Chapter 229
Most of the windows were garbage bagged, including the bedrooms. Katelina lay next to Jorick in Loren's bed and wondered where the house's real owners were. Despite her morbid curiosity, she fell asleep, wrapped in the protective circle of Jorick's arms. It was a dreamless sleep and when she woke the next evening she felt better than she had in days.
She rolled towards Jorick and mentally traced his face with her eyes. His long, dark hair was spread out over the pillow in a pool of silky night that begged her to touch it. A familiar ache started in her chest and she wondered why he was with her. He was so beautiful and could have anyone he wanted.
The worries slipped away as she snuggled close to his cool body. He woke, taking in a deep lungful of air, and then pulled her against him. He let his dark eyes drink in her face, a soft smile on his lips.
Though she was afraid of the answer, she asked, "Are we going home today?"
His smile flickered and died. He gave a deep sigh that did little for her confidence.
"Yes, but we can't stay."
Disappointment and suspicion blossomed in her eyes. "Why?"
Jorick stroked her cheek with his thumb. "The Executioners are hunting us, and they know where my den is. We're only stopping long enough to get a few things."
She closed her eyes, torn between his touch and his words. "Are we coming back here?"
"No." That single word made her tension melt. "I thought we might take that vacation you're so insistent about."
She propped herself up on her good arm. "You keep teasing me with that and it never happens. I thought you had to make preparations and arrangements?"
"Yes and no." His smile looked a little too forced. "How do you feel about Mexico?"
"I don't know. Is there anywhere to go in Mexico?"
He rolled his eyes impatiently. "Isn't that where all the stupid people go in the spring?"
It took her a minute to decode his sentence. "Do you mean spring break?"
"I don't know. Wherever they get drunk and take their clothes off for the videos. It looked nice."
"Did it?" she asked icily.
"Yes. Very modern. The sort of thing you'd like." He frowned as if he'd only just noticed her expression. "What?"
"Women taking off their clothes looks nice?"
"I didn't mean it looked nice because of that! I'd much rather go north, perhaps to Alaska where they have a month without sunlight. I wonder what that would do to a vampire's internal clock."
"Alaska in the middle of the winter? You have to be joking!"
He laughed softly and ruffled her hair. "I knew that would be your reaction, little one. That's why I suggested Mexico."
She fell silent and chewed the idea over. Maybe Mexico wouldn't be too bad. She'd heard the water was dangerous, and she thought it was kind of hot, but they'd only be awake at night so it would be cooler. Besides, Cancun would have fancy resort places with air conditioning - assuming they got to stay somewhere nice.
Jorick cleared his throat. "We don't want The Guild to know where we're going, so we need to keep this unofficial."
In other words, no paper trail. "Then how will we get across the border?"
He chuckled. "Illegal aliens sneak in every day, what makes you think we can't sneak out?"
Sneak? "How will we get back?"
He shrugged. "We'll sneak back."
She groaned and dropped back to the bed. She should have guessed that when she finally got to go somewhere warm it would involve sneaking in and out of Mexico!
***
Jorick helped Katelina dress and then hefted the bag over his shoulder. He pointed to the corner where the bread maker and the ceramic cat were stacked. "I suppose I can carry the box but the-statue is your problem." He scooped up the bread maker and glared at the cat as though it was an enemy. "I'm going to go speak to Oren, if you want to take care of your human needs."
He left and she detoured to the bathroom and tried to put her hair in a ponytail. It was impossible with only one hand so she gave up and went in search of Jorick, the ugly red cat under her good arm. When she didn't find him immediately, she wandered to the basement door. She stopped short of opening it when she heard voices on the other side; the first was Traven.
"-as I understand it, only the half breed is left. The others are here. It shouldn't take you more than a few hours to search. If they had it, I doubt they knew what it was."
Half breed? Hadn't Rachel said that people used to call Joseff that because he was half Native American? What did he have to do with anything?
The second voice was deep and masculine, but unfamiliar. "What about Gerard?"
