Chapter 451
They found Jorick in the basement torture room. Katelina suppressed a shudder as her eyes moved over the stained wooden table and the hanging straps. Her memories were sketchy, but a feeling of nausea remained.
Jorick met her gaze and nodded, as if to say it was all right. She gave him a weak smile, then looked to the others.
Oren stood just behind Jorick, and to his right was Jamie. He looked like Katelina remembered, only better with her new eyesight. His raven black hair, pulled back in a bun, was highlighted with subtle shades of blue, and his eyes were a deep brown, like melted chocolate. He wore a pullover shirt and around his neck hung the Executioner medallion; three silver circles twisted into a knot.
Oren was also improved. She could see the different shades of his tawny hair, and noticed the way the light glinted in his amber eyes. Though they were all more attractive, they weren't as fascinating as they'd been; she no longer felt drawn to their beauty against her will.
Boris sat in Malick's chair, repeating everything he'd told Katelina about the master's plans. He finished with details about stealing nuclear weapons' codes.
"He could wipe out the world with those!" Oren cried. "Kill everything."
"Even vampires?" Katelina asked.
"Yes and no." All eyes turned to Maeko. "Those at ground zero are disintegrated, and any in the blast radius are burned to ash. Beyond that they're only injured and can heal with blood or rest. Strong vampires can continue to regenerate, even as the radiation burns them, but weaker vampires need to leave the radiated areas."
"How" Katelina started to ask.
The girl shrugged. "Kate-chan forgets Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
The names left Katelina uncomfortable. It was her country that had dropped those bombs.
"It was not Kate-chan's doing." Maeko offered her a smile. "The point is that only vampires near ground zero will die. We don't have as much to fear as the humans. Malick-san's threats may not work."
"No," Boris corrected. "It is not the size which would destroy the world. One missile we could survive. It is the mutual destruction policy which guarantees that more will follow. Many more. All the world would unleash their arsenals and leave cities of ash."
Verchiel leaned against the wall. "We'd survive the fallout."
Boris scoffed. "But animal life? We would die eventually, clawing our throats in thirst. The young would fall first, but even masters would succumb to starvation."
"Then what's the point?" Katelina demanded. "If he wants to rule the world, why destroy it?"
Jorick waved her objections away. "His ultimate goal is not victory, only the journey there. The real question is, where is he?"
Boris shook his head. "This I do not know."
Jorick met his eyes, no doubt plumbing the depths of his thoughts. He broke away and turned to Jamie. "Bring someone else."
The Executioner motioned Boris to his feet. The Russian vampire complied, but stopped near the door. "I am no enemy. Must I remain as a prisoner?"
Oren caught Jorick's attention, and a silent conversation passed between them. Jorick nodded. "Let him go, so long as he remains here."
"Why can I not leave?"
Oren spoke up, "You swear no loyalty to Malick, but how can we be sure you won't be recaptured by his underlings?"
In other words, Katelina thought, they don't trust Boris not to run back to Malick.
Boris looked ready to argue, but swallowed his objections and left.
Katelina moved to Jorick's side. "What's Jamie doing here?"
"Eileifr was concerned," Jorick answered. "The Guild has been getting strange bills. Someone has been charging expensive hotel rooms on his Guild issued credit card."
Verchiel shrugged. "They were legitimate business expenses."
"They would be, except The Guild sent us to Munich, not Russia, or Indonesia, and we should have been back weeks ago."
"We got busy," Verchiel murmured.
"Yes, but since your card was the only one used in Indonesia, the council was worried that you'd switched sides, like Cyprus did, or that you'd been killed and your credentials stolen."
"But how did he find you?" she asked.
"He was sent to Indonesia and arrived the evening after the battle. I was already organizing to rescue you and he agreed to come." He shot Verchiel a dirty look.
She sensed a brewing fight and rushed on. "What about Hethin, that white haired Scharfrichter? Did he come with Sadihra?"
"No," Oren answered. "After the battle some of the Scharfrichter stayed in Indonesia to clean up. Sadihra insisted Hethin come with us because she had to go back to Munich with the prisoners."
And then she filed paperwork for permission to come here.
Jamie returned, pushing Braydon in front of him. He forced the brunette vampire into the chair and stepped back.
The prisoner met Katelina's eyes. Jorick moved between them and skipped straight to a mental interrogation. Katelina felt a stab of pity. Really, Braydon hadn't done anything to hurt her.
"Or to help you," Jorick growled. "He's as guilty as the others."
She nodded, though for some reason she didn't feel that way. Verchiel looked back and forth between them, then leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I told you before that drinking from multiple vampires creates confused loyalties. He gave you blood on the plane because Malick ordered you 'unspoiled'. You may not remember, but he does."
Jorick stepped back, his expression barely contained fury. "This one is useless. He wasn't trusted enough to know anything of value, and he has plenty to answer for. Kill him."
Braydon stood on Jamie's command and was marched through the door.
