And by the time he realized, it was too late.
Caleb took one more, fatal, step towards Caitlin.
At the last moment, Caitlin’s face collapsed into a scowl, as she pulled back her short silver sword, and plunged it right through Caleb’s heart. She embraced him with one arm, holding the sword with the other, hugging him, driving it all the way through.
Caleb felt the breath rush out of him. The pain was so intense, so startling, his eyes opened wide, and he could hardly breathe.
But even worse, was the pain of betrayal. He had been stabbed in the heart by the one he loved the most, by the person he loved more than anything in the world.
Caleb looked up, into Caitlin’s eyes, wondering how she could do such a thing.
“I told you I would have vengeance,” she said, looking down at him.
Caleb didn’t understand what she was saying. His whole world was going light, blurry, as he felt all the sensation leaving his body. He felt himself growing lighter and lighter, outside of himself as he watched his own body slump to the floor.
In his final seconds, lying on the ground, Caleb looked over at the battleground before him. It came to him in flashes. He saw Blake standing there, looking over, amazed, and then saw Rynd grab Blake from behind, while Kyle stepped forward and brought down his axe, killing him.
He saw Kyle take a long, silver spear, one he had never seen before, and charge, right towards Aiden. Somehow, he penetrated the shield, and the spear struck Aiden, right through the heart. He watched as Aiden slumped to the ground, lifeless.
He saw more and more graves open up, and Aiden’s remaining warriors swamped by vampires and shadow creatures in every direction, getting killed left and right.
And then, finally, he looked up, one last time, back at Caitlin.
At that moment, her face changed: it became the face of his ex-wife. Sera. Scowling down, triumphant.
“I learned the shape shifting trick from Sam,” she said with a sneer.
But Caleb was too delirious. He did not see her face transform, did not hear her last words. In his last moments, he left the earth still thinking that it was Caitlin, his wife, his one and only love, who had betrayed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Caitlin slowly opened her eyes, in excruciating pain. As the light hit her eyes, it felt like knives entering her forehead, forcing her to squint—even though it was dim in here, lit only by torches.
She had a splitting headache and felt aches and pains all over her body, and as she tried to move, she realized she was chained. She struggled against her shackles, and soon realized they were silver. She looked over and saw chains binding her hands and feet to a wall. She was standing upright, arms and legs outstretched, chained, her back against a cold stone wall, the cold metal digging into her wrists and ankles.
She felt a huge welt forming on her cheek, and realized that was the spot where Sam must have hit her. The thought of that hurt her more than the lump. Sam. Her own brother. She could hardly conceive it. Had he so thoroughly turned to the dark side that he would attack even her?
Apparently, he had. And that hurt her more than she could contemplate. Sam, she realized, was no longer her brother. Their relationship was over. He was a stranger to her now. Worse: he was an adversary. That thought made her feel more alone in the universe than ever.
She flashed back, trying to remember the chain of events. She remembered the last supper. Judas, leaving for the garden…Jesus…his words…the sky darkening….Sam. Immediately, she thought of Scarlet. She forced herself to open her eyes all the way, to look about the room.
It was a huge, cavernous room, all stone, dark, lit only by torches. It was airless in here, and the only sound was the soft moans of other prisoners. She scanned the walls and saw several others, vampires and humans, chained, too. They were crying out in pain, tugging at their shackles. Caitlin knew how they felt: the tug of her chains was unbearable, and she wondered how long she’d been chained here like this.
She continued scanning the room, her heart pounding, desperate for any glimpse of Scarlet. And then, to her great relief, she saw her. She was chained to the wall, across the room. Her heart flooded with both relief, and panic. Seeing Scarlet like that, chained, hurt her even more than her own captivity. Caitlin tugged again at her shackles, trying to break free and help her, but to no avail. Beside her, on the ground, muzzled and chained to the floor, was Ruth.
At least Scarlet was here. With her. Alive. Or she appeared to be.
