Chapter 441
Braydon grabbed Katelina by the shoulders. She had a final glimpse of Malick still seated on the balcony above, before she was forced out the door. Maybe she should have taken Samael up on the turning. At least then she'd have the power to wipe the smug smile off Malick's face.
Arlen led the way through a narrow corridor to a set of stairs. Katelina guessed they went down to his dungeon, not that she could imagine Malick having many prisoners. He seemed more likely to execute them.
She tried to memorize the path they took, in case she had a chance to get away. The rooms were mostly plain, though she noted a pile of computer equipment crammed into a space barely bigger than a closet. Twisting cables and cords ran across the corridor and she had to step over them or trip.
Arlen stopped them at a metal door. He unlocked two padlocks, then pulled Katelina from Braydon and shoved her inside. She landed on all fours as the door slammed shut.
She stood up and blinked against the blackness, her hands extended. She moved forward, seeking the nearest wall. A soft noise came from the dark; half shuffle, half inhale. She stiffened, ears strained. There was only silence.
As her eyes adjusted, a lumpy shape formed, like a person hunched down. "Who's there?"
The reply was a soft, low growl. She backed away until she was pressed against the wall. The growl came again, and the shape crept forward, too silent to be mortal.
The vampire leapt at her. She dodged and he slammed into the door with an angry growl. She hurried to the other side of the small room. The vampire, shadow-like in the heavy darkness, tackled her. The heavy weight of his body pressed her against the floor and his cold breath blew in her face. He snuffled her like a dog, moving his nose over her neck and her hair. He was going to drink from her and there was nothing she could do about it.
She squeezed her eyes shut and stifled a scream, ready for the bite, when he pulled away. Free, she dashed to the far wall and pressed back against it, chest heaving.
His voice came from the darkness, thick with a Russian accent. "You are human after all. I mistook you, but then you have had much vampire blood, yes? You smell of it strongly. It is an easy mistake."
She smelled like a vampire? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
When she didn't reply he added, "You may relax. I am no monster waiting to drain you. I thought that you were one of them."
"One of who?" she asked shakily.
"The master's sycophants. They fall out of favor from time to time and join me." His tone turned bitter, "I owe them much. When I get a chance, I repay my debt."
If attacking them was his idea of repayment, Katelina could only guess what they'd done to him. She'd seen vampires casually torture one another before, so safe in the certainty that their immortal blood would magically heal the physical marks that they forgot about the emotional ones.
The vampire dropped to the floor and shifted as if getting comfortable. "I will assume that you are not meant as a reward for me, so you must be my fellow prisoner. I wonder what you have done?"
She sat, but her muscles stayed rigid and ready. "Malick is using me for bait."
"I wonder what fish he hopes to catch? It is no matter. Fellow prisoners do not last." He paused. "We will introduce ourselves, yes? I am Boris."
Boris. The name screamed through Katelina's memory. A Russian vampire with a pot belly and a thick black mustache. Could it be the same one? "You sell fake IDs?"
He made a soft hrmph sound. "There is more to the business than that. More work than just pasting a photo to a piece of paper with a fake name. Much technology has been created to make it more difficult. There are layers-but never mind. What you say is close enough for the moment."
Pain stabbed at Katelina as she thought of Russia, of Verchiel who was now- She refused to think about it. "We went to you in Russia, to get visas for Japan."
"Really?" Boris sounded interested. "I get many customers, and it does me well not to remember them."
It was important to her that he knew her. He'd be less likely to snack on her if he felt some kind of attachment. "You told us to tell Senya hello."
"Ah! Yes, yes. Sorino's friends. He is good customer, has brought much business. But Senyaah poor Senya! Last I saw her, her master sent her away on a mission. He swore to kill me if she failed. Since I am alive, she must still be working."
"She's dead." Katelina clamped a hand over her mouth, but the words were already out.
Boris slumped. "Her mission was difficult?"
Katelina knew better than to say she was the one who'd killed the bitch. Since she'd gotten involved with vampires, Senya had been a dark bird of prey swooping lower and lower, trying to exterminate her and her friends. Not because she hated them, but because she was ordered to. Her cold indifference made it worse, so why did Katelina feel guilty?
When no answer came, Boris drew his own conclusions. "You do not know? It is okay, though a shame. I had offered her to come back, and I think that she forgave me, or she would have let her master kill me. Yes, we were patched up. It is good that we were able to do that. I would hate to think of her dead with bad blood between us. But, the question remains, if she is dead why am I still alive? Is it that her master finds me useful?"
"What would Malick need fake IDs for?"
"No, no. I am his hacker."
"Like a computer hacker?" His silhouette nodded. "What has Malick made you hack into?"
"The master himself does not come and command. It is Harn who holds my leash." Boris' voice turned threatening. "He is one I would like to get in here. I would pay him much revenge."
He paused, and when he spoke again he was calmer. "Such dreams keep the days moving and the nights livable. But you ask what they peek into. Many unconnected things. I have followed the whereabouts of individuals, checked credit cards and flight records. I have read information from every guild, sometimes about big things, and sometimes about little things. In Russia and Syria he has had me looking into the history of bloodlines. In Mexico he peers into their conflict with the United States Guild. In Canada he researches crime scenes. But the most interesting is always the Sodalitas in Munich, Germany. They have their fingers in many pies. You would not believe! And they organize it on computers now instead of keeping to the old ways of paper and locked vaults. It is amusing to watch as society puts out all their information, like candy before a child. They hide it behind a few firewalls and encryptions and think it will stop the child from snatching it, but not a wise child. He will reach around them and when they plug their little holes, the child will find new ones and all their secrets are laid bare. Never type anything that you do not wish the world to know. If it is secret, do not say it, and do not write it. But it is good for me, perhaps, that they do or I would not still be alive."
The lecture was nothing she hadn't heard before. "You said they're hacking Munich? What are they looking into?"
"Many things. But he likes especially the administrative files of the Khudshaya Biesythe most terrible demons. Greatest demons, if you prefer."
"Who are they?"
"Do you not know? They wear the medallions and enforce the Laws. Every guild has their own. Chernyye Biesy, we call them. Black demons. The worst of them are in Munich. The Greatest Demons. They are the dogs of the Sodalitas."
"You mean the Executioners and the Scharfrichters?" Like Executioners, the Scharfrichters were the vampire's elite police. Since Munich was the leader of all the vampires, the Scharfrichters were over all the Executioners.
"Call them what you will, they stink of the same evil."
She thought of Wolfe, the leader of the Scharfrichters, and his girlfriend Sadihra, tenuous allies of herself and Jorick. The last time she'd seen them, they stood bloody and battle dirty. Verchiel had said that, after she left, the battle fell apart, so they were probably still alive. Had they gone back to Munich? "What are the Scharerm, the Greatest Demons doing?"
"Have you heard of the Children of Shadows?" She wished she could say no, but she nodded. "There was big battle in Indonesia. Some stayed behind to clean up, but they have gone home now. Others took prisoners back to Munich. The prisoners told where the Children of Shadows' secret base is, and the Greatest Demons will go to wipe out what is left of them. They say the Children of Shadows are a most terrible threat. The old ones shake in terror of their past deeds. Though perhaps their new attacks are enough to make them more evil than the demons? Much death."
"What else has Malick had you look up?"
Boris shrugged. "We have stolen passcodes and PAL information for reactors and weapons systems from the human world. Missiles, mostly."
