Betrayed (12 page)

Aiden breathed deeply. “He dropped you here for a reason. This is where he wants you to be right now.”

What did that mean? Did that mean that he still loved her? That he wanted her safe and protected? Or that he wanted to get rid of her?

“You have to let Caleb go for now,” Aiden said. “You must focus on your training. You cannot be distracted. I can already feel how distracted you are by him, and that is a very dangerous place to be. Your thoughts must be clear. Completely empty. Do you understand me?”

Caitlin looked down and felt her cheeks flushed, embarrassed. She slowly nodded.

“And what about my search for my father?” Caitlin asked. “Is it true that I’m the One? What does that mean exactly? Does it mean I’m supposed to save the vampire race or something? Isn’t there something I’m supposed to be doing? Is it wrong for me to just sit here?” she asked, the questions all pouring out at once.

“You do, indeed, hail from a very special lineage,” Aiden said slowly. “Your father is a remarkable man. I know that you want to find him, and I know that he wants to see you. More importantly, you will indeed be the key to finding the weapon that can save both mankind and the vampire race.”

Caitlin looked at him intently.

“What do you mean? I thought that was the Sword? I thought we already found it?”

He smiled. “I see that you have not thought carefully of the riddle. I’m surprised at you.”

Caitlin thought.
The riddle?
What had she overlooked?

“
The Rose and Thorn
,” he continued. “Don’t you see? There are two sides to every dynasty, to every lineage. Caitlin and Sam. And there are two weapons as well. A weapon to attack, and a weapon to protect. The Sword is the weapon to attack. But there is one other weapon. An even greater one: the weapon to protect. The Rose and Thorn. The Thorn is the Sword. And the Rose is the Shield.”

“The Shield?” Caitlin asked, amazed.

“The Sword can wipe out the human race,” he said, “and portions of the vampire race. But the Shield can save them both. And when you find your father—when you
truly
find your father—he will lead you to the Shield.”

Caitlin’s mind spun. It was so much to take in.

“So then…shouldn’t I be out there? Shouldn’t I be searching for him? For the Shield?”

Aiden shook his head again. “You still don’t understand. You will never find your father in this lifetime.”

Caitlin stared at him, shocked.

“What do you mean?”

“Your father lives in another time. Another century. The only way to find him would be to go back—backwards in time.”

Caitlin’s eyes opened wide. “Is that possible?” she asked.

“For a vampire it his. But it is not something to be done lightly. It comes with a great price. Once you go backwards, there is no coming back to the present. Ever. Everything you know, anyone you know, any memory and experience—everything from this lifetime—will be completely wiped away. When you go back, you start all over again. It is irrevocable. Worse, not all vampires survive the trip. You could very well die by trying.

“And there is no guarantee that if you go back, you will find your father, or the Shield. You don’t know exactly which time or place he is in right now.”

Caitlin’s mind reeled as she sat there, considering the implications. Wipe out everything she knew. To wipe out Sam, and Caleb. This place. She couldn’t imagine doing that.

“As I said, you are exactly where you need to be right now,” he said. “You must heal fully, and you must train. Wherever you go, you cannot go forth unto you first become the very best you can be.”

He got up from behind the desk and stood before her. She stood, too, sensing that their meeting was coming to a close.

“I would like to have you in our family,” he said, “if it is something you choose to accept.”

Caitlin didn’t have to think hard about that. Not only was there no other alternative she could think of, but she really liked everything she already knew about this place.

“I would be honored,” she answered.

He smiled. “Excellent. Your training begins today.”

*

Caitlin stood in a large ring of vampires, all in a wide circle, in the inner courtyard of the castle. The ground they stood on must have been a training ground, because the grass was all worn down and the floor was comprised of a dusty dirt. Caitlin could feel the heat coming off it on this unusually warm April day. The sun seemed to be shining stronger than she ever felt, even with her skin wraps on.

