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 fol owing, and examined the island more closely.
It was fil ed with twisting and turning al eyways, 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 stil 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, tal , 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 Chapel e,” 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 tal , strikingly beautiful vampire, wearing a white robe and hood. She pul ed 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 tel ing her was true. For the first time in she didn’t know how long, Caitlin felt herself relax. Safe. Finally.
“But stil , 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 smal , gold key from her pocket, and reached out to give it to her.
The woman pul ed 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 fol ow 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’l forgive me.”
It felt so good to hear those words. She was overwhelmed with emotion. She