Chapter 269
Sorino led Katelina and Kai to a secondary set of elevators. While they waited, he drew a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to Kai. Silently, the boy took it and dabbed at the blood that dotted his face and body. When he started on his chest, Katelina looked away. The thick knots, valleys, and ridges of scars made her stomach turn. She didn't know if they were left over from when the rogue vampires had wiped out his family, or if they were something Sorino had done, but they made her uncomfortable.
When Kai finished, he folded the handkerchief so the clean side was exposed, and handed it to Katelina. The blood was mostly dry, so she spit on the cloth and used the moisture to clean her hands and dab at her shirt. The stubborn blood looked like red polka dots against a field of light blue, and she knew it wasn't going to come out. Maybe Jorick was on to something with all the black.
The elevator opened and they climbed in with a group of vampires. The guard stood before the panel and pulled a key ring from his pocket. He slotted a tarnished key into the slit next to the bottom button.
The detention levels. So called because that was where the detention cells and the execution chamber were. It was also where the members of the High Council lived. Katelina didn't have a single good memory associated with that floor.
After the other vampires exited at the first floor, they went down another level. The elevator opened on a corridor made of marble so black it seemed to suck up the light. The only thing to break the monotony were blood red stripes where the walls met the ceiling and the floor.
The guard pointed them towards Malick's old chambers. Sorino nodded and led Kai into the hallway by his leash. Katelina hung back, but reminded herself that Malick was gone and it would be Jorick at the end of this.
The corridor made a sharp right. The moment that they were around the corner, Katelina could see that the massive doors to Malick's chamber had been ripped from the hinges. They leaned against the wall, still fused together.
Sorino's pace quickened and Katelina was nearly jogging by the time they went through the doorway and into the antechamber. The double doors on the other side of it were similarly missing and they hurried through and into the stone room beyond.
The last time Katelina had been there, it had been stuffed with plants, furs, and even a fountain, but now the room was empty except for three large jagged pieces of wood that had once been the interior doors. Sorino turned to the nearest doorway, one that led into what had been Malick's office, but Jorick was suddenly in front of him, his expression cold. Then he noticed Katelina and his eyes danced with surprise and fury. "What are you doing?"
He obviously pulled the answer from someone's mind, because his fury doubled. "You can tell the guards I will see to his punishment myself!"
"Whose punishment?" Eileifr seemed to glide through the doorway, holding an empty glass box.
Though Jorick started to speak, Sorino cut him off and gave a quick account of the scene in the hallway. As he spoke, he edged closer to the master. His eyes danced from the box in his hands to the empty room beyond. Jorick moved around him to examine Katelina. Obviously satisfied that she wasn't injured, he took her hand in his and squeezed it.
When Sorino finished his story, Eileifr nodded. "Very well. Jorick and I thank you for your assistance. You may go now."
Sorino gave the box a last, calculating look, then snapped around and strode from the room, Kai hurrying behind him.
"Where in the hell was the guard?" Jorick demanded. "He was ordered to stay with you!"
As if summoned, Neil suddenly raced through the yawning doorway and skidded to a halt. His face was pale and his hair was mussed. He took in the figures before him and the terror on his face doubled. "Th-there you are!"
"And where were you?" Jorick roared. He dropped Katelina's hand to take a menacing step towards the newcomer. "You were supposed to protect her!"
"I know, I know! I'm sorry! She said she'd stay right there! She said-"
"I told you to remain at her side, no matter what! If you're incapable of following a single order-"
Katelina had had enough of being talked about as if she wasn't there. "I told him to take the suitcases to our rooms!"
"He had orders not to listen to you."
Katelina's eyes bulged and regret flashed on Jorick's face, but it was too late. "You told him not to listen to me? Of all the conceited, asshole things!"
"Yes," Jorick snapped irritably. "Because I knew something like this would happen." He turned to Eileifr. "I assume we're done here? Apparently I need to deal with this."
The master regarded them. "Yes, you may go. Please tell Ark to see me in my chambers later."
Jorick spun back to Neil and jerked Katelina's keycard from his shaking hand. "I'll deal with you later." He marched out of the room, Katelina on his heels. Neither of them spoke until they reached the elevators, and then Katelina exploded. "Excuse me, I didn't want to go underwear shopping in front of him!"
"Then you shouldn't have gone underwear shopping at all!" Jorick shouted back. "Do you realize what could have happened if Sorino hadn't come across you? That vampire could have taken you back to his room and done anything he wanted to you. Chances are he only had a snack in mind, but who knows? He could have hurt you. He could have killed you. He could have tried to claim you!"
"He couldn't have claimed me, you already did that, remember?" She jerked down the collar of her shirt to show the scar of her mark: a bite with a cross cut underneath it. It was the symbol that she belonged to Jorick.
He waved it away. "If he made you drink his blood he could try! In order to lay claim to a marked human, all a vampire needs to do is give the human their blood and then mark them again. The original master can contest it to the council and they'll determine who the human rightly belongs to, but it takes weeks!"
"Or he can just kill the new master?" Katelina suggested.
"Yes, and then his coven mates can complain and the council can rule on whether the death was legal or not, based on who owns the human. It's a complicated web, Katelina, and one I'd rather not get tangled in. So the next time I assign a guard to you-"
He went on, but she tuned him out.
They got out on the sixth floor. When she asked where they were going, he answered, "I have to deliver a message to Ark."
He slipped his coat over her shoulders, then led her upstairs through the seed company office and outside. The rolling stench was absent this time, and she followed him around the buildings to a large open area beyond. As they drew close she could see a field of embers glittering orange in the night and the shadowy figures of vampires milling around with shovels.
Ark stood to one side near a giant mound of rocks. As Katelina and Jorick came to a stop near him, another vampire approached with a wheelbarrow and dumped a rattling load onto the heap. Something large and round rolled down the pile and came to a stop at Katelina's feet. She stared down into a set of empty eye sockets. It was a skull.
She jumped back and eyed the mound. They weren't rocks, rather the bones of those killed in the battle a few days ago.
Jorick soothed her absently and delivered his message. Ark nodded, then made the mistake of asking what they were doing. Jorick's tirade was instant and long, and by the time he'd finished Katelina had edged back several steps, her attention focused on the grisly pile.
"You'd best fill out the paperwork," Ark advised. "Otherwise they won't be able to detain him."
"They won't need to detain him because I'm going to kill him."
He turned to go and Ark called after him, "What did you find in Malick's chambers?"
Jorick's shoulders tensed and he answered, "Nothing." Then they headed towards the seed office.
Katelina went to their apartment and took a shower while Jorick charged off to see the guards. It wasn't as though they'd listen to anything she said, anyway. He came back in a bad mood that only got worse when she mentioned that she still needed to buy underwear, since her shopping bag had disappeared.
The trip to the mall was short and they were back in the apartment within an hour. Jorick left again to fetch their dinner, and Katelina turned her attention to the packing. Frankly, if Munich was anything like the American Citadel, she hoped the trip was as short as Jorick had forecast. She didn't think she could take much more.?
