We continued through the house, examining various objects, searching for something, anything. But as we finished searching the first floor, we came up empty.We both stopped before a narrow, wooden staircase. It was blocked by a velvet rope, on which hung a sign: “Private: upstairs for staff only.”Caleb gave me a look.“We’ve come this far,” he said.He reached over and unclasped the rope.Excited, I went first, my footsteps echoing on the hard, wooden staircase. The house creaked and groaned as we went, as if protesting its new visitors.The second floor of the house had even lower ceilings, barely high enough for Caleb to stand in. It was now almost dark, and there was just enough light to see by. We stood in a beautiful and cozy room, with wide plank wooden floorboards, six over six windowpanes, and tastefully decorated with period furniture. At its center was a brick fireplace with black stain around its edges, clearly worn from years of use.Greeting them at the top of the
I took the necklace off quickly, and together, my hand on his, we inserted it gently into the indent. I was ecstatic to see that it fit perfectly. It entered with a soft click, and as we gently turned it to the right, a narrow, vertical compartment opened.Heart pounding, I reached inside and gently extracted a frail scroll, yellowing, brittle. It was tied with an ancient piece of string, all but crumbling.I handed it to Caleb, and the two of us unrolled the scroll together.It was a map. Handwritten, hundreds of years old.At the top of the map, in a handwritten scrawl, it read: Elizabeth’s cottage.He looked up at me.“Her cottage,” he said, breathlessly. “It’s a map to where she lived.”I stared at it, in awe.“Whoever stored it here wanted you to be the one to find it. Your necklace was the key. And it’s never been opened until now. He wanted you to find this map, to find her cottage. Wherever it is, there will be something in it for you.”It was meant for me. For me, and
{KYLE’S POV}The clock struck midnight as Kyle descended down the marble staircase, flanked by two dozen of his minions.It had been a long night, and it had done gone far better than he had ever dreamed. Still, he dreaded greeting his master, Rexius, their coven leader. They had been together for thousands of years, and he knew that Rexius was not a man who suffered fools lightly. He had zero tolerance for mistakes, and Kyle had felt nervous ever since he’d let that girl, Caitlin, escape his grasp. Rexius always punished even the smallest transgression, and Kyle had been bracing himself, wondering when his punishment would come. He knew that Rexius was just biding his time, that he would never forget.Still, Kyle’s work had gone so spectacularly tonight, in every corner of the city, that Kyle couldn’t imagine how his master could remain upset with him. It should more than make up for such a small mistake. After all, they were in the midst of a historic moment in time, and Kyle wa
{KYLE’S POV}Kyle felt a pain his chest, and looked up in fear. He didn’t know what to say. Where would he be? Was he assigning him elsewhere?“Not here?” Kyle asked, dumfounded. He could hear his own voice cracking, and felt ashamed. “My master, I am afraid I do not understand. I have already executed everything perfectly.”“I know you have. That is the only reason you are still breathing right now,” he said.Kyle swallowed hard.“There remain your past mistakes to be accounted for. I never forget, Kyle.”Kyle swallowed again, and he felt his throat go dry. This was what he had been dreading.“You let that half-breed escape. She may be part wolf. She may bring a pack upon us. Not only a vampire war, but a vampire-werewolf war. You have opened the door to grave calamity. This one is unpredictable. Way too dangerous. And she should have been stopped. She may lead someone else to the sword. If so, our war will be compromised.” He learned forward, so Kyle could see the full eff
As I flew with Caleb in the cold air, gripping him tightly, my hunger pangs started to dissipate, and my head finally started to clear. I looked down and saw the blood all over Caleb, all over both of us, and tried to remember what had happened.I remembered leaving Hawthorne’s house. Then the police, then losing control. Then there was a gunshot. Yes, now I remembered. As I had aimed her teeth for the officer’s neck, I had suddenly been pulled off him by Caleb. With lightning speed, he had yanked me off, had spared me from attacking another human.But he had suffered for it. That cop had fired, and had hit Caleb in the arm. His blood had been all over both of us, but it never seemed to slow him down. Instead, he somehow managed to knock out all three policemen before they could react, to pick me up in the same motion, and to take off into the air. I marveled at his sense of control, in every situation. He had managed to get us out of there without seriously hurting anyone but himsel
“Do you still have it?” Caleb asked.I looked over, not understanding.“The map,” he added.Of course. The reason why they had landed here.I reached into my pocket, and was relieved to discover it was still there. Thank God for zippered pockets.I handed it to him.He unrolled it and stared. “We are not far,” he said, lowering it and looking at the woods before them. “The cottage should be close.”I looked all around me, squinting in the darkness. All I saw were trees.“I don’t see anything,” I said.“It’s an old map,” he said. “It was drawn by hand, and is very rough. I’m sure it is not exact. But the markings indicate this area.”Caleb looked around again, and I did, too. But neither of us saw anything.“This cottage,” I said, “was here hundreds of years ago. Isn’t it possible that it’s been destroyed?”Caleb scrutinized the woods. He headed in a particular direction, and I walked with him, leaves rustling.“Yes,” he said, “that is possible. Especially if it was built
As we walked towards it, leaves rustling, getting closer, I felt encouraged. It was a huge thicket of tangled branches and thorns. It almost looked like a wall. We circled it, and it must’ve been 100 feet deep in every direction. It was impenetrable. If anything fit his description, this was it. No one could get anywhere near this thing, unless they had a thick machete, and were willing to spend days chopping. Whatever was at its center—if anything—would likely be untouched.But then again, maybe this was just a huge thicket of branches and thorns, and all that we would find for their trouble was more thorns.Caleb nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said. “This could be it.”He studied it for a while, the finally said, “Stand back.”I took several steps back, wondering what he would do.Caleb pulled his sleeves down, over his hands, shielding them, then reached in, and with his incredible strength, tore at the thicket of branches. It was incredible, like watching a chainsaw attack the pile.
“This is definitely the place,” Caleb said. “This is where Elizabeth lived. The question is: why did the map send us here? I don’t see anything,” he said, finally, admitting defeat.“Neither do I,” I had to admit.A comfortable silence fell over us. After the whirlwind events of the day, I was exhausted. I was just happy that we had shelter for the night, and too tired to think of anything else. I loved the feeling of his coat around my shoulders. I felt the shape of my journal, still inside my jean pocket, and felt like taking it out and writing. But I was too tired.I looked across the room, and studied Caleb. I marveled at how he was so impervious to the cold, to being tired, to seemingly even being hungry. In fact, if anything, he seemed to gain energy at night. He still looked in perfect condition, despite all we’d been through. Despite being shot. I looked at his arm, and saw that it was already entirely healed.As he stared into the fire, lost in thought, his eyes glowed an