Chapter 416
Jorick opened the door to reveal Etsuko and an uncomfortable Oren.
The pair stepped inside and Katelina bit back her surprise. Etsuko was dressed in a plum colored kimono with her hair in its usual updo. It was a far cry from the woman Oren had half carried to the hotel; her hair loose around her shoulders and her Kimono tied on sloppily.
She stepped forward, holding two small gift bags, and bowed. "Greetings Jorick-sama and Katelina-san. I hope you are well."
Jorick made a non-committal noise and Katelina tried not to stare at the tiny, pointed teeth that flashed when Etsuko spoke.
"Yeah, we're fine. How are you?"
"I am well, thank you." She moved in front of them, bowed even lower and held the gift bags out. "I must humbly thank Jorick-sama and Katelina-san for all that they did for me while I was ill. Please accept these humble tokens of my appreciation. They are not much. The gift shop did not have a large selection."
Katelina and Jorick looked at one another and then each took the offered bags. Katelina dipped her hand inside and pulled out a vividly painted hair comb with some kind of carved motif at the end. She looked over to see that Jorick held a brightly decorated box.
"Thank you," Katelina said quickly. "They're lovely."
Etsuko bowed again. "Thank you Katelina-san and Jorick-sama. I am humbled that you like them. If you will excuse us, I need to see Torina-sama and Ume-sama as well."
Katelina nodded and Etsuko went to the door. Oren opened it, and as she went out he cast back a hopeless look.
Jorick grinned. "I think Oren's bitten off more than he can chew this time."
Katelina laid the gift aside and dropped onto one of the chaise longues. She sifted through a pile of brochures until she came to a list of hotel amenities including"Self Laundry! Do you think that means a laundromat?"
"We could look," he said without enthusiasm.
There were no directions, and they wandered over the hotel, peering through open doorways. There was a miniature gym, a coffee shop, a caf¨¦, a dark banquet room, and an indoor swimming pool. To Katelina's surprise, Verchiel was splashing around in it enthusiastically. He clapped eyes on them and lit up.
"Look! A pool!"
"I see it," Katelina replied. "We're looking for the laundry room."
"Forget laundry comewait. Laundry? You're doing real laundry?" He swam to the edge and climbed out. Katelina looked away from his too tiny speedo.
"Oh God, not those again."
"What? They cover all the bits, just barely though, thanks to my extrememanliness." He winked and grabbed a towel from the rack as Jorick growled a warning. "I'll get my clothes and meet you there."
Katelina didn't know where 'there' was, but they eventually found it. There were eight gleaming stainless steel washers and dryers in neat rows.
She emptied her coat and stuffed it in the washer. She followed that with her and Jorick's clothes and finally with the bag itself, leaving a little pile of unwashable items on the countertop.
Verchiel popped up from nowhere. "Don't forget mine! I don't have much, so we can share a washer!" Without waiting for permission, he crammed his clothes in.
Jorick gave an unhappy growl, but settled down to wait. Katelina browsed a rack of newspapers. None of them were in English, but she paused at one that had huge photos of destruction. The scene was like something from a war zone; an entire city block had been leveled and if she squinted at the blurry image she thought she could see what looked like people among the mess, or bits of them, at least.
An English credit line under one photo had the word Cambodia in it, and she tossed the paper at the guys. "Is that the Asian Association?"
"I imagine so," Jorick said and handed it back.
Katelina took a seat next to him and stared at the photos. She remembered Amari's words, "Bloodier than The Faction. They're saying hundreds of casualties, and that's just the vampires. I don't envy the cleanup crews." The ones she didn't envy were the victims. The Children of Shadows were obviously using bombs. Vampires were bad enough, but how in the hell were they supposed to combat explosives?
The voice in her mind whispered, "Do not fear."
She appreciated the feeling of peace that settled over her, but Jorick was next to her. He could just say that everything would be all right.
"You've been doing that a lot lately."
Jorick looked up. "Doing what?"
"That mind message thing. I'm not complaining. I know you mean well, but come on, we're sitting next to each other."
His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"Just now, when I was thinking about the mess in Cambodia and you said 'Do not fear'."
His confusion turned to concern. "When?"
"For crying out loud! You just did it."
"No, I didn't." He glared at Verchiel, but the redhead held his hands up.
"Not me. You saw what I can do at the stronghold. No conversations, just tiny thought implants, and unless they've already got the idea percolating in their brain they come out sounding fake."
Katelina looked from one to the other. What were they trying to say?
"Who did it sound like?" Jorick asked fiercely. "Male? Female? Was it like one of your own thoughts or a distinct voice?"
"It sounded like you!" she cried. "Like they always do."
"Always? When did it start?"
She didn't understand. It had to be him. "It's the same thing you used to do after we were linked. Remember? You'd tell me things, like 'come here' or other bossy crap. Then you quit after the linking ended."
He looked alarmed. "And when did I start it again?"
"I don't knowthe first time we went to Munich. You told me to imagine a wall to block out the mind reading."
"And that sounded the same?"
"I guess soI don't know. How am I supposed to remember?"
He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. "Katelina! This is important, do you understand? Did it sound the same?"
"Yeswell- maybe not. Maybe that was more like I was thinking it. But I knew it was you."
"And this?" he asked sharply. "You said it was a voice? When did it start?" She looked blank and he repeated the question.
"I-I don't know." His voice and expression scared her. "Jorick, what is it?"
"When?" he bellowed.
Verchiel cleared his throat loudly. "You might want to, I don't know, take it down a notch?"
Jorick rounded on him, but before he could shout Katelina said, "When we were talking to the Kugsankal. You shouted 'Release her!' at them."
He spun back to her, his eyes wide. "No I didn't. They blocked me from the interrogation process. When I got impatient I told them their judgment should be made. I didn't do anything else."
And suddenly he was there, in her mind, scraping through the last month, listening to the random remarks: the plane, Uzbekistan, Malick's. When he finished he sat back, his face paler than usual. His dark eyes stood out like two livid spots of night. "I didn't do any of that."
A strange cold terror wrapped around her heart. "But if you didn't"
"I'll be there soon."
She jumped to her feet and looked wildly around the room. Jorick stood and grabbed her. "What is it?"
"I'll be there soon," she whispered. "That's-that's what heitthe voice just said. Couldn't you hear it?"
"No." Jorick dropped his hands and looked to Verchiel.
"Me either."
Jorick turned back to Katelina. "I can hear it in your recent memories, but at the time there was nothing. Like when the Kugsankal spoke to you."
The Kugsankal? Did he mean they were the ones speaking to her, or that it was someone as powerful as they were? Because, she could only think of one vampire that fit that description, and the idea was terrifying.