“Scarlet,” Caitlin whispered, urgently.
Scarlet did not open her eyes, and Caitlin’s heart sank. Was she dead? Caitlin wondered with a sudden panic.
“Scarlet!” Caitlin said, more forcefully.
Slowly, Scarlet’s eyes fluttered, then began to open. She looked drugged. Or exhausted. Or sick. Caitlin wondered again how long they had been here.
Caitlin’s first impulse as a mom was to rush to Scarlet and give her a hug, to help her, to unchain her. But she tugged again at her chains, and cursed the fact that they were silver. And that her strength was useless against them.
Caitlin could sense that something terrible happened in the universe, something terrible to make events get this far. To allow Jesus to be captured. To allow Sam to track her down, to hurt her like this. She had a sinking feeling that such chaos could only mean one thing: Aiden and his men had been defeated. And the dark side now had free reign.
And the only way that could have happened was if they’d found some sort of secret weapon.
Caitlin’s heart stopped at the next thought: had they beat her to the Shield?
Caitlin knew they had to get out of there fast. She had to find Caleb, to see if he was alive. She had to assess how bad the situation was. And she had to find Jesus, before they killed him. After all, he was her guide. The only person left who could lead her to her father. And in hours, he would be dead. Crucified.
This was her last chance.
As Caitlin tugged at the chains again, to no avail, she suddenly heard a noise, high up in the ceiling. She looked up, and as she watched, saw a barrel being lowered directly over the head of one of the captive vampires, on the far side of the room. She watched as it slowly turned, showering liquid through the air.
Caitlin watched, horrified, as the liquid poured through the air and landed a directly on the chained vampire’s head.
As it did, the vampire shrieked, in awful agony. Her shrieks filled the room.
Smoke rose up from her body, as there was a horrific hissing noise. Caitlin sensed right away what was in that barrel: ioric acid. She hadn’t seen that since her time in New York. This, she knew, was Rexius’ work: his favorite device of torture.
“Don’t watch!” Caitlin screamed to Scarlet.
But Scarlet was watching, horrified, eyes wide open, and there was nothing Caitlin could do about it.
Caitlin watched as the acid ate away at the vampire. The vampire shrieked and shrieked—and after a long and agonizing torture, was half-melted away, half of her face and body eroded. Yet somehow, she was still alive, stuck in a vegetative state, in indescribable agony.
Suddenly there was another noise, and another barrel was slowly lowered from the ceiling. This one was heading for the vampire next to her.
Caitlin could see that, one by one, each prisoner in this room was going to be tortured and then killed by the acid. And as the next barrel overturned and the shrieks of another vampire rang out, Caitlin realized she would be next.
And then, Scarlet.
“Mommy! Help us! Please! Do something!” Scarlet screamed.
Caitlin was frantic. She didn’t know what to do.
And then she remembered: her training, her final training, with Aiden. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to concentrate. She focused on her new skill, the final skill Aiden had taught her. The ability to change any element. To change silver to metal.
Caitlin forced herself to relax. To center herself. To summon her ancient po
wer.
Slowly, she felt an energy rising through her, felt her body warming, from her toes up through her legs, through her torso, and through her hands. She focused on the shape of the silver shackles, focused on their composition. And slowly, she willed them to change.
Suddenly, Caitlin felt the shackles around her wrists start to change. They were still there, but before her eyes, she saw the color change from silver to a dark iron. And just as a new barrel was being lowered and aimed towards her head, Caitlin realized she had done it: she had changed silver to metal. Now, they were ordinary shackles. Now, she could break free.
Without a second to lose, Caitlin snapped off her iron shackles. She shattered them one at a time, first with each wrist, then each ankle.
Finally free, she lunged forward.
Just in time. A split second later, the acid poured down, landing on the spot she had just been.
Caitlin sprinted across the room, for Scarlet. As she went, she focused on Scarlet’s silver shackles and willed the shape to change. By the time she reached Scarlet, she sensed that they had, and she reached out and tore off the shackles without hesitating. She then reached down and tore off Ruth’s chains and muzzle.
