Pol y suddenly brushed passed her, heading back to the room—and Caitlin reached out and grabbed her wrist at the last second.
“Pol y, I’m tel ing you. Please. I know it’s painful to hear it.
But you have to listen. You have to trust me. Stay away from him.”
Pol y looked back at Caitlin, locking eyes with her, seething with rage.
“Take your hand off of me,” Pol y said, slowly and firmly, with such venom in her voice, that it actual y took Caitlin aback.
Caitlin slowly released her grip.
“Our friendship is over!” Pol y said.
And with that, Pol y marched off, into the other room, slamming the huge door hard behind her.
Caitlin stood there, feeling hol owed out. She felt so sad to see her relationship with one of her best friends crumbling before her eyes. She hated the fact that a guy got between them. That he had changed her best friend. The Pol y wasn’t the same person she used to be.
And she hated the fact that there was nothing she could do about it. That, no matter what she said or did, she knew that Pol y would never listen. She was too clouded by love to see straight.
And she felt worried that Pol y was in for trouble. That she would have her heart broken.
More than ever, Caitlin knew that her time at Versail es was up. She had lingered for Pol y’s sake, and that had clearly been a mistake. She felt there was no more time to waste.
It was time to find her father.
As Caitlin walked out of the room, suddenly, the door opened behind her. She turned, and saw Lily approaching.
“What happened?” Lily asked, as she walked up beside Caitlin, the two of them walking together away from the room.
Caitlin was embarrassed. She hoped she hadn’t made a scene storming out of there, and she wondered how much everyone else had seen. But she couldn’t have stood to be in front of Sergei a moment longer, and she didn’t trust herself to be in his presence without taking revenge.
Caitlin shook her head, not sure how much to tel Lily.
“Pol y and I…we…had a disagreement.”
She could feel Lily looking at her.
“It’s over Sergei, isn’t it?” she asked.
Caitlin turned and looked at her. Lily was very perceptive.
“How did you know?”
Lily sighed, as the two continued walking down a new hal .
“Pol y’s completely changed ever since she met him. It’s been unbearable, real y. And he’s such a…creep. So ful of himself. Personal y, I can’t stand him. I don’t know what she sees in him. What anyone sees in him. I don’t even know where he came from. It was just like, one day he was here.”
“Wel , I do,” Caitlin said.
She stopped and turned to Lily.
“I met him before. Unfortunately. In another place and time.”
Lily’s eyes opened wide. “You mean another century?”
Caitlin nodded. Lily look fascinated.
“He’s an evil vampire. The right-hand man of an even more evil vampire, Kyle. And what’s worse—I’m the one that turned him.”
Lily’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“That is something which I wil always regret. So I know that whatever he’s up to, it’s no good.
And somehow, he’s using Pol y.”
Lily shook her head. “I tried to tel her to stay away, but she wouldn’t listen. The strangest thing is, he doesn’t even seem to like her.”
Caitlin sighed, wondering.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” Lily asked.
Caitlin looked back at her, and she could see her sadness.
Once again, she was surprised by Lily’s powers of perception, and at how close friends they had become so quickly.
Caitlin nodded back.
“I have to. I have to find my father. And the Shield. I’m on a mission. One that I’ve been ignoring for way too long.”
“So where wil you go to next?” Lily asked.
Caitlin thought about that. She thought of the letter, of her father’s reference to the Shield, of the next clue. She kept thinking of that phrase. The Field of the Scholars. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure it out.
“My father left me a letter. A direction for where to look for him next. He mentioned a place, but… I’m not sure exactly where it is.”
where it is.”
“What place?”
“The letter mentioned a place cal ed the Fields of the Scholars.”
Lily’s eyes opened wide, and Caitlin was surprised at her reaction.
“Do you know it?”
“Yes,” Lily said breathlessly. “It was an area in Paris in the middle ages. But it’s code. It’s not real y a field. It’s real y referring to a church, to a portion of land that they leased out hundreds of years ago. It must be referring to the Abbey of Saint Germain Des Pres. It’s the oldest church in Paris.”
Caitlin’s mind reeled with the information. That would make perfect sense, given its location, and how old it was. The moment Lily named the church, she felt it was the right place.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Caitlin said.
“There is more,” Lily said.
Caitlin looked at her. Lily stil looked shocked, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“That code you used: The Fields of the Scholars. When I was young, I was told that one day a person would come here, asking about it.” Lily turned and looked both ways, secretively. “I was told to guard the secret. Not to let anyone know, or to show it to anyone, until someone asked specifical y about it. I was told that whoever came along and asked, would be the One. And ever since then, I’ve been appointed to guard over the artifact. The one that wil lead you exactly where you want.”
Caitlin looked back at her in shock. She knew that Lily was royalty, but she had never guessed that she was guarding a precious artifact. Or that any human would be important enough to be entrusted with guarding a cherished vampire secret. She realized again what a special person Lily must be.
Caitlin was so curious as to what it was.
“What is it?” Caitlin asked breathlessly, her heart pounding.
Lily again looked in both directions, saw that no one was watching, and quickly took Caitlin’s arm and led her away.
“Fol ow me,” she said.
*
Caitlin walked beside Lily, down the endless marble hal ways, passing servant after servant, al standing at attention along the sides of the wal s. They approached another huge set of double doors, and several servants rushed to open them, bowing especial y low in the presence of Lily.