Destined Read Online Free PDF Page A

you. We need your help.”
    “But what am I supposed to?” she asked.
    “We need you to find the Shield,” he said. “And in order to find the Shield, you will need to find your father. He, and only he, holds it. And in order to find him, you will need to find your coven.
    Your true coven.”
    “But I have no idea where to begin,” she said. “I don’t even know why I’m in this place and time. Why Italy? Why 1790?”
    “The answers to these questions you are going to have to find out for yourself. But I assure you you have very special reasons for being back in this lifetime. Special people to see, actions to fulfill.
    And that this place and time will lead you to the Shield.”
    Caitlin thought.
    “But I have no idea where my father is. I have no idea where to begin.”
    He turned to her and smiled. “But you do,” he answered. “That is your problem. You don’t trust your intuition. You need to learn to search deep within yourself. Try it now. Close your eyes, breathe deeply.”
    Caitlin did as he said.
    “Ask yourself: where do I need to go next?”
    Caitlin did so, wracking her brain. Nothing happened.

    “Listen to the sound of your breathing. Let your mind still.”
    As Caitlin did so, as she really focused and relaxed, images began to flash in her mind. She finally opened her eyes and looked at him.
    “I see two places,” she said. “Florence, and Venice.”
    “Yes,” he said. “Very good.”
    “But I’m confused. Where do I go?”
    “There are no wrong choices in a journey. Each path just brings us to a different place. The choice is yours. You have a very strong destiny, but you also have free will. You can choose at any step. Now, for example, you are faced with a pivotal choice. In Florence, you will fulfill your obligations, come closer to the Shield. It is what is needed of you. But in Venice, you will fulfill matters of the heart. You will have to choose between your mission and your heart.”
    Caitlin’s heart soared.
    Matters of the heart. Did that mean that Caleb was in Venice?
    She felt her heart drawn to Venice. Yet, intellectually, she knew that Florence was where she should be in order to do what was expected of her.
    She felt torn already.
    “You are a grown woman now,” he said. “The choice is yours to make. But if you follow your heart, there will be heartbreak,” he warned. “The road of the heart is never easy. And never expected.”
    “I feel so confused,” she said.
    “We do our best work in dreams,” he said. “There is a cloisters next door, and you can sleep here for the night, rest, and decide in the morning. By then, you’ll be fully recovered.”
    “Thank you,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand.

    He turned to go, and as he did, her heart pounded. There was one more question she needed to ask him, the most important one of all. But a part of her was too scared to ask it. She was trembling.
    She opened her mouth to speak, but it turned dry.
    He was walking down the corridor, about to turn away, when finally, she mustered the courage.
    “Wait!” she yelled. Then softer, “Please, I have one more question.”
    He stopped in his tracks, but kept his back to her. Oddly enough, he did not turn back around, as if he sensed what she was about to ask.
    “My baby,” she said, in a soft, trembling voice. “Is he…she…did it make it? The trip? Am I still pregnant?”
    He slowly turned, faced her. Then he lowered his eyes.
    “I’m sorry,” he finally said, so soft that she wasn’t sure if she heard it. “You’ve come back in time. Children can only move forward. Your child lives, but not in this time. Only in the future.”
    “But…” she began, trembling, “I thought vampires can only travel back in time, not forwards.”
    “True,” he said. “I am afraid that your child lives in a time and place without you.” He lowered his eyes again. “I am so sorry,” he added.
    With those final words, he turned and left.
    And Caitlin felt