Chapter 156
The clock on the dash said ten p.m. when they crossed yet another state border. Verchiel's eyes flicked to the white "Welcome to Iowa" sign. "We're almost there."
Katelina broke her two hour silence to ask sarcastically, "Iowa? You're not serious?"
"Ah!" Verchiel cried in fake surprise. "It can talk! Are you done sulking over Santa Claus?"
"No." She looked back out the window and tried to ignore him again.
When she said nothing else, he piped up cheerfully, "Yes, by the way, I am serious. What's wrong with Iowa?"
She stared at him with disbelief. "There's nothing in Iowa except corn."
"And lots of vampires. Can you think of a better place?"
"Yes, actually."
"All right, so it wasn't the original choice. From what I hear, they started out on the East Coast, but then Americans were determined to expand."
Really, she supposed Iowa was just as good as any other state. She wasn't sure where she thought The Guild's headquarters would be, except that she'd imagined it in a large city. Maybe in New York or Los Angeles. Somewhere bustling and busy.
Bustling and busy.
Those were two words that failed to describe Iowa, or at least the part of Iowa they drove through. For a couple of hours they passed empty fields and quiet towns, cows and lonely stretches of highway. The dark seemed somehow darker, and the deer more plentiful. Verchiel pointed a few out to her, but she pretended not to notice. She kept telling herself she was too uncomfortable to care, but it wasn't discomfort or even anger that ran through her. It was fear. No matter what Verchiel said, she knew the truth. The Guild was a place that meant death and misery.
The car slowed and Katelina looked up to see a large grain elevator. Shiny silos climbed into the night, surrounded by several buildings of differing sizes. Verchiel drove towards the biggest, a corrugated building whose metal roof and garage doors gave it the appearance of a very large machine shed.
Katelina started to ask why they were stopping, when a sudden idea occurred to her; one that was vaguely disappointing. "You're joking."
"About what?" Verchiel stopped the car and climbed out. Before she could comprehend it, he stood next to one of the garage doors, pressing keys on a numerical lock pad. The door made a loud clunking noise and then began to slowly rise.
"It's a corn silo," she explained as he reappeared in his seat. "Is this The Guild? Tell me it isn't."
"Okay, it isn't." He grinned. "Yes, this is the Citadel. But, I think it's soybeans, actually." When she gaped wordlessly he asked, "Why? What did you expect?"
"Something more-" She searched for words. "Vampirish. You know, something stone and old and carved. Something grand. Something like Claudius' mansion."
"Don't you think people would notice something like that in the middle of a field?"
"Well, maybe, but a grain silo?"
He made a gesture of helplessness with his hands. "I didn't design it."
The door wasn't open all the way when he dropped the car into gear and drove inside. The headlights illuminated a large cement floored room that was packed with cars, many of them shiny and new. He expertly maneuvered between the rows and parked in a spot that had an "Executioner Parking Only" sign nailed above it. Somehow the tidy black letters made Katelina want to laugh and cry at the same time.
The motor cut out and the world fell silent. Despite her efforts, she was at The Guild's headquarters, or Citadel as he'd called it, waiting for someone to kill her and wrap her in a shower curtain. Or was she important enough for that? Would she just be incinerated instead?
The idea made her sick, and she stayed seated while Verchiel fished her suitcase from the backseat and slid out of the car. When she didn't move, he came around and opened her door. "Coming?" He held out a gloved hand to her.
She stared at it, and then shook herself. If she had to march into the bowels of Hell, then better to at least be on her own feet. She forsook the help and climbed out, though it took all her will power.
The garage was dimly lit. She could feel eyes on her and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Before she could speak, Verchiel lifted a finger to his lips and winked.
"All right Senya, it's only me. You can come out and escort us if you feel it's necessary."
The female Executioner seemed to materialize from nothing. Her dark bobbed hair hung around a face that snarled with annoyance and barely concealed animosity. Katelina struggled not to scream at the sight of her. Senya's face haunted too many of her nightmares. Sometimes she was at Oren's manor house, and sometimes at the motel in New York. Of all the things in the world that terrified her, Senya was one of the worst.
"So you finally showed up?"
Katelina cringed at the sound of her voice. Verchiel was unaffected. "And you've only been here a few hours." He took Katelina's arm. "As you can see I've brought the prisoner."
"One of them," Senya scoffed. "Malick will be most displeased."
Verchiel smiled back at her scorn. "We'll see."
Senya snorted disdainfully and led the way across the garage to a steel trap door. A sign on the wall above it had a neon arrow and the words "Service Entrance. Authorized Persons Only". A second sign said "Be Prepared to Show Identification".
Senya threw the door open. She dropped through it like a comic book heroine and landed on the floor below in a crouch, her face upturned. "Coming?" she asked haughtily.
"In due time." Verchiel made a sweeping gesture towards the gaping hole. "After you, Kately."
She was too terrified to point out that it wasn't her name, and eyed the hole as if it might eat her. It was certainly not a scenic entrance. A straight shaft ran down for several feet with a metal ladder bolted to one wall. The rungs looked shiny and slippery. Her gaze skipped from the ladder to the contemptuous vampiress below.
Verchiel leaned close to her ear and teased, "If you fall, she'll catch you."
"Sometime today?" Senya called impatiently.
"Yes, yes." Verchiel dropped his voice to address Katelina, "Best not to keep her waiting."
She swallowed hard and carefully sat down on the floor. Her legs dangled while she collected her courage. With a final look at Senya, she caught hold of the ladder and swung herself into the hole. Her downward progress was slow as her feet tentatively sought out each rung. She gripped the cold steel until her fingers turned pink and then white. All the while she imagined hurtling downward to her death.
She reached the bottom, now afraid of the too-near vampiress. As if to justify her terror, Senya grabbed her arm and threw her out of the way and into a smooth stone wall.
Verchiel jumped down like Senya had, the suitcase still in his hand. He straightened up and dusted off his coat, as if he'd gotten dirty on his descent. Then, he absently caught Katelina's arm. "Where to?" he asked Senya cheerfully. "The Audience Chamber?"
She held out her hand and her posture oozed impatience. "I'll take her."
Verchiel tightened his hold. "Sorry." Despite the word, he didn't seem regretful. "This was my assignment, and I intend to complete it." He looked at Katelina. "I'm sure my superior will know what to do with you."
It took Senya a moment to shout, "I am your superior!" and by then Verchiel had already tugged Katelina part way down the corridor.
The walls and floor were made of light brown stone with no doors or windows to break up the claustrophobic, tunnel like feeling. At the end of the hallway was a set of large, wooden doors complete with heavy metal fittings.
Katelina watched the doors with growing panic. She'd been so sure that Jorick would rescue her, and yet there she was, inside The Guild's headquarters, and he was nowhere to be found. An idea had been slowly forming over the last several hours and it chose that moment to take tangible shape. Oren wouldn't willingly allow himself to be taken to The Guild, especially not to save her life. What if he'd convinced Jorick to let her go?
No, Jorick wouldn't abandon her, or he'd have done so long ago.
Then where is he?
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