Chapter 594
The vampire crashed into Katelina, trying to pin her to the van. He didn't know that extra physical strength was the one thing she'd inherited from her maker. She easily shoved him back where he sprawled in old leaves and spring mud.
He snarled and jerked to his feet, something metallic in his hand. A knife? She didn't stop to think, but pounced, swinging as she moved. Her fist connected with his head. She saw blood run from his ear.
He stumbled, then came back slashing. She hopped out of the way of his first attack but, an acorn rolled under her foot, and she lurched into the second. The blade cut the sleeve of her shirt, bringing up a line of crimson on her arm.
The sight of her blood filled her with fury. She'd been in so many fights, seen so much of her blood spilled by casual morons while she waited to be saved. She was tired of it. She didn't need to be saved anymore. She could take care of herself.
Memories of Micah's training flashed through her mind. Breathe. Relax. The angry fighter was the dead fighter. Distract him, then go in for the kill, quick and neat.
They circled one another, distrusting eyes flicking back and forth. When her attacker was focused on her hand, Katelina kicked a shower of leaves at him. He jumped back and she sprung, tackling him to the ground, her knee jabbed in his stomach. He tried to stab her, but she squeezed his wrist until he dropped the knife. Though she thought about retrieving it, that second of distraction might be all he needed to get free.
And kill me.
"Where's Lilith?" she demanded.
He gasped for breath. "What the fuck? Who?"
Katelina hesitated. They might be in the wrong place. But if so, why was there a vampire? What were the odds that Lilith had a secret den nearby, loaded with vampires, meanwhile an abandoned lodge also had vampires? It was too much of a coincidence, so she tried the name Lilith had used at the party. "Kali."
His features hardened. Katelina saw the recognition. "She's not here. If you're smart, you'll be gone before she arrives."
So they were in the right place, and Lilith was planning to return. "When will she be back?"
He struggled. Katelina clamped down, increasing the pressure until he snarled, "I don't know. Take your human and go."
Katelina tried to look menacing as she pressed her face closer. "Don't give me that crap. You'rewhat?the caretaker? Left behind to keep an eye on things? You know where she is, and when she's coming back."
"No, I don't," he snarled. "She's already late."
"What is she planning? Where did she go?"
"Some-party. I wasn't invited. She took the albino twins."
Right. Andrei's party, and the twins who were killed at the ball. "What about the rest of your coven?"
"I don't know! I'm the only one who came with them to Canada. Most of the others are old, and they don't want to spend time together. Look, you might be strong, but you're too weak to fight her, and too young to join her. This is your last chance. Take your pet and get out of here."
Footsteps crunched through the leaves. Katelina stiffened. He'd said he was alone, but apparently he wasn't. She tensed, ready for another attacker, until she heard Sorino's voice, "He really doesn't know."
With a huff of impatience, Katelina pushed off the prone vampire. "Thanks for that, but just because you can't read it in his mind doesn't mean"
A kamikaze cry interrupted them. She spun back to see her foe rushing toward her, fangs bared and knife raised.
Without thinking, she swung, connecting with his chest in a sickening crunch that splattered blood and gore past her elbow. She pulled back immediately, palm full of something slimy and warm. The vampire staggered, eyes wide. He opened his mouth, but fell face first into the mud before any sound came out.
Katelina stared from the crumpled body to the glob of heart clutched in her palm. With a cry of disgust, she flung it away and tried to shake the gore from her sleeve. She'd killed him. She hadn't meant to, hadn't meant to punch him hard enough to break his ribs-
Jorick appeared, Brandle on his heels. "What happened?"
Sorino wiped his hands on a lace edged handkerchief, as if he'd gotten dirty by observing. "Our instincts were right. Lilith left someone to guard the place. Apparently he was out, no doubt getting dinner." Sorino motioned to the dead deer that lay nearby. "Your pet made rather quick work of him."
She blinked. "I didn't"
Sorino chuckled. "She doesn't know her own strength yet, it seems. No matter. The minion was useless; he knew nothing of import. Termination was the best thing for him."
Jorick found the heart lying among the leaves and stomped it into pulp. Brandle knelt next to the body. "At least she was efficient," he teased, then fished through the vampire's pockets. He pulled an MP3 player free. "He had poor taste in music."
"And in masters." Jorick lifted Katelina's injured arm. "You're wounded."
"Not really. It doesn't hurt. But I need to change and clean this mess-" Mess. A tidy word to describe the blood and tissue that kept someone alive until a moment ago.
She felt Jorick in her head; the tell-tale spark of a mind reader. "You've killed before."
"Yes, but not by accident. Maybe Sorino's right. I don't know my own strength. I might need more training."
Brandle stood, a collection of items held in his shirt, like a farm girl with eggs. "You seem well trained to me. Here's what he had on him. Nothing useful as far as I can see."
Jorick fished through the items: a pocket knife, a dirty handkerchief, the MP3 player, headphones, a ring, and a wallet. Inside was some cash and a driver's license that looked fake. Jorick squinted at the address printed on it. "This might be something, if it's the address of a den and not a random location."
"It could be worth checking out if we don't find anything here," Brandle agreed.
As Jorick pocketed the license and cash, Katelina told them, "He said he was the only one here, that the rest of the coven was old and didn't want to spend time together."
"Define old." Brandle took the rest of the items.
She shrugged. "I didn't get a chance to do a lot of interrogation."
"It's all right. Hopefully there'll be more details inside." Jorick moved to the van and dug a shirt out from Katelina's suitcase. "Come. There are facilities inside."
She followed him across the lawn and through the double doors. A large log cabin-style room had a cold fireplace and chunky rustic furniture. A deer head hung on the wall. Frames held old photos of hunting parties, and a faded portrait of an old man labeled "Wickleberry".
Katelina looked from a pair of antlers on a tabletop, to the rifle over the door. "This isn't how I imagined Lilith's den."
Jorick shrugged. "Maybe she didn't have time to redecorate?" He ran his finger over the back of a dusty chair.
"Or she lacked manpower." If it had really been just the dead vampire and the twins, Katelina doubted any were suited for renovation work.
Jorick motioned her into a bathroom, where she quickly peeled off the ruined shirt. The sink had separate hot and cold faucets that looked cute. After a few minutes trying to get the water right, she realized the fallacy of the "cuteness".
The mess was on her hand, on her arm, flecked on her face, and in her hair. She had to practically climb in the sink to get it all off. The water either froze or scalded her, depending on which faucet she got closest to. When Jorick finally said he was going to finish examining the upstairs, she wasn't surprised. He had better things to do than wait for an hour.
