Chapter 165
Katelina and Verchiel had been in the lounge nearly two hours when a dark cop drama came on. The graphic images stirred too many memories, and Katelina flipped the channel. A chain store's Christmas commercial blared. A smiling Santa Claus gave gusty laughs and added a backdrop of credibility to claims of wondrous toys. Her morbid thoughts tripped back to the bearded man in the parking lot. She could see Verchiel fasten his mouth around the old man's neck and drink-
As if in answer to her silent memories, Verchiel asked, "So you really don't like me?"
She looked at him sharply, suspicious. "How can you possibly claim to be under stress now?"
"What?" Understanding blossomed in his eyes. "Aw, you were thinking about me! How cute!" He patted her head and drew back his hand, before she could hurt him. "Really though, how can you not like me? Everyone likes me!" He looked thoughtful. "Except Jorick, of course. Oh, and Oren. And Senya's pretty mad right now." He broke off and poked her in the shoulder with a finger. "You have to like me. Just a little bit?"
Katelina looked at him as if he'd gone insane. "Why would I like you?"
"Why not? Because I didn't kill you? Because I'm fun? Because I'm amusing?"
She made a dissenting noise but didn't elaborate.
His remorse was exaggerated. "Ah well, I guess you can't please everyone. Still, I'm more fun than Senya, or that Oren." He made a face. "Talk about gloomy!"
She gaped at him in disbelief. "Gloomy? His wife and kids got butchered just a few weeks ago, you know! And by your friends!"
"I wouldn't call Bren and Senya my friends. Co-workers, maybe, but not friends. Still, Oren needs to loosen up some."
She snorted derisively and watched TV for a while. Eventually her interest waned and she glanced at the redheaded vampire again. She still thought he looked Asian. It was something in the way his eyebrows slanted and the shape of his eyes, but the bright red hair didn't fit. It was such an unusual shade - so fake. Vampires couldn't dye their hair and make it last, could they? Didn't they basically reset when they went to sleep?
He turned suddenly and caught her scrutiny. She looked away but he grinned and asked, "Yes?"
"Nothing."
"Aw, come on. What?"
Like most of the vampires, his voice had an odd lilt to it, a strange pronunciation of the harsh English words, and it only served to fuel her curiosity. She started to deny it, but changed her mind and instead asked bluntly, "Where were you from before you became a vampire?"
He shrugged and threw his hands up. "I don't know. I don't remember anything before I opened my eyes and saw Kateesha leaning over me."
Katelina caught her breath at the familiar name. "Kateesha?"
"You're surprised!" He laughed delightedly. "Yes, Kateesha made me. She told me that she'd found me appealing and decided to turn me. Whether she knew me beforehand or not, I can't say. I don't even know what my name was. She told me it was Verchiel and I just accepted it."
Katelina struggled with the concept of Kateesha as anything but a bloodthirsty bitch, and failed. "I'm sorry."
"Why? Obviously the past isn't important, since I've survived all this time without it, and as for Kateesha, she was interesting enough for a time."
Katelina didn't know what to say. She thought about Kateesha, and tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of her vampires - to actually like her. The idea was too strange for her to comprehend. No one liked Kateesha. Even Saeed didn't seem crushed that she was dead, and he'd been one of her personal guards! How could Verchiel like her? Unless they were lovers. If that were the case, then-
"So what happened?"
Verchiel drew a tight breath through his nose and held it a second too long before he answered. "Her master ordered her to come with him to the New World, to help set up The Guild, and she left. She was apologetic to a point, but it was Kateesha. On to the next big adventure. Besides, she was optimistic about her chances with Jorick. She was sure there'd only be savages and by comparison, she'd be his only choice. I assume he told you about that?" Her blank face gave her answer and he grinned. "He came with Malick to be the head of the New World's Executioners. That would have been-" he paused and scratched his head. "Oh- the early 1700s, I'm sure."
She choked on the date, but tried to hide her shock and sound like she knew what he meant. "Oh, right."
He chuckled at her attempts. "He doesn't tell you because he's afraid it will upset you. He doesn't want you to think badly of him."
Her cheeks flamed and she looked down at her feet. "I guess."
