Chapter 183
The punch had barely landed before Jorick grabbed the redhead's arm and snapped it. The vampire screamed, and Jorick threw him into Des. The black vampire stumbled backwards, but stayed on his feet. He shoved the redhead away and his eyes shot to Jorick. His rage seemed to double as they took in his expression.
"I said enough!" Jorick's fury was palpable, and Katelina shrunk back from it. So did everyone else.
When silence had fallen Jorick cleared his throat loudly. "Unless you want me to finish this, I suggest it ends, now!"
Des dropped from his defensive stance and took a step back, though he snapped, "We're not scared of you, Jorick."
"I don't care if you are or not." He wordlessly brushed Des aside and looked through the doorway. "Luna, enough. Let Anya up." His expression stayed hard, but amusement flickered under his words. "The same for you, Loren and Fabian. You've made your point."
Luna stood swiftly. Ever the lady, she neatly brushed herself off and straightened her hair before she marched back inside and helped Fabian up.
Free, Anya jerked to her feet. For a tense moment Katelina thought she might attack. Then, a voice sounded from the living room doorway and drew everyone's attention.
"What in the hell's going on in here?" Torina looked over the scene; a hole in the wall, broken kitten photos, an overturned chair and several bleeding vampires. Then her eyes landed on Des and she seemed to freeze. Several emotions flickered over her face before cold veneer took possession. "I see the leftovers have come begging for scraps at the door."
"Hardly." Anya wiped the snow from her clothes and glared daggers. "We came seeking a funeral, but it seems The Guild refused to carry out justice. Of course, that's nothing new. Apparently, Jorick can use his human any way he pleases. It helps to be Malick's fledgling, doesn't it? Funny, I wonder how he's going to war against them when he's so obviously still tied to them."
Jorick addressed Torina, anger barely concealed in his dark eyes. "They were just leaving. If it weren't for Des's help in the past, I'd have already thrown them out the door." His focus flicked to the dark vampire. "It's a shame that you've made the choices you have."
Des's lips curled back from his teeth. "I chose the path that seemed right to me."
"Then go walk it somewhere else," Torina replied acidly, then she turned her back on the visitors. "I have better things to do than listen to pathetic trash mutter pointless words." Anya hissed, but Torina ignored her and sashayed from the room, her head held high.
Micah's face revealed an internal debate. It was settled quickly. He wiped his hands on his jeans and started after her, though he paused at the doorway to say, "I don't give a damn who you helped before. If you're still here when I come back, I'll snap all of your fucking necks."
"Like you could!" Des called, though Micah was already gone.
Anya's underlings drew towards her, the redhead nursing his broken arm. Oren studied them and then said, "If there is nothing else, I believe Anya and Des have more important places to be?"
"Yes. I don't keep company with those who betray their own." She turned her attention to Traven. "Be wary of Jorick and his human, you'd be surprised the things he uses her for."
Traven bowed graciously as she swept out into the swirling snow, the other three on her heels. Katelina opened her mouth to shout an insult after them, but Jorick squeezed her hand and shook his head. He was probably right, it wouldn't do any good. The logic did little to soothe her ruffled fury.
Wordlessly, Oren shut the door. His amber eyes were filled with weariness and worry. As if an afterthought, he flicked the locks into place.
Fabian's blustery voice overpowered the heavy silence, "She'll be sorry. Her coven is weaker than ours." His dark eyes glittered dangerously and his hand clenched into an impassioned fist. "We nearly had them beaten today! It would be easy to follow them and finish them off!"
Traven flinched perceptibly and Jorge stared with large, uncomprehending eyes.
Oren massaged his temples. "What would that accomplish?"
"To show her who's superior! She made her decision when she refused to acknowledge her brother's actions!"
"And would you?" Oren asked. "Would you have allowed your sister-"
Fabian's face clouded and he shouted, "We did, didn't we?" He pointed a finger at Jorick. "And he -"
Oren cut him off. "Enough."
