Betrayed (13 page)

Patrick, and all the vampires around them, suddenly dropped their weapons, and hurried off in a certain direction.

Caitlin was puzzled.

“Lunch!” Patrick called over his shoulder, as he headed off into the crowd.

Thank goodness
, she thought. She needed a break.

As Caitlin followed the group towards the far end of the courtyard, Polly suddenly came up along beside her. As usual, Polly had a big smile on her face, and her eyes were shining.

“Lucky girl,” Polly said.

Caitlin looked at her, not knowing what she was talking about.

“You got paired up with Patrick,” she said.

Caitlin followed Polly’s gaze towards Patrick, and she suddenly realized that Polly liked him.

“I’ve been trying to get his attention for years,” Polly said, “but he doesn’t seem to notice.”

Uh oh
. Caitlin suddenly worried that Polly might be jealous, might not want to be friends with her anymore—and all over some boy that Caitlin didn’t even like.

“Really?” Caitlin asked, genuinely surprised. “But you’re so pretty. And he’s so—”

Luckily, Caitlin stopped herself before she could say anything else.

Polly looked at her, concerned. “He’s so…what?” she asked.

Caitlin tried to think quick of a way to dig herself out of this one.

“He’s just so…well…what I meant to say was that…he’s so…well-matched for you. I’m surprised that the two of you aren’t together.”

Polly’s concern disappeared and she went back to her usual joy.

“I know, right? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s not like he’s with anyone else, either.”

They reached the far end of the courtyard, and Caitlin saw a large, circular stone table, with stone benches all around it. All of her coven members were already sitting,  and as Caitlin approached the table, Polly took her arm and led her to a seat right beside her. Caitlin was grateful to have a friend to sit with, since she was still somewhat intimidated by the large group, most of whom she hadn’t met.

“This is Madeline,” Polly said, “and that’s Harrison.”

Caitlin looked to her left, and saw a startlingly pretty girl, with straight black hair and black eyes, seated beside a boy with a short, blond beard, and curly blonde hair. They both broke into smiles, and reached out and shook Caitlin’s hand. Everyone here seemed so friendly.

“And that’s Derrick and Sasha,” Polly said, gesturing to her right.

Caitlin looked over and saw them smiling back at her, nodding. She nodded back. They were both short and stocky, each with brown hair and green eyes, and they had huge grins. Their kindness and warmth were apparent even from here.

Caitlin began to wonder if everyone here was a couple. She started to feel a bit self-conscious.

Polly was about to introduce her to others, when suddenly Patrick slid in and sat down between them.

“And I’m Patrick,” came the voice.

Caitlin turned to see that Patrick had slid into the seat beside her. He was sitting just inches away, grinning at her again. “But you knew that already,” he added with a wink.

Uh oh
, Caitlin thought. She was already uncomfortable. She really liked Polly, and didn’t want Polly to think that she liked Patrick. She didn’t want her to think that Patrick liked her, Caitlin, either, because that would surely make Polly jealous. She wanted to see Polly happy, and she didn’t like Patrick. She had to try to figure out a way to get Patrick to like her. But for now, she just had to get through this lunch.

A bell rang, and they all got up from the table and headed off to the side, to a huge stone slab, on which sat, buffet style, raw meat. Caitlin followed Polly closely, who grabbed a large slab of meat, put it on a plate, and a pitcher of liquid. Caitlin did the same.

Caitlin followed Polly back to the table, holding her own plate and pitcher. Patrick followed them.

As they were all about to sit, at the last second, Caitlin switched spots with Polly, so that Polly was forced to sit in the middle, right beside Patrick, and Caitlin on the other side of Polly.

She looked over and saw that Patrick was disappointed, but that Polly, now beside him, was pleased. Caitlin smiled inwardly. At least that would keep Patrick one more person away from her and make the entire situation less uncomfortable.

Caitlin looked around, and watched her fellow coven members lifting their meat with their hands, biting into it with their fangs, and sucking out the blood. They didn’t chew—they just bit and sucked.

