I opened her eyes. I didn’t recognize any of the buildings below us. It appeared that we were way uptown. Possibly, the Bronx somewhere.As we descended, we flew over a small park, and in the distance, I thought I saw a castle. As we got closer, I realized that it definitely was a castle. What was a castle doing here, in New York City?I wracked my brain, and realized that I had seen this castle before. On a postcard somewhere…Yes. It was a museum of some sort. As we ascended a small hill, flying over its ramparts, I suddenly remembered what it was. The Cloisters. The small museum. It had been brought over from Europe, piece by piece. It was hundreds of years old. Why was he taking me here?We descended smoothly over the outer wall and onto a large, stone terrace, overlooking the Hudson River. We landed in darkness, but his feet touched down gracefully on the stone, and he gently let me off.I stood there, facing him. I looked at him closely, hoping that he was still real, hoping t

I reached over and slipped my hand into Caleb’s arm. I hoped that he would let it sit there. He did. In fact, he tightened his arm around mine. Once again, everything felt OK. I felt that I could descend into the depths of darkness, as long as we were together.Our footsteps echoed on the wide, stone staircase as we descended. It was dimly lit. So many thoughts raced through my mind. What was this Council? Why had he insisted on taking me? And why did I feel so insistent on being at his side? I could have easily objected up there, told him that I didn’t want to go, that I’d rather wait upstairs. But I didn’t want to wait upstairs. I wanted to be with him. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.None of it made any sense. At every turn, instead of getting answers, all I got were new questions. Who were all those people upstairs? Were they really vampires? What were they doing here? In the Cloisters?We turned the corner, into a large room, and I was struck by its beauty. It was in

As if to confirm my thoughts, the judge in the middle slowly shook his head, staring at Caleb with condescension.“You have made a grave mistake,” he said. “What you fail to see is that you are the one who began this war. Your departure is what has alerted them to our presence.“Furthermore, she is not the one you think she is.”Caleb looked confused.He said, “Then how do you explain–”Another council member spoke this time, “Many centuries ago there was a case like this. A vampire was immune to weaponry. People thought he was the Messiah then, too. He was not. He was merely a half-breed.”“Half-breed?” Caleb asked. He suddenly sounded unsure.“The vampire by birth,” he continued, “one that was never turned. They are immune to some weaponry, but not to others. But that does not make them one of us. Nor does it make them immortal. I’ll show you,” he continued, and suddenly turned to me.I felt nervous with his eyes staring through me. “Tell me young one, who turned you?”I h

I couldn’t believe it. I had just turned 18. And my cravings had just begun.“Half-breeds are also mortal,” Caleb continued. “They can die, like regular humans. We, on the other hand, cannot. “In order to be a true vampire, one would have to be turned by a true vampire, one who fed with the intent. Vampires are not allowed to turn just anyone—it would inflate our race too greatly. They must receive permission in advance from the Master Council.”I furrowed my brow, trying to take it all in.“You have some of our qualities, but not all. And since you are not a full breed, unfortunately, the vampire race will not accept you. Every vampire belongs to a coven. It is too dangerous not to. Normally, I could petition to accept you in our ranks. But given that you are mixed…they would never allow it. No coven will.”Caleb sighed.“I doubt a werewolf pack will ever accept you, either,” he continued. “You are a rogue in every sense. But not the typical rogue. You are not evil. On the cont

{KYLE’S POV}Kyle walked straight down the stone corridor, flanked by a small entourage of vampires. They headed quickly down the hall, their footsteps echoing, one of his aides holding a torch out in front.They were heading deep into the corridor of command, a subterranean chamber which no vampire ever entered unless given permission. Kyle had never been down this deep before. But on this day, he was summoned by the supreme leader himself. It must have been serious. In 4,000 years, Kyle had never been summoned. But he had heard of otthers who had. They had gone down there, and had not come back up.Kyle swallowed hard, and walked faster. He had always believed that it was best to greet bad news quickly, and get it over with.They came to a large, open door, guarded by several vampires, who stared coldly back. Finally, they stepped aside and opened the door. But after Kyle passed, they held out their staffs, preventing his entourage from following. Kyle felt the door slam behi