Chapter 21
Katelina lay on the bed and tried to calm herself until Jorick returned with another microwaveable dinner. She greeted it enthusiastically, despite the fact that it tasted like cardboard. She'd had less to eat in the last few days than her last diet had allowed. A sick smile flickered across her face as she thought of a way to make a fortune: "the all new Vampire diet! Guaranteed to lose pounds in only a few weeks by spending your time with the undead. In fact, you'll be lucky to get any food at all. And, as a limited time offer, it's free, so long as you're willing to give up your entire life."
As she ate, she snuck quick glances at Jorick from under her eyelids. He was a vampire. The statement seemed detached and unreal, no matter how many times she repeated it to herself. He, Jorick, was a vampire. He was not human. He did not need to eat as she was eating. He was immortal. He was not human- He glanced up sharply and her thoughts stopped abruptly. His dark eyes glittered as he studied her and then he sank back into his own world again.
When she'd finished eating, he stood and told her stiffly that he had business to discuss with Oren and he'd see her later. He took great pains to emphasize that she was not to leave the room, though he needn't have bothered. She had no intention of putting so much as a toe over the threshold as long as the sun was down.
Alone, she picked up one of the musty old romance books from the wardrobe and flopped on the bed. She hoped that immersing herself in the problems of 1800's debutantes would help to clear the scene she'd just witnessed from her mind, though she found it hard to concentrate. Her brain kept replaying visions of leering clowns and children with fangs. Her heart pounded in her ears each time she thought about the truth, and yet she found somewhere within her a strange acceptance. She half suspected that she'd known all along. Jorick was too beautiful, wasn't he? Too perfect to be real.
She wasn't sure how she felt about being in the company of a vampire, or vampires as the case may be. It didn't take a lot of soul searching to decide she was very uncomfortable with the plural sense of that word. Jesslynn had proven herself untrustworthy, and the others seemed equally threatening. No, she was not happy about her situation in the least and she wanted to leave as soon as possible. I'll tell Jorick that we need to go -
Her flow of thoughts came to an abrupt stop. "Tell Jorick that we need to go," she mused aloud. That had been a revealing sentence, hadn't it? If nothing else it showed that, despite everything, she still trusted him. That, or she knew instinctively that he was her best option. The second explanation was far more comfortable and the one she decided to tell herself was the truth.
Though she read in fits of boredom, broken by bouts of thought, she was halfway done with the book when Jorick returned. She peered at him through heavy eyelids as he shut the door and held out another microwavable box.
She set the book aside and stifled a yawn. He gave her an amused smile and she defended herself, "I'm not used to being up all night."
"I'm sorry," he replied in mock sincerity. "But I think that conducting any operations in the daylight is a bit out of the question for me. I would suggest a compromise but...." he spread out his hands helplessly so that the meal-in-a-box tilted dangerously. "I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah." She took that cardboard carton from him before he made a mess. "So?"
"So, what?" he asked innocently. "I see you found yourself some amusement?" He nodded towards the book that lay next to her.
"Yes." He'd skirted enough issues with her already. She wasn't letting him out of this one. "What did Oren say?".
"About what?" He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the canopy post, feigning ignorance.
"You know very well about what! Your meeting with him - what did he say? I have a right to know, since I'm sure I'm involved in it."
"Well... yes," he said hesitantly. "You are, I suppose." He sat on the foot of the bed and stared at his lap before he looked up at her.
She flushed as his eyes traced the length of her body. Unconsciously she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to sound firm. "Well?" He stared back and her eyes dropped away to study the intricacies of the bedspread.
"Tomorrow Oren is going to find out what he can about Michael. He has a meeting with one of Claudius' men. Once he's gotten some information, we'll act on it. He's also going to get us a car, one with a clean title; nothing suspicious. It won't do to have the police pulling us over every three feet." He sneered with unhidden disgust. "It might take a couple of days to get the car arranged, but then we'll leave."
The words popped out before she even thought about them, "You know where Claudius' lover is, don't you? It wasn't just Patrick and Michael. You were involved, too."
He kept his voice light as he ran his hands over the bedspread. "What makes you think I know where Arowenia is?"
"You do, don't you?" She needed to know what she was dealing with. She'd had enough surprises to last a lifetime.
"You should eat." He nodded to the discarded box of food.
Her eyes narrowed stubbornly. "I'll eat when you tell me the truth."
"Fine." He waited until she'd picked up the box and forked a bite into her mouth. "Yes, I know where she's being kept. And Patrick and Michael weren't the only ones involved; they weren't even the ones who did the actual kidnapping. Do you really think they could have taken her by themselves? We had to help them, of course."
"And who is we?'
He sighed. "Oren, for one."
"But why were you and Oren involved at all?"
Jorick shifted uncomfortably. "It was Oren's war, or more correctly his sister's. Torina has the tendency to choose lovers who have mates. This particular man's wife didn't appreciate it and they got into a fight. Torina killed her fairly, but she was one of Claudius' favorites. Claudius retaliated and for a while the two covens were quite violent. Things had tapered down to a cold war over the last few years. It might have died out completely if Jesslynn wasn't determined to keep it going."
"Why would she want it to keep going?"
"Power probably. Claudius has a large coven and she'd surely like to get her hands on it. Or perhaps it's just pride that motivates her."
Katelina thought of Jesslynn's dark eyes and leaned towards the latter option. "Why are you involved?"
Jorick frowned. "Because Oren asked me until I couldn't say no any longer. Neither of them are strategists and they needed someone who could plan things properly."
He sighed and ran a restless hand through his hair. "Oren was walking a delicate line, he didn't want to do anything obviously hostile and we were only supposed to be gathering intelligence on Claudius and his coven, but then I found Michael - quite by accident. I don't remember whose plan it was, but they decided to try to force Claudius' coven to collapse from the inside out. There were some unhappy members, and Michael tried to incite a revolt. He almost succeeded, but then he started talking too much and Claudius threatened to kill you if he didn't stop.
"Of course, Michael didn't bother to tell anyone, and pretended he was still doing what he'd agreed to. There was already a plan to kidnap Arowenia in the works, Oren and the others hoped that the suspicions about who had done it would tear the coven apart, but then Michael and Patrick came forward, desperate for something to use against Claudius. It was agreed that if they openly took her it might be enough to cause dissention in the ranks and those that had been contemplating revolt might take the opportunity. Of course, it didn't work the way Oren planned. The only thing that went right is that Claudius doesn't know that Oren is involved, though thanks to an unfortunate incident he knows I am."
She tried to digest it all. "What unfortunate incident?"
Jorick's eyes danced away and he tried to look casual. "Just a run in with Troy, one of Claudius' henchmen. Of course Troy reported it to him and then he knew I was tied into it."
Her mind raced down dark paths and she recalled Oren's words from the car ride yesterday: "Your true reason". Suspicions clouded her mind and she voiced them. "If you were openly involved, then I doubt you were happy when Patrick wanted to call it all off?"
He hesitated. "To be honest, no, I wasn't happy. But I thought that talking to Patrick might be enough. If I had known what Michael was planning..."
"So this is all out of guilt? You feel guilty because you encouraged them, helped them even; not because you cared about Patrick or me." Her mouth set into a hard, unbending line. She gave Jorick a nasty glare and viciously tossed the empty meal box onto the nightstand.
He shifted uncomfortably. His hands clenched and then dropped uselessly to his lap. "Perhaps I do feel some... guilt," he said slowly. "But that's not the reason I contacted you."
