Chapter 488
"What have you done?" Ume cried over the echoing screams.
The vampires who'd held Katelina and the Father rushed Sushel, shrieking for help. He shouted at them to stay away and climbed into the narrow crack at the back of the room.
The child stood, wreathed in flame, his hands in the air. Maniacal laughter poured from his melting lips. "We go like our master! Like Memnon we become ashes! Even in death we are one!"
With a single blood curdling cry, Fethillen tackled him to the floor. They twisted and writhed in a blazing heap while Ume screamed, "Water! Hurry!" She pulled off her shirt and ran to them. She waved it like a blanket, but it fanned the flames, so she tried to smother them. The cloth was thin and useless. She leapt back with a cry, her hands red and blistered. Tears coursed down her face. "No! No!"
Loren scooped his arm around her. He pressed her back against him and tried to cover her bare breasts. "We need to go."
"Fethillen!" Ume reached for her master with bleeding hands.
"Shhhhhh." Loren lugged her back to the crack and called to Micah, "Let's go!"
The bald vampire helped Loren stuff Ume through. The teen went next, then Micah turned to the others. "Yo! Jorick, don't you fucking get my fledgling killed, huh?" Then he hurried out.
The flaming vampires had fallen to the floor in the back. Sushel slid out of the crack and catapulted over them, then ran after Loren and Micah.
Katelina leaned against the rough wall. She felt empty, like someone had ripped all of her emptions out at once. The anger and the hatred were gone, replaced by confusion.
Jorick caught her as she stumbled. "We're going!"
She motioned to the burning bodies. "What about them?" Their cries had died, but it looked like the Father and Fethillen were still moving. "Can't we save them?"
"Not now. They're beyond repair." He dragged her to the entrance, Jamie on his heels. "We need to go."
Katelina choked on the smoke and surrendered. She worked her way through the fissure as fast as she could. They emerged on the mountainside and hurried down the ridge, away from the crack and the foul smoke that coiled into the night sky like a serpent.
Oren and Torina stood waiting on the ridge, eyes on the mountain. When Jorick stopped next to them, Torina wiped soot from his cheek and frowned. "What in the hell happened in there?"
Katelina was trying to piece together an answer when she realized Oren shouldn't be there. "Where did you come from?"
"Munich," Torina answered sarcastically. "The Japanese boy told us to come help you fight Malick. Did you kill him?"
"No," Jorick bit off. "We missed him, assuming he even passed this way. On reflection, it makes little sense that he would travel the mountains by road. He's more likely taken to the skies."
"A little late for that conclusion," Katelina muttered.
He gave her a sideways look. "I'm sorry. Airplanes have existed for less than a sixth of my lifetime. I don't think about them."
"I like them," Torina said. "I always hated traveling. It's much quicker by air." She turned serious. "If Malick wasn't here, then who were you fighting?"
"The Black Vigil."
Maeko joined them. Her pigtails were tangled and her face was smeared in dirt. Through a tear in her shirt Katelina could see a bloody wound.
Jorick gave Oren a quick rundown. The lion-maned vampire nodded. "I'm not surprised. I always suspected Fethillen would be a problem."
Torina flicked ash from Jorick's shoulder. "I can't say I'm sad, but that explains why Verchiel's little sister is hysterical." She motioned down the mountainside where Micah leaned against a rock, picking his nails with a knife. "You're friendly with her, aren't you?"
It took Katelina a moment to realize Torina was talking to her. "Yes."
"Then you should probably check on her. I can't imagine those idiots know how to handle a grief-stricken woman." She flipped her hair. "Not that I care."
Katelina pushed away the last cobwebs of perplexity and headed toward them. She hated to leave Jorick alone with the man-eating vampiress, but surely he could handle himself against her.
Micah caught sight of her and called, "Hey, Lunch! You look like shit."
"You're not much to look at either. How's Ume?"
"Fucked up." He led her farther down the mountain, to a stony outcropping. Loren sat in a hollow rock, holding Ume against his naked chest. She clutched Loren's shirt around her and sobbed. Katelina laid a tentative hand on her shoulder. The vampiress looked up. When their eyes met, breathless sorrow slammed into Katelina, and she reeled back.
Ume buried her face and the feeling slowly faded. Loren stroked her hair and looked to Katelina. "What the fuck happened in there?"
She tried to organize the disjointed pieces in her mind. "Fethillen tried to kill us. Sushel said we'd been working with the Father of Shadows since the beginning and she went nuts."
Micah snorted. "Why would she listen to that shit? We were trying to kill him, like, last month."
Katelina stopped from explaining until she'd dragged him away from the sobbing vampiress. He shook her off and scowled. "What the fuck?
She gave him a quick run-down and finished with, "It was our best chance to kill Malick. Now we'll have to fight both him and his army."
"Where is the Father of Shadows?"
"He's dead. He and Fethillen burned together."
"Huh. Kind of fitting." He went back to cleaning his nails, and Katelina suddenly recognized the daggergold with a deep blue sapphire. "Where did you get that?"
"In the cave, where you guys were setting people on fire." He held it out. "Here. You might as well take it. I just lose shit. Besides it looks all girly."
She weighed the dagger in her hand. "I think it was Memnon's." She could feel him getting ready to ask "Who the fuck is that?" and added, "He was the first leader of the Children of Shadows. Fethillen's brother."
"More of that ancient vampire shit. It's time to get rid of all the old geezers and start over. Those wrinkly fucktards don't make any sense. They're all so fucking old that their brains have turned to mush and cobwebs. They need to get the hell out of the road and let us run things." He broke off and elbowed her. "Looks like big brother showed up."
She followed his eyes to see Verchiel leaning against the hollowed out rock. His forehead was creased and his lips moved, though Katelina couldn't hear the words.
Micah motioned her to silence and moved closer, his hand cupped to his ear. She imitated him and caught the edge of the conversation. "I know it feels like your world has just imploded but"
Ume pulled away from Loren, holding the shirt closed with one hand and wiping tears with the other. "I-I appreciate this but-but not now."
Verchiel nodded. "If you want to talk-" He broke off and caught Katelina's eye. "I'll be back."
