Chapter 483
Before dawn they pulled the corrugated doors shut and hung sheets over them. The Father of Shadows insisted they sleep in the same shack as him. Katelina eyed their roommates distrustfully. A quick glance told her the vampires were from various nationalities. She didn't need their hairstyles to know they were from different eras. She could feel the years on the two closest to the child-Father. The others were younger than Jorick, and there was one who felt younger than Loren.
She stretched out next to Jorick, her back to him. She might go along with this insanity, but it didn't mean she had to like it.
As Maeko had said, he made no move to apologize, and she went to sleep irritated. She woke the next evening to the stifling twilight of the tin shack. Asleep, her perfectly still companions looked like a room full of corpses.
The others were soon up. When the sun disappeared they took down the sheets and slid aside the door. The Father nodded at them, as if to say "Whatever you kill is fine with me."
Of course it would be.
The vampires scattered in little groups. Katelina walked behind Jamie and Jorick as they headed down the hill toward the thicker vegetation. Though neither spoke, she imagined they were hashing it out silently. Maeko, Ryuu, and Hikaru followed behind her. She tried to ignore the gnawing in her stomach every time she smelled the human. For a fleeting moment she thought, "We could snack on him. It would be better than getting animal hair in my mouth." Horror drove the thought away.
Jorick enchanted some kind of deer. Just like Tajikistan, they took turns. Jorick had to tug her away and she was left with her embarrassed eyes on the ground. The taste of the blood overrode the flavor of the animal's fur, but a stray hair stuck between her teeth and made her gag.
"I need a toothbrush!"
Jorick's reply was, "You'll get better with practice. I don't get fur in my teeth."
Sure.
When they made it back to the buildings Katelina dragged out her bag and her toothbrush, then realized there was no water.
"Perhaps Kate-chan would like a little of Ryuu-chan's?" Maeko suggested.
The boy dug a bottle of water out of his pack. She took it with a nod and headed around the side of the building. Her fangs still felt foreign and with no mirror she caught her toothbrush on them more than once. She spit out the foamy mess and used the water to rinse and clean the bristles. After she spit it out, she couldn't resist swallowing a belt of the liquid. She waited for the effects Verchiel had described to her "You can still taste it, just don't swallow or you'll vomit it up." but nothing happened.
With a shrug she headed back and gave Ryuu what was left of the water. Maeko suppressed a giggle. "Kate-chan is testing already. Water won't make us sick. Blood is half water." She bowed. "If Kate-chan will excuse us? I think it better to take Ryuu-chan to eat in private."
Katelina headed to the shack to drop off her bag when she saw Lurid and Sorino approaching. The latter tugged Kai along on his chain. He paused at the entrance and surveyed her. Then he unhooked the boy's leash. "Don't wander far."
The two vampires disappeared inside. Once they were gone, Kai moved to stand with Katelina.
"Hey," she said. "How are you?" He gave a small shrug. "You guys have been here for a few days?"
He nodded. She tried to think what to say. He wasn't going to tell her what Sorino was up to, but maybe Jorick was right. Maybe she could read minds with practice.
She focused on Kai, as she'd seen the others do, and strained her ears until his heartbeat sounded like thunder. Still, no thoughts were audible.
"It doesn't work that way," Kai said.
"You can still read my mind? But you're human-ish and I'm..." She couldn't say it.
"Yours is very loud."
It was the same thing she'd heard repeatedly. "Fine. How do you do it?"
He jerked his head toward the helicopter that loomed above, then climbed the hill. She followed and found him sitting behind the chopper, his back against a set of wheels. He brushed aside his messy bangs and said, "Try again."
She was momentarily distracted. He had the face of an angel, marred only by the large lumpy scar on his forehead. When he looked at her impatiently, she caught hold of herself, tossed her bag to the ground, and met his emerald eyes. Like before, she strained her ears, trying to find something. Bugs chirped. The wind moved the grass. His heart pounded a steady rhythm.
He shook his head. "Do not listen with your ears. Listen with your mind, as you do your own thoughts."
"Like when a whisperer talks to you?"
"No. A whisperer uses your inner voice to repeat their words. In this case it is their inner voice you hear. Sometimes there is no voice at all. Sometimes you just know things. Or feel things. Emotions that aren't yours. That's how mine began. I felt Master's emotions when he was extremely agitated or extremely happy. At first I thought they were my own. He noticed they were his."
It sounded like when she and Jorick had been linked. He'd heard her every thought full volume, twenty-four-seven, and she'd been able to feel his emotions. They would wash over her suddenly, like the vampiress in the Russian subway-
She caught her breath. At the time she'd thought the woman forced the feeling on her, but what if she'd taken it from her? The vampiress had been snuggling up with a guy. It made sense that she'd feel the warm, tingly, lovey-dovey feeling.
Then there was the H?here Rat when they'd come for Xandria and she'd been unreasonably afraid, and the airfield in Bhutan when she'd been irrationally irritated. It had disappeared as soon as they got away from Neveah, who was aggravated about having to drag the plane out. "Why didn't Jorick notice it, like Sorino did?"
"It probably didn't begin that way for him. He was turned by an old vampire with accomplished abilities, so his would have started at a higher level. Your master does not have any mental capabilities. It is only because of the blood you took from others, before you were turned, so yours is much weaker."
What was weak could be developed. "Teach me how to do it."
He peered at her, as if to ask why she wasn't learning from Jorick.
"He doesn't have time. He's busy making deals with the enemy." She caught herself, it wasn't like Sorino hadn't done the same thing. "And leading attacks and all that crap."
He nodded and brushed his hair aside again. The thought sounded in her head. "It works better for beginners with eye contact."
She tried again. It was hard not to focus on what her ears heard. She'd just decided that she couldn't do it when she felt a small burn of irritation. She realized that it wasn't hers, but Kai's. What was he irritated about? That it was taking her so long?
"That you'd quit so easily."
He was right. She took a deep breath and focused. The irritation faded. What felt like minutes ticked past. Her resolve was hard to hang onto with no results. At least with Micah she'd been able to draw blood on the first day. She'd seen that she could do something, but this- Kai was lucky. Sorino was an ass, but at least he'd been helpful-
She had a sudden vision of bright flickering light; fire. The vision moved, as though she'd turned her head. A white painted wall was splattered in blood. Next to her on the floor was a woman. Long blonde hair tumbled around her. Blood ran from a gaping wound in her throat and mingled with the pale strands. Mother. Sick cold fear filled Katelina's stomach and gulped up into her throat. A crash sounded and she looked forward again. A figure stepped through the flames. Long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. A leather jacket flapped around his slim figure. He brandished a bloody machete and his thin lips curved into a smile.
Kai's voice whispered, "Beware."
"What are you doing?"
