All Chapters of Vowed (Book #7 in the Vampire Journals): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

As Kyle swung in the air, upside down, tied by his feet to the silver rope, he looked up at Rynd—those large, lifeless black eyes, that awful scowl—and watched him swing the huge silver sword, aiming right for his throat. He knew this moment might be his last on earth. In a way, Kyle was relieved. He had been living for centuries too long, he knew that, and death might bring a peaceful reprieve.On the other hand, as Kyle thought about it, he realized that death, in his case, would not bring a reprieve at all—but rather a quick descent into hell. He knew what he had to look forward to was a millennium of battling with demons, of being tortured by sick creatures, and he was not especially looking forward to. More importantly, he still had unfinished business on earth. He thought of Caitlin, of Caleb, of Sam, of how much he hated them all, and of how he just couldn’t leave without tearing each one of them to pieces, making them suffer as he had suffered—and it gave him a whole new deter

Scarlet skipped along the open meadow in high spirits, Ruth at her side. While everyone had been standing around making their wishes, she’d decided that she didn’t want to make a wish after all: everything she could ever wish for, she’d realized, had already come true. She was away from that horrible, awful foster parent who had beat her in London; she was safe and sound with Caitlin and Caleb; she had new parents who she loved; and she also had Ruth, who she loved like a sister. There was nothing else Scarlet wanted in the world. So she decided she’d leave the wish-making for grown-ups.Besides, Scarlet couldn’t just stand around with everyone else, wasting time; she had important work to do. She took her role of Flower Girl seriously, and since no one was telling her exactly what to do, she figured she would decide for herself. A flower girl, she decided, had a duty to go out into the fields and find the very best flowers that the world had to offer. She had the duty to harvest them

Kyle hiked with Rynd and his men up a rocky hill on the Isle of Lewis. It had been a long flight to get here, and as they had flown over the Isle of Skye, Kyle had wondered about the wisdom of Rynd’s plan. Kyle had wanted to just dive down right there and launch a direct attack on Skye. But Rynd had insisted that was not the best approach; he had claimed that Skye was protected from vampire attack by an invisible shield. Rynd had suggested another, more devious, way.They had been hiking for hours, and Rynd had offered few details of his plan. Kyle was not used to following, to taking orders, and he was reaching his limit. Indeed, just as he was getting ready to confront Rynd again, finally Rynd hiked up alongside him.“Tonight is the Samhain Festival,” Rynd said. “Our kind will flock here from around the world. It is our night for power, the one night when evil has free reign. We will use the energy of this night to summon our evil cohorts from every corner of the earth. Whatever cr

Caitlin walked along the sandy shore, holding Scarlet’s hand, the ocean waves crashing just feet away. It was a desolate and bleak shoreline, stretching as far as the eye could see, the dark gray sea blending into a horizon of gray clouds. The colors matched Caitlin’s mood. As always in her life, just when everything seemed to be so going so great, things took a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.She supposed that she should be grateful. After all, Scarlet was alive. That, really, was all that mattered. And she was more grateful for that than she could ever express. In fact, Caitlin squeezed her hand more tightly as they walked, afraid to ever let it go.Just as she was reeling from the trauma of the event, from Aiden’s pronouncement of a terrible loss yet to come, she also had to hear this news about Sera. Caleb’s timing was terrible, though at the same time, she did appreciate his not keeping it from her. At least she had managed to wisely hold her tongue this time, and give h

As Kyle stood with Rynd’s man amidst the circle of Callanish Stones, watching the blood red sun set, he had never been so content. Here he was, back in ancient Scotland, standing in a place of pure vampire power, on the Samhain Festival, the darkest day of the year, and surrounded by scores of fellow vampires just as sadistic as he. Finally, he felt at home.He looked around, and saw Rynd’s men torturing and slaughtering one innocent human after another, feasting on their blood, tearing them from limb to limb. Kyle had feasted himself, all afternoon, as the sun had slowly set, and he felt more gorged than he had in centuries. It was already the start of an amazing night.And the best was yet to come. As the blood red sun filled the entire sky, Kyle turned and faced it, held out his arms, and slowly felt the power of Samhain infusing his body, rising up from his toes. This was truly the power night of his kind. For thousands of years on this day, humans had celebrated witchcraft, trie