Chapter 100
The light in the windows across the street were like golden beacons in a sea of night. She looked at them and sighed; a heavy, foreign sound.
"Why does she leave the blinds up and the curtains open? Does she want to attract attention, or is she na?ve enough to believe there's no one looking?"
"Thoughtless is a better description," Oren replied, a sneer in his voice.
Oren?
Yes, this was a dream; another one of Jorick's dreams. And Katelina was along for the ride, like a third party observer, looking through Jorick's eyes at a building she recognized all too well. Her apartment.
The heavy sigh was repeated, and Jorick murmured quietly, "No, that's not what I meant."
"We all know what you meant."
Someone coughed, and Jorick turned towards the sound. Patrick stood across the empty room, leaning uncomfortably against the wall. He tried to look casual, but his posture was stiff. The sight of him, seemingly alive and far sharper than he appeared in her own memories, made Katelina's heart catch. But in the dream, he was unaware of her presence and only glanced at the cheap plastic watch on his wrist. "Where's Michael?"
"He'll be here soon," Oren assured him, his voice all confidence.
As if on cue, the door banged open, then closed, and Michael strode into the room. He looked different than when Katelina had seen him in Jorick's basement. His hair was still long and blonde, and his eyes the same shade of blue as Patrick's, but he was fleshed out and looked human.
Except that he wasn't.
Patrick straightened and stepped towards his brother. "What took so long?"
"Elsa was late," he answered with a shrug, but the causal gesture didn't match the tension in his eyes. "She said that Claudius is planning to contact The Guild about this."
"The Guild?" Patrick repeated the word with all the terror it deserved. He looked to Jorick, as if seeking some kind of protection. "What will they do?"
"Take her back," Jorick answered calmly. "But that would negate Claudius's claim of war. Once The Guild is involved he has to give them full control in the matter, including the punishment. That means he can't get revenge."
"So Katelina would be safe?"
Jorick looked away and stared at nothing. "Not exactly. It means the war with Oren's coven would be finished, but-" he broke off.
"But they don't care about humans?" Patrick demanded, his voice hard. "Is that it?"
"Something like that, yes." Oren stepped towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "She's perfectly safe, Patrick. Jorick is already watching over her."
Patrick pulled away, shaking his head. "No. We need to give Arowenia back. We can't win anything here." He met his brother's eyes. "It's too late, Michael. We need to just take the punishment and-"
"Punishment?" Michael exploded. "It won't be punishment, it'll be death!" He stabbed a furious finger towards the window. "I'm not dying for her!"
"It's not for her!" Patrick snapped. "We're the ones who fucked up! I'm not gonna let Katelina get hurt over it!"
Michael moved towards his brother threateningly. "He releases us both, or he doesn't get Arowenia back! Those were the terms, and he can take them or leave them! We're not going back!"
"He won't do it!" Patrick shouted. "If he was going to agree he'd have already done it! The plan didn't work! No one revolted, and no one's going to help us! Why can't you see that?"
Oren held up his hands and tried to diffuse the situation. "Now, now, we don't know that for sure. He may yet bargain."
Jorick sighed and Katelina felt his doubt. He knew better, but he glanced back to the window and stayed silent.
"And what if he doesn't?" Patrick demanded. "God damn it, he's going to kill her! How would you like it if someone threatened to kill Jesslynn? Would you just stand by and wait to see if they did it?"
Jorick suddenly turned back to the conversation, a thin pulse of anger running beneath his words. "No one's going to kill her. I won't let them."
"For now! And what happens when this is all over? You're not gonna stay here and watch her forever!" Something on Jorick's face made him falter. "Are you?"
"No," Oren assured him quickly. "Of course not."
But wheels of thought were turning behind Patrick's eyes. "Jorick?"
Oren cleared his throat noisily and changed the topic; or tried to. "Michael, did Elsa say anything else?"
"Not really." He looked at his brother. "Let it go, Pat. It doesn't matter, right now. You guys can fight over her later."
Patrick's attention snapped from one to the other in turn, his eyes demanding answers that everyone seemed to already know. "Fight over her? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Jorick answered with no emotion, but his face apparently held the knowledge Patrick sought.
"What the fuck?" he shouted his hands fists at his side. "What are you- What did you do?"
Oren rushed to get between them. "He hasn't done anything, and he isn't going to, either." He shot Jorick a warning look. "It's nothing. Forget it."
"Forget it?" Patrick demanded. "Forget what? That he's- what? What is it? He has the fucking hots for her? Is that it?"
Jorick made an angry noise in his throat, but Michael answered for him. "He thinks he's in love with her."
Oren nearly groaned, but he recovered quickly and glared at Michael. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, I do. I heard you guys talking." The fanged smile he shot back was almost smug. "He told you he was falling in love with her and you said he only thought he was because he loves weak little women who need protected and he said-"
"God damn it!" Patrick swore. "I thought we could trust you; I thought I could trust you! And now I find out you're over here fantasizing about her! She's my girlfriend! Not yours!"
Girlfriend?
Jorick shoved Oren out of the way and closed the distance between himself and Patrick in an instant. "I'm over here doing your job!" Jorick snarled in his face. "That's what I'm doing. If you want something to stay yours, then you should protect it yourself!"
Patrick flinched away with a mixture of surprise and fear, but anger quickly took control. "You stay the fuck away from her, you got it?" And then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
The sound still echoed when Oren muttered darkly, "If that human ruins this, I swear I'll take care of her, myself."
The scene shimmered, then changed.
The apartment was one Katelina knew; brown carpet, off white walls, piles of trash everywhere. It was Patrick's house. He lay on the floor, blood pooling around him and soaking into the carpet from wounds Katelina knew too well. She'd seen this, hadn't she? Only-
Only Michael hadn't been standing over him looking guilty when she'd seen it.
"He was going to take her back to Claudius!" Michael cried. His eyes were wild, and blood was splattered across his face. "He'd have killed us both!"
"God dammit!" Jorick swore loudly. "I told you to wait until I got here!"
"I couldn't! He was leaving! I had to stop him! I didn't mean-" he trailed off and shuddered. "It was an accident!" His whole attitude suddenly changed. "But maybe it's for the better. He's right, you know. The Guild wants to execute us - me," he corrected, with a glance to his dead brother. "We could just give Arowenia back in exchange for a promise that Claudius will pardon me, and you can have Katelina. You wanted her anyway, and now that Pat's out of the way-"
Jorick backhanded him, and sent him flying across the room. He crashed into the wall and slid down to the floor, swearing.
"I'd shut my mouth, if I were you." Jorick glanced at the body, then at Michael, who was already climbing to his feet. Katelina could feel his urgency; it was late. The sun would be up in an hour. There was no time for this. "Damn it, Michael. This wasn't the plan."
"No, it's better to let me get killed?" he cried, nearly hysterical. "I'm not going to be executed for her!"
"And you think he'll reward you?" Jorick sneered. "I can read your mind, and I see your plan. You think that you can tell him you were an unwilling pawn and he'll excuse you? He'll kill you."
"I don't think so. Not if I bring him both Arowenia and Katelina."
The words barely left his mouth when Jorick slammed him to the floor, one fist tangled in his hair, and the other holding him down. "If I were you, Michael, I'd worry more about what I'm going to do to you."
Katelina woke, her heart pounding, and a sick feeling wrapped around her insides. Her own dreams were horrible enough, why did she have to experience Jorick's, too?
