Microsoft Word - BETROTHED.docx (15 page)

Married
. It felt so unreal to say it. As she did, the word resonated through her body like a bomb.

Married. Marriage
. She couldn't believe it. Her. It was really happening to
her
. Not to one of her friends. But to
her
.

Scarlet screamed in delight, and Ruth barked by her side.

"Married married married!" she yelled.

Scarlet jumped up and down hysterically, and leapt into Caleb's arms, too.

"Can I come? Can I be the flower girl? Can I wear a pretty dress?” After spinning her, a huge grin on his face, Caleb set her down.

"Of course you can,” he said.

"Then where will we live after that? Where will our home be?” Caitlin looked over at Caleb, who slowly looked back to her. They both knew that the time had come to make a formal decision about Scarlet. They both could read each other’s minds: it was time to formally adopt Scarlet, to officially make her part of their family. They wanted her to be their child. To make official what was already unofficial, since the moment they’d met her.

Caleb nodded gravely back at Caitlin, silently giving her permission to speak for them both.

Caitlin knelt down, and brushed the hair out of Scarlet’s face.

"Sweetheart," Caitlin said, beaming, "We have some even better news for you. If you’d like, we want you to be our daughter. Our
real
daughter. We want to truly be your mommy and daddy.

Would you like that?”

Scarlet teared up, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I was hoping you'd ask me that," she said.

She went in and gave Caitlin a hug, tightly gripping her leg, then ran over, and gave Caleb one, too. Caitlin picked her up, and she and Caleb all embraced her in a single hug, each planting a kiss on her forehead.

"From the second I saw you," Scarlet said, "I never loved two people more."

Sam walked with Polly through along the river bank, on the outskirts of Warwick Castle. After his meeting with Aiden, he had stormed out of the castle, upset, and had run into Polly, who’d been catching up with her old coven members. Polly had seen the upset on his face, and had suggested that the two of them take a walk.

They had been walking for hours now, along the riverside, Sam barely saying a word. He knew he was being rude, and should be talking more, telling her what was on his mind—but he had been too overwhelmed by his emotions. Everything that Aiden had said was whirling through his mind, again and again, each pronouncement going off like a new bomb.

Caitlin was the chosen one, not he. His mission was only to guard Caitlin. He wasn't special. He had his own
destiny. He didn't choose to be turned—Caitlin did. The person who turned him was darker, evil. He had evil blood
running through his veins. He had a possibility of slipping to the dark side. He was way more powerful than nearly
any vampire. But much more vulnerable to slipping. And his clue, his father's clue for him, ended here. At Warwick
Castle. To train with Aiden.

Sam didn't know what to feel, as he thought through all of this. Part of him was furious, wanted to scream at Aiden, to tell him that he didn't know what he was talking about. Another part of him, though, deep down, sensed that it was all true, that he had always suspected something like this. A part of him felt like a failure, felt insignificant. Another part of him felt important, that he was so powerful. He felt tugged in all different directions.

As if all this were not enough, he also kept thinking about what Tyler had said to him, before they’d parted ways. That it was obvious that Polly loved him.

Sam stole a sideways glance at her, saw her strolling along, looking at the grass, the river, the trees, the sky. She seemed happy. But that was probably only because she had just been reunited with her friends. It didn't seem obvious at all that she loved him. In fact, it didn't even seem that he liked her much.

She had, though, invited him to go on this walk, seeing how upset he was. That meant a lot to him, and he appreciated her company. He really appreciated her respecting his need for silence, but figured he should probably say something to her now.

He cleared his throat.

“The meeting didn't quite go as I had expected," Sam began.

She looked at him, concerned.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Sam thought about how to phrase it.

“Well, um, Aiden, he…is not exactly what I expected.”

Polly seemed happy that he was talking again. "I know, he's the best, isn't he? He taught me so much. All of us. And your sister, specially. She's like a whole different person after training with him," she said in a rush, excited, as always. "What did he say to you? What did he tell you? Where will your dad's clue lead us next?"

