CHAPTER THREE

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 the narrow bridge. Caitlin went first.

Caitlin took her first, unsteady step onto the bridge, and could immediately feel how slippery the water-sprayed planks were. She reached over and grabbed the rope railing for balance, but the bridge only swayed as she did, and the railing fell to pieces in her hands.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and centered herself. She knew she could not rely on her vision, or her balance. She had to call on something deeper. She thought back to Aiden’s lessons, summoned his words. She stopped trying to oppose the bridge: instead, she tried to feel at one with it.

Caitlin trusted her inner instincts, and took several steps forward. She slowly opened her eyes, and as she took another step, a plank fell through beneath her. Scarlet cried out, and she lost her balance for a moment—then quickly took another step and found her footing. The wind swayed the bridge again. It felt like she had been going forever, but when Caitlin looked up, she saw they had only gone about ten feet. She knew instinctively that they would never make it.

She turned and looked at Caleb. She could see the look in his eyes, and knew that he was thinking the same thing. She wanted more than anything to just spread her wings and take off, but as she felt them, she sensed something in the air, and knew that Caleb had been right: there was some sort of invisible energy shield up around this island, and flying here uninvited would not work.

The wind blew the bridge again, and Caitlin was beginning to feel desperate. They had gone too far to turn back.

She made a split-second decision.

“On three, jump off, grab your side of the railing, and let it swing you all the way!” she suddenly called out to Caleb. “It’s the only way!”

“What if it gives!?” he screamed back.

“We have no choice! If we continue as we are, we will die!”

Caleb didn’t argue.

“ONE!” she yelled, taking a deep breath, “TWO! THREE!”

She leapt into the air, off to her right, and saw Caleb leap to his left. She could hear Scarlet screaming and Ruth whining as they were falling over the edge. She reached up and grabbed hard on the rope railing, praying to God that it would hold true this time. She saw Caleb doing the same.

A second later, they were holding onto the rope and swinging through the air, at full speed, the saltwater rising up from the waves and crashing over them. For a moment, Caitlin couldn’t tell if they were still swinging, or falling straight down.

But after a few seconds, she could feel the tension of the rope catching in her hand, and felt them not plummeting straight down, but rather swinging towards the far cliff. It was holding.

Caitlin braced herself. The rope was holding, and that was good. But they were also swinging fast, right for the side of the cliff. Smashing into it, she knew, would be painful.

She turned her shoulder and positioned Scarlet behind her, so that she could take the full force of the blow. She looked over and saw Caleb doing the same, holding Ruth with one arm behind him, and leaning in with his shoulder. They both braced for impact.

A second later, they crashed hard into the wall, with a flood of pain. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of Caitlin, and she was momentarily stunned. But she still held onto the rope, and she could see that Caleb did, too. She hung there, dazed for several seconds, checking to see if Scarlet was okay, and if Caleb was. They were.

Caitlin slowly stopped seeing stars, and eventually she reached up, and started to pull herself up the rope, straight up the face of the cliff. She looked up, and saw she had thirty yards to go before reaching the top. She then made the mistake of turning and looking down: it was a perilous drop, and she realized that if the rope gave way, they would plummet hundreds of feet into the sharp rocks below.

Caleb recovered and was climbing straight up his rope, too. The two of them were making good speed, even while slipping on the mossy cliffs.

Suddenly, Caitlin heard a sickening noise. It was the sound of rope snapping.

Caitlin braced herself for a moment, preparing to plummet to her death, but then realized she didn’t feel her rope giving way. She looked over immediately, and saw that it was Caleb’s.

His rope was snapping.

Caitlin jumped into action. She kicked off the rock, and swung her rope closer to him, reaching out a free hand. She managed to grab Caleb’s hand just as he was plummeting to earth. She held it tight with her free hand, holding him there, dangling in the air. Then, with a supreme effort, she lifted him up several feet, into a deep crevice in the side of the cliff. Caleb, still holding Ruth, was able to stand firmly on a ledge, and to grab hold of a natural handle inside the rock face.

Secure, she could see the relief on his face.

But there was no time to reflect. Caitlin immediately turned and hurried up the rope. Her rope could snap, too, at any moment, and she still had Scarlet on her back.

Finally, she reached the top. She quickly jumped up onto the grassy plateau and deposited Scarlet. She felt so grateful to be on steady land—but she didn’t waste any time. She rolled over, took the rope, and threw it hard several feet, so that it swung over to where Caleb was standing, below.

She looked down and saw that he was watching carefully for it, and as it came his way, he reached out and grabbed it, holding Ruth with the other hand. He managed to pull them up quickly, too. Caitlin watched carefully his every step, praying that it would not give.

Finally, he made it to the top, rolling over onto the grass, right beside her. They scurried far from the ledge, and as they did, Scarlet and Ruth embraced, and Caitlin and Caleb did the same.

Caitlin could feel the relief flooding her body, as it did his.

“You saved my life,” he said. “Again.”

She shot back a smile.

“You saved mine many times,” she said. “I owe you at least a few.”

He smiled back.

They all turned and surveyed their new surroundings. The Isle of Skye. It was gorgeous, breathtaking, mystical, desolate and dramatic at the same time. The island curved in a series of mountains and valleys and hills and plateaus, some of it rocky and barren, some of it covered in a green moss. It was all shrouded by a heavenly mist, which made its way into the nooks and cracks, and was lit up orange and red and yellow in the morning sun. This island looked like a place of dreams. And it also looked like a place that no humans could ever possibly live.

As she watched the horizon, suddenly, like an apparition, a dozen vampires walked out of the mist, over the hill, appearing slowly, heading right for them. Caitlin could not believe it. She braced herself for battle, but Caleb reached over and placed a reassuring hand on hers, as they all stood.

“Don’t worry,” Caleb said. “I can sense it. They are friendly.”

As they got closer, Caitlin could see their features, and sensed that he was right. In fact, she was shocked at what she saw.

Standing there, before her, were several of her old friends.