Chapter 161
Jorick glanced up at the newcomer as if deciding whether to answer or not. "Hello, Beldren."
Beldren. That was a name Katelina recognized. He was one of the Executioners who'd come to their house looking for Oren, and then to the motel room with Senya. The memories made her blood run cold.
"Jorick." He nodded and ignored Katelina completely. "I heard you were summoned."
"Yes. However the invitation was rather lacking."
Though no one asked him to, Beldren took a seat. "I heard they sent Verchiel."
Jorick growled low in his throat; a mixture of disgust and anger. "Who is he?"
"He replaced Mary after the uprising in Arizona. 1920-something. Malick is fond of him, though I think he's a bit flash and unpredictable."
"He's certainly something," Jorick snarled.
For the second time that night Katelina stared at Jorick with horror. How could he calmly talk to an Executioner? Especially one who'd helped Senya? There was no way he could claim Beldren's allegiance had changed!
"You dislike him?" A small smile tugged at the corner of Beldren's mouth. When Jorick didn't answer, he changed the subject. "Why were you summoned?"
"I'd like to know."
The waitress reappeared with Katelina's dinner and, much to her disgust, Beldren ordered a drink for himself and Jorick. She wanted to scream at the absurdity of it all, though she doubted anyone would listen. The waitress was back in a flash with two glasses of crimson liquid. She batted her eyes at the vampires, who both ignored her, and then scurried off with an air of disappointment.
The blonde Executioner sipped his "drink" and Katelina tried not to gag. She glared at Jorick, and though he gave her what amounted to an apologetic look, it didn't stop him from doing the same. Disgusted, she stared at her plate and tried to pretend they didn't exist.
Beldren set his glass on the table. "There's a rumor you've been summoned concerning a certain mythical object."
Jorick nearly choked. "You're joking."
"No." Beldren leaned back in his chair and toyed with his glass. "For some reason, there's a group of relic hunters who seem convinced you have it."
"Have what?"
Beldren looked at Katelina as if she'd just crawled out from under the table and asked for their autograph. Jorick, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. "It's a childish legend concerning Lilith."
The name conjured memories of the too realistic mural in Claudius' ballroom. She remembered what Jorick had said, that some of the Old Ones thought she was the mother of all vampires. "What about her?"
"I told you, it's childish." She stared at him inquisitively and he surrendered. "According to the legend, the biblical version of creation only tells half the story. God created four people instead of only two; Adam, Eve, Samael and Lilith. Adam loved Eve, and she him but, while Samael loved Lilith, she coveted Adam. To make an otherwise long story short, eventually Samael seduced Eve to hurt Lilith, and when she found out she laid with Adam. As punishment God kicked them out of Eden. Lucifer was overjoyed at God's anger and so he rewarded Samael with immortality, which Lilith demanded he share. Afraid of the damage this could cause, God struck them both barren, but for whatever reason allowed vampirism to be passed from one to another by blood. It's because this immortality was granted by Lucifer that it is imperfect and that a vampire craves blood and must avoid sunlight, etcetera."
That was a story Katelina had never heard before, though she thought it would make a good movie. "What's the relic?"
Jorick rolled his eyes and Beldren answered for him, "The Heart of the Raven: Lilith's heart."
"The Raven?"
"According to legend Lilith could transform herself into a Raven, while Samael could turn into a bat. Sound familiar?" Katelina nodded and Jorick went on. "Once they were thrown to the earth, Lilith left Samael and wandered the world, turning mortals into vampires as she pleased. Samael, on the other hand, was very selective and gave the gift to only a few he called his wives. According to some versions of the story, he discovered what Lilith was doing and, in a jealous rage, ripped out her heart. He couldn't bear to actually destroy it, and so it survives to this day. If you believe those things," he added with disdain.
Beldren spoke to Jorick. "And if you listen to rumor, it's said that Malick had located the heart and had it in his possession. Until you left, that is. They say you stole it to get back at him."
Katelina remembered Traven's outburst. "Where is it? ...It disappeared at the same time you did! You can't fool me!" Was that what Traven was up to?
She meant to communicate her brilliant epiphany, but Jorick didn't seem surprised at the rumor, so he'd probably already connected it. He knew everything, after all. Or thought he did.
"If that were true, Malick would have come looking for it immediately."
"Maybe." Beldren's eyes shifted away subtly. "Unless he found it more entertaining for you to have it."
Katelina interrupted them. "Why would anyone want it?"
"Power. Supposedly," Jorick added. "They claim that if someone drinks from it, they'd be turned into a god like being but it wouldn't work. A vampire doesn't get more powerful by drinking another vampire's blood. That only matters when you're turned. Young masters create weak fledglings, old masters create powerful fledglings. There are exceptions, of course."
Beldren looked suddenly amused. "So how is your fledgling?"
"Angry." Jorick arched his eyebrows but didn't comment on the subtle insult.
"No doubt Malick will like him that way." Beldren took a sip, drawing his drink out. "Senya was furious when Malick gave Verchiel the task of bringing him in."
"I can imagine, especially since she'd been looking for him."
Beldren's eyes gleamed, and Katelina thought of a pair of gossipy hens. "She was never assigned to find him. Zuri and I were supposed to bring him in. She was supposed to handle Kateesha and the human problem. You saw how that went."
A sardonic smile flickered over Jorick's lips. "I heard. She didn't get near her."
"Exactly. The battle lasted all of thirty minutes, including your fledgling's ill-timed attack, and then Kateesha sent one of her underlings out and agreed to turn over the human if we withdrew. Senya accepted the terms because the Council made her. In that stronghold Kateesha could have withstood a siege for months, and rumor was that she had some kind of powerful weapon. Though it was a remote location, it was too populated for a battle like that. The Council's orders were to avoid something public at any cost, even if it meant leaving the human with Kateesha. The deal was at least a partial victory. Malick wasn't pleased, of course. I suspect he was hoping for something drawn out and bloody."
"He always enjoyed a fight," Jorick agreed. "How did the Council hear about her human in the first place?"
"A complaint was filed that she'd kidnapped her, I assume through human channels. She was ruled too high profile to leave with Kateesha. Honestly," Beldren's voice dropped and he leaned across the table, towards Jorick. "I don't know. At the time, it seemed rather ridiculous. Malick pushed it through, and the Council agreed, though as I said they ruled secrecy more important than recovery. My guess is that Malick was hoping to bring Kateesha back. I'd wager that was also the reason he wanted your fledgling; to bring you back."
"What would he want with us?" Jorick's tone was carefully casual.
Beldren leaned back in his chair, the secrets told. "To keep his children under his thumb. What else?"
"If he wanted us so badly, he could have ordered you to bring me in." A smug light in Jorick's eyes said that Beldren couldn't really do it.
Beldren shrugged, though he seemed to note the challenge. "I assume he wanted to give you a chance to crawl back on your own. When you didn't, he sent Verchiel to bring you." Something in his tone implied that if the redhead could bring both Jorick and Oren by himself, they'd have been no trouble for him and Zuri. "Of course I can't say for sure."
"No one can, except Malick."
They turned to other gossip, none of which interested Katelina. After Beldren left, she gave up any pretense at eating. As if the terror of tomorrow's meeting wasn't bad enough, spending time with a vampire who'd tried to kill them, and then an Executioner, had pretty much turned her into a jangling mass of nerves. She didn't understand how Jorick could be so calm.
"Are you finished?"
She looked up from her plate. Whether sensing her terror or reading her thoughts, Jorick reached across the table and captured her hand. "It will be all right, little one. I promise."
She nodded in agreement, even though she knew neither one of them believed it.
