Desired (3 page)

Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

*

Caitlin stood on the floor of the Roman Colosseum,
dressed in full battle gear, holding a sword. She was ready
to
challenge whoever attacked her—indeed, felt the urge
to fight. But as she spun around, in every direction, she
saw that
the stadium was empty. She looked up at the
saw that
the stadium was empty. She looked up at the
rows of seats, and saw that the entire place was vacant.

Caitlin blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was
no longer in the Colosseum, but rather in the Vatican, in
the Sistine Chapel. She still held her sword, but now was
dressed in robes.

She looked about the room and saw hundreds of
vampires, lined up neatly, dressed in white robes, with
glowing
blue eyes. They stood patiently along the wall,
silent, at perfect attention.

Caitlin dropped her sword in the empty chamber, and it
landed with a clink. She walked slowly towards the head
priest, reached out, and took from him a huge silver
goblet, filled with white blood. She drank, and the liquid
overflowed and poured down her cheeks.

Suddenly, Caitlin found herself alone in the desert. She
was walking barefoot on the baked dirt, the sun beating
down her, and she held a gigantic key in her hand. But the
key was so big—unnaturally big—and the weight of it
was
pulling her down.

She walked and walked, gasping for air in the heat, until
finally, she came to a huge mountain. At the top of that
mountain, she saw a man standing there, looking down,
smiling.

She knew it was her father.

Caitlin broke into a sprint, running for all she was worth,
trying to make it up the mountain, getting closer and
closer to him. As she did, the sun grew higher, hotter in
the sky, bearing down on her, seeming to come from right
behind her father himself. It was as if he were the sun, and
she were heading right into it.

Her ascent grew hotter, higher, and she gasped for breath
as she got close. He stood with his arms are outstretched,
waiting to embrace her.

But the hill became steeper and she was just too tired.

She couldn’t go any further. She collapsed where she was.

Caitlin blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she saw
her father standing over her, leaning down, a warm smile
on his face.

“Caitlin,” he said. “My daughter. I’m so proud of you.”

She tried to reach out, to hold him, but the key was now on
top of her, and it was too heavy, pinning her down.

She looked up at him, trying to talk, but her lips were
cracked and her throat was too parched.

“Caitlin?”

“Caitlin?”

Caitlin opened her eyes with a start, disoriented.

She looked up, and saw a man sitting on her bedside, looking down at her, smiling.

He reached over, and gently brushed the hair out of her eyes.

Was this stil a dream? She felt the cool sweat on her forehead, felt his touch on her wrist, and she prayed that it was not.

Because there before her, smiling down, was the love of her life.

Caleb.

Sam opened his eyes with a start. He was staring up at the sky, looking up the trunk of an enormous oak tree. He blinked several times, wondering where he was.

He felt something soft on his back, and it felt very comfortable, and he looked over and realized he was lying on a patch of moss on the forest floor. He looked back up, and saw dozens of trees high above him, swaying in the wind. He heard a gurgling sound, and looked over, and saw a stream trickling by, just a few feet from his head.

Sam sat up and looked around, glancing in every direction, taking it al in. He was deep in the woods, alone, the only light coming in through the tree branches. He checked himself and saw that he was ful y dressed, in the same battle gear he had been wearing in the Colosseum. It was quiet here, the only sound being that of the stream, of the birds, and of some distant animals.

Sam realized, with relief, that the time travel had worked.

He was clearly in some other place and time—although where and when that was, he had no idea.

Sam slowly checked his body, and realized he’d sustained no major injuries, and that he was al in one piece. He felt a terrible hunger gnawing at his stomach, but he could live with that. First, he had to figure out where he was.

He reached down, feeling to see if he had any weaponry on him.

Unfortunately, none of it had made the trip. He was on his own again, left to the devices of just his own bare hands.

He wondered if he stil carried a vampire’s power. He could feel an unnatural strength stil coursing through his veins, and it felt like he had. But then again, he couldn’t be sure until the time came.

And that time came sooner than he thought.

Sam heard the snap of a branch, and turned to see a large bear hulking towards him, slowly, aggressively. He froze. It glowered at him, raised its fangs, and snarled.

A second later, it broke into a sprint, charging right for him.

There was no time for Sam to run, and nowhere for him to run to. He had no choice, he realized, but to confront this animal.

But strangely enough, instead of being overcome by fear, Sam felt rage course through him. He was furious at the animal. He resented being attacked, especial y before he even had a chance to get his bearings. So, without thinking, Sam charged, too, preparing to meet the bear in battle, the same way he would a human.

Sam and the bear met in the middle. The bear lunged for him, and Sam lunged right back. Sam felt the power coursing through his veins, felt it tel ing him that he was invincible.

As he met the bear in mid-air, he realized that he was right.

He caught the bear by its shoulders, grabbed on, spun and threw it. The bear went flying backwards through the woods, dozens of feet, smashing hard into a tree.

Sam stood there and roared back at the bear, a fierce roar, even louder than the animal’s. He felt the muscles and veins bulging in him as he did.

The bear got to its feet slowly, wobbly, and looked at Sam with something like shock. It now hobbled as it walked, and after taking a few tentative steps, it suddenly lowered its head, turned, and ran away.

But Sam wasn’t going to let it get away so easy. He was mad now, and he felt like nothing in the world could abate his anger. And he was hungry. The bear would have to pay.

Sam broke into a sprint, and was pleased to find that he was faster than this animal. Within moments, he caught up to it and in a single leap, landed on its back. He leaned back, and sunk his fangs deep into its neck.

The bear howled in agony, bucking wildly, but Sam held on.

He sunk his fangs deeper, and within moments, he felt the bear slumped to its knees beneath him. Final y, it stopped moving.

