Chapter 554
Jamie hadn't compiled the list, but he promised he'd do both phantoms and wind walkers, then meet them in the TV room in an hour or two. "That leaves us time to talk to the twins," Sarah said.
Though it felt like a bad idea, Katelina didn't have a concrete reason to say no, so she followed Sarah through the house. The twins were on the main patio, sipping from glasses decorated with umbrellas. A tiki bar was set up at one end, and three vampiresses dressed in grass skirts and bikini tops hula danced to Hawaiian music. Against the snow it was an odd contrast.
Sarah plunged through the tables and stopped at the pale twins, who were again dressed in all white. "Hello."
Tol and Ren looked up, bright blue eyes interested. "Hello to you."
Katelina's scalp prickled and she felt the thumbs of a mind reader flipping through her brain. She didn't bother to look around; the twins' odd smiles seemed to say they took the credit.
"Will you join us," one of the twins asked and pulled out a chair.
"Yes, join us." The other followed suit and motioned to Katelina.
Sarah smiled and took the seat. "Thank you." At a warning glance from her friend, Katelina did the same.
"We should introduce ourselves. I am Tol."
"And I am Ren."
"We know Katelina," Tol added. "And you are her friend."
"Sarah," she clarified with a nod. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," they said in unison.
"Are you having fun?" Sarah asked.
"Of course," Ren answered. "This is designed for fun, yes?"
Tol called for drinks. A waiter brought her and Sarah each a glass. For once, Katelina's discomfort overrode her hunger, and she left the glass of pineapple scented blood untouched. Sarah downed hers in a gulp, then laughed. The three chatted. As each word passed, Katelina's tension grew. The thumbing mind reader was still there, pressing, and poking, with enough force that she could feel it, but not enough to drag her into the memories. Angrily, she pictured a stone wall dropping down and crushing the twins. A soft laugh sounded in her head, but the influence withdrew.
"-our friend Kali."
Katelina shook herself and tried to find the part of the conversation she'd missed.
"Perhaps another time," Sarah said graciously. "We're supposed to meet a friend of our own soon."
"Such a pity," Tol said. "You would like her."
"You would both like her," Ren added.
Katelina had a vague memory of a dark haired vampiress in a designer dress. If that was Kali, she doubted she would.
Sarah stood, and the twins did the same. They bid them goodbye, then Ren met Katelina's eyes and added, "We will see you again."
His words left her unsettled. Were they a confession? Was he admitting to stalking them?
When they were back in the house, Sarah snapped, "You were pretty rude."
The scolding left Katelina gaping, and Sarah went on. "You didn't say a word not one word, and you could have at least tasted your drink."
"I was rude?" Katelina echoed. "They were in my head."
Sarah brushed it away. "All the old vampires do that. It's like a constant orgy of mind reading."
"So that excuses it? Have you forgotten we were talking to the twins because they're stalking you?"
"No, you said they might be, but I don't think so. There's no motive, and besides they don't feel right."
"Feel right?"
Sarah waved it off. "I don't know how to describe it. I just don't think they're it, okay?"
Katelina made a non-committal noise, but as far as she was concerned they were the number one suspects.
The TV lounge was deserted. They took the prime seats and Sarah grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. Katelina's discomfort drifted away as they watched pieces of several shows, never settling on anything. A clip of a sitcom, a piece of a badly animated cartoon, a few minutes of a horror movie, a news segment about the missing girl from St. Anthony, who they now believed was kidnapped by her estranged father.
"That's where the airport is," Katelina commented as the channel changed again.
Sarah murmured acknowledgement and stopped on a cooking channel. "I always hate this show. That guy couldn't boil an egg. He's only there because he looks good."
"And that's a bad thing?" Katelina teased.
But Sarah wasn't joking. "It's tiring. People should get things based on merit, not on looks."
Katelina wasn't sure what to say. "I agree it sucks. Being not-so-gorgeous I've watched all the pretty girls get everything: the boyfriends, the jobs. You know that. But even I judge people by their appearance, like you do, like everyone does. For instance, when I first met Jorick. If he'd looked like Bubbah from the trailer park, do you think I'd have gone inside the house with him?"
