Chapter 181
Katelina wanted to make him talk about Oren, but that wasn't the way he dealt with things. He preferred to brood alone, so she agreed and followed him silently to the kitchen. She squeezed his hand, to tell him she was there if he wanted her, and then turned her attention to the food. The perishables in the refrigerator were spoiled, but the items in the cupboards and freezer were still good. Silently, she thanked the dead old woman as she used her dishes and groceries to make herself spaghetti that didn't come from a frozen carton.
Traven's vampires returned. They used another door, so she was spared their company. She didn't trust them any more than Jorick did, and she wanted even less to do with them. But unless Jorick could read their mind from a distance, they'd have to confront them, and the sooner the better. Once it was done they could go home.
When her meal was ready she sat down at the table, and Jorick took the chair next to her. Before she could start a conversation, Loren and Oren walked in.
The blonde eyed her spaghetti and wrinkled his nose, though Loren didn't seem to mind. He plopped into one of the kitchen chairs and kicked his feet up on the other. In an over-casual voice he brought up the topic Katelina had been thinking of, "Are you gonna go talk to Traven and the others soon?"
Jorick shrugged. "I suppose I can do it now, so long as both of you stay with her."
"Who is it you distrust?" Oren asked. "You'll be with Traven's coven."
Jorick gave a mirthless chuckle as he stood. "I think we both know the answer to that question." He laid a hand on Katelina's shoulder. "I'll return shortly. Enjoy your meal." He brushed a kiss across her forehead and left for the basement.
Katelina watched him go, and turned back to her food. No one was going to spoil it for her, not even Oren. To be fair, he didn't try. He only leaned against the counter wrapped in a gloomy silence, like a foggy day in May. Loren, on the other hand, was chatty.
"So who is it he doesn't trust? Micah?"
Katelina shrugged, but Oren answered, "Among others."
They both waited. When he didn't clarify, Katelina commented, "I don't think he trusts anyone." She swallowed a big bite of spaghetti and added, "And Alistair is still out there."
"He's not here," Loren objected. "We'd have seen him."
"You didn't last time."
Loren looked thoughtful. "There has to be a way around that invisible stuff, right?"
They both looked to Oren. "I don't know. I've never dealt with a phantom before."
The conversation died. Outside, the wind howled and Katelina watched the snow swirl through the window. She squinted at the shadows, fruitlessly seeking for a human-like figure. Maybe Loren was right. Maybe Alistair wasn't there.
She finished her meal and had just stacked her dishes together when she heard something slam. She looked up sharply to see that her vampire babysitters were also alert. Oren sniffed the air uncertainly and then snarled, "We have guests!"
Katelina's stomach dropped out from under her as Loren leaped to his feet. Then, Micah stormed into the room, his fists clenched at his sides. "It's Anya."
"What?" the other two vampires demanded in unison, Oren's face angry and Loren's surprised.
Micah jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I just saw her getting out of her car with three guys. One of them is that black guy Des, the one Torina was fuck-"
Oren cut him off. "And what could they want?"
Micah rolled his eyes. "Probably to fucking start trouble. I say we kill them before they reach the door."
Anya. Kale said Alistair was in Anya's coven. "Is Alistair with them?"
"How the hell should I know? I don't know what he looks like!"
She started to describe him when Oren held up a silencing hand. "We'll find out soon enough."
He turned for the dining room and Micah started to follow, but stopped at the doorway. "Are you coming or not?"
"We're supposed to keep an eye on her," Loren explained.
Micah snickered and grabbed Katelina's arm, ignoring her protests. "Then we'll watch her in there."
She struggled, but Micah tugged her effortlessly into the dining room. Fabian was already at the front door. He opened it and had to jump back to avoid being run over by Anya and her followers. The four charged into the room, heads snapping side to side and eyes alert. Anya looked just as Katelina remembered. She was tall. Her frame was thin and muscular and called to mind an action movie heroine. Her blonde hair was secured in a bun at the nape of her neck and her sharp eyes moved around the room.
Des was next to her, broad shouldered and somehow more imposing. His hair was cropped short against his skull, and his eyes were bizarrely hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact that it was night time.
Katelina didn't know the other two. One had short red hair, and she thought she might have seen him at her makeshift trial. The other's hair was chin length and chestnut and his expression was disagreeable, though not the terrifying cold of Alistair's. Relief flooded her. The lunatic wasn't there.
Anya glared at Fabian and cut right to the point. "Where's Traven?" Her eyes landed on Oren and she frowned. "I thought you were executed by The Guild." The only regret in her tone was that he wasn't really dead.
"How kind of you to come when you thought us in the grave." Jorick entered the room, Traven and Jorge behind him. He stopped next to Katelina and caught her free hand in his, then turned his attention to the visitors. "As you can see we're both very much alive."
"So it seems." Anya's bitterness was poorly disguised. Her gaze flicked to Traven and left no question about where the information had come from.
"And now that you've found us alive?" Jorick pressed. "I assume your errand was to pick up the remaining members of Oren's coven? Or are you looking for Alistair?"
"Is he here?" Her expression soured. "You can keep the worthless piece of-"
"He already left." Jorick met her eyes and a smile tickled the corners of his lips. Katelina guessed that he'd found something amusing in the vampiress's mind.
Anya picked up on it, and sneered. "Enjoying yourself?"
"Are you? It seems you're having a hard time holding your coven together."
Anya growled in her throat and Des peered over his sunglasses to give Jorick a warning look that went ignored.
"The ones worth keeping are still there," she snapped finally. "Not that it's any of your business."
Oren met her hard gaze. "What do you want with Traven?"
As if in answer, the suave vampire swept forward and bowed low to her, then he turned and addressed the rest of the room. "I am afraid our dear Anya acted upon unconfirmed information."
"And what was she planning to do?" Oren's voice and eyes were cold.
Anya jerked her head towards Jorick. "Why don't you ask him? Isn't that what The Great Jorick does? He sweeps in and reads others hearts before he retreats to his lair. Of course, whether he tells the truth or not is another matter."
