like to live in. Hold it in your mind. Don’t let it go. And everyone else, repeat after me.”

As Caitlin lay there, looking up at the moon, she felt her heart pounding, and desperately tried to think. She had no idea where she wanted to be, what time period she wanted to live in. All she knew was that she wanted to be with Caleb. She wanted it so much, her heart almost burst.

“We hereby lay thee down to rest,” came Aiden’s soft voice.

“We hereby lay thee down to rest,” echoed the chorus of vampires.

“Caitlin and Caleb, to resurrect another day.”

“Caitlin and Caleb, to resurrect another day.”

“In God’s ultimate grace.”

“In God’s ultimate grace.”

Caitlin heard the soft voices of her coven members, repeating the mantra a second time. As she did, she felt a tremendous heaviness overcome her, and felt her eyes begin to close.

And then, suddenly, she began to hear music. Beautiful, sweet music. It was the song that Caleb had played, back in the whaling Church, in Edgartown. Beethoven’s Pathétique.

And as she heard the mantra being repeated a third and final time, heard the final expression, “in God’s ultimate grace,” she felt her world begin to spin. She felt Caleb’s presence, more strongly than she ever had, and she knew, she just knew, that somewhere, somehow, they would be together again.

And then, her world was blackness.

DESTINED

(Book #4 in the Vampire Journals)

In DESTINED (Book #4 in the Vampire Journals), Caitlin Paine wakes to discover herself back in time. She finds herself in a cemetery, on the run from a mob of villagers, and seeks refuge in the ancient cloisters of Assisi, in the countryside of Umbria, Italy. There, she learns of her destiny and her mission: to find her father and the ancient vampire Shield needed to save mankind.

But Caitlin’s heart still pines for her lost love: Caleb. She desperately needs to know if he has survived their trip back in time. She learns that her mission requires her to go to Florence, but if she wants to pursue matters of the heart, she must go to Venice. She chooses Venice.

Caitlin is overwhelmed at what she finds. Venice of the eighteenth century is a surreal place, men and women dressed in elaborate costumes and masks, celebrating an endless, lavish party. She is thrilled to discover and reunite with some of her close friends, and to be welcomed back into their coven. And she is excited to join them in Venice’s Grand Ball, the most important costume dance of the year, where she hopes, once again, to find Caleb.

But Caitlin is not the only one who can travel back in time: Kyle soon arrives, too, and is determined to hunt her down and kill her once and for all. Sam, too, arrives, determined to save his sister before it is too late.