CHAPTER TEN

As Caitlin and Caleb flew over the Israeli countryside, the sun beginning to set and the temperature finally cooling, Caitlin ran over in her head the inscription on the wall.

It had read: Where the graves rise, the olive tree has many branches.

She’d had no idea what that meant. Caleb explained that he thought it was a reference, a clue that they needed to go to the ancient Mount of Olives, the legendary mountain that sat on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It was a mystical place, he said, part cemetery and part olive grove, and had been one of the most important places of vampire power for millennia. It was rumored, he said, to be home to the most powerful vampire coven of all.

They hadn’t stopped flying since, racing towards the Mount, towards Jerusalem. The entire time, Caitlin couldn’t stop wondering if she would find her Dad there. Or the Shield. Or, she dared to hope, Scarlet. She couldn’t get there fast enough.

The Israeli countryside below her was breathtaking. As they headed south, getting ever closer to Jerusalem, the terrain constantly changed, from desert, to mountains, to hills, to rolling green valleys. They passed rivers, rural towns, farms, and groves of palm trees. The country was barely populated, looking like one huge rural stretch of farmland, with just the occasional small village here and there.

As they rounded a bend, the sky now alight with shades of pink, Caleb suddenly pointed.

“There!” he said. “See that peak in the distance? That’s it.”

Caitlin squinted, and in the distance, she could barely make it out. It looked like every other mountain peak, except that she could see, even from here, it was completely covered in small olive trees, their silver branches glistening in the last light of sun.

“The Mount of Olives is famous not only because it towers over Jerusalem,” Caleb said, as they flew closer, “but also because it is the place where Jesus gave his sermons. In the future, centuries from now, it will be home to one of the most important churches in all Christianity, and it has also, for thousands of years, been home to the most famous cemetery in the world. Everyone wants to be buried there, because the Bible holds that in the End of Days, when the Messiah comes, this is the place he will appear first, and that those buried here will be the first to resurrect.”

“But I still don’t understand: why does our clue lead us here?” Caitlin asked. “How is this related to our search?”

Caleb shook his head.

“I have no idea,” he answered.

They dove down, circling the Mount. Up close, it was even more beautiful. Caitlin could see thousands of small olives filling the branches, the beautiful slopes rising up and down, the small, twisted trees. And over the edge of the mountain, on the horizon, she could just begin to see the ancient city of Jerusalem, nestled in the valley like a jewel shining in the sunset. She could feel its energy even from here. It was breathtaking.

Caleb dove for the mountaintop, and Caitlin followed. They landed high up, on a plateau, in the midst of the trees.

They stood there, getting their bearings, taking in the incredible vista, the sweeping sunset in every direction. Caitlin felt as if she were atop the world.

But as beautiful as it was, Caitlin still had no idea what they were doing there. She didn’t know what to look for, and she didn’t see any sign of her Dad, or of Scarlet—or anyone.

She did, in the distance, see a graveyard on one of the slopes and a row of small, marble headstones, and felt drawn to it. She walked amidst the stones, examining them. They looked ancient.

She saw a few stones which seemed bigger than the others and she knelt beside one, reached down and brushed off the dirt, sensing it was special. As she did, a name appeared.

Caitlin stood as if she had been struck by a lightning bolt. She could not believe it. It was a name that she knew.

Caitlin Paine.

She stood there, shocked, wondering what it meant. Caleb seemed equally surprised, and he knelt down beside the other and brushed that one off, too.

Caitlin was even more surprised: it was engraved with Caleb’s name.

“What does it mean?” Caitlin asked.

“I don’t know,” Caleb answered, grimly.

The two of them stood there, frozen, almost afraid to check the third stone. Finally, Caitlin knelt down and brushed it off.

She could not believe it.

Aiden.

She turned to Caleb.

“Can it be? Our Aiden?”

As Caitlin saw his name, memories came flooding back. She recalled the last time she saw him, in Scotland, standing before the castle, informing her of all the tragedy that had befell their coven. Telling her she was their last hope, that she had to fulfill the mission. She thought of all the times she had seen him, all the places, going back to Pollepel, and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

“Yes, it is I,” came a voice.

Caitlin wheeled, and was shocked to see standing there, barely a few feet away, the man himself.

Aiden.

He wore a long white robe and hood, with his flowing gray hair and beard, and stared back at her with his large blue eyes, as if he had just seen her yesterday.

Slowly, he broke into a smile.

“I thought you would get here sooner.”