Chapter 253
Once Jorick disappeared, Verchiel waved his arms and called to the vampires in the corridor, "For your own safety, move to the first floor in a quiet and organized manner. There is no need to panic."
The vampires shouted questions. Verchiel repeated his speech and then grabbed Katelina's arm. "We need to get you stashed away."
In the rush of the moment she forgot to be mad at him. "Why are they scared? They're vampires, too."
Verchiel snorted. "A lot of them are younger than your friends. Those who aren't are mainly government types and their pals. They haven't fought in decades, if at all. Not all vampires do."
The elevators were swamped by panicked vampires and a handful of humans. Verchiel took one look at the mess and pulled her away from them and towards the restaurant. "We'll take the stairs. They're kind of hidden so they'll be less crowded. Besides, it's safer than the elevators. If they cut the generators, we'd be trapped."
The entrance he sought was swamped by a crowd who stood chattering, so he pulled her farther down the hallway. "There's another set down here, though they stop at the second floor."
They'd only gone a few feet when an explosion ripped through the air and the building shook. Large chunks of ceiling came down behind and in front of them, leaving them trapped in a little island in between. Clouds of plaster dust billowed. Through the gloom, Katelina could see five vampires drop through the holes in the ceiling.
Verchiel swore and practically threw Katelina against the wall. He stood in front of her, one arm raised to fend off any attackers, but the intruders' attention was riveted on the group of guards pounding towards them. Many of the gray clad lesser guards carried assault rifles that looked like something a SWAT team would use, while the greater guards had crossbows loaded with broad tipped bolts.
They skidded to a stop and the lesser guards dropped in front. They raised their guns. Red laser beams danced through the dust, like pointing red fingers. Katelina made a strangled noise in her throat and Verchiel shoved her to the floor just as the guards let loose several bursts of shots. She covered her ears and watched the bullets rip into the attackers. Blood splattered and their bodies jerked, but they didn't drop.
"Friends of yours?" Verchiel shouted over the noise.
"They're Traven's!"
The bullets died down and the greater guards lifted their crossbows. Traven's vampires surged forward, their weapons raised. Verchiel jerked Katelina to her feet. One moment they stood in a dwindling cloud of dust and the next they were halfway down the corridor. Katelina groaned and grabbed her stomach, though she was sure they'd left it behind.
Verchiel moved too fast and the corridors blurred past; the restaurant, the infirmary, unfamiliar doors with unreadable signs and shadows of what looked like people. Why hadn't they evacuated yet?
The world jerked into focus as Verchiel came to a sudden halt. Katelina could see Luna and Fabian, surrounded by a ring of guards. Instead of guns and crossbows, the guards used flashing swords. Luna fended them off with a pair of silver daggers and Fabian fought back with a short sword.
"Detour!" Verchiel announced and dragged Katelina around the corner and down a side corridor. An explosion rocked the building and a burst of fire shot down the hallway behind them. Katelina looked back to see flames curling up the wall and onto the ceiling. She got a face full of gas fumes and thought of the mixture Jorge had been stirring in the basement.
"Homemade napalm!" Verchiel called cheerfully. "They have been busy!"
They rounded another corner to find Torina struggling with Kioko. The redhead was streaked with grime and slashed at the Executioner with a long, thin knife. Silver throwing knives flashed at her wrists, held on by straps, and Katelina wondered if she could use them.
Kioko lithely dodged the knife, swinging a bladed tonfa. Her eyes skipped past her opponent to Verchiel and she shouted, "Subdue her!" In that moment of distraction, Torina kicked her legs out from under her and, in a too fast motion, pulled one of the knives from her wrist and flung it at her downed opponent. Kioko rolled out of the way just in time and the blade embedded itself in the carpeted floor.
Torina spun towards Verchiel and Katelina. Recognition and surprise chased across her features and she palmed two more of her throwing knives. Verchiel held up his hand in general surrender and called, "You're doing great Kioko! There's some guards on the way!" Then he dragged Katelina into a connecting corridor.
"Just through here," Verchiel said. He turned another corner and nearly ran into two familiar figures: Alex and Yaul. The twins stood with their backs to Katelina and Verchiel, pointing large, bulky handguns at a group of guards farther down the hallway.
Katelina stared in surprise; she'd forgotten that the remainder of Kale's coven was there.
Yaul dropped the magazine from his gun and shoved a second one in place. The slide cocked and the following shots echoed off the wall.
"Wrong way," Verchiel muttered and jerked her back around the corner before the twins saw them
The door to the stairs was unmarked and the stairwell was empty. Verchiel practically dragged her down the steps. As he'd said, they ended at a door marked Floor 2. "Renovations," he explained and then plunged into the corridor.
Unlike the chaos of the sixth floor, the second floor seemed peaceful, even normal. Vampires stood in random pockets, their eyes on the ceiling as if they could hear what was going on above. A series of smaller explosions sounded, each louder than the one before, as Verchiel deftly wound his way through the hallways towards the other set of stairs. They could see the door, tucked neatly at the end of the veranda that overlooked the atrium-
An explosion roared in Katelina's ears, so loud it sounded like it was inside her head. Verchiel flung her out of the way and a chunk of ceiling crashed to the floor where she'd been standing a moment before. She slammed into the veranda railing with enough force to knock the breath out of her. The railing shuddered. She clutched at it and it tumbled backwards.
Katelina fell with it. A scream tore from her throat, though she couldn't hear it. Someone grabbed her calf and pulled her to a stop that wrenched her leg. She hung upside down, breathless and horrified, and watched the chunk of railing crash to the stone below.
Verchiel pulled her up. She landed on the floor in a heap of wild hair and terrified eyes. He quickly fumbled inside the coat she wore and retrieved his sword. Then, he flung her away with enough force that she slid along the carpeted floor and banged into the wall. Her head bounced off of it and she cried out - or thought she did. She couldn't hear it. She couldn't hear anything.
