Scarlet stood at the edge of the Hudson River as the sun began to set, standing inside the old, abandoned ruin of the gazebo, their destined meeting place, a place they had both been to before. In this lonely, desolate area hidden by trees, on the edge of the shores, was a private place that only Scarlet and Sage knew about, a place they could mistake for no other. She had been looking forward to meeting him here with such excitement, looking forward to their next time together more than she could say.Yet now Scarlet cried as she stood there, looking out at the river, watching the sun set, hardly able to comprehend that she was standing here alone. Sage had promised he would meet her here by four o’clock. Now it was after five.Sage’s ominous last words rang in her head: If I’m not there by four, you can be sure that I’m dead. I would never leave you. I would never abandon you.Scarlet wept and wept. She had been standing there for an over an hour. Obviously Sage had not made it ba
Caleb drove faster as he pulled into the gates of Scarlet’s high school andspotted commotion up ahead. He rode in his pickup, Sam by his side, determined to come here on the off chance that Kyle had come here looking for Scarlet.But Caleb had never expected to see the sight before him. There was chaos in the parking lot, kids screaming, running and racing down the steps, and as Caleb gained speed, his heart pounding, he realized something here was very, very wrong. It looked like a FEMA disaster scene.The front doors of the high school were torn off their hinges, broken glass was everywhere, and kids screamed as they fled from the school, pouring down the steps out to the parking lot, clearly running for safety. Caleb had a sinking premonition as he watched the whole scene that it all had something to do with Scarlet. And something to do with Kyle.“Get ready,” Caleb said, tensing up. “He’s here.”Sam reached into the glove, took out two pistols, locked and loaded them, and place
Sage felt a burning pain in his arms and legs as he struggled against the Askelon shackles, to no use. He hung there, on the huge Askelon cross, his arms bound on either side of them, his legs tied below, and looked out and saw thousands of his kind, more of his people than he’d ever seen gathered in one place, all swarming around the grand hall in Boldt Castle. It was an immense hall, hundreds of feet high, shaped in an arch, and they swarmed about in agitated chaos, some of them buzzing through the air, others pacing the ground, while Sage hung there, in the center, an object of display and scorn.Sage felt so weak; he had been dragged from his recharging station before he’d had a chance to recover, and he felt himself dying. He knew his time had come. His only regret was that he wanted more time with Scarlet, or at least a chance to say goodbye. He thought of her showing up at their meeting place, and his not being there, and it broke his heart. He could only imagine how hurt she h
Caitlin sat in the passenger seat, holding onto the handle, as Caleb made a hard turn onto their street and pulled up to their house, screeching to a stop before it. Caitlin leaned forward and craned her neck, peering into their lit-up house, hoping beyond hope that Scarlet had returned.It had been a whirlwind of a drive ever since the train station, where Caleb had picked her up. Caitlin had been speechless as Caleb, all bruised up, had filled her in on all that had happened with Kyle, with his escape, with the shooting in the high school and how lucky he was to be alive. Caitlin was both horrified and grateful that Caleb had not been killed. She had warned him to stay away from Kyle until she had discovered the weapon they needed—if she ever discovered it. He had not listened; she’d had a feeling that he would not.Caitlin had filled him in, too, on her research, on the clues she had discovered, and on where she felt they needed to go next to solve this. Caleb had listened with ra
Kyle landed outside the tall stone gates heralding a long, tree-lined cobblestone driveway that wound its way longer than any driveway ever should, up to a massive private mansion. Kyle could have landed inside the gates—he could have landed right on the roof of the mansion if he’d wanted. But instead, he had flown over it, scouting it out from above, seeing the sprawling acres, the huge historic structure, the swimming pool and tennis court, the ancient oak trees, the sculpture scattered on the lawn, and he had felt sick from it. It was more than any one man should be entitled to. Much less this bratty little girl, Scarlet’s best friend.Vivian.Kyle thought it would be fun to land before the gates, to take his time walking up to the house and enjoying himself. After all, it was a beautiful fall day, and it would be a nice long walk up the driveway. He hoped he could even let them see him approaching, and strike terror and fear into their hearts. He smiled at the thought. Nothing wo
Caleb drove like a madman on Route 9 and checked his rearview to see a dozen police cruisers trailing him. They were gaining fast, and he didn’t know how much longer he could shake them.“We’re not going to outrun them,” Caitlin said. “Should we pull over?”Caleb shook his head.“Too late for that,” he said. “They’ll throw us in jail. We’ll never save Scarlet. Not in time.”“But Scarlet’s upstate. It’s a ten-hour drive—we’ll never make it in time.”Caleb drove on, his mind racing with a million thoughts. He knew she was right. He knew the police would catch up to them soon enough. He knew they could not travel all the way upstate in this pickup. More than anything, he knew that they needed to rescue Scarlet. Nothing else mattered.As Caleb drove in desperation, racking his brain for what they could do, suddenly they passed a sign lit up in the night, going almost a hundred miles an hour, and he had an idea. Duchess Air Force Base. It made Caleb think of work. His fighter jets.C
Scarlet flew through the cold night air, racing along the Saint Lawrence River, heading north, upstate, into colder and colder territory. She wiped away her tears, and for the first time, felt a fresh sense of determination. For the first time, she felt emboldened, felt a purpose: to save Sage’s life. She was elated to realize that Sage was not dead, that he did not abandon her, that he was alive and wanted to be with her. That was all she needed to know. She would go to the ends of the earth for him, do anything for him, even give up her own soul.Which was exactly what she was prepared to do. She knew it was a trap, that she would be flying straight into the lion’s den. She knew that Lore had taken his cousin for a reason, that all of them were awaiting her arrival. That her death would be the key for them all to live forever.And she didn’t care. She closed her eyes and saw Sage’s face, and as long she could see his face, as long as she could rescue him from whatever danger he w
Caitlin Paine stood in the back room of Pete’s Bar, joined by Caleb, Sam, Polly, and a dozen police officers, and stared out through the smashed open window, into a night filled with flashing police lights. She wondered what on earth could have happened to her daughter. Scarlet, the love of her life, was out there somewhere, running into the night, alone, likely afraid, and the thought of it was tearing her apart. What pained Caitlin even more than the thought of Scarlet missing was the thought of what Scarlet had become, her memory of her, her last look at her before she’d leapt out through that window. That wasn’t her daughter.That was something else.Caitlin shuddered to think of it, and yet, try as she did to shake it, she knew it was true. She had been fighting with the idea all this time, fighting not to believe that Scarlet was no longer human, that Scarlet was really a vampire. Caitlin had been fighting with Aiden, with the priest, with Caleb, and most of all, with herself,