Chapter 331
Katelina took a few steps back and stopped. The enemy didn't care that Neil was dead and so the assault continued. His head lay a few feet from her in a pool of steaming scarlet, his eyes still narrowed in determination, his death too fast for him to even register surprise. Near him lay the crushed body of one of Malick's unnamed minions, his chest a gaping, gory hole and his war axe still clutched in his dead hand.
She closed her eyes and Neil's words came back to her, "It's the little guys, the new guys, who pay the price and the old vampires just breeze out of trouble." He was right. It was the old vampires who walked away from the battle, like Senya; previously one of the elite and now a renegade. And it was the little guys, the weak ones like him and the nameless minion and herself, who paid the price, who carried the scars and died. How many deaths had Senya dealt? How many had she killed thoughtlessly, or ordered to be killed? In Katelina's mind she could see Senya's cold, cruel face, lit by snapping flames, as Oren's five-year-old son, Alexander, was thrown alive into the bonfire. She could hear the heartbreaking screams of the boy's mother, the agonized roar of his father, and she could see Senya's self-satisfied smile. She could imagine the feeling of the knife pressed against her throat, the terror of Senya's threats, the humiliation at the way she'd used her more than once to get something from Jorick. The way Senya had pinned her down on the ferry, the way she'd coldly spilled their blood at the mountain shrine, the way she always seemed to be above them all. And that was the worst of it. It wasn't that Senya hated them, that she despised them and delighted in torturing them, it was that she just didn't care. It was no more than stepping on an ant or squashing a fly. Not calculated, not vindictive, but an afterthought atrocity committed against people whose names she couldn't even remember.
Fury blazed through Katelina like a white flame. No more. Senya would never hunt her or torture her again. She'd never burn another child to death, never hack apart another coven. And she would never, ever look down her nose at her victims, as though they weren't worth the time it took to wipe their blood from her knife.
Katelina knelt next to Malick's dead minion and pried the black axe from his hand. She hefted its weight and, bristling with adrenaline and anger, charged towards Senya. The former Executioner was on the edge of the fight, battling Wolfe in close quarters. One of her knives was missing. With the other she slashed and blocked as the Scharfrichter attacked. Her dark bobbed hair was mussed, wild strands fell into her blood-splattered face and her long, flapping coat was torn. She was a snarling nightmare that needed to end.
With a scream, Katelina swung the heavy axe. Senya turned to see her a moment too late. The axe's weight gave it enough force to tear into Senya's side, cleaving through flesh, muscle and ribs. The former Executioner stumbled, eyes wide in surprise, and fell to one knee. Her knife slipped from her fingers and clattered to the stone floor.
Katelina wrenched the axe loose, but blood made the handle slippery. It slid from her hands and landed behind her with a clang. Senya dove for the knife, but Katelina snatched it up first and slammed it into Senya's chest. The impact jarred her arms, and made Senya fall back. She caught herself on her hands and struggled to stand.
Katelina pulled the knife free and stabbed again. As the blade cut into Senya, the former Executioner went stiff. Her mouth opened. Blood ran down her chin in dark shiny rivulets. Katelina stared into her eyes; into the cold, icy depths that had haunted her nightmares, and twisted the knife with all her might. Senya gasped only once, a word that sounded like, "Boris," and then she fell to the floor, limp.
Ronnell grabbed Katelina by the back of her coat and flung her across the room. She crashed into one of the pillars and gasped for breath. She struggled to sit up as Ronnell raced towards her.
The flashlight arched through the air, its beam spinning and lighting the cavern like a party ball, and smacked Ronnell in the head. He turned as Sorino aimed one of his duckfoot pistols and pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening. The balls smashed into the wind walker with enough force to make him stagger. Katelina cast about for a weapon, but there was nothing close by.
Jorick was suddenly there, like an avenging angel. His hair was wild around his face, and his eyes blazed. He grabbed Ronnell by the throat and slammed him to the floor. Katelina heard something crunch and Jorick pulled back his fist to slam it through the vampire's chest.
Ronnell was too fast. He rolled away, wrenching himself from Jorick's grasp. Jorick roared and lunged after him, lips drawn back from his furious fangs.
Katelina pulled into a sitting position and laid a hand to her pounding head. The room faded in and out; darker, then lighter. Her breath was back, but only just. She wiped at the blood on her face. Her sodden mitten only smeared it and, disgusted, she pulled it off and flung it away.
