Chapter 485
Katelina woke to the dimness of the cave and Ryuu's soft moan. His breathing was rapid and shallow. He opened heavy lidded eyes only to close them again. Was he sick?
She reached to check him for a fever. The smell of his blood made her stomach rumble. A scenario played through her head that involved just a small taste-
She pulled back with disgust. How long would it take to get over this?
The vampires seemingly came to life one by one. Hikaru stepped carefully over his mistress to check their human. "Altitude sickness," he announced.
"Is that a thing?" Katelina looked at Jorick, who shrugged.
Maeko knelt next to Ryuu and brushed hair from his face. She made soft cooing sounds. Katelina wasn't sure if they were words or nonsense.
The child-father peered at them. "Are you having trouble with your human?"
"Ryuu-chan will need to remain here. Hikaru-san will stay with him." Maeko pressed a kiss to the teen's forehead, then stood and bowed. "I apologize for any inconvenience."
Jorick laid his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. Humans are fragile. Sometimes we forget." He caught Katelina's gaze then looked away quickly, guilt in his eyes. "We should feed."
"Yes." The child turned to the others and raised his voice so that it boomed off the walls. "Once we have fed, we will meet at the mouth of the cave. From there, we will position ourselves for the ambush. Then Malick the deceiver will die!"
They headed outside. Sorino, Lurid, and Kai hovered near the entrance. The slender vampire smirked as they walked past and laid his hand on Kai. "Hunt in the wild if you prefer. I thought to bring my own provisions."
With a scowl, Katelina followed Jorick and Jamie up the mountain side. She arrived at the top, without any life threatening accidents, to find the helicopter waiting where they'd left it.
"Where did he get this, anyway?"
Jorick answered, "It isn't his. It belongs to the pilots. They're some of the mercenaries he talked about."
"You read that from their minds, but you couldn't find where Malick was going to be? I get that you couldn't mind read the father-kid, but some of them are young."
"They didn't know," Jamie said. "I don't think the Father even knew at that point. While we were feeding yesterday a message came for him. That's when they called the meeting and made plans."
"You mean that's when we had our chance to get away?" At Jorick's expression she let it drop.
She managed to take her turn from a mammal without getting hair in her teeth, which was good because she'd left her bag in the helicopter.
They joined the others in front of the cave. The child-father appeared, the bearded vampire behind him. At a motion from the boy, the old man pulled a map from his robes and spread it out on a rock. The child pointed to several locations and talked about strategy. It seemed weird coming from a little boy's mouth, like things often did with Maeko, and Katelina edged away.
Kai stood near the cave and she stopped next to him. "Are you okay with the altitude?"
He nodded uncomfortably and hitched his backpack up his shoulder. Katelina decided his immunity must be because he was more vampire than human.
The men broke up. Jorick and Jamie approached Katelina. "He's going to come through this valley. The entourage should consist of no more than twelve, including a wind walker that we're familiar with."
Arlen.
Jorick continued, "They've picked out strategic points that overlook the road. We'll break up into groups and ambush him when he passes below."
Maeko appeared from the cave carrying Ryuu's backpack. She bowed and apologized for Hikaru's absence. Again, Jorick told her it was all right, then led them down the mountainside to a large rock. He crouched and the others followed suit.
Katelina peered around to the thready path below. "How long until he gets here?"
"It should be no more than an hour," Jorick answered. "If the Father's intelligence is correct."
They settled in to wait. Maeko got into the backpack and methodically loaded spare magazines for her handgun, stacking them neatly next to her. Katelina tried to stay calm. There were twenty-four of them. They should be able to overtake Malick's twelve, Arlen or no Arlen. Though she wished again that they'd brought Verchiel.
"We don't need him," Jorick snapped.
Katelina leaned against the rock and looked further down the valley to where the child-father hid. Her gut reaction was that battle was no place for a kid. She quickly corrected herself. That "kid" was a maniacal monster. Why was it so hard to remember that?
She knew why. Had the old man been the Father of Shadows she'd have no such qualms, no such sympathy. She'd scream "Kill him!" and mean it. But, because he wore a child's face, her maternal instincts said that maybe he wasn't really that bad. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe he was just a lost little boy that needed a balloon and a hug. It just showed how confused her instincts were.
She started to comment on it when Jorick and Jamie stiffened. She listened intently, as they did, and heard dirt and rock sliding downhill behind them. She turned but there was nothing except a soft cloud of dust.
The Executioners stood. Jamie drew his sword. Maeko pointed her gun at the dissipating cloud. Katelina surveyed the mountainside. She looked to the right, where she knew Sorino, Kai, and Lurid waited. She could see the dark skinned vampire leaning around an outcropping, his sunglasses perched on his head and his attention on a seemingly uninhabited ridge above them.
The cold wind whistled around the rocks. Little crystals of snow reflected the moon like tiny lights riding the currents.
An explosion above them sent chunks of ice and stone into the silent sky. The others ducked and Katelina fell back against their shelter in surprise.
"Bombs?" Maeko asked.
Another exploded to their left, near the hiding place of the Father.
"More likely grenades," Jamie said. He crept forward in a crouch. "Malick?"
"The Father's inside man sold us out." Katelina pried a frozen rock from the ground and held it at the ready.
Jorick motioned them to silence. "I'm not so sure."
"Who else blows things up besides Xandria's master?"
The next explosion was closer. As the dust settled. Katelina saw Jorick looming over her like a vampiric shield. He glanced down to check that she was unharmed, then he and Jamie made eye contact. In unison they moved up the slope, flanking the crater.
Maeko aimed her gun after them. Katelina looked down to Sorino. Lurid had come out from behind the rock, and moved slowly upwards, something metal in his hand. Sorino leaned out from behind their outcropping. Katelina imagined he had his strange duck-foot pistol.
A cry came from farther down the valley. As if it was a signal, a string of explosions tore through the rock and dirt above. Jorick and Jamie drew back just in time. The cloud of dirt and snow rolled like a wall. From it burst figures in black, shouting a battle cry. They rushed down the mountainside, gleaming silver sickles in their hands.
Sickles?
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