entire body. He was shocked, more than anything else, to realize how powerful these vampire guards were. Paris had certainly spared no expense in guarding this place.
But Kyle was no slouch. He’d been alive for thousands of years longer than most, and he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He summoned his primordial rage, and managed to grab two of the four guards facing him and smash their heads together.
They col apsed, but the other two jumped Kyle, knocking him down and kicking him several times. He was stunned by their speed and strength, but he managed to catch his breath just long enough to grab one of their feet, break his ankle, and swing him into the other guard.
But it barely phased them. The four guards immediately recovered, and were pouncing back for Kyle. He couldn’t believe how fast they were.
He didn’t want to risk fighting them any longer. Now was not the time. He saw his chance, and he leapt through the crowd, taking off at a sprint, back up the staircase.
They were right on his heels.
Kyle realized he could not outrun them, and he leapt into flight. Using his wings, he flew higher and higher, up the staircase, up the shaft, aiming right for the ceiling. He knew he couldn’t risk stopping, so he gained speed and braced himself for impact.
He smashed through the stone ceiling, and seconds later was in the air, flying fast away.
He flew off into the horizon, and turned back to see the guards standing on the roof, watching him. But luckily for him, they wouldn’t fol ow. Their orders were to guard the Bastil e.
Kyle was stunned from the ordeal as he flew away, and realized he’d need more manpower than he needed. He looked forward to returning, to storming the place with Napoleon’s men, and demolishing the place down to the ground.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Holding Ruth in her arms, Caitlin flew beside Aiden, high over the country.
She looked down and watched as the landscape changed.
At first, they had flown over the shoreline, and she had watched the crashing waves, the magical cliffs and beaches; then they had turned towards land, and the landscape changed to rol ing hil s, then to woods. It was an entirely new part of France, one she had never seen, and she couldn’t believe how endless this country seemed.
Caitlin felt torn with mixed emotions as she flew. On the one hand, she was happy to be beside Aiden, beside someone she knew and trusted, someone who, she knew, would not abandon her. She was excited to see wherever it was he would take her, and excited to begin her training and her mission anew. She wondered if she might see Pol y there, and the thought warmed her. She also wondered if Blake could be there, and the thought left a pit in her stomach.
She wasn’t sure how she would react to that.
At the same time, her heart stil broke at the thought of leaving Caleb. She imagined him arriving home, at his empty castle, and finding her gone. She had never promised him she would stay. But stil , he seemed to hope she would. He would not know where to find her. Would this be the last time they ever saw each other?
Had she turned her back on a perfect life? If she’d waited just wait a few more days, it was possible that al would be peaceful and tranquil with Caleb, for the rest of their lives.
Was she leaving prematurely?
Caitlin couldn’t help feeling as if she was were swept up in an endless tide of events; it felt like an undercurrent in an ocean, taking her out further and further, to more clues, back to another time, another place, another artifact, another key. She prayed that this might be the final time and place, that this time, for sure, she would find her father and the Shield. Then maybe, after it was al done, she could stay in one place. And maybe even stay with Caleb. Would her father like Caleb? It was a question that had often crossed her mind.
Caitlin looked down and watched as the thick woods eventual y gave way to open fields, and as eventual y, these, too, gave way, to formal, wel -tended roads. The sky opened up, and in the distance, on the horizon, Caitlin spotted the most magnificent structure she had ever seen.
It wasn’t just one structure but several—huge marble buildings, spread out over an enormous compound,