Chapter 447
She came to in a foreign bedroom, it belonged to one of Malick's lackeys who'd either died or run. Jorick stripped away her ruined clothing and wrapped her in a stranger's pajamas. He frowned at her bloody clothes, but she couldn't tell him how they'd gotten that way.
Hours dragged in irrational patterns of time. She would drop into scorching blackness, but always came back to find herself in Jorick's arms, shivering and sobbing. He held her and soothed her, promised it would end. When she begged for water he gave her blood, first from a bag, and when she couldn't wrap her lips around it he poured it in her mouth. As the space between spasms increased, she managed snatches of sleep, interrupted by splinters of nightmares and agony. Each time Jorick was there, cradling her against his naked chest and whispering assurances, his tired eyes full of worry.
At last she dropped into slumber, clutching him as if he was a life preserver. When she woke he lay next to her in an exhausted sleep. Though there was no one to tell her, she had a sense that it was over.
Over. The word was so final.
She brushed the hair back from his face and noted the way his forehead puckered. She'd heard that turning weakened the master, and after staying awake with her he was probably spent. She'd just decided to sneak out of bed when he rolled over with a soft moan, followed by the usual morning gasp. It was the sound of someone who'd stopped breathing in the night and suddenly thought he needed to. She didn't know why. It wasn't like they had to breathe
No, not they. We.
She checked to see if she was breathing. The familiar in and out of oxygen continued, even though it was no longer necessary. She tried to stop, just to test if she could, but panic kicked in and she gasped.
Jorick swung into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"
She didn't want to admit her embarrassing experiment. "I guess."
Before he could reply, a knock sounded. He jerked to his feet just as the door swung open. Loren and Micah marched in, dragging Boris.
"He's a phantom," Micah said with disgust. His eyes flicked to Katelina. "How you doin', Lunch? Shit, guess I can't call you that now. Maybe Slave."
Jorick slammed him into the wall before he could finish. Katelina drew back instinctively. Though she looked away, Jorick's fury was painted in her memory; his face contorted and his fangs flashing.
Free, Boris faded toward the corner of the room and disappeared, while Loren tried to wedge himself between the two angry vampires. "Jorick, it's cool. He's just "
"Ready to die." Jorick grabbed Micah by the front of his tank top and flung him into the corridor with a crash. Katelina had a momentary view of the bald vampire bouncing off the wall and landing on the floor, then he was on his feet and charging back through the doorway.
"Fine. I've wanted to kick your ass since I met you. Bring it, bitch." Micah swung. Jorick dodged the blow and caught him in the back with his fist. Micah stumbled and spun back. Jorick was ready and punched him with enough force to send him flying back against the bed. The baseboard cracked and the bottom of the bed collapsed.
Micah went after Jorick and Katelina shook herself out of shock. "What did he do this time?"
Instead of answering, Jorick leapt at the bald vampire. Micah darted to the side and grabbed the dresser. With a grunt he hefted it and swung. The corner caught Jorick and sent him sprawling. Katelina darted to him. He was up before she reached his side. Blood trickled unheeded from his nose and his expression was cold. He pushed her back to the wall with one arm, and stalked to Micah. The bald vampire swung the dresser again. Jorick caught it. For a moment they strained, muscles bulging.
"Guys?" Loren hovered in the door, as if trying to decide whether to get help. "Come on, just"
Jorick ripped the furniture from Micah's hands and flung it against the wall. Clothing and pieces of wood scattered. Katelina ducked to avoid the front of a drawer as it flew past.
Micah dove to the left. He wasn't fast enough and Jorick tackled him to the floor. He struggled under Jorick's weight. For once his super strength wasn't enough. Jorick slammed his fist into Micah's face with a crunch. The vampire laughed. "That the best you got, Guild dog?"
Katelina stepped forward as Jorick punched him again. "Jorick?"
Another punch, another crunch, and Micah slurred out, "Fu' you, Essecutioner."
Jorick drew back. Katelina had a sudden vision of him punching clear through Micah's head into the carpet. Without thought she launched herself at her boyfriend. She grabbed his arm and ripped him off his foe.
Jorick jerked away and glared at her. He was flecked in blood and his face was contorted in rage. "Stay back, Katelina!"
"God damn it! That's enough! You're going to kill him!"
He shook loose. "That's my intention."
Micah pulled himself into a sitting position. His jaw hung at an odd angle and his nose was bent. Crimson flowed down his chest and matted his goatee. He tried to stem the flow. "You inten' to, bu' you jus' can't do it."
Katelina held Jorick back and shouted at Micah, "Would you shut the fuck up, you moron?"
Loren moved between them. "It's not his fault. He's stupid."
"Wha da fu? Who you callin' s'upid?"
Jorick tried to shake loose from Katelina. "Let go." He struggled with no success, and his voice got angry. "Katelina let me go."
