Desired (20 page)

“Stop playing dumb,” she said. “You know that our son is no longer alive.”

With those words, Caleb felt as if he’d been stabbed in the gut. He reflexively pushed Sera back, away from him.

She looked at him, shocked that he would push her away.

He felt his anger overflowing, as he realized, at that moment, that he had been tricked. He felt like such a fool.

And more than anything, he felt crushed that Jade was no longer alive.

“How could you have done this!?” he wailed, hearing his own voice breaking. “You lied! You tricked me!”

“Oh grow up!” she snapped back. “You’re not real y that naïve. You knew there was no way he could live. But our love—
that
stil lives. Yes, I needed an excuse to bring you here. But now that you’re here, we’re together. That’s al that matters. And now, we can have a new child!”

Caleb wheeled and began to storm from the room, not trusting himself to even look in her direction. He was too furious, and too devastated.

But before he reached the door, he felt her icy grip on his arm, her nails digging into his flesh, as she spun him back around.

Now,
she
was scowling.

“Don’t you dare walk out on us!” she hissed. “Not after al we’ve been through!”

He glared back at her.

“Mark my words,” he said slowly, in a voice of steel, “I wil never see you again as long as I live.

Whether it is this life, or any other life. Nothing you can say or do wil ever bring me back into your presence.”

And with that, he shook off her arm, and stalked out of the room.

“Caleb!” she shrieked. “Caleb! Come back to me! I’m sorry!”

As Caleb hurried up the spiral staircase, heading to the roof, he could hear her wails and screams echoing throughout the huge, empty, medieval castle. And even as he reached the roof and flew off into the sky, he could stil hear her wailing, as her screams became one with the wind and birds and crashing of the waves.

Sam walked arm in arm with Caitlin through the formal grounds of Versail es. He had been so shocked to find her here, and to see her fighting. He had been so proud, watching his big sister. At first, he hadn’t realized it was her. He had just stood there, with the others, watching in awe as the tournaments continued.

He had been shocked to discover that the greatest warrior of them al was actual y his big sister.

He was in awe of her skil s. He’d never seen anyone fight that way. It was a combination of a human warrior, and a vampire master. She moved with lightning speed, striking, slashing, dodging, doing things he couldn’t even imagine. It was like watching art in motion.

After it had been over, after they had embraced, Caitlin had been surrounded by wel -wishers, people congratulating her in every direction. Even Aiden had come over, and had nodded approvingly. Sam had wanted to talk to Aiden, but Aiden didn’t even look his way, and immediately disappeared. And having found Caitlin, Sam felt no reason to need to talk to Aiden anymore anyway.

Caitlin had clearly been in her element. Sam had felt a rush of admiration for her, and pride that he was related to her.

And what felt even more special to him was that, despite al the wel -wishers who wanted to talk to her, Caitlin only wanted to leave the crowd and walk off alone with Sam. He was delighted to see that she missed him as much as he had missed her.

Finding her here was such a great surprise. He had imagined that he’d have to travel far and wide to find her; it never occurred to him that she might be right under his nose, in the same place he was. Now, final y, he felt settled.

He felt that maybe he could relax in this time and place now, and have it al : live in this beautiful palace, have his sister close by, safe, and have his relationship with Kendra.

Now, they could al just live, happily, and be close again, as big sister and little brother, just like they used to be.

As they walked, Sam thought back to al the terrible places they’d had to live together growing up, to al the times their mom had moved them. There were al those awful towns in the Midwest, in New Jersey, in the Hudson Val ey…And then, worst of al , Harlem. It had al just been terrible.

He looked back on their childhood now in a whole new light, knowing what Caitlin was, and knowing what he was. He had always felt, growing up, that the two of them were different. They had never quite fit in perfectly, had never quite been exactly like everybody else. He had always thought that it was just because they were always the newcomers in town. He had never imagined that the two of them were actual y, truly, special. That they had special powers. Were of a special race, a special coven. That they had a destiny, a mission.