Sam lay on top of it, drinking, feeling its life force course through his veins.

Final y, Sam leaned back and licked his lips, dripping with blood. He’d never felt so refreshed. It was exactly the meal he’d needed.

Sam was just rising back to his feet, when he heard another twig snap.

He looked over, and standing there, in a clearing of the forest, was a young girl, maybe 17, dressed in a thin, al -

white material. She stood there, holding a basket, and stared back at him, in shock. Her skin was translucent white, and her long, light brown hair framed large, blue eyes. She was beautiful.

She stared back at Sam, equal y transfixed.

He realized that she must be afraid of him, afraid that maybe he would attack her; he realized that he must have looked like an awful sight, on top of a bear, blood in his mouth. He didn’t want to scare her.

So he jumped down from the animal, and took several steps towards her.

To his surprise, she didn’t flinch, or try to move away.

Rather, she just continued to stare at him, unafraid.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She smiled. That surprised him. Not only was she beautiful, but she was truly unafraid. How could that be?

“Of course you’re not,” she said. “You’re one of mine.”

It was Sam’s turn to be shocked. The second she said it, he knew it to be true. He had sensed something when he’d first seen her, and now he knew. She was one of his. A vampire. That’s why she was unafraid.

“Nice takedown,” she said, gesturing at the bear. “A little messy, wouldn’t you say? Why not go for a deer?”

Sam smiled. Not only was she pretty—she was funny.

“Maybe next time I wil ,” he said back.

She smiled.

“Would you mind tel ing me what year it is?” he asked. “Or century, at least?”

She just smiled, and shook her head.

“I think I’l leave that for you to find out for yourself. If I told you, it would ruin al the fun, wouldn’t it?”

Sam liked her. She was spunky. And he felt at ease around her, as if he’d known her forever.

She took a step forward, and reached out her hand. Sam took it, and loved the feel of her smooth, translucent skin.

“I’m Sam,” he said, shaking her hand, holding it for too long.

She smiled wider.

“I know,” she said.

Sam was baffled. How could she possibly know? Had he met her before? He couldn’t remember.

“I was sent for you,” she added.

She suddenly turned and began heading down a forest trail.

Sam hurried to catch up to her, presuming she meant for him to fol ow. Not looking careful y were he was going, he was embarrassed to find himself trip over a branch; he heard her giggling as he did.

“So?” he prodded. “Aren’t you going to tel me your name?”

She giggled again.

“Wel , I have a formal name, but I rarely go by it,” she said.

Then she turned and faced him, waiting for him to catch up.

“If you must know, everyone cal s me Pol y.”

Caleb held open the huge, medieval door, and as he did, Caitlin stepped out of the abbey and took her first steps out into the early morning light. Caleb at her side, she looked out at the breaking dawn. Here, high atop the hil of Montmartre, she was able to look out and see al of Paris stretched before her. It was a beautiful, sprawling city, a mixture of classical architecture and simple houses, of cobblestone streets and dirt roads, of trees and urbanity.

The sky blended in a mil ion soft colors, making the city look alive. It was magical.

Even more magical was the hand that she felt slip into hers.

She looked over and saw Caleb standing by her side, enjoying the view with her, and she could hardly believe it was real. She could hardly believe it was real y him, that they were real y here. Together. That he knew who she was.

That he remembered her. That he’d found her.

She wondered again if she had truly awakened from a dream, if she were not stil sleeping.

But as she stood there, and squeezed his hand tighter, she knew that she was truly awake. She had never felt so overjoyed. She had been running for so long, had come back in time, al these centuries, al this way, just to be with him. Just to make sure he was alive again. When he hadn’t remembered her, in Italy, it had crushed her to the depths.

But now that he was here, and alive, and remembered her

—and now that he was al hers, single, without Sera around

—her heart swel ed with new emotion, and with new hope.

She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that it could al work out so perfectly, that it could al actual y
really
work.

She was so overwhelmed, she didn’t even know where to begin, or what to say.

Before she could speak, he began.

“Paris,” he said, turning to her with a smile. “There are certainly worse places we could be together.”

She smiled back.

“My whole life long, I’d always wanted to see it,” she answered.

With someone I love
, she wanted to add, but stopped herself. It felt like it had been so long since she’d been by Caleb’s side, she actual y found herself feeling nervous again. In some ways, it felt like she had been with him forever—longer than forever—but in other ways, it felt like she was meeting him again for the first time.

He reached out his hand, palm up.

“Would you see it with me?” he asked.

She reached out and placed her hand into his.

“It’s a long walk back down,” she said, looking down at the steep hil , leading al the way down, for miles, and sloping into Paris.

“I was thinking of something a bit more scenic,” he answered. “Flying.”

She rol ed back her shoulder blades, trying to feel if her wings were working. She felt so rejuvenated, so restored from that drink, from the white blood—but she stil wasn’t sure she was able to fly. And she didn’t feel ready to leap off a mountain in the hope that her wings would take.

“I don’t think I’m ready yet,” she said.

He looked at her, and understood.

“Fly with me,” he said, then added, with a smile, “just like the old days.”

She smiled, came up behind him, and held onto his back and shoulders. His muscular body felt so good in her arms.

He suddenly leapt into the air, so fast, that she barely had time to hang on tight.

Before she knew it, they were flying, she holding onto his back, looking down, resting her head on his shoulder blade.

She felt that familiar thril in her stomach, as they plummeted, coming down low, close to the city, in the sunrise. It was breathtaking.

But none of it was as breathtaking as her being in his arms again, holding him, just being together. She had barely been with him an hour, and already she was praying that they would never be apart again.