Chapter 334
When Katelina opened her eyes she was in the helicopter. The steady thrum of the rotors was almost comforting; it meant they were leaving the terrors of the temple behind.
Memories filed into place; Neil, Sadihra. Cyprus' betrayal. Sorino's double cross.
"It was hardly a double cross," Sorino sniffed disdainfully. "If I had not resurrected Samael when I did then who would have frightened Malick away?"
She scoffed. "Don't pretend you planned that."
Jorick made a derisive noise in his throat and Verchiel interrupted. "What's done is done." He offered her a tired smile. "Feeling better?"
She looked past him to where Sadihra lay on the floor. Wolfe hovered over her, her face cupped in his hands. It was like looking at Rachel and Kale all over again. One dead and one alive.
"She isn't dead," Jorick said to her unspoken thoughts. "Only wounded."
Katelina felt relief sweep over her. She didn't know the Scharfrichterin well, but it was nice to see a happy ending for a change. Her eyes moved to a coat-covered heap and the relief died. "Neil?"
"Yes," Jorick answered softly. "We'll have a funeral for him."
She nodded and closed her eyes. Behind her eyelids she could see Neil charging Senya, his usual fear replaced with fiery determination. He'd finally been brave, and for what?
The helicopter landed jerkily. The rotors slowed, then stopped, and the vampires got up wearily and exited. Jorick stood and swept Katelina into his arms. He carried her to the hatch, then jumped down to the ground. Maeko and Oren were waiting for them, but words of greeting died on their lips. Oren only nodded and Maeko gave a soft, sad sigh.
Micah blundered into the middle of them and made a show of looking them over. "Christ! What the fuck happened? You were supposed to be getting a mummy, not getting the fuck beat outta ya! Jesus! Did you get Lunch killed? And where's that other son of a bitch? The Guild's dog?"
Jorick growled at him and Maeko laid a hand on his elbow. Micah jolted at the contact and looked at the child. She shook her head no and motioned him towards the building. Micah looked back to them once, and then he broke off into a mutter and turned away.
Maeko smiled. "Micah-san has a good heart. He only needs someone to remind him how to behave."
Katelina was too tired to argue. She let Jorick carry her to Celia and Burke's cabin. In the bathroom he helped her peel off her clothes, then turned the shower on. He disappeared and returned with clean clothes and her bathing supplies. She ran the slippery soap over her skin and massaged the shampoo to suds in her hair, washing away the blood and the dirt. The water that swirled at her feet and down the drain was black, and she stepped away from it, as if it might contaminate her.
The curtain opened and Jorick slipped inside. He moved under the stream of water and washed himself quickly. She stepped back to give him more room, too tired to cover herself. What did it matter? He'd seen her naked before.
Clean, he pulled her to him and held her. She leaned against him and tried to soak up some of his strength. He brushed her wet hair back from her face and kissed her forehead.
"If that was Samael, then where is Lilith?"
Jorick sighed. "I don't know. She may be dead."
Katelina nodded against him. "She's the one who put him there. And the heart really belonged to one of his wives. Do you think she did it because she was jealous?"
"I really don't know, little one."
She looked up and he lifted her chin so he could gaze into her eyes. She saw the worry on his face. "What?"
Jorick hesitated. "Samael spoke to you?"
It took a moment for her to remember, and then it was there, his voice like a hot knife slicing through her brain.
"They can't."
Jorick cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Is that all he said?"
"Yes. He looked at me, said 'they can't' and disappeared." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."
"No, it was longer than that. Never mind. It doesn't matter."
Something in his voice set off alarm bells in her head. "What do you mean longer?"
Jorick drew an unhappy breath and released it slowly. "It was a minute or more. I told you, it doesn't matter."
But it did, or he wouldn't have asked. "What? You think we had some kind of conversation I've forgotten?"
"No," he said gently. "I was just afraid he'd- Katelina, he's far more powerful than Malick, probably even than the True Council. You saw what he did to Traven with no more effort than it takes to blink. It would be easy for him to- tinker."
"Tinker? With my mind?" She pulled back to stare at Jorick with horrified eyes. "But-"
"But he obviously didn't," Jorick soothed her. "I just wanted to be sure." He cupped her face in his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You're all right, everything's all right."
She slipped her arms around his waist and settled against him. She wanted to believe that as long as they were both safe everything was really okay, but some part of her knew better.
When Katelina was cleaned and dressed, Jorick took her back to the bunkhouse and tucked her into bed. He told her to rest while he spoke to the others, then brushed a kiss across her lips and disappeared. Alone, she settled into the musty bedding and tried to force the nightmarish visions from her head.
She heard the door and opened her eyes to see Verchiel leaning against the bed frame, his arms crossed over his chest. His dirty clothes were gone; replaced with a pair of low slung blue jeans and a horrible purple t-shirt. His wet hair stood at the usual odd angles and she wondered absently if it was stuck like that permanently.
"Nah, I have to make it do that. Watch." He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling the strands straight until they laid down in a long hairstyle with bangs. "See?" He finger combed it back into place. "But if I let it dry like this it takes less gel."
She had nothing to say, so she managed an "Oh."
"I didn't really come to talk about my hair, though it is pretty amazing." He turned suddenly serious. "Samael-"
Katelina groaned. "Not you, too? He didn't do anything bizarre to my head, okay?"
Verchiel held up his hands. "Hey, hey, just checkin' up. Can't have our little Kately walking around with some bizarre kill switch embedded in her brain."
His words brought back the worry in Jorick's eyes. "What do you mean kill switch?"
"You know, it's like brainwashing, where they embed this horrible action and a trigger. Trigger happens and - boom! - the brainwashee goes nuts, kills everyone in sight." Katelina gaped. "Ah, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about!" Verchiel mussed her wet hair and she jerked away. "Jorick's probably checked you over already. Truth be told, I'm surprised Malick never thought of doing that to you. I thought he did the first time you had to go see him, but you still haven't killed anyone or done anything crazy, so I guess not." He grabbed the top of the blanket and made a show of tucking her in, despite her struggles. "Now, now, you just rest. You've been through quite an ordeal; killing Senya, waking up a millennia old vampire, getting wounded, getting healed." He raised his eyebrows and coughed.
Healed? She pulled her arm free of the blanket and stared at it. Samael had torn her wrist open in the lower level of the temple and yet there wasn't a mark on it. Jorick had healed her the way Sorino had healed Kai; with his blood.
Verchiel made a strange noise. "Oh, not Jorick." Her startled eyes swung to him and he stepped back with a laugh. "No, no, not me either. Interesting though, isn't it? I don't think Jorick's noticed and maybe it's best we don't mention it to him. He has enough to worry about right now."
"But if it wasn't one of you then who?"
