Chapter 317
"I know you're there. I can smell you."
Katelina winced. Sadihra had smelled her, after all. So much for the overpowering stench of camels!
"You heard everything, didn't you?"
Before she could answer a third voice replied, "I already knew." It was Verchiel.
Katelina caught her breath and stepped back, waiting for them to call her out, instead Sadihra asked, "How?" though Katelina couldn't see it, she imagined Verchiel tapping the side of his head as Sadihra said, "You're a mind reader? That wasn't in your official paperwork."
"Probably not. It comes and goes, so it rarely gets counted."
"What do you want? And don't hit on me, I'm not in the mood."
"I'm appalled that you think I'm incapable of a real conversation! For your information, I have them all the time. Well, now and then, at least."
"I'm sure you do. With Jorick's human for starters?"
Katelina gaped and Verchiel snickered. "Tut, tut, someone's been listening to rumors."
"Cyprus filled me in. What exactly are you playing at with her?"
"Playing? Now I am offended. Rumors never do me justice. They always make me out to be the bad guy."
"I'm serious. She seems nice enough. You should leave them alone before you cause trouble."
"A bit of trouble is fun now and then, don't you think? Oh well. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about other people's problems. You have enough of your own. The High Council will never believe we kidnapped you. It was a weak story to begin with."
Kidnapped? What did he mean? Unless the Scharfrichterin had planned to lie from the moment she'd gotten on the airplane.
"You think I don't know that?" Sadihra asked. "It might have worked, had we just gone to Russia instead of vaulting all over."
"Or if you hadn't run from Wolfe in Japan?" Verchiel suggested. "Ah, it doesn't matter. They'd have never believed you anyway. They have mind readers who are better than I am. So, you and Cyprus, huh?"
"You said you knew. That you're a mind reader."
"I told you, sweetheart, it comes and goes. So why don't you fill in the details for me? You can always demonstrate if you'd like."
"You're as bad as he is. Worse."
"Not at all. I'm not carrying a torch and promising to take care of you forever. So what happened? He flirted with you for a while and then-"
"A while? It was years, if you must know. He was a guard and he used to bribe his way into assignments where he could be close to me. Wolfe thought it was humorous at first, and then annoying."
"And then?" Verchiel prompted.
"We were sent to Italy to assist with a situation, but at the last minute Wolfe was given a new assignment and they sent my sister instead. We took guards with us, of course, and Cyprus made sure he was one of them. There was a bloody battle in the catacombs and only Cyprus and I escaped. We got back to their stronghold and the Italians sent reinforcements, but it was too late. My sister was dead. I was - shaken. Upset. I called Wolfe, but he was out on the mission; always on a mission when I needed him, and Cyprus was there with his honeyed tongue, promising me the moon and the stars. It was stupid and I was sorry for it the moment it was over. I should never have told Wolfe; he's not a mind reader, he'd have never known. But I felt compelled to. Of course he was angry. He flew to the High Council and claimed that Cyprus took advantage of me. He demanded he be removed. Things got- ugly. Cyprus finally understood that it would never work between us and he left for the U.S. Wolfe claimed to forgive me, but he didn't really. And since then-"
Verchiel interrupted, "Since then he's wanted you to quit and stay home where he can be sure you're not getting up to trouble. I get it. Though maybe you're not the one he can't forgive. Maybe he's mad at himself for not being there. Maybe he thinks it's his fault that your sister died, since he was supposed to go in her place and, I don't know, he might be worried that you'll get killed too."
Sadihra gave a choking laugh. "That's ridiculous!"
"Hey, it was just a suggestion. But, you know, if you ask Kately, I bet she'd tell you that since we left Munich, every time they've run into Wolfe the first thing he wants to know is where you're at. Everyone else is an afterthought. Maybe he wasn't given that assignment at all. Maybe he volunteered for it."
"That's a lot of maybes for one conversation. I should expect men to stick together."
"Hey, hey, I much prefer to stick to the ladies. They have the softer bits I like so much." Katelina imagined him winking. "Though, if the mood's right, and he's good looking enough-"
"Schwachsinnige," Sadihra muttered. "Why don't you go aggravate someone else?"
"I don't know, it's kind of nice out here."
"Only if you like the smell of goats! Fine, you stay with the animals, I'm going inside."
She disappeared from Katelina's view and footsteps sounded across the paving stones.
"See you later!" Verchiel called after her. "And if you get lonely, you know where to find me! I'll just be hanging out with the goats!"
"It's where you belong!"
Katelina tensed as the footsteps faded away and then she took a cautious step backwards.
"Sneaking off?"
The voice was next to her ear and she jumped and spun around to find Verchiel behind her. "Oh my God! What are you doing? Trying to scare me to death?"
His eyes twinkled. "You should be careful creeping around in dark alleys by yourself. You never know who you might run into."
He was too close for comfort and she took a step back. "Just an idiot, apparently. Are Sorino's friends here yet?"
"I didn't see anyone on my way past." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But I admit I was moving pretty fast. We could go check."
She nodded and then asked, "If Cyprus can see the future, why didn't he know what she would say?"
"Eh, the future is always changing, so sometimes what they see doesn't happen. Plus, I hear it's hard to see things about yourself; standing too close to the tree to see that there's a forest, if you get what I mean."
It made a vague sort of sense, so she asked, "All that stuff you said about Wolfe; that he blames himself and not her. Is that true?"
Verchiel shrugged his shoulders cheerfully. "Who knows? But it gave her something to think about." He offered his arm. "Shall we?"
"So you just made it up? That's kind of crappy. With your supposed mind reading stuff people take you seriously."
"That's their mistake then." Verchiel sighed and turned suddenly serious. "What do you want me to do? Tell you everything everyone thinks? Where would the fun be in that?" He brightened suddenly and caught her arm. "Now come along, Kately, before you run into something far more dangerous than me out here."
