Chapter 504
Scharfrichter poured into the courtyard. They dropped to their knees before the True Council. Ishkur surveyed them with barely contained scorn, then looked to Inanna. Katelina could feel the silent conversation pass between them, even if she couldn't hear it. Then Ishkur seemed to disappear, moving too fast for her to see.
Inanna turned to her dark eyed counterpart. "Utu."
With a nod, he also disappeared.
She looked to her prostrate followers. "Rise." They did as they were told, their eyes on the ground. Katelina looked among them for familiar faces. Hethin was there, but not Sadihra.
"There are others," Inanna said. "Destroy them."
The Scharfrichter saluted, then hurried back the way they'd come. Inanna turned to Jorick. "You have claimed Malick's heart and so his coven. We will destroy them."
"Fine. I don't want them."
Inanna nodded. "You and your bride have been helpful."
Jorick moved to block Katelina. "As if we had a choice. You used her and her connection to Samael."
Inanna's face and voice were emotionless. "Yes."
Jorick went on, "First you attempted to torture her to lure him, as Malick tried, then you released her with the hope that she would go to him and you could follow her."
Torture? Did he mean the dungeon that he kept insisting she'd dreamed?
"Yes," Inanna said. "To keep her imprisoned invited folly. The future it would have brought was the destruction of the stronghold. Better to take the fight to him."
Katelina's eyes bulged. Inanna had just admitted what Burton had hinted to, what Jamie had suspected.
"And after all of the effort, you let Samael go," Jorick snapped.
"Ishkur suspects his destination." Her eyes trailed over the battle weary group. "You have fought well."
Then she was gone.
With Inanna's departure, the rest of the world snapped back into being. Katelina was aware of Micah, Loren, and the others. The teen was on his knees, his hand over his ear. Lurid was pressed against the wall, and Micah wiped his face with trembling hands. The aftermath of the ancients' presence.
The sounds of battle drifted to them, but for once no one moved to join. With an exclamation of relief, Verchiel sagged to the ground. It was Jamie who spoke everyone's thoughts, "Let them handle it. We've done enough."
The humans were hiding in a round cement building that looked like a yurt. When the vampires marched inside, Etsuko hurried to Oren. She bowed several times before she murmured, "I am glad to see Oren-sama return safely."
She met his eyes. Her cheeks tinted pink. Oren's face registered surprise, then he looked away uncomfortably. "Yes. Erm. Yes."
Takeshi hobbled to Maeko and prostrated himself on the floor. He reeled off a string of Japanese that Katelina thought was an apology. Maeko shook her head, and helped him to his feet. "Takeshi-san has done well."
Xandria practically attacked Katelina. "How did it go? Did you kill the old guy?"
She didn't feel up to the story, so she just nodded. The woman gave a sigh of relief. "I don't suppose you saw Sanjay?"
Sanjay. Xandria's former master. No doubt the one who'd blown things up.
"They might have captured him."
Xandria rolled her eyes. "That sounds about right. They'll probably put him in prison for, like, twenty years."
More like fifty, Katelina thought, but didn't say.
Two of Samael's servants bowed politely. The taller woman spoke, "I am Chen Zhilan, and this is my sister Chen Lin."
A sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu passed over Katelina as she asked, "You're both named Chen?"
"Chen is our family name." She looked past Katelina to Jorick and Jamie. "The master, he is gone?"
Jamie nodded and she looked relieved. "As I thought. We can think again. I remember the hotel. My sister's birthday dinner. The cries that choked off. The silence was more terrifying than the sound and then-Our mother and father. They will be worried. And my boyfriend. May we go home?"
Katelina started to say yes, when Jamie interrupted. "We're not the ones to ask. You'll have to go through the G¨-ogu¨¬ F¨£yu¨¤n."
The Chinese Guild. Katelina knew what the guilds did to humans who tried to go back to a normal life. The pop singer Shelay knew, assuming there was any consciousness left after the Executioners had gutted her and left her in the ditch. Vampires couldn't risk that humans would talk.
She could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth. "You'd be better off staying with Samael."
"I doubt they'll let them," Jamie said. "No one knows when or if he'll be back. I imagine the G¨-ogu¨¬ F¨£yu¨¤n will want to make repairs and reopen the park."
