Chapter 497
The last of the smoke drifted away to leave Malick and his forces clearly visible. She hurried to the shelter of the damaged tree. The sight of the full army took her breath. Row upon row, weapons in their hands, hair whipping in the wind, ancient faces set in cold determination. She tried to count the heads and stopped at fifty. Their years hung over them like an oppressive cloud, and their resolve burned. What Malick had assembled wasn't an army. It was an annihilation force.
Wolfe stumbled to his feet, using the spear as an aid, his fist knotted in the gaping hole that ran through him. He choked out a mouthful of blood, then straightened and met Malick's gaze. "By the authority of the Kugsankal, the vampire known as Malick is hereby under arrest for crimes against vampiredom."
Malick smiled. "Who is it that thinks they can apprehend me?" A pause. "Ah, it is you. Obsessed with your duty and regulations. I wonder how you will fare in the new world order. Badly, I suspect. Perhaps it is kinder to spare you from it."
A low thrumming noise filled the courtyard. It grew louder and louder. Katelina covered her ears against it. She knew this attack; had seen it on several occasions. She'd watched blood run from the eyes and ears of the victims, watched them drop to their knees as they screamed and their brains liquefied inside their skulls. Jorick had shielded her before, but he wasn't here now.
She bent double as the pain sliced into her head. Through tear filled eyes she saw Wolfe leaning defiantly on his spear. His face was streaked in dirt and blood, but his dark eyes held a resolution she didn't think she possessed.
The sound intensified. She physically bit back a scream. This was it, all she could take, all she could stand.
No. No more. No more!
The thought was barely finished when the sound stopped. She blinked tears from her eyes and looked to Wolfe. The Scharfrichter's face was twisted, as if he could still hear it. Farther back, near the inner gate, she saw Lurid. On the edge of Malick's attack, his face was scrunched with pain.
She looked quickly to Malick. The stump of his hand was still raised, his mouth a cruel smile. He hadn't stopped. The sound hadn't stopped. It was her. She'd blocked it.
How in the hell?
She filed it for later examination, and looked to Wolfe. His legs shook. Crimson pooled in the dust at his feet. One knee bent. He leaned heavily on the staff, panting. She needed to do something.
"Enough!"
Jamie was suddenly in front of the Scharfrichter, his sword held aloft and his dark hair blowing back from his face. "You have done enough, Malick."
The ancient master lowered his arm. "Jamie. My once devoted, who has lost faith in my vision. Step aside, or suffer the fate of the unworthy."
Jamie tensed, ready to be attacked, when a red and black blur bounced over the wall and knocked into Malick. His sword flashed as he tried to cut him. The master spun toward him, swinging his staff. Verchiel leapt back to crouch on the top of the wall, one hand to his bleeding shoulder. Katelina wasn't sure if the injury was from Malick or Arlen.
"My wild card," Malick called to him. "You fail to surprise me anymore. Had I known the path you'd follow, I wonder if I would have set it before your feet?"
Malick whirled back in time to meet Jamie's sword with his staff. With the second swing, Malick knocked the Executioner off his feet. He landed on his back and slid across the courtyard.
Verchiel leapt from the wall, slashing at Malick. The master barely dodged the onslaught. The redhead hopped away before he could counter.
The amusement faded from Malick's face. "Enough!"
Thick heavy silence fell in the wake of his fury. Katelina looked to Wolfe. The Scharfrichter had fallen to one knee, leaning heavily on his spear. His chest heaved. He met her eyes and mouthed, "Go! Tell the others."
She knew Wolfe was right; knew she needed to go. How could she when Jorick was still missing? Wolfe said he was alive, but was he just placating her?
"Jorick!" she screamed silently. "Jorick!"
A pile of rubble shifted.
Jorick.
Malick pounded his spear into the ground. "If Samael will not face us at the gates, then he will face us in his castle! Go forth and find the coward!"
With a battle cry that shook the trees, the vampire army swarmed into the courtyard. Wolfe pulled his bladed weapon from his coat. Lurid dropped into a stance. Jamie grabbed his sword from the grass.
Before she took off for the next gate, Katelina threw a final glance back. There, among the dust and the chaos, stood Jorick, his clothing torn and his face stone.
Her heart leapt with relief, but she didn't have time to celebrate. She ran through the trees, ducking branches and dodging ornamental rocks. She could hear the army crashing into the compound. In her mind she imagined them cutting down her allies. Wolfe would fall first, then Jamie. Verchiel might be able to hop away, and Jorick
Just stay alive Jorick.
She dodged through the palace, cutting through echoing rooms and courtyards, trying to circle around before the invaders made it past the pair of inner gates. Assuming they didn't go around like she had.
She'd half hoped to find Samael in one of the chambers but, as she came out the other side, she realized they were on their own for the moment. She wove between a second complex of buildings, then hurried past a multi-tiered walkway. A voice from above called, "Kate-chan!" She jerked to a stop and looked up to see Maeko perched on the roof like a cat.
The girl frowned. "I cannot see Kate-chan's thoughts clearly."
"I don't know why you couldn't-" She broke off as she thought about Malick's thrumming attack and her sudden immunity. Had she somehow blocked everything?
There was no time to worry about it. She quickly poured out Wolfe's plan. As she spoke, she climbed up the ornate bric-a-brac to get a view over the wall. She could see streets and buildings. Four of the SWAT style guards backed up near the gate. A vampire, whose black coat was emblazoned with the symbol of the golden eye, leapt at them. They let loose a volley. He jerked as the bullets slammed into his body and exploded. They stopped firing. He fell to the ground, full of gory holes, his chest like hamburger.
The SWAT group made hand signals and moved out. Katelina wondered what had happened to their orders to fall back, or if they'd ever received them.
She wound up her story. Maeko called to Hikaru. He dropped from the roof of a nearby building and hurried to them, a long stick in his hand. Katelina wasn't sure where he'd gotten it. Perhaps a relic from the museum.
"I will get as close to the gate as I can and see what is going on." Maeko tugged her back pack higher up her shoulder. "Hikaru-san will search the palace area for a location suitable to Wolfe-san's plan."
He gave a short, sharp nod. "Hai."
"Kate-chan should find the others." Maeko pointed in the direction of the gates. "Unless they are engaged, send them toward the palace."
Katelina was halfway down the ornate pillar when Maeko and Hikaru leapt past her. When she reached the ground they were nowhere to be seen. It was as if all the vampires had springs on their feet.
Except me.
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