Chapter 411
Katelina still she had her doubts the next evening. Etsuko insisted she was better, and tried to clean up after herself, but it was obvious by her frequent rest stops on the way to the shower that she was weak. She apologized again and again, and Katelina assured her it was all right. It was a conversation she'd memorized.
She tucked Etsuko back in bed, gave her some of the aspirin Oren had brought back from the poachers, and then motioned Jorick outside to talk.
Sorino, Kai, Loren, and Ume stood near the door, obviously waiting for a report. Katelina shook her head sadly. "She's a little better, but she's still sick. I don't know if we should stay or get the hell out of these third world conditions." She waved away a cloud of bugs. Though they didn't bite her, they still hung around.
Ume frowned. "Are the conditions bad?"
"Um, yeah. There's no bathroom for starters. Peeing in the jungle isn't sanitary. And using rain water on the dishes? Who knows what's in that stuff. And we're almost out of bottled water again."
"So should we go or not?" Loren asked, taking a step closer to Ume. His hopeful eyes said he wanted to do whatever she was doing.
Everyone turned to Katelina and she wanted to shout, "I'm no expert!" Instead she motioned to the airplane that waited to whisk the Black Vigil away. "I doubt they'll give us a lift to the airport, so we'll have to walk through the jungle. I don't think Etsuko could make it."
Jorick said, "In order to meet them we don't need to leave until tomorrow."
Sorino looked unhappy, but nodded. "It's a seven hour flight for us, and our pilots are human, so the sunlight is not as much of a problem. With that plane they'll have to stop somewhere else tonight and won't reach Amari's until tomorrow."
Amari. The name was familiar. Katelina wondered if he was the vampire who ran the airfield near the Raven Queen's temple.
"Then we'll wait until tomorrow," Jorick said.
Loren sagged but perked up when Ume said, "I've already told Fethillen I'd like to remain here with your coven in case I can be useful."
Useful to who? Katelina wondered. Etsuko or Fethillen? The vampiress hadn't been happy about letting them out of her sight, and now she'd have a pair of eyes left behind. It was a bitter thought, since Ume had never double crossed them, but it was still there.
With that decided the vampires split off to inform everyone. Katelina watched the plane leave and then she gathered the dirty clothes for some primitive laundry. Etsuko's kimonos were a challenge, but she eyed the results with satisfaction. Though the clothes would be stiff, they'd at least smell better.
Katelina took a shower and searched for Jorick. She found him talking to Wolfe and paused around the corner.
"I don't believe it's him," Wolfe said. "If so then why hasn't he made a move?"
"You know their time is different than ours," Jorick said. "A month would be but a blink."
"I know, but I was there and the complex was an empty space to me. I remember him from the cave and I'd have sensed him. It's obviously someone else."
"You said it felt empty. Are you sure there wasn't anyone there?"
Wolfe made a noise in his throat. "The complex is large; more than five square kilometers, and The Sodalitas did not send me to handle the problem for the G¨-ogu¨¬ F¨£yu¨¤n that's the Chinese guildso I only circled outside it. It's possible that a lesser vampire, with a weaker presence, could have circled inside at the same time I did and gone unnoticed, but not him. I could have felt him a mile away. However, there is compelling evidence that someone was there earlier this month. One night someone took down the signs and sealed the gates. The next night someone left a pile of refuse outside the walls; broken glass cases, more signs, essentially everything that had turned it into a tourist attraction. From what I understand that happened several days in a row and then stopped. The humans' tourism committee, or whatever they call it, was in an uproar. There's a hotel of some kind on the grounds, and none of the guests have been heard from since this happened. The human police tried to handle it first, but anyone who managed to get inside disappeared. The G¨-ogu¨¬ F¨£yu¨¤n got involved and sent some of their Executioners to find out what was going on, but none of them returned. At the moment they have the human government claiming there was a natural disaster to keep everyone away, but I think they'd do just as well to scale the walls again and look around. It's probably empty. If nothing else, there were only so many guests. Once a vampire had drained them, they'd start to get hungry and have to come out. My official opinion is that it was a local, probably someone disenfranchised with the modern way of things."
"A complete waste of time?" Jorick asked.
Wolfe grunted. "Not for you. You seized the chance of a nervous woman to get yourselves out of the stronghold. Surely you knew I didn't need help."
"Did you hear that, Katelina?" Jorick called.
She pressed herself against the wall. Crap. He knew she was there! She tried to pop around the corner innocently. "What?"
Jorick's dark eyes twinkled. "Did you hear what Wolfe said? About not needing help."
"No, I wasn't listening." But her pink cheeks and irritated scowl said differently and Jorick laughed. "She was on Sadihra's side, of course."
Wolfe regarded her with cool contempt, then turned back to Jorick. "Sadihra was aware I was on a mission of secrecy. She should have known better than to expect any communication. I anticipated more professional behavior from her. Though I admit, I see no reason for the silence. When I left Munich, the G¨-ogu¨¬ F¨£yu¨¤n wasn't even involved yet. Inanna saw 'something' in China and sent me to find out what it was. I'm not sure that's even what she foresaw. It might be something that's yet to happen. They used to do this frequently, and then it slowed and they finally went to sleep. Now that they're awake again" he broke off as if realizing he was being too chatty. "Enough. Perhaps you'd like to tell me why you were so keen to escape the stronghold that you took advantage of an unhinged woman?"
"We didn't want to miss this," Jorick said vaguely.
"Of course, because you're a demon eye and knew it was coming." Wolfe studied him and then shook his head. "Keep your secrets, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. If der H?here Rat wants you back, for instance."
Jorick grew serious. "It isn't der H?here Rat who's interested in us."
Wolfe cocked an eyebrow but said nothing.
