at him.
Caleb didn’t understand what she was saying. His whole world was going light, blurry, as he felt all the sensation leaving his body. He felt himself growing lighter and lighter, outside of himself as he watched his own body slump to the floor.
In his final seconds, lying on the ground, Caleb looked over at the battleground before him. It came to him in flashes. He saw Blake standing there, looking over, amazed, and then saw Rynd grab Blake from behind, while Kyle stepped forward and brought down his axe, killing him.
He saw Kyle take a long, silver spear, one he had never seen before, and charge, right towards Aiden. Somehow, he penetrated the shield, and the spear struck Aiden, right through the heart. He watched as Aiden slumped to the ground, lifeless.
He saw more and more graves open up, and Aiden’s remaining warriors swamped by vampires and shadow creatures in every direction, getting killed left and right.
And then, finally, he looked up, one last time, back at Caitlin.
At that moment, her face changed: it became the face of his ex-wife. Sera. Scowling down, triumphant.
“I learned the shape shifting trick from Sam,” she said with a sneer.
But Caleb was too delirious. He did not see her face transform, did not hear her last words. In his last moments, he left the earth still thinking that it was Caitlin, his wife, his one and only love, who had betrayed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Caitlin slowly opened her eyes, in excruciating pain. As the light hit her eyes, it felt like knives entering her forehead, forcing her to squint—even though it was dim in here, lit only by torches.
She had a splitting headache and felt aches and pains all over her body, and as she tried to move, she realized she was chained. She struggled against her shackles, and soon realized they were silver. She looked over and saw chains binding her hands and feet to a wall. She was standing upright, arms and legs outstretched, chained, her back against a cold stone wall, the cold metal digging into her wrists and ankles.
She felt a huge welt forming on her cheek, and realized that was the spot where Sam must have hit her. The thought of that hurt her more than the lump. Sam. Her own brother. She could hardly conceive it. Had he so thoroughly turned to the dark side that he would attack even her?
Apparently, he had. And that hurt her more than she could contemplate. Sam, she realized, was no longer her brother. Their relationship was over. He was a stranger to her now. Worse: he was an adversary. That thought made her feel more alone in the universe than ever.
She flashed back, trying to remember the chain of events. She remembered the last supper. Judas, leaving for the garden…Jesus…his words…the sky darkening….Sam. Immediately, she thought of Scarlet. She forced herself to open her eyes all the way, to look about the room.
It was a huge, cavernous room, all stone, dark, lit only by torches. It was airless in here, and the only sound was the soft moans of other prisoners. She scanned the walls and saw several others, vampires and humans, chained, too. They were crying out in pain, tugging at their shackles. Caitlin knew how they felt: the tug of her chains was unbearable, and she wondered how long she’d been chained here like this.
She continued scanning the room, her heart pounding, desperate for any glimpse of Scarlet. And then, to her great relief, she saw her. She was chained to the wall, across the room. Her heart flooded with both relief, and panic. Seeing Scarlet like that, chained, hurt her even more than her own captivity. Caitlin tugged again at her shackles, trying to break free and help her, but to no avail. Beside her, on the ground, muzzled and chained to the floor, was Ruth.
At least Scarlet was here. With her. Alive. Or she appeared to be.
“Scarlet,” Caitlin whispered, urgently.
Scarlet did not open her eyes, and Caitlin’s heart sank. Was she dead? Caitlin wondered with a sudden panic.
“Scarlet!” Caitlin said, more forcefully.
Slowly, Scarlet’s eyes fluttered, then began to open. She looked drugged. Or exhausted. Or sick. Caitlin wondered again how long they had been here.
Caitlin’s first impulse as a mom was to rush to Scarlet and give her a hug, to help her, to unchain her. But she tugged again at her chains, and cursed the fact that they were silver. And that her strength was useless