Chapter 498
Katelina pictured the park map in her head then hurried toward Micah and Loren's location. A paved path, wide enough for a car, led the way and she followed, up and down hills, the wall visible to her left through the trees. Her legs started to hurt. She'd just decided she'd never reach them when the gate came into sight.
"Lunch!" Micah stepped out from behind a pillar. "What the fuck's going on? I see the fucking cops gathering out there, and I can hear the shit in the distance, but we ain't got crap down here."
"Cops?"
Loren hopped down from the wall and jogged toward them. "The guys with the guns. You know, they look like TV police."
Katelina reeled off Wolfe's plan. Micah swore under his breath. "If Malick's army is inside, who the hell is outside?"
"He had two groups," she explained. "The ones who ran the oasis and his army of ancients. I don't think they ever mixed."
"Then it's his personal guards out there," Loren said.
She nodded and Micah asked, "Where the hell are we going to bottleneck them?"
"Maeko and Hikaru are working on that. You're supposed to meet them at the main palace."
"Like I know where the fuck that is."
She gave him directions, then took off to find Oren and Torina. If they'd stuck to the plan they'd be guarding a gate on the other side of the park. The place was a castle complex for emperors, so why were there so goddamn many entrances?
She was so glad to find the gate, she was even happy to see Torina. Oren was immediately concerned. "Where's Jorick?"
"Malick broke through the front."
She hurriedly explained. When she finished, Torina said, "It's been quiet here. Except for the explosions we haven't heard anything."
Katelina nodded. "When I left it was all in the south."
Oren grunted. "That disproves Wolfe's theory of multiple entry points. Never mind. Let's find the others, Torina."
They took off running. Katelina leaned against the gate for a moment. With a last puff she pushed herself up and raced toward the front of the complex. A meandering path led between what should have been points of interest. Though the gunfire beyond the wall had ceased, she soon heard the shouts and crashes of the invaders.
She came to the edge of the trees to find the ruins she'd been stationed near. From her vantage point she could see the palaces and a few of Malick's vampires storming around them, but not Jorick. Though she knew she should find Maeko, she needed to see that he was alive.
She slunk back into the miniature forest and hurried toward the front courtyard. The trees thinned, then sputtered out. She hid behind the last and surveyed the scene.
The courtyard was littered in debris. The first of the inner gates was scarred, and ornamental trees were cut and bent. Fear held her immobile. She shook it off and tugged the dagger from her pocket.
She crept forward slowly. When no one challenged her she picked up the pace, and moved through the various heaps and mounds, checking for bodies. Wolfe lay in a pool of blood. His face and hands were withered, but his chest was intact. She prodded him and he made a soft, rattling noise. He was still alive.
As she'd done earlier, she dragged him, this time to the trees. "I don't have any blood." She wiped her hands on her jeans. "Do you know where Jorick is?"
The answer was another wheezing rattle, so she tried to glean the information from his mind. She concentrated hard. When it was obvious nothing was going to happen, she left him and hurried back. There was crimson splashed on the stones. The mangled body of an attacker lay gaping and bleeding. She tried to play Sherlock Holmes and recreate the scene in her mind. The ancients roared through the gate, giving their eerie battle cry. Jamie and the others fought. Verchiel leapt from enemy to enemy. Lurid did whatever he did with his weird little blades. Wolfe fell. The tide swept forward, looking for Samael.
But where did Malick go?
The master's oppression didn't reach her, so she crept on. The next courtyard was the same, and past the second inner gate was the palace. She drew close to it and glimpsed a vampire carrying something like a large sledgehammer. She pressed back against the wall and prayed he wouldn't notice her.
With a silent prayer, she dashed out from cover. Her motion caught the vampire's attention. He roared toward her, his hammer raised. She dodged to the left. The heavy weapon slammed into the ground, shattering the stones.
He lunged after her. She dashed around the corner and skidded to a stop at a dead end.
Shit.
With nothing else to do, she prayed and brandished her dagger, trying to be menacing. As he charged, she realized she'd failed. She thought back on her training; Micah had pressed on her that her new greatest asset was her strength. Get the enemy close, then strike. With the vampire bearing down on her, that was hard to do.
She held her breath. Just before he swung, she ducked and slashed at him. He cried in surprise as the blade bit through flesh.
His hammer slammed into the wall where she'd stood. She dropped and rolled past him. He whipped around, as she jerked to her feet, and swung again. The hammer missed by inches and she took off toward the courtyard.
He was faster than she was. She'd barely reached the rubble strewn space before he was on her. He hefted the hammer. An ornamental pot exploded next to her. The terror gave her an extra burst, and she pushed herself toward the trees.
She thought of Wolfe, withered and helpless. They'd missed killing him once but she doubted Mr. Happy Hammer would lose the opportunity a second time.
Shit.
She curved around in an arc and led him back to the complex of buildings to the west. A glance back showed that he was catching up. She might not be a princess but at the moment she wished that Jorick was there to save her.
She corrected the mistake she'd made last time and turned right instead of left. She raced along the side of a building and practically leapt around the corner to find the triple barrels of a gun staring her in the face.
"Duck."
She dropped to the ground as the gun went off and swore she felt the bullets skim over her. She looked back to see them slam into her pursuer. Though they didn't explode, the caliber was large enough to rip ragged holes into his already bleeding torso and knock him off his feet.
Sorino threw the gun to Kai and held out his hand for another. He pointed the second, freshly loaded, gun at the prone vampire and fired again.
"Finish him," he told Katelina and purposely turned his back.
She tried to shake away the shock. The vampire lay on his back a few feet from her. He had holes in his torso and his face, but the surprise was wearing off. He started to sit up and reach for his fallen hammer.
She grabbed it before he could and swung it at his head. There was a loud crunch. Globs of warm, moist gore splattered on her. She gagged and swung the hammer a second and third time. Finally, she slammed it into his chest.
"That's probably good," Sorino drawled.
She threw the bulky weapon aside and wiped scarlet from her eyes and face. The mangled body made her queasy, so she turned away. It was kill him, or be killed. She knew that, but still-
"The others are probably looking for you." Sorino packed his second gun in Kai's backpack. "They're that way." He finished zipping the bag and pointed.
She gave an absent nod and wiped more blood from her face. "What are you doing? You weren't at the meeting."
He gave a sarcastic cough. "How very observant of you. You'd best hurry. They're getting impatient."
He was right, now wasn't the time to argue. "Aren't you coming?"
"No. Though I'm sure we'll see you later, assuming you survive. Come, Kai."
He motioned to the teen then walked the opposite direction. Kai gave her a short nod of greeting before he hurried after his master.