"It's true. I have to admit I've been quite anxious to meet him, ever since Kateesha described him so glowingly." She looked horrified, so he went on. "Anyway, I had some fun on my own, did a little of this and that, but eventually I had to come see what this America was like. It was disappointing, though the 1920s were a transition period, I suppose. Anyway, once I got here, I tried to find Kateesha. She'd already dropped off the map with her failed rebellion, however, Malick thought that I was interesting. Kateesha'd never mentioned that I existed. He was hoping I'd inherited more of her mental powers than I had, but he was content with what I had managed to get."
She remembered the conversation from last night about inheriting traits. "Why didn't you get all of it?"
"Kateesha was too young, I guess. But I don't mind since I didn't inherit the wind walking from her." Before Katelina could ask, he added, "That's what they call a vampire who can move really fast, a Wind Walker, get it?"
"Yeah, I get it."
"I must have just been predisposed to it and the vampirism drew it out." He snapped his fingers. "It does that, you know?"
She didn't, but she didn't like to admit it, so she nodded.
"I imagine being Kateesha's fledgling is why old Jorick can't hear my thoughts; whatever shielded Kateesha's from him also shields mine. And neither of us can read Malick."
She shuddered as she thought of the ancient vampire. "I'm glad Jorick's free of him. He kept saying 'my son' all the time, like he was desperate to remind him they were related." A horrific idea occurred to her. "They're not really related, are they? Wouldn't that make Kateesha Jorick's sister?" That put a sick spin on things, so she quickly added, "And wouldn't that make you his nephew?"
"I wouldn't say that to him. Actually, it might be better to say we're related, since you drank from Kateesha's heart. She didn't bite you, so there was no mental connection and it didn't link you two, but it did connect you in a way. Her blood entered you, changed you a little."
She cringed at the memories and the implications. "Jorick said something like that at the time, but I'd forgotten about it."
He nodded, and rubbed his chin. "I hadn't thought about it either, until just this moment. It's probably why I found you interesting."
"That or because you were trying to haul Jorick in to The Guild?"
He snickered but conceded, "It could be that. Maybe it's a combination?"
They fell silent and he changed topics, "So when are you planning to make the change? You'll have to one day if you plan to stay with Jorick, and I assume you do. Why are you so reluctant?"
"Read my mind and tell me!" He raised his eyebrows in silent rebuff and she sighed heavily. "You'd think it's stupid."
"Don't want to drink blood? It's not bad, you know, and you've gotten pretty good at it, I hear." He ignored the dark look that flickered over her features. "Or is it sunlight? I admit, I don't remember it, so I don't know what I'm missing, but it can't be nearly as exhilarating as the night. It looks too bright. Or is it food? You know you can still taste it. I just wouldn't recommend swallowing it or you'll wish you were dead for a while."
"No, that's not it." She shifted uncomfortably and her voice dropped. "I told you it's stupid."
"Aw, come on. I've answered all your questions."
She started to argue, but he was right. "Fine." She took a deep breath forced out the words, "It's a hell of a commitment, isn't it? Once you're a vampire, you're a vampire, there's no going back. I still have options being human. I can decide later to be one or to stay as I am. I'm not trapped into a decision that I made spur of the moment." He started laughing and she broke off to glare at him.
"You have to be joking! That's the big objection? From the fit you had earlier, I assumed it was some terrible anti-vampire thing! And it's just that you don't want to commit!"
"Shut up! I knew I shouldn't have told you!"
He sobered up, though his eyes still danced with mirth. "I'm sorry. You're right, it's insensitive. You have to admit it's a dumb reason, though."
"I already did," she grumbled and looked way.
Silence fell and she tried to concentrate on the TV, but Verchiel wasn't finished. "I have another question. If you're afraid of commitment, then what about Jorick?"
"What about him?" She wished she'd never told him and frankly, she didn't know why she had.
"Aren't you committed to him?"
"Of course I am! But that's different!"
"Not really. Any time you allow someone inside your sphere of influence, they change you, even if it's just a little bit. If you broke up with him this minute, he'd still leave unalterable changes to your personality and your life."
Suddenly, the amusement disappeared and he sniffed the air "And speaking of Jorick, he should be here any minute."
Katelina looked up sharply. Before she could speak, Jorick strode through the door and Verchiel added, "I see he's in a lovely mood as usual."
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