Traven made an impatient noise. "He was incompetent at best, and a fool at worst. After the last debacle, I relieved him of his services. Dahlia is on her own for the time being, not that I've heard from her, either. I am surrounded by idiots!"
"Yes, yes. I spoke with the sisters last night and they got an answer from Anya's coven. She claims they didn't take anything from Kateesha's stronghold."
Kateesha? What was Traven up to?
"I doubt Anya has it, or she'd have used it to save her brother from Kale. Personally, I don't believe that Kateesha had it when she died; if she ever did."
Katelina thought suddenly of a conversation Jorick and Beldren had had in the citadel, "rumor was that she had some kind of powerful weapon." Was that what Traven was after?
The second vampire interrupted her thoughts, "Then what's the point of going to Kentucky?"
"Because one can never be too careful. No stone left unturned."
There was a patient sigh. "Fine. I'll head out tomorrow evening."
"No! You must go now!"
The other vampire coughed. "I don't work for you, Traven. I don't take orders from you. We're working together because it's mutually beneficial for the moment. Don't forget that."
She could almost feel Traven's fury, but he swallowed it down. "Yes, of course. I only meant that it would be best for you to leave quickly. Oren has the Hand of Death on a leash, and I doubt you want him to discover your plans."
The vampire snorted. "Or yours. Don't worry, I'll be gone before he even knows I've been here."
The Hand of Death. Jorick's old nickname from his Executioner days.
"Yes, well." Traven cleared his throat. "Remember we're not the only ones searching for it. Secrecy is key."
Traven suddenly hissed for silence and pounced on the door, jerking it open. Katelina barely threw herself out of the way before he leapt through it, suspicion in his cold eyes. "What are you doing?"
His accomplice appeared behind him, a dark skinned vampire Katelina had never seen before. His long hair hung in dreadlocks, peppered with beads, and he wore a pair of small round sunglasses. "Who is that?"
"I was just looking for Jorick," she said quickly and then scrambled away before they could stop her. She dodged through the dining room and into the front room. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath and slowly relaxed the death grip she had on the ceramic cat.
"There you are."
She jumped, then relaxed. It was only Jorick. "I just overheard Traven," she whispered. "There's some other guy here and they're looking for something that Kateesha used to have."
Jorick dismissed it with a wave. "Then good luck to him." He surveyed her and reluctantly took the cat from her arms. "Are you ready?"
She nodded enthusiastically and followed him to the dining room where Oren stood near the door. His face was neutral, but defeat was in his eyes. "If you'd like, the Executioner's car is in the driveway."
Hesitation and acceptance chased each other across Jorick's face. In the end, he agreed. He and Oren exchanged cool goodbyes, then he led Katelina outside where they ran into Traven. There was no sign of his visitor, but Jorge followed him unenthusiastically. Katelina felt sorry for the Guatemalan and wondered if she and Jorick should kidnap him and let him go. The idea surprised her, but not as much as the sympathy.
Traven gave them a smooth smile and wished them a safe journey, though the warmth didn't meet his eyes. Jorick muttered something equally hollow and tugged Katelina across the yard to the shiny black car. It took him a few tries to get it started and he muttered dark things about "idiots who make a mess of things".
When they pulled out of the driveway and onto the road she asked quietly, "So what will happen to Zuri?"
Jorick looked at her with surprise. "I don't know. Why?"
"I just wondered. Did they- give him back his arms?"
Jorick looked to the road. "I doubt it. It would make him harder to control."
She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Can they put them back later?"
"His body will heal and the skin will grow back, so they'd have to cut it away first. And they'd have to do it soon. Even packed in blood, the severed limbs will only keep for so many days before it's too late."
She nodded and looked out the window. Micah was right, Zuri was not only one of the Executioners, but also a vampire, so how could she feel sympathy for him? Maybe she was getting soft. Or maybe it was because she was turning into one of them.
That idea was scarier than the other.
