Desired (15 page)

Kendra walked over and sat down gingerly, smoothing her skirt, and lay back, resting her head in her hands, and staring at the sky.

Sam looked down, and saw the big empty space on the blanket beside her. He wondered if she wanted him to join her.

“Um…” he began, “can I sit with you?”

He watched her shrug, ever so slightly, as she stared at the sky. His legs were hurting from al that riding, so he decided to take that as a yes.

He went over and sat on the blanket beside her, and laid on his back beside her, resting his head in his hands, too.

The sky was beautiful from this perspective, a crystal clear blue, with smal white clouds, broken into a mil ion pieces, drifting overhead.

They both lay like that for what felt like forever, and Sam final y wondered if he should say something. The silence, he felt, was a bit awkward.

“That was fun,” he said. “Thanks for bringing me.”

“I didn’t bring you,” she answered. “You brought yourself.”

Sam was indignant. He’d had enough of this, and he felt it was time to confront her.

He sat up.

“Okay then,” he said, “I’l leave.”

He was preparing to stand, when he felt a cold hand on his wrist. He turned, and saw her staring at him.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” she said. “I didn’t tel you to leave.”

He stared back at her, puzzled. Clearly, she wanted him to stay. But why couldn’t she just come out and say it? Was she afraid? Was she nervous? Was she that proud?

Everything inside of Sam screamed at him to leave, to go back to the training ground, seek out Aiden, and stay focused on his search for Caitlin.

But something inside him, something he could not control, forced him to stay.

He slowly lay back down. This time, he propped himself on his elbow, turning and looking at her.

She went back to laying on her back and looking up at the sky.

Sam couldn’t stop staring at her sculpted features. They were perfect.

“I come here, to this spot, to get away from Versail es,” she said, after a while. “There are no humans here. No vampires. No one to gossip or slander me.” She turned and looked at him. “Have you heard them talking about me?”

Sam shrugged. He had, indeed, already heard things—

rumors, whispers. But he didn’t want to upset her.

“Tel me,” she said. “What did they say?”

“They say that you want to be turned. And that you’l use anyone to get it.”

Kendra looked back at the sky, and for the first time in the day, she broke into a smile.

“Do you believe them?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know you.”

“Wel , don’t. It’s al gossiping. Backbiting. The only way they can get at me. It’s because I’m superior to them. They know they can never be like me. So they pretend that I want to be like them.”

Sam studied her. He didn’t know what to believe. Al he knew for sure was that he was completely enamored of her.

And whether she was being truthful or not, he stil felt sorry for her.

She turned to him, final y, propped herself on her elbow, and looked him right in the eyes. She was only inches away, and he felt his heart race faster.

“Do you think that’s the only reason I want to be with you?”

she asked.

Sam shrugged. She was so close, he could smel her skin, her perfume. He could hardly concentrate, and didn’t trust himself to speak.

As she came in closer, he felt his heart pounding. She was now only inches away.

“Wel , it’s not,” she said.

And then, suddenly, she moved in, ever closer, until both of their lips were touching.

And from that moment on, Sam knew that he was completely, utterly, lost.

Kyle stood before the Bastil e, hiding in the shadows in that special moment between darkness and light. He knew this would be the time of the changing of the guard, when the night shift vampires would be replaced by the day ones. He knew this would be the moment when they were most vulnerable to attack, and when they would least expect it.

He only needed one entry point. One weak, young, vulnerable, and inexperienced vampire. He could take him out, and get inside. It was a crucial first step. Before he could direct Napoleon and his men in a ful -fledged attack, he needed to do his reconnaissance first. He needed to make sure that the savage seven were stil down there, and he needed to find the angle to set them free.

He watched, and waited.

This was a funny building, the Bastil e, a circular, stone tower that rose right up to the sky. It almost looked like a lighthouse in the center of the city. There were no windows

— just a few iron bars here and there. Kyle spotted the multiple layers of silver bars, and knew why they were there.

Inside, deep underground, lay seven of the most vicious creatures that had walked the planet. He had heard that, in addition to the silver, there was another layer of a special metal instal ed, to contain them. He needed to find out exactly which type of metal it was. Once he did, he would know what he needed to break it.

Kyle saw his opportunity, and moved quick. As the shift changed, one of the guards moved just a little bit slower than the others, on the far side of the building. Kyle crept up behind him, and before he could react, reached up and snapped his neck.

The man col apsed, lifeless, and as he did, Kyle grabbed the key off his waist. It was a long, silver skeleton key, and Kyle turned and opened the lock on the silver door. He could have kicked it down, but he didn’t want to cal attention to himself. He was stil vastly outnumbered, and he didn’t know the extent of their protection and didn’t want to risk a confrontation.

Kyle dragged the body so that it would not be detected, and shut the door behind them.

Kyle turned and surveyed his surroundings. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only light that came in came from way up high, through bars high above. It was a circular structure inside as wel , with the corridors shaped in steep circles, rising and fal ing from the top of the tower to the basement. It was al stone.

Kyle headed down. He knew that down there, deep in the bowels of the earth, would be where they were locked up.

As he descended level after level, deeper than he imagined possible, hundreds of feet beneath the earth, final y, the staircase ended in a wal . He knew there had to be something behind it.

Kyle took several steps back and charged, putting his shoulder into it. The wal gave way, stone col apsing everywhere in a big crash. He hadn’t wanted to cal such attention to himself, but he saw no other choice.

As he suspected, he saw the staircase continue of the other side, descending even further down.

He took off at a sprint, knowing there was no time to lose.

Final y, he reached it. The staircase ended in massive columns of silver bars, thicker than he had ever seen. More important, he could tel right away that they were coated in some kind of material.

As he reached out to touch them, he felt a burning in his palms, and felt himself being repel ed. This metal was too toxic, even for him.

