Destined (23 page)

“What is it?” Blake asked, coming close.

“That sarcophagus,” Caitlin said. “The name on it. Elizabeth Payne.”

Blake looked at it, then looked back and Caitlin.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“My mother,” she said, staring. “They say vampires can be buried in many places. This is the second tomb of hers that I’ve seen.” She looked closely around the room. “I don’t know what it means, but I know that I’m in the right place.”

Caitlin scrutinized everything in the room with a new perception. She scanned the frescoes, the statues, the altar, the sarcophagi, looking for something, she didn’t know what. But she felt certain she’d know it when she saw it.

And then suddenly, she did.

She couldn’t believe it. There, in the center of the room, beside a large marble column, was a limestone, circular staircase, twisting and turning, winding its way up, about fifteen feet, to a large, stone pulpit. It looked exactly like the pulpit in the King’s Chapel in Boston. The pulpit where she’d found the Sword. But this one was larger, and entirely carved of stone.

As Caitlin stared at it, she knew that the answer she sought was inside it.

She found herself pulled towards it, like a magnet, and found herself climbing, ascending its stairs. As Blake watched, she twisted her way higher and higher, and finally reached the top.

At the top was a small, circular landing, and from up here, she had a commanding view of the church. She wondered how many priests had stood up here during the centuries.

She examined its small, stone walls, its ledges, looking for a clue, anything. Remembering the pulpit in Boston, she reached out and felt the walls carefully, checking for a secret compartment.

Suddenly, her fingers ran across something that didn’t feel quite right. It was the tiniest crack, between the marble. She slid a finger in, running it alongside it, looking for a secret latch.

She found it. It was the tiniest lever. She pushed it as hard as she could.

As she did, she heard the hissing of sealed air, released for the first time in centuries. She pulled at the stone, and there, indeed, was a secret compartment.

She looked inside, and her eyes opened wide in amazement. She was utterly shocked by what she saw.

But before she could react, Caitlin felt herself constricted.

Disoriented, she looked up, trying to understand what was happening, and as she did, she saw a silver netting, seemingly dropping from the sky, encasing her, wrapping around her. She saw a dozen vampires, tightening it around her, and felt herself falling to the ground.

She looked up, and the last thing she saw was Kyle, standing over her, half his face disfigured and missing an eye. He looked down at her with an evil grin. He lifted his foot, aiming for her face, and she saw it coming down, getting closer, and closer.

And then her world was blackness.

Caleb stood in the rear of the funeral gondola, standing straight, chin proudly forward, as he rode with as much dignity as he could muster. Lying in the boat before him, wrapped in a black shroud, was the body of his boy. It was a boat just for the two of them, the customary funerary gondola, all-black, and longer than usual.

Sera would not join him. She had been inconsolable, and she had blamed Caleb. Although he was the one who’d asked her to stay with Jade, she was being irrational, and faulted
him
. She’d refused to attend the funeral, and refused to even be in his presence. She’d insisted on a divorce.

Caleb was reeling. It was so much at once, but the greater pain, to be sure, was Jade. He and Sera had been at odds lately, anyway, and he knew the day was fast approaching of their divorce. But Jade—that was a different matter altogether.

Caleb did his best to hold back his tears, but it was a futile effort. He had loved this boy more than he could ever possibly express, had seen all his hopes and wishes and dreams in him. It was not possible for full-blood vampires to procreate, and this boy had been the product of his union with Sera before he’d turned her. It was an illegal union, which was later sanctioned, and thus Caleb was one of the few vampires who actually had a child. But a child like this would never come along again, he knew. As he rode, as he looked down at the body, he knew that all his hopes and dreams would be buried with it.

More than that, he truly loved the boy. He had a warrior’s spirit, a heart bigger than any adult he’d ever met. Caleb had been proud not only to be his father, but also to know him as a friend, as a compatriot on this Earth. It devastated Caleb to know that he would no longer be with him. He would miss waking up to his being there, his companionship, their conversation. It was like a part of Caleb had been chopped off.

Next to Jade, also wrapped in a shroud, was Rose. Even in the short time they’d spent together, the two of them had a stronger connection than he’d ever seen. He knew that being buried together would be what the boy wanted.

As Caleb rowed, his entire coven rowed with him, hundreds of funerary gondolas, all-black, right behind him. Samuel rowed closest. They all headed solemnly through the grand Canal, heading towards the Isle of the Dead.

As they reached the island, the water gates opened wide to greet them. It was a rare thing for two vampire covens to come together on any issue, but in this, they were all unified.

Dozens of additional funeral gondolas waited to greet them, Aiden’s coven anxious to accompany them, to pay their respects. Aiden stood in the lead boat. As Caleb rowed through the middle, they accompanied him and his people.

When they finally reached the plot of land set aside for Jade, they all, as one force, accompanied the boy and Rose to their final resting place. Church bells tolled in the background, and wails of grief rose up.

Aiden presided over the ritualistic vampire burial, as Caleb personally shoveled the dirt.

“…to resurrect another day,” Aiden finished chanting, “in God’s ultimate grace.”

Caleb stood there, tears in his eyes, feeling surreal, out of touch with his body.

Person after person walked up to him, to try to offer condolences. But there were none to be had.

As Caleb stood there, his grief slowly morphed to anger, to a slow, quiet rage. His boy had been killed. He had not died accidentally, but had been deliberately killed, in cold blood. It was the work of an evil vampire coven, one that had set out to destroy Caleb, and had found his boy instead.

