Chapter 300
Senya's voice was as cold as her eyes. She extended her hand, palm upwards. "Hello, Jorick. I'll take that."
Katelina stifled a cry and drew back against the building. Jorick only stared dispassionately at the newcomer. "I don't think so."
Verchiel snapped his coat open and closed and suddenly had a short, straight bladed sword in one hand and a hard, lacquered scabbard in the other. His eyes were on the trees as he stepped forward. "She has friends."
"I'm sure she does," Jorick replied. "But they are of no consequence."
Senya snarled and whipped the knives from the holsters at her hips. They flashed as she swiped at Jorick. He easily dodged her attack, the box clutched under his arm. As if that was a sign, seven dark figures rushed from the trees towards the shrine. Katelina recognized Griselda and Greneth, but the rest were strangers.
The vampires on the porch moved as one. Maeko jumped to the ground as she swung the papoose-pack from her back. She wrenched her pink gun from inside and tossed the doll and the bag back onto the porch. Hikaru's walking stick became a weapon as he dropped into a fighting stance. Sorino pulled Kai's pack away and whipped two ornate pistols from it. They each had four barrels that were splayed out like duck's feet. Katelina thought they looked better suited to an antique shop than a battle.
Sorino tossed one of the guns to Kai and then set to loading the other. The process should have been long and grueling, but in the vampire's hands it flew by. Finished, he tossed the pack to Kai who moved against the shelter of the building, near Katelina, and loaded the second. Though his movements were slower, they were no less expert.
Micah took a threatening step forward and then dropped back with false casualness. "Ah, fuck it. We don't need to mess with this shit."
"Put me down," Loren ordered. "Then you can kick their asses."
Micah snorted. "You can't even walk. Someone has to keep you from getting the shit kicked outta you."
Panic surged through Katelina as she realized that Micah wouldn't be able to fight so long as he hung on to Loren. That left Jorick and the others outnumbered.
"Don't worry, Kately!" Verchiel called. He disappeared and reappeared near the gate. He crashed into one of the unknown adversaries and swung his sword. The vampire screamed in pain and a spray of dark blood splashed on the snow.
Jorick spun in a half circle as he dodged Senya's second attack, and came around behind her. He kicked her sharply in the back of the knees. She pitched forward, but righted herself, then whirled around to face him, her long bladed knives ready.
Weaponless, Sadihra stood next to the porch and stared straight ahead, as if watching the enemies' approach. She lifted her hand only a little and flicked it. Katelina watched in amazement as a cloud of snow rose and swooped down over the attackers, falling around them like a thick fog.
The vampires broke through it, and Maeko aimed at one of them and squeezed off several rounds. Her target jerked as the bullets impacted him, but he kept coming, lips drawn back from his fangs. Maeko muttered something in Japanese and emptied her magazine to no avail. Undoubtedly Malick's new recruit was older than the Keiri the girl was used to dealing with.
Hikaru charged the nearest of the black clad vampires, wielding his stick like a mad man from a martial arts movie. His adversary was as fast as Verchiel; one moment he was there and the next he was behind Hikaru. He wore something silver on his hand that looked like a cross between an anime weapon and a comic book mutation. Metal reached nearly to his elbow, and three spiked blades stuck out between his fingers so that, with a single slash, he shredded the back of Hikaru's coat.
Sadihra moved away from the building, waving her hands to send shards from the broken roof sailing like darts. They pierced one of the vampires and he stumbled backwards. He recovered quickly and flung an ornate throwing star at Sadihra. It missed and landed in the snow. Without touching it, the Scharfrichterin sent it flying back at him.
Katelina's attention darted to Jorick and Senya's dance. Each swipe of the vampiress' knives seemed closer. It was only a matter of time before she'd wound him. Katelina grabbed the bizarre gun from Kai and aimed. As Jorick jerked away from Senya, Katelina pulled the trigger.
A flash of fire erupted and the gun jumped. It wrenched her arm and knocked her backwards. Her ears screamed and settled into a high-pitched ring. She looked through the smoke to see Senya clutching her leg. Obviously she'd been hit, but it wasn't enough to cripple her. With a snarl, Senya bounded towards Katelina.
Katelina squeezed the trigger again. Nothing happened - the ammo was spent. She hefted it, to use it as a bludgeoning weapon. Kai ripped the gun from her hands and started loading it. Meanwhile, Senya was coming and Katelina was defenseless.
With a low growl, Micah tore off the belt and the flannel shirt that held Loren and shrugged the teen's broken body onto Katelina. She caught him with a cry of surprise and Micah tore off of the porch and crashed into Senya in midair.
Loren pulled away as best he could and offered her a watery smile. "Sorry, I guess you get to babysit me."
The rest of the attacking vampires were finally close enough for Sorino to use his pistol. He fired, wounding Griselda and another, then he cast the gun aside and reached for the other. Kai was still loading it so, with an impatient snort, he pulled a throwing knife from his coat and flung it at Griselda. The blade buried itself in her shoulder. The former Executioner jerked and dropped one of her twin guns. With a roar she aimed the other and sprayed the porch with bullets.
Kai pulled Katelina to the floor and rolled into a ball, leaving Loren flat on the porch. When the hail stopped, Katelina looked up to see Sorino scowling. His coat was punctuated with bullet holes. He pulled a second knife from his pocket and threw it. The blade scythed through the air to land point first in Griselda's forehead. She stumbled and fell to one knee in the snow. Blood ran down her forehead in a pulsing red stream and she dropped her gun to pull the knife out with shaking hands.
Her companion continued to charge and Sorino grabbed the half loaded weapon from Kai. The boy quickly started loading the empty one as Sorino took aim and fired again.
Senya broke free of Micah and, though she snarled at Katelina, she turned back for Jorick. Micah tackled her to the ground, pinning her with one hand. He drew his other fist back, ready to slam it into her chest, when Griselda flung Sorino's bloody knife at him. The blade cut his face and clattered to the ground, but the surprise was enough to allow Senya to escape.
The knife suddenly jumped into the air, seemingly on its own, and flew towards one of the attackers. Katelina looked to see Sadihra motion with her hand as the knife pulled away and stabbed again. Her victim snarled and jerked the blade out, then crushed it in his gloved hand.
Loren struggled to sit up. His face was twisted and pale with pain. "Fuck this! Give me one of those guns!"
"You couldn't use it," Kai commented as he finished loading one. "You can't always be a hero. Today is someone else's turn."
"It's always someone else's turn!" Loren snapped.
Katelina didn't know how to soothe him, and there was too much going on for her to concentrate. Her attention bounced from one vampire to another and paused on Greneth. He'd managed to dodge all of the attacks, no doubt using his demon eye ability to see them before they came. He wound through the fight and pounced on Jorick. The black haired vampire rolled away, crushing Greneth face-first into the snow. The former Executioner came up sputtering and Jorick slammed his fist into his fine-featured face. A spray of blood exploded from his nose and Katelina imagined that she could hear it break over the ringing in her ears.
