Free After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry

safer here with you? He,” she gestured angrily at Christian, “couldn’t save my family. How can he save me?”
                  Her words hurt, and catching Christian off guard, she shoved past him and stormed off. Christian was immediately set to run after her, but Lorenzo restrained him. When Christian looked at him in bewilderment, the old priest explained.
                  “If you follow her now, she will only become more hostile and adamant. She is in shock. Keep an eye on her from a distance, but give her some time before you approach her again.”
                  “But you agree that she must stay with us? That she isn’t safe otherwise?”
                  “As much as I dislike the idea, I agree that she needs to be kept safe, and that staying with us, where we can keep an eye on her, is the only option.”
                  Christian started out the door, but Lorenzo again restrained him with a hand. Christian turned to his mentor, whose eyes had softened and was looking at him as if he could see into Christian’s soul.
                  “Do not let her words hurt you. She is upset. You are a good Hunter.” Sensing the doubt Christian continued to feel, Lorenzo added his usual words of reassurance.
                  “Remember, Christian. We do only what we can.”
                  Lorenzo could tell that Christian still didn’t completely believe him, but the hurt and self-loathing in the young man’s eyes had diminished. And then he was gone. Lorenzo turned to a cross on the wall and said a silent prayer for the young girl, and for Christian, too. They would all need a prayer or two; he could foresee nothing but trouble in the future.
     
    Caroline ran blindly out of the hotel, almost colliding head on with the doorman in the lobby, not sure where she was headed, just trying to get as far as possible from Chris Dreiden. Before long, she found herself across the street from Central Park, and she finally decided that’s where she wanted to end up. The walking had helped to clear her head and calm her down a bit. She walked into the park, and it was like stepping into another world.
    It had always amazed her how a beautiful, peaceful park full of trees and grass and…well, more trees, could exist in the middle of a concrete and steel city that never slept, home to millions. As a child, she had loved visiting the park with her father, particularly the zoo and carousel in the spring and summer, and ice skating in the winter. Thinking of her father brought on a fresh wave of pain, but Caroline found that being in this place, with all the wonderful memories it held, was comforting.
    Usually, she could spend hours just wandering, exploring all the meandering paths and visiting all the attractions, but Caroline had finally settled on a destination, and she made her way directly there. As she approached the bridge that marked the entrance, before it came into view, she paused for a moment, and closed her eyes. She loved Central Park, but she loved this part of it best. She thought Bethesda Fountain was one of the most peaceful and magical places she had ever known.
    She couldn’t say for sure when the old, ornate fountain, topped with its stone angel, and the plaza in which it sat had first taken on their magical qualities, but she had been young. Her parents had been the first to bring her there, and she had fallen in love with it immediately, finding it to be like a sanctuary within the sanctuary of the park itself. She had returned to the park several times following that visit, but to her disappointment, she hadn’t been able to find the fountain, even though she spent several hours each time combing the park for it.
    Finally, on a third trip back, she accidentally stumbled upon it, and found, to her surprise, that from where it was located, she must have walked right past it on her earlier trips, but though she