Chapter 307
Despite the calm comfort of Jorick's arms, Katelina's dreams were tinted red and featured Senya's cold, icy eyes. When she woke the next evening to darkness, she panicked. Jorick's soft voice soothed her, and she relaxed against him as her memories dropped into place. They only made her feel marginally better.
The vampires around them started to stir, and the lights came on. Katelina watched as the vampires stood and left. Like Jorick, they all looked perfect.
The kimono-clad women came back to clear away the bedding. Katelina headed upstairs to change, and came out of the bathroom to find Ryuu and Maeko waiting. The girl and her doll wore matching kimonos, their hair pulled back in tidy buns.
"Good morning, Kate-chan. Jorick-ue has been taken to meet Shinobu-san, the head of the Tsukino clan. If it pleases you, Ryuu-kun will take you to join the other humans for breakfast."
"Other humans?"
Maeko tilted her head curiously. "Doesn't your coven have other humans besides you?"
It was more effort than it was worth to explain that Jorick wasn't really in a coven, no matter how many times Oren tried to fold him into one. "No. They're not very keen on keeping humans around."
Maeko bowed out and Ryuu led Katelina through the house to a dining room. A large table was ringed in chairs, and people, including Kai. She took the empty seat next to him and tried not to stare at the others. Not one of them looked over the age of twenty; with perfect milky skin and dark, flashing eyes, they could have easily been young vampires. It was only their teeth that gave away their humanity.
The two women wearing kimonos appeared, carrying trays of food. As they placed bowls at each place, Katelina realized that they, too, were human.
Instead of joining them, the servants disappeared in the direction they'd come from. A few minutes later, Katelina caught a glimpse of them walking past the doorway carrying heavy trays laden with crimson colored glasses: blood for the vampires.
"I didn't see you downstairs," she murmured to Kai.
He nodded towards Ryuu. "Humans sleep together in one room and vampires in another."
Being Jorick's partner obviously catapulted her to vampire status, at least for sleeping.
She finished her breakfast and willed Jorick to appear. He didn't and her thoughts turned to Verchiel, Cyprus and the others. She wondered if they'd escaped Senya's clutches.
"They're fine," Kai said quietly. Katelina looked to him, ready to ask how he knew, but his ever smooth expression seemed to say that he'd told her all he planned to. A strange idea occurred to her, and she squinted at his visible scars, searching for one that looked translucent, like the one she wore on her neck; the sign of a linking.
It was said that a linked vampire could see and hear everything their human did. She didn't know if that was true. She and Jorick had been linked once and he'd been able to hear her thoughts with no effort and speak directly to her mind. He could still do both, but it was different. The Linking had been undone soon after, and she'd never found out just how much it could really do. If the rumors were true, though, and Kai was linked, it would explain why Sorino sent Kai with them.
One of the kimono-clad women appeared. With a bow she introduced herself as Etsuko and asked Katelina to accompany her. "Your master calls for you."
Rather than argue that Jorick wasn't her master, she followed to find Jorick and Oren standing together. The Japanese woman caught Oren's eyes for a moment, flushed, and then quickly bowed herself out.
Jorick snickered and Oren scowled. Katelina glanced between them, and Jorick explained, "The human finds him- pleasing."
Katelina choked on her laughter. "She doesn't know him, then!"
Oren's scowl deepened. "There's nothing wrong with me. However, her attention is not welcome."
"You should welcome it," Jorick suggested. "You're not likely to find another woman who is that-"
He trailed off and Katelina finished, "Stupid?"
"I was going to say something along the lines of easily impressed."
Oren crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not interested in women, let alone a human woman. I've seen what a nuisance they can be."
His fiery gaze shot towards Katelina, but she ignored it and said, "So you're interested in men, then?"
Oren's eyes bulged and he sputtered, "Don't be ridiculous!"
"At least she's attractive," Jorick commented. Katelina's immediate reaction was to glare, but Jorick only chuckled. "Come now, little one. You don't need to worry. She's obviously attracted to difficult men."
