Chapter 395
They laid down to sleep, and Katelina stared through the darkness. Now that they knew Malick was behind the attacks, it changed everything. She could still picture his revolt at The Guild; how vampires and humans alike had fallen in waves as he drew near, blood pouring from their ears and their eyes as they screamed, the way Malick had seemed to float as he and his followers marched over piles of corpses, his face emotionless, even serene.
And he plans to do that to the whole world.
The wind howled against the building and she shivered and pressed herself closer to Jorick. He was still warm, but she knew by the next evening he'd be freezing cold. The abandoned building had been bad enough, but it had been warmer there. Here there was very little to stop her from freezing to death.
At least the Russians will survive, she thought sarcastically. They spent so much time huddled together that they should stay warm.
She wondered what their relationship was. Were they a couple, or merely linked through suffering? She wished she could probe their minds like Jorick and Verchiel. The answers had to be there, waiting to be viewed, like a foreign movie with no subtitles. But neither Jorick nor Verchiel were interested. She supposed they had bigger things on their minds. Jorick, the self-imposed responsibility of trying to be "the hero", and Verchiel the worry of a newfound sister who'd been kidnapped.
She closed her eyes and thought about Ume. Was she still alive? Had they taken her to trade for Wolfe, or was there something else at work? Was it really Cyprus' idea or Malick's?
The last thought made her shiver.
She pushed the thoughts out of her head and tried to relax. Eventually she fell into dreams where voices screamed in time to the wind and blue lights lit piles of mummified bodies. The scenes wavered, then drifted away until she stood on a balcony. The view was a cold lake lapping in the darkness. She leaned on a red painted railing and watched the ripples shimmering in the moonlight. A familiar sense of peace permeated the air. She drew a deep breath and let the feeling swallow her. It was as if she was safe from everything; safe from Sushel's plots, safe from Cyprus' bitterness, and even from the evil machinations of Malick. Nothing could touch her in the silent, wintery cocoon.
"We are both safe here."
He stood farther down the balcony, a silhouette in the shadows, but his presence didn't alarm her. She'd known he was there.
"It won't last. I'll wake up and still be in that hut on the mountain."
"This is true, but only for a moment. Close your eyes and count. It will pass away and the dream will become the truth, and truth the dream."
It was confusing but she wasn't sure she cared whether it made sense or not. What mattered was the feeling of peace; the freedom, the knowledge that there was nothing terrifying waiting in the dark.
She woke with the tendrils of the dream clinging to her memory. The red painted banister, the water, the peace. Though the dream was gone the feeling remained and she felt that maybe everything would be all right. As long as Jorick was with her, nothing could really hurt her.
The Black Vigil woke soon after her and crept out the door either to feed or have a secret meeting. Katelina couldn't make herself care which. It was as if they were all so weak and ineffective that their plots meant nothing. But, as the minutes ticked past, the feeling faded and her worry returned.
She went with Jorick to feed, though she refused to eat the furry weasel like animal and hoped they'd find real food later. When they made it back, she noticed the Black Vigil were once again in their everyday clothesor their incognito clothes. As if the prospect of having to go to airports meant they needed to dress like everyone else.
Katelina finished off the bottle of water in her coat and dug in her bag for another. They were frozen. She tried to warm them up, and finally offered both Etsuko and the Russians the mostly frozen bottles. Etsuko took it with a bow and a thank you, but the Russians stared at it fearfully.
Fethillen walked by on her way to the helicopter and Katelina called, "Could you please tell them I'm trying to help."
The tall blonde vampiress looked surprised at the idea, but she rattled off something in Russian. Though the pair refused to look at her, the edge of relief slipped over their features and the male took the offered bottle. Fethillen turned to go, when he replied with a halting string.
The vampiress looked amused, and answered him. Whatever she said made his shoulders slump.
"What?" Katelina demanded.
"He thought you were going to help them go home. I told him no."
"Home? Does he mean where they lived before the vampires?"
Fethillen looked impatient, but she rattled off another sentence. The man looked up, his eyes wide with shock. He as quickly looked back down, shook his head and muttered a reply.
"He says their only home is with their masters. Is there anything else?"
"You can't mean that they want to go back to thatthat place and let those monsters torture them!"
Fethillen sighed, but translated the phrase. The Russians shuffled and the man murmured something barely audible.
"They cannot remember anything else," Fethillen said. "They don't understand anything else. You should have left them where they were."
She started off again, and Katelina called to her. She turned back and barked, "I don't have time to be your interpreter."
Katelina bit her lip and tried to capture the calm she'd woken with. "Why was Cyprus in Uzbekistan? Why did he think we were traveling with Wolfe?"
Fethillen made an irritated noise. "I have no idea. If you know something then be quick and tell me. I don't have time or patience for riddles and half hints."
Katelina's courage failed, but she pushed herself. She repeated Jorick's suggestion that Sushel had purposefully leaked false information, knowing Yaroslav would betray them. Fethillen listened and then gave a sharp nod. "This may be true. Yaroslav has been a long time contact. If this is what happened, Sushel may have told him to leak the information. Either way, it was without my permission and will need to be investigated." She started back to the helicopter, then paused and said, "Your coven should be careful human. If his intentions were devious, he will be no kinder to you."
Katelina was already well aware.
