Chapter 489
He trooped toward them, hands in his pockets. When he stopped next to Micah, his heavy expression was gone, replaced by his usual grin. "Kately! I hear Fethillen tried to kill you."
She stashed the dagger in her cargo pocket and shrugged. "Yeah. It's kind of a blur."
"Rumor is you tried to save the Father of Shadows."
Micah chortled. "Seriously?"
"I didn't try to save him, just-" But she had. Sort of. "I don't know."
He patted her on the shoulder. "It takes a while to sort out the difference between someone else's emotions and yours sometimes. You'll learn." Micah gave him a quizzical look, but he didn't explain further. "So why wasn't I invited to Russia? Not like I had anything else to do. These guys aren't friendly, and Etsuko wouldn't let anyone near your human."
"My human?"
Micah rolled his eyes. "Xandria. Shit, Lunch. You forgot already?"
It wasn't that she'd forgotten she'd just- "I've been busy. Where, uh, where is she?"
"You're a crappy pet owner." Verchiel ruffled her hair. "Don't worry. She's fine. She's with Etsuko."
"So you're all here? How?"
Verchiel shrugged. "We got into China early last night then drove here. Oren rented a plane from Munich, but he only paid for a one way trip. Since we were supposed to be killing Malick he figured we could leave at our leisure."
Micah scoffed. "Cheapskate said it cost too much to keep the pilots on hold. At least he rented the trucks. We can chase the old bastard in those."
Katelina rubbed her head. "What trucks?"
"They're parked out of the way," Verchiel motioned to the right. "And they're not that fast, or we'd have been here sooner."
"As if you'd have been much help." Jorick joined them and gave Verchiel a dark look. "Oren suggested that both of you help with the prisoners."
Micah grumbled about working with Guild dogs, but stomped his way up the mountain. Verchiel gave them a wink, then dashed past him.
Katelina watched them go. "What prisoners?"
"Three of the Black Vigil, including Sushel. Oren and the others rounded them up while we were in the cave." Jorick cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Are you-"
"Okay? I don't know. I'm not even sure why I interfered. Fethillen was right. The Father of Shadows was a monster, but it seemed wrong to let her butcher him like that."
He pulled her to him. She returned the embrace until the smoky smell of his clothes overwhelmed her. "I guess I felt sorry for him. He never had a chance to be anything but evil, and he was right, too. She couldn't erase what she'd done by killing everyone. Hell, she didn't even care that her coven was pretty much wiped out."
"I imagine she cared in her own way. It doesn't matter. It's over." He offered her a thin smile.
"And it's all Sorino's fault, the double dealing-Where is he, anyway?"
Jorick sneered. "He's in the cave picking through the bones, no doubt for that amulet he wanted."
"That's just sick!"
He nodded and took her hand. "Come, let's kill him."
Though the smoke was gone the smell remained. They waited for Sorino on the mountainside. Eventually Micah and Oren joined them, both enthusiastic about the upcoming confrontation.
Sorino appeared, brushing ashes from his jacket. Kai walked behind him. He carried five blackened sickles, the weapons of the dead.
Sorino stopped before the crowd and looked down his nose at them. "What do you want?"
"We could ask you the same fucking thing." Micah crossed his beefy arms. "You sold out Lunch and the Executioner assholes."
Sorino rolled his eyes. "I sold information to the Black Vigil regarding the Father of Shadows, for which I was not paid, thanks to our rash-friend."
"You have your prize," Jorick said.
"I have the seal, yes, but not what Fethillen promised me."
"You mean your money for betraying us?" Katelina demanded.
"I betrayed no one." He brushed soot from his sleeve. "It isn't my fault that you stuck your proverbial noses into my business."
"Was Malick even coming this way?" Oren asked icily.
"No. The message from the Father's follower was a fake, meant to lure him here."
"It worked," Katelina sneered. "You might have told Jorick what you were up to!"
"Why? So you could spoil everything by thinking at full volume? You're no worse for wear, and you've taken care of a problem that was likely to haunt you. You should thank me. Now, if we're quite finished, I'm on the hunt."
