in shock, as the huge bird flew off into the horizon.
They then turned and looked back in the grass, where the bird had been, and saw that it had left something.
It was a scrol . A message, Caitlin realized.
And as she looked closely at it, her heart stopped within her.
On the outside, in delicate, feminine handwriting, it read:
“For Caleb. My love.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
As Sam walked with Kendra down the marble, gilded hal s of Versail es, he was having a hard time concentrating.
After the two of them had met, and Pol y had rushed off, they had been left alone. Kendra hadn’t said anything else to him, but she had looked at him in such a way, that he felt she was beckoning him to stay with her.
So when she had turned, without a word, and had begun to slowly walk away, he felt like he should accompany her. He hurried to catch up, and had been walking beside her ever since. She hadn’t looked surprised that he had done so, and she had not asked him to leave. At the same time, she had not explicitly invited him, either.
She was a confusing person, hard to read. Sam marveled at how this woman—if he could even cal her that at 17—
already had such an effect upon him. After being transfixed by her eyes, a light, mysterious aqua blue, he had fal en hard, and had a hard time thinking of anything else. It was as if she’d had a power to transfix him.
And yet, he could sense, she was not one of his kind. She was a mere human. How could she have this kind of power?
He also could feel the huge sense of entitlement coming off of her. Clearly, she was a member of the royal family. It was apparent in the way she moved, the way she held her chin, the way she carried herself. She was clearly the type of person, he could tel , who was used to giving people orders since birth. He, too, felt that it was hard to do anything but fulfil her command while in her presence.
Not that he minded. His heart had beat faster at his first sight of her, and he didn’t especial y want to be anywhere else but by her side. It was literal y as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt.
He could not understand how she had captured his interest so quickly. He didn’t even know her.
And up until now, he had never even believed in love at first sight.
He thought of the first time he had met Samantha, of the feelings he had felt. He had been so attracted to her, too.
But it was also different. With Kendra, it was something deeper, stronger.
The timing was so weird, too, because, before he’d met her, he had just been starting to warm up to Pol y. Upon first seeing Pol y, he had been struck by how pretty she was.
But she was not ravishingly beautiful, like Kendra was, nor did she have the same power to hypnotize him. And once Kendra appeared, it was hard for him to think of anything else.
As they walked, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous marble corridors, passing huge floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the formal gardens of Versail es, Sam final y began to come back to his senses. He wondered where they were going. Being around Kendra, he was having a hard time remembering why he was here. He was even having a hard time remembering what his mission was at al , and why he’d come back in time.
A wave of her perfume came his way, and Sam felt even more lightheaded. He wil ed himself to think. To remember.
Caitlin. He’d wanted to find her. To help her.
Aiden. Pol y had brought him here. To meet him.
But as he turned the corner with her, and walked down yet another corridor, it al seemed to fade to the back of his mind. Somehow, none of it seemed so pressing anymore.
Strangely enough, he now felt as if he had al the time in the world. And that nothing was more important than being by Kendra’s side.
As the silence between them continued, Sam final y began to wonder if he should say something.
He cleared his throat.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
They walked several more feet in silence, and Sam began to wonder if she would even bother to answer him.
“I am going to the court,” she said slowly, haughtily.
Now Sam