Caitlin tried it. At first, handling the raw meat felt gross, but as she bit and sucked, she felt the blood trickle down her throat, and she felt rejuvenated, refreshed. She felt her power returning.

She saw her coven members drinking from their pitchers, and she looked into hers. It was filled with a dark red liquid. Blood, she assumed. Probably the blood of deer.

Caitlin drank, and while at first she recoiled from the thick liquid, from the salty taste, she also loved the shot of power it gave her, and found herself gulping it down. As she did, she felt completely restored.

Caitlin heard whining, and looked over to see Rose sitting beside her. Caitlin handed her the scraps of the meat, and Rose happily ate them up.

Immediately, she whined for more. Madeline and Harrison each took their scraps and threw it towards Rose, as did Polly and Patrick. Soon everyone was throwing Rose their scraps, and Rose was having a field day, gorging on piece after piece of raw meat.

“It’s all going to get better,” Polly said, “Yes, there’s a lot of training, but we vampires also know how to have fun. There’ll be games later tonight.”

Caitlin wasn’t worried. She actually really enjoyed the training, and she just loved being here. She loved the exercise, being outdoors, seeing water everywhere. She liked all of her new covenmates, and for the first time in as long she could remember, she felt as if she were home. Really home.

And that’s when she saw him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Caitlin noticed a figure in the distance, walking along the sandy shore. At first, she was sure it was some kind of illusion. Who could be walking over there? She assumed that all of the coven was around the table, and she looked again closely. As she looked, she realized that one seat was empty. Only 23 of them were present.

Caitlin watched the lone figure, walking on the far shore, and found herself completely transfixed. Five foot ten, dressed in all black, he was paler than the others, with longish, wavy brown hair, and large, green eyes. Even from this distance, she could tell that there was something about him, something so striking, so unusual—so different from everyone else. He walked slowly, looking out at the water, his back towards all of them. Caitlin found that she could not look away.

Polly caught her staring. She leaned in close. “So, you’ve got your first glimpse of him, have you?” she asked. “He’s the elusive 24
th
. At least, when he’s around.”

“When he’s around?” Caitlin asked.

“He keeps apart from us most of the time. He hardly ever trains with us, and never eats with us. He even sleeps in his own quarters. Most of the time, he just walks the shore, looking out. No one ever really even knows what he’s thinking. He redefines ‘loner’.”

“But I’m confused,” Caitlin said. “I thought we all had to train together, eat together—”

“Blake is the exception,” Patrick said, with derision, “Aiden’s always making exceptions for Blake. I don’t know why. He should have to follow the same rules. It’s not fair, when you think about it.”

“Oh Patrick, you don’t need to be so harsh about it,” Polly said. “Blake is a perfectly nice fellow. He just likes to be left alone.”

“But why?” Caitlin asked.

But she already, herself, knew the answer. Even from this distance, with her vampire vision, she could see it in his eyes. This vampire was completely lost in the past. He had suffered greatly, she could see that, and whatever heartbreak he had encountered, he had never gotten over it. And probably never would.

It was strange, but even from this distance, Caitlin could feel everything he was feeling. And she felt consumed by overwhelming sadness. On the one hand, it scared her, but on the other hand, she appreciated it, because it took away her own sadness over Caleb.

At that moment, Blake, as if sensing her, suddenly turned, and stared right at her. Their eyes locked, and even from this distance, Caitlin was transfixed. Then, just as quickly, he turned and hurried away.

Caitlin felt a chill run up her spine. And she knew, that if she wanted to stay loyal to Caleb, she would have to stay very far away from this person.

THIRTEEN

Sam’s eyes flew open in a rage of fire. He looked all about the room, having no idea where he was. He felt as if there were a film over his eyes, a filter. Something was very, very different.

He could tell that he was in a huge stone chamber. Although it was dimly, he could still see everything clearly. As if he had night vision.

But it was more than that. He didn’t feel himself. He felt a new kind of power coursing through his veins, through every pore of his body. His sense of smell was heightened, as was his sense of hearing. He felt enraged. Caged. Ad he felt like he needed to destroy something.

