Caitlin wasted no time. She flew right for Sergei, relishing the idea of attacking her nemesis, the one who, literal y, stabbed her in the back, and who spurned her girlfriend.
“You wil pay!” Caitlin screamed.
He snarled. “Have you forgotten? You are my maker!” he screamed back. “If anyone wil pay, it’s going to be you!”
The two of them met in mid-air. Sergei lunged for her throat, but Caitlin saw it coming. She dodged at the last second, and instead tackled him in midair, plunging with him right down to the ground, and smashing with him into the floor.
She reached up and began to choke him, ready to kil him on the spot, for what he had done to her, for what he had done to Pol y, for everything he had done to help Kyle. She had him in an iron grip, and she felt she was winning—
when suddenly, she felt a horrible kick in her back, knocking the wind out of her, and forcing her to let go.
She rol ed over to see Kendra looking down at her, snarling. Kendra extracted a smal silver dagger, and quickly lunged right for Caitlin’s heart. She was quick, and sneaky, and Caitlin only dodged it at the very last second.
Caitlin spun around and back-handed Kendra hard, knocking her down.
But then Sergei was back on her, punching her hard, and knocking her across the floor. She could handle either of them on her own, but the two of them together was becoming too much for her. She looked over and saw that Caleb was stil struggling with Kyle, the two of them wrestling on the ground, first one having the upper hand, then the other. They fought viciously, punching, elbowing, choking. It was an epic battle.
Behind them, Caitlin saw hundreds of more vampires rushing towards them, and she knew that they couldn’t win.
They just couldn’t fight them al —and these three—at once.
Once again, she felt that they were losing, and that this could be their final resting place.
Suddenly, there was yet another crash through the windows.
There appeared, flying right for her, two more vampires.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
It was Sam and Pol y, both diving right for her.
Just in time. Just as Kendra was gearing up to kick Caitlin again, hard in the kidneys, Sam dove between them, and knocked Kendra back with a vicious elbow to her throat.
She went flying back, hard against the wal , and it saved Caitlin at the last second.
And as Sergei jumped up and prepared to stomp Caitlin in the head, Pol y dove in faster, kicking Sergei hard, planting both feet in his chest, and sending him flying across the room, smashing into the altar, and breaking the marble monument into pieces.
Caitlin jumped to her feet, so happy to see them, and so grateful for their help.
“Caleb!” she yel ed, and the three of them jumped into action.
They hurried over, and each took turns kicking Kyle so hard that they final y knocked him off of Caleb.
Caleb spun over, got on top of Kyle, and grabbed him by the throat, choking him. It looked like he had him for good this time.
Caitlin looked over and saw the masses charging them; she also saw Kendra and Sergei slowly starting to recuperate.
“Caleb!” Caitlin cried. “Let him go! There’s no time! We have to go!”
But this was clearly the face-off that Caleb had been waiting for. Caleb squeezed for al he had, the veins bulging in his face, as Kyle turned purple. Caitlin didn’t think he would ever let go.
“CALEB!”
Final y, reluctantly, Caleb let go. He spit in the unconscious Kyle’s face.
“Another day!” he spat.
Caitlin turned to Sam and Pol y.
“I found a key,” Caitlin said. “But it’s not meant for here. It’s meant for some other place.”
“Go!” Sam said. “Find it. Bring Caleb. Go now! We wil stay here and hold them back for you.”
“We can’t let you fight alone!” Caitlin cried.
“You have to,” Sam said. “This is no longer about you. It is about our mission. GO! The mission is more important.”
Caitlin instantly knew he was right. This was her chance, and she had to take it. There wasn’t a second left to lose.
“But how can the two of you fight them al off?” she asked worriedly.
Sam smiled, and as he did, Caitlin was shocked to watch him shapeshift before her eyes. Within seconds, he looked exactly like Kyle.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he snarled, in Kyle’s voice. It was eerie.
At that moment, Caitlin realized they’d be just fine.
She turned and grabbed Caleb’s hand, reached down and grabbed Ruth, and they leapt into the air, taking off, for the opening in the ceiling.
She looked back one last time, and watched Sam, looking like Kyle, give orders to Kyle’s people, and tricking them—
and she knew that they would be just fine.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Caitlin and Caleb flew out of the ceiling of the Notre Dame, and into the night air. They flew together over the smal Ile de la Cite. As they did, Caitlin was wracking her brain, trying to think where to go next, 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.