Chapter 34
When Katelina woke in the late afternoon she stared groggily around. Her first thought of the day was that Jorick had been right - warm sunlight shone through the yellowing blind and splashed on every surface. She wondered vaguely if sunlight would fry him like it did the Hollywood vampires, but decided she didn't want to know. Besides, how could she ask a question like that?
She filled the time by flipping through all thirteen channels of "cable" and enjoying the natural light for a change, but it was short lived. The darkness soon began to steal over her surroundings and the sun had just disappeared when Jorick finally emerged, looking perfectly rested.
"I suppose you're hungry?" he asked as he straightened his shirt and flipped his long black hair over his shoulder.
"Yes, I am." She glanced at his pale skin and wondered if he sucked the blood out of some unwary person when he went to fetch her meals. But that was something else she didn't want to know. Her brain couldn't cope with it yet, couldn't reconcile Jorick as really being one of those creatures, despite the fact that his gleaming fangs constantly tried to remind her.
"All right." He nodded as if to himself. "I'll be right back - "
"So stay here," she finished for him. She was starting to believe that the real world didn't exist anymore; that she was the only normal person left, and that maybe she'd dreamed fluorescent lights and linoleum floored restaurants. Motels and strange houses full of monsters were the only things she'd seen in a week.
"Right," he agreed. "I'll be back soon." Without another word he was gone into the gathering darkness.
She went back to her television reruns and bit back the urge to laugh hysterically for no reason that she could name.
True to his word, Jorick returned quickly. He looked less pale and carried a brown paper bag of gas station junk food. He gave her a quick apology because nothing else was open, then left to have a chat with Benjamin about getting a new room.
She'd made it through the ding-dongs and had started on the Nacho Cheese Doritos, when he triumphantly came back with a new key. She abandoned her meal to gather up her bags and follow him outside where the yellowish lights attracted the last of the year's bugs and the chill air cut through her clothes.
He led her along the back of the building. A row of numbered doors was set in the wall, but no windows graced the spaces between them. As they walked down the small sidewalk, devoid of any real parking area, Katelina wondered if Benjamin got enough vampire guests to warrant this many windowless rooms. The thought that an unknown number of vampires might be hiding behind the peeling doors made her stomach lurch.
Jorick found their door and quickly unlocked and opened it to reveal a room much like the last, except for its lack of a window. Even the ugly carpet was the same.
After she'd deposited her bags on the bed, Jorick smiled in an obviously nonchalant way. "Well, I've got some business to take care of. If you want to just - " but she cut him off.
"Hmmmmm, no, I don't think so." She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look stubborn.
"You're not going to be difficult, are you?" He sighed almost sadly.
"Yes, I was planning on it. I let you keep me completely ignorant there at the little mansion of the living dead, and look how that ended. I think you can just be honest with me this time." Her voice was firm. "If I'm in this as much as you are, then it only seems fair."
"But that's the point. You aren't in this as much as I am. In fact, I'm trying quite hard to keep you as uninvolved as possible. You can thank Michael and Patrick for any involvement you have." He held the door open in one hand to reveal the dark sky, a strong contrast to the shabby, lighted room.
"Hardly," she responded sarcastically. "Who called me and wanted a meeting? If you hadn't done that, I'd still be blissfully ignorant of all of this!" She waved her hands around to demonstrate what she meant.
"No, actually, you'd be dead. Instead, Sandra... Susie..." he paused and frowned. "What did you say her name was?"
"Sarah," the name came out in an almost-whisper and a strange ache sprouted in Katelina's chest.
"Right." He ignored the sudden shift in her mood and kept his tone serious. "Sarah died in your place. If you'd still been there, Claudius' men would have taken you. You would have been tortured and finally killed - or worse, turned against your will and made to serve him. You would've had no warning and died in a pool of your worst nightmares. If you prefer that, then I'm sorry."
"No, I wouldn't," she said quietly. She felt almost penitent, but she admonished herself. She wasn't going to let him put her in that frame of mind. "I'm just saying I am involved, and I'm tired of just staying put and being surprised by attacking vampires, not knowing if you're coming back!"
He smiled so that his fangs glittered in the electric light. "You worry? How touching."
Something in her chest jangled at his apparent amusement. Her hands wadded into fists at her side and she snarled, "Don't mock me! It isn't funny!"
He laughed; a rich ripple of sound. "I'm not mocking you, little one. You need not fear; unless I've been murdered, I'll return for you."
The words slid out before she could stop them, "That's what I'm afraid of."
He released the door, and stepped nearer to her. He was so close that she could feel the heat that radiated from his body.
He pulled her close with one arm, until only her hand on his chest kept them from being pressed against each other. His voice was soft and his eyes caressed her. "I won't leave you, don't worry about that. It will take more than what Claudius has to kill me."
She found herself sinking into his dark eyes, surrounded by a thick, soft warmth, like being wrapped in silky fur; drowning in it, and not caring.
"All right." His voice held a note of defeat. "You can come. But you must do exactly what I say when I say it, do you understand?"
She nodded and tried to escape his gaze and bring herself back to the surface.
"Good. Come on then." He released her and took a step towards the door, then stopped to wait for her.
She mentally shook herself and berated her weakness. That couldn't happen again, she told herself. She needed to remember how dangerous he was; dangerous and beautiful. And that was what made him twice as dangerous.