Sorino came to a stop near to her, his gun aimed at the fray, and Kai knelt next to her. He retrieved the flashlight and said calmly, "You are all right."
"Says who?" she muttered through the ringing in her ears.
One of the unnamed vampires rushed towards them. Emotionless, Sorino fired his gun. The volley slowed the attacker, but did not stop him. Katelina covered her aching ears and, as if by silent command, Kai tossed the flashlight to Sorino. He swung the small pack off of his back and pulled out what looked like a mace club, only instead of a spiked ball on the end of the chain there was a wicked half-moon blade.
The attacker charged, and Kai dodged and swung his weapon. The blade buried itself in the vampire's face and he screamed. Kai pulled it loose with a flick of his wrist and swung it again. The blade caught the vampire's arm and knocked the sword from his hand.
Kai swung the blade twice more, coolly slashing the vampire, until Cyprus came from seemingly nowhere and buried the folding axe in his back.
Sorino's voice was bored as he commented to Katelina, "I believe we should find a safer place."
Safer? As if anyplace they could get to would be safe!
Kai stashed the weapon and Sorino took Katelina's arm and pulled her to her feet. He half dragged her to the nearby throne platform, then stopped and studied it calmly. Katelina's eyes swung back to the fight. She watched as Cyprus finished off the wounded vampire, leaving his gashed, bleeding body in a heap.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Sorino bend and touch the side of the throne, pressing one of the carved raven's eyes. How could he be calm enough to investigate at a time like this?
A grinding noise started, like a low throb from deep within the rock. Katelina tore her eyes away from the battle in search of its source, and saw that the throne's platform slide backwards. "What in the hell?"
A cold smile flickered over Sorino's face as he pulled Katelina towards the newly gaping hole in the floor. Kai followed, the beam of his flashlight illuminating a set of stairs. Their shadows stretched down the steps, like long black fingers that melted into night, and a shivering sense of trepidation fell over Katelina. Whatever was down there should stay down there.
"Come. You'll be much safer below," Sorino said.
But she wouldn't be, and she knew it. Her panicked eyes sought Jorick, but with Kai's light on the stairs, the cavernous room was pitch black. "Jorick!" she shouted, hoping he'd hear her over the bedlam.
Sorino made an impatient noise and hauled her through the opening and down the stairs. She dragged her feet, but he only pulled harder and she would have fallen if Kai hadn't caught the back of her coat.
As soon as their heads cleared the opening, Sorino pressed something on the wall, and the platform ground into position over them, sealing them off from the rest of the world.
Sorino forced her down the steep, stone steps. The walls on either side were carved with dusty reliefs of animals and people, and the stairs ended in a large chamber. Kai's flashlight picked out details; the ceiling was tiled with blue and silver, to represent the night sky, and tall, formed pillars stood like sentinels. The back wall was carved in more figures; animals, people and chunks of spidery Sanskrit. Everything was covered in a layer of dirt, including the platform in the middle of the room and the heavy oblong box that sat on it.
Sorino released Katelina and easily lifted the thick lid. He laid it aside and motioned Kai to shine the light in the box. The body, if it could be called that, was barely more than bones with skin stretched over them, like an Egyptian mummy. Remnants of cloth were wrapped around its loins, and long, black hair spilled out from the scalp and bunched around its head in dirty, dry clumps.
Katelina blinked and choked out, "Oh my God. It's Lilith!"
Sorino surveyed the withered body with satisfaction, then turned his attention to the back wall. The symbols meant nothing to her, but the thin vampire suddenly laughed. The sound was rich and deep, the first real emotion she'd ever heard from him. "Of course!" He spun to face them and his eyes glittered in the light. "Of course! Come, quickly." He motioned Katelina to him. She took an uncertain step back and felt him pressing on the edges of her tired mind, threatening to take control if necessary. He was a whisperer like the green-eyed vampire at the Citadel and, like him, Sorino could make her do whatever he wanted.
She surrendered and moved reluctantly to the head of the coffin where Sorino stood. He looked over the emaciated body and rubbed his hands together with delight. She expected him to lick his lips any moment.
"Show me the Heart."
She cringed away from the command. "I- I don't have it."
Though he didn't shout, there was something menacing behind his words. "Don't lie to me. Jorick's ruse fooled only the simpletons."
