Chapter 42: Return

Caine jerked upright, gasping. His senses went haywire. Lights blinked and popped before his eyes, and shadows of people who had been dead for hundreds of years flitted through the room. He tasted a thousand tastes and smelled a thousand smells, all in the breadth of a single moment.

Then it all faded away, as though it had never been.

Shaking, covered in sweat, Caine pushed himself up farther with one hand. The other he held tightly over his hammering heart. Slowly, his mind began to function again. A wave of giddy joy went through him.

Alive! He was alive, just as he always was. Everything was all right again.

A sudden ache of pain made him jump and gasp, coming from just below his right shoulder. Caine usually tried to ignore it, but this time it felt a little worse. He stretched his neck to try and get a good look at it.