"I'm not difficult!" Oren snapped. "I am perfectly affable, when not faced with an international circus! At least your- fledgling managed to get rid of the most objectionable. Though I wish she'd shared her plan."
The word "fledgling" seemed to stick in Oren's throat, and Katelina wondered how he felt about it. Had he even known Maeko existed before Jorick sent him packing to Japan to avoid capture by the Guild?
No one answered her silent questions, so she let them drop and settled for a more important one. "Now that we have the Heart, what do we do with it?"
Oren seemed to relax, though the corners of his eyes stayed crinkled in irritation. "Use it, of course. It's said to give its user phenomenal power, which is what we need to defeat Malick."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But it doesn't work that way! Jorick said-"
"And does he actually know?" Oren demanded as he met Jorick's gaze. "Have you drunk from it?"
"Of course not. But if it could imbue the user with god-like abilities, wouldn't Malick have already done so? It's just a dried up relic."
"It didn't look so dry to me," Oren countered and, though she didn't want to, Katelina agreed. It had seemed surprisingly moist. "If you don't want to try it, I will."
Jorick's eyes flamed for a moment, then cooled. "No, you won't."
"Then what are we going to do with it? Just let the child keep it in her dolls and do nothing? What's the point of a weapon if it's not used?"
Katelina stuffed her hands in her pockets and tried not to agree with Oren more than she had to. "If drinking from it doesn't work, then how else could it be used? Short of throwing it at someone."
Jorick looked away. "I know only the legend and that Malick stole it from the Kugsankal. It was never an important topic."
"Then maybe we should find out?" she suggested. "The Kugsankal kept it around for a reason, and Malick went to a lot of trouble to steal it from them. If they're older than he is they could probably crush him, and no one would take that kind of risk just for a collector's item. Plus, he wants it back now. It must have some other power."
Jorick snickered sarcastically. "Perhaps we can hold it up to the full moon and it will reveal the answers to the universe? It's just a heart!"
Oren made a low, grating noise in his throat. When he spoke, the words were forced and tight. "The- human may be- right. It's obviously not as useless as you think."
Katelina clutched her chest in case her heart stopped from the shock, and Jorick snorted. "How do you propose we do that? Consult a soothsayer, perhaps?"
"I'd start with Sorino." The vampires stared at her and she shrugged. "He's obsessed with old relics, right? He's probably done research on it already, and if he hasn't, I bet he'd know where to start."
Oren looked relieved to disagree with her. "No. The treasure hunter is only along so he can steal the Heart when no one is looking. No doubt he has his human assigned to the task. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't make his move during daylight tomorrow."
"The place is crawling with humans! How could he get away? Besides, you could read it in his mind if he was up to something!"
"Not necessarily," Oren argued. "He's more than just an ordinary human at this stage. I can smell the vampire blood in him. He may be able to block his thoughts."
"Not from Jorick! He could-"
"Enough." Jorick motioned them both to silence. "I don't know what he can do and what he can't."
Katelina let the argument drop. "If Sorino knows more about it than we do, maybe he told Kai. I could ask him."
"So that he can report your inquiry to Sorino?" Oren's voice dropped so low that Katelina had to strain to hear. "I suspect that they're linked."
Katelina ground her teeth and imagined kicking Oren. How dare he make her agree with him again! "I thought the same thing at breakfast. He seemed too sure that the others are safe."
Oren choked, but used it. "See? Even the hu- even Katelina can see it. I don't trust them."
"Neither do I," Jorick said. "Though I don't know that they're really linked."
"How else would he know?" she demanded.
"Who says he knows anything? It may be nothing more than the certainty of an optimist, who believes their master invulnerable. It doesn't matter." Jorick waved them to silence. "If the two of you are so certain that the Heart holds mystical powers we're as of yet unaware of, then I suppose we should start somewhere. Ask him, little one. If nothing else, his lack of knowledge might prove my theory."
Oren shook his head. "Not necessarily. It could mean that Sorino doesn't know, or that he hasn't shared the information."
She couldn't stand to agree with Oren a fourth time, so she muttered that she'd be back and set off in search of the boy.