Sam shook his head. In a somber, broken voice, he said, "The clues won’t lead me anywhere else." He paused. "This visit is the end of the road for me. It led me to Aiden. That was my clue. It was a message from my father. He wants me to train with Aiden.” Polly looked at him, confused. "I don't understand," she said.

Sam stopped, and faced her. "Aiden said that my mission is different from Caitlin's. That
she's
the special one. That
she
is the one meant to find him. My mission is only to protect her."

Polly stared back at him.

"Aiden wants me to stay here. To train with him. He said I'm not ready yet. That I’m still run by my emotions. That I have a lot to learn. Do you agree?”

Polly looked at him, and her expression softened a bit.

"I think we all have a lot to learn," she said. "And you can be a little bit of a hot-head, yes," she said with a smile.

Sam couldn't help smiling back. Polly had a way of making it hard for him to stay mad at anything.

"But he also said I have a dark side. That I was turned by an evil person. That, if I'm not careful, I can slip to the dark side.”

"But we all have good and dark sides," Polly said. "That's not necessarily a bad thing. It just forces us to be disciplined to stay on the right side. I think any of us, at any time, can be good or bad, can always slip.”

Polly paused.

"The person that turned me wasn't the best of people," she added, softly, her expression darkening.

Sam looked at her in surprise. He never stopped to consider who had turned her.

"I was born a half-breed, to vampire and human parents, and they abandoned me on an island.

But later in life, I was also turned. Fully turned. By a boy—a stupid boy. It was a dumb relationship mistake. I was in love with him for about a minute. And then I realized, too late, what a jerk he was.

The first of many bad boy decisions, I guess," she said with a sigh.

Sam stared at her.

"So you see,” she added, “it’s not just you. I have it in me, too. And I haven't turned to the dark side. So it doesn't mean that you will, either.”

Sam felt better talking to her. He didn't know what he would have done without her here.

"So you think I should stay here, and train?" he asked, hesitantly.

"You're lucky Aiden made you the offer. You should be grateful for that. Of course you should.

Don’t you want to become the best fighter you can be?”

Sam thought about that. She was right. He did want to become the best he could be. And until Caitlin needed his protection, he figured it was as good a place to be as any.

Sam found himself wondering if Polly would stay here, too. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he realized, finally, that he wanted her near him.

"Are you going to stay, too?" he asked, hesitant, not wanting her to hear in his voice that he cared.

But his tone must have given him away, because she suddenly broke into a big smile.

"And if I won't?” she asked. “Will you miss me?" she said, her smile widening playfully.

Sam looked away, and felt his face turning bright red.

"You're blushing," she said, with a giggle.

Sam's face reddened even more.

“I—uh—um—I—never—I never said that I would
miss
you," he said, stumbling over his words, trying desperately to sound neutral.

Polly giggled. "You don't have to. I can see it in your face.” Sam suddenly looked directly at her, and he could see that she was staring right back at him. This time, she wore a new expression. For the first time, it was finally clear to him that she liked him.

They locked eyes, and neither of them looked away.

"Aiden said that I wasn't special," Sam said softly, staring into her eyes.

Polly took a step forward, and placed the back of her hand on his cheek.

"You're special to me," she said.

Sam felt his heart pounding, as he slowly leaned in towards her, and as she slowly leaned in towards him. He saw her lips approaching, and knew that they were about to have their first kiss.

Suddenly, right before their lips met, a trumpet sounded. They both, startled, wheeled and looked. A group of their coven members were sounding trumpets, and waving huge flags in their direction.

"THE GAMES BEGIN!" one of them shouted. "Aiden wants you both here!"

Their moment ruined, Sam and Polly both looked away from each other, self-conscious. They both turned and began walking back, both keeping their distance, embarrassed to even hold hands in sight of everyone else.

Sam, his heart still racing, couldn’t help wondering if a moment like that would ever come for them again.

Sergei opened his eyes, and quickly raised his hands to cover them, as they burned from the light. He struggled to see where he was.

