Chapter 285
When they came back to the hotel, they found Verchiel waiting for them. "Sorino's ferry leaves the day after tomorrow, but he's made arrangements to board tomorrow night. He's planning to try to sneak us on as stowaways. As for Kately-"
"She'll need papers," Jorick said.
"Yeah. He knows someone who knows someone- Anyway, he said he'd take her to see them tonight, for a price."
And there it was, just as Katelina suspected. "What does he want?"
"When we get to Japan he wants to travel with us. He's probably planning to wait until we get the Heart and then try to steal it from us."
Jorick scowled and started to argue, then he looked to Katelina and his shoulders sagged the tiniest bit. "She needs papers. Fine. He can come with- us." He nearly choked on the last word.
Verchiel nodded. "You know, trying to ditch all of us won't work, right?"
Jorick had no reply.
***
Sorino met them in the lobby, Kai on his heels. He shook Jorick's hand, then wiped his fingers on his vest. "I've already called for a taxi."
They waited in silence and, when the car pulled up outside, they got in without a word. Sorino gave the driver directions in Russian, then sat back and watched his fellow passengers from under his eyelids.
Though it was her first taxi ride, Katelina didn't enjoy it. Stuffed in the backseat, she was wedged between Jorick and the door, which was better than being smashed against one of the others. She was grateful when they stopped in front of a low, rundown house on the outskirts of the city. Ringed in dead weeds and scraggly trees, it looked abandoned except for the light blazing in the window.
Sorino left Jorick to pay the fare, and led the way to the house's peeling door. He knocked several times before it was finally opened by a dark haired vampire with thick eyebrows, a hefty mustache and a potbelly. "Sorino! You come back? Is there problem?"
"No, not at all, Boris. I've brought new customers."
The inside of the house was as forlorn as the exterior. Colorless wallpaper peeled from the walls and flickering candles threw twisted shadows on the bare floor. Scattered buckets held various amounts of rainwater, and Katelina could see her breath hanging before her in little puffs. A dirty blanket made a makeshift door into another room, while a camera and tripod stood before a blue screen that was tacked to the wall. The main attraction was the mound of cobbled together computer equipment; wires ran in tangles like writhing snakes and, underneath the electronics, Katelina could just see a desk built out of old crates.
The only outlet was crammed with plugs and she assumed they all went to the computer. It wasn't hard to guess Boris' priorities.
Sorino gave him a quick rundown of what they needed. The vampire nodded and informed them that payment came first. Unlike the hotel, he was happy to take most of the foreign currency Jorick had, then he asked several questions and collected their current IDs.
Boris' fingers clicked over the keyboard. "Where do you go?"
"Japan," Jorick answered.
"Ah! More friends for Sorino's trip?" Boris snickered. "There are entries for you already. You have visas for Germany, huh? You will want new name to go with new visas, and also to lose connection with Germany, I think, yes?"
He stopped what he was doing long enough to make them each pose for a photo in front of the blue screen, then moved back to his computer. As he worked, he talked to himself in half whispered Russian. The sputtering candles were the only light and the only heat. Katelina moved closer to Jorick in search of warmth. Heat seeped through his clothes, so she guessed that he'd fed on his way into the city - while she'd been with Verchiel.
He was so worried, but he stopped to feed? Was he starting to trust the redhead just a little bit?
"No. I wanted my strength to kill him."
It was another comment to her silent thoughts, but she just sighed. What was the point in complaining anymore?
Boris finished his work and swiveled the monitor so they could inspect it. The name and address under Katelina's photo were unfamiliar. She wasn't sure how she felt about pretending to be Janine Brook from New York. Jorick, meanwhile, was now listed as Erik MacIntyre.
Boris heaved himself from his duct-taped chair and headed into the next room. Katelina started to follow, but Boris shook his head. "In here is all the printing. Very secret operation. I am the best. Don't want my methods shared with others, you understand."
She stepped back and huddled in her coat. Whirs and clicks sounded from the next room and she tried to casually peer past the tatty blanket. Jorick cocked an eyebrow that seemed to say, "Your curiosity will get you killed one of these days."
He was probably right.
She turned her attention to Kai. The young man stood just behind Sorino, his hands in his pockets. His messy blond bangs hung in his face and what she could see of his expression gave away nothing; not interest or impatience or even a reaction to the cold. If Jorick thought he'd make a good companion for the boat trip, he was crazy.
An idea suddenly struck her. "If we need papers, then doesn't Malick?"
Jorick snorted. "Hardly. He can just tell them that he has papers and they'll believe that he does and that they've already looked at them."
She slouched deeper into her coat. "Why can't you do that?"
"I can, but you can't. What will you do if we're separated?"
She started to say they wouldn't be, but stopped. Who knew what might happen, especially with Verchiel always ready to pseudo-kidnap her. "What about Malick's lackeys? Like Senya. She can't make people think she has papers."
"No, but she is a phantom, remember? She can disappear, so to speak, so no one would even notice she was there. I imagine she can maintain her 'invisibility' for quite some time. As for the others, I don't know. Sorino is the one with the information on Malick's movements." Suspicion blossomed in Jorick's eyes, then died.
Sorino gave a light cough, but supplied no information. Boris chose that moment to reappear. He handed out the documents and waited as they looked them over, moving from one foot to the other. Finally, he cleared his throat loudly. "It is long shot, but- this Senya you speak of. You say she is a phantom?"
Jorick's eyes narrowed. "Yes."
"Dark hair, short, very- straight, like cut with a knife?" He motioned just under his ears. "Angry, bad attitude?"
"Vicious, you mean," Katelina said and shivered. She was suddenly sorry she'd brought up the former Executioner.
Boris slapped his leg. "I bet it is same. Though she is no Senya, that was her brother. She was Fetiniia. Then he was killed and she cut her hair and tried to be him. Very sad times. Hard times. Then He found us and we were removed from much of the hardships."
Katelina couldn't stop herself from asking, "Who found you?"
"Our master, of course, but that was long ago. No point dwelling over old stories. If you see her, you might tell her that Boris sends his love."
Katelina imagined screaming that at Senya as the vampiress bore down on her with her twin blades. It was an unlikely scenario at best.
"Of course," Sorino said with his usual cold smile. "Thank you again, Boris." He switched to Russian, and Boris gave a hearty laugh.
"Come back," he insisted as they filed out the door to the waiting taxi. "I take more of your money."
As she climbed into the backseat, Katelina whispered to Jorick, "What does he spend it on? Not the house."
"I imagine the materials," Sorino said crisply, his eyes on the taxi driver.
Katelina muttered a reply and buried her face in her coat. A sick fear settled in her stomach, as if talking about Senya would summon her. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to send their love to the psycho bitch, even someone as crazy as Boris.
