Chapter 197
Katelina covered her ears as the alarm screamed.
"The code!" Kale shouted as he burst through the door and gestured to the keypad. "You have to swipe the card and type a code in!"
Oren swore loudly and Jorick shouted back, "What's the code?"
"I don't know!" Kale's wide eyes shot around the room. "Forget it! Let's get out of here!"
Jorick hesitated and then agreed. He hurried to Katelina and flung her over his shoulder. She shouted that she had feet, but he ignored her and raced through the door, Kale on his heels. Oren stayed behind. As they ran for the stairs, she could hear the sound of smashing glass.
They dashed through the empty building and burst through the front doors and into the night. Jorick ran much faster than Katelina could have gone on her own, Kale keeping pace. They'd almost reached the van when wailing sirens and flashing lights came into view.
Hectia suddenly stepped into the light. She was wearing the same swishy coat Katelina had last seen her in, though the dark woman at her side was new. "It's the police! I didn't agree to this!"
"Then go!" Jorick jerked the van's driver door open and shoved Katelina inside like a sack of contraband. "The last thing we need is a fledgling, anyway!"
"That fledgling just helped you!" Hectia shrieked, but she swallowed further argument and grabbed the young woman's arm. "Come on Jordan, they're on their own now."
Jorick's attention was drawn to the cop car that squealed to a stop. The doors popped open and, like pastry from a toaster, two cops followed, their guns out, the doors in front of them like shields.
"Step away from the vehicle and put your hands up!" One of them leveled his weapon at Jorick and Kale.
Katelina whimpered, but Jorick only forced her deeper into the cab. "Be quiet and stay down!"
The officer shouted his instructions again and Jorick raised his hands. He met Kale's eyes, as if to impart some secret plan. Instead of doing as instructed, Kale bound towards the policeman, snarling. The cop yelled again, his voice high with fear and his gun shaking in his terrified hands.
The emaciated vampire crashed into the passenger door of the cop car. Gun shots echoed over the screaming alarm and the sirens. Kale's body jerked at the impact of bullets, and he stumbled backwards. The cop stepped forward, confidence in his eyes, but Kale pulled himself straight and let loose a howl of inhuman rage. He grabbed the car door and ripped it away as though it weighed nothing. The cop screamed and more shots followed. They did nothing to stop Kale. In a single, swift motion he pinned the cop against the car and tore into his throat with his fangs.
Katelina covered her face with her hands. She could hear the second policeman screaming and shouting for back up, his words a tumbled confusion of fear and disbelief. His babble melted into a shriek and she looked to see that Oren was suddenly there. He slammed the policeman's head into the car. His lips curled back from his fangs as he snapped his neck.
Oren dropped the body to the snow and turned towards the van as a second car came screeching to a halt some distance away. The doors opened and three more policemen leapt out, their weapons drawn. Without warning, they fired wildly. Few of the bullets hit their mark, and those that did were little more than annoyances.
Katelina stared with wide, horrified eyes. How had it all gone wrong? How had the cops gotten there that fast? She sought Jorick in the bedlam, and wished she hadn't. He'd come up behind the new arrivals and she watched as he silently pounced. He crushed the first cop's throat while a second policeman bombarded him with a terrified spattering of bullets. Jorick shouted in anger and grabbed him. He wrenched the gun from his hand and threw it away. Then he slammed the man to the ground. Though Katelina hid her eyes, the policeman's screams burned in her ears.
The last shrieks died away and she heard Jorick shout, "Get to the van!"
She looked and again wished she hadn't. Jorick stood in the bloody snow, holding the limp body of the third cop. Oren and Kale ran towards her. Blood dripped down Kale's chin and soaked the front of his shirt.
The sound of a third approaching car roared louder with each second. Katelina threw herself out of the way as Kale leapt inside. He bounded off the passenger seat and then rolled through the curtain into the relative safety of the back. Oren was right behind him, leaping into the driver's seat and slamming the keys into the ignition.
A canary yellow sports car tore around the corner and only missed taking off the van's door by inches as it slid to a stop next to them. Katelina immediately recognized the car, and the redheaded vampire who bounded out of it. It was Verchiel, the Executioner that Jorick hated.
As if to demonstrate his own vampire skills, one minute Verchiel was next to the van and the next he was practically in it, leaning over Oren with a broad, fanged grin on his face. "Making a mess are we?"
Oren's eyes bulged. "What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Let's call it a race, and I won. Look! There's little Kately! How are you? Not injured, I hope?"
"That's not my name!" He insisted on calling her that since he'd overheard her mother do it.
Jorick was suddenly there. He grabbed Verchiel and spun him away, slamming him into the van. "You!"
"Well hello! Nice to see you again!" Verchiel let his eyes focus on the carnage behind Jorick. "I see now why they call you The Hand of Death, but really, isn't this a little sloppy?"
Jorick roared and Verchiel laughed. "I suppose you've got him already?" He leveled his gaze with Jorick's. "I suggest you get out of here as fast as that thing can go. There are more cops on the way and you might be interested to know that Senya and a few of her closest acquaintances should be here any minute to bust your friend out of 'captivity'."
Senya. The cruelest of the Executioners, just the thought of her filled Katelina with terror.
Jorick's face twitched. He wordlessly tossed Verchiel aside and climbed into the van. The motor roared and Oren slammed the vehicle into gear. Katelina had a final glimpse of the redheaded Executioner waving cheerfully before they rounded the corner and he disappeared from sight.
