Chapter 590
The memory of the Canadian ball was seared in Katelina's mind. When she closed her eyes she could see it again; live it again. No matter how many times Katelina went through the memories, looking for a way to fix things, she couldn't find one. She couldn't change what had happened, any more than she could change the chaos of the next day.
Lilith had taken one of her new recruits' planes. No one could find it. Canadian Executioners, the vampires' version of police, arrived and locked down the scene. Dead were examined and carted out to be burned in a pyre of choking black smoke. Damage was measured and cataloged. Staff and guests alike were trapped until the Executioners dismissed them.
While interviews were conducted with party guests, Annabelle called Katelina to her secret rooms; the rooms where Estrilda had been concealed for so long. Through the hidden panel in the wall and up the stairs, Katelina's heart sunk the closer she got. She could feel Annabelle's pain and misery.
The sitting room was empty, but the door in the back wall was open. Katelina hesitated and tried to push down the hurt. Not mine, she told herself. Not mine. But it was. She was as distraught as Annabelle.
She forced herself through the door and into the pink bedroom. Annabelle was curled up on the floor among her daughter's abandoned toys. Her long auburn hair fell over her face, hiding her tears and her half mask. Her shoulders shook with heavy, gulping sobs.
"My baby. My poor baby."
Katelina's eyes prickled with tears that weren't hers. Her chest ached. "I'm-I'm sure she's all right."
It was useless; they both knew she was lying. Lilith's words echoed in her memory: The blood of children is the sweetest, and what would be sweeter than one who has been a child for centuries? Honestly, Katelina wasn't sure Estrilda was still alive.
"Why would she take her?" Annabelle whispered. "She's only a child. Why would Kali take her?"
It was a question Katelina couldn't answer; didn't want to answer, so she tried to steer the conversation away. "She's not Kali, but Lilith."
"You said that last night, but-Lilith, from the legends? The vampires' mother, the oldest of our kind? How can that be?"
Katelina shifted uncomfortably. "She isn't the oldest. Samael"
"I know the legends, how he stole her heart, and left her body hidden."
Katelina shook her head. "Those were just stories. Lilith drained Samael and imprisoned him for four thousand years. I-I woke him. Not on purpose. Sorino tricked me into it. He planned to command Samael, but it doesn't work that way. Now Samael is hunting Lilith, to kill her for what she did to him."
"So he came here?" Annabelle cried. "Kalior Lilithwe've known her so long. She'd been our guest, party after party, welcomed into our home. To fight Samael, I understand this, but to take my child-Estrilda, she's innocent, full of love and life-" Annabelle's voice took on a hysterical pitch. "What will we do? We can't report her kidnapping! And Andrei can't go, can't make The Guild suspicious. If the Executioners find out she exists, they'll-they'll kill her."
And they would, because children vampires were illegal. The penalty was death for the child and its master.
"I don't know what to do," Annabelle whispered. "I wanted to go myself. Andrei said that would seem peculiar, especially while the Executioners are here. But who knows when they'll leave? There will be days of paperwork, and interviews, and questions. Every day that passes-"
Though she left it hanging, Katelina knew the rest: Every day that passed was another that Estrilda could be murdered.
Katelina repeated the promise she'd already made herself, "We'll find her."
Annabelle clutched Katelina's hands and turned her face up, desperation in her eyes. "Please. Please save her. Please bring my baby home. She's survived so much, for so long that this-" Annabelle let go to sink among the toys again.
Katelina nudged a stuffed bear with her toe. His embroidered smile seemed wrong at a time like this, but it was better than looking at Annabelle, than seeing the broken heart of a mother shining in her eyes.
"Estrilda-she's strong. She survived her childhood, despite being-" Annabelle touched her head. Katelina knew what she meant. At ten, Estrilda had the mind of a five-year-old and a diminutive body.
Annabelle's voice grew stronger. "She survived. And when her father-that monster-when he tried to kill her, she survived the fire, the burns and, thanks to Andrei, the horrible infection, the fever, the sickness. Since then, she has survived all these centuries-" Annabelle broke off and swept a doll into her arms. "Hidden, safe, protected, loved. Now KaliLilith-"
"Yes," Katelina murmured. "Estrilda is a survivor."
"But is she strong enough for this?" Annabelle cried. "Lilith means to kill her, doesn't she? That's why she took her."