Caleb wanted revenge. He
needed
revenge.

And he was not alone. His entire coven demanded vengeance, too, as did Aiden’s coven. This was an attack on all of them, and was completely unacceptable. The covens were united.

Caleb finally cleared his throat, and spoke up in a loud voice.

“My fellow members,” he began. “What happened today was an attack not just on me, not just on my son, but on all of us. The malevolent coven coordinated this attack, this breach of our shores, and we must answer with equal force. I will fly today to exact revenge on this horrible, unjustly murder. To exact revenge for all of us. If need be, I will fly alone. But I welcome you to join me, to avenge the cruel and merciless death of my innocent boy.

“Are any of you with me?”

A huge roar of approval rose up, and Caleb’s heart swelled at the support.

“Then fly with me now!” he yelled.

With that, Caleb took three steps and flew off into the air, by himself.

It took but a moment for him to hear the fluttering behind him of thousands of wings.

It was an entire army, mobilized for war.

As Caitlin tried to open her eyes, she had a splitting headache. She slowly raised her head and looked about, trying to get her bearings. She blinked several times, and realized that she lay curled up on the floor of a stone cell.

There was a small, barred window, way high up, and she could sense that the bars were made of silver, would be impossible to break. A harsh ray of sunlight came through it on an angle, lighting up her face, and she squinted in pain. She rolled over, getting out of the way.

In the darkened corner, Caitlin breathed, slowly sitting up, trying to collect yourself. Her head was absolutely killing her, as she tried to remember.

She remembered being in a church. Santa Croce. She remembered being with Blake, ascending a pulpit. She remembered finding that secret compartment, opening it.…

And then there had been a net thrown over her, her tackled to the ground. And then Kyle, looking down at her, his face grotesque. Kicking her.

She sat up straighter and looked around, feeling a throbbing bruise on her cheek. She was in a jail of some sort, probably put here by Kyle. She wondered how long she’d been here. Her throat was dry, and she felt weak. She listened, and in the distance, she heard what sounded like a faint cheer, followed by a massive vibration that shook the floor. She wondered where on earth she was.

She also wondered why she was alive. Why hadn’t Kyle killed her? He was not one to show mercy. The only reason he would’ve kept her alive was if he planned on torturing her. Caitlin swallowed.

She wondered how she’d gotten into this mess to begin with. Everything was going so great, her idyllic time in Florence, her getting so close to finding her father, the clues all adding up. She had been so confident that she was almost there, right at the finish line.

Things had gone so wrong, so quickly. But how? She hadn’t sensed Kyle’s presence, or any of his people, at any point. He’d managed to sneak up on her so quickly. How had he found her? Had he been following her the whole time?

Caitlin wondered how that could be possible. The only person who knew she was there was Blake.

Blake.

Suddenly, her heart stopped. Had Blake led her to Kyle? Had he been deceiving her this whole time?

She felt her heart break at the thought. It hurt her more than anything she could imagine.

That
had
to be it. She’d been betrayed. She couldn’t see what other possible explanation there could be. There was no other way Kyle could have found her. And what about Blake? She couldn’t remember seeing him getting captured in the church. Granted, she couldn’t see much as she was taken down so fast. But she didn’t remember hearing him crying out, screaming.

And if Blake had been captured, wouldn’t he be here, in the jail with her?

“Blake?” she called out.

She cleared her throat, rose to her feet, and screamed: “Blake!”

Her scream echoed again and again throughout the empty chambers, as if coming back to taunt her.

No answer. That settled it. He must have betrayed her.

She felt like such a fool for loving him. She felt so deceived, so betrayed. So stupid.

Caitlin suddenly heard the creaking of an iron door, followed by footsteps.

She stood on her feet, in the corner, and waited, prepared to fight for her life if need be.

She had a feeling, though, that it would be futile. Kyle was not a man to leave anything unplanned for. Knowing him, he probably had several backup plans to keep her locked down, tortured, or killed. Her chance of escape, she knew, would be almost none.

Kyle suddenly came into view. He appeared on the opposite side of the silver bars, faced her and grinned. It was more like a scowl.

Kyle had certainly seen better days. Half of his face was disfigured, and now he was missing an eye. He looked hideous, grotesque.

“How do you like your new accommodations?” he asked.

Caitlin said nothing, just stared back at him. Finally, she spit on the floor in his direction.

He laughed—an evil, creepy noise.

“You’re right,” he said. “Blake led us right to you. A lamb to slaughter. How could you have been so naïve? Well, finally, I have the upper hand. You have been a thorn in my side for as long as I can remember. It’s thanks to you that my face is disfigured like this. That was my punishment for letting you go.…Not this time.”

Caitlin could feel the evil emanating off him, like a tangible thing. She had a sinking feeling that this might be the last moment of her life, and she prepared mentally to meet her fate.

“Before I kill you,” Kyle continued, “I want you to know that I’m a very kind man. I’m going to offer you two options. To die quickly, easily and painlessly—or to die slowly, brutally. You still have a chance for the former, if you comply with what I have to say. If not, make no mistake about it: your fate will be beyond painful.”

“I’m not afraid of dying slowly,” Caitlin answered with contempt. “I’d rather die in one thousand hells than give you whatever you want.”

Kyle smiled wider.

“You are a girl after my own heart,” he said, licking his lips. “It’s a shame that you and I never had a chance to be together. We would be a splendid couple.”