Destined (18 page)

Indeed, as they stared each other, even from this distance, she could sense a strong kinship with the boy. Her heart warmed, and she almost felt as if he were her own son.

Jade jumped up, his eyes opening wide at the site of Rose. He ran towards her and gave her a big hug, and she was equally delighted at the site of the boy. She reached up her paws, hugging him back, and licking him all over his face.

“What’s her name?” he asked, as he stroked her fur. He still had the high-pitched voice of a boy.

“Rose.”

“Can I keep her?” he asked.

Despite herself, Caitlin burst into laughter. She had forgotten how unexpected children could be.

“Um…I’m not sure. But you can pet her. It’s obvious she really likes you.”

“Really?” Jade asked, his eyes opening wider. He and Rose played with each other, fake wrestling: he threw her head back and forth, and she pretended to bite his arm, then let go. Caitlin marveled at the site. They looked like two old friends who hadn’t seen each other in forever.

“Rose, gentle,” Caitlin chided, alarmed at their rough play.

Rose immediately backed off, and ran to Caitlin’s side.

“She was just playing,” Jade said. Then added: “Who are you, anyway?”

It was hard to concentrate with his eyes on her. He looks so much like Caleb, so intense. Caitlin could recognize that this was a very powerful boy.

“I feel like I know you from somewhere,” he added.

“I’m Caitlin,” she said, extending her hand.

Jade reached up and shook it, trying his hardest to look like an adult. Caitlin smiled, and had to keep from laughing.

“I’m Jade,” he said.

“What are you doing out here by yourself, Jade?”

“I’m waiting for my dad,” he said, then suddenly turned back to the water.

Caitlin looked out, too, but there remained no sight of him.

“He usually comes in around this time. Before it gets dark. Mom said I could come down here and wait.”

Jade sat back down where he’d been, on the edge of the dock, his legs dangling off, his back to Caitlin, looking out.

“You can wait with me if you want,” he said, tentatively.

Caitlin felt grateful for the offer. She didn’t quite know what to say. This was not how she had expected things to go down. If she waited with him, would Caleb be mad to see her sitting there with his son? Would it make the wrong impression? And what if Sera showed up?

Then again, Caitlin didn’t know what else to do.

Rose didn’t hesitate. She went over and sat beside Jade. Caitlin decided to follow.

The three of them sat on the edge of the pier, looking out at the water, the sun breaking. Jade reached up and stroked Rose’s head.

“You’re the lady we saw last night, right?” Jade suddenly asked.

“Yes,” Caitlin said.

“My mom got mad after we left. She kept asking dad who you were. He said he didn’t know. She thought he was lying,” Jade said.

Caitlin bit back a smile. Kids were so honest. She was tempted to ask more, but she held off.

That wouldn’t be fair.

They sat in the silence, looking out, and Caitlin was surprised at how comfortable the silence was between them. It was almost as if he were a part of her family.

“Do you wait for your Dad here every day?” she asked.

Jade shrugged. “Mostly,” he said. “He said that when I’m bigger, next year, I can go with him.

This island is boring. I want to train. I want to learn how to fight,” he said, a determined edge in his voice.

Caitlin looked at him, surprised at the sudden strength in his voice.

“Why would you want to do that?” she asked.

“Because I’m going to be a great warrior one day,” he said. It wasn’t bravado. He stated it as simply as if he were stating a fact. And Caitlin believed him. She could sense it, coming off of him, off of every pore in his body. This was a proud, young child, a born warrior. He felt like an ancient soul, and a noble being.

“And what does your Dad think of that?”

Jade shrugged. “He wants me to go to school,” he said. “I hate school.”

Jade’s eyes lowered to Caitlin’s neckline, then suddenly opened wide.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “What a necklace. It’s beautiful. Can I have it?”

Caitlin reached down and felt her necklace; she had forgotten, as always, that she was wearing it.

She was surprised by how transfixed the boy was to it; she felt bad saying no, but she couldn’t give it away.

But then again, why couldn’t she? And to Jade, of all people? If anyone else had asked her, she would have refused—but there was something about the way he looked at it. Somehow, for some odd reason, it suddenly felt right for her for him to have it. Perhaps, in some small way, it would connect her to Caleb, complete some sort of chain.

She gingerly removed it and handed it to him.

His eyes opened even wider as he took it.

“Really?” he said, clearly surprised that she had agreed. “My Dad would kill me if he knew that I asked you for it. He says I shouldn’t ask for things.”

Caitlin smiled. “I won’t tell.”

Jade put it on, and immediately, it looked like he’d always worn it. He was thrilled.

He turned back to the water, and they sat there in the silence, looking out. They watched together as the sky grew darker.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he turned to her, and fixed his intense eyes right on her.

“Are you going to be my mommy?” he asked.

Caitlin was shocked. She was so caught off guard, she hardly knew how to respond. She was utterly speechless. Why would he ask such a question? Was he seeing something in the future? In the past?

As she opened her mouth to speak, suddenly, a noise came from the water.

“Daddy!” exclaimed the boy, leaping to his feet, nearly jumping out of his skin with excitement.

Caleb suddenly pulled his gondola right up to the side of the dock. He secured the boat and jumped onto pier.

Caitlin quickly jumped to her feet, too, caught off guard by the quickness with which he approached.

Jade hugged Caleb’s leg tightly.

“Daddy, did you meet Rose?” he asked.

Caleb looked down, as Rose licked his hand.

Caleb placed a hand on Jade’s head, and stared at Caitlin.

He paused. “Jade, can you give us a minute?” he asked, his eyes on Caitlin. “Run home to mommy. I’ll be right there.”

