Betrayed by Morgan Rice

“I never want to see you again. As long as I live!”
    Caleb stood there, looking shocked and hurt himself, like a little boy who had just been scolded. It looked like there was so much he wanted to say to her, but that he could also tell she would never hear a word of it.
    He slowly lowered his head, despondent.
    He turned and walked to the edge of the rampart, took two long strides, jumped onto the edge of the railing, and leapt off. He was soon flying, his giant wings flapping, and heading off into the night.
    Caitlin could see Sera turn her head and look after him, watching him fly away, looking worried, like she wanted to fly after him. But she also looked torn, like there was something she wanted to say to Caitlin before she did.
    Sera suddenly took several steps towards Caitlin, coming within feet of her.
    “I hate you,” Sera said, slowly, her voice dripping with venom. “I will always hate you. You tried to take my man away from me. And it will never work. Caleb doesn’t want you. He wants me. Only me. And that’s the way it’s always been.”
    Caitlin was in too much of a fury to bother responding, and she had nothing to say to her anyway.
    Sera’s wings expanded behind her, as she got ready to depart. Before she turned, she leaned in close to Caitlin, and whispered one last thing: “I have something with Caleb that you will never have. Not as long as you live. I’m sure he never told you, and I’m sure he never will.”
    Caitlin stared back at her with equal rage, wondering what else this vile creature could possibly tell her that could cause her any more upset than she already had. She didn’t think it was possible.
    But as she heard her next words, she realized that there was, indeed, something that could make her feel even worse.
    “Caleb and I have a child.”
     
     

 
     
     
     
    NINE
     
     
     
    Samantha found herself escorted by two hulking vampire guards down the stone corridor. They stood close, but neither dared grab her arm. She was too senior of a warrior to them—they would never cross such a line of disrespect. Despite their size, despite the fact that they were male, she was a much more powerful warrior than both of them—and they knew it.
    They led her down and down, deeper into the bowels of their coven, towards Sam’s chamber. They descended another flight of stone steps, the sound of their hard, leather boots echoing off the walls. It was getting darker and darker as they went, the vaulted corridors lit only by a sporadic torch.
    Samantha was furious as she walked. She wanted to kill these two guards on the spot, but she couldn’t just yet. She needed them to lead her to wherever it was they were hiding Sam. She needed to rescue him.
    How stupid Kyle was. Did he really think that she cared so much about her own life, about her own honor, to bring Sam back, and to kill him in front of everyone? He must have thought her as much a pawn as the others. He had a lot to learn. She was different. Very different. She had not survived for thousands of years by deferring to other people. She did what she wanted, when she wanted. And sometimes, that required bold action.
    They turned down yet another corridor, this one deeper and darker than the others. The chambers beneath their coven in City Hall were endless. One could get lost wandering them for years. It made a very convenient place to keep prisoners. In fact, there were some legendary vampires still rumored to be kept in captivity under here, some who had been here for thousands of years. Few really knew the depths, or the extent, of where these chambers went, or of the thousand-year vampire history stored amidst its walls.
    Finally, they stopped before an arched wooden door. One guard grabbed her by the arm, while the other reached into his pocket and extracted a huge ring of skeleton keys. He inserted one and turned.
    As soon as Samantha heard the click, as soon as she saw the door start to move, she knew the time had come.
    In