Caitlin took Scarlet’s hand and pulled her out of the way—a second before the acid fell.
The three of them sprinted across the room, and Caitlin saw the silver door up ahead, and changed the shape without even slowing. As they reached it she kicked it down and the three of them charged out of the cell.
They burst out into daylight, in a remote countryside, at the top of a mountain.
“Grab on!” Caitlin yelled.
Scarlet jumped onto her back while Caitlin grabbed Ruth, and leapt into the air.
A moment later they were flying, soaring, getting further and further away from the place.
Caitlin looked over her shoulder, and saw that they had just flown out of an ancient, pagan temple. It looked like the Parthenon in Rome, but smaller, carved with demonic figures and statues in every direction.
Caitlin could see that their escape had caused a stir: dozens of vampires, dressed in all black—Rexius’ people—scrambled on the hillside. They were blowing trumpets sounding alarms, and moments later, dozens of them were up in the air, chasing after Caitlin. She knew that, in moments, Rexius would summon all of his people after her.
But she didn’t care. They had escaped. They were free.
Caitlin knew she should search for Jesus now, should continue her search for her Dad. But she couldn’t stand to be away from Caleb for one more second. She had to see him first. Nothing in the world would stop her from finding her husband—and from doing everything in her power to make sure they were never apart again.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Caitlin flew as fast as she possibly could, racing through the air, heading towards the Mount of Olives. She managed to put a good distance between herself and her pursuers, and wasn’t worried about them.
What she was worried about was what she might find. She had a pit in her chest, a deepening sense of dread she could not shake, that something terrible had happened, that all the people she loved in the world were gone. She felt as if she were already an orphan in the universe.
She thought back to Jesus’ words, and willed herself to be calm.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to her life?
Caitlin raced across the arid landscape of Israel, baking in the desert heat, watching Jerusalem and the never-ending palm trees beneath her. She was drawn to this city, yet found herself hating it at the same time. This place was too intense for her, and she associated it with everything that had gone wrong in her life. She just wanted to get away—far, far away, with Caleb and Scarlet. Alone. Just the three of them. To a place where they could live out their lives in peace. Where battles and clues and relics were a thing of the past.
But she was afraid that wasn’t meant to be. She had a mission, a destiny, and she still hadn’t fulfilled it—and still didn’t know what it was. She knew she had to find her Dad. She knew that somehow Jesus would lead her to him. And she knew, in her heart, she should go down below, and search for Jesus now. Right away. That he was her last salvation, her last hope to save the others.
But she just could not bring herself to. Every bone in her body led her to Caleb. She had to see him first. She had to see if he was in danger, and do whatever she could to save him.
As she rounded a peak, the Mount of Olives spread out before her. She saw the endless rows of olive trees, up and down the mountain, and on the far slope, the rows of graves.
Except now, something was different: the graves were opened. She saw thousands of patches of freshly opened dirt, and she could sense, even from here, that something was terribly wrong. It looked as if the earth had opened up and spit out thousands of corpses.
Already, even from here, she sensed a profound shift in the universe. She felt a terrible sadness, and sensed that below her had been a battlefield, that an epic battle had been waged here, and that thousands had died. She could already feel the tragedy. And she could already feel her remorse for missing it. She had abandoned her loved ones while they had fought; she had spent all that time searching for her Dad while she could have been here, helping them.
Caitlin dove lower, almost afraid to look; she felt the small hands clutching her tightly, and felt Scarlet tensing up, too. She assumed that Scarlet, as sensitive as she was, could sense it, too. After all, her Dad was down there. Even Ruth, in her arms, began to squirm a bit more.
Caitlin dove down sharply, between the rows of olive trees, heading for Aiden’s villa. She saw, as she got closer, hundreds of corpses spread out, lying lifeless on the hills below. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies. Vampires. Dead. Rexius’ men. Slaughtered.
