Chapter 494
"Just as I suspected." Wolfe glared from one to the other. "You have much to answer for."
"If you mean your guards" Jorick began. Wolfe cut him off.
"That is an issue. More important are the orders you disobeyed. You were to return with me to Munich, instead you ran to Laos. You do not understand what it means to serve the Sodalitas!"
"I don't serve them. I was only reinstated because Malick thought I would join his rebellion. I'm not here by their command, or yours. I'm here to kill Malick."
"He isn't here."
"He will be."
Wolfe and Jorick glowered at one another while clouds of power gathered around them. Finally Wolfe relented. "Yes. Our intelligence reports that he will arrive tomorrow with an army. We know that Samael can stop them. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, just as we're unsure whether he would respect civilian lives. As a precaution, we have evacuated the area. No one is allowed to enter. That includes you."
Micah scoffed. "If this is where Malick is gonna be, then this is where we're gonna be."
"You could fight us, if you wish," Sorino said smoothly. "Or you could join us."
Wolfe laid his hand to the radio on his hip. His eyes moved from one to the other, calculating. Finally, he relented. "I will allow you to enter, but only because I wish to speak to this Samael."
Without further comment, Jorick scooped Katelina up and bounded over the wall in several leaps.
Samael waited on the other side, wearing yellow robes, his black hair long around his shoulders. She caught her breath as she met his jewel-like eyes. The depths spoke to her of summer turning to autumn, burnished grain and golden leaves dripping from swaying branches. For a moment she could smell the drying grass, feel the sun, taste the last of the summer breeze. Then a voice whispered through her mind.
"You think I will take her?"
The words brought her back. She realized she was still in Jorick's arms. He set her on her feet, but kept his arm around her shoulders.
"I do not cage that which wishes to be free. Neither should you."
Katelina realized the conversation was meant for Jorick. Had everyone else heard it?
Verchiel hopped over the wall, Xandria in tow. He deposited her on the ground, then disappeared to help the others. Xandria looked to Samael. She froze. Her mouth went slack and her eyes glazed over.
Samael turned away and she crumpled to the ground. Katelina hurried to her side to find her unconscious.
"He's too much for her," Jamie said.
Ryuu was already asleep when Verchiel landed. Katelina suspected Maeko had done it to spare him Xandria's fate.
Samael studied them and Katelina had a sense that he was speaking to them individually. He paused at Sorino. She wondered what he could possibly say to the double dealing treasure hunter.
"Do you want to know?"
She flushed and dropped her eyes.
"I asked him if this moment was worth the effort to attain."
She tried speaking to him silently, "What did he say?"
"He said 'It will be.'"
Samael stepped back, as if he'd been through them all and was no longer interested. "You may stay if you wish. There are servants to attend to your needs."
As he walked gracefully away, a single phrase whispered through her mind. "Welcome back."
After a heartbeat Micah said, "That's it? I thought there was gonna be a fight."
Verchiel shrugged. "He doesn't seem one for violence. Why would he be when he can explode your head with a look?"
Katelina had a sudden memory of the battle in the Raven Queen's temple. Samael hit one of Malick's lackeys with a ball of power. Blood, brains, and bits of skull rained around them. The headless body had slumped to the floor, scarlet pouring from the stump.
Maeko's voice brought her back to the present. "This way, I believe."
Katelina's recollection of the complex was blurry, so she followed the pint sized vampiress to a collection of buildings. One of them seemed familiar. She peered through the window to a built-in bed and a vanity table loaded with random objects. The bedding was missing. Yes, this was where she'd stayed.
It was hard to find a room without windows. At last they settled into one large enough for them to lie on the floor. Verchiel deposited the unconscious Xandria, and Etsuko woke her up.
"It's okay." She sat next to the woman.
"What was that?" Xandria rubbed her head. "It was like looking into an exploding H bomb."
"Yeah, he's something like that."
Two men and two women entered, carrying bedding and braziers. The men set the heavy metal basins in the corners and lit them, while the women laid out the beds. One of them caught Katelina's eye. A spark of recognition flared, as though she should know her, but she didn't.
Micah watched the girls appreciatively. When they left he broke into a grin. "I'd take a couple of them any day. Where'd Samael dig 'em up at?"
