“Caitlin!”Even in Caitlin’s haze, even as she knelt there, choking Cain, there was something about that voice that snapped her out of it. Where had it come from?A man stepped forward, cutting through the crowd, wearing a long robe and carrying a staff. With his long, silver hair and long beard to match, he looked like a prophet. He stood there, scowling down at Caitlin, disappointment in his voice.“Release him!” he said firmly.As Caitlin looked into his eyes, even in her haze, she could feel that there was something special about this man. She felt as if it were a reunion, as if she had known him for lifetimes. And she respected him.She was helpless to refuse. Caitlin slowly loosened her grip, and as she did, Caitlin quickly scurried out from under her, gasping and choking, and ran off towards the woods.Caitlin stood, and faced this man.Aiden. She was sure it was him.“Yes, it is me,” he said, answering her thoughts. “And you and I have a lot to discuss.”*Caitlin wal

Caleb flew over the Manhattan night sky, his brother Samuel by his side, and dozens of their men close behind. Draped in the robe, Caleb gripped the staff tightly in one hand, while his brother wielded the gauntlet. They were armed with weapons that few vampires would be able to defend against. Still, Caleb knew, these were not nearly as powerful as the Sword, and if they met the Sword in battle, the odds would be stacked against them.Not to mention that they had but a dozen soldiers, while Kyle had thousands at his disposal. If only Caleb’s coven had not been so narrow-minded; if so, they would all be leading thousands of vampires into battle and could gain the momentum and even win this war. With this small fighting force, though, Caleb knew it would likely be a suicide mission.Still, he had to try. What choice did he have? He couldn’t simply sit back and wait for New York to be completely overrun, for all the humans to die die helplessly. And he couldn’t allow Kyle to gain stren

“Caitlin? Caitlin, wake up! You’re late!”The voice came incessantly, again and again, accompanied by a pounding on her door.Caitlin finally opened her eyes, yanked out of a deep sleep. Lying in bed, on her stomach, she looked around the room, still disoriented.The island. She was still here. Thank God. In her small room, at the top of the tower, on this new island she had come to think of as home, she felt secure. She looked over and saw Rose was still lying there, by her feet, looking at her patiently. She must be hungry, waiting for her to wake up, too.Caitlin sat up and winced at the bright sunlight streaming in through the open windows. She quickly reached over, grabbed her eyedrops, and put one in each eye.“Caitlin, Caitlin. Let me in!” came the voice again.Polly. What on earth was she doing here this early? Caitlin didn’t have a clock anywhere—there were no electronics anywhere on this island—but she didn’t need one to know that the sun had barely crept over the horiz

Caleb, Samuel, and their entourage of hundreds of vampires continued to fly over Manhattan, heading downtown. Since Times Square, no vampires dared stop them. As Caleb looked down, he saw mayhem sprawling all over the city, block to block, each neighborhood getting worse than the next. But they couldn’t risk stopping again to help the humans. The Blacktide Coven was now alarmed to their presence and they had to race to City Hall to take out Kyle before it was too late—and get back the Sword once and for all. So far, they had been lucky, with no other vampires up in the sky.But as they all flew at top speed, racing over Broadway, their good fortune came to an end. There, in the distance, coming right at them were hundreds of Blacktide vampires. And leading them, right in the center, was Kyle, brandishing the Sword. At one side of him flew Sergei, and at the other, flew Samantha and—could it be? Yes, it was Caitlin’s brother. Sam. Caleb was struck with a pang of worry—he would happily

If Kyle was capable of feeling anything like joy, this was the closest he’d come. Just a few short weeks ago, he had been, punished, acid poured on his face, cast out from his brethren—a freak, a pariah, never to set foot here again. Now here he was, back underneath City Hall, the new leader of the Blacktide Coven. He had managed to overthrow Rexius, to avenge himself on all of his old enemies, and to hold firm possession of the Sword. He even led an army of thousands, and all the local covens had shown deference to him. The world belonged to him.And the war was just beginning. That battle had been glorious. Once he had killed Samuel and captured Caleb, it had turned into a rout, his men slaughtering them all. They had put up a good fight, but in the end, his men just outnumbered them. They had now gained tremendous ground, and even more neighboring covens had flocked to join him. His army already spread uptown, block to block, like a swarm of locusts, wiping out all the humans, and