Chapter 215
Rachel was locked in combat with a wounded vampiress, but looked up at the same time Katelina did. Their eyes moved in unison to the back of the room where Thomas stood, a smarmy expression on his face. Rachel let out a low growl and Thomas yelped. His eyes wild, he dashed into the fray, knocking friend and foe aside as he raced for the front door. Katelina didn't have time to react before he slammed past her, nearly knocking her off the porch, Rachel pounding after him.
"Thomas!" Anya screamed, struggling with Yaul and Alex. "God damn it, get back here!"
Katelina grabbed the door frame to regain her balance. She looked up to see Kale and Jorick barreling towards her, and hopped out of the way just in time.
Oren and Torina raced after them. Once they hit the yard, they split up to pincer the runaway vampire.
Thomas looked over his shoulder and gave a startled cry. He changed directions, then swerved to avoid Rachel. Pinned against the neighbor's house, he had nowhere to go. Kale was suddenly there and took a swing at him. More agile than he appeared, the panicked Thomas dodged and leapt over Kale. He tried to run for the privacy fence. Jorick and Oren cut him off. He pulled to a stop and looked around wildly, while Rachel and Kale closed in.
Anya charged out the door, followed by Des and another man. She started to run towards her brother, then her eyes landed on Katelina. "Grab her, you idiot!"
Katelina wasn't fast enough to get away. Des grabbed her right arm and twisted it until the knife fell from her fingers. She swung at him with her left hand and shouted a string of obscenities. At the sound, Jorick spun around, his lips drawn back from his fangs. Splattered with blood, he looked more ferocious than usual.
Des caught her free hand and pulled her arms behind her back, using her as a shield
Anya pointed to Thomas, who was wailing loudly. "Your lover for my brother, Jorick!"
Katelina struggled, writhing and kicking. Des pressed his mouth close to her ear and hissed coldly, "Hold still or I really will have to hurt you."
"Release her!" Jorick roared and strode towards them.
"Yadda, yadda, Jorick," Anya mocked. "I don't know what you think you're trying to prove, but it ends now. If you want my brother, then I'm taking her. It's a fair trade; your murdering, traitorous servant bitch for-"
Jorick's face went suddenly cold. Somehow the calm was scarier than the fury. He charged Anya and knocked her to the ground. He pinned her, one hand around her throat and the other raised, ready to slam through her chest. "Let her go or I'll take Anya!"
For a moment, the world stood still. The nearby houses crowded the lot. Black silhouettes gawked from the windows
She could feel the heat from Des's hard body against her back, and smell the blood that covered him. She could see her breath hang suspended in white clouds in front of her and feel the cold air that stung her face. Her heart pounded in her ears and she thought Des might make good his threat.
Anya struggled, but the more she fought, the tighter Jorick squeezed. She coughed and finally choked out, "Let her go! For God's sake, let her go!"
Des snarled and flung Katelina away. She tumbled off the low porch and landed painfully on her left side. A sickening crunch echoed in her ears, and frozen grass scraped her face.
Jorick was suddenly beside her on his knees. He lifted her gently. The world was blurred and she shook her head to clear it.
All the vampires had filed outside. Saeed stood nearby, an unconscious Yaul draped over his shoulder. Micah and Fabian supported a crumpled and bloody Luna between them. Loren hovered just behind them, his attention on Thomas.
The thin vampire was backed against the neighbor's fence, his hands trembling and his eyes wide with sick terror. Rachel pinned him with one hand and in the other she held a knife. "You're never going to hurt Kale again!"
Kale and Katelina saw the glint of steel in Thomas's hand at the same time. Kale's face registered horror and, before Katelina could shout, he knocked Rachel out of the way.
The redhead crashed to the ground and looked up in time to see the small knife jam between Kale's ribs. "Kale!" she screamed as he staggered backwards and slumped to the ground. "Kale!"
She clawed her way to her feet and lunged at his fallen form, a wordless cry of agony on her lips.
Thomas ran for the house. Oren and Torina tackled him. He bucked and fought, shouting for his sister. Though Anya moved to go to him, Des held her back.
Katelina stared at Rachel and Kale; the scene was one she'd seen before in her dreams, though the players were different. In her dreams it was Jorick on the floor of Kateesha's stronghold, and she was bent over him, screaming his name. Now, it was Kale sprawled on the frozen ground, blood pouring from the hole in his chest, and Rachel draped over him. Her body shook with sobs and she clutched his shirt.
"Kale!" She shook him uselessly. "Kale!"
Joseff tried to pull her away. She held on to Kale, howling. Loren hurried over and took one of her arms. Together, he and Joseff heaved the grieving vampiress to her feet and tugged her across the lawn towards the street.
Oren and Torina stood as one, lugging Thomas between them. "We're taking him," Oren announced.
Anya snarled, but just then sirens sounded, shrill and cold against the night. Katelina grabbed Jorick's arm and tried to pull him away. They needed to get out of there before the police came and it was too late!
Des obviously thought the same thing. He pushed Anya behind him. "Take your wounded and go."
Just like that it was over and they evacuated. Saeed quickly handed Yaul to Alex, scooped up Kale's fallen form and hurried after Rachel and the others. Alex followed, stumbling under the burden of his wounds and his brother. Thomas struggled against Oren and screamed, "You can't take me! Anya won't let you! Anya!"
"We'll come for you!" Anya shouted.
Des shook his head. "Let him go. It's not worth open war. He's nothing but trouble."
Anya slapped him so hard that his head snapped back. "Don't you ever say that! We will get him back!"
Jorick's cold eyes swept over them, a thousand horrible threats in their depths. "I doubt that. I don't think anyone is willing to help you."
He didn't wait for a reply, but grabbed Katelina up and dashed towards the van. She wrapped her arms around him and peered back to see Anya glare challengingly from one bloody vampire to another. None of them would meet her eyes.
Katelina and Jorick were barely to the van before the police cars screamed past, lights flashing. Luna, Oren and Fabian were jammed in the front, so Jorick ran to the back. As the van roared to life he half tossed Katelina through the open door. Loren caught her and her arm bent at a painful angle against him.
The van lurched forward. The momentum knocked Loren down and she landed in his lap with a cry. Jorick leapt and landed inside before Micah slammed the door, plunging them into blackness.
"That was fuckin' close."
Jorick was suddenly next to her. He took her injured arm in his hands and moved along it, seeking the extent of her injuries. "Are you all right?"
"I don't know!" She tried to move, but the space was too confined. Someone was pinned against her legs. "I can't see anything!"
Micah sounded too close for comfort. "You're not missin' much, unless you wanna enjoy the site of that sniveling little bitch getting gagged and tied. I think he might be crying."
Someone was certainly sobbing, though it wasn't Thomas. It was Rachel.
Katelina closed her eyes against the blood scented darkness, but nothing could blot out the scene behind her eyelids. Kale lay sprawled on the frozen grass, Rachel draped over him, her heartbreaking sobs echoing into an eternity of future nightmares.
