Chapter 471
Wolfe's orders were to return to the Konfederatsiya where they would get "further orders". The ridiculousness of it all didn't escape Katelina, but she didn't argue. She finally understood what Jorick meant about vampires getting tired if they stayed up late without extra blood.
She found a tiny bathroom, and crammed inside to scrub the gore from her hands and face. Her shirt and jeans were stained, and she hadn't brought anything to change into.
Crap.
The others took quick turns cleaning away the evidence of the battle, then they headed back to the entrance. The guards who'd been outside were already in the facility, only Pavel waited with the shiny red train. He escorted them inside and back to the Konfederatsiya.
The lobby was empty except for another vampire in a furry hat. He handed Pavel a clipboard, then saluted and walked away. Pavel read over the paper, nodded, and motioned them to follow.
"You have been given rooms for the day."
The rooms were deep in the underground complex. Paneled walls, heavy furniture, and shiny floors looked straight from a documentary. They clashed with the more modern chairs, bed coverings, and ugly modern art paintings.
Katelina took a quick shower, then dropped into bed. Her eyes were barely closed before sleep took her.
The next morning, Jorick pulled on his battle scarred garments and motioned her to do the same. She eyed her ruined clothes with distaste.
"If you need something new we can get it."
Her hungry stomach said food was more important. Faux marble pillars and a ceiling like the inside of a sea shell looked more opera house than restaurant. It left Katelina uncomfortable in her stained outfit, like the time she'd eaten at the country club as a kid. She'd sat in the straight backed chair, certain that the other patrons were thinking, "that child doesn't belong here." Now that she was grown, she doubted the people had even noticed her, just as the vampires in the restaurant probably didn't. The logic did little to soothe her.
The waiter brought them a pair of wine glasses and a decanter of crimson liquid. Jorick poured the blood. Katelina barely took the goblet before she drained it. She did the same twice before she finally sat the glass on the table and leaned back, her cheeks red. "You're right. I am a glutton. It's disgusting. It's blood, for crying out loud. Human blood."
Jorick swished around a mouthful. "A mixture of animals, maybe, but not human."
"That's supposed to make it better?" She wiped her lips and came away with a scarlet smear. Instead of turning her stomach, the vivid color made her want more.
"What's the difference between drinking an animal's blood and eating their muscles and skin?" Jorick asked. When her lip curled he added, "Meat is an animal's muscles, you know."
"Yes, I know, but you make it sound gross."
"I'm just pointing out the truth. People give it tidy names to distance themselves: ham, pork, steak, roast, medallions. In the end, they're just eating cooked muscles and skin. Perhaps you should try calling the blood something else? Wine, maybe?"
"I don't appreciate your sarcasm."
Jorick drained the last of his glass. "I wasn't being sarcastic, Katelina. Never mind. Let's find a clothing store."
The shopping center was the same mismatch of antique grandeur and modern design as the bedroom. One store with chrome walls and flashing lights left Katelina dazed, while another, full of heavy black clothing, delighted Jorick. It took several forays into odd shops, but finally they had a miniature wardrobe assembled.
Back in their room, Katelina peeled off her clothes and pulled on her new flared jeans and dark embroidered hippie blouse. "It's not in style anymore, but it's better than a corset dress."
Jorick looked her up and down. "You look fine, little one, though perhaps the corset dress would be better."
She rolled her eyes and pulled the random ensemble of junk from her old pockets to cram into the new ones. She paused at a piece of folded paper and opened it.
"What's this?"
Jorick peered at it. "Otakudoll swirl j-n-e-t period c-o-m? I have no idea."
"It's not a swirl, it's an 'at' symbol. Otaku doll at j-net dot com. It's an email address. But who-Wait. Doll. Otaku. Maeko!"
Katelina quickly explained, "As we were leaving she gave me this so we could contact her. I just assumed it was a phone number."
"And you know how to use this-address to contact her?"
"If I have a computer and the internet, yeah."
"Good. Let's see if Wolfe has found Malick yet, then we'll send her a letter."
Katelina didn't bother to correct him.
Wolfe, Braydon, and Jamie weren't in their room. "We'll be able to find Wolfe at least," Jorick said and led her to the office of the Chernyye Biesy. "I'm sure he has his nose poked into everything."
A red haired receptionist confirmed their suspicion. A guard appeared a moment later and led them through a door marked with heavy Russian characters. The next room was nothing like Munich's Scharfrichter office. Painted cream and lit with fluorescent tube lighting, it reminded Katelina of a TV police station. Several desks were arranged in an open space, heaped with monitors, paperwork, and computers. The guard deposited them next to an empty desk, then saluted his way back to work.