Fabian wasn't ready to be silenced. "I side with you out of loyalty, Oren, and because we both want the same thing, but I don't forgive him! He saved you, but he did nothing to save her! Nothing! He could have spoken for her, but he didn't! He even extended his protection to your sister, but not to your wife! He let her die! He let them kill her!"
"I said enough!" Oren shouted and spun to face him. "I've explained it to you before!"
Fabian opened his mouth to yell back, but Luna laid a hand on his arm and drew him towards the front room. "This is not the time," she said gently. He growled his opinion, then let her lead him away.
As they disappeared, Traven's brows raised in amusement. "How interesting. It appears you still have an effect on people, Jorick."
"Only on the stupid ones," Katelina muttered. At her words, all eyes seemed to turn to her, and she glared back.
"Come, Jorge." Traven snapped his fingers and the Hispanic vampire flinched to attention. "We shall retire to our quarters."
They took their leave. When the basement door closed loudly, Oren looked at Jorick and asked, "Why does he want to fight The Guild? He made pretense that it was only because I'd already planned it, but if he intended to bring Anya into it, even after our deaths-"
Jorick's face was troubled. "I don't know. He has more abilities than he lets on."
Oren swore under his breath and his shoulders sagged. "Will he betray us?"
"I don't know." Jorick met Oren's eyes. "I've never trusted him."
"Neither have I. His numbers are greater than ours, and though I'm older than most of his members, both he and Jeda have older blood. I don't understand why he needs us."
"Probably to blame it on," Katelina suggested.
Jorick squeezed her hand. "Perhaps. As I said, he has more abilities than he's acknowledged. He can't block me completely, though he can make his thoughts so muddled as to be unrecognizable."
Katelina piped up. "How can he do that? Why can't you just read his mind like everyone else's?"
"Reading ones thoughts depends on how strong their will is and older vampires have stronger wills."
"What about the others?" Oren asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
"They know nothing. No doubt Traven is careful what he lets them know, since they're vulnerable. Except the Hispanic. His thoughts are all in Spanish, and nothing I can understand."
"Which is why he keeps him ever at his side. If any of them know what he's planning-"
"It will be Jorge," Jorick finished the sentence. "I once knew some Spanish, but I've forgotten it. It isn't a language I'm fond of."
Katelina started to ask why but then she thought about his sister. She'd been killed by enemy soldiers; Spaniards, he'd said. She supposed that would explain it.
Oren simply nodded and pressed on, "What about his members? What does he have?"
"There's a mind reader. His skills are more rudimentary than yours. I understand that there used to be one with some talent. He was killed in one of the battles with the Mexicans."
"I see." Oren rubbed his chin.
"Traven has carefully assembled his coven. At one time, he had a perfect balance of powers, but that's been disrupted. He'll no doubt be searching for new recruits soon." Jorick's voice dropped even lower. "There is one discrepancy of interest. Traven had already intercepted the first wave of Mexican reinforcements before Jeda joined with you."
Oren's eyebrows shot up. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Traven is the one who sent Jeda north to find out what was going on, after the Mexicans told him they were joining their dark queen. If that's even what they said. Traven alone interviewed them, so only he knows what they revealed. He did tell the partial truth though. Kateesha had fifty vampires coming north and they didn't all travel together, so there were a few waves of them after Jeda left. That's what happened to his coven."
"If this is true, then why did you not see it in Jeda's mind before?"
Jorick was slow to answer. "Jeda is not impossible to read, but neither is she easy. There are thoughts on the surface, but the deeper ones-" he trailed off and shook his head. "I'm not Malick. I could force my way in and uncover her secrets, but I don't want to. I know what that can do."
Oren agreed reluctantly, "Yes, I suppose it only makes more enemies than it does friends."
"The question remains, what did the Mexicans tell Traven, and why was he interested enough to send Jeda alone?"
Oren sighed. "I don't know. But, at least one question has been answered. It was Anya that Traven was talking to on the phone when Micah caught him."
"Maybe."
Oren stiffened. "If not Anya then who?"
The two men stared at one another thoughtfully, but neither seemed to have an answer.
