Chapter 174
The discussion on what Traven was up to was short. Neither Jorick or Oren seemed to know. When they fell into an uneasy silence, she suggested the artifact Beldren had mentioned.
Oren stared at her. "What artifact?"
"Not that again!" Jorick all but rolled his eyes. He offered Oren a brief and reluctant explanation and finished with, "Let him look, not that it will do him any good."
Oren shifted uncomfortably. "If that was his goal, why would he offer to join the war?"
Jorick waved it away, but Katelina wasn't ready to dismiss the idea. Something Loren had said clicked. "Traven has conditions about what happens when you defeat Malick, doesn't he?"
"Yes." Oren was apparently too caught up in intrigue to remember how lowly she was. "We haven't discussed them in full yet."
"Maybe he's covering his bases, in case Jorick really didn't take it and Malick still has it."
Jorick gave an incredulous snort. "I wish him luck if he thinks he'll so much as touch even one of Malick's possessions, and live to tell about it."
Oren flinched at the implication and looked away. After that, they fell into an uneasy silence that was occasionally punctuated with stray comments no one cared about.
It was nearly two in the morning when a knock sounded on the door. By the time Jorick got to it, there was no one there, only a folded piece of paper. He snapped it open suspiciously and scanned it.
"Well?" Oren asked with only half interest. "I don't suppose it's our official release?"
"No." Jorick handed the paper over and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Oren read the note in a moment and then tossed it on the table. "I doubt it's of any importance."
Jorick made a low noise in his throat. When neither of the men elaborated, Katelina crossed the room and snatched the paper up for herself. She scanned the messily scrawled words:
Did you notice that Senya left on a secret mission?
"Who's it from?" As the words left her lips, she realized that the other two didn't know either. "I guess that's why she quit looking for me."
"Maybe." Jorick took the note from her and studied it, as if it might reveal some secret. Apparently it didn't.
Oren dropped back into his semi-permanent seat. "It's probably that idiot trying to rile you up. You know Senya was looking for her earlier." He nodded towards Katelina. "I doubt very much that she's gone anywhere."
"There's one way to find out." Jorick's eyes moved from Oren to Katelina, calculating. "If I leave, can you actually stay in the room this time?"
She started to argue that staying wasn't a good idea, all things considered, but it was useless, so she only grumbled, "Yeah, whatever."
"Good. I'll be back." After a quick kiss, he disappeared out the door, leaving Katelina alone with their companion.
Faced with his impenetrable gloom, she dragged the tatty paperback out again. She'd read only a handful of pages when Oren made a point of getting up noisily and shut himself in the bathroom. She heard the shower start shortly afterwards and felt relieved. That should keep him busy for at least half an hour.
She'd finished the chapter and started another, an exercise in self-punishment, when a knock sounded on the door. She glanced towards the bathroom. Oren was still inside. The knock repeated and she slid hesitantly off the bed. Should she answer it? It was probably just Verchiel again. She decided he was better than the book or Oren, so she might as well.
Only it wasn't Verchiel.
The door was barely open before a brunette vampire jammed his way inside. He grabbed her by her shoulders and slammed her into the wall. With the breath knocked out of her, she couldn't even scream as she stared into a set of icy eyes; the same eyes she'd seen at the restaurant and in the woods. Eyes that were certainly not an echo.
"Recognize me?"
It was the voice from the lounge. She struggled to free herself, but he was stronger than she was. His fingers were like claws that dug into her shoulders and pinned her against the wall.
He pressed close to her face and she could feel his breath on her skin. "You don't, do you?" She didn't answer and he shook her. "Do you?"
"The woods," she whispered.
He sneered. "Isn't that cute? The woods!" His hold slackened and she tried to dart away. He slammed her back into the wall, so hard that her head bounced. "You stupid bitch! Try the war den where you and your cowardly boyfriend snuck in and murdered my Kateesha! Remember me now?"
His voice grew louder, as if volume would jog her memory, but it didn't help. She'd seen a lot of vampires there, and his face didn't stand out. She remembered Saeed and his brother. She remembered the Lieutenant and half a dozen others, but not this vampire. "No," she whispered.
"No? No? The stupid, lowly human doesn't even remember me! Ha!" His voice turned into a hiss and he leaned into her again, his nose inches from hers. "I remember you. I remember how you mangled her body while even your allies screamed at you to stop! I remember how you bit into her heart, and how you laughed while her blood ran down your stupid, filthy face! You should have died there! If your allies hadn't stopped me, you would have! Do you remember me now?"
Her heart hammered and the edges of her vision grew dark with terror. She remembered the throne room, and she remembered what she'd done, but it was surreal, like a dream. She had no idea what was going on around her at the time.
Before she could lie, he saw the answer in her eyes. "Then I'll make you remember!"
His lips pulled back from his glittering fangs. Like a cobra, he recoiled and then struck at her neck. A scream tore from her lips as his sharp teeth pierced her skin. Pain rolled from the spot, radiating in burning patterns through her body; like Claudius. He didn't just want to drink from her; he wanted to make her suffer.
Images flashed behind her eyelids, tinted red like blood. She could see shapes moving, writhing. A battle? Someone screamed her name and suddenly she could see herself crouched over Kateesha, the heart in her hand. Pain exploded in her chest, as if her heart was breaking, and she screamed -
The scene vanished as the bathroom door burst open and he let go in surprise. Oren bolted into the room, half dressed with his wet hair in disarray. He skidded to a stop, his amber eyes wide. He let out a wordless cry and launched himself at her attacker. He knocked into him and the pair sprawled on the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. Free from his hold, Katelina's knees buckled and she slid to the floor, one shaking hand held against her bleeding neck.
Oren slammed his fist into the other vampire's face, but it was the only hit he got. Like Verchiel, the second vampire was too fast. He threw Oren aside and then, before she could blink, he was suddenly in front of her, a hand around her throat.
"You'll die for killing Kateesha, one way or another."
And then he was gone.
