going to die.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
“Sam!” screamed a voice.
Sam suddenly stopped, hypnotized by the voice, his sword frozen in mid-air.
“SAM!” screamed the voice again.
Sam turned and looked, and Caitlin looked and saw who it was.
Scarlet stood there, hands on her hips, red-faced, screaming at Sam.
“Don’t you hurt her! That’s my mommy! What kind of brother are you?”
Scarlet stepped forward, fearless, and positioned herself between Sam and Caitlin.
Sam stared back, perplexed. He still held the sword, as if frozen in a moment.
“It’s your job to protect her. Don’t you remember? Don’t you remember any of us? IT’S YOUR JOB!”
Sam blinked several times.
“You promised to protect her. And me. What kind of brother are you?” Scarlet screamed, chastising him.
There was something about the tone of Scarlet’s voice—something so honest and real—that it seemed to break through some invisible barrier, to reach Sam. Somehow, it seemed to reach to the core, to break him out of a trance. It seemed to reach all the way to Sam himself, to the man who was once her brother. Who was once her uncle.
Slowly, Sam’s face began to collapse. Slowly, his scowl disappeared. Slowly, his muscles went limp, and he lowered the sword to his side.
Slowly, Caitlin began to see, once again, the face she once knew. The face of her brother. Her brother who loved her. Who had vowed to protect her.
“Caitlin?” Sam asked, sounding confused, as he looked down at her.
It was his voice—his real voice, back again. That voice she once knew.
Caitlin scrambled to her feet, holding Scarlet tight, looking back at Sam warily.
“Caitlin?” he asked again.
“It’s me,” Caitlin said.
Sam’s face then slowly transformed into one of shame, of grief, of self-hatred. He looked down at the sword in his hand with disgust, and confusion. He threw it down, then reached up and grabbed at his forehead, as if trying to tear the spirits out of his head.
“What have I done?” Sam pleaded. “WHAT HAVE I DONE!?”
“Kill her!” ordered a dark voice.
Caitlin looked over and saw Rexius standing there, his army behind him.
“Did you hear what I said?” Rexius said. “I gave you a command. I ordered you to kill her!”
As Caitlin watched, she saw Sam’s face transform once again. Once again, it filled with rage.
But this time, it was not directed at her. It was a rage, she could see, directed at Rexius. At all his men. At everything they had done to him.
Sam’s face glowered, as he reached for his sword. He pulled it out of the grass.
“Go,” Sam said quietly to Caitlin. “For both of us. Take your daughter. I will protect you. I vow. If I have to fight to the last man, if I have to die here, I will protect you. And please,” he added, “forgive me.”
Caitlin felt her heart breaking. Sam was back, and she wanted to go to him, to hug him. She wanted him to come with her, wanted him to get out of here. Or, she wanted to fight by his side. Or, at the very least, she wanted to say goodbye. And to tell him that she forgave him.
But his face glowered, and she could see that he was set, that he would not leave this place, that he was determined to battle with Rexius. And there was no time left. She had to protect Scarlet. She had to find her Dad. It was now or never.
“GO!” Sam ordered.
And with that, Sam turned, let out a fierce battle cry, and charged Rexius and his men. He charged with all he had, just as Rexius’ men charged him. Sam raised his sword and swung it wildly, and Caitlin could already see the bodies begin to fall.
There was no time left to lose. Caitlin put Scarlet on her back, grabbed Ruth, and leapt into the air, flying high over the battlefield, while Sam distracted Aiden’s army below. She had to get far, far from this place.
And she knew exactly where she needed to go.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
As Caitlin flew away from the Mount of Olives, Scarlet on her back, holding Ruth, her heart was breaking in a million pieces. She was so overwhelmed, she hardly knew what to think. Down below, she was leaving Caleb, her husband, dead. Blake, dead. Aiden, dead. And her brother, Sam, left alone to fight that army. He had finally come back to her, had become the brother she once knew. Her heart had soared to see him come back to himself. And abandoning him now, like this—after she had vowed