Her heart pounded as she waited for the answer.
Final y, he turned and looked deeply into her eyes. He reached up, and slowly stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
“I love you for you,” he said. “And I always have. And if being with you means giving up the search for the Shield, then that is what I wil do. I want to be with you, too. I want to search, yes.
But you are much more important to me now.”
Caitlin smiled, feeling in her heart something she hadn’t felt in forever. A sense of peace, of stability. Nothing could stand in their way now.
He brushed the hair from her face, and broke into a smile.
“It’s funny,” he said, “I lived here once before. Centuries ago. Not in Paris, but in the country. It was a smal castle. I don’t know if it stil exists. But we can search.”
She smiled, and he suddenly hoisted her onto his back, and leapt into the air. Within moments, they were flying, high up above Paris, and heading into the country, to search for his home.
Their home.
Caitlin had never been so happy.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sam was having a hard time keeping up with Pol y as she walked. She talked so fast, and never seemed to stop, racing from one thought to the next. He was stil discombobulated from the time travel, from this new place
—he needed to process it al .
But they had been walking for nearly half an hour, he tripping over twigs as he fol owed her through the forest at her brisk pace, and she hadn’t stopped talking. He’d barely been able to get a word in. She went on and on about “the palace” and “the court” and about her coven members and an upcoming concert, and a man named Aiden. He had no idea what she was talking about, or why she’d been looking for him—or even where she was taking him. He was determined to get some answers.
“…of course, it’s not exactly a dance,” Pol y was saying,
“but stil , it’s going to be an amazing event—but I’m not quite sure what I’l wear. There are so many options, not enough for a formal event like this—”
“Please!” Sam said final y, as she bounced along merrily through the forest, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have questions for you. Please. I need answers.”
She final y stopped talking, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked at him with something like wonder, as if she were total y oblivious to the fact that she’d been talking al the while.
“Al you need to do is ask!” she said happily. And then, before he could respond, she added, impatiently, “Wel ?
What is it?”
“You said you were sent to get me,” Sam said. “By who?”
“That’s an easy one,” she said, “Aiden.”
“Who’s that?” Sam asked.
She snickered, “My, you have a lot to learn, don’t you? He’s only been the mentor of our coven for thousands of years.
I’m not sure why he’s taken an interest in you, or why he’d send me on such a beautiful day tramping al the way through the forest to get you. The way I see it, you could have found your own way, eventual y. Not to mention, I had a thousand things to do today, including looking at this new dress and—”
“Please,” Sam said, trying to hold onto his thought before he lost again. “I real y appreciate your coming to get me and al , and I don’t want to be disrespectful,” he said, “but wherever it is that we’re going, I real y don’t have time. You see, I came back here, in this place and time, for a reason.
I need to help my sister. I need to find her—and I don’t have time for any side trips.”
“Wel , I would hardly cal this a side trip,” Pol y said. “Aiden is only the most sought after man in al the court. If he’s taken an interest in you, it’s nothing to throw away,” she said. “And whoever it is that you’re looking to find, if anyone can point the way, it wil be him.”
“Then where is it that we’re going, exactly? And how much further is it?”
She took several more steps through the forest, and he hurried to catch up, wondering if she’d ever respond, ever give him a straight answer—when, at that moment, the forest suddenly opened up.
She stopped, and he stopped beside her, awestruck.
Before them lay an immense open field, leading, in the distance, to immaculate, formal gardens, the grass cut into elaborate shapes of every size. It was beautiful, like a living work of art.
Even more breathtaking was what lay just beyond the gardens. It was a palace, grander than any structure Sam had seen in his life. The entire building was made of marble, and it stretched as far as he could see in every direction. It was a classical, formal design, with dozens of oversized windows, and a wide, marble staircase leading up to its entrance. He knew that he had seen pictures of this structure somewhere, but he couldn’t remember what it was.
“Versail es,” Pol y said, providing the answer, as if reading his mind.
He looked at her, and she smiled back.
“It’s where we live. You are in France. In 1789. And I’m sure that Aiden wil let you join us, assuming that Marie al ows it.”
Sam looked at her, puzzled.
“Marie?” he asked.
She smiled wider, shaking her head. She turned and skipped across the field, towards the palace.
As she did, she cal ed out over her shoulder.
“Why, Marie Antoinette, of course!”
*
Sam walked at Pol y’s side, up the endless marble staircase, heading towards the front doors of the palace.
As he went, he took in al the sights around him. The magnitude and proportions of this place were astounding.
Al around him, strol ing the grounds, were people he presumed to be royalty, dressed in some of the finest clothing he’d ever seen. He couldn’t get over this place. If someone had told him he were dreaming, he would believe them. He had never been in the presence of royalty before.
Pol y hadn’t stopped talking, and he forced himself to focus on her words. He liked being around her, and enjoyed her company, even if paying attention to her was real y hard. He thought she was pretty, too. But there was something about her that made him unsure whether he was real y attracted to her, or whether he just liked her as a friend. With his past girlfriends, it had been lust at first sight. With Pol y, it was more like a camaraderie.