it down and the three of them charged out of the cell.
They burst out into daylight, in a remote countryside, at the top of a mountain.
“Grab on!” Caitlin yelled.
Scarlet jumped onto her back while Caitlin grabbed Ruth, and leapt into the air.
A moment later they were flying, soaring, getting further and further away from the place.
Caitlin looked over her shoulder, and saw that they had just flown out of an ancient, pagan temple. It looked like the Parthenon in Rome, but smaller, carved with demonic figures and statues in every direction.
Caitlin could see that their escape had caused a stir: dozens of vampires, dressed in all black—Rexius’ people—scrambled on the hillside. They were blowing trumpets sounding alarms, and moments later, dozens of them were up in the air, chasing after Caitlin. She knew that, in moments, Rexius would summon all of his people after her.
But she didn’t care. They had escaped. They were free.
Caitlin knew she should search for Jesus now, should continue her search for her Dad. But she couldn’t stand to be away from Caleb for one more second. She had to see him first. Nothing in the world would stop her from finding her husband—and from doing everything in her power to make sure they were never apart again.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Caitlin flew as fast as she possibly could, racing through the air, heading towards the Mount of Olives. She managed to put a good distance between herself and her pursuers, and wasn’t worried about them.
What she was worried about was what she might find. She had a pit in her chest, a deepening sense of dread she could not shake, that something terrible had happened, that all the people she loved in the world were gone. She felt as if she were already an orphan in the universe.
She thought back to Jesus’ words, and willed herself to be calm.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to her life?
Caitlin raced across the arid landscape of Israel, baking in the desert heat, watching Jerusalem and the never-ending palm trees beneath her. She was drawn to this city, yet found herself hating it at the same time. This place was too intense for her, and she associated it with everything that had gone wrong in her life. She just wanted to get away—far, far away, with Caleb and Scarlet. Alone. Just the three of them. To a place where they could live out their lives in peace. Where battles and clues and relics were a thing of the past.
But she was afraid that wasn’t meant to be. She had a mission, a destiny, and she still hadn’t fulfilled it—and still didn’t know what it was. She knew she had to find her Dad. She knew that somehow Jesus would lead her to him. And she knew, in her heart, she should go down below, and search for Jesus now. Right away. That he was her last salvation, her last hope to save the others.
But she just could not bring herself to. Every bone in her body led her to Caleb. She had to see him first. She had to see if he was in danger, and do whatever she could to save him.
As she rounded a peak, the Mount of Olives spread out before her. She saw the endless rows of olive trees, up and down the mountain, and on the far slope, the rows of graves.
Except now, something was different: the graves were opened. She saw thousands of patches of freshly opened dirt, and she could sense, even from here, that something was terribly wrong. It looked as if the earth had opened up and spit out thousands of corpses.
Already, even from here, she sensed a profound shift in the universe. She felt a terrible sadness, and sensed that below her had been a battlefield, that an epic battle had been waged here, and that thousands had died. She could already feel the tragedy. And she could already feel her remorse for missing it. She had abandoned her loved ones while they had fought; she had spent all that time searching for her Dad while she could have been here, helping them.
Caitlin dove lower, almost afraid to look; she felt the small hands clutching her tightly, and felt Scarlet tensing up, too. She assumed that Scarlet, as sensitive as she was, could sense it, too. After all, her Dad was down there. Even Ruth, in her arms, began to squirm a bit more.
Caitlin dove down sharply,