Chapter 523
The next evening, Katelina held up a blouse and studied herself in the mirror. "How about this one?"
Without looking away from his book, Jorick muttered, "Fine."
She turned around, hands on her hips. "You didn't even look."
He sighed and made a show of studying her. "You're fine, little one. The last outfit was fine, and the one before it was fine. No. Fantastic. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Whatever it is you're looking to hear, imagine I said it."
With a shake of her head, she turned back to the mirror. "Did you even listen to me? I'm not trying to look good, I'm trying to look normal. As in not a vampire."
"Do you still have that pink sweater? No self-respecting vampire would wear that."
"It's in Maine. And I'm being serious. I look too-too-good. My hair" she flipped it and it fell back in perfect waves. "And my eyes. It's like they glow. And my lips. It's like I have on lipstick all of the time. And see how pale I am?"
Jorick lowered his book. "In over five hundred years I've never heard a woman complain she looked too good."
"That's because they weren't trying to fool their mother into thinking they're still human."
Jorick sighed and shut the book. "Your mother doesn't know about vampires, Katelina. She won't look at you and think you're immortal. She'll probably think you've been to a-barber for women."
"Salon," Katelina supplied. "Are you sure? Now that Sarah's back-How do you know she didn't tell her?"
Jorick slid to the end of the bed. "Is that what you're worried about?"
"Obviously." Katelina spun to face him. "Sarah was kidnapped by Claudius. Everyone agrees on that. So no matter how she survived, she knows about vampires. You of all people should remember The Laws, Jorick. Humans who aren't owned by a vampire can't know. If she tells my mom-then what? What's to stop The Guild from swarming in and butchering her? Beldren made it clear the Laws applied to everyone now. Just because she's my mother won't save her."
Jorick took her in his arms. "Don't worry, little one. If Sarah told your mother, she'd have mentioned it."
He had logic. Her mother wouldn't stay quiet. In her imagination she heard her hysterical voice, "Kately, Sarah said she was kidnapped by vampires! Do you know about this?"
"You're probably right," Katelina relented. "But what if she tells her later?"
"Then we'll deal with it. We can't see the future."
"I suppose you're right. I just worry. I only have one mother."
"Thank goodness for that."
"Hey!" She smacked him on the arm. "My mother's nice."
He quirked an eyebrow. "If you say so. Are you ready to go? You really do look delicious."
She poked him in the stomach but forgave him. "I suppose. Are we taking the rest of them?"
As though summoned by her thoughts, Micah pounded on the door and shouted, "Yo! You up yet?" When Katelina opened the door he asked, "What's the plan, princess? We goin' out on the town or what?"
She cringed as she said, "We're going to my mother's. I suppose you and Loren can come."
Micah burst into heavy guffaws. "Mothers? I don't meet mothers, babycakes. Me 'n Loren will find something to do. You taking that human chick with you?"
"Um-"
"Good. We'll take her. Bet we can get her to lure us some prey or somethin'."
Katelina objected, but Micah laughed and headed to Xandria's room.
Jorick grimaced. "I'm no fan of the Neanderthal, but I'll stay too."
She gave him a dark look. "Nice try. Come on, we'd better go."
They parked on a residential road lit with street lights. The neighboring houses, with curtains in the windows, tidy lawns, and the occasional Easter decoration, belonged on a sit-com. Smack in the middle was a single story house painted neon green. Only a single light was on, and the Christmas lights were still around the front room window. Her mother's minty blue bug sat in the driveway.
With squared shoulders, Katelina marched to the front door. No one answered, and after the third knock she started to worry.
"Calm down," Jorick said, but then his forehead creased with concern. "I smell a vampire."
Katelina whirled around, expecting one to materialize behind her, the way Verchiel always did. When nothing happened she spun back. "Where?"
He inhaled deeply. "They were here, recently, but they've gone. Maybe there is something."
That Jorick was worried was enough for her.
The door was unlocked and Katelina rushed inside. The front room was a riot of what-nots and mismatched decor, including a couch upholstered in orange pheasants. It was the same hodge-podge as usual. With Katelina's new eyes the dust was more obvious, and the colors more jarring. Otherwise it looked the same as it had since she was small.
She dashed into the kitchen and skidded to a halt on the checkered floor. Checkers? That was new. So were the plum walls, the black paint on half of the upper cabinets, and the chrome and black table and chair set. She'd always hated the homey yellow and green mess she'd grown up with, but seeing it transformed was a smack in the head.
She shook it off to check the paintbrushes laying on the countertop. They were clean but still damp, as was some of the paint. The step ladder was set up on a bed of newspaper. Her mother's painting had been interrupted, but she'd had time to wash the brushes.
The bathroom was the same as usual, and her old bedroom was still a pile of boxes and bookcases stuffed with crafting supplies. Both were devoid of life.
She slammed into her mother's bedroom, expecting to see blood and body parts. Instead she saw a new paint schemethe wild purple was gone, replaced by a subdued gray. The closet hung open. Her mother's bright seventies-inspired dresses were mostly replaced with darker colors and a row of slacks.
Slacks?
Katelina rifled through the clothing and fell back a step. "What the fuck? There are men's clothes in here!" She turned to Jorick. "Can you tell if the vampire was male or female?"
He quirked an eyebrow. "Can you?" When she rolled her eyes he said, "No. I can only tell they've been here."
She dropped onto the corner of the bed. It had been six days since she'd talked to her mother. Six days that vampires could have been living in the house of an old woman with no family to protest her disappearance. "How recently?"
"Today. Or yesterday."
"They've already killed her, haven't they? And taken her house. That's why they're redoing things. I knew the black kitchen wasn't like her and this" She waved to the new hardwood floor and the modern headboard and dresser. "She'd never decorate like this."
Jorick's frown deepened. "I don't smell blood. Is there a basement?"
Katelina dutifully led him to the utility porch where the basement door waited, bolted as usual. She paused to pick through the laundry and found several modern pieces, including some slinky black lingerie. Her hands shook with fury as she threw the filmy garment on the floor. Katelina's imagination played the scene for her; a slutty vampiress, who looked a bit like Torina, cavorted all over the house with her mate, leaving a trail of soft moans and musical laughter, lips stained with her mother's blood.
"I'll fucking kill them!"
Jorick pushed the basement door open and disappeared. In Katelina's mind she saw her mother's dead body splayed on the cement. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for affirmation. Jorick's slow footsteps came back up. "Nothing."
Katelina felt a moment of relief, but the tension returned. If her body wasn't there, then where
A car engine sounded outside. Katelina stiffened as doors opened and closed. Jorick sniffed, and she did the same. She could smell the faint thread of human blood but there, over the top of it, was immortality. The vampire had returned with a victim.
Katelina charged for the living room. She grabbed the recliner and hefted it, ready to swing at whatever monster walked in the door.
Keys rattled. The door opened. A human man stepped inside. His brown hair was gelled in a perfect wave, like a ken doll. A sports jacket stretched over broad shoulders, and a button up shirt in pale pink was crisp and trendy. His blue eyes widened in surprise as he stared. "Katelina?"
It was Brad.
Katelina froze, chair held aloft, as Sarah pushed through behind him. Her brown curly hair fell around her shoulders, held back on either side by sparkling hair pins. She wore a pale blue sweater and a pencil skirt that looked made for her. Her honey colored skin shimmered and her green eyes stared. The horrified astonishment faded and her lips parted in a smile that revealed a set of shiny white fangs.
"Katelina! You're back."