Jamie's amused voice cut in. "Of course. He lured you inside. You never had a choice."
Katelina turned toward the Executioner. "What?"
She could feel his surprise. "I thought you'd figured that out by now. He used his whisperer abilities to make you follow him to the basement. He knew if you saw a real vampire you'd believe him. Though what he planned to do after that is anyone's guess. I'm not sure even he knew." He broke off. "Never mind. This is a conversation you should have with him. Here's your list."
Katelina wanted to backtrack, but Sarah grabbed the paper enthusiastically. As she looked it over she deflated. "It's just a list of names. How are we supposed to know who they belong to?"
Katelina skimmed the neat cursive. She stopped from mentioning Tol and Ren, and instead pointed to Petta. "Look, it's that Rangavic guy's girlfriend. The one from earlier who slept in all week. She's a wind walker."
"But what motive would she have?" Jamie asked. "I'm not deriding your mystery, only voicing the question you should ask yourselves. Sarah is a new vampire with no coven, and no ties to anyone significant."
"You're saying I'm not important enough to stalk?"
"I'm saying you might not be the intended target. Your room is between Jorick and Fleur's. Both have made enemies."
"I did hear them outside our door," Katelina said slowly.
Jamie nodded. "It's more likely that, being higher strung, Sarah wakes to catch them, but Jorick is the true objective, especially considering most of the wind walkers and phantoms are old vampires he's probably run into before."
Katelina tried to still her panic. "Have you told him your theory?"
"Not yet. I only thought of it as I was compiling the list. But don't worry. He could best any of them."
Sarah turned back to the paper. "You might be right. Which of these people consider Jorick an enemy?"
"You could ask him," Jamie suggested.
The idea was reasonable, and a few minutes later they found Jorick leaning against the wall outside the ballroom, a book in his hand.
"You're reading on duty?" Jamie demanded.
He didn't look up from the pages. "Why not? Nearly everyone is inside. Hello, little one. What do you need?"
"We wanted to ask you about Rangovolk's girlfriend." Katelina couldn't remember his name, but that was close enough.
"Rangvald," Jorick corrected. "What about her?"
Katelina explained and Jorick looked thoughtful. "That's an interesting theory. Jamie's right, I've made enemies, but I don't think Petta is one of them. Their den is outside of The Guild's jurisdiction, and I don't recall bad dealings with them when we worked for Munich."
"Maybe before you joined the vampire police?" Sarah suggested.
Jorick shook his head. "There was no before. Malick worked for the Kugsankal, and we left there to come to the New World and start The Guild. I was born into their service."
Katelina'd never realized what it was like for him. No wonder he had a lot of enemies.
She asked Sarah for the list and handed it to Jorick. "What about these?"
He skimmed the names. "I don't know who some of these are."
Jamie pointed to the list. "The bottom twelve are staff; entertainers or caterers. Hannah and Devon are members of Andrei's coven. Xenon is really Qian, he's changed his name. So has Acwellen, who has recently started going by the name of Brandle."
"In that case, Edvard, M?ngkedai, Acwellen, and William are candidates."
"What did you do to piss them off?" Katelina asked.
"My job." He handed the list back. "Edvard's lover slaughtered a coven illegally, so I killed her. M?ngkedai turned several children who had to be destroyed. Acwellen and William assisted in an illegal war. Though they were spared, some of their compatriots were killed as punishment."
Katelina cringed. Any of those would be grounds for serious revenge.
Footsteps sounded. Cornelius arrived with a salute and, after Jamie prompted, said, "There's a shipment for Saturday's feast. Do you want to check it?"
Shipment for the feast. Did he mean the victim they planned to sacrifice?
"Jorick's on duty," Jamie said. "He can handle it. In the meantime, guard the performance."
Cornelius saluted again and Jorick stashed his book in his back pocket. "Very clever."
"I try." Jamie smiled.
Jorick glanced at Katelina. "I'll see you at dinner, unless something comes up in the meantime."
Though he didn't say it, his dismissal made it clear that the shipment was something she wouldn't like.