"They were here when he took over." Wolfe selected a bed roll. "Tourists and hotel staff. I imagine he's drained some of them, and kept the rest as servants. They've been reported dead to their families; killed in the poisonous gas leak."
"People really believe that?" Xandria asked.
Loren shrugged. "Why not? I used to see things on the news, like earthquakes or gas explosions. I just assumed they were telling the truth, but who knows? Maybe it was really a vampire massacre and they lied about it."
Katelina thought of the news articles she'd skimmed at the Russian Konfederatsiya . The so-called terroristsreally Malick and his goons. Shelay the dead pop singerreally killed by vampires and mangled to remove the evidence. How many other stories had the facts rearranged or made up to hide the truth?
She shook the thoughts away. She sounded like a conspiracy nut.
Hikaru laid Takeshi on one of the bedrolls. The wilted vampire nodded, as if to say he was still alive.
Loren opened the shirt bundle and Hikaru lifted out what was left of Takeshi's foot. Even Katelina could see that there was a chunk missing between the two.
Micah glared at Wolfe. "What the fuck kind of bullets were your butt-buddies using?"
"Special anti-vampire ammunition," Wolfe answered without a trace of guilt. "Traditional ammunition only punctures a hole in the denser tissue of vampires. This explodes on impact, making guns a viable weapon."
Katelina sneered at him. "Just what the world needed, exploding bullets. Did your research department in the basement come up with those?"
"They're a Chinese design," Wolfe bit back. "You'll be happy for them when they're taking down Malick's followers."
"What's that going to do for Takeshi's foot?"
"He'd be fine had you not engaged the guards and waited as you were told to do."
"Of course," Jorick said sarcastically. "We should have waited for you to arrive and throw around your sense of importance."
They fell to arguing. Maeko and Hikaru held one another's gaze; a silent conversation. When they finally broke, Maeko knelt next to Takeshi and spoke to him in Japanese. Katelina watched his pained expressions melt into stoic determination. He gave a sharp nod. "Hai."
Maeko wiped her bloody hands on her jeans. "Hikaru-san, please dispose of that properly."
"Won't it reattach overnight?" Katelina asked.
"There is an excessive amount of tissue missing. It might reattach, yes, but it would be misshapen and one leg would be an inch shorter than the other. Takeshi-san believes it is better to have none than one that is impaired."
Katelina gaped at the insanity of it. Before she could comment, the women returned with food for Xandria and Ryuu. While the pair gulped down the rice and meat, Jorick turned to Wolfe. "You said you had intelligence concerning Malick?"
"He met with his army earlier today. They're headed this direction and should arrive tomorrow."
"Why doesn't someone stop him?" Katelina asked.
"Where?" Wolfe inquired dryly. "Should we ambush him randomly? Not worry about the human casualties?" He rolled his eyes. "You obviously do not understand strategy. It is better to battle in an area we can control and prepare."
"And what preparations are you making?"
Wolfe cocked an eyebrow. "You're demanding." Jorick gave him a dark look and he snorted sarcastically. "Obviously we have warriors deployed, including the Scharfrichter, the Gu¨¬zish¨¯u, and what you would call their guards. We have roadblocks to keep everyone out."
"Except Malick."
"There is a roadblock for him as well; one he will break through."
"He'll kill them," Katelina bit back. "You're purposefully sacrificing people?"
"Death is always a possibility."
"Would you be as casual about it if Sadihra was assigned to that roadblock?"
He growled. "If there is no roadblock on his route he'll know the trap."
"He already knows!" Katelina shouted. "The bastard knows everything!"
"That's what he wants you to think," Verchiel said. "He wants you to believe he has everything planned to a fine point, that every move you make was anticipated, that you're always playing into his hand. I don't believe it. He doesn't have it all arranged, he's just good at twisting the outcome to suit his agenda. It's a combination of luck and bullshit."
Though Katelina wasn't finished fighting with Wolfe, Jorick pulled her to him. She struggled briefly, then surrendered to the warm safety of his arms. Tomorrow Malick would crash into Samael's peaceful palace like a tsunami and lay waste to everything he could. For all she knew, one of them might be crushed beneath the waves.
"It will be fine, little one," Jorick murmured.
She clutched him tightly and wished she believed him.
