Chapter 168
Katelina woke from her nap to find Oren had returned. He and Jorick sat in the little parlor area and talked in low tones. She strained to catch their words.
"- And do you really think Kale will find anything?"
"I don't know," Jorick mused. "Perhaps. They undoubtedly still have connections. He was in Claudius' coven for more than a century."
"I suppose." Oren didn't sound convinced. "And how will they tell us, if they do?"
"I don't exactly have business cards to hand out for you."
Oren sniffed disdainfully. "You could have at least given him the cellphone number. It isn't as if The Guild doesn't have it now, after your human gave it to that idiot. That's probably how they found us."
"She has a name."
"So you keep reminding me."
They sunk into tense silence. Jorick shifted in the chair and suddenly realized that Katelina was awake. "Good evening, little one. Did you have a nice nap?"
Oren made a low noise in his throat. She thought about feigning sleep, though realized it was futile. "Yes," she answered reluctantly.
"Good." He moved to the side of the bed and smiled down at her. "Are you hungry?"
It was a chance to escape the dark cloud known as Oren, so she nodded enthusiastically and hurried to the bathroom to tidy up. She emerged some minutes later with fresh makeup, and they left with a quick goodbye to their roommate.
The sixth floor was starting to look familiar. The idea filled her with a sense of foreboding that lingered like sticky cobwebs, despite her best efforts to brush it away. They found a table. A waitress, different from the last time, appeared with menus and a too cheerful smile. Her clothing and demeanor were more modest, but the thick scars on one side of her neck told the same story. Katelina thought about what she and Jorick had done earlier and a strange sense of guilt settled into her stomach. Would that be her one day? Covered in scars and not self-conscious enough to care?
The idea disturbed her, so she pushed it away and ordered. The food came fast; rice and chicken for her, and a glass of crimson for Jorick. As she ate, she glanced around at the other six or seven patrons. Most were with vampires who sipped from glasses of blood. Bizarrely, none of the humans seemed to be repulsed. She wondered if she was the only sane person left in the world.
"You are in a vampire citadel," Jorick reminded her with some amusement. "That's going to be the norm."
"I suppose." She let his mental invasion pass. "None of the vampires seem to be gagging and retching over people eating, like your friends do."
"Those who keep humans close by usually don't. They're used to all the disgusting and inconvenient human things." He gave her a wink. "The ones who make a big deal about it usually do so for effect. It's an effort to distance themselves from humans and make themselves feel superior."
"I guess." She supposed it made it easier for them to drink from people if they thought of them as something lower; no more than a cow. It was the same defense a meat eater used. The difference was, a meat eater had never been a pig, while a vampire had originally been a human, so it was really more comparable to eating babies. That sudden, morbid idea disturbed her more than any of the others she'd had, and made it hard to finish her meal.
Still, finish it she did. She stood next to the counter while Jorick paid, and let her attention wander to the corridor beyond. A vampire with light brown hair came to a stop and stared at her with cold, ice colored eyes. Eyes that promised bloodshed. Eyes she recognized.
She gasped and grabbed Jorick's arm, but by the time he turned around, the other vampire was gone. "What?"
"It was him!" she whispered, pointing to the empty space. "The same vampire I saw in the trees at Oren's! I'd know those eyes anywhere!"
Jorick frowned. "I don't see anyone."
He glanced at the waitress who shook her head. "I didn't see anyone, either."
"But he was there! Just a second ago! He was staring at me like he wanted to kill me and-" she trailed off.
"And?"
"I don't know. But he was there, I swear!"
Jorick spoke patiently, "It was likely Bren you saw in the woods or-"
"It wasn't Bren!"
"Let me finish, please. Or the other Executioner scouting ahead. Though he has every right to be here, I doubt he could disappear so quickly. It's likely the aftermath of your meeting with Malick. Sometimes there are- Echoes. You'll see your fears made flesh, but they're not really there. It's only an after image."
"It wasn't an echo, and it wasn't that other Executioner." Even as she said it she wasn't sure. The fight at the brick house had been so fast and was barely more than a blur of fear and blood in her mind. Would she recognize either of the Executioners if she saw them again? Or could it really be an echo, like Jorick said? No one else had acknowledged him, the waitress hadn't seen him and he had just vanished. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her.
When they left the restaurant, she still wasn't sure. However, she knew she didn't want to go back to the tiny room and their furious roommate. "Let's go to the lounge and watch TV or something."
Jorick stopped and gave her an appraising look. "Do you really want to?"
"It has to be better than being shut up with Oren all night. Surely there's something to do?"
"Probably. It's changed a great deal since I was last here." He offered her a smile. "They didn't even have electricity when I left."
"When was that? After-" but she didn't finish. Velnya's name was still a word she didn't like to say.
"1868," a nearby voice said. "It took two to replace him."
