Chapter 59
Katelina opened her eyes. The darkness that greeted them was very like the blackness that she saw with her eyes closed. She blinked just to feel her eyelashes brush her cheek and be sure she was really awake, though the throbbing in her legs told her she was.
She and Jorick were jammed inside a wooden box like a couple trying to spoon on a too small couch. Jorick lay half beside her and half beneath her. His legs were tangled with hers, and his long hair tickled her face. She thought again how roomy the large box had appeared last night when she'd agreed to this situation. The illusion of size had apparently been a trick because, after having slept in it, she found it too small and too confining.
After the fight last night, Kateesha's new henchmen had been charged with getting rid of all the bodies. While they'd been busy, Katelina had taken a sponge bath to mop off the worst of the blood and dirt. She'd told herself that it was enough, even though it really wasn't. Jorick and Oren had changed their clothes and gone to a gas station in a neighboring town where they'd bought her some food, antiseptic ointment, and a roll of gauze. Though she'd had nothing else to wear, they'd made her ride along, and when they got back Jorick had bandaged her wound, ignoring taunts from Torina all the while. Before dawn, Kateesha had invited them to stay the day. The coven's coffin stash was in the back rooms of the house, and she'd grandly allowed them to each choose their own.
Katelina thought bitterly about Kateesha and her motives. Oren's words were still fresh in her memory, "-she thirsts for power and for you." The idea of Kateesha "thirsting" for Jorick made her chest tighten and her stomach flip. A sliver of cold fear pierced her heart as she wondered what he thought about it. Did he want Kateesha too? She'd been made as his mate, but she was "too cruel". Did that mean that they'd been a pair until Jorick couldn't stand her cruelty anymore? What if she reformed? Would he give her another chance?
Jorick stirred next to her, interrupting her thoughts. Though she couldn't see him, she could hear the smile in his voice. "Good morning."
"It's hardly morning," she remarked sarcastically, though she tried to mask the bitterness she felt.
He gave a soft laugh. "It's morning for us, little one."
She grimaced at the nightmarish thought: to wake every day to a cold black sky; a literal dawn of darkness, devoid of sunlight. It sounded cheerless and bleak.
She tried to move again and her shoulder scraped the wall of the box. Pain shot down her arm and she drew a sharp hiss of air through her teeth. His concern was almost tangible so she quickly assured him. "I'm all right."
He murmured in acknowledgement and nuzzled his face against her neck. His cold lips slid over her skin and made her sigh. "Maybe we should stay in here all night," he whispered suggestively in her ear.
Her cheeks turned an unseen pink as imagined images played through her consciousness. "There isn't enough room for that."
"Hmmmmm- You might be right." He nibbled on her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Despite her desire for him, she wasn't sure how she'd feel if they were actually intimate; whether it would throw back to the terror she'd suffered at the hands of Claudius or not. And though she'd never admit it, even to herself, she was afraid of finding out.
A loud rap sounded on the lid above them and Oren's voice reverberated through the box, "Jorick, the sun is down. It is time to rise."
Jorick stayed silent, his lips still against her neck, but Oren pounded on the lid again. Jorick sighed heavily in resignation and called back grudgingly, "All right." He gave her neck a final kiss before he reached up and slid the lid to the side so that it clattered to the floor.
Katelina blinked in the bright light, her eyes used to the pitch black of the box. As she blinked, Oren slowly came into focus. He stood impatiently next to the box, looking down at them. His wounds from the previous night's battle were fully healed and his long golden hair was tamed back into a ponytail.
Jorick slid neatly from beneath her. He stood and stretched his sinewy body. Like Oren, his hurts were also healed; his face again flawless.
Katelina moved slowly and her stiff muscles complained. Jorick stood next to the box, his head cocked to one side as he watched her, a half grin on his face. She followed his gaze and jerked the neckline of her dress up to cover her exposed cleavage.
"You didn't have to do that," he teased and held a hand out to help her up.
She scowled, but accepted his offer. "I doubt Oren wants to see that."
"One never knows." He smirked as Katelina looked horrified and Oren muttered in annoyance. With a chuckle, he tugged her to her feet. "You need more practice at coffins."
She glared at him, but refrained from commenting.
Torina sashayed through the door, freshly dressed in a revealing dress of gold and robin's egg blue, her long red hair swept back from her face. She had a mound of deep red cloth draped over one arm and a tight smile on her lips. She held the dress out to Katelina. "I brought this for you - though," she glanced at Oren to make sure he was listening. "- we're going to have to get some more clothes. I'm nearly out."
Katelina took the clothing and unenthusiastically mumbled, "Thanks."
Torina nodded and took her brother's arm. "Come along, I'm sure she'd like her privacy." She led him out of the room and he obeyed willingly. Katelina watched them, amused at the sight of the fearsome vampire being led along like a child.
Once they were gone, Jorick slid the straps of the ruined green dress from her shoulders and let it drop carelessly to the wooden floor. He leaned down and kissed her; gently at first and then deepened it as he pressed her against him. She winced in pain and he released her quickly. His eyes danced away from hers and he murmured softly, "I'm sorry."
"That's okay." She offered him a smile as he let his gaze settle on her face.
"No. It isn't. I tend to forget that you don't heal as we do." His eyes reflected some unfathomable guilt.
"I almost wish I did - sort of," she added quickly, lest he take it as in invitation make her one of the living dead.
"Do you really? Somehow I doubt that."
She shrugged her shoulders and left the rhetorical question unanswered.
He offered her another smile, though this one was tighter. "Come, get dressed, and then we will join the others. Kateesha will be setting up her new coven's order, and I have no desire to enjoy that spectacle."
"Me either." Thinking of Kateesha made her scowl darkly. "The only thing I want to see her do is find the pointy end of a stake."
"You are not alone in that opinion, little one." He ruffled her hair before he stepped away. "Hurry and get dressed."
