Chapter 547
Katelina didn't have time to scream. One moment she saw the chandelier hurtling toward her, and the next she was on the stairs, held by one of the pale twins. Shards of crystal splintered through the air like missiles. She ducked, arms over her head.
Shocked silence fell. She lowered her hands and straightened. The chandelier lay in a heap of broken crystal, its rope coiled out like a giant snake, still attached to the half crushed ceiling medallion. Without its hundreds of glittering bulbs, the massive room was gloomy and painted in shadows.
"You are unhurt?" the twin asked, and she looked down at herself to check. Her arms were marked with tiny cuts, and crystal glittered in her hair. Otherwise she was fine.
The second twin materialized next to them, fast like Verchiel. "You're lucky we were here."
"Yes," his brother echoed. "Lucky."
Footsteps pelted down the corridors and vampires skidded to a stop inside the room. Jorick and Jamie pushed past them. They looked from the mess to her, and Jorick crunched his way through the debris.
"Katelina?"
"She is unharmed," one of the twins said.
"We pulled her from its path."
Jorick tugged her down a few steps to stand next to him. "Yes. Thank you."
"Of course. We are happy to help."
"Yes, happy."
Jorick gave them a final suspicious look, then led Katelina down into the sea of destruction. Jamie crouched over the massive medallion and examined the hardware on the other side of it.
"And?" Jorick asked.
Jamie stood. "It could have given way from the weight." He pointed to the cracked, ruined ceiling. A jagged hole was where the medallion had been. Snapped electric wires twisted out like colored spaghetti. "The rope wasn't cut, and I don't see how anyone could have forced it down like that."
Andrei sailed in. He looked from the mess to the Executioners, his face pale. "Is everyone all right?"
"Yes," Jorick said. "There was only Katelina and those two in the room."
The twins bowed. "Tol and Ren, at your service."
Tol and Ren. Bizarre names to go with bizarre vampires. Katelina thought of the reflection in the mirror. "No. There was someone else. I saw them for a split second before-" Before it all came crashing down.
Jorick looked to the twins, but they shook their heads. "We did not see anyone else."
"Yes," Katelina insisted. "I saw them in the mirror." She broke off as she eyed the fallen statues, some draped in dark togas. "Or maybe it was one of those."
Jamie nodded. "That's more likely."
Jorick patted her back. "Come, little one. You've had a shock. It's nearly bed time, anyway."
Despite Jamie's pronouncement of natural causes, the twins' smiles left her uneasy. If only she could put her finger on it.
"You were scared," Jorick said as he helped her over the ruin. "It's natural to still be upset."
She wasn't sure that was it.
***
Katelina woke in the middle of the day. She reached out, searching for what had startled her.
Something moved in the hallway. She looked quickly to Jorick, but he was fast asleep. Years of being a warrior had honed his senses, so if it hadn't disturbed him, she'd probably imagined it.
The soft shuffle came again. Maybe it was Sarah lurking in the corridor, trying to catch her imaginary stalker. Katelina inhaled and smelled Sarah's scenta mixture of cucumbers and melon, her favorite shampoobut the smell was farther away than the hall.
With concern, Katelina slipped from under the bedclothes and jerked the door open.
Nothing.
She stuck her head out and looked both ways. No Sarah, no servant, and certainly no stalker.
Relieved, she stumbled back to the safety of bed. Jorick cracked an eyelid. "Your friend?"
"No. Just me." She yawned and snuggled down. "I guess I'm still jumpy."
She dropped off before she heard his reply.
The next evening, she woke to see a field of undisturbed snow outside. When her breath was too cold to steam the glass, she panicked, then reminded herself what she was now. She wouldn't be warm until she drank warm blood.
She was part way through breakfast before she remembered her daylight wakefulness. She leaned over to Sarah and asked softly, "Was your-stalker there last night?"
Sarah gave her a suspicious once over. "Why?"
Katelina lowered her voice. "I thought I heard-it might have been a dream-"
"You heard them too!" Sarah cried. Nearby vampires stared, and Sarah quieted. "I told you there was someone."
Jorick took Katelina's empty glass. "No one was there, or I'd have woken up. If you stop looking for something sinister in your overactive imaginations, you'll find there's plenty to worry about in the real world."
Sarah gave him a hard look and purposefully turned away.
Jorick shrugged "We're doing double shifts. Andrei's decided to hold some sort of winter games and he wants two sets of security, one outdoors and one inside."
"Which one are we?" she asked.
"Inside. Let Jamie play in the snow."
"For doing this as a favor, sometimes you seem bitter."
After breakfast, Katelina and Jorick did a quick tour of the entryway. The mess was cleaned up, and candelabras were placed around the room. Their flickering light threw strange shadows that gave the statues the illusion of life. Katelina was glad to leave the room behind.
By the time lunch was finished, most of the vampires had wandered outside to enjoy the festivities. From what she could see, they involved sledding, snowman building, and a few strange things, including something to do with brooms and a sheet of ice they'd poured on the lawn. Several of the guests participated semi-unwillingly, dressed head to foot in furs and glittering jewelry, while others were more competitive and wore clothes closer to the occasion.
