Chapter 593
They stopped in a field outside of town and split up to hunt. Katelina scuffed through dead grass shot with green, until a rabbit dashed out. It made three hops before it froze, enchanted by Jorick's mental abilities.
He scooped the creature up and handed it to her. The warmth of the rabbit's body, and its blank hypnotized stare, bothered her until she smelled the blood. When she came back to herself, her fangs were buried in its small throat.
She quickly handed the body to Jorick, and dabbed at her lips. He'd once asked her, "What's the difference between drinking an animal's blood and eating their muscles and skin?" but there was a big difference. When she ate a cheeseburger she didn't have to look in the cow's eyes.
"Maybe you should." Jorick laid the bunny aside and wiped his hands. "If you have the nerve to eat it, you should have the nerve to acknowledge what it is."
"Right. Then humanity would starve to death."
"Not starve, but perhaps you wouldn't be as wasteful. If you made the food yourself, grew it, cultivated it, raised it, butchered it, then maybe you wouldn't throw it around."
"You say 'you' like I'm still one of them."
He ruffled her hair. "It's a habit, little one, like your daily showers, but eventually we'll both get over them."
She wasn't sure she wanted to.
***
The trip was uneventful. Brandle played with the radio and Sorino occasionally made irritating comments. Katelina watched the nighttime countryside slip past, punctuated by occasional bright lights and civilization. With her new eyes, the dark was no longer an impenetrable curtain. The world was now in perpetual twilight, painted in shades of gray like an old movie.
But they weren't on the silver screen. The seemingly precise directions to Lilith's den proved too vague. After an extra hour of driving in circles, they pulled into a gas station.
Brandle read over the paper again. "-'Follow for twelve miles, then turn'-Did we miss it?"
"No," Des snapped. "We've been past the twelve mile mark six times. There's no road."
Brandle handed the paper back. "Perhaps we made a wrong turn somewhere else?"
"No. We've followed it perfectly to here!" Des took a calming breath. "I'll just go ask for directions."
Sorino followed him out of the vehicle, motioning the teen to join him. "I'd better accompany him, since his French is rudimentary at best. Come Kai. While we're here we'll stock up on your protein bars."
As they disappeared toward the building, Katelina thought they were more like the Stooges than a rescue party. Not that she could do any better with the directions. She'd have suspected Andrei made them up, except it was his daughter they were trying to save.
"Are we sure they're right? Maybe whoever gave the directions to Andrei lied."
Jorick shrugged. "Anything is possible. Though I assume he had a reliable source."
Katelina licked her lips. "If we find the place-Estrilda-" She glanced to Brandle and sighed. "You guys already know how old she is, but Des and Sorino don't. Are they trustworthy enough?"
"You mean because child vampires are illegal?" Brandle asked.
Jorick made a low noise in his throat. "Sorino-he'd gain nothing by turning her in. We both know he worries only about profit. Des, on the other hand-"
"I think he could be persuaded to stay quiet." Brandle tapped his chin. "Not to mention he won't know she's a child unless he's told. She's short, yes? But with her-disfigurement, child isn't what immediately comes to mind."
Katelina remembered the first time she'd seen Estrilda. Set on fire when she was still human, her head was bald and her face and body scarred and wrinkled. She looked more like a tiny old lady than a child.
"And she doesn't speak out loud," Katelina said slowly. "Since she lost her tongue, she can't. Luckily, she's an imparter." Unlike Jorick and the other whisperers, when Estrilda sent comments to people's minds, it was in her voice, so you knew where it came from, while a whisperer's comments sounded like your own thoughts. "If she doesn't speak to Des, maybe he won't pay enough attention."
Brandle nodded. "Even if he does, Sarah could no doubt convince his silence. She's important enough to rescue, so she must have some influence."
The conversation ended when Des jerked the car door open, looking more irritated than when he left. "Seems Andrei left some things out. Luckily, the kid in there knows where we're going. He said his parents used to stay there once a year before it closed."
Stay there? The mansion Katelina imagined morphed into a palace-like hotel complete with fountains, glittering chandeliers, velvet couches, and a swimming pool. The kind of place a movie star would frequent.
Sorino and Kai returned, loaded down with plastic bags. They waited while Kai shoved the food and bottles into his backpack, and stashed the extras.
"Are we done?" Des asked. "Or do we want to waste some more time?"
***
The highway turned into a collection of old roads, and finally a tight lane. Tall trees bordered both sides, like oppressive sentinels, last year's leaves scattered at their feet.
"This isn't a road." Des turned the wheel hard to the right, then to the left. "This is a mule track. I know the kid seemed certain, but" he broke off as they topped the hill. A valley spread below them, stuffed with trees and a two story log-cabin. Katelina's first impression was some kind of lodge. A nearby sign confirmed it.
While a lodge technically fit the "my parents stayed there" criteria, it looked all wrong. "Are you sure this is it?" she asked.
"That or the station attendant misunderstood our intentions," Brandle soothed, one eye on Des' irritated face. "If nothing else, it's a chance to stretch our legs."
Des stopped in a driveway covered in autumns past, and shut the engine off. Brandle and Jorick sniffed, as if they expected to catch the scent of an immortal, even with the windows up.
"I don't sense anyone," Brandle said slowly. "Though Kalierm, Lilithcan hide her presence."
"And those with her," Jorick added. "She can expand the shield like a bubble."
"Convenient for her." Brandle looked to Des. "Shall we take the right?" He nodded to Jorick. "You and Sorino could take the left."
"Yes," Jorick agreed. "We'll circle the building first."
"What about me?" Katelina asked. "Am I supposed to stay in the van?"
Brandle cleared his throat. "Not if you don't want to. My apologies. I forget that modern women don't wish to be treated as ladies."
The twinkle in his eye took the sting from his words. Katelina dismissed them with a shrug. "There isn't much point in finally being one of you if I'm going to hide all the time."
"I agree," Sorino said. "However, you might be more useful with the van and Kai unless you'd prefer him to be defenseless?"
Her arguments died as she glanced back to the boy. With all the vampire blood he'd ingested over the yearsand the small bits of vampiric powers that came with itshe wasn't sure he needed to be defended. But was she willing to take that risk? What if they left him alone, only to have some skulking minion of Lilith's rip him to shreds?
"All right."
Jorick arched his brows in surprise. "You're sure?"
"Yeah, yeah. Once the coast is clear, we'll join you. Just hurry up."
Jorick brushed a kiss across her forehead, then the four men disembarked. Katelina watched them troop toward the front of the lodge and examine the large front doors. They shook them as though they were locked, peered through the windows, then split up to circle the building.
"I don't think she's here," Kai said silently, the words telegraphed straight to her brain, as if she'd thought them up herself.
"I doubt it," Katelina agreed out loud. Whisperer abilities were something she didn't have. "It wouldn't make sense to come back here. If this is even the right place."
With nothing else to say, they fell into silence. When the men didn't reappear, Katelina assumed they'd found a way inside. She counted off the minutes to herself, half afraid they'd run into Lilith and half afraid they hadn't.
Finally, footsteps crunched towards them. Katelina threw open the door to ask if they were clear. The question died on her lips. The vampire who stood staring at her, a dead deer slung over his shoulder, wasn't one of theirs.
He dropped the animal to the ground and charged forward. A pair of earphones bounced around his neck, still playing music. "Who the hell are you?"
Katelina hopped out of the van to drop into a fighting stance. She mentally scrambled for a weapon. She had a dagger packed away in the back, and the nearest fallen limb was out of reach. She'd have to do this with nothing.