And most of al , that their parents weren’t even their parents.

Sam had always felt a burning desire to find their father, and had never real y known why. But now that he knew how special their mission was, it al began to make sense.

Al the fights that he and Caitlin had had with their mother also made sense now, looking back.

He’d always felt as if their mother had never truly loved them, that she had looked at them as if they were not real y their kids. He had always wondered how they could even be related to her.

“I’m so sorry,” he said final y, as they walked through the gardens, past a huge fountain. “For everything that happened in New York. For my always getting you into trouble. And for what happened with Caleb. I know that the only reason you stabbed him was because of my shapeshifting. And I am so sorry that I tried to stab you. I was out of my senses.”

Caitlin looked down at him with the love of a big sister.

“Sam, you don’t have to apologize,” she said. Her voice sounded so much more mature, so much more confident. It was like the voice of a warrior. “That was lifetimes ago. And I know you didn’t mean it.”

“It was just…at the time, I was under the influence of Samantha,” he continued. “She had turned me. Everything was so…different. I wasn’t real y myself. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Everything happened for a reason,” Caitlin said. “I see that now. Caleb was meant to die. I was meant to come back for him. I was
meant
to be here, in these other times and places, and so were you. We’re on a quest. A journey. It’s not about us anymore. There’s a greater destiny at stake.

“What I’ve learned is that, on the one hand, yes, we do have free wil , and we have choices we can make. But on the other hand, so much of what we think we do is actual y destined. I can see that now. The more I embark on this journey, the more I am starting to see that destiny is actual y stronger than free wil . That we don’t actual y make that many choices after al . We only
think
that we make them.”

Sam thought about that. It rang true to him. He had been starting to feel the same thing himself, although he hadn’t thought it through as careful y as Caitlin. He was in awe at how wise she had become. He felt like he was standing before a hundred-year-old warrior.

“Not to mention, I think you more than made up for any mistakes you’ve made,” Caitlin added with a smile, as they turned down another path. “You saved me in Rome. In the Colosseum.”

“I fear that we’re not through yet—that Kyle may stil come back for you,” Sam said, with sudden worry. “That’s why I came back here, to this time and place. To help you. And to make up for my mistakes.”

Sam was surprised to see that Caitlin did not look worried at al .

“I’m sure Kyle is out there,” she said calmly. “And I’m sure he wil try to come for me. But I’m not worried about it anymore. I feel stronger than I ever have. In fact, I look forward to a fight with him now.”

Sam looked at her, and could feel the strength coming off of her. He could see how assured and confident she was, and could see that she would be a worthy adversary against Kyle. He felt even more proud of her.

“Back there, in the Vatican, al those vampires in white.

They gave you a key,” he said. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that. What they said. That there are three keys left to find our dad. I never used to believe that our Dad real y existed. But now, I real y do.”

“He does exist,” Caitlin said confidently. “I’ve seen him.”

Sam’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “You’ve met him?” he asked, astonished.

“No. I’ve seen him in my dreams.”

Sam suddenly remembered. “My God. I know what you mean. I dreamt of him last night.”

Caitlin turned and looked at Sam with a fixed gaze. He was taken aback by her sudden intensity.

She stopped walking.

“What did you dream exactly?”

“I…” Sam began, but then suddenly got nervous from being put on the spot. He could feel how badly his sister wanted an answer, and he didn’t want to let her down. “Um…I was climbing a mountain…and I thought I saw him…but I couldn’t reach him…then I was in this huge church.

There was this big key floating, and I was reaching for it…It felt like a message. Like, we were supposed to find the key there.”

“Sam, think hard. Did you recognize the church?”

Sam furrowed his brow, trying to remember. At the time he recognized it, but now he was having a hard time recal ing.

“It was…I knew it then…but now…it was huge…the ceilings were so high.…The entrance. It had al these arches. And these three huge doors.”

“Above the arches, were there carved figures? Dozens of them?” Caitlin asked excitedly.

