Chapter 273
Katelina was the last one out of the SUV. A short chunky woman stood on the sidewalk. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders and her smooth skin gave away her immortality. Like Wolfe, she wore a long black coat and a medallion around her neck.
Verchiel gave the vampiress a wink, and Cyprus stared at his feet, as if they'd suddenly become interesting. Sadihra's expression was cold, and her words crisp and efficient. "Welcome to Munich. I am Sadihra. If you will come with me, I will show you to your accommodations."
She led them through a door into a narrow corridor. Verchiel went first, a suave smile on his lips. "Sadihra. That's an interesting name. Where are you from?"
"I live here," she replied stiffly.
His questions continued, but the answers were equally brusque. Katelina glanced to Jorick to silently ask if he knew Sadihra. His shrug said he didn't.
The corridor ended at a large, shadowy room. Sadihra stopped next to the back wall and knocked against it. A loud click sounded and, almost magically, a piece of the wall slid aside to reveal a secret door.
"That's cooler than The Guild," Katelina whispered as they followed Sadihra into the secret room. Inside, four vampires in crimson uniforms sat at security monitors and computers. Wolfe, carrying one of Jorick's suitcases, moved to the front of the group and spoke to them in rapid German. One of the guards tapped something on the keyboard, then picked up a nearby phone. He spoke to someone on the other end in a mesh of words Katelina couldn't understand and then waved them to go on.
Like the entrance, the exit was a secret door in the back wall. Wolfe led them through it, Sadihra right behind him. Katelina thought she saw her scowling at his back.
They walked down a short corridor and then a flight of stairs that ended at a broad, two-storied entrance hall. Their footsteps echoed off the marble floor and a heavy chandelier hung above from the intricately carved ceiling. Pillars stood in strategic places along the walls, topped by arches, and led into rooms beyond. In the center of the back wall was an open space, like a ticket booth at the train station, and a pair of vampires sat inside. Wolfe waved to them, but didn't stop to speak.
Katelina clutched the small suitcase tighter, as if it was a shield. The heavy atmosphere, echoing rooms and carved stone were closer to what she expected from a vampire Citadel, and far more intimidating than the shiny glass and chrome in Iowa. It was as if she could feel the hundreds of years of history pressing down on her at once.
A pair of curving stone staircases flanked a bank of elevators in the right wall. The doors swished open and a group of vampires stepped out. Their eyes swept over Wolfe and Sadihra and their shoulders went stiff. They gave them both tight, clumsy half bows and then hurried away. Katelina's fear of the Scharfrichter suddenly seemed justified.
The interior of the elevator was red carpet, red velvet and gleaming silver. Jorick moved so that Katelina was in the back corner and he stood between her and the rest of the vampires. She leaned against the wall and tried to calm her pounding heart. She felt as though a hundred pairs of eyes were peering into her skull and picking through her thoughts, all at the same time. She wanted to throw up her hands, as if that would stop it.
A soothing sensation crashed over her, and a stray thought whispered through her mind, "Block them. Imagine a wall." She looked up sharply and caught Jorick's eyes. That was something he hadn't done in a long time, but she supposed dire times called for dire measures.
The elevator stopped and Wolfe pushed his way out first. Sadihra went next, her steps fast enough to overtake her partner. As if to stop her from leading, he sped up, until Katelina had to nearly run down the stone and marble corridor to keep up.
The hallway was like a labyrinth lit with silver and glass sconces and studded with carved doors. After six turns, Katelina knew she'd never find her way out again. Were they purposely trying to confuse them?
The Scharfrichter stopped before a pair of rooms. Wolfe motioned to one of them and handed Jorick a key. "You will stay here and-"
Sadihra interrupted, pointing to the other door. "The rest of you will be in here. After you've had some time to freshen up, please meet us in the lobby-"
"Meeting room," Wolfe corrected. "Go down the corridor, then turn left and you will find it."
Sadihra narrowed her eyes at her co-worker. "It is a larger room, so you will know it by sight."
Cyprus snatched the key from her hand and quickly unlocked his door and disappeared inside, his expression a cross of rigid irritation and upset stomach. The door had barely closed before Verchiel leaned closer to Sadihra. "It's going to be a bit crowded in there with all three of us, so what do you say about letting me bunk in with you?"
Offense flamed on her face and she took a hasty step back that knocked her into Neil. The guard scrambled to get out of the way and Wolfe snorted. "You'd have better luck in the field. At home she prefers to sleep alone."
Sadihra's face turned red and she snapped a string of angry German that only made Wolfe's cold sneer grow. Jorick muttered something to the pair and then unlocked the door and practically dragged Katelina inside after him. Even after the door shut, she could hear the voices in the corridor; Wolfe and Sadihra bantering back and forth, but the words meant nothing.
"If you're going to change, you'd better do it."
Katelina turned to find Jorick standing next to a large bed. The royal blue bedspread matched the upholstery on the scattered chairs. Heavy gilt frames showcased a series of paintings. Chubby cherubs looked back at them from hazy forests. The work was rendered too realistically to have been painted by mortals.
Two shiny black coffins sat in place of a second bed, with a nightstand between them. A carved wardrobe was open and empty except for a sachet of flower scented potpourri. Katelina turned to the suitcases, unsure if she should put the clothes away, but Jorick shook his head. "The guard has the rest of them, and we won't be here that long, anyway."
She lugged a change of clothes and the small suitcase with her to the bathroom. Like the room, it had an old fashioned feel to it. The walls were painted a light blue and instead of a shower there was a claw foot bathtub. The sink and one wall was made of delicately veined marble and the rug in front of the tub was at least two inches thick. If they were trying to impress her, they'd done a good job.
Time was short, so she promised herself that she'd try out the huge tub later, and settled for changing her clothes and freshening up.
When she emerged, the suitcases Wolfe and Neil had carried were stacked at the foot of the bed. She couldn't tell whether Jorick had changed or not, but it hardly mattered. He didn't sweat, and so long as he was well fed he looked perfect. It wasn't fair.
They followed Wolfe's directions to a circular room littered with overstuffed couches, plants, and white paneled walls. It reminded her of an old-fashioned smoking room.
Wolfe and Sadihra waited off to one side and they stopped next to them. Katelina drew closer to Jorick, her eyes on the handful of vampires who occupied the area, obviously waiting too.
Wolfe's gray eyes touched on Katelina and then moved to Jorick. "Perhaps you should leave your pet in your room?"
Katelina shook her head no and Jorick answered, "No thank you. I prefer to keep her with me."
Something like a smile found its way to Wolfe's face. "As you wish. You always did things your own way."
"Did you miss me?"
Katelina turned to see Verchiel come to a stop behind them. His black Executioner garb was replaced by a red t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Neil trailed behind him, still dressed in his gray guard's uniform, and Cyprus brought up the rear wearing black trousers and a dark green pullover. Like Jorick, the two Executioners still wore their medallions around their necks.
Wolfe nodded to the newcomers and all sense of good humor faded from his eyes. "Good, we are all here. Tonight we only give you a tour and then let you rest." His attention lingered on Cyprus a moment too long and then flashed away. "Tomorrow you will meet the Kugsankal, but for now relax."
Katelina caught Jorick's hand. "The Kugsankal, that's the True Council, right?"
"Yes." Jorick gave her a wink, but it didn't cheer her. In her mind she could see the way Wolfe's eyes had darkened when he'd said "Kugsankal", and she hoped that was something she got to skip.
