Chapter 499
Katelina suppressed the urge to shout the word "coward" after the retreating Sorino, and took off. She found the others crouched behind a building. Verchiel and Lurid had joined them, but not
"Where's Jorick?"
"He went after Malick." Verchiel looked her over. "You've got stuff on your, well, everywhere. What happened to you?"
"Save the catching up," Oren snapped. "Time is wasting and we'll lose the chance soon."
"Yes," Maeko agreed. "We must strike while they are wandering among the buildings. They are split up, and in many places the space is narrow. Let us divide up quickly."
Verchiel laid his hand on Katelina's shoulder. Micah removed it. "Keep your hands to yourself unless you want to lose 'em, Executioner. Lunch is with me this time. Loren, you go with that guy." He nodded to Lurid. "Keep an eye on him. I still don't trust no friend of that snake."
Loren gave a mock salute, though he didn't look happy. The others divided up and Maeko said, "Remember, draw them into small spaces so they cannot attack in a group."
"Come on." Micah clapped Katelina on the back and led the way. For once, she almost wished she'd been paired with Verchiel. Then she could find out something more detailed beyond "he went after Malick." Went where? Did he catch him? Did they fight? Was he all right?
"Hey! I asked you a fucking question, pay attention!"
She snapped back. "What?"
"I asked what the fuck happened with all the blood."
She gave him a quick explanation. He stopped dead and slapped her upside the head. "You idiot! Why the fuck did you leave the hammer behind?"
"I have this." She held out the dagger.
"A shiny bit of metal ain't the same thing as a giant fucking hammer. Think next time, huh?"
She started to reply when he waved her to silence and motioned to his ears. She concentrated and heard footsteps and metal clinking, then a pair of voices.
Micah dragged her to a doorway and shoved her behind him. "Stay there 'til after I start fighting, then jump out and help. Got it?"
He turned his attention to the narrow alley-like space between the buildings. A pair of vampires came through; the lead was a muscular male with a braid, and the second was a tanned female with a pierced nose and an exposed midriff.
Micah leapt at them with a roar. He knocked the male's sword from his hands. They both dove for it. The female swung a three-prong weapon that looked like a trident and a sword had had a baby.
The hammer suddenly seemed like a good idea.
Gunshots sounded in the distance and Katelina thought of Maeko. She said a quick prayer for her, then gripped her dagger tightly and ran at her enemies with a cry like Micah's. The vampiress looked up in time to dodge her attack, but the distraction was enough to let Micah get the sword.
The bald vampire came up swinging. He used the sword like a club and slammed his opponent in the side of the head, then in the arm. Katelina avoided the female's three-pronged weapon. She ducked low and thrust the dagger, as she had with her last opponent. The trick worked. She ripped the blade out of the woman's naked stomach in a spray of blood. The vampiress howled in rage and pain. She slammed Katelina into the nearest building by her throat.
She started to choke, then told herself to stop. She didn't need air anymore, unless she wanted to talk.
You're fine. Just kick the bitch and come on.
Her mental cheerleading reminded her of Micah, and she cringed as she followed her own advice. Her foot connected with the woman's thigh, then her wounded stomach. The vampiress let her go and fell back, a hand over her injury.
Katelina caught herself from landing in a heap. The vampiress recovered just as fast. Katelina had to scramble to get away from her. She managed a quick glance at Micah to see him smash the male with the sword. She remembered what Jorick had once said; that Micah was young but able to fight the old vampires because he was a titan and had super strength. She hoped it worked for her.
She spun past the vampiress and slammed her fist into the woman's kidneys. The vampiress stumbled again. Katelina jammed the dagger in her back and ripped it out. She made for a second stab when pain ripped through her. She staggered backwards. The vampiress slammed an elbow into her throat. Before she could react, something cold stabbed into her lower abdomen. Her brain imagined an icicle. When she looked down she saw it was the long point of the vampiress' trident.
Her shirt puckered around the blade and a dark trail of scarlet leaked around the edges. At the sight, something sick and watery settled in her stomach. When the vampiress pulled the sword free, a gush of blood followed it. Katelina's instincts screamed. She fell backwards, pressing her hands to the wound.
The vampiress sprang again. Micah slammed her on the head with his sword. He kicked her in the stomach, then the knee, and finally flung her into the nearest wall.
"Fuck, Lunch, you can do better than that." He pulled her hands away to look at her wound. "Hell, that ain't that bad. Some blood will fix it."
Pain sliced through her and she clutched the bald vampire's arm. "That's easy for you to say."
"That ain't the wound, it's the bitch's powers. She's one of those 'agonizings' or whatever they are." Micah launched himself at their combatants.
He punched the woman. Katelina's agony was replaced by a throbbing in her abdomen. Micah was right, there was a difference between the two kinds of pain. Great. How was she supposed to fight against that?
The braided male climbed from the rubble of a ruined wall. He walloped Micah in the head. The bald vampire fell. Katelina swallowed back a wave of pain and charged. She rammed her blade between the vampiress' shoulder blades. She ripped it down and felt the knife click against her vertebrae. She pulled it free when she reached the small of her back.
The vampiress howled. She reached uselessly behind herself. A sudden wave of pain crashed into Katelina. She doubled over as it grew, burning, slicing, splitting, screaming. Then it stopped.
She expected to see the vampiress incapacitated, but she stood. Her eyes locked on Katelina, her face contorted in fury. Katelina could feel the waves of power breaking against her like a rock. Just as with Malick, it didn't affect her anymore.
Katelina knocked the vampiress to the ground with a wet crunch. She used her surprise to thrust the dagger into the vampiress' heart. She twisted the blade viciously then pulled it out, only to ram it back again and again.
The vampiress fell still. Katelina ripped the dagger free and leaned back on her knees, straddling the dead woman. She looked to see Micah fighting with the braided male. Blood ran down his opponent's face and a gory hole bled in his shoulder. She pulled to her feet, ready to help, when Micah rammed the sword through his enemy's chest. He pulled the blade free. The braided vampire crumpled to the ground.
"See how easy that was?" He swung the sword, splattering blood.
Katelina held her abdomen. "Yeah, so fucking easy."
"Quit your whining. Come on."
