Chapter 440
Voices drifted on tides of darkness, "she's mangled."
"Better mangled and controlled." It sounded like Arlen.
"Malick said he wanted her whole and unharmed, remember? She's probably got a concussion and God knows what. You better give her a shot." Was it Braydon?
"You. You're the one who let her get your knife in the first place. Just give her enough to fix her face. She's had too much blood already."
There was grumbling, then something pressed against her lips. The salty, sweet flavor oozed between her clenched teeth and set her tongue on fire. She swallowed quickly and turned toward the source, pulling more into her mouth. She felt it slide down her throat, felt it slowly spreading through her-
"That's enough," Arlen snapped. "You don't want to turn her for Christ's sake."
"I know, but she won't let go!"
"For the love of God."
They tugged. He finally wrenched free and left her searching for more. Just a little more-
"There. After all of that she should be fine in a couple of hours." Arlen yawned. "I'm heading to bed. Tyler had extra blood to fix the mess she made of him, so he's on first watch. Catya's second and you can have third."
Something like a complaint followed, but the words faded into nothing as Katelina drifted away, still wanting more.
Katelina woke with a pounding headache and a loud thrumming in her ears. She blinked as a room came into focus. A door. A flat panel television screen. A pair of chairs. She tried to move but her wrists and ankles were bound. She writhed and fell to the floor.
She moaned and looked up. She'd been laying on a leather couch. She realized that the steady thrumming wasn't in her head, but an engine. The chairs were seats and the room was the cabin of an airplane.
Great.
She rolled over and tried to pick at her bonds. They were tighter this time, and she couldn't get to them. So much for saving herself.
She tried not to wallow in self-pity. Of course she hadn't been able to defeat five vampires on her own. She was no match for them. That left her with two options: embrace that fact and cooperate, or continue to fight, knowing that she couldn't win.
The second option sounded better.
A pair of feet strode toward her. She was hauled up and tossed onto the couch. Braydon stood back and crossed his arms. "Don't cause any more trouble."
She wanted to ask why she was still alive, when words echoed in the back of her mind. "Malick said he wanted her whole and unharmed-" Right. So he could use her as bait for Samael.
She licked her lips and recognized the flavor. Had someone given her blood, or had she dreamed that? She remembered the metal door slamming into her face again and again and realized someone must have, or she'd be a vegetable. Just what she needed, more vampire blood. As if she wasn't a big enough freak.
Braydon gave her a once-over, then strode back toward the front of the plane. An announcement came over the loudspeaker. "We're preparing to land."
Katelina slumped back and closed her eyes. In her mind she could see Verchiel draped over the car, blood running down to the asphalt. Her chest clenched and she forced back tears. God no. He couldn't really be dead, could he? Arlen had bested him before. In Japan, he'd left him impaled on a rock at the base of a waterfall. She shivered as she remembered Verchiel's withered, pale face and the hole in his abdomen. And Kai. He'd had a lot of vampire blood, but he was still human. Could his mortal body withstand what Tyler had done to him, or was he shattered beyond repair?
She felt the airplane descend. She didn't have a seatbelt and her eyes flew open in panic. She'd been so busy worrying about Kai and Verchiel that she hadn't considered death by plane crash.
Despite her fear they landed without incident. Braydon lugged her out onto a small airstrip. Buildings were clustered at one end. At the other stood a familiar two story white house. A matching balcony and porch were done in exposed wood and hung with green plants. Razor wire protected the complex from outsiders. In the distance, lumpy shadows gave the impression of a decimated village. She was at Malick's oasis in Namibia.
Braydon dragged her to the house and down a narrow hallway. Katelina knew what waited at the end of it: a large tiled room dominated by a fountain and potted palms. That was the room that they'd fought in on their last visit.
The brunette stopped in front of the fountain. He dropped her to the ground and cut her bonds. Free, she tried to rub life into her tingling limbs. She glared up at her captor, but he stared straight ahead. The others did the same, Arlen's expression bored and Tyler's irritated.
Katelina's eyes moved to the four doorways, one on each wall. Though they yawned empty, she could feel vampires beyond and knew they were watching, ready to pounce if she tried to escape. Against those odds there wasn't much she could do.
A tall, pale vampire with blond hair and an easy smile walked in. "Ah," he said in a heavy French accent. "You are back with your prisoner. Master will be very happy indeed."
Tyler scoffed. "Hello, Raoul. Yes we are, no thanks to you."
"But there was not room for me," he said defensively. Then he smiled sweetly. "Has the little human given you trouble? Here, let me help you."
He crouched down, caught her chin, and forced her to meet his eyes. A warm feeling of peace and wellbeing enveloped her. For a moment she snuggled into it. But she knew what it was; knew what he was. A whisperer.