With his new, keen sense of touch, he sensed without looking down that his arms and legs were shackled. He felt the cold of the metal cutting into his skin. And he also knew, instinctively, that he had the strength to shatter them.

With the slightest jerk of his wrists, he tore the shackles from the wall. Cinderblock blocks came flying out with them. His strength was incredible.

He looked over, and for the first time saw, right in front of him, what he had failed to see before. Samantha. Standing there.

Some dim part of him still recognized her, but another part of him didn’t. He knew in the back of his mind that she was familiar, but in the front of his mind, he sensed something else about her. That she was his kind. Whatever that meant.

She took two steps towards him and placed her palms on his cheek, trying to get him to focus on her.

“Sam, can you hear me?” she asked. “I need you to look at me. Focus on me. I need you to listen.”

He felt the touch of her palms on his cheeks, and he didn’t like it—didn’t want to be touched by anything or anyone.

In one swift motion, he reached up and roughly shoved her hands off of him.

She took two steps back and stared at him, wide-eyed, shocked. Hurt.

“Don’t touch me,” Sam growled back. He was shocked at the sound of his own voice. It was now so deep, so guttural. Like the voice of an animal.

“Sam, please, I have to explain to you what you’re going through,” she said. “Don’t be afraid—”

“I fear nothing,” he growled, taking a step towards her, feeling his rage rise. “I could crush you in an instant if I chose.”

She took a step back, and he saw the fear in her face.

“Sam, please listen. I’m on your side. Trust me. You have to trust me. I turned you. Do you hear me? I
had
to turn you.”

Turned me
, Sam thought.

His brain, overloaded with emotion and hormone, tried to register what she was saying.
Turned me
. A part of him started to remember. Being chained. Samantha’s entering the room. Her fangs…. Yes, he remembered now.

He stared at her with a newfound hatred.

She took another step back.

“Please Sam, you have to understand,” she said. “I had to. I had no choice. They were going to kill you. Do you hear me? They were going to kill you.”

Kill me
, Sam thought, as he was approaching Samantha, ready to kill her. Something about her words, about her tone, made him pause.
Kill me
.
They were going to kill me.

Now he remembered. The vampires. The coven. Being taken hostage.

“I saved you,” Samantha said. “I saved you from being killed. I had to.”

Saved me
, he thought. And then it started to make sense. She had saved him. He could remember now. She was not the enemy.

Sam finally stopped approaching her, and felt his brows relax as his rage died down a bit.

She must have noticed, because she stopped stepping backwards.

“What you’re going through, it’s normal,” she said. “It can happen when you are first turned. With you, it’s even more intense, because I had to do it so quickly. There just wasn’t time.”

Sam suddenly felt a terrible pain shooting through his head, through his muscles. He crouched down, grabbing his head in his hands and moaning in pain.

Samantha came running over and squatted beside him, placing her hand on his back.

“Sam, I’m so sorry,” she said. “The pain, it will go away. Trust me. It will all be OK. But for now, we have to get out of here. We don’t have much time.”

Sam dimly heard her words, but the pain was overwhelming. It was just too hard to concentrate.

“Sam, do you hear me? We have to escape. We have to get out of here! Just the two of us. There isn’t—”

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the huge, oak door.

Samantha looked over, while Sam ignored it, still clutching his head in pain.

The pounding grew louder and louder.

With every bang, Sam winced. The pain was ripping through his head. He couldn’t stand the noise.

“Sam, they’re here!” she said. “They’re going to try to kill us. I need you to snap out of it. I need you to help me. We need to fight!”

The pounding came again, and the pain ricocheted through Sam’s head. Sam could take it no more. He suddenly leapt to his feet, charged the door and, with his superhuman strength, tore it completely off its hinges.

Outside the open door stood a group of vampires, vicious enforcers who had clearly already seen the dead guards outside the door. They had come to kill Sam and Samantha, that was obvious.

But Sam never gave them the chance. As they all gaped, shocked that he had the strength to tear out the door, Sam raised the massive door over his head with both hands, and as they charged him, he swung it.