He was lying in mud, on a steep slope on the bank of a river. He turned his head again away from the light, covering his eyes, which burned a hole through his skull. He looked up and saw that he was underneath some sort of rotting bridge, and he scrambled into the shadows, recessing further and further back.

Finally, he could breathe again, and slowly opened his eyes. He took stock of his surroundings, and could tell right away that he was in London. He was, in fact, under the London Bridge, a bridge he could recognize anywhere. He looked up and saw the rotting wood underneath it, saw the huge, stone foundations on the other side, saw the parade of boats passing through the Thames. He recessed further, deeper underneath the bridge, and rats scurried to get out of his way. Deeper and darker in the shadows, he was beginning to feel more like himself.

"Hey you!” came a voice. “That's my spot!”

Sergei saw a bum shuffling towards him, holding an empty flask of gin, stumbling. "You better move, if you know what's good for you!"

Sergei was in no mood for a human now. This trip back had been especially rough, and his head was still splitting, as if he had a thousand hangovers.

"Did you hear what I said?" the bum yelled. "I'm going to teach you—"

Having had enough, Sergei suddenly jumped up and lashed out. In a single move, he used his long fingernails to slice the man's throat.

The bum's eyes opened wide in shock as he dropped his flask and reached up to try to stop the blood pouring from his throat.

Sergei felt his fangs suddenly grow long, and realized how hungry he was. This bum, he realized, had come along at the perfect time.

Seeing the fangs extending from Sergei’s mouth, the bum’s eyes opened five times wider, and he stumbled backwards, crossing himself, trying to get away.

But it was too late. Sergei was ravenous now. He leapt forward and sank his fangs long and deep into the man's neck. The bum screamed out, and Sergei reached up with his free hand and clamped his mouth shut, as he sucked deeper and deeper, the blood rushing through his veins.

In a few seconds, he felt the bum’s struggling body go limp. He drank his fill, then let the body collapse onto the mud.

The man's blood coursing through him, Sergei felt himself again. He looked down at the lifeless corpse, and disgusted, gave it a hard kick.

It rolled several times, then landed into the Thames, and started slowly floating downstream.

Sergei smiled at the sight, watching the lifeless corpse bob and float along the water. He imagined the expression of a passing fisherman who came across it, saw it floating past his boat, and his smile grew even wider. He couldn't stand humankind, and he wished that the entire river before him was filled with nothing but floating corpses.

But in the meantime, he had work to do. He had come back in time yet again to make amends to Kyle. He was still set on being Kyle's loyal servant, and on leading Kyle's army, on one day leading the war in New York, if Kyle should see fit to appoint him, and if he could find his way back. He knew that he messed up in Paris, letting Caitlin slip through his fingers. He thought that he had done his best to seduce Polly. He had used her and deceived her. He smiled at the thought. Nothing made him happier than deceiving and abusing women.

But in the end, he had not succeeded. And now, in this time, and in this place, he would make it up to Kyle. He would find Polly again. He would find a way to deceive her again. It was his favorite pastime. And since he already attracted her once, he felt confident that he could attract her again.

This time, he would use Polly to get to Caitlin, and then he would present them both to Kyle as his trophy.

Sergei smiled at the thought of it. Kyle would love him forever.

The sun was close to setting, and Sergei was beginning to feel like a new man. The thought of taking advantage of Polly, yet again, filled him with a perverse joy. He was so overcome with joy, that he couldn't help himself.

He leaned back and summoned his vocal skills, and belted out an aria from a Beethoven Symphony. As he sang, in his professional voice, louder and louder, expertly hitting all the notes, the sound echoed underneath the bridge, and slowly drew a huge crowd of puzzled bystanders above, all wondering where it was coming from.

Of course, they had no idea that it was coming from right beneath them, from a singular vampire who was intent on destroying them all.

Sam stood on the training ground, holding a long staff, facing off with yet another of Aiden's men. There were dozens of his warriors there, and by now, Sam had faced nearly all of them. None of them had posed even the slightest challenge.