Chapter 113
Jorick gave Katelina a final, reassuring smile before he tore the white doors from their hinges, opening Kateesha's secret den. A motion light snapped to life. Inside, two guards shouted in surprise, "They're attacking from all sides!"
Katelina couldn't hear whether they received an answer.
The guards dashed out the door. Jorick snapped the first vampire's neck before he could raise a weapon. He dropped the paralyzed body to the snow, and bounded over it to intercept the second guard. They crashed together, both snarling, their fangs glittering in the cold light.
"Cut out his heart!" Jorick commanded her silently. Katelina blinked stupidly, and then understood the focus of his order. She dropped to the ground, the silver knife in her hand, and stared at the motionless body of the first vampire. She swallowed hard and raised the weapon, but she didn't think she could actually go through with it. The vampire twitched and made a strange gurgling sound that twisted her stomach in a sickening knot. No, she couldn't. She'd killed that vampire at Claudius's, but that had been life or death, and this-
He twitched again, then slowly lifted his hand and tried to grab her. It was enough to scare her and, with a cry, she plunged the blade into his chest with too little force. It hit bone with a jarring crunch that hurt her arms. The vampire moaned, and tried to roll over, and Katelina struck at him again. Something crunched, and his whole body jerked. Instinctively, she pulled the weapon out again and backed away on her arms as his body spasmed, and then fell permanently still.
She half lay in the churned snow and watched his red blood spread, dark against the white. The motion light hummed too loudly and she glanced up at Jorick. He had a dark smear across his left cheek and his hands were gory. The second guard lay nearby, his chest a gaping cavity of slowly clotting goo and gore.
Jorick held Katelina's terrified gaze and nodded to her encouragingly, while he wiped his hands on the dead guard's cast off coat. She stood uncertainly, still gripping the dirty knife. Her heart pounded the percussion parts to a staccato symphony and adrenaline made her white knuckled hands tremble.
Jorick silently reassured her, "It's all right, Katelina. You did fine." When she looked like she wouldn't faint, he motioned for her to follow and plunged into the blackness of the metal building. Katelina's survival instincts screamed at her to run, but she quieted them and followed quickly.
Inside the building, a dark tunnel rose up to meet the door, so that the floor was a steep ramp that led downwards. Blinded in the darkness, she stumbled and caught herself on one of the poured concrete walls.
"It's all right," Jorick's voice sounded aloud, near to her, soothing and strong. "Come, we'll kill her and be done with this."
She nodded uselessly, and clutched at the darkness. Her grasping hand found the back of his long coat. She clung to it and let him lead her through the tunnel. With his eyes that could see in the dark, they moved quickly. The ground steadily sloped downwards until she was sure they were well beyond the space the tin building covered. The thought of all that earth above her, waiting to crash down, didn't make her feel any better as the darkness closed in.
The sounds of the battle at the side door bounced off the walls; echoes of clashing metal, snarling, shouts, and angry cries that made her hair stand on end. As they moved ever forward, the sounds grew louder and louder.
Suddenly, Jorick stopped and hissed a sharp warning between his teeth, but he was too late. Bodies crashed around them in a confusion of growls and shouts. Hands scrabbled, blades slashed, and teeth tore in the blackness. Katelina felt a sharp pain in her left arm, and a scream ripped from her lips as she lashed out at the invisible attacker. She felt the teeth pulled free, followed by the crunch of bones as Jorick slammed her attacker into the wall.
"Katelina!" Jorick's voice shouted in her mind. His fear filled her senses.
She bit her lip, to stop from vocalizing the words. "I'm fine." She pressed her hand against her bleeding arm, and flinched at the pain that shot through it.
"Are you sure?" he asked silently. "You're hurt."
"Barely," she lied. "It's more pain than anything, like a paper cut."
He didn't feel convinced, but he let it go. "Come," he commanded and she followed him. Her arm throbbed and she blinked back tears, but still she hurried along blindly. Jorick strode ahead of her, free from her grasp, and she had only the sound and the sense of him to guide her. Her empty hand trailed along the concrete walls, as though trying to hold them back
Someone clutched her suddenly and she tried to strike, but stopped at Jorick's hissed command, "Shhhh."
