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CHAPTER 28
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Marked CHAPTER 29
Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and led me away. He tugged at me, making me run faster than I ever had, faster than I knew I could, and within seconds we were down one hall, then another, then another, twisting and turning every which way. The only thing we had to see by were occasional torches. I never could have made it out of there on my own.“What’s going on?” I tried to ask as we ran, out of breath. “Where are we –”“This way!” he yelled, yanking me suddenly in another direction.Behind us, I heard a crashing, followed by the sound of a mob, bearing down on us.We reached a circular staircase, made of stone, winding its way up along a wall. He ran full speed toward the steps, yanking me with him, and before I knew it we were racing up the steps, twisting in circles, taking them three at a time. We were ascending quickly.As we reached the top, it seemed to end in a complete wall. A stone ceiling was above us, and I could see no other way out. It was a dead end. Where
Marked CHAPTER 30
I landed on my back in the water, and looked up to see him pouncing again, right for my throat. I rolled out of the way just in time, springing back on my feet. He was fast, but so was I.He fell flat on his face. He got up and spun around and squared off in a rage. He clawed his right hand right for my face. I dodged it, and his hand barely missed me, the wind of it passing right by my cheek. His hand hit the wall with such force that it lodged into the stone.I was mad now. I felt the red-hot rage pulse in my veins. I walked over to the stuck vampire and wound back my leg and planted a strong kick right in his gut. He keeled over.I then grabbed him from behind and threw him right into the wall, face first. His head hit the stone hard. I was proud of myself, figuring I had finished him off.But I was shocked by a sudden pain in my face, and found myself backhanded once again. This vampire had recovered quickly—much more quickly than I had thought possible. Before I knew it, he wa
Marked CHAPTER 31
I opened her eyes. I didn’t recognize any of the buildings below us. It appeared that we were way uptown. Possibly, the Bronx somewhere.As we descended, we flew over a small park, and in the distance, I thought I saw a castle. As we got closer, I realized that it definitely was a castle. What was a castle doing here, in New York City?I wracked my brain, and realized that I had seen this castle before. On a postcard somewhere…Yes. It was a museum of some sort. As we ascended a small hill, flying over its ramparts, I suddenly remembered what it was. The Cloisters. The small museum. It had been brought over from Europe, piece by piece. It was hundreds of years old. Why was he taking me here?We descended smoothly over the outer wall and onto a large, stone terrace, overlooking the Hudson River. We landed in darkness, but his feet touched down gracefully on the stone, and he gently let me off.I stood there, facing him. I looked at him closely, hoping that he was still real, hoping t
Marked CHAPTER 32
There was something about him I could not explain, something that made me unable to look away. Something that made me not want to leave his side. I liked Jonah. But I needed Caleb. Being around him was all-encompassing.Caleb’s smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He was clearly disturbed.“I’m afraid there will be a much higher price for admission,” he said, “if this meeting does not go as I would hope.”He led me through another stone archway, and into a small, medieval courtyard. Perfectly symmetrical, surrounded on four sides by columns and arches, this courtyard, lit by the moon, was very beautiful. I could not fathom how we were still in New York City. We could have been in a European countryside.We walked across the courtyard and down a long stone hallway, the sound of our footsteps echoing. We were trailed by several more guards. Vampires? I wondered. If so, why were they so civil? Why didn’t they attack Caleb, or me?We walked down another stone corridor and t
Marked CHAPTER 33
I reached over and slipped my hand into Caleb’s arm. I hoped that he would let it sit there. He did. In fact, he tightened his arm around mine. Once again, everything felt OK. I felt that I could descend into the depths of darkness, as long as we were together.Our footsteps echoed on the wide, stone staircase as we descended. It was dimly lit. So many thoughts raced through my mind. What was this Council? Why had he insisted on taking me? And why did I feel so insistent on being at his side? I could have easily objected up there, told him that I didn’t want to go, that I’d rather wait upstairs. But I didn’t want to wait upstairs. I wanted to be with him. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.None of it made any sense. At every turn, instead of getting answers, all I got were new questions. Who were all those people upstairs? Were they really vampires? What were they doing here? In the Cloisters?We turned the corner, into a large room, and I was struck by its beauty. It was in
Marked CHAPTER 34
Caleb led me.This staircase was narrow and steep, and led into real blackness. After winding and winding, deeper and deeper, I finally saw a light in the distance, and started to hear movement. As we turned the corner, we entered another room.This room was huge and brightly lit, torches everywhere. It mirrored the upstairs rooms identically, with soaring, stone, medieval ceilings, arched, covered in intricate detail. There were large tapestries on the walls, and the huge space was filled with medieval furniture.It was also filled with people. Vampires. They were all dressed in black, and they moved casually about the room. Many of them sat in various seats, some talking to each other. In the other coven, under City Hall, I had felt evil, darkness, had felt in constant danger. Here, I felt strangely relaxed.Caleb led me across the long room, right down the center. As we walked, the movement subsided, and a hush descended. I could feel all the eyes on us. As we reached the end
Marked CHAPTER 35
As if to confirm my thoughts, the judge in the middle slowly shook his head, staring at Caleb with condescension.“You have made a grave mistake,” he said. “What you fail to see is that you are the one who began this war. Your departure is what has alerted them to our presence.“Furthermore, she is not the one you think she is.”Caleb looked confused.He said, “Then how do you explain–”Another council member spoke this time, “Many centuries ago there was a case like this. A vampire was immune to weaponry. People thought he was the Messiah then, too. He was not. He was merely a half-breed.”“Half-breed?” Caleb asked. He suddenly sounded unsure.“The vampire by birth,” he continued, “one that was never turned. They are immune to some weaponry, but not to others. But that does not make them one of us. Nor does it make them immortal. I’ll show you,” he continued, and suddenly turned to me.I felt nervous with his eyes staring through me. “Tell me young one, who turned you?”I h
Marked CHAPTER 36
Caleb and I stood together on the large, open terrace outside the Cloisters, looking out at the night. Far-off, I could see the Hudson River, peeking out between the bare trees of March. In the distance, I could even see the tiny lights of cars heading over the bridge. The night was completely silent.“I need you to answer some questions for me, Caleb,” I said softly, after several seconds of silence.“I know,” Caleb answered.“What am I doing here? Who do you think I am?” I asked. It took her a few seconds more to summon the courage to ask the final question, “And why did you save me?”Caleb stared off into the horizon for several seconds. I could not tell what he was thinking, or if he would even answer.Finally, he turned to me. He stared right into my eyes, and the power of his stare was overwhelming. I couldn’t look away if I tried.“I am a vampire,” he said, flatly. “Of the White Coven. I have lived for over 3,000 years, and I have been with this coven for 800 of them.”“W
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