Chapter 265
Jorick led Katelina back to the now empty audience chamber. They climbed the abandoned dais to find a door concealed in the paneling of the back wall. Jorick pried it open and they ducked inside what looked like a meeting room with a long table. Katelina hung back, unsure if she should be there, but Jorick stormed to a door in the farthest wall and pulled her though it.
The room was small and lounge like. Eileifr was seated in a plush green chair, and Celandine, the female member of the High Council, sat across from him. She turned her silver-gray eyes on the newcomers and Katelina suddenly couldn't move. She could feel the pressure of the ancient vampiress in her mind, seeking the answer for their appearance. Though not as strong or as devastating as Malick's intrusions had been, the brief invasion left her unsettled.
Eileifr motioned Celandine to stop. "I can guess your errand, Jorick. Yes, I am sending Verchiel with you to the True Council."
Jorick's lips tightened to an unbending line. "May I ask why?"
"You may ask, but I doubt you'll receive the answer you wish. I believe his presence may be necessary."
Jorick turned his flaming eyes on Celandine. They stared at one another until Jorick backed down. "Fine. But I'm not responsible for him, and if he gets in my way I won't hesitate to rip his heart out."
Jorick didn't wait for an answer, but strode back the way they'd come, Katelina hurrying behind him. He didn't speak until they were alone in the corridor outside the audience chamber, and then he let loose a string of obscenities.
As much as Katelina hated the idea of Verchiel going with them, Jorick's reaction seemed extreme. "What was that all about?"
"Eileifr is shielding his mind. He's seen something in the future he doesn't want me to know." He rounded on her. "I meant what I said. I will kill him if necessary."
Katelina shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't stop yourself on my account."
Though she couldn't feel it, she suspected Jorick was doing what Celandine had just done, only more gently. As if he'd found what he sought, he nodded. "Good. I don't know about you, but I'm rather out of the mood for a walk now."
***
When Jorick left their apartment the next evening, paperwork in hand, Katelina dressed and marched to the sixth floor. The front of the restaurant, once much like an open mall eatery, was a pile of charred rubble, and the inside was just as bad.
"Come to help?"
She jumped at the familiar voice and found Verchiel standing behind her. Instead of his all black Executioner garb, he wore a neon t-shirt and a pair of low slung blue jeans. "What are you doing here?"
"I get to supervise the sixth floor restoration until we leave. Isn't that great? And here you are, volunteering."
She stepped away from him. "I would have volunteered, but not now. I already told you that I don't want to talk to you anymore."
He gave an exaggerated pout. "I thought we were friends."
"No. You just pretended to be my friend because Malick ordered you to."
Verchiel rolled his eyes. "Malick's gone, so, if that's true, why am I talking to you now?"
"Because you think it's fun to piss me off? I don't know! I just know that you fooled me once and you're not going to do it again."
His cheerful persona disappeared, replaced by something serious. "That's not fair. I never actually-" whatever he was going to say was lost as his work crew came around the corner. His usual smile reappeared and he stepped back from her and turned to them. "About time! All right, let's get this mess cleaned up!"
Katelina didn't stay to help.
***
The cable was restored - blood and circus Jorick had called it - but the apartment still felt like a prison. More than once Katelina thought about going back to the sixth floor, then the memory of Verchiel's fanged grin stopped her. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't defended him to Jorick before. Verchiel's betrayal had made her look like a na?ve imbecile.
She flipped the TV channels and stopped on a campy vampire movie. The villain hovered over his fledgling and spouted cheesy lines about joining the "army of the undead as my immortal slave". Katelina shook her head and flipped past it. If only it really worked that way, then things would be less complicated. After all, it was Jorick's fledgling, Oren, who had led the attack that caused so much damage to the Citadel. Among the screams and explosions, Oren's attack was overshadowed by Malick's revolt and mass slaughter so, when the dust settled and they discovered Oren was missing, no one pushed too hard to find him. The High Council happily executed his brother-in-law in his place, along with the so-called leaders of Oren's allies, and Katelina hadn't heard anything mentioned since.
Though she didn't know where Oren was now, she knew why he'd disappeared during the fight. Jorick had drained his blood and stashed him in a supply closet. He'd then rehydrated him and sneaked him out before sunset, through the underground tunnel, and that was the last she'd seen of him. Good riddance, as far as she was concerned.
When Jorick returned she was watching a rerun of the news. "More from the world of grim disasters and terrible misfortunes?" he teased.
"There was a fire in Namibia last night. A whole town was burned to the ground. They're blaming terrorists. They say that no one escaped." She thought of the people burning to death, screaming as Oren's allies had screamed when the High Council let the sunlight burn them into bloody ashes.
Jorick cut into her thoughts. "You watch the most cheerful programs."
"There's nothing else on." She climbed to her feet and he pulled her into a deep kiss that she ended reluctantly. "This place is so boring."
He tangled his fingers in her golden hair. "I know, little one. But have heart; we'll be leaving for Munich tomorrow night."
His words ran through her like ice and she shivered. "When you say night, you mean-?"
"Five or six in the morning, our usual bedtime."
"So soon?"
"It would have been faster if the network hadn't been damaged in the attack. Now that it's operational we'll have our passports and all the rest of the necessary paperwork tomorrow." He drew an unhappy breath. "I suppose while I'm working tomorrow you should- go shopping. We'll need luggage and you probably need more clothing and what not."
Katelina thought of a set of neatly packed suitcases that were waiting for them at Jorick's little house in Maine. The luggage was conveniently loaded in the car and abandoned when they were hauled to the Citadel against their will. How many suitcases did they need? And did she really want to brave the vampires' shopping mall on her own?
"You won't be alone. I've arranged for a guard to escort you. Though I'm not well acquainted with him, he understands the penalty for mistakes."
"Is an escort necessary?"
Jorick made a low noise in his throat. "Katelina, you're in a vampire citadel. Have you noticed any other humans roaming around alone?" He didn't give her time to answer. "No. Only the restaurant staff, and they do so at a high risk. Most vampires have no respect for humans and would think nothing of drinking from you, or at the very least harassing you."
His tone left no room for argument, but she tried anyway. "Where will you be?"
"With Eileifr, breaking into Malick's chambers. He sealed them before he left."
Something sick twisted in her stomach. "Sealed? Like magic?"
Jorick laughed. "No, it's more likely they welded the doors shut. There's no such thing as magic."
"And there's no such thing as vampires, yet here I am talking to one." She poked him in the ribs. "How long will we be in Munich?"
His shrug was casual but his expression seemed stiff. "A few days at the most. Why?"
"I need to know how many outfits we need."
"We? I have plenty."
"You're afraid I'll buy you something that isn't black."
He cleared his throat and picked invisible lint from his shirt. "No, I just don't see the point in wasting the money."
She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. "You've turned frugal all of a sudden?"
He gently pulled her back to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Of course not. I've always been frugal. Why do you think I refuse to buy a car?"
She couldn't argue with that.