Her entire coven was out, all standing quietly in the circle, 24 in all. She scanned their faces, and was amazed at how different they all looked. Some were shorter, some taller, some with cropped hair, others with long hair, some with serious expressions and others looking more relaxed. It was split evenly between boys and girls—12 of each. They all looked to be in their teenage years, although she knew they were all far older than that. She couldn’t really see their faces clearly—it was hard to focus because she was too nervous. They all stood at attention, in perfect silence, waiting for Aiden to begin.

Aiden took several steps out to the center of the circle, and slowly looked around, surveying them all.

“My fellow beings,” Aiden began formally, “it brings me great honor to introduce a new member of our coven. You will do your best to make her feel at home here. She is one of us now. Everyone, meet Caitlin Paine.”

Caitlin never did well in the spotlight, and she was embarrassed by all the attention. She was even more embarrassed to see all of the vampires slowly and formally bow their heads towards her.

Suddenly, Caitlin felt something brush up against her leg, and she looked down and was embarrassed to see Rose interrupting, stepping into the circle, and yelping.

Aiden smiled. “And, of course, how could we forget. Rose. It appears that she would like to be acknowledged, too.”

Rose yelped, and the coven laughed.

“OK then,” Aiden said, “it seems that we now have all 24 ½ members present.”

Rose exited the circle, lying down faithfully behind Caitlin’s feet, watching and waiting.

“Before we begin,” Aiden continued, “there is someone here who wants to apologize for his past actions.”

Cain, standing on the opposite side of the circle, slowly walked into the center. He looked right at Caitlin, remorse and fear in his eyes as he stood there. He seemed very nervous.

“I’m sorry, Caitlin,” he said. “My actions were inexcusable. I hope that you will forgive me.”

“I do,” Caitlin said, and meant it. As she looked at him now, from this distance, he just seemed like a pathetic figure, and seemed genuinely remorseful. She saw no point in harboring a grudge. The past was the past. Besides, he got the worst of it.

Cain retreated back to his place in the circle.

Aiden stepped forward, “All right, let’s begin,” he yelled, and everyone suddenly broke into action.

Caitlin was disoriented and felt out of place, as the other vampires all broke into perfect order and positions, each teaming up with a partner, and hurrying off to a different section of the courtyard. They each grabbed various weapons off of the racks, and without hesitating, began sparring. Caitlin stood there, watching the frenzy of activity, unsure what to do. She realized she didn’t have a partner.

“I’ve been assigned to you,” came a perky voice.

Caitlin turned, and standing there, just a few feet behind her, was a tall, thin, redheaded boy covered in freckles, with cropped hair, large ears and a huge smile. She had never seen anyone look so happy. He almost looked like a cartoon character.

“Assigned?” Caitlin asked.

“I’m your training partner,” he said, and reached out a hand. “Patrick,” he said.

Caitlin shook his hand—it was long and thin, and very cold. Caitlin couldn’t understand how this person could be a fighter.

“Oh, but I can,” he said, answering her thoughts, “I can fight very well indeed. But that’s for you to find out,” he said with a smile and a wink, as he turned and strode off towards a corner of the courtyard.

Caitlin’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Of course
, Caitlin thought.
Everyone here can read my thoughts. So stupid. I need to learn how to guard them
.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said, “you’ll get used to it. Just follow me. You’re wasting time. Aiden hates it when people waste time,” he said, bouncing off.

Caitlin hurried to catch up to him.

“We begin with swords,” he said, as he reached the far wall, grabbed two long bamboo swords, and threw one to her. He threw it quick and hard, and Caitlin was surprised at her own reflexes, at how quickly she reacted, grabbing it midair effortlessly. She was a lot quicker now than even she realized.

“We always begin the day with swords,” he added. “Later, we’ll switch to spears.”

Caitlin heard the click-clack all around her, and looked and saw the other vampires all sparring with the bamboo swords, fighting and parrying faster than she had ever seen. They were leaping over each other’s heads, flying, rolling, jumping, landing, tackling….They were well-matched, going blow for blow in many cases. When the blows got through, there was the distinctive sound of the whack of bamboo on skin. It looked like it hurt.

Caitlin was about to find out for herself.

