Loved by Morgan Rice Page B

had managed to get them out of there without seriously hurting anyone but himself. She felt embarrassed that she was not as evolved, not as in control, as he, and felt badly that she had once again put him in harm’s way.
    It was dark as Caitlin and Caleb flew over the woods, on the outskirts of Salem. As they flew in the cold, night air, she slowly felt herself calming. Caleb’s strong, icy grip held her in the air, and she felt the tension in her body starting to leave. The hunger faded. So did her rage.
    By the time they landed in the woods, she felt back to normal. With her head clear, the events of the past hour seem like a wild and crazy blur, and she couldn’t understand why she’d reacted the way she had. Why had she been so filled with rage, so quickly? Why couldn’t she control herself?
    Of course, she knew the answer was not intellectual: when the pangs struck her, she was simply out of control. A different person, at the mercy of her animal instincts. Thank God for Caleb. She wouldn’t have wanted that policeman’s blood on her head. She was so grateful that he had rescued her before she could do anything rash.
    As she saw the blood dripping down his arm, she again felt guilty. He was shot because of her.
    She reached over and put her hand on his arm.
    He looked down.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Are you going to be okay?”
    “It will be fine,” he said. “Vampires are not like humans: our skin heals quickly. Within a few hours, it will be completely healed. It was just a regular bullet. If it had been silver, then that would have been very different. But it wasn’t. So please don’t worry,” he said gently.
    As she looked at his arm, she saw that it was already healing fast. It was amazing. It hardly looked like more than a large black and blue mark. It was as if it were healing before her eyes.
    She wondered if she had a similar power. Then again, being only a half-breed, she probably didn’t. Like most vampire powers, it was probably reserved only for true, full-bred vampires. A part of her wished that she was one. Immortality. Superpower. Immunity to most weapons. She had some of those traits, but clearly not all. She was stuck between two worlds, and she didn’t know which one to choose.
    Not that she was being given much of a choice anyway. The only way to become a true, full vampire would be to be turned by one. And Caleb wasn’t offering. That was forbidden. And even if it wasn’t, she had a feeling he wouldn’t offer anyway. He seemed to be oppressed by being immortal, and he seemed to envy her her mortality. She didn’t get the feeling that he’d want her to be what he was. For her own sake.
    “Do you still have it?” he asked.
    She looked over, not understanding.
    “The map,” he added.
    Of course. The reason why they had landed here.
    She reached into her pocket, and was relieved to discover it was still there. Thank God for zippered pockets.
    She handed it to him.
    He unrolled it and stared.
    “We are not far,” he said, lowering it and looking at the woods before them. “The cottage should be close.”
    Caitlin looked all around her, squinting in the darkness. All she saw were trees.
    “I don’t see anything,” she said.
    “It’s an old map,” he said. “It was drawn by hand, and is very rough. I’m sure it is not exact. But the markings indicate this area.”
    Caleb looked around again, and she did, too. But neither of them saw anything.
    “This cottage,” Caitlin said, “was here hundreds of years ago. Isn’t it possible that it’s been destroyed?”
    Caleb scrutinized the woods. He headed in a particular direction, and she walked with him, leaves rustling.
    “Yes,” he said, “that is possible. Especially if it was built of wood. Then it is most likely. But I am hoping it was built of stone. Most vampire cottages were. Then it could still stand. Or at least a portion of it.”
    “But even if so, don’t you think that by now it would have been