She froze expectantly and her every nerve reached outward to find the danger. The sound of echoing footsteps reached her and a voice called loudly, "They're trying to get through the side door! Come on!"
An answering shout came back, "We'll obliterate the bastards!"
A third vampire demanded, "Who's guarding the front doors?" But they dismissed his query and their voices faded as they moved through an invisible side tunnel, lost behind the sound of battle and the thick reek of blood.
Katelina held her breath, afraid it would be too loud. She pressed her eyes tightly closed and visualized the map she'd looked at last night. They'd reached the first connecting tunnel, the one that sliced cleanly across all three of the main passages, to the side entrance. To meet Oren's group, all they had to do was turn right and keep going. No wonder the battle sounded so loud.
She tried to picture the rest of the map, but realized that there was nothing more. After the connecting tunnel, it faded into oblivion. What lay ahead was a mystery wrapped in night and fear. A mystery that she guessed they'd soon solve.
Jorick moved forward and Katelina followed him, waiting for death to come screaming at her from the shadows. They passed other tunnels, always to the right; yawning, invisible chasms that were marked only by the spaces where the wall disappeared. Her head felt light and fuzzy with fear, and her arm ached with every shuffling step.
Jorick suddenly pulled her into one of the offshoots, and pressed her into the wall with his back. His body shielded her from the invisible enemy as he commanded, "Stay silent!"
She strained but couldn't hear anything over the blood roaring in her ears. Seconds seemingly dragged to hours as she waited, afraid to breathe or move. At last, she discerned footsteps drawing close and then another group of vampires dashed past with pounding feet. Their voices rang through the caverns as they laughed about tasting blood.
They stopped, with no warning, and one of them snuffled the air noisily. Then, a thickly accented voice barked, "Someone's here!"
Jorick cursed under his breath and pulled Katelina further into the tunnel as the vampires dashed into the passage. "Stay silent!" he ordered again and then hurried to meet them.
She backed against the wall and tried to press into it, as if she thought she could hide inside. Beyond, in the darkness, she could hear the scuffle. The vampire with the thick accent swore loudly, and then someone screamed, long and loud. The sound broke off into a gut wrenching gurgle, and Katelina closed her eyes and prayed that it wasn't Jorick.
The accented voice shouted again, "I smell a human! Find them!" while Jorick shouted over the top, "Die, fool!" obviously hoping to drown him out. The sound of his voice lifted a weight of dread from Katelina's chest, and she heaved a sigh of relief to know he was still alive.
The relief was short lived. Someone brushed against her, then stiffened in surprise. A hand grasped her arm and tried to tug her out into the open, but she struggled and wildly slashed the knife at the darkness. A female yelped as the blade made some miniscule contact, and Katelina stabbed again and again.
The vampiress went still and Jorick's voice sounded from the black, "Release her." Somehow, Katelina knew that he had a knife pressed to the female's back, though she couldn't see it.
The vampiress sounded strangely calm, considering the situation. "You brought a human? That was stupid." Her hands tightened on Katelina's arm, as if she hoped to snap the bones before she had to let go.
"Release her," Jorick snarled again, his voice cold and angry. The woman did as she was told this time, though Katelina could feel her reluctance.
Free, Katelina stepped away, a hand to her bleeding arm. She suddenly realized that the other vampires were missing, but Jorick interrupted the thought, "They're dead."
"I'm fine," she thought silently, before he could ask, though his concern prickled her uncomfortably.
Jorick turned his attention to his prisoner. "Lead us to Kateesha, or I kill you now."
The answer was sarcastic, "Can't you find her yourself?"
"Lead us to Kateesha or die," Jorick repeated.
The vampiress chortled. "She'll kill you, and torture your human. But, I'll take you, so I can watch."
"Good." Katelina could hear the smile in his voice. "Come." He added silently, "Stay behind me."
They moved back towards the main tunnel and the vampiress spoke, "It won't do you any good to use me as a shield. They'll strike me down as quickly as they'll strike you. Anything to protect the Queen."
"I didn't ask for your advice," Jorick answered flatly. "Now stay silent."
The captured vampiress snorted, but obeyed.
