Chapter 406
The battle raged around the, when a loud clapping sounded from above and Katelina looked to the balcony where Malick continued to watch with an amused smile. He dropped his hands and said something she couldn't hear. A black coated vampire stepped out from the doorway behind him, holding a large metal hunting bow. As Katelina watched, he fitted an arrow, took aim and fired. The bolt streaked through the air and lodged itself into Oren's back. He gave a roar of surprise and reached behind himself wildly, trying to grab the arrow.
Another arrow whizzed through the air, this time striking Sushel through the eye. He screamed and fell back, leaving Wolfe to fight the scythed vampire alone. The archer fitted a third arrow, and Katelina realized how it would end; Malick was finished with the show and they would be picked off one by one.
"Take out the cause and the effect cannot follow."
With those words, calm descended on her. As if following directions, she hefted Griselda's giant gun and aimed it not at the archer, but at the ancient master. The trigger was stiff under her finger, and she applied more pressure to pull it back.
The world slowed until it almost stopped. Malick broke into laughter and met Katelina's blue eyes. His voice rippled in her mind, "Do you think that will hurt me?"
I'll find out.
She could hear her heart beat, like a long, drawn out drum as the second stretched to infinity. Everything slipped by and then there was the door. The door that should not be opened. Not yet.
"Release her!"
The world slammed back and Katelina pulled the trigger. The recoil sent her sprawling on the floor and the gun fell from her hands and clattered next to her. She was dimly aware of Jorick shouting for her but the buzzing in her ears blocked out most of the sound. And then a single word cut through it.
"Enough!"
The word was the roar of thunder. As it fell the fighting came to an involuntary stop. Katelina looked to see Malick, blood on his shoulder and his smile gone. A loud, angry thrumming filled the room, and his jewel eyes darkened until they were like the center of a hurricane. The noise grew louder. Loren dropped to his knees, his hands over his ears and blood running from his nose, followed by Micah. Sushel collapsed next, then Malick's archer.
Katelina covered her ears as the sound swelled and the others continued to drop. It was like pressing her ear against a resonating speaker and ascending in an airplane at the same time. The pressure was painful, and she looked through blurry eyes to see that Jorick, Wolfe, Fethillen, and Verchiel remained standing, their expressions defiant and furious. Sorino, meanwhile, looked oddly amused.
The noise built and Katelina screamed. She wasn't the only one, though she couldn't tell who the voices belonged to. She struggled to see, to make sense of what was going on, and saw Cyprus rise to his feet, unaffected. He grabbed the nearest discarded weapon and raced out of the room, toward the front door. Fethillen started after him and the throbbing noise increased until she fell to her knees in the doorway, clutching the frame with one hand and her head with the other.
Jorick was suddenly hovering over Katelina. He laid his hand on her head and the noise stopped. She sagged in relief and looked to see Malick's archer stand and skitter out the door. Arlen similarly disappeared, and though Katelina expected Verchiel to chase after them, he stood immobile, eyes narrowed and forehead wrinkled in pain or concentration.
And then the sound stopped. Malick was gone. Katelina could still feel his presence. He hadn't really left, only slunk deeper into the house. She pulled to her feet and started to go after him, but Jorick caught her arm and shook his head. "Not this time." Fethillen was already out the door in pursuit of Cyprus, and Sushel hurried after her, his scythe in one hand and the other held to his bleeding eye. Loren staggered to his feet, and Micah caught him, though the bald vampire didn't look much better. Verchiel helped Ume up, and Sorino sorted through the plants. He stopped and scooped up Kai's limp body from among the foliage. Blood ran from the teen's nose and ears. Katelina made a noise of horror, and Jorick said, "He's only unconscious."
There was a loud roar and Katelina clapped her hands to the sides of her head. The sound faded quickly with none of the repercussions. She looked to Jorick, but he silently led her through the narrow hallway and outside into the night. The door of their plane was open and Fethillen charged up the steps. In the sky Katelina could see the lights of another aircraft. That was what the sound had been; Cyprus escaping.
Just as Malick planned.
***
Since Malick had admitted that he couldn't bring Memnon back, her interest in him waned. She wanted to follow Cyprus, but Sorino refused. His main concern was everyone bleeding on the upholstery. "I'll have to pay to have this cleaned!" he snapped more than once. He even demanded Quenby's body be stashed in the cargo compartment.
They took turns in the bathroom. When it was Katelina's, she shut herself inside with relief. Her mind still echoed with the horrors she'd witnessed. Quenby was dead. The blonde vampiress had never been especially friendly, but neither had she ever been exactly unfriendly, just frank. And frankness wasn't so bad. It was better than trying to decipher what lay behind a false smile.
She pictured Quenby's dead face, mouth open, eyes staring at nothing in surprise. Had she been surprised? Fethillen said all of the Black Vigil were ready to die, but had Quenby been ready? Had Sushel's friend Ken, or the others they'd taken out in the woods? Had Malick's henchmen been ready for oblivion?
She closed her eyes and opened them to stare at the reflection in the mirror. Her blonde hair was loose in its ponytail and her blue eyes echoed the scene they'd left. Despite the bloodshed, she'd come out with not so much as a scratch. Usually vampires went for the weakest link first, so why hadn't Malick's henchmen gone for the human?
The master's words came back to her, "I must confess I'd thought to keep you here, my son, a prize fought over by greater gods, but it seems you are not the chosen child-now I would ask a different prize."
Of course. He meant her.
Katelina's stomach clenched and she clutched the tiny sink. Drops of watery blood were in the bottom and she stared at them until it hurt, as if the reality of such a tiny detail could force away her terror. Malick had never been interested in her, past an object used to make Jorick behave, but now that Samael had healed her- "the blood of ancients runs in her veins."
What would he do with her if he got her?
Someone banged on the door and she choked back a wave of terror and stumbled out. Her shaky legs took her to the couch where Kai lay and she dropped down next to him. Like her, he appeared unhurt, but there were still traces of bloody trails from his nose and his ears.
"It could be worse."
She jerked at the mental message and eyed the prone teen. His hair had slipped from his face and she saw a single green eye peering out at her. Though he was still human he'd had too much blood and now he was caught in a place in between, with powers he shouldn't have, abilities inherited from Sorino.
"How?" she asked aloud.
"He could have taken you prisoner, and then you'd know for sure."
"But look at what he did," she complained. "Quenby's dead, and for what?"
Kai's eye closed then opened, as if he was fighting sleep. "You went to rescue someone, didn't you? Was she rescued?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then that's what it was for." And with those words Kai slipped into oblivion again.