She struggled loose from the influence and glared at him.
"Not so easy is it?" Tyler asked sarcastically.
Raoul laughed. "No, not so easy. She is resistant. It is no worry. Master comes."
He drew away and Katelina climbed slowly to her feet, using the fountain for support. Her eyes moved to the balcony that ringed the second story. Though she couldn't see any sign of Malick, she could feel him drawing closer. Each second that passed made it harder to breathe until he finally swished through the door above. A large wicker chair served as his throne. He took it and gazed down at them, like a fairytale king come to life. His long white hair and silver beard gleamed in the artificial lights. Long crimson robes, heavily embroidered with gold, fell majestically around him. His face showed age, but immortality gave it the look of carved marble.
His voice echoed through the chamber, like rain and wind. It was no longer as mesmerizing as she'd once found it; not after her time with Samael. "Ah! You have returned! Welcome my children. I trust you had no difficulties?"
Tyler muttered something under his breath, and Arlen jabbed him in the ribs. "No, Master. The human had already left Samael when we found her."
"How interesting." Malick's dark topaz eyes met Katelina's and the room disappeared. She could feel his warm amusement wash over her as he prodded through her memories; the fight in the parking lot, the restaurant, parting from Samael. Laughter sounded in her head and then the room dropped back into focus and she was left gasping for breath.
"For the sake of my son, Jorick, you willingly walked away from an offer of power the likes of which have not been seen in this world for thousands of years? To give up such a proposition-and for a man who did not even come to your rescue? Not that he is to blame. Jorick has a habit of coming late. I'd suggest you ask his first wife, but-"
Good humor twinkled in Malick's eyes. Katelina looked away in disgust. While Jorick had been away doing Malick's bidding, the master had arranged for Velnya to be murdered as a witch by the local humans. It was Malick's fault that Jorick was late, no one else's.
"You also blame me?" Malick asked. "Come now, I would never have been pressed into such need had my son not chosen to leave me for an unworthy creature. I realize you have never had the pleasure, but surely what little you have heard demonstrates what a waste of immortality she was. And he chose a life of catering to her childish whimsa life of arranging furniture and playing houseover staying with me where he belonged." Malick paused. "And neither do you understand. Like all of his preferred companions, you lack a grand vision. Your petty concerns consist of things like bookcases and kitchen tiles, but Jorick is meant for bigger things. He has the ability to walk among the greatest, to become a legend in his own right, and yet he purposefully chains himself to those who have not the power to rise above the muck of the commonplace. How can he expect that he would ever be truly happy rolling in the mud with the rest of you? Trapped in a life of dishes and glassware. But then, perhaps you are not meant for such a mundane existence anymore. Not since Samael tainted you."
Anger and fear warred with one another in Katelina and she forced out words, "You don't want Jorick to be great. You want him to be your slave."
"Slave is a word which modern humanity has given so many unpleasant connotations. It is a word which causes revulsion and anger. It was not always thus. But, we are getting off track. You are correct in one aspect. I wish my son would realize his potential and come back to me. I have never tried to disguise my desire, but I do not want him as a slave. Do you think they are my slaves? Ask them; they would say differently."
As he motioned to her captors, his long sleeve fell back and revealed the stump of his hand. The glaring imperfection stood as a reminder that Malick was not indestructible. If he could lose his hand, he could lose his life. When compared to Samael and the complete awesomeness of his power, Malick was really nothing more than a tragic, petty figure, clawing for days of bygone glory.
With that thought the spell was broken. Katelina's terror began to dissipate. She drew her shoulders up and met his gaze. "Because you have them brainwashed."
"Do I indeed?" His expression flickered. Katelina guessed that he'd heard her thoughts, but she didn't care. Though she might not be strong enough to kill him, Jorick was, and if not Jorick then someone else. Malick's days were numbered and she suspected he knew it.
Dark fury glistened in the master's eyes then melted to his usual gentle veneer. "That may be, but such an end will I make that the legends will outlive the petty existence of one such as you. Indeed, I believe you may have already outlived your usefulness. I had counted on a prize Samael wanted, not something so cheap that he has already dismissed it without thought." She felt him scraping inside her head, and his smile grew more genuine. "Then again, he has invited you to return and I can feel your connection to him, as strong as it was on our last meeting. Perhaps he only requires motivation to seek you out." He seemed to be speaking to himself. "Why not conduct the experiment? There is nothing to be lost, except her life. Can a drawback as insignificant as that be considered a drawback at all? Arlen, take her to the guest room while we prepare things and we will see if we cannot inspire Samael's cold heart."