Katelina didn't want to defend him, but she couldn't stop herself. "Or we could not kill him."
"No, let's spare them all."
Oren shifted uncomfortably. "Perhaps he could be useful?"
"How? Malick won't come for him, and he knows little of value. He isn't trustworthy enough to be our spy. The best course is to kill him." He looked sharply to Katelina. "And your objections only strengthen my conviction."
"I didn't object." She squeezed her eyes shut. Just what she needed, some kind of weird attachment to one of Malick's lackeys. Shit.
"We should probably vote," Verchiel suggested. "Unless you've appointed yourself a one man death council?"
Jorick growled, but the nonchalant comparison to Malick was hard to ignore. "Do what you want. Should I interrogate the human, or would you like a democratic committee?"
"By all means, go for it." Verchiel grinned.
As if on cue, Jamie led Xandria through the door. Katelina stared as if she'd never seen her before. With her vampire sight, Xandria's imperfections were now glaring: the shadow of microscopic freckles across her nose, a crooked ear, the subtle reek of body odor magnified over the scent of her blood. Katelina understood why the vampires had turned their noses up at her. What had she looked like to them?
As she continued to stare she saw past the bad. Xandria's subtle perfections leapt to the fore. The highlights in her hair, the symmetrical curve of her chin, the shimmering depths of her eyes. More than that, she was so alive, as if she was a throbbing heartbeat on legs, life personified. If vampires could see humans that way, then maybe that was why some of them took humans as pets, or maybe that was how Jorick was able to look past all of her own imperfections. Perhaps it was as Kateesha had once mused, that Jorick had taken a human to rejuvenate himself. Perhaps her living presence made him feel alive. How would he feel about her now? Hadn't he told her before he wasn't interested in any of the vampire women? What if it was because they were vampires?
Xandria stepped toward Katelina. "Kate! Are you okay?"
Jorick gave a contemptuous snort. "Why wouldn't she be?"
"Because you took her prisoner and turned her," Xandria snapped back.
Katelina cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Um, this is Jorick."
"I've heard of him. He's the one the old guy is after. He was mixed up in that war Cye was heading." She glared at Jorick. "You may be big and bad, but I'm not scared of you. When Kate's master"
"I am her master!" With an impatient noise, Jorick met Xandria's eyes. She went slack, but he released her before she could fall.
"She knows nothing."
"I suppose you'll want her killed?" Verchiel asked casually.
"No!" Katelina cried. "She's just-" She stopped herself from saying "just a human" and instead added, "She's the one I met in Indonesia."
"Are you friends with all of Malick's lackeys?" Jorick demanded.
"She's not his lackey. Her master was just recruited in January."
"I know, Katelina. I just read her mind." He held her eyes, a clash of wills, and finally looked away. "She's your responsibility."
Xandria shook herself, as if still recovering from the sudden mind probing. Sympathy rushed over Katelina. With Jorick's rush, she doubted the process had been gentle. She moved toward their prisoner. "Fine."
Verchiel snickered. "Kately's only been immortal for a day and she already has a pet. Are there any other prisoners?"
"The human was the last one." Jamie turned to Jorick. "I'll contact The Guild and tell them what we've learned."
Verchiel grinned. "Won't they be excited? How long will it be before Eileifr orders us back?"
"Would it do him any good?" Jamie asked dryly. "They ordered China to turn you over. We saw how that went."
The door opened and the Scharfrichter Hethin walked in, his long white hair pulled back in a ponytail, Sadihra on his heels. Though she was short and chubby, the vampiress moved with a grace granted by immortality, and a prowess earned from years of being one of Munich's elite police officers.
They came to a crisp stop and Sadihra's blue eyes went to Jorick. "You've been interrogating the prisoners?"
Jamie shared what little they'd learned. When he finished, Hethin frowned. "Have you reported this?"
"I'm going to call The Guild."
"I meant have you reported to Munich, but no matter. They've recalled us."
"They've recalled you," Oren said.
"And you," Sadihra replied. "Though you may have forgotten you left under-mysterious circumstances last time."
"Or were let go," Jorick said. Katelina met his eyes and he shrugged. "You didn't think our 'escape' seemed easy?"
She thought about their last visit to the vampire capital. After an "inquiry" into the waking of Samael, the Kugsankalthree ancient immortals who ruled the vampire worlddiscovered that she'd drunk his blood. They decided that she and Jorick must remain prisoners for their own "protection". When Sadihra's boyfriend Wolfe disappeared while on an assignment, Sadihra had helped them escape with the understanding that they would locate him and make sure he was all right. As Jorick said, the escape had been easy. No one challenged them, or chased them, and even Katelina thought it was odd at the time. But if the Kugsankal had ordered them to stay, why would they let them go?
Jorick looked to Sadihra. "I assume Munich insisted you bring us."
The Scharfrichterin nodded and Katelina groaned. The stronghold was the last place she wanted to go!