Katelina cringed. They were back to this again. "Maybe she took her as a hostage, like Sarah."
Annabelle set the doll carefully in a chair and smoothed its skirt. "Was that the reason she took Sarah, or was it that cursed sword she bore?"
The cursed sword. The blade of Nu-Gua, a legendary weapon. Prophecy foretold that it would kill either Lilith or Samael. Whether Andrei knew that when it came into his possession was debatable, but he knew enough knew that the blade's owners were rumored to die early deaths and shove it off on Sarah as part of a bizarre business deal. When Lilith took Sarah, she'd also taken the dagger.
Katelina chose her words carefully. "I don't know for sure. Samael swore he wouldn't hurt anyone I care about. That's why Lilith used Sarah as a shield. Lilith might have taken her so she could keep doing that."
"Perhaps." Annabelle didn't look convinced. "I'm sorry Andrei forced that weapon on her. When I found out he had it, I told him to get rid of it, to pass the curse on." She stopped to wipe her eyes and take a shuddering breath. "It was selfish to demand the curse go to someone else."
"Anyone would have done the same thing." Katelina had told Sarah to pass it on as well, only her friend had refused.
"Would they?" Annabelle asked, though Katelina knew she wasn't looking for an answer. "It will be you and your mate, yes? And the redhead?"
It took Katelina a moment to switch topics. "You mean who will look for Sarah and Estrilda? Verchiel went back to The Guild today."
"So only you and your mate?"
"I'm not sure yet," she admitted.
"Sarah is your sister?"
Katelina didn't understand the leap of logic. "Not by blood. We've been friends since grade school. She's like a sister, but..."
"I meant that you share a master," Annabelle said.
"No."
Annabelle deflated. "I see. I had hoped that your master might be trustworthy enough to help. Perhaps, her master?"
Katelina tried to quash the bitterness. "Her master isn't fit for anything. Sarah-" She broke off and took a breath around the knot of guilt. "I met Jorick because a coven of vampires was hunting me. After I left with him, they mistook Sarah for me, and kidnapped her. When they figured out she was the wrong woman, they killed her."
Annabelle's hand fluttered to her throat. "Killed her? I don't understand."
"That's what everyone thought, even Jorick and I. But the one in charge of killing her didn't finish the job. He tortured her almost to death, then took her to a secret place and turned her. He was planning to raise an army and take over his coven. He never got the chance because we killed him, but we didn't know about Sarah or the others."
Katelina swallowed down the memories. She'd read Sarah's mind more than once, connected with the dark recesses. She'd seen Sarah and her fellows locked in the cage, watched as Kurt, the alpha of the group, raped and molested her. She'd seen their master throw two teen girls inside, enough blood to keep them alive but not enough to give them strength. When he'd never come back, they'd been left with no food and the rotting bodies of their victims.
Sarah's memories flickered in Katelina's mind.
Across from her, one of her cell mates drank from his own arm. His skin was pockmarked with scabs from previous attempts, some by him, some by the others. Just like her legs. But it did no good. The blood was cold and dead, and did nothing to quench the burning in their throats.
Sarah squinted through the bars. Most of the girls' remains were scattered from the cage to the stairs. Back when they still had strength, they'd tossed them out. Even the busted skulls had been chucked, globs of meat hanging from them-
She felt the tickle of hair on her arm, but she didn't have the strength to shake it off. It did no good, anyway. The girls' hair was everywhere, stuck to them, scattered on the floor, balled in the corner. It clung like guilt with nothing to wash it away. Except Sarah's guilt was long gone. She was too numb to care.
The constant slow banging echoed in her ears and she looked to Kurt. He sat hunched on the floor, his face like a skull, hammering at the metal bars with a chunk of bone. They'd gotten part of it loose weeks ago, and they'd all taken turns working on the rest for a while. One by one they fell away, either too weak or hopeless to bother. But not Kurt. Chisel, chisel, chisel.
Kurt had gotten it open. They'd crawled out, and eventually gone to a farm house where they'd glutted on the family. Afterwards, in the barn, Kurt attacked Sarah while the others pretended not to see, as they always had. Full of blood, she was strong. She'd killed Kurt and the rest of them, then set out for home, for her boyfriend, and her best friend, the people who would love her and help her-
