Chapter 136
"Home sweet home?" Verchiel asked as Jorick motioned him inside.
"Not anymore. The rent's paid up through January, then the landlord will have to find a new tenant." He watched warily as the redhead and Hectia entered. Once they were inside, he and Katelina followed.
They were in a large kitchen/living room combo with stained blue carpet. There was no furniture, nor books; only an old wall phone stretched across the floor. Two doors sat in the right wall, both open to dark, empty rooms, and three heavily curtained windows were situated on the left.
Katelina drifted to the windows. It was the same scene she'd seen in his dream. She remembered the conversation; Patrick and Oren arguing over whether she'd be safe or not. It was freakish to think that he'd stood there - that they'd all stood there - while she sat across the street, unaware of Jorick as he kept his secret post as guardian.
Verchiel's voice interrupted her thoughts, "This is homey."
Everyone ignored him. Jorick crouched down and busied himself with the telephone. The room was so quiet that they could hear the phone ringing on the other end of the line. Then, someone answered and Jorick stated, "I want to speak to Oren." He paused, then he rolled his eyes. "Perhaps another time, Torina. I need Oren at the moment."
Hectia stood in front of Jorick, her hands clasped together and her face pinched, while Verchiel wandered into the bedroom, then the bathroom.
Jorick snapped at him, "Get out of there and stay where I can see you."
"What do you think I'm going to do?" Verchiel asked, retreating. "Steal your clothes?"
Jorick started to answer, but he was interrupted by a tinny voice saying hello over the telephone. He motioned Verchiel to silence. "Oren?" Identity confirmed, he explained the situation as succinctly as possible. When he'd finished he said, "All right," and handed the phone to Hectia. "He wants to talk to you."
She accepted it, frowning. As the conversation started, Jorick took the opportunity to cross to Katelina. He laid his hands on her hips and leaned his chin on her shoulder, his mouth close to her ear. When he didn't offer her an explanation, she asked, "Well?"
"He found it all very interesting." His voice was barely louder than his breath. "He doesn't particularly want Hectia, but he doesn't want her in Kale's coven either. He's going to release her, so long as she promises to go north and stay there for a while."
"What about him?" She jerked her thumb towards Verchiel, who was leaning over Hectia like a vulture.
"He's never heard of him and neither has Torina. Since he wasn't in Claudius' coven, he doesn't owe allegiance to Oren."
Katelina stopped short of pointing out that no one owed Oren allegiance. If Jorick wanted them to think Oren was in control, it was fine with her, so long as she didn't have to get involved.
The deal made, Hectia offered the phone back to Jorick. He had a rushed and cautious conversation before he hung up. "I'm going to retrieve my belongings," he announced. "And then Katelina and I have some things to do. I've brought you this far, Hectia. I'm sure the two of you can get bus tickets on your own."
"Oh, I'm not going." Verchiel examined his hands as though they were of immense interest.
Hectia gasped audibly. "You have to! You promised!"
"I promised to help you, and I did. I didn't sign on for life, you know." He smiled mischievously. "I feel I've played my part in your story and now it's time to move to the next chapter."
She gaped at him. "You can't expect me to go alone!"
Jorick cut into their argument. "This isn't my problem. The two of you can deal with it elsewhere." He stared hard at Hectia. "You made a deal, remember to keep it." His gaze swung to Verchiel who only grinned back. "And I don't want to run into you again."
"Now, now, you can't dictate where I go," Verchiel admonished lightly. "I'm not involved in any of this."
Jorick drew a deep, irritated breath. "I don't care where you go, just get out of here."
"As you command." He bowed low to Jorick and then caught Hectia's arm. "Come dear. I'll help you find the bus station." She protested, but no one paid her any mind. Verchiel paused at the threshold to glance back at Katelina and Jorick. "Until we meet again." Then he disappeared.
The door had barely shut when Jorick released a pent up breath he'd been holding. "I don't like him. Good riddance." With that, he ducked into the bedroom to gather his stuff.
"I didn't like either of them," Katelina called after him. She stared through the window to the street below and watched Verchiel fetch Hectia's suitcases from the back seat of the car. He handed them both to the unhappy vampiress then, as if he sensed Katelina's presence, he glanced up and offered a cheery wave before he took Hectia's arm and led her down the sidewalk, no doubt to the tune of a tirade.
Katelina dropped the curtain and made her way to the bedroom. A cardboard box sat against the wall, overflowing with black clothes and tatty paperback books.
"So that's where the books are. I should have known you sat over here and read."
"Sometimes. The rest of the time I was perched like a vulture outside your window." He smiled as he repeated the words she'd used not long ago. The quote made her frown, but he gave it no further comment and stuffed the last armload haphazardly into the box. "That should do it."
He toted the box out of the empty apartment and, after they locked up, they clunked down the stairs. He dropped the box off at the car, then they crossed the street and stopped in front of Katelina's old apartment. When she reached for the door, he caught her hand and shook his head. "I know a faster way." Before she could ask what it was, he swept her up in one arm and leapt lightly onto the built up planter in front of the store. From there he jumped to the metal awning over the shop's door and then he propelled them both to the wide ledge outside her apartment windows.
Katelina stared dizzily down at the ground and her stomach lurched. How had they gotten up there so quickly? Was he like a paranormal kangaroo?
Jorick obviously wasn't listening to her thoughts for a change because his only comment was, "Hold on a second." He juggled her as he opened the window, then helped her slide inside.
She gracelessly untangled herself from the venetian blind and stepped away from the window so Jorick could follow. A sick feeling swept over her as she surveyed what should have been her bedroom. She'd wanted something to change. Well it had - the place was empty.
"My stuff," she choked out, overcome at how thoroughly she'd been erased. "All my stuff."
Jorick dropped into the room and quickly assessed the situation. He moved to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Your mother probably has it."
She stared at the blank walls and they stared back, the nail holes like tiny black eyes. She drew a shuddering breath, then moved on to examine the other rooms. They were the same. Everything was gone, every scrap, every sign that she'd ever lived there.
Tears stung her eyes but she let Jorick scoop her up and take her back down the way they'd come. Whenever she'd thought about her abandoned apartment she'd pictured a crime scene: police line stretched across the door and her belongings scattered and broken. She'd never expected that she'd just been erased.
She was silent on the drive back to Dunwick, lost in her own thoughts. Jorick let her wallow in her grief until they reached the motel; then, he held the door open for her and teased lightly. "Smile precious, maybe tomorrow will be half as fun as tonight was."
With a heavy sigh she met his gaze. "God, I hope not. I don't think I can take any more 'fun'."
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