Chapter 214
It took five minutes to reach Anya's den. She lived on the outskirts of what looked like a suburb. They stopped a block away, next to a "no parking" sign. Jorick popped open the glove box and pulled out a lumpy bundle of cloth. Katelina knew the contents before he opened it and handed her a hunting knife.
Oren asked, "You're sure you want her to go? She could stay in the van."
"It's her decision."
Oren muttered something under his breath and shut the van off, his eyes on the row of houses. Katelina followed his gaze and suddenly wondered if he might be right for once.
The back door of the van banged open. Though she couldn't hear them, she knew that eleven vampires were climbing out into the winter night. Oren followed. As soon as he'd shut the door Jorick turned to her. "Are you sure you want to go?"
No. But she lied. "Yes. Maybe I'll find a chance to kill Micah."
Jorick smiled appreciatively and hopped out. She followed, her insides a knot of terror. The cold wind slapped her and threw the world into sharp focus. The reality of it crashed down on her and for a moment she couldn't breathe. It was another fight. Another battle. More blood and screams.
What in the hell am I doing?
There was no time to come up with an answer. The vampires clustered into an informal circle, Kale at the center. He looked at each in turn and said, "If anyone wants out, now's the time to say so." When no one spoke, he went on. "Anya's den is the small blue house with the evergreens. We'll split into two groups. I'll lead the assault on the front and Oren will attack from the back. It's a populated area, so our scent may go undetected." The group nodded as one, and Joseff moved to go. Kale grabbed his arm. "No one is to strike until I give the signal. I'll give them the chance to hand Thomas over. Should they comply, we'll take him and leave, though I doubt they will. Chances are they'll attack first. If they do, come out of hiding ready to fight. Any questions?"
"The human?" Joseff asked snidely. "Surely she isn't coming?"
There was an unspoken threat behind Jorick's words, "She is."
"All right, then let's go." Kale stepped out of the circle. "Yaul, Alex, Saeed, Joseff, and Rachel with me."
The covens split and started in their respective directions. Jorick tugged Katelina after Kale's group.
"I want to be there when he confronts them," he whispered.
She gave a wordless nod and looked to their goal. As Kale said, it was painted a light blue and several evergreens dotted the side yard. It was sandwiched between two houses, one with a high privacy fence and one without.
"This is too public." Jorick's eyes strayed to a swing set, just visible over the fence. "I don't like it."
Katelina squeezed Jorick's hand nervously. "What about the people? What if they call the cops?"
His tone was flat and emotionless. "Do you remember what happened when we rescued Kale?" She nodded. "That's probably what will happen."
They fell into silence, Katelina trapped inside her head with memories of the bleeding police officers.
They stopped in the shadows of the neighboring house. Rachel pulled Kale into a long kiss, then reluctantly released him. Her apprehensive gaze followed him as he cut across the naked, brown lawn towards the porch. The others stood around her, muscles tense, waiting for the moment they were needed.
The first knock sounded. Then the second. They all stiffened when the door opened to reveal Anya. Her mouth moved, but the words were too quiet for Katelina to hear. She tugged Jorick's sleeve. "What are they saying?"
He brought his finger to his lips, then whispered, "She's greeted him and asked the nature of his business. He told her that he's here to see Thomas and she wants to know why." He paused as the conversation continued. "He told her that he believes Thomas is making deals with humans."
Anya's laughter echoed, and then died. "She thinks Kale is crazy, and she refuses to turn Thomas over. Now he's telling her that she'd better give him up or else." Jorick's face turned to stone. "She's just insulted him and said he'd have to kill her before she'd hand over her brother, especially over something so stupid - wait." He narrowed his eyes. "She has something. She's waving it at him. It might be a weapon."
"Now!" Joseff snarled and plunged towards the house.
The others followed enthusiastically and Jorick swore under his breath. His eyes darted to the neighboring houses. There was nothing else to do, so he tugged Katelina along with the directions, "Stay behind me!"
Kale knocked Anya through the door and dodged inside. The rest of his coven followed. On the porch, Jorick released Katelina's hand. "Stay out here by the door, do you understand?"
Then he was gone. She gripped the knife and stared through the doorway. The house opened up into a large living room/dining room combo. Anya had tackled Kale just past the table and shouted to her coven mates, many of whom were already there. Rachel lunged for Anya, but another vampire grabbed Rachel and slammed her into the wall. She grabbed a lamp and smashed it noisily over his head; enough to stun him.
Meanwhile, Saeed shook off a thin male. He grabbed a flat panel TV and used it to bludgeon his attacker. On the third hit, the television split. Saeed threw it towards Anya, but it missed and crashed into the wall.
As Jorick predicted, Des appeared from deeper in the house. He and Joseff clashed; snarling fangs and pounding fists. Joseff's dark ponytail became a momentary handle before he kicked his way loose from the dark vampire. While Des recovered, Yaul smashed a chair over his back. Des spun to face him, but Yaul darted away and Alex took his place, brandishing a piece of the broken television. Katelina expected Jorick to interrupt them, but he was busy with Lennon, the red-haired male.
The sound of battle poured out into the night and a dog barked. The noise echoed off the neighboring houses. As if it was a signal, glass shattered from deeper in the house and someone shouted; Oren's assault had started.
His group of vampires charged into the living room, leaping over Anya and Kale. Lennon was distracted by the newcomers, and Jorick used the opening to grab him and throw him into a wall. A female leapt on Jorick's back, mouth open and fangs gleaming. With a cry of rage, she bit savagely into his shoulder.
Katelina raised the knife, ready to disregard her instructions and dash into the fray, but Jorick threw the female off easily. He swiped the blood from his shoulder, then turned in time to knock her back onto Oren. The lion-maned vampire spun her around, slamming her into the wall. Then he smashed his fist into her chest in a spray of blood and gore. She gave a final scream as he ripped her heart out and mashed it to pulp in his hand.
Kale wrestled loose from Anya, and Micah pounced on her. His eyes gleamed with too much enjoyment as he pinned her to the floor and head-butted her. Instead of knocking her out, it made her even more furious. She wriggled a leg free and jammed it up into his crotch. Micah gave a grunt of pain and surprise. She shoved him off and dodged towards Kale, but Alex and Yaul suddenly blocked her path.
Anya knocked Alex away from her and glared through the fight to Jorick. "I know you're behind this. You won't take my brother, no matter what bullshit story you concoct!"
Yaul helped Alex up and snarled at her. "Jorick has nothing to do with this. It's between us and that sniveling coward, Thomas."
She backhanded Yaul and swung at Alex. Her fist slammed into his gut and knocked him back into Fabian. They fell to the floor in a tangle. Fabian's opponent took the opportunity to jam a sharp knife into his side. Fabian gave a cry and kicked his opponent's legs out from under him. He crashed to the floor, and Alex grabbed him in a head lock.
"He's mine," Fabian snarled. Something in his eyes made Katelina think of a rabid dog. Alex backed away as Fabian wrested the enemy from his grip and clamped his mouth around a pulsing vein in his neck. The vampire shrieked. He threw the knife away and used his hands to pry Fabian loose.
Anya slammed Yaul into the wall. She snapped at his neck, but he jerked away and her fangs tore into his cheek instead. Kale lunged at Anya, but Des tackled him to the floor. They struggled and Kale landed a blow that knocked the dark vampire's head back. Kale made it to his feet and Des was right after him. Katelina's eyes snapped to Jorick in time to see him discard a broken armed vampire. He met her eyes briefly, as if to say everything was all right.
Then the guest of honor appeared.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
