Chapter 258
Katelina understood the implications. All but Jorick's fledgling had been found. It stood to reason he'd helped him escape.
Verchiel cleared his throat. "Celandine will want to talk to you of course."
"You mean she wants to dig through my brain?"
"Yeah, something like that. I should warn you, you'll probably find her mind reading ability similar to Malick's."
Katelina shivered involuntarily. "I thought she was a lot younger than him?"
"Oh she is. She's only about five hundred years older than Jorick."
Katelina blinked stupidly. "Five hundred years? You mean she's like a thousand years old?"
"Something like that. Come on, we want to beat him back."
The corridor outside the atrium was deserted. Ark and Jamie were stationed before the remnants of the glass doors. Jamie had a gash that cut from above one eye, over the bridge of his nose, and into his other cheek. Ark looked relatively unharmed.
They nodded to Verchiel as he guided Katelina through the doorway. Huge flood lights on tripods were set up inside the atrium. She knew it was for comfort rather than necessity because the vampires could see in the dark. The lights threw harsh, dark shadows in all directions. Under their glare, the ruined fountain seemed like a broken monster trapped in death agonies.
An inch of murky water covered the floor and splashed up Katelina's legs as she walked. Little bits of glass, plaster and greenery floated in it, like a miniature ship wreck. Those that Malick had murdered were left in a jumbled heap along the left wall, their twisted faces locked forever in their death agonies. The gaping hole in the ceiling was smaller than it seemed earlier. Snow still drifted lazily through it to melt on overturned furniture and dying plants.
The four Masters stood in a group, flanked by Kioko and Beldren. Beldren's face was the smooth veneer of the unaffected, but jagged cuts across Kioko's face and arms showed that Torina had been successful in her attack.
Guards milled around, though the majority of them stood in two large clumps. One was under the overhang caused by the Verandas, and the other was at the far end of the room where the prisoners were corralled.
The waterfall was the only thing in the atrium that was still functioning properly. It ran and gurgled over the stone wall and fell into the broad basin where the prisoners stood, knee deep in water. Katelina could only just see them between the guards. At a glance she recognized Micah and his burden, as well as Jeda, Torina, Saeed and Fabian.
Verchiel led her to the masters. Celandine stepped away from the group and surveyed Katelina with cold eyes. She felt the intrusion. Celandine's eyes peered into the recesses of her memories, like shards of ice slicing into her brain and stripping away the protective layers. She tried to fight her but it was useless. Celandine could see it all; her, Jorick, their private conversations.
Celandine released her. "She knows nothing."
Eileifr nodded and motioned a dismissive hand towards the shadowy area under the verandas. "Leave her there and return."
Verchiel bowed obediently and steered her away. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Of course it was! It was some stranger digging around inside my brain!" Her face fell. "I don't know how Jorick's going to get around her."
"Think he's guilty, do you?" Verchiel prodded her in the side with his elbow. "He'll be fine. She's older, but he was made by a true master. His abilities are probably equal with hers."
"No they aren't! He's read my mind dozens of times and it's never like that. If he was that powerful he could have dragged Traven's plan out of him!"
"That's because he holds back and does it gently. If he didn't care about your feelings or about other people's reactions, he could do the same thing."
The idea disturbed her, but she had more pressing things to worry about.
Migina appeared, lugging someone. The coppery red hair and black coat were familiar; it was Aine. Half of his face was black and blistered. One of his arms hung uselessly, his clothing and skin charred. They came to a stop before the masters and, after a hurried conversation, Migina took him out again.
Katelina thought of the home made napalm they'd encountered and shuddered. "Will he be all right?"
"He should be fine, tomorrow." Verchiel mussed her hair. "Isn't it nice that you're concerned?"
He left her in the shadows under the veranda and returned to the group, only to be sent away again. Katelina tried to shrink herself into invisibility. It obviously worked because no one paid any attention to her.
The minutes ticked by and she grew more and more anxious. She let her weary eyes move around the room. The lights were too bright and she wondered why they had so many of them. Their beams bounced all over and left bright spots on the walls that reminded her of the childish notion of chasing Tinkerbelle. One of the spot lights was aimed at a nearby pile of debris that was covered over with a giant cloth. Something about the shape of the heap disturbed her.
Jorick and Verchiel strode through the ruined doors, their faces identically grim. Jorick nodded to her and made a sign for her to be patient. Her shoulders slumped and he inclined his head towards Celandine. Her face was cool, but her body language betrayed her annoyance.
Jorick and Verchiel joined the group of masters and Executioners. They spoke briefly and Katelina imagined that Celandine was probing into Jorick's mind. Whatever she found, or didn't find, only made her more irritated. She gestured as she revealed the information to the others.
In procession, the whole group moved to the space under the verandas. Jorick stopped next to Katelina and wrapped an arm around her waist. Except for some scratches and blood splatters he seemed unharmed, though he looked as weary as she felt. It took all of her will power not to fling herself at him and hang on until everything around them disappeared in a swirl of unimportance.
He brushed a kiss across her cheek and she stopped from telling him that she'd been present for Malick's exciting exit and was then dumped on Sorino. He looked too tired to deal with the information.
Jamie came to stand next to him. "It will start soon."
Jorick nodded. When no one explained Katelina asked, "What's going on?"
A muscle twitched in Jorick's jaw. "They're getting ready to try the prisoners."
She bit her lip and looked towards the waterfall. Fear fluttered inside her as she realized that they might all be executed.
Jorick squeezed her tightly. Without looking at her, Jamie answered her thoughts, "They knew the penalties."
She wanted to argue, but a wave of warm, soothing calm washed over her. She tried to catch Jorick's eyes to see if it was his doing or Jamie's.
The masters arranged themselves in a line as they did on the dais in the audience chamber. Most of the guards gathered at the other end of the room or beneath the verandas, leaving the atrium deserted except for the destruction, the prisoners, their guards, and the dead. Tension thickened in the air and all eyes turned expectantly to the masters.