Katelina rounded on him. "And when he comes back and finds his self-proclaimed palaces full of tourists again? What then?"
Jorick laid a hand on her shoulder. "That isn't our problem, little one. Let the Chinese handle it."
"You know what they'll do
Jamie motioned her to silence and met Jorick's eyes. A silent conversation passed between them, and Jorick sighed.
The door opened. Sorino walked in, Kai on his heels. The boy's backpack was stuffed so full that the zipper was ready to pop. What in the hell did he have in there?
Oren asked the question aloud and Sorino sniffed. "Since I was cheated of my reward from Fethillen" his suspicious eyes moved to Katelina, then back "I compensated myself. There are certain documents. Nothing you would be interested in, and nothing that will be missed. Can you imagine they've kept them behind curtains all these years?" He gave a cold chuckle.
"You can have your prize," Jamie said. "First you need to earn it."
Sorino cocked an eyebrow. "I already have."
"You will have," Jorick said. He pressed a kiss to Katelina's cheek and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to keep Xandria?"
As opposed to what? Turning her over to the Chinese? "Yes."
With a sigh he pulled back. "Micah, Loren. Take Katelina and her human and make arrangements for the day."
"Please take Ryuu-chan also," Maeko asked with a bow.
Micah cocked an uncertain eyebrow. "Okay." When no one offered additional information he clapped his hand on Katelina's shoulder. "Come on. We'll find some blood while we're at it and get some of this shit healed up, huh?"
"Yeah," she murmured, though bath and bed sounded better.
They found game in the hills and were restored by the time they reached the courtyard. Though not completely healed, Wolfe was on his feet and in command. He rattled off directions to a subordinate.
Katelina's eyes moved from the Scharfrichter to the ruined gates. A military style truck was parked outside. Vampires dressed as police helped a man into the back. Katelina recognized Zhilan and Lin among the passengers.
Wolfe's conversation ended and he turned to her. "You survived."
"Of course "
She cut Micah off with a nod to the humans. "What are you doing with them?"
Wolfe answered impatiently, "Normal procedure is to kill them because they can't be allowed to go back to human society knowing. However, with Samael's departure, their memories of his takeover have magically disappeared, so they may be allowed to live."
Disappeared, or taken away by seven whisperers? Wolfe's suspicious tone said he'd also thought of that. Before he could press her further, Jamie joined them. "Wrapping things up?"
Wolfe gave him a calculating look, as if trying to decide if he'd be as troublesome as Jorick. "Yes. The humans are being transported, Malick's servants are dead or captured, and the crown has been returned."
"I still don't understand why Malick wanted it," Katelina said.
Wolfe grunted. "It was a distraction. Everyone we identified from his mass murder went missing on the elevenththe same day he took over the silo and demanded the crown. No one paid attention to the unusually large number of kidnappings; some were not even processed until the next day, because they were caught up in the missile crisis. Regardless, I'm sure he enjoyed getting his hands on it."
All that for a distraction. Malick never ceased to amaze her.
***
They chose rooms in the hotel. Katelina wondered why they hadn't done that the night before. "We did not know they were here," was Maeko's obvious answer.
Katelina wasn't sure where her bag of clothes had gotten to, but she took a shower anyway. With only dirty clothes, she opted to slip naked under the blankets to wait for Jorick. A knock on the door left her clutching the bedding. When she ignored it, the door opened and Verchiel strolled in.
She blushed to her toes. "Um, I'm not really in the mood for visitors."
The redhead dropped into a chair and yawned. "I thought you'd like to know that Jorick's going to be late."
She held the blanket tighter. "Oh?"
"He took Malick's body to the hills. Last I saw he was tearing down trees for a pyre."
"Don't you mean chopping?"
He met her eyes. "No. I meant tearing them down with his bare hands." A heartbeat passed. "He just killed his master, Kately."
"I know it's against the laws, but-"
"There's no law against it, any more than there's a special human law against killing your parents. It's a social taboo, and an emotional one."
"Everyone keeps making a big deal about being attached to your master." He nodded and she pressed, "Were you?"
An unnamed emotion crossed his face. "Kateesha-" He broke into a grin. "You know how Kateesha was." He stood and stretched. "It smells like bedtime. I'll see you tomorrow."