“OW!” she screamed, as she felt the sudden sting of bamboo on her hip.

She turned and saw Patrick standing there, smiling, having just whacked her hard in the side.

Her cheeks flushed with anger. “What was that?”

He didn’t answer, but slashed at her again. At the last second, she raised her sword and blocked the blow, with a loud bamboo clack, right before it hit her shoulder. He was so fast. She realized he could fight after all.

“Time for talking is over,” Patrick said. “Now we fight!”

Caitlin faced him, grabbing her hilt with both hands, and fully focused on the moment. She was filled with rage, and charged right at him, swinging as hard as she could, right for his shoulder.

He ably sidestepped it, and whacked her hard on the but as he did.

Caitlin felt the pain. She spun, now was twice as mad.

Annoyingly, he only continued to smile back. Nothing seemed to faze this kid.

“You telegraph everything you do,” he said. “I saw that strike coming a mile away.”

Caitlin charged like a bull, slashing every which way. But he blocked her blow for blow, then leapt over her with a somersault, and whacked her on her back.

That one really hurt, and Caitlin wheeled, furious.

“Just because you’re angry, doesn’t mean you’re good,” he said. “You need to learn to control your emotions. They won’t serve you on the battlefield.”

Caitlin had been about to attack again, but something about his words struck her. He was right. She was coursing with rage, and she was not thinking clearly.

“Harness your anger. Make it work for you. Don’t work for it. Don’t let it go. Just control it. Fight
with
it.”

Caitlin came at him again, swinging blow for blow, he blocking each one. She was starting to feel what he meant. Her anger was still there, but it was not so out of control. She brought it down a notch. And she began to feel much more clearheaded, more focused.

She came in with one particular blow, and he blocked it and locked her sword, holding it there. They stood there, deadlocked, only inches from each other’s faces.

She looked at his face, and could see him still, maddeningly, smiling back.

“So,” he grunted with a tremendous effort, as he struggled to hold back her sword, “are you single?”

This caught Caitlin so off guard that she lost her concentration, just long enough for him to crouch down and sweep her leg out from under her. She landed flat on her back on the ground, hard, a cloud of dust rising over. She looked up and saw the point of his sword fixed over her throat.

Of course, he was still smiling.

“You lose your focus too easily,” he said and in one motion he reached down, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up to her feet. “Way too easily. Something is distracting you.”

Caitlin thought about it, and realized he was right. Caleb. He was still hovering, at the periphery of her consciousness. This fighting was helping her forget, but still, she didn’t quite feel herself. The intense fighting had, for a moment, pulled her out of her sadness. But still, it remained.

“Empty mind,” he chided. “If anything’s in there, you’ll never be able to fight.”

They both stood there, panting, exhausted, taking a break. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and realized he was right. Her mind was full. Distracted.

“But I wasn’t just saying that, you know,” he added. “I really would like to take you out.”

She looked at him, and he was still smiling, and she could see that he really meant it.

Great
. Not even here an hour, and already there were boy troubles. They had just met. They had not even known each other an hour. How could he already want to take her out? Is this how all vampires acted? Did everything move so quickly in this world? It was mind-boggling. She didn’t even know what vampire etiquette was.

She liked Patrick, she did, but not as anything more than a friend. How could she tell him that? Talk about awkward. On this island, there was really nowhere to go.

“I’m sorry Patrick,” she said softly, “I’m already taken.”

“I see,” he said, nodding, still smiling. “Well, maybe you’ll change your mind.”

“Maybe,” Caitlin said, knowing she never would. But she couldn’t let him down too harshly. It was a small island, after all.

Fortunately, her letdown didn’t seem to interrupt their training. They fought for hours and hours more, as did all of their covenmates, parrying blow for blow. Occasionally, Patrick would throw out some guidance, some word of wisdom here or there. He clearly knew what he was doing. And he was good. Looking at him, she never would have expected he’d been able to fight at all. She was really surprised.

Finally, just as she reached a point of exhaustion, to wonder how much longer this training could possibly go on, she heard a bell ring.