Chapter 528
Katelina's mother and Brad bustled in with folding chairs. "I don't know if your 'church thing' fed you, but there's plenty left in the kitchen. Plates are on the counter."
They mumbled polite excuses, except Xandria who said, "Thanks, I'm starving," and hurried toward the promise of dinner.
"She has an interesting accent," Uncle Henry commented. "Where's she from?"
Katelina realized she didn't know. She'd mentioned Zimbabwe and vampire killers, but-"I met her in Indonesia."
"What were you doing in Indonesia?" Elsie asked with alarm.
Aunt Charlotte squinted at her. "Catching something, from the looks of it. Your hair looks better dear, but you're terribly pale." She tilted her glasses and studied Jorick, Micah, and Loren. "You all are."
Uncle Barry swallowed a large bite of pie. "It's a thing now with kids. They all look pale and sickly."
"Mine don't," Elsie bristled.
"Kate is hardly a kid," Charlotte said. "She's twenty-six now."
Gregg cut in. "By the way, happy late birthday."
Katelina shot him a grateful look. "Thanks. How are you?"
"Pretty good. Josh and I are talking about getting married."
Charlotte coughed and Leandra gave her a hard look. "Yes?"
"Nothing. I'm only glad my children grew up to like the opposite sex."
"It's too bad they didn't inherit a work ethic," Leandra said icily. "How is your son doing? Still living off the kindness of strangers as he backpacks through Europe?"
Katelina's mother returned with the last chair and motioned everyone to sit. "Kately was in Europe."
"Really?" Ben asked around a mouthful. "Which countries?"
Katelina pretended to wipe her mouth. "Germany, mainly. We went to Russia a few times, and some of those Stan countries."
Elsie frowned. "What were you doing with the communists?"
"They're not-" It was too hard to talk to waste time on world politics. "Jorick's a computer database technician."
Josh perked up. "Really? I work in IT."
Jorick murmured, "How interesting." And Katelina panicked. If they tried to discuss computers everyone would know she'd been lying.
Her Uncle Henry inadvertently saved them. "So, Micah, what do you do?"
The bald vampire shrugged. "Bikes."
"Motorcycles?" Henry lit up. "I used to have a BMW R90S. When I retire I'd like to get another one."
"I don't think so," Charlotte said disdainfully. "They're dangerous."
Micah looked ready to pounce, but Elsie cut in. "Mom, you have to let men have their toys. Ben just bought a new bass boat."
"A boat is different than a motorcycle."
Katelina heard a giggle and looked to see Elsie's daughters, pink cheeked and staring at Loren. The boy shifted uncomfortably. Katelina realized with a nasty flash that, despite his appearance, he was older than her. No wonder he looked more disconcerted than flattered.
The discussion went on and Katelina tried to disappear into her folding chair. She thought about excusing herself to the kitchen, but she couldn't leave the vampires alone, for fear they'd say or do something stupid.
Xandria returned, having eaten in the safety of the kitchen, and Katelina's mother gave another call for pie. To Katelina's horror, Micah asked for a piece of apple. She shot him a what-in-the-hell-are-you-doing look, but he waved it away and muttered, "Relax, sister."
Her mother returned with the pie and a glass of water for Katelina. She studied Loren. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm terrible with names, but are you related to Jorick?"
"Yes," Katelina cut in quickly. "That's Loren, Jorick's nephew."
Her mother nodded. "I recognize him from the photos. He was in the jungle one, wasn't he?"
Katelina didn't know, so she just nodded.
"What jungle?" Leandra asked.
Katelina held her glass over her mouth. "Somewhere in Africa. The Congo, maybe."
Charlotte cocked an eyebrow. "Your boyfriend was working on computers in the Congo?"
Katelina tried to resist bolting. "It was more like a vacation."
Marshy and Cinna giggled and poked one another. Finally Marshy asked, "What happened to your arm?"
Micah, who had hitherto been sniffing his pie, took a hearty bite and chewed it thoughtfully. "Now that's some fuckin' pie."
The young girls giggled, and Shelby's son peered over his glasses at the obscenity. Katelina shot Micah a dismayed look that he ignored.
He wolfed the dessert down in four bites, then stood, plate in hand. Katelina's mom jumped to her feet. "I'll get that."
"Nah, I can do it. You sit." He gave her a wink and strode out. Katelina mumbled an excuse and followed. When she got to the kitchen all she heard was the slam of the bathroom door, followed by loud retching.
She tapped on the door uncomfortably. "Micah?"
The retching repeated, and finally the door opened. The bald vampire wiped his face and glared. "What the fuck? Can't a guy get some goddamn privacy?"
"Sorry. Iwe aren't supposed to eat."
"Yeah, tell me about it." He grabbed his stomach and slammed the door again. Another round of retching followed, then another. Finally the toilet flushed, the sink ran, and Micah emerged. "One of us had to fucking eat something. You and Jorick look like fake wannabes sittin' all yuppie and perfect, sipping water. One of us has to look fucking normal."
Normal wasn't a word she associated with him. Before she could say that, her Uncle Henry came through the kitchen door. "Oh. Hope I'm not interrupting."
"No." Katelina stepped away hastily, her cheeks pink with her uncle's insinuation. "He couldn't find the soap."
"Your mom does a good job of hiding it in the soap dish," Henry commented with a wink.
He ducked into the bathroom and Katelina bit back a scream. Could this night get any worse?
Jorick entered, carrying her empty water glass and wearing a scowl. "I wondered where you'd disappeared to."
"I was just"
Someone knocked on the front door. Through the kitchen doorway Katelina saw her mom hurry to answer it. She couldn't make out the visitor's words over the thrum of the family's conversation, but she smelled a familiar scent, something musky and heavy, like heather and mist.
Her mother appeared in the doorway, wearing her hostess smile. "Kately dear, there's someone looking for you and Jorick."
She stepped aside to reveal a broad shouldered vampire who wore his black hair in a bun.
"Hello, Jorick. I hope this isn't an inconvenient time."
It was Jamie.
