Chapter 385
"Uzbecky-what?" Micah demanded. "Where the hell is that?"
Jorick cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm not sure."
"Isn't it Russian?" Loren leaned back on the porch and eyed the door. The members of The Black Vigil were in the half lit basement, having a meeting of their own, but they could be out any moment.
Katelina huddled into her coat. "I thought you knew everything, Jorick."
"Everything that matters. You forget, I left Europe for the New World long ago and until this little adventure I haven't been back. The Americas manage to be strangely isolated and seem to care very little for the goings on overseas. Even The Guild forgets anything else exists sometimes."
It sounded like what Fethillen had said, only in reverse. Everyone was short sighted. Not that she was any better. She puffed out a cloud of warm breath and tried to picture a world map. Her memory was foggy, and though she knew where Russia was, she wasn't sure how anything else connected to it.
"If no one knows where they are, why the fuck do they have their own citadel or whatever?" Micah asked.
"I believe she called it a Birlik," Jorick said. "The city was obviously very important at one time. Most of the guilds have been in place for centuries. But it doesn't matter. That's the direction they're heading in and we're going with them."
Torina leaned against the porch railing and pouted. She'd traded her dirty dress for a new one that hugged her curves and looked too short for the current temperature. "Who said we want to be involved?"
"Where else are we going to go?" Oren gave his sister a hard look. "I'm still wanted in the United States." Jorick started to interrupt and Oren held up a hand to silence him. "With Jorick's interference they might find it in their hearts to leave us be, but if he's in Uzbekistan he won't be able to interfere on our behalf."
"We could go somewhere else," Torina suggested.
"Ah, fuck it," Micah said. "At least there's likely to be a fight in Uzi-what's-it. I wouldn't mind kicking some ass."
Torina's green eyes narrowed to slits. "You want to fight on their side? Have you forgotten what they did to us?"
Micah glanced at Loren and then away. "Fuck, no. I ain't forgotten. Who's to say some of them won't get killed in the cross fire?"
"I'm against it," Torina said firmly. "The stronghold in Germany was better than this."
Katelina stopped from pointing out that Jorick had already agreed to go, so their votes meant nothing. Though, she supposed he deserved credit for pretending they had a say.
"The Black Vigil will make convenient cannon fodder," Jorick said quietly. "Let them fight the general members of the Children of Shadows and we can go after Cyprus and Ronnell."
Katelina was ready to remind him how their last fight with the wind walker had gone, when Loren asked the most obvious question, "So how do we get there?"
Fethillen hadn't explained transportation, and Katelina wondered if they had to find their own.
"Probably in the helicopters." Verchiel jerked his thumb in the direction of the massive outbuildings.
The thought of helicopters could only be processed with nicotine. Katelina snatched Micah's cigarette and took a long drag, despite his objections. "Isn't Uzbekistan a long way from here? I thought helicopters could only travel short distances."
"When compared to planes, yeah, but they're still a lot faster than driving," Verchiel said.
The door opened and the young man from the woods came out. What was it Fethillen had called him? Sushel?
Micah snatched his cigarette back and flicked the ashes at the newcomer. "What do you want?"
Sushel sneered and crossed his arms. Apparently their meeting was over. "Fethillen says you're going to accompany us." He met Jorick's eyes challengingly. "Ume and Quenby are traitors, and should be punished and you" he broke off and spat at his feet. "you should all be left to burn in the sun."
Verchiel spoke with mock offense, "That's not very friendly."
"I'm sorry, I don't feel friendly after burying Ken."
Katelina stopped from asking who he meant. Obviously it was one of the casualties from the woods.
Sushel turned his scathing eyes on Verchiel. "You won't gain extra privileges just because you're Ume's brother."
"Brother?" Micah demanded. "What the fuck? The way she talked I thought you were married!"
Sushel snorted. "That wouldn't be as endearing, would it?" He growled low in his throat. "Fethillen may be willing to break the rules and let you tag along, but you'd better stay out of my wayall of youor you'll be sorry." He pushed past them and stalked toward the dark forest.
Micah started after him, but Torina pulled him back. "It isn't worth the effort. We'll kill him when it's more convenient."
The bald vampire ground his cigarette butt out on the porch, then stormed inside, Loren on his heels. The door had barely shut before Torina followed.
Oren waited until the door closed before he turned to Jorick. "Do you believe we can trust them?"
It took Jorick a moment to answer. "Obviously the barriers are an inherited trait since they all seem to have them, and Fethillen's is the most impenetrable. Her mind is hard to probe without her noticing."
Katelina looked longingly in the direction of the discarded cigarette butt. "You read my mind all the time and I don't feel it."
"Only the surface thoughts," he said. "When I dig for memories you notice."
She thought of the infirmary when he'd looked into her mind to see how she'd ended up there. He was right, she'd felt it.
"So, yes or no?" Oren asked.
"Fethillen, maybe, but the rest of the Black Vigil? No. I wouldn't trust them. Best be on your guard."
By unspoken arrangement, the Black Vigil remained downstairs while the others stayed upstairs. From the scraping, thumping sounds, Katelina guessed they were finishing their packing.
She warmed her hands at the fire and turned to Jorick. "I was going to ask you earlier, what was all that stuff Fethillen said about Samael and the archangel Michael and a flood?"
"It's one of the versions of the story," Jorick said. "There are thousands of them, no doubt. It happens as stories move from culture to culture, often by word of mouth alone. It's hard to tell if any of them are the real one."
"But how could Samael cause a flood? Wait, she doesn't mean like the Noah's Ark flood?"
"I imagine so. How many great floods have you heard of?" When she stared at him he laughed. "Most ancient cultures have a flood legend, little one. It appears vampires are no different." He sobered. "Probably a flood happened shortly after whatever fight Lilith and Samael had, and so it was attributed to them. It is curious that they 'destroyed a mountain' and that Lilith's temple and Samael's tomb were in a 'great mountain'. Perhaps the destruction was merely excavation?" He shrugged it off. "I doubt we'll ever know the truth, unless you think Samael might tell us?"
It was a joke, but it made Katelina think of the temple and the way Samael had managed to impart knowledge without a word. It was something she hoped she never ran into again.
