Chapter 311
They slept in the communal room again. It reminded Katelina of a high school sleepover, only without the popcorn, movies and hairspray. And, when she woke the next evening, there were no donuts, only rice, vegetables and soup.
The sun was still up when Katelina finished her breakfast. Etsuko explained that they must be ready to go the moment it sank. "To avoid being followed." Though she didn't say by whom, Katelina knew she meant Wolfe.
Etsuko gave her back her clean laundry. It had the telltale stiffness of line drying, but it was better than nothing. Katelina packed quickly, then carried her luggage outside. Three black cars waited, trunks open and partially full. She slung her suitcase inside one, next to Maeko's brightly colored trunk.
The sky was still purple to the East when Maeko announced it was time to go. The kimono-clad women held parasols over Shinobu as he walked to the lead car and climbed inside. They hurried back and offered to do the same for the others, but Jorick said it wasn't necessary.
"The sun isn't down yet," Katelina cried as Jorick pulled her outside and into the backseat of the second car.
"It's down enough. It will be dark in a few minutes. Neil's the only one I'd worry about."
She peered through the tinted window to see the guard hunched under a parasol, hurrying towards the third car. Hopefully the windows were dark enough that he wouldn't fry before the sun went down.
"He'll be fine," Jorick said. "I was only teasing."
Once everyone was in the cars, the kimono-clad women climbed into Shinobu's vehicle and they pulled out onto the street. Maeko explained that they would be leaving from a "small airport". "The Tsukino clan has special arrangements with the prefecture officials there, so there won't be any trouble. Of course we have enough- whisperers, as you call them, to force our way through, but such an act might cause too much attention and attract the German vampire."
"He's going to figure out we left," Katelina said dully.
Maeko smiled. "Of course. Shinobu-san expects he will come again today looking for you. He will tell them that there was a quarrel and you have moved to a new safe house and that you plan to leave tomorrow from the International Airport in Tokyo. That should keep the Yononaka busy tomorrow night!" She giggled. "I wonder if they will close off the airport looking for you?"
Katelina just hoped Wolfe believed the lie.
The ride was long. Katelina wasn't sure why the clan didn't have "an understanding" with someone closer to home, but then they probably had several dens, too, and maybe their headquarters was located in the prefecture they had the arrangement in.
It was an airport, much like the others, except it looked as if it actually had passengers through now and again. They climbed out and unloaded the luggage while two of Shinobu's vampires headed inside. When they came back they escorted the rest of them through the building and to the runway where a small white plane waited.
Shinobu stopped before them and bowed. In a miniature speech, he wished them a safe journey, expressed how honored they were to have been able to assist them and then invited them to come again. As he talked, the kimono-clad women and what might have been the pilots loaded the luggage onto the plane.
When Shinobu finally finished, Jorick gave an uncertain half bow. "Thank you."
Etsuko suddenly dropped to her knees before the clan leader and rattled something off in Japanese.
"Etsuko-san has asked to come with us," Maeko whispered to Katelina.
The word left her mouth before she could stop it, "Why?"
Maeko giggled. "Last night the tarot cards told her that she will find her purpose with a wounded man, but that she must give up something she holds dear. She has decided that the red string of fate binds her to Oren-san, and so she believes she must go with him to find her purpose."
Katelina held back a snort. The only purpose Etsuko would find with Oren was to be either ignored or bitched at. If she was looking for someone wounded, Loren would have been a better choice. At least he was nice. "Will he let her?"
Maeko's voice dropped to a whisper. "I already asked Shinobu-san to give her to me last night."
"Give her?"
"Etsuko-san is a human and so she is the property of the clan. Shinobu-san has already said that I can have her." Maeko grinned delightedly. "I will claim her on the plane to make it official. Of course, I do not think I will be her master for long."
There was another round of goodbyes, and then they climbed the stairs into the plane. Katelina hesitated and Jorick said, "It will be fine, little one. We haven't crashed yet."
"Yet," she repeated. "There's a first time for everything."
"And a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters will eventually write a Shakespearean play, but so far as I know that hasn't happened."
"That's because no one can find a thousand typewriters," Katelina quipped back and then ducked inside.
Like the Executioners' plane, the interior had leather seats, polished woodwork, and fold-down tables. Behind a partial wall panel was a couch and a kitchen area and, at the end of the plane, a bathroom that was slightly larger than a walk-in closet. Instead of the white and black motif of The Guild's plane, this one was tan leather, wheat carpet and lots of warm beige. No matter how they decorated it, though, it was still a flying metal tube of death.
Katelina grabbed the first chair she found and strapped herself in. Jorick sat next to her and Neil took the seat across from her. As he buckled his seat belt, she noticed that his hands were shaking.
Maeko motioned Etsuko to her and reeled off something in Japanese. Etsuko nodded and dropped to her knees, her head bowed. Katelina watched as Maeko rolled up her sleeve and bit through her own arm. Crimson dotted her pale skin and, wordlessly, Etsuko took hold of Maeko's wrist and lowered her lips to the wound. She drank for a moment, and then Maeko pulled away and moved to stand behind Etsuko. She swept the loose hair from the back of her neck and leaned close, as if she was going to kiss her. Then she bit.
Katelina jerked reflexively, but Maeko didn't drink from the woman. She pulled away and used her fingernail to cut something beneath the bite; she was marking her.
When it was finished, Maeko gave a nod of satisfaction and then moved to sit between Ryuu and Hikaru. Etsuko stood and wiped at her mouth, her eyes on the floor. Oren quickly sat in the seat nearest Jorick. With nowhere else to go, Etsuko sat in the back near Kai. Katelina doubted either one would say a word during the flight.
"I suppose she owns her now?" Katelina asked.
Jorick nodded. "I told you it was easy to claim a human."
"You didn't make me drink from you."
"It's only necessary if you're taking them from a previous master."
She had nothing else to say, so she changed the topic. "How long will it take to get to Egypt?"
"Ten hours or so," Jorick replied. "Though with the time zones we'll gain seven hours."
"And where are we going to land at? The airport?"
"Not exactly. From what I understand there is a sort of unofficial airfield in the middle of the desert."
"Oh that sounds great." She imagined miles of sand dunes dotted with pyramids and camels. At least it would be warm. "And just how did the Tsukino clan hook us up with that?"
"There are only a couple of airfields that vampires use when going to Egypt," Maeko explained. "The first is more official, so we chose this one. We don't want to get involved with Egypt's vampire government."
Katelina nodded and closed her eyes and as the plane started to move. She supposed she should relax, after all, the tarot cards might have foretold defeat and betrayal, but they hadn't predicted a plane crash!