"No! I don't know what he did, but you don't need to kill him."
"Yes. I do."
"Why?" The silence that followed was worse than the chaos. A bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. "What did he do? Loren?" She met the teen's gaze. He looked away quickly. "Micah?" The bald vampire muttered something undecipherable.
"What did he do?" she repeated. "Someone better tell me or I'll kill him myself."
"You were bleeding," Loren muttered. "There was a lot of blood. I mean a lot. And we didn't know how to do a linking-thingy-"
"What? When?" Jorick had said he'd turned her to save her, and she'd imagined some internal complications with her injuries.
"Um, right before-" the teen gulped. Katelina looked to the bald vampire and saw the guilt in his eyes.
She suddenly understood.
"Oh holy God. It wasn't Jorick."
"No." Jorick's one word was clipped and cold. The hatred that burned in his eyes was terrifying. He pulled free of her and moved toward Micah.
Loren tried to act as a wall between them. "He did it to save her!"
Jorick grabbed Loren by his shirt. "He should have brought her to me!"
"He wanted to but there wasn't time! It was my idea. I told him to save her. If you're gonna kill him you gotta kill me."
Jorick's growl turned menacing and Katelina thought he might rip the boy's throat out. Instead, he tossed him aside and loomed over Micah, his hands balled into white knuckled fists.
Katelina bounced forward and snatched at Jorick's arm. He shook her off and lifted Micah by the throat. The bald vampire choked and ripped at Jorick's fingers to no avail.
"She does not belong to you, do you understand?" Jorick shook him. "You will release her from her blood debt this minute or you will die!"
Micah made a wet sound and tried to spit a mouthful of blood at him. With his broken jaw, most of it dropped off his tongue and drooled down his chin. "Fu' you. I' been thinkin' abou' this and I ain't releasin' 'er to you. She nee's trainin' not coddled like a pwincess. I'm tired of savin' her all the time. Fu' that. She's gonna learn to take care a herself. I'm gonna"
His words choked out and Jorick snapped, "You're going to release her."
Micah clawed at Jorick's hands and hacked up a glob of congealing blood. "I'm gonna twain the bitch an' you can either like it or suc' it."
Jorick pulled back to punch through his chest. Katelina pushed Loren out of the way and grabbed his arm. "Stop! Not like this!"
With a roar, Jorick flung the bald vampire across the room. He crashed into the wall, then slid down to the floor, while Jorick turned his fury on her. "Do you understand what's at stake? He turned you! He is your master, not me! Do you understand what that means?"
It was more than she wanted to deal with at the moment. "We'll figure this out later."
"Later?" Jorick demanded. "What part of the urgency do you not understand? If this-this piece of-of filth commands it you have to obey him. He can do anything he wants with youto you! You belong to him!" He turned back to Micah. "Unless he releases you from your debt."
Loren hurried to his fallen friend and clumsily used his own hoodie to mop up some of the blood. "Fuck, Micah, just release her. When he gets fed up he'll take her anyway."
"No he won'." Micah tried to smile. "Jorick's too o'sessed wit' all the laws shit. I asked tha' German dude an' he 'splaned the laws. Since he's a Guild dog, Jorick believes in all that crap. He can quit worryin'. I don' waana fu' her, I just wan' her to learn to take care a her goddamn self."
Loren looked horrified and tried to shield his friend from Jorick. "He won't do anything bad. I swear a blood oath!" He held up his good arm and bit into his wrist. A thin stream of scarlet dripped to the floor. "I swear on my blood he won't. If he does you can kill us both!"
Jorick narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't hang my life on his honor. You're likely to end up dead. Move out of the way."
"I know what I'm doing. Micah's right. You drag her into battles and she gets her butt kicked." His bravado faltered as he looked into Jorick's face. He swallowed, then straightened his spine. "Micah taught me to fight when I joined up with Oren and he can teach her."
Katelina didn't like the idea of training under Micah, or of owing him a so-called blood debt, but she couldn't take any more of the fight.
"He's right." Jorick spun to face her and she forced the words out. "Loren's right. How many battles have I been dragged into, armed with a dagger if I'm lucky and no idea what to do? Yes, you're there, but you have to protect yourself first and me second." She laid her hand on his arm. "I'll do his stupid training, then we'll call it even, okay? You said before that some blood debts last centuries. What's a few days?"
"Days?" Micah gave a wet snort. "More li'e months, pwincess."
Jorick growled and she soothed him quickly. "Fine, weeks, then. I know Micah's an asshole, but you can read his mind. You can see what he has planned." Jorick made a sound of agreement and she went on. "If he does anything, you can always kill him later."
Something moved in the corner. Katelina was suddenly aware of Boris hunched down, arms up to protect himself from flying debris. "Besides, shouldn't you deal with the prisoner first?"
