Caitlin stood in silver shackles, before the entrance to the Coliseum. She’d been dragged there by two vampire guards, who’d shackled her in her cell by her hands and her feet, and led her up the stone stairs, down a ramp, and to this place. Now that she’d reached the upper levels, traveled down the ramp, and was really here, looking out, the view was awe-inspiring. And terrifying.She had once gone to a baseball game, and she remembered the feeling of walking down the tunnel and first entering the bleachers, when the whole stadium opened up and thousands of eyes were upon her. This felt like that. But bigger. It was the biggest and most intimidating thing she had ever seen.Before her was laid out the Roman coliseum, a massive arena, made entirely of stone. The stone was crumbling and deteriorated, and it had clearly been thousands of years since its heyday. But this vampire coven had somehow managed to bring it back to life. They didn’t seem to care that they sat in crumbling bleac
Caitlin ran. She was in a field of flowers, up to her waist, the flowers a brilliant medley of colors. It was a bright day, the sun directly overhead, and in the distance, her father waited.But as she ran, the flowers turned into a field of swords, all plunged into the earth, their tips sticking up and shaking in the wind. She ran through them, cutting a path, heading for her father.This time, there was nothing between the two of them. As she ran and ran, he got closer. She ran for all she had, and soon, she was in his arms.She could not believe it, but she was really in his arms.He hugged her, and she could feel his strength coursing through her body. It was the hug of a father who loved her, the father she’d always longed to have. She wanted to crane back her head, to look up at his face, but she was too happy to just be in his arms.“I’m so proud of you,” he said over her shoulder. “You are your father’s daughter.”She smiled, feeling totally encased in warmth.“When will
Caitlin’s heart whirled with emotions.Sam. Her little brother. Here. Back in time. In Rome. In the Coliseum of all places. On the one hand, she was thrilled to see him.On the other, he stood there, in battle gear, facing her down, a weapon in hand. And with a look on his face meant to kill. How could this be?How had it come to this? What had they done to him?She could sense, even from this great distance, that he was a vampire. She tried to sense his feelings towards her, but it was obscured. As if he were deliberately blocking them.More than anything, she felt sad. Betrayed. Confused. Was it not enough that he’d had to ruin things for her in the 21st century? Had he had to come back now, and still make things hard for her?And after all that she had done for him. All through his life, she had always looked out for him, always been the one he could turn to. She’d always tried to help him, to save him.Had it really come to this? Did he really hate his own sister enough to k
Caitlin, Caleb, and Sam flew over Rome, racing to bridge the short distance from the Coliseum to the Vatican. Caitlin had never been to the Vatican before, and she followed Caleb’s lead. She’d been worried for a moment that Caleb wouldn’t come at all. Back there, in the Coliseum, he didn’t want to leave; he’d been set on diving down and finding Kyle in the crowd, on exacting revenge for Jade. But Caitlin had begged to him let it go for another time. She argued that he would endanger them all by getting bogged down in a fight with those thousands of vampires, and that they’d never accomplish what was more important for the race: finding the Shield. Finally, reluctantly, he’d conceded.As they rounded a bend, Vatican City came into view, and Caitlin was shocked. She had somehow expected the Vatican to be a single building, and was surprised to see that it was in fact an entire city. From this bird’s eye view, she could see building after building, dominated by the huge, dome of St. Pete
Assisi, Umbria (Italy)(1790)Caitlin Paine awoke slowly, completely enveloped in the blackness. She tried to open her eyes, to get her bearings on where she was, but it didn’t do any good. She went to move her hands, her arms—but that didn’t work, either. She felt covered, immersed in a soft texture, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. It was heavy, weighing her down, and with each passing moment, it seemed to get heavier.She tried to breathe, but as she did, she realized her passageways were blocked.Panicking, Caitlin tried to take a deep breath through her mouth, but when she did, she felt something get lodged deep in her throat. Its smell filled her nose, and she finally realized what it was: soil. She was immersed in soil, covering her face and eyes and nose, entering her mouth. She realized it was heavy because it was weighing down on her, getting heavier by the second, suffocating her.Unable to breathe, unable to see, Caitlin entered into full-fledged panic. S
Rome, 1790Kyle stood in the darkness, breathing hard. There were few things he hated more than confined spaces, and as he reached out in the blackness and felt the stone encasing him, he broke into a sweat. Trapped. Nothing was worse for him.He reached back and with his fist and smashed a hole right through the stone. It shattered into pieces, and he shielded his eyes from the daylight.If Kyle hated anything more than being trapped, it was being struck head-on by daylight, especially without his skin wraps on. He quickly jumped through the rubble and took shelter behind a wall.Kyle breathed deep and surveyed his surroundings, disoriented, as he wiped the dust from his eyes. This was what he hated about time travel: he never knew exactly where he’d surface. He hadn’t attempted it for centuries, and he wouldn’t have now if it weren’t for that never-ending thorn in his side, Caitlin.It hadn’t taken long after she’d left New York for Kyle to realize that his war was only partia
Caitlin walked with the priest down the aisle of the church, as he finished barring the front door and sealing off all the other entrances. The sun had set, and he lit torches as he went, gradually lighting its vast rooms. Caitlin looked up and noticed all of the huge crosses, and wondered why she felt so at peace here. Weren’t vampires supposed to be afraid of churches? Of crosses? She remembered the White Coven’s home in the New York Cloisters, and the crosses that had lined the walls. Caleb had told her that certain vampire races embraced churches. He had launched into a long monologue about the history of the vampire race and its relationship with Christianity, but she hadn’t listened closely at the time, too enamored of him. Now, she wished she’d had.The vampire priest led Caitlin through a side door, and Caitlin found herself descending a flight of stone steps. They walked down an arched, medieval passageway, and he continued to light torches as he went.“I don’t think they’
Caitlin sat in the stark room of the Franciscan monastery and looked out through the open window, into the night. She had finally stopped crying. It had been hours since she’d left the priest, since she’d heard the news of her lost child. She hadn’t been able to stop the tears, or to stop thinking about the life she would have led. It was all too painful.But after many hours, she cried herself out, and now all that was left were dried up tears on her cheeks. She looked out the window, trying to distract herself, and breathed deep.The Umbrian countryside spread out before her, and from this vantage point, high up on a hill, she could the rolling hills of Assisi. There was a full moon out, enough light for her to see that this was a truly beautiful countryside. She saw the small, country cottages dotting the landscape, the smoke rising from the chimneys, and she could already feel that this was a quieter, more relaxed time in history.Caitlin turned and surveyed her small room, lit