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CHAPTER 30
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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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I couldn’t believe it. I had just turned 18. And my cravings had just begun.“Half-breeds are also mortal,” Caleb continued. “They can die, like regular humans. We, on the other hand, cannot. “In order to be a true vampire, one would have to be turned by a true vampire, one who fed with the intent. Vampires are not allowed to turn just anyone—it would inflate our race too greatly. They must receive permission in advance from the Master Council.”I furrowed my brow, trying to take it all in.“You have some of our qualities, but not all. And since you are not a full breed, unfortunately, the vampire race will not accept you. Every vampire belongs to a coven. It is too dangerous not to. Normally, I could petition to accept you in our ranks. But given that you are mixed…they would never allow it. No coven will.”Caleb sighed.“I doubt a werewolf pack will ever accept you, either,” he continued. “You are a rogue in every sense. But not the typical rogue. You are not evil. On the cont
Marked CHAPTER 38
I felt my heart melt as Caleb stared into my eyes.“She’s not my wife,” he said softly. “We were married once, yes, but that was 700 years ago. It only lasted a year. In the vampire race, unfortunately, they don’t forget things easily. There are no annulments.”But I still felt upset. I didn’t know whether to trust him.I tossed his hand off of me. “Well, whatever she is, she’ll be happy to have you back.”I kept walking, right for the steps.Again he stopped me, this time getting around me and standing directly in my path.“I don’t know how I’ve offended you,” he said, “but whatever I did, I am sorry.”It’s what you didn’t do, I wanted to say. It’s that you didn’t care, that you don’t really love me. That I was just an object, a means to an end. Just like every guy I’ve ever known. I had thought that this time, maybe, it was different.But I didn’t say that, instead, I just lowered my head, and did my best to suppress a tear. I couldn’t, though. I felt the hot tears streamin
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