Sarah disappeared to the TV room. Jorick led Katelina down empty halls, and peered into deserted spaces. In the second floor sewing room was Annabelle, hands folded in her lap as if she'd been waiting.
Jorick started to withdraw when she moved toward them. "Please, relax your vigilance. My mate has good intentions, but they are misplaced. If anything were to happen it would not be here in the echoing public rooms."
Katelina looked to Jorick for a translation. Was she telling them not to bother patrolling, or to stop for a little while and stay with her?
Jorick cut both off, "We have our orders."
Annabelle hurried to catch the door before he could close it. "Of course. But what of your mate? She's not commanded by The Guild, or even Andrei. Perhaps she would like a break from the endless rounds?"
Alarm bells sounded in Katelina's head. Why would Annabelle want her to stop patrolling?
As if to answer, the vampiress added, "I could use some company."
Katelina expected Jorick to say, "Thank you, but no." Instead he said, "The choice is hers."
He drew away and she thought about bolting after him, but Annabelle drew her deeper into the room. She motioned her to a chair, then primly took a seat on the old fashioned sofa. The graceful figure was a strange contrast to the half mask.
"You wonder why I asked you here," Annabelle said. "I won't beat around the bush. Yesterday you caught me by surprise. I wanted to be sure you didn't take any-inferences away from our encounter. What I mean to say is, it was not as-suspicious as it appeared." She stopped. "My saying that makes it seem even more suspicious, doesn't it?" Katelina nodded and Annabelle sighed. "Please, let me start again. Yesterday you and your mate found me reading an old letter. It is the anniversary of a very sad event, and though Andrei prefers to bury himself in parties, I prefer to mourn in my own way; quietly."
Katelina nodded dutifully, unsure why Annabelle bothered to explain herself. It wasn't as if she'd asked.
"No," Annabelle said to her thoughts. "But tongues wag, and a careless word might inflame someone's imagination. I tell you because I wish a favor. I know your mate will be discreet; he is an Executioner for The Guild, and trained, but I can see you are new to this life, and perhaps to the lifestyle. So I ask, please do not tell tales."
That made sense. "You don't need to worry. I mentioned it to Sarah, but she wasn't listening, and I don't have anyone else to tell."
Annabelle cocked her head to one side. "I didn't realize how alone you were in these halls." She crossed to Katelina and laid a hand on her arm. "Perhaps you would like a friend?"
Katelina wondered if it was an offer or a threat. Annabelle laughed softly. "My threats have always been more succinct, though it seems my overtures of goodwill are too subtle. Come, let us go for a walk and leave these dreary halls behind. They're always so dark on moonless nights."
Jorick said to stay away from the guests, but wouldn't the host's wife be safe? Unless she planned to kill her for seeing too much.
Katelina swallowed her fears, said a quick prayer for protection, and let the vampiress lead her outside. The wind blew sparkling crystals of snow at them. As Annabelle caught the flakes and shook them free, Katelina noticed her palms were scarred, though she wasn't sure from what.
They skirted the mansion and stopped at the first of the triangular shaped nooks. On the bench sat Marna and Trivila. Without a word, they stood and joined them. Katelina's heart pounded as they resumed their quiet walk. A single suspicious vampiress was one thing, but three of them-
"I hear you had a run in with the Kisa and Kayla," Trivila said.
Katelina wasn't sure who she was talking to until all eyes turned to her. "Who?"
"The pair of Wednesday Adams lookalikes," Trivila explained. "They shouldn't have taken the hiker. It was messy."
"Not as messy as Saturday's feast is likely to be," Marna replied.
Katelina looked uncertain and Trivila said, "Saturday is the full moon, the moon of the Night Goddess." Katelina jolted at the name. Night Goddess. She'd heard it before, though she wasn't sure where.
"She is a deity immortals once worshiped," Annabelle explained.
Trivila nodded. "I don't believe in her any more than I believe in the Christian's God or Islam's Allah, but the celebration is fun."
"Like celebrating Christmas without believing in the birth," Marna commented coldly.
"Don't get offended." To Katelina she said, "Marna is our little priest. Or should it be a nun, since you're a woman?"
"Women can be priests now," Marna insisted. "But I'm not, I'm just a believer."
"Believe what you want, though I think the ideology clashes with our lifestyle."
Katelina tried to reconcile the idea of Christianity and killing people, but stopped before she got dizzy. She supposed it was no different than someone who lied and cheated to make money. Neither was following the principles.
Annabelle patted her arm. "Saturday's feast will not be to your taste. Not all the guests approve, I'm sure. I know Marna will not participate, nor will Kolli or Hannah. It might be best if you stayed with them during it."
Before Katelina could press about what was going to happen, Andrei appeared from around the corner of the house. He eyed the group, glancing to Katelina more than once. Annabelle gave a barely perceptible nod. Katelina could almost feel her telling him not to worry, the loose tongue was silenced.
But silenced from telling what?