He gazed closely, trying to detect what it was. Final y, he realized: titanium. The most toxic of al metals for vampires.

He looked past them, and saw additional layers of bars behind them.

He had no doubt now that the savage seven were being kept here.

Kyle heard a faint rumbling noise. As he leaned in, suddenly a long, yel ow claw reached out of the blackness, towards the bars. This was fol owed by a hideous face, with long, orange fangs, drooling. He could smel its rotten breath, even from here. Ancient, primordial creatures, the savage seven were too hideous too look at, even for Kyle, and he had to turn away. For a moment, he felt relieved that they were locked up, and he second-guessed releasing them.

Would he be unleashing a danger greater than even he could control?

But he had no choice. These creatures were just what he needed to unleash a monumental chaos upon the city, and to catch and kil Caitlin. He’d have to risk it.

Don’t worry, he thought, I’l come back for you and set you free.

As if reading his mind, the other six suddenly appeared, too, snarling back.

Suddenly, Kyle heard a rattling behind him. He spun to see several guards bearing down on him.

He was surprised they were so close: they had been quicker than he’d expected.

Before he could react, Kyle felt himself being picked up and slammed into the silver bars. He felt pain rack through his entire body. He was shocked, more than anything else, to realize how powerful these vampire guards were. Paris had certainly spared no expense in guarding this place.

But Kyle was no slouch. He’d been alive for thousands of years longer than most, and he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He summoned his primordial rage, and managed to grab two of the four guards facing him and smash their heads together.

They col apsed, but the other two jumped Kyle, knocking him down and kicking him several times. He was stunned by their speed and strength, but he managed to catch his breath just long enough to grab one of their feet, break his ankle, and swing him into the other guard.

But it barely phased them. The four guards immediately recovered, and were pouncing back for Kyle. He couldn’t believe how fast they were.

He didn’t want to risk fighting them any longer. Now was not the time. He saw his chance, and he leapt through the crowd, taking off at a sprint, back up the staircase.

They were right on his heels.

Kyle realized he could not outrun them, and he leapt into flight. Using his wings, he flew higher and higher, up the staircase, up the shaft, aiming right for the ceiling. He knew he couldn’t risk stopping, so he gained speed and braced himself for impact.

He smashed through the stone ceiling, and seconds later was in the air, flying fast away.

He flew off into the horizon, and turned back to see the guards standing on the roof, watching him. But luckily for him, they wouldn’t fol ow. Their orders were to guard the Bastil e.

Kyle was stunned from the ordeal as he flew away, and realized he’d need more manpower than he needed. He looked forward to returning, to storming the place with Napoleon’s men, and demolishing the place down to the ground.

Holding Ruth in her arms, Caitlin flew beside Aiden, high over the country.

She looked down and watched as the landscape changed.

At first, they had flown over the shoreline, and she had watched the crashing waves, the magical cliffs and beaches; then they had turned towards land, and the landscape changed to rol ing hil s, then to woods. It was an entirely new part of France, one she had never seen, and she couldn’t believe how endless this country seemed.

Caitlin felt torn with mixed emotions as she flew. On the one hand, she was happy to be beside Aiden, beside someone she knew and trusted, someone who, she knew, would not abandon her. She was excited to see wherever it was he would take her, and excited to begin her training and her mission anew. She wondered if she might see Pol y there, and the thought warmed her. She also wondered if Blake could be there, and the thought left a pit in her stomach.

She wasn’t sure how she would react to that.

At the same time, her heart stil broke at the thought of leaving Caleb. She imagined him arriving home, at his empty castle, and finding her gone. She had never promised him she would stay. But stil , he seemed to hope she would. He would not know where to find her. Would this be the last time they ever saw each other?

Had she turned her back on a perfect life? If she’d waited just wait a few more days, it was possible that al would be peaceful and tranquil with Caleb, for the rest of their lives.

Was she leaving prematurely?

Caitlin couldn’t help feeling as if she was were swept up in an endless tide of events; it felt like an undercurrent in an ocean, taking her out further and further, to more clues, back to another time, another place, another artifact, another key. She prayed that this might be the final time and place, that this time, for sure, she would find her father and the Shield. Then maybe, after it was al done, she could stay in one place. And maybe even stay with Caleb. Would her father like Caleb? It was a question that had often crossed her mind.

Caitlin looked down and watched as the thick woods eventual y gave way to open fields, and as eventual y, these, too, gave way, to formal, wel -tended roads. The sky opened up, and in the distance, on the horizon, Caitlin spotted the most magnificent structure she had ever seen.

It wasn’t just one structure but several—huge marble buildings, spread out over an enormous compound, separated by formal, ornate gardens, with a huge fountain in the middle. Flying over it, circling, again and again, Caitlin marveled that anything manmade could be that perfect. It looked like a palace fit for a king.

As she fol owed Aiden, circling, getting lower, she began to realize that this was where his coven lived. She was shocked. Pol epel had been magnificent, and so had his island outside of Venice. But this place outdid them al . She vaguely recognized the buildings, and wondered if she had seen pictures once somewhere.

“Where are we?” she yel ed out, as they circled lower.

They dove in low, and landed on a road on the edge of the woods.

As they landed, he turned and looked at her:

“Versail es,” he said. “Your new home. At least, while you choose to train here.”

A servant stepped forward from behind a horse and carriage, dressed in royal finery. He took several steps towards Aiden, and bowed.

“You wil now receive your formal introduction to the palace,” he said. As he did, the servant hurried around and opened the gilded door to the carriage for Caitlin, waiting for her.

She was confused. “What about you? Aren’t you coming?”

“I have important matters to attend to. You’l be shown your room, and when you are ready, you’l meet me on the training field.”

And with that, he took several steps and leapt into the air, flying off.