Chapter 500
Katelina remembered Verchiel's comment about blood on his sword, and paused to clean off her dagger. Then she followed Micah. They wound around the buildings to find a second pair of dead vampires. Bullet wounds matched the sounds Katelina had heard. It was something else that had taken out their hearts. Maybe Hikaru's staff.
A red and black blur blasted past. Katelina stumbled out of the way. A second blur materialized into Arlen. Micah raised his sword. Arlen knocked him to the paving stones before he'd finished his swing.
The wind walker slammed Katelina into the wall. The gash in her stomach screamed and she blinked tears from her eyes.
Verchiel ripped him away. Katelina had a quick view of Arlen crashing into a building. Ornate scrolled windows shattered into bits. Before the pieces had landed, Arlen was already gone.
Verchiel leapt in front of him. Their swords clashed. They turned into a whiplash inducing blur. Even with her immortal reflexes, Katelina had a hard time keeping up.
When they broke apart, Arlen leapt to the roof of a building. Blood ran down his face and his lips were twisted in a snarl.
Katelina looked to Verchiel. His shoulder had stopped bleeding but a cut across his face ran crimson. His coat was ragged. The patch he'd put on the back after the incident at the waterfall had torn away to leave an oddly shaped hole. It reminded her of what Arlen had done to him in the past.
Verchiel ran toward the building. He bounced up the side and landed on the roof, scattering tiles. Arlen slashed with his sword. Verchiel met him blow for blow.
With the battle above, Katelina hurried to Micah. He was already up, shaking his head. "What the fuck?"
"Arlen." She handed his stolen sword back to him.
"Fucking wind walker shit. He may be fast but let's see how he does when I punch his fucking face in."
She motioned to the battle on the roof. "Verchiel will kill him."
"Like he has all the other fucking times." Micah spit out a mouthful of blood. "Fuck, I think he knocked my tooth loose."
The wind walkers broke apart. Arlen back flipped off the building to land between Katelina and Micah. He rammed an elbow into the bald vampire's face, then pushed her against the wall. She kicked him in the stomach, but he was back before she could move.
He pressed the square end of his sword against her chest, and looked back to Verchiel. "Take another step and I'll kill the woman."
Verchiel wiped blood from his eyes. "Good luck with that."
It obviously wasn't the reply Arlen expected. Katelina took advantage of his distraction to kick him in the knees. His legs buckled and she sidestepped the blade and rolled away. She had a brief flash of Verchiel leaping over her before he knocked into Arlen.
Micah pulled her to her feet. "Fuck this shit. If you weren't here I'd kill that son of a bitch but you ain't ready to fight him."
As if summoned, Arlen dropped in front of them. With a roar, Micah swung the heavy sword. The wind walker dodged blow after blow. Finally, Micah abandoned the weapon and went after him with white knuckled fists.
Katelina looked wildly for Verchiel. What had Arlen done to him this time?
A grunt from Micah caught her attention. He'd said she wasn't ready to fight Arlen, but she wasn't sure he was either. The wind walker flitted around him. Micah looked like a musclebound giant swatting a troublesome fly.
Except this fly was lethal.
If Verchiel was dead she couldn't save him. If he was injured she couldn't heal him. But, maybe she could save Micah.
She charged at the bizarre match up. Arlen looked to her for a second and Micah grabbed him by his long hair. He wrapped his other hand around the wind walker's throat and smashed him into a pillar until it broke. Then he twisted Arlen's arm behind his back and slammed him face first into the wall. The wind walker struggled, but Micah was stronger. Without freedom to move, his speed meant nothing.
Micah used Arlen's hair to slam his face into the building again and again. When the grating disintegrated he moved to a new location. Arlen kicked Micah's leg out from under him and he lost his balance. The wind walker ripped away before he could catch him again.
Katelina saw the flash of silver. Micah fell back, his hand to his chest. Blood seeped through his fingers. The flash came again, leaving a trail of red on Micah's tattooed arm. Katelina sprang at them. She missed Arlen and crashed among the rubble.
Verchiel appeared behind Arlen. He had a gash across his torso, and a deep cut across one thigh. Arlen spun toward him and Verchiel stabbed. His sword rammed through the surprised wind walker's chest. Verchiel ripped it free again, then kicked his body over.
Katelina stood as Verchiel wiped his sword on his enemy's coat. He fell back against the wall, his chest heaving, and his face creased in pain.
"Are you okay?" Katelina asked as she helped Micah to his feet.
"Yeah," Verchiel muttered. "I'm great." He took a deep breath, then straightened up. "I'm fine. You?"
Her hand moved to the wound in her stomach. "It hurts."
Micah pulled away from her and grumbled, "Baby, I'm hurt worse than you and I ain't bitching."
Verchiel broke into a grin. "Yeah, she is kind of a baby, huh?" He ruffled her hair, then leaned back against the wall. "This plan isn't going to work. There aren't enough of us. And they're old. Lots older than me. Older than Jorick, even, or Sorino. And all the guys from outside are coming in now." He motioned to Arlen's lifeless body.
"Wolfe's army should be coming," Katelina pointed out.
"For the help they'll be." Verchiel ran a hand through his hair and caught on a tangle of blood. "Never mind. You guys came from back there?" Katelina nodded. She could almost see Verchiel calculating. "I think pretty much everyone is over here. Why don't you two go back and circle around from the side?"
He stiffened. "Never mind. Stay here." Then he was gone.
Katelina looked to Micah. "What the hell was that?"
The bald vampire broke into a bloodthirsty grin. "Malick."
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