Jade hurried across the plaza, practically skipping with excitement.

“Come on, Rose!” he yelled.

Rose took off at a sprint after him. Caitlin was shocked. Rose had never left her side before, for anyone. It made her sad, but it also pleased her that Rose had found someone she loved so much.

Caitlin stood there, facing Caleb, who stared back at her with intensity. Her heart pounded, as she wondered what he would say. She had no idea what to say herself.

Did he, finally, remember her?

Kyle hurried down the staircase, deep into the Venice jail, and as he reached the lower levels, he saw that it was exactly as he remembered it. There was a low, arched ceiling, like a wine cellar, and on either side, were dozens of cells, behind thick iron bars. It was loud down here, hundreds of prisoners’ hands sticking out through the bars, yelling out to Kyle as he walked down the aisle.

He wasted no time. He tore at the iron bars with his bare hands, and the iron gave way as he bent it back with a groaning noise, just enough for the prisoners to squeeze out. He did this with each cell as he went, opening one after the other, and in moments, the corridor was flooded with rowdy prisoners, thrilled and bewildered. They all looked to Kyle, all seeming to wonder who he was, how they had earned such good luck. They were jubilant, shouting, victorious.

Kyle held up a hand, and they quieted.

“I have freed you all tonight,” Kyle began in a loud, commanding voice, “to fulfill a mission for me. The streets of Venice are yours tonight. You will rape and loot and rob and destroy and cause as much trouble as you possibly can. You will not get arrested again, I assure you of that. This is why I have freed you. I have done you a great favor. I expect you to do one for me. Does anyone here object?”

There was a brief, stunned silence.

“What makes you think you can tell us what to do?” suddenly shouted one particularly nasty-looking prisoner, a large bald man with a huge scar across his nose, approaching Kyle threateningly.

Kyle leapt towards him, and in one motion tore the man’s head clean off his body. Blood spurted everywhere, as the corpse dropped to the ground.

The crowd of prisoners stared back at him, shocked.

“Does anyone else have any objections?” Kyle asked. It was not a question.

No one else dared defy him.

“Then go!” Kyle yelled.

With a shout, they all scattered like mice, turning and racing up the stairs. Based on their jubilant yells, Kyle could tell they would cause the trouble he wished for.

But Kyle’s work was not done. He headed down the corridor, and descended yet a smaller flight of steps.

He arrived in an even lower, subterranean level of the jail, this one darker, more poorly lit, with fewer cells. And dead quiet. A few torches glowed faintly, and he went up close to a cell. He took a torch off the wall, and held it to the metal, and examined it: as he feared, these gates were not made of iron. They were made of silver.

As he held up the torch, suddenly, a face appeared at it—the grotesque face of a vampire of the Lagoon Coven, one of the darkness and nastiest of them all. He had huge fangs which stuck out of his mouth, tiny lips, and eyes that were entirely red. He practically snarled as he breathed. It was a disgusting creature.

All around him, these creatures slowly came to their bars, all grunting at Kyle.

Kyle reached into a pouch on his belt, extracted a powder, and stood back as he threw it onto the silver. He waited, then reached out, grabbed the bars, and tore them off the wall.

A dozen vampires, some of the nastiest creatures Kyle had ever seen, slowly filed out, all pent up, all ready to wreak damage.

“Follow me,” Kyle said.

He could feel them all following, close behind. These needed no instructions. Tearing things apart came naturally to them.

Kyle smiled as they ascended, heading for the night.

Caitlin looked into Caleb’s eyes. As he stood there, she sensed that some part of him did recognize her, was trying so hard to remember.

“It’s strange,” he said. “I dreamt of you last night. I hardly know you, yet somehow, I couldn’t shake the thought of you.”

Caitlin’s heart soared with hope.

“Do you remember me at all?” she asked.

“Somehow…I feel like I do,” he said. “But…I just can’t recall. How do we know each other?”

She paused, debating what to say. Would all of her words, all of her actions, as Aiden warned, now influence the future? What if she said the wrong thing?

She decided to just tell him the truth. This was her moment. It was now or never.

“We know each other in the future,” she said, her heart racing.

Would he think she was crazy?

Even as she said it, she wished she hadn’t. She worried if, by saying it, she somehow created a rip in time, told him something he wasn’t meant to know, affected how things would play out down the road.

He furrowed his brow as he stared back at her.

“We were together once,” she added. She couldn’t stop herself; it was too late now. “Or, rather, we
will
be together once. I’ve come back in time to save you. I didn’t… I didn’t know you’d be with someone else. I didn’t know you had a child. Well at least, not at this moment in time…I’m sorry,”

she said, stuttering, feeling foolish, “I…didn’t mean to intrude. I had no idea. I was hoping you’d remember…I guess…I was…hoping things would be different. I realize…I know, this must all sound crazy.”

Caitlin, trembling, suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. She could no longer control her tears, and she quickly turned to leave.

But as she did, she felt a strong hand on her wrist.

Caleb held her there, stopping her. She could feel the pulse racing through his palm.

Slowly, she turned. Tears poured down her cheeks as she stared into his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant to hurt you. I do feel something between us. I really do. But I don’t know what it is. And…” he said, pausing, “I’m so sorry, but I just can’t remember you.”

Caitlin nodded slowly, understanding. At that moment, she realized that there was no hope anymore for them. She felt so stupid to have come back, to be standing here, to be intruding in his life this way. She felt terrible. She had been so selfish. She should have just taken last night as closure. Why couldn’t she have just moved on?