บททั้งหมดของ Vowed (Book #7 in the Vampire Journals): บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

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

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

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

Kyle trekked through the bogs of southern Scotland, fuming with hatred. With every step he took, he raged at the thought of Caitlin, running free, eluding him, in time after time, place after place. He dwelled on ways he could capture and kill her, exact revenge.He had already exhausted nearly every method he could think, and she always seemed to slip through his grasp. He did manage to exact a small, petty revenge in poisoning her family. He smiled inwardly at the thought of that. But it wasn’t enough. This had gone on already way too long, and the last time they’d met, he had to admit it, she had overpowered him. He was shocked at her strength, her fighting skills. She had actually outfought him. It was beyond anything he could have anticipated.A part of him had feared this, which was why he had gone to such lengths to poison her, to avoid a head-on confrontation. But that, too, had backfired. He’d poisoned Caleb by accident, and while he felt certain that his poison had kille

Sam hadn’t felt this happy in years. He’d a fun day of jousting with everyone, of joining in all the festivities surrounding Caitlin and Caleb’s tournament day. He also, he had to admit, felt thrilled to be near Polly. In truth, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. He wondered if she realized he’d taken a fall for her on the jousting field. Fate had them paired against each other, and he knew there was little else he could do: in a million years, he would never lay a finger on her.As they had rolled out vats of wine and of blood-infused alcohol, brought out huge slabs of meat roasting on a spit, Sam drank and ate and joined in the merriment. But he also kept finding himself looking for Polly. He spotted her hovering around Caitlin, already exuberant in her role as Maid of Honor, even more excited than usual as she discussed wedding preparations. Sam had kept waiting for an opportunity to take her aside, but none seemed to present itself.It was a rowdy and bustling crowd