remnants of feelings. Brotherly love. A desire to protect her.
But these thoughts were confused, muddled by other, new, feelings. Rexius’ words hung in his ears, Kyle’s spirit coursed in his veins, and Samantha squeezed his hand—and he found himself unable to focus, unable to think of anything but destruction.
“There is one other, too,” Rexius continued slowly. “Just as grave a threat to us is this rogue, this rebel named Jesus. He walks about as we speak, preaching his idiotic sermons. We must kill him before he inflicts any more harm. He is the one your sister seeks. And if we don’t reach him in time, they will join forces and find the shield. We cannot let that happen.”
Rexius turned and nodded, and suddenly there stepped forward a single vampire, the only one of them dressed in white. He had long black hair, a long black beard, and large black eyes. They were wide, and glowing with intensity as he stared right at Sam.
“Judas here will infiltrate Jesus’ circle, and will help us bring him down. And then, we will catch your sister.”
Rexius turned to Sam.
“But without you, we can’t find her. Without you, we can’t finish her off.”
Rexius stood from his throne, staring down at Sam.
“Samson of the Blacktide Coven, are you prepared to help us in our cause? Are you prepared to help us find the shield, to help us kill Jesus, and to help us kill your sister?”
Sam stood there, feeling his body shaking, rising with thoughts of violence and destruction. He tried to think clearly, but all he could see in front of him were flames, rising higher and higher. It was a vision he could not shake, as much as he wanted to.
“I will kill anything and anyone in my way,” Sam replied. He stared at Rexius. “I might even kill you, if I choose.”
Rexius stared down at him, and slowly, his surprised look morphed into a smile.
“Exactly the words I longed to hear.”
CHAPTER TEN
As Caitlin and Caleb flew over the Israeli countryside, the sun beginning to set, the sky blending in shades of pink and the temperature finally cooling, Caitlin ran over in her head the inscription on the wall. Caleb had explained it to her, but still, she couldn’t quite process its significance.
It had read: Where the graves rise, the olive tree has many branches.
She’d had no idea what that meant. Caleb explained that he thought it was a reference, a clue that they needed to go to the ancient Mount of Olives, the legendary mountain that sat on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It was a mystical place, he said, part cemetery and part olive grove, and had been one of the most important places of vampire power for millennia. It was rumored, he said, to be home to the most powerful vampire coven of all.
They hadn’t stopped flying since, racing towards the Mount, towards Jerusalem. The entire time, Caitlin couldn’t stop wondering if she would find her Dad there. Or the Shield. Or, she dared to hope, Scarlet. She couldn’t get there fast enough.
The Israeli countryside below her was breathtaking. As they headed south, getting ever closer to Jerusalem, the terrain constantly changed, from desert, to mountains, to hills, to rolling green valleys. They passed rivers, small, rural towns, endless farms, and groves of palm trees. The country seemed barely populated, looking like one huge rural stretch of farmland, with just the occasional house, and small village, here and there.
As they rounded a bend, the sky now alight with shades of orange, Caleb suddenly pointed.
“There!” he said. “See that peak in the distance? That’s it.”
Caitlin squinted, and in the distance, she could barely make it out. It looked like every other mountain peak, except that she could see, even from here, it was completely covered in small olive trees, their silver branches glistening in the last light of sun.
“The Mount of Olives is famous not only because it towers over Jerusalem,” Caleb said, as they flew closer, “but also because it is the place where Jesus gave his sermons. In the future, centuries from now, it will be home to one of the most important churches in all Christianity. It has also, for thousands of years, been home to the most famous cemetery in the world. Everyone wants to be buried there, because the Bible holds that in the End of Days, when the Messiah comes, this is the place he will appear first. And those buried here will be the first to