"For what?" Micah asked.
"The rest of the sickles. As the weapons of an extinct cult, they will become very collectible. Come, Kai."
He pushed past them and started down the ridge, then turned back, a calculating expression on his face. "I don't suppose you've come across a golden dagger?"
Dagger? He didn't mean-She refused to think about it. Not in front of him.
"What dagger?" Oren asked suspiciously.
Sorino narrowed his eyes at them. "Never mind. Should you find it, I will make it worth your while."
"I hate that dick," Micah muttered as Sorino and Kai moved down the mountainside. "And that kid is creepy."
Oren waved him to silence and zeroed in on Jorick. "I know you read his mind. What dagger is he talking about?"
"Apparently it was a sacred dagger that Memnon used to sacrifice victims. Fethillen must have stolen it when she left the Children of Shadows. Wolfe took it from her when she was captured and Sorino tried to bribe the guards to sell it to him while it was impounded at the Stronghold. When they refused, he ambushed Fethillen after the trial and offered to track down the Father in exchange for it."
Katelina remembered Sorino's annoyance that there was someone who couldn't be bought off. It served him right.
"We're just gonna let him go?' Micah asked, incredulous. "Seriously? Let's impale that fucker on something and leave him for the birds to pick apart."
Oren scoffed. "He isn't worth the effort. We have a more important matter: what to do with the prisoners."
"Kill them?" Jorick suggested.
"No!" Katelina cried. "You can't." She looked from one vampire to another and found cold eyes looking back. "It's not their fault that Fethillen went crazy."
"Let's release them," Micah said. "Then they can ambush us farther down the road and rip our hearts out for killing their master. Great fucking plan."
He had a point she didn't want to concede. "Ume knows them. Maybe she could talk to them."
"Now, or after she's quit sobbing?" Oren asked sarcastically.
"She's pretty much calmed down," Torina said as she came to a stop. "Who do you want her to talk to?"
"The prisoners." Micah rolled his eyes.
"Then you should have told them that." She nodded to three of the Father's battle weary mercenaries. They walked up the hill, the bearded vampire in the lead. His face and hair were splattered in crimson and his hands were gory.
"They already disposed of the prisoners," Torina explained. "He cut off their heads, ripped out their hearts, then stuck rocks in their mouths. It was bizarre, but hey, problem solved."
Katelina gaped. "Does Ume know?"
"I didn't tell her." Torina adjusted the bodice of her bright yellow dress. "Maybe it's best if she doesn't find out. She's not a mind reader."
The mercenaries stopped next to them. The bearded leader nodded to Jorick. "We were hired to kill an ancient master and his followers. One is as good as another."
"If you're looking for payment" Oren began, but the other cut him off.
"Payment was given in advance. We came to tell you our contract is fulfilled. Now we will go. Unless you would like to hire our services?"
"No," Jorick said, though Micah and Oren looked thoughtful. "Thank you, but where we're going will be worse than this."
"That sounds dangerous, and expensive." The bearded vampire laughed. "Pity. If you change your minds you can find us at what is left of The Faction's citadel. I believe they call the country Cambodia."
The mercenaries headed off and Katelina turned to Jorick. "Can we please get the hell out of here?"
***
Sorino and his entourage were nowhere to be found. The general attitude was good riddance, so they headed to the trucks, a pair of vehicles that looked more military than civilian, with heavy canvas covers and large tires. Xandria stood near one smoking. When she saw Katelina she cried "Kate!" smashed out her cigarette and hurried toward her, then shrank back. "What are you covered in?"
Katelina looked at her dirty arms and hands. "Fethillen, mostly."
"Ewww! What did you do? Set her on fire? Never mind. Where have you been and why did you leave me" Xandria dropped her voice and eyed the others "with the bad guy circus. Etsuko is okay but I don't know about the rest of them. That Oren guy is one of those brooding silent-disapproval sorts."
"I'm sorry. Malick took over a nuclear missile silo and there wasn't time."
"Shit!" Xandria dragged Katelina to one of the trucks. "What happened?"
