Chapter 102
The world was black when Katelina opened her eyes; black and cold, but not quiet. She could hear shouting and screaming from the direction of the house.
She sat up quickly and found that she was lying in the snow, concealed behind the naked bramble branches of a thorny bush. She remembered Jorick telling her to be quiet, then touching her, and then- and then she'd fallen asleep? The implications connected themselves, like dots linked clumsily with crayon to form a worrying picture. No, he'd put her to sleep, or "enchanted" her, as he'd called it that night in the casket, just like he had that raccoon.
The noises grew louder and she instinctively shrank deeper into the brush and waited. She knew that any moment some raging vampire would come crashing through the underbrush to disembowel her. Only, as the seconds ticked by, no one appeared.
She slowly extracted herself from the bushes, her every movement as short and silent as she could manage. It seemed to take forever to get free, but at last she was crouched on all fours in the snow. Light flickered on the dark trees, and she crawled forward to find the source. The snow melted through the knees of her jeans and froze her bare hands, still she crawled steadily on, every breath terrified but controlled.
At last she neared the edge of the woods. Between the thick black trunks of trees, she could see bright orange flames devouring the old house. Half of it burned and, as she watched, the fire slowly worked its way towards the other half; eating everything in its path.
Dark figures moved against the white backdrop of snow. Clashing, twisting, fighting; their shadows thrown into long, flickering smears by the fire light. Their shouts and cries were a tangled confusion of sound.
Sharp panic surged through Katelina, and she tried desperately to pick Jorick out from among the furiously moving figures, but she was too far away to tell who anyone was. A terrified whimper rose into her throat. She swallowed it silently, and told herself to calm down. "They'll find me if I make a sound". Though, she couldn't say how she knew that for sure.
She drew in a slow deep breath, and closed her eyes. As she did, she could suddenly feel Jorick, almost as if she could see him, and when she opened her eyes again she found him instantly. He tussled with someone taller than himself; someone who seemed to be putting up a very good fight.
The taller vampire grabbed Jorick by the shoulders and slammed him into the side of the burning house. Sparks burst around them in a shimmery orange cloud and Katelina had to cover her mouth to stifle a cry. Jorick was not so silent and, with a savage snarl, he kicked his opponent's knees out from under him. The taller vampire fell to the snow. Before he could regain his footing, Jorick tackled him and bit a mouthful of his face.
The taller vampire shrieked; high and horrible, and tried to pull Jorick off, but he held on tightly. Katelina imagined he was drinking from him, the way he had from Nirel, and her stomach twisted. She didn't want to deal with this.
With a scream, the other vampire kicked Jorick hard enough to knock him loose. Though she couldn't see it, she imagined the skin on his face torn and flapping as he leapt up and threw himself towards Jorick.
Jorick neatly dodged the attack and swung around, so that he was behind his foe. The other vampire didn't have time to face him before Jorick wrenched his arms behind his back and used a handful of his hair to pull his head in the other direction. Katina heard the taller vampire scream again, but she covered her face to block out the visuals.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she lowered her hands in time to see Jorick cast off the body and wipe his mouth with his arm. She felt his eyes land on her, as intense as the snapping flames that burned the house, but he only turned back to the battle.
Moments later it was over. The remaining vampires milled around, no doubt checking on one another. She watched Jorick kick one of the bodies lying in the snow, and then his voice came to her, "Come, it's safe now."
"Safe?" she questioned silently, her eyes on the house. Most of it was a smoking black skeleton, ready to collapse at any moment, and flames licked what was left of it. How was that safe?
He didn't answer, so she let it go and slowly climbed to her feet. She hesitated at the edge of the trees, but pushed herself out in the open and trudged across the yard towards the vampires. As she approached, several of them looked up and caught her eye, hostility on their cold battle smudged faces.
Jorick stood next to Oren, both men gazing at the house. She tried to question Jorick with her eyes, but the blood smeared on his cheek told her enough for the moment. Though he didn't look at her, he caught her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.
Oren ignored her completely. "I expect the humans will be along soon. They'll bring their fire trucks and enough people to make a scene."
"Yes." Jorick's gaze shifted to Katelina, though he still spoke to Oren. "I suggest we leave here and regroup."
"Yes," Oren agreed and ran a hand though his tangled blonde mane. "But where?"
"You're the leader."
Oren didn't comment, so Katelina took advantage of the silence. "What in the hell happened?"
Jorick turned his full attention to her. "Kateesha sent a raiding party, of course. Someone told her we were here, or else she'd never have found it."
Katelina had her own suspicions, and had since she'd first met Oren, but she asked anyway, "Who?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Jorick looked back at his fledgling. "Before we regroup you should find out who the spy is."
"Yes," Oren's tone was flat. "And everyone has their own opinions." He cleared his throat noisily and refused to meet Jorick's eyes.
It took Jorick a moment to respond, and when he did his voice held a range of emotions; from anger to sarcasm, "Are you insinuating I'm spying for Kateesha?"
Oren was slow to reply. "No, I'm not. But others are, or will be. You were conveniently away feeding when they arrived and your human managed to escape."
"Katelina," Jorick snapped. "She has a name, though apparently you've forgotten. Perhaps it's the company you keep?"
"Fine, Katelina," Oren said stiffly. "Either way, she's only now returned."
"I put her to sleep. I'm not risking her life unnecessarily."
"As you say." Oren's eyes remained on the burning house. "Still, it looks bad to suspicious minds. How could you have known they wouldn't find her?"
"In the trees?" he demanded angrily. "Why would they be in the trees when their objective was the den?" Jorick squeezed Katelina's fingers hard enough to make her flinch and his anger washed through her.
"And how would you know their objective?" Oren met his eyes at last. "It looks suspicious Jorick. There's already sentiment against you. You've linked with a human, something no one has done in a very, very long time!"
"And how do you know they haven't? Because you haven't heard about it? Last I looked you weren't the keeper of every vampire on earth!"
"No," Oren agreed tonelessly. "I'm not. But have you heard of it?" Jorick didn't reply and he answered for him. "You know you haven't." He glanced at the knot of figures across the lawn. "And you know why. You know how it weakens a vampire; how it makes them vulnerable. The last time it was used-" he stopped and pressed his lips tightly together, then went on. "You well know what they used it for."
Jorick growled low. "Is that what you're suggesting? That I'd use her to murder-"
Oren cut him off, "I said no such thing. But, you must admit the way it looks."
"I don't care what you think," Jorick spat furiously. "You're the one who came to me, asking for my help, remember? Or have you forgotten already?" Before Oren could answer Jorick snarled, "Never mind. Keep your war and keep your suspicions." His voice dropped, until his words were almost a hiss, "But when Kateesha murders you, I won't come to bury your bodies." Then he turned away, jerking Katelina after him, and stormed towards the gravel road.
She glanced back over her shoulder to Oren. He stood in the snow, his long hair wild around his face and his hands clenched into fists at his side. His lips parted as though he'd speak, but instead he shook his head and turned towards the others.
As they crossed the yard, Jorick paused to savagely kick one of the broken bodies aside. Katelina had a glimpse of a gory, gaping chest and a puddle of red snow, but she looked away quickly. Neither she nor Jorick spoke until they were on the road, headed in the opposite direction of the burning house, then she asked, "So, where are we going?"
"Away from here."
