Caitlin and Caleb flew through the late afternoon sky, heading north up the coast of Scotland, heading to Dunnottar Castle. Caitlin’s heart was pounding as they went. Here they were, just moments away from their final destination, from finding the fourth and final key, from finding the Holy Grail itself. She felt closer than she ever had to her father, felt as if he were just a stone’s throw away. She could, finally, feel her journey, her mission, coming to a close. She felt excited and relieved and nervous at the same time. Would he be there, waiting to greet her? Would he have the vampire shield waiting?As Caitlin flew, holding Caleb’s hand, she reflected on their whirlwind journey through Scotland. Dunvegan Castle, Skye, Eilean Donan, Rosslyn Chapel…She kept seeing in her mind’s eye that huge, ancient Bible in the crypts of Rosslyn, kept seeing the image of the shield as the two pages became one. The clue had been so well guarded and protected, each place offering just the smalles
Highlands, Scotland(1350)Caitlin woke to a blood red sun. It filled the entire sky, a ball on the horizon, impossibly large. Standing against it was a lone silhouette, a figure she sensed could only be her father. He held out both arms, as if wanting her to run to him.She desperately wanted to. But as she tried to sit up, she looked down and saw she was chained to a rock, iron clasps holding her wrists and feet in place. In one hand she held three keys—the keys she knew she needed to reach her father—and in the other, her necklace, its small silver cross dangling in her palm. She struggled as hard as she could, yet she could not move.Caitlin blinked, and suddenly her father was standing over her, smiling down. She could feel the love radiating off of him. He knelt down, and gently unlocked her chains.Caitlin leaned forward and hugged him, and she could feel his warmth, his reassurance. It felt so good to be in his arms; she could feel the tears pouring down her cheeks.“I’
Sam woke with a start. His world was spinning, then rocking violently, and he couldn’t understand where he was, or what was happening. He was lying on his back, that much he knew, on what felt like wood, slumped in an uncomfortable position. He was looking straight up at the sky, and he saw the clouds moving erratically. Sam reached over, grabbed hold of a piece of wood, and pulled himself up. He sat there, blinking, his world still spinning, and got a hold of his surroundings. He couldn’t believe it. He was on a boat, a small, wooden rowboat, lying on the floor, in the middle of an ocean.It rocked violently in the rough sea, the waves lifting it and bringing it back down. It creaked and groaned as it moved, bobbing up and down, rocking side to side. Sam saw the foam of the waves crashing all around him, felt the cold, salty wind spray him in his hair and on his face. It was early morning, in fact, a beautiful dawn, with the sky breaking in a myriad of colors. He wondered how on ea
Caitlin stood before the rope bridge to Skye, Caleb beside her, and Scarlet and Ruth behind them. She watched the dilapidated rope sway violently, as she heard the wind whistling through the rocks, the waves crashing against the cliffs hundreds of feet below. The bridge was wet and slippery. Slipping off it would mean instant death for Scarlet and for Ruth, and Caitlin hadn’t tested her own wings yet, either. Crossing this bridge was not really a chance she wanted to take—but then again, it seemed obvious that they needed to be on the Isle of Skye.Caleb looked over at her.“We haven’t much choice,” he said.“Then there’s no point in waiting,” she answered. “I’ll take Scarlet, you take Ruth?”Caleb nodded grimly back, as Caitlin picked up Scarlet and hoisted her onto her back, while Caleb held Ruth in his arms. Ruth at first squirmed, wanting to get down, but Caleb held her firmly, and something about his grip eventually calmed her.There was no choice but to walk single file on t
Sam braced himself as their boat, rocking wildly, propelled itself inevitably toward the rocky shore. He could feel Polly’s apprehension, as dozens of vampire warriors scurried down the steep cliffs, heading towards them.“Now what?” Polly asked, their boat just feet from shore.“No other way,” Sam answered. “We make our stand.”With those words, he suddenly leapt off the boat, holding Polly’s hand, taking her with him. The two of them leapt several feet in the air, landing at the water’s edge. Sam felt the shock of the icy cold water on his bare feet; it sent a shiver up his spine, waking him completely. He realized he was still clothed in his battle gear from London—tight black pants and shirt, thickly padded around the shoulders and arms, and he looked over and realized that Polly was, too.But there wasn’t much time to take in anything else. As Sam looked to the shore, he saw dozens of human warriors charging towards them. Dressed in chain mail armor from head to toe, wielding
Caitlin and Caleb, followed by Scarlet and Ruth, walked at a brisk pace through the Isle of Skye, flanked by Taylor, Tyler, and several other of Aiden’s coven members. Caitlin was overjoyed to see them. After the initial hardships of landing in this place and time, she finally felt a sense of peace and ease, as she knew they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Taylor and Tyler, and all of Aiden’s people, had been thrilled to see them, too. It was so odd seeing them in this different time and place, in this cold climate, on this stark and barren island in the middle of nowhere. Caitlin was beginning to see how times and places changed, but people were timeless.Taylor and Tyler led them on a brisk walking tour of the island, and they had been walking for hours. Caitlin had asked immediately if they had any news of Sam or Polly; when they had said no, she had been crestfallen. She desperately hoped that they’d made it back in time, too.As they walked, Taylor filled them in on
It was the warmest and most lavish welcome Caitlin could have imagined. Their arrival had been like one long celebration. They’d run into one coven member after another, and she saw faces she hadn’t seen in what felt like forever—Barbara, Cain, and many others. They’d all sat for lunch at a huge banquet table, in the warm, stone castle, furs beneath their feet, torches along the walls, the fireplace roaring, and dogs running all around. The room felt warm and cozy, and Caitlin realized that it was cold outside—the end of October, Caitlin had been told. 1350. Caitlin couldn’t believe it. She was nearly seven hundred years away from the 21st century.She had always tried to imagine what life might be like in this time period, in the times of the knights, of armor, castles...but she had never imagined anything quite like this. Despite the stark change in surroundings, the lack of major towns or cities, the people were still very warm, very intelligent, very human. In many ways, not all t
Caitlin sat in her large room in Dunvegan in Castle at a writing desk, looking out the window at the sunset sky. She examined the torn page McCleod had given her, holding it up to the light. She slowly ran her fingertips along the embossed, Latin letters. They looked and felt ancient. The entire page was so beautifully and intricately designed, and she marveled at the intricate colors along the paper’s edges. Back then, she realized, books were made to be works of art in and of themselves.Caleb lay on their bed, while Scarlet and Ruth were sprawled out on a pile of furs before the fireplace on the far side of the room. This room was so sprawling, that even with all of them in it, Caitlin still felt alone with her thoughts. In the adjacent room, she knew, were Sam and Polly. It had been a long day, and a long feast with Aiden’s coven and the king’s men, and they were all settling in for the night.Caitlin could not stop thinking about the torn page, the clue, where it might lead her,