Chapter 597
Katelina changed the sheets before climbing into bed. She had a hard time falling asleep. When she did, she dropped into a dream that was more memory than fiction. It was Sarah's thirteenth birthday, one of the few that her mother threw a party for. The handful of guests gathered in the backyard. The paper tablecloth flapped on the old picnic table. Sarah eyed the house, as if her dad would wake from his nap and charge outside any moment. Katelina could see the same fear in her mother's rigid posture and nervous smile, the way she cautioned everyone to "keep it down".
Cake was cut, then came presents. Katelina waited for Sarah to wade through earrings and lotion sets to get to hers. At last the pink paper was peeled free. Sarah opened the small box on a set of best friend necklaces. Two halves forming a heart that read BEST FRIENDS when put together.
With a cry of delight, Sarah quickly ripped away the cardboard. Tiny twist ties were more nuisance than deterrent. She soon chose her half and thrust the other at Katelina.
She fastened it around her neck, then looked down to admire it against her polka dot tank top. "Thank you so much, Kate. I love it. I'll wear it forever."
Katelina fastened her own. She wasn't sure about forever. "What? Like when you're eighty?"
"Sure. I'll be in the nursing home and everyone will say 'You're still wearing that?', and I'll tell them 'You're never too old for your best friend.'" She pulled Katelina into a hug. "Thank you."
Katelina hugged her back. When she pulled away, the scene changed; Sarah changed. She wasn't thirteen anymore, but a woman.
"Where are you?" Sarah demanded. "You left me to rot in that cage and now you're letting Lilith keep me a prisoner? You know what she does to us."
Suddenly, Katelina was in the dark. She couldn't see the confines of the basement holding cell but she could feel them. Someone snuffled miserably, invisible in the blackness. The air was thick with terror. She hunched in on herself. She was cold, hungry, thirsty. The door burst open. One of Lilith's pale twins stepped inside. She screamed and tried to escape. There was nowhere to go. He grabbed her and slammed her to the floor. A knife glinted in his hand. She knew what came next; he'd cut out her heart and present it to the dark, eternal Lilith.
She woke, a scream stuck in her throat, and tried to come to grips with the bedroom, the framed photos of wildflowers, the embroidered curtains. She was safe.
Unlike Sarah.
Jorick stirred next to her, gasping awake. "Katelina?"
She waved his concern away. "Just a bad dream."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped her in a hug. After a moment, he said, "If you feel up to it, we'd best get moving."
"And go where? Thanks to Sorino we know where not to go, but that doesn't help much."
"I suppose we'll have to go to Iowa."
"Iowa? You mean-?"
"Yes, The Guild. I agree with Sorino. It's improbable that they haven't located Lilith's aircraft. Perhaps I can spur things along in person."
"You think they're keeping it a secret from you?"
"Not keeping it; ignoring it. The last thing Eileifr or the High Council wants is to deal with Lilith. Better to pretend they don't see and let the Kugsankal handle it."
The Kugsankal, or True Council; a trio of vampires almost as old as Lilith and Samael, who'd set themselves up as the rulers of all vampiredom. Ishkur, their leader and Lilith's former lover, left to look for her almost two months ago. With no word, Katelina assumed he'd been unsuccessful.
"What about the address on that driver's license? You said we should check it out."
"And we should. But, if my memory serves, it's clear across Canada. It would be faster to have The Guild run it, and send some Canadian Executioners to look things over. They'd get there faster."
Katelina sagged. "You don't think Sarah or Estrilda are there, do you?"
"No, or I wouldn't suggest sending someone else. If Executioners find the child before we do-"
She knew what they'd do; she'd seen it.
Hang on Sarah. We'll save you this time.
***
When Katelina and Jorick were dressed, they joined Brandle downstairs. After a quick hunt outside, they met the others. Katelina ran her toe through the scorched grass and ashes; the remains of the vampire she'd killed. Though no one had burned the body, the sun took care of it for them, breaking down even the bone.
Jorick detailed the plan to go to Iowa. Though Des was as unhappy as Katelina, Sorino shrugged. "It's as good a destination as any other."
Kai loaded Sorino's treasures into the back of the van, then they took the same seats as yesterday. Katelina was glad to see the building shrink to nothing behind them. After what took place there, the best thing that could happen to it was a match.