Katelina dropped into the chair while Jorick hovered impatiently. She looked over the desk's contents: a computer, a stapler, an ink pen cup, a stack of paper, a bobble head duck. It was so normal it was weird.
Jorick rifled through the papers. "I'm going to find Wolfe. While I'm gone, read through these. See if there are any clues. Look for sightings of suspicious vampires that match Malick or his henchmen. Chances are he's been found already and they don't know it."
Before she could form an objection beyond, "Someone will see me!" he was across the room and through a door in the back wall.
She looked around with pseudo-casualness. The surrounding vampires were absorbed in their work. It was as good a time as any.
She picked up the stack and flipped through them. Written in a mix of English and Russian, each neatly typed page detailed a complaint that had been phoned in. An unprovoked attack at a den outside of Moscow. Two rogues caught openly killing people in Perm. A vampire reported missing from Dushanbe. A suspected vampire attack behind a bar on Voznesenskiy per.
"Can I help you?"
Katelina stifled a gasp and looked up to find Pavel standing over her, one eyebrow cocked. She dropped the papers to the desk. "Um, I'm just-waiting for Jorick."
"And the papers jumped into your hands?" He laughed. "It does not matter. There is nothing important there. Just the day-to-day routines. The real question is where Chernyy Bies Jorick has disappeared to."
"To talk to Wolfe."
"Then he has made his goal."
Katelina followed Pavel's nod to see Jorick and Wolfe walking toward them, talking low. Katelina stood as they stopped next to the desk. "You found him."
"Yes," Wolfe said unenthusiastically. "I was in a meeting with the Chernyye Biesy."
She motioned to the vampires working around them. "Aren't they-?"
Pavel laughed. "No, no. We are lowly guards. The Biesy do not answer phones and read reports."
Of course they don't. "Have they found Malick yet?"
"Maybe," Wolfe answered. "Intelligence is gathering more information. Once the Sodalitas have had time to review everything and make their decision, we will have our orders." He looked sharply at Jorick. "When that happens I will find you. In the meantime, I'm sure you can amuse yourselves, as Jamie has managed to do."
Jorick took Katelina's hand and fought a smirk. "I'm sure we'll find something more entertaining than he has. Come, little one. We've taken enough of Wolfe's valuable time."
When they reached the corridor, Katelina started to tell him about the papers. She'd barely mentioned the first when he waved her to silence. "We don't need to piece the puzzle together anymore. They've found him and his followers in the mountains outside of Obigarm in the Emirate of Bukhara."
"Where?"
Jorick looked thoughtful. "I believe Wolfe said the humans call it Tajikistan now."
That still meant very little, but it hardly mattered. "Are you sure he's there? Wolfe said"
"That they need more intelligence. They always need more intelligence. If the Sodalitas had their way it would take a month to confirm his whereabouts. Though perhaps this time they'll be quicker since he has the crown."
"I still don't understand why it matters that much."
"I suppose it would be the same as someone stealing your president's seal."
"He has a seal?"
"Doesn't he? Then something else. Taking up residence in the White House."
She shrugged. "Assuming they could actually do it, so? Big deal. Where he lives doesn't make any difference. He's still the president."
Jorick threw his hands up hopelessly. "It's a concept modern humans have lost, then. It's a symbol, Katelina, proof of his power. Think about it. Your president is only president because you allow him to be. If you chose to rise up as a nation and dethrone him, or if you chose to ignore him, then what would he be?"
"He'd still be the president. He doesn't stop being president because people don't like him or else we'd never have one that lasted more than a month. And as for rising up, what's the point? They'd just kill anyone who did, or put them in prison."
"You've all become sheep," Jorick said with disgust. "A man is only in power so long as those he rules allow him to be. Malick's demand is psychological. Vampires follow the rules of the Kugsankal because they fear them, because they believe they cannot beat them, the same way you follow your president's laws because you feel you have no other choice. Malick has taken something away from them. By doing so, he proves that they are not unbeatable; they are not all powerful. And who knows what story he'll tell. He may say he stormed the gates, or that he snuck inside and beat Ishkur in hand to hand combat. All it takes is a tiny seed of doubt. With enough food to fuel it, soon people have lost all faith in their leaders, all fear. And when that happens-"
"You think Malick is planning to topple them?"
"We know he plans to defeat Samael, and after that, yes, I believe the Kugsankal will be next."
They stopped at the elevators and Jorick pressed the down button. "You have Maeko's computer address with you?"
"It's an email address, and yes."
"Good. Then let us find a computer."