But as she dove closer, she could also see something else: several corpses with white hoods and robes. Aiden’s people. Before she even landed, Caitlin already sensed that the worst possible outcome had occurred: Aiden’s coven had been wiped out.
She landed, and as she did she turned slowly, surveying the mountainside, and could hardly believe what she was seeing. The site of devastation took her breath away.
And then she saw something else, something that left her speechless.
There, lying flat on his back, staff by his side, was Aiden. Covered in blood, scarlet staining his robe. His eyes were open, staring up at the sky.
Caitlin walked over slowly, not comprehending what she was seeing. How was it possible? Aiden? Her mentor? Her guide? The man she had thought was her father? The man she knew to be invincible? Dead?
But there he was. Still. Lifeless.
Caitlin was struck by a terrible thought: if Aiden was dead, what hope was there for the rest of them?
She was afraid to look anywhere else, not wanting to see who else might be laying there. So instead she walked over to Aiden’s side. She knelt down, and could see he was not breathing. He was stiff, and clearly he had been this way for a while. Beside her Scarlet was crying, and Ruth whining.
“Don’t look,” she said softly to Scarlet,.
Caitlin reached out and gently lay her fingers on Aiden’s eyelids. Slowly, she closed them, and she left her hand there, resting on his forehead. She was sending him whatever love she could, in whatever form he was.
She flashed back, remembered the first time she had met him, on Pollepel. Whether he was her true father or not, he had been a father to her. The closest thing to a father she’d ever had. She felt indescribable gratitude for that. And seeing him here, like this, tore her heart in two.
Caitlin quickly got up, and turned Scarlet away.
“Don’t look, sweetheart,” she said again.
Ruth ran over and licked his face several times. Caitlin forced herself to turn away.
Caitlin surveyed all the corpses—thousands of them—and could not comprehend the scale of disaster that must have taken place here. There must have, she realized, been a powerful weapon, something she didn??
?t know about, to enable them to do this kind of damage. But what?
Caitlin slowly scanned the bodies, walking forward; she was looking for any sign of Caleb, but at the same time, prayed she would see none. Maybe he had escaped? She hoped. But deep down, a part of her sensed already that that was not the case. Already, she could feel her heart beginning to break.
Caitlin rounded a corner, and as she did, she stopped. There, lying lifeless, his back to her, was a body that she felt she knew. He lay on its side, and she couldn’t tell who was. Slowly, she walked towards him.
“Look away, sweetheart,” Caitlin said, and Scarlet turned.
Caitlin took the final few steps, knelt down, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him to his back.
There, lying lifeless, eyes open wide to the sky, was Blake.
Caitlin felt as if a small dagger had been thrust into her heart. Blake. Dead. And, she could see, for good this time, struck by a silver axe. Already, Caitlin sensed whose work this was.
Kyle.
But how was that possible? He was dead. Was he resurrected? How?
Caitlin immediately rose, forcing herself to look away. She couldn’t take it; it was too painful. Aiden dead. Blake dead….
That left only one person.
Caitlin hurried through the battlefield, tripping over bodies, scanning desperately, looking for any sign of her husband. Her beloved. Her one and only true love in life. She scanned each corpse, frantic.
“Caleb!” she screamed.
As she ran, she could already feel the tears pouring down her cheeks. Somehow, she knew. She just knew.
“CALEB!” she shrieked to the sky.
High up, a vulture echoed it.
It was too much for Caitlin. She didn’t even see him, yet already she knew she would. And it was all just too much for her to bear.
Still, she had to know. She had to see. Maybe, some tiny part of her still hoped, maybe, just maybe, he was still alive. Maybe, somehow, he had survived. Or fled. Or maybe she would round the corner and find him alive, and she could take him, and they could leave, go far, far from here. Give up the search for her Dad. Start their lives over, somewhere far away from all this. Maybe they could close their eyes, and this would all just be one long, horrible dream.