Chapter 255
Micah's eyes bulged and he let loose a string of obscenities. Eyes on her feet, Katelina hobbled across the litter strewn floor and stopped next to the explosives. She glanced from them to Traven. The small silver remote was still in his hand.
Her hesitation was on her face and Verchiel reassured her, "Each one operates on a different megahertz and has its own remote. He can't set any more of them off with that."
She hefted the belt and Verchiel turned to where Jorge lay. In broken Spanish, he gave him directions to come with them. At first the Guatemalan ignored him but, when Verchiel repeated it, Jorge stood. He waved his hands and spouted a long flow of tangled Spanish, no doubt begging for his life and insisting his innocence.
Verchiel silenced him with a few words and ordered everyone to come with him. Micah and Loren led the way, followed by Jorge. Verchiel walked with Traven before him like a shield, the sword pressed into his back. Katelina brought up the rear, cautiously lugging the heavy belt.
Verchiel directed them through the door to the stairs. Inside, their footsteps echoed loudly; eerie and bizarre after the all consuming battle noises. More than once, Katelina glanced back, as though one of Traven's defeated vampires might spring to life and follow them.
When they reached the first floor, Verchiel barked for everyone to wait. He eased his way to the front, still holding Traven, and kicked the door open. A confused chorus of panicked voices met their ears and the Executioner swore before he motioned everyone out.
The corridor immediately outside was empty, but right around the corner was a frightened clump of vampires fighting to get through the glass doors and into the atrium.
Verchiel shouted over them, "Stop! The atrium is not a defensible position! Please move back to the mall or the theater or-"
The crowd babbled over him. They wanted to know who was attacking, who was revolting, where Malick was, and why Eileifr was in the atrium if it was indefensible.
Verchiel tightened his hold on Traven and raised the sword long enough to point it at the crowd. "Do as I say or I'll kill you myself!" The crowd ran and Traven tried to get loose. Verchiel pressed the blade into his back before he could. Then he motioned to the atrium with his head. "Go on. I'll hand you over to Eileifr."
"He can't control us all!" Traven shouted. "Take him now!"
Verchiel gave an exaggerated sigh, then slammed Traven face first into the wall. There was a loud crunching noise as his face folded in on itself and he went limp.
Verchiel swung Traven's unconscious body over one shoulder and opened the door to usher them through. "Sorry about that."
Micah growled low and looked ready for a final fight, but Verchiel said quietly, "It's a fight or your friend. You can't do both."
Loren struggled weakly. "Just leave me and run. Don't let them kill you. Jorick was right. He said I'd die here."
"Shut up!" Micah snapped. "Nobody's dying! You just need some blood and you'll be fine!"
Loren shook his head. "No, they'll kill us. You know what they're like."
Verchiel interrupted them. "I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry, so I'm going to do this for you. The injured one thinks The Guild will execute all of you. Frankly, I can't say whether they will or not. After what's happened to his arm, he doesn't see much point in trying to fight them, but he figures you should save yourself. Meanwhile you intend to stick with him because you have some idea that you can still escape, and maybe you can. Either way, the discussion will end with you carrying him through the door, so let's just do that."
Micah spit on the floor. "Stay outta my head, fucking mind reader!"
Verchiel managed to look ridiculously cheerful. "Then let's get on with this so I don't have to. I still have to get Kately stashed somewhere and then I have to join the others."
Micah's head swung to Katelina and his eyes narrowed. "Kately is it? So are you and Jorick sharing her or are you just fucking her now?"
Katelina exploded, "Shut the fuck up, you-"
Verchiel cut her off. "Jorick asked me to take care of her. Now can we get on with it please?"
Micah snarled but he stalked through the door. Per Verchiel's instructions, Katelina followed them, the Executioner on her heels.
The atrium was chaos. Vampires were everywhere, shouting, crying, screaming, arguing and demanding. Potted plants and furniture were overturned and the floor was littered with broken wood and dirt. Scattered amongst the wreckage were trampled green leaves, separated from their plants.
Eileifr stood before the central fountain, surrounded by a shield of greater and lesser guards. His eyes smoldered with fury and his frame radiated a frightening power. Jorge and Micah stopped short, as did Katelina, afraid to get close to the invisible cloud of anger. Verchiel prodded them gently forward.
The guards barred their approach, guns in their hands. Verchiel pushed his way through them. Eileifr saw him and raised his brows questioningly.
The redhead dipped his head. "Prisoners, Master. This is Traven, the leader of one of the covens. The Hispanic is an unwilling member of his coven, and the other two are-"
"We will sort out who is who when this is finished. The guards will take them."
Verchiel handed Traven over to one of them and Katelina got a gut wrenching view of his injuries. A fragment of bone stuck out of the side of his nose and the entire right side of his face was crushed and bloody. His jaw was fractured. Half of his teeth stuck out from under his lip like a crooked snarl.
Verchiel took the belt of explosives from Katelina and handed it to someone else, while a guard took hold of Jorge. Another moved to take Loren from Micah. The bald vampire growled and took a step backwards. The guards bristled, and probably would have attacked Micah if a commotion hadn't started at the main entrance.
A crowd of vampires retreated deeper into the atrium. Through the doors, Katelina could see vampires in the corridor dropping to the floor, hands over their ears as they screamed. Suddenly, three inside the atrium dropped. The crowd of vampires scrambled towards the fountain. Four more fell, hands over their ears and screaming.
The guards tightened the ring around their master. Katelina grabbed Verchiel's arm. Her voice trembled at this new horror. "What is it?"
The screams grew to a fever pitch and then the afflicted vampires fell flat to the floor and lay motionless. More vampires dropped to their knees, as if an invisible wave was rippling through the room. The entrance doors flew open in a shower of glass and chrome to reveal several vampires, one of them clothed in flowing red robes.
Verchiel's face tightened. "It's Malick."
