you,” Caitlin said. “Just be careful. Take it slow. Make sure he treats you wel .
You deserve that.”
“Of course he treats me wel , why wouldn’t he?” Pol y shot back, sounding defensive.
Caitlin was shocked. Pol y had never snapped at her before, in al the time she had known her.
Caitlin sensed that she had changed—that this guy, this singer, was having some sort of weird influence over her. It made her worry even more.
“I’m just saying,” Caitlin said softly, trying to backtrack, “you deserve the best.”
Pol y seemed to soften at that. She looked down and checked her watch. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed, suddenly wide-eyed. “I’m almost late. He’s giving a performance at the far end of the palace. I have to go!”
And with that, Pol y suddenly took off down a corridor.
Caitlin stopped, watching her go, completely baffled. She had never seen Pol y like this. She couldn’t believe that she would just take off like that, so soon after barely seeing her.
It seemed like she was total y under the control of this guy.
Caitlin had a sinking feeling about it.
“Was she always like this?” Caitlin asked Lily.
Lily shook her head. “No. It’s only since she met him. He’s a real jerk, too, if you ask me. Ful of himself.”
Caitlin sensed that Lily was right. That Pol y was under the spel of a guy who was wrong for her. She remembered al the times she’d had to watch her girlfriends date guys who were jerks, and their friends were too clouded to see it. It was painful for her to have to watch them go through that, especial y when there was nothing she could do about it.
Whenever she tried to help them, give them advice, they didn’t want to listen, and inevitably, it just seemed to backfire on their friendship.
“That’s not the Pol y I know,” Caitlin said.
“Me either,” Lily said.
Caitlin sighed as Lily took her arm, and the two of them continued walking down the corridor, Ruth fol owing.
Caitlin missed Pol y, but at the same time, it felt good to have a chance to walk with Lily in the calm and silence.
Pol y could sometimes be a bit overwhelming.
Around Lily, though, Caitlin fel total y peaceful.
“So you and Pol y have known each other a long time?” Lily asked.
“Centuries,” Caitlin said, but immediately after she said it, she realized it must have sounded weird to a human. She wondered if Lily would think she was crazy.
But Lily nodded, seeming to take it al in stride.
“Don’t worry,” Lily said, “I know al about your kind,” she said. “I’ve been living with you guys al my life here. Nothing surprises me.”
“So you’ve lived here your whole life?” Caitlin asked.
Lily nodded. “I’m a member of the royal family. Marie is my second cousin. Adopted, if you’re wondering. These people certainly didn’t give birth to an African child like me,”
Lily said, and burst into laughter. She had a warm, infectious laugh. “My birth parents are from Kenya. But they died when I was an infant, and I was adopted by one of the Royals while they were on their African vacation. And here I am. A member of the royal family. Isn’t that ironic?”
“No, I don’t think it’s ironic at al ,” Caitlin said, seriously. “In fact, you seem to be the only one here with real class.”
Caitlin could see Lily’s expression change. Her face seemed to fold into appreciation, and at that moment, Caitlin could tel that she had just made a friend for life.
“That’s the nicest thing anyone here’s ever said to me,” she said. “Al the others do here is backbite and gossip about each other. You’re different.”
They walked out the rear palace door, down a set of marble steps, and through the formal gardens.
“You better pick up your pace, girlfriend,” Lily said. “We’ve got miles to go to show you this place.”
They walked for what seemed like forever, through garden after garden, as Lily pointed out al the different buildings.
They walked around a large pond, and Lily pointed out where Marie’s private residence was.
“At least she’s fun,” Lily said. “Lots of parties. It’s never dul around her. It’s the people who surround her that are the problem. Of course, Marie’s one of yours, though. That’s the big thing around here: who’s vampire and who’s human.
Al the humans here want to be vampires. But the vampires wil never turn them. So we live in a sort of harmony together. The vampires watch our backs,