It would take at least three hours of back tracking to get to the plane, so Sorino called his pilots with instructions to head to The Guild's rural airport in Iowa. "Go ahead and get rooms at the citadel. We may be staying a while."
Katelina could feel Des' impatience so strongly that it might be her own. She hated to say it, but she agreed with Sorino. Why was Des so enamored with Sarah? They'd only known one another for two weeks. What happened in that span to draw them together?
Maybe you'd know if you hadn't spent most of the party fighting with her.
Katelina looked around sharply, but decided the thoughtand the guiltwas her own. Truthfully, she didn't know how to deal with Sarah anymore. Before Jorick and the vampires, Sarah was the one in control, the one who had it all together. Katelina had floated along and let her make decisions. She didn't need that anymore, and it left little room for Sarah in her life. Not that she couldn't make room. They could put in the time to come up with a new dynamicbut they both had to want it.
Thinking about it wouldn't help, so Katelina tried practicing her mind reading. Thanks to the blood from Samael, she'd gained some small abilities, though she couldn't use them the way she wanted. She'd been in Sarah's head a few times, practiced with Kai, and once found some of Jorick's memories. However, it was never what she wanted to know.
Being in the car with older, stronger vampires, meant that her practice fell to nothing. By the time they reached Lake Huron, she'd given up.
The toll bridge stretched on and on over the water. Katelina imagined it cracking across the middle. Though not as terrifying as an imagined plane crash, it was enough to tighten her stomach. She told herself she was being silly; the bridge had withstood millions of cars. She should be more concerned about what would happen when they got to customs.
The lake ended, but the bridge went on over the top of roads and buildings, slowly descending to meet the earth. At last, the customs complex, as she thought of it, came into view.
Des steered them into the correct lane. "Get your passports ready."
Sorino chuckled. "There are two whisperers in the vehicle. We hardly need to mess with that."
"Right," Des said. "Why play by the rules when you can make people do what you want? That's your problem. You and Jorick, and all your kind. You think you're above everyone. The rules don't apply to you; the consequences don't stick"
Brandle cleared his throat loudly. "Now may not be the time for such discussions. I believe cooperation might be in order."
"Whatever." Des gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Though Katelina hated to admit it, she'd noticed the class divide. Those with the mind powers were on top, while the others were lower, lesser. It was the reason she was desperate to learn mind reading.
They pulled to a stop at the customs' window. Jorick leaned up, effectively shoving his head in front of Des. He met the eyes of the border agent and held them. Though Katelina couldn't hear his thoughts, she could feel the press of his will. The agent nodded, then triggered the stop bar to rise.
"Thank you." Jorick dropped back into his seat and tugged his shirt smooth.
Des rolled his eyes, but drove on from the complex. As they passed a pair of police cars, Katelina worried that the officers would come after them; they'd made it through awfully fast. Luckily, the cars didn't move. Soon the customs complex was behind them.
"Much faster and easier," Jorick said.
When no one replied, Sorino commented, "There are probably two hours to sunrise. Perhaps we should find somewhere to stay?"
After a unanimous agreement, Des steered them to a nice hotel. Jorick hissed air between his teeth, but Katelina cheerfully piled out. It was a huge improvement on the last motel and, without dead children in the basement, it beat Lilith's lodge by a mile.
At the desk, Jorick handed over both a credit card and driver's license. The Guild had given him both on his assignment in January. How long until they marked them invalid?
Their room was on the second floor. A king sized bed was covered in a cute patterned comforter. A matching recliner and chair were situated in the corner with a stand between them. Heavy curtains hung on either side of the window, no doubt thick enough to block the coming sun.
You get that when you rent a nice place instead of the flea pits Jorick picks.
Katelina tossed her luggage on the bed, then headed for the bathroom. Crisp and white with a dark shower curtain and granite countertop, she felt cleaner already, as if the modern sterilization could take away the filth of Lilith's murder lodge.
What it didn't remove, the hot water did, and she exited feeling refreshed. She hesitated at the door to the bedroom, wrapped in a towel. She'd left her suitcase in there. Though she and Jorick were a couple, had been a couple, sashaying around naked still made her uncomfortable. Vampirism hadn't toned her body, or done anything for the jiggle of her thighs. It had erased most of the stretch marks around her breasts, but not her thick lumpy scars. Those were the main thing she wanted rid of.