Sam’s eyes lit up. He remembered now. “Yes!”

Caitlin seemed to register something.

“Do you know it?” he asked.

“It’s the Notre Dame,” she said.

“Yes!” Sam answered, realizing she was right.

As Caitlin stared off into space, looking impressed, Sam wondered why it was so significant.

“Do you think it was more than just a dream?” he asked.

Caitlin nodded. “Yes. Far more. In the vampire world, dreams are always more than that. They are always messages. Meetings. Especial y with someone like our father. Dad was tel ing you where to find him. I think that’s what it was about. There are four keys we need. I think he was tel ing you that the second key is in the Notre Dame.”

Sam thought about that. He felt honored that his father had chosen to appear to him, and to give him such an important message.

“But why did the dream come to you?” asked Caitlin, almost to herself. “Why not to me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we each get pieces of the clues, you know? We’re both his lineage. Maybe it wil take both of us to figure it out.”

Caitlin looked at him. “I think you’re right.”

Sam felt more important than ever. He once again fel a surge of determination to go search for his father, to join Caitlin on the quest.

“I need to find him, Sam,” Caitlin said, her voice serious.

“
We
need to find him. There’s a lot at stake. Not only for us.

A lot of other people are depending on us. I need your help.

Can you join me?”

At first, Sam felt a surge of excitement; but then, as he thought about the reality of leaving this place, he felt a pit in stomach. That would mean leaving Kendra. And, despite himself, he was stil overwhelmed by the thought of her.

“What is it?” Caitlin asked. “What’s wrong?”

Sam hesitated. He looked at the ground, avoiding her gaze. He was embarrassed to tel her the truth.

“Wel …” he began, but stopped. He didn’t know how to explain. Had he real y grown so soft over a girl? Would he real y let his sister down over this? What would his big sister think of him?

“Wel …um…you see, him… I um…met this girl,” he began.

He saw Caitlin’s expression turn from confusion to recognition.

“Sam,” she said, sounding like a parent, “there are more important things. This search…it’s our
father
we are talking about.”

But even as she said it, Caitlin knew she was being hypocritical. After al , she had been prepared to give up her search for Caleb’s sake.

“I know,” Sam said, stil avoiding her gaze. “It’s just that…

wel …this girl, she’s different, and we…kind of just met…

and I’m just not sure if I should go, like, this second…”

He saw her staring at him with disapproval. He didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to go with her. But at the same time, there was something about Kendra that just made him obsessed with her.

“You
have
to understand,” Sam implored. “You had someone in your life once, didn’t you? What was his name?

Caleb? What happened to him?”

Sam watched as Caitlin’s face suddenly morphed into one of sadness and disappointment. He immediately regretted inquiring about it. Caitlin looked off into the distance, and seemed crushed.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I did. Once.”

A heavy silence fel between them.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I real y want to help you. It’s just that his girl, um, wel , her name is—”

“Kendra,” suddenly came a voice.

Sam and Caitlin both wheeled to see Kendra standing there, in her royal blue gown, looking haughtily down on both of them.

As Caitlin stood there, Kendra took a step forward, and haughtily stepped between her and her brother. She stared at Caitlin with a defiant, territorial look, one that was clearly meant to tel Caitlin to back off. That Sam was Kendra’s territory now.

Caitlin looked over at Sam, hoping that he would pick up on what was going on, that he would push her out of the way—

that he would be immune to such behavior.

But alas, he was not. Caitlin was shocked to see that Sam seemed to become completely subordinate in Kendra’s presence, as if she held some sort of invisible power over him. He even seemed to slump a bit, and Kendra seemed to stand tal er. It looked as if he were helpless around her.

Caitlin’s her heart fel at the site. She had seen this happen with other friends in the past. It was obvious that Sam was in her grip.

“Kendra,” Caitlin echoed slowly, in a cool voice, looking her right in the eye. “I don’t believe we have been introduced.”