“We can’t let you fight alone!” Caitlin cried.
“You have to,” Sam said. “This is no longer about you. It is about our mission. GO! The mission is more important.”
Caitlin instantly knew he was right. This was her chance, and she had to take it. There wasn’t a second left to lose.
“But how can the two of you fight them all off?” she asked worriedly.
Sam smiled, and as he did, Caitlin was shocked to watch him shapeshift before her eyes. Within seconds, he looked exactly like Kyle.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he snarled, in Kyle’s voice. It was eerie.
At that moment, Caitlin realized they’d be just fine.
She turned and grabbed Caleb’s hand, reached down and grabbed Ruth, and they leapt into the air, taking off, for the opening in the ceiling.
She looked back one last time, and watched Sam, looking like Kyle, give orders to Kyle’s people, and tricking them – and she knew that they would be just fine.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Caitlin and Caleb flew out of the ceiling of the Notre Dame, and into the night air. They flew together over the small Ile de la Cite. As they did, Caitlin was wracking her brain, trying to think where to go next, where that key might lead. She kept thinking of the letter, kept turning her father’s words over and over in her head.
Don’t forget: the island is a big place.
It had bothered ever since she’d read it. The island is a big place. The island is a big place.
Was there somewhere else on the island, she suddenly wondered, that could hold the final key? Some place close to the Notre Dame?
Her adversaries – Kyle, Sergei and Kendra – had managed to infiltrate her coven, and had discovered to meet her in the Notre Dame. But no one else had seen the second half of that letter. And no one else realized that it led to something else. To one final clue. One final place. Everyone else thought the Notre Dame was the final destination, Caitlin realized. But it wasn’t.
“Where now?” Caleb asked, flying beside her.
Caitlin suddenly dove down, Caleb following, and examined the island more closely.
It was filled with twisting and turning alleyways, with medieval houses. As she flew to the other end of it, the island tapered in a point, and she noticed something that made her pause.
There was another church. Not as grand as the Notre Dame, but still large, and extraordinarily beautiful. There was nothing else remotely like it on the island, and she suddenly felt certain that whatever it was she needed, it was there.
The island is a big place.
Caitlin pointed. “There,” she said.
She dove down, Caleb by her side, and landed before the church.
It had a massive limestone edifice, reaching high into the sky, and coming to a point. Its façade was ornately carved, covered with gargoyles in every direction. It had a single, tall, arched door, and as she faced it, she knew this was the place.
“Do you know it?” she asked.
Caleb looked at her.
“Yes. The Cathedral of Saint Chapelle,” he said. “A very sacred place for our kind. It’s been around for thousands of years. Most people do not know of it. They know only of the Notre Dame.”
Caitlin turned to him.
“I feel that this is it. Whatever it is I am meant to find, I feel that it is here. My father, he said that the island was a big place. I think that what he meant was that the Notre Dame was not the only place on the island to search. That our final clue is beside the Notre Dame.”
They walked to the door, preparing to open it, when suddenly, the door opened wide, startling them.
Before them stood a tall, strikingly beautiful vampire, wearing a white robe and hood. She pulled it back, revealing light blue eyes and long, brown hair.
She looked right at Caitlin and smiled.
“Caitlin,” she said. “We have been awaiting you. Welcome.”
Caitlin and Caleb exchanged a glance. The woman stepped aside, and they entered.
As they did, she closed and barred it behind them, using a type of metal Caitlin had never seen, three huge bars covering the doors.
“Titanium,” she said. “Invincible to vampires. No one can attack us here. You’re completely safe. You can rest at ease now.”
Caitlin sensed the woman’s positive, healing presence, and she knew that what she was telling her was true. For the first time in she didn’t know how long, Caitlin felt herself relax. Safe. Finally.
“But still, we have little time to lose,” the woman said. “I trust you have the key?”
Caitlin looked back at her surprise. She wondered how she knew.
The woman smiled further, “Of course I know. We are of your father’s people. We watch everything that you do.”
Caitlin extracted the small, gold key from her pocket, and reached out to give it to her.
The woman pulled back her hands.
“No. I don’t want it. That’s yours to keep. Only you can open it.”
The woman suddenly turned and walked quickly down the long, marble aisle of the church.
Caitlin and Caleb began to follow her in the huge, empty edifice, their footsteps echoing.
Caitlin looked up and noticed the soaring ceilings, tapering to a point; she saw the endless rows of arched, stained-glass windows, hundreds of feet high, and was overwhelmed by the beauty of this place. It felt like they were walking inside an enormous kaleidoscope.
As they walked down the aisle, Caitlin wondered where they were going, and Caleb turned to her.
“I’m so sorry,” he said softly, out of earshot of the woman. “For Sera. For leaving you. For everything. I hope that you’ll forgive me.”
It felt so good to hear those words. She was overwhelmed with emotion. She didn’t trust herself to speak at that moment, so she just held out her hand.
Caleb took it, and his skin felt so good to her. She felt comforted by his presence, as they walked together down the aisle.
“This church was built thousands of years ago,” the woman said. “A very special place for our race. It was built specifically to house the most important and valuable of treasure. Here, among many other treasures, we have fragments of The Cross, along with the real Crown of Thorns.”
The woman turned down another corridor, then down a flight of wide, marble steps.
They entered the lower level of the church, and it took Caitlin’s breath away. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It had a low, arched ceiling, painted a vibrant, celestial blue, and interlaced with shining gold arches. This place looked like a treasure chamber, and in the torchlight, it was positively glowing. It was spectacular. Caitlin felt as if she had just entered King Tut’s tomb.
“Down here, we keep the most valuable of artifacts. A special silver chest was built to hold them all, a chest which took twenty years to build. Inside of that chest, you will find what you need.”
As they continued, the room opened up, and Caitlin was shocked to see standing before them, waiting, dozens of vampires, all dressed in white, all with white hoods. They each held a silver goblet, each one filled with a white liquid.
In the center stood a single vampire, a man with a long silver beard and piercing green eyes. He stared kindly at Caitlin and Caleb, holding a small silver goblet for each of them.
The woman gestured for them to approach.
They walked right up to him, and Caitlin felt herself starting to tremble. Was her father here?
“Drink,” he said softly.
They each took a goblet and drank the white liquid.
Immediately, Caitlin felt restored. She recognized it as the white blood of her father’s coven. She also grew lightheaded.
The man stepped aside, and revealed behind him a huge, glowing silver chest.
“Your key,” he said softly.
Caitlin handed him back the goblet, stepped forward, knelt, and inserted her key into the small lock on the chest.