Betrayed by Morgan Rice Page B

save you. But there’s only one way.”
    “What do you mean?” he asked. “Who will kill me? Why?”
    “Sam,” she said urgently, “there’s no time. You just have to trust me. Do you want to be with me forever? Really think about this. I’m not just asking. I really, really mean it.”
    She stared right into his eyes, his green eyes reflecting off of her blue eyes. He seemed speechless.
    She asked one more time, slowly, with all the seriousness she could muster: “Do you want to be with me forever?”
    He finally calmed, slowed his breath, and looked right into her eyes. He must’ve felt how serious she was.
    “Yes,” he answered, confidently, with equal seriousness. “I want to be with you forever.”
    She smiled.
    “You might be mad at me at first, but I want you to know that there was no other way. Without this, you wouldn’t live. In any form. We would never see each other again. I’m doing this for you. For us . I believe that you have a power that none us of us have, and that that will save you.”
    Samantha leaned back, and let the desire flood through her. She flooded herself with the smell of his skin, breathing deep, and as she did, her fangs grew long—impossibly long.
    She could see the boy’s eyes opened wide with fear, as he suddenly realized what she was about to do.
    He opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late. She couldn’t let him ruin the moment.
    She wanted him.
    Forever.
    And before Sam could cry out, Samantha was already leaning in, with all her force. She felt the delicious, exquisite, salty taste, as she plunged her fangs deep into the boy’s throat, drinking like she never had before.
    Yes. Now forever could be theirs.
     
     

 
     
    TEN
     
     
    Caitlin lay curled up in a ball on her bed. She had been lying like that for hours. Caleb was long gone now, as was Sera. She didn’t know how many hours had passed since she’d told him to leave. Since then, she hadn’t been able to move. She just lay there, frozen, wanting to die.
    How could he do this to her? A child? How could he have not told her?
    Then again, she wondered, did he really have an obligation to? They had only known each other for weeks—or was it days? Caitlin was surprised to think of it. It felt like they had been together for years already. Maybe their connection was more fleeting than she thought?
    No. That wasn’t right. It was definitely something more. She saw it in his eyes. She felt it in his heart. He had strong feelings for her, there was no question about it. So then why had he kept his past secret from her?
    Maybe he had just been waiting for the right time. Technically, they weren’t even officially dating. What were they exactly? Caitlin felt as if they were above labels, as if they had skipped all those steps. What they had was stronger. Deep down, she felt as if they were already together, forever. Crazy, she knew, but that was how she felt. And that was how she thought Caleb felt, too.
    He should have told her. If he had truly expected to be with her forever, then he could have found an opportunity to give her the news. Sera and I have a child together . Why couldn’t he have told her? Why was he hiding it from her? Didn’t she have a right to know?
    And what of their child? Was it a boy or girl? How old was he or she? She imagined it was a boy. Were Caleb and he close? If not, why not?
    And what else wasn’t he telling her?
    These questions swirled around and around in Caitlin’s brain, as she tried to make sense of the whole thing. A part of her wanted to excuse him, to explain it all away, and lying here now, she kicked herself for not at least hearing him out, hearing his side of the story.
    But another part, a stronger part, felt betrayed. After all, she had seen them kissing. There was no doubt about that. That could only mean one thing: Caleb was still in love with her. There was no other logical explanation.
    Caitlin curled up, tighter, wanting to just disappear. Now, of all