Chapter 610
Katelina dropped into a defensive stance a second before she recognized Micah. Tall and broad shouldered with a bald head, the vampire wore a brown goatee and tribal tattoos down one side of his face. The biker tank top revealed the tattoos on his arms. His heavy boots were more suited to the terrain than her tennis shoes.
"Micah?" She straightened, confused.
"Hey, slave."
He gave her a toothy grin that earned a growl. He might have been the one to turn her, but there was only so much she'd tolerate. "I'm not your slave. What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find out what the fuck happened." He crunched toward her, looking down at her companions. "Des? What the fuck are you doing here?"
"It's a long story," the dark vampire muttered.
"Must be damn long. The last time I saw you, you'd turned pussy and run off with the chick with a di"
Katelina motioned Micah to silence. "He's not with Anya anymore. She joined Lilith."
"Lilith?" Micah hopped down next to her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Before she could explain, a teenage vampire with one arm appeared. A mop of dark curly hair fell in his face. His hoodie and jeans looked like something from the nineties while large brown eyes gave him an artificial innocence.
"Hey, Loren," she said.
Before he could answer, Micah's hard gaze fell on Verchiel. "What the fuck are you doin' here? Where the hell is Jorick?"
"He's with Ark and the other Executioners," Katelina said.
"Fuck, you mean there's more of The Guild's dogs running around here?"
"I'm not going to take that personallythis time." Verchiel's tone held an edge of warning. His last parting from Micah hadn't been on the best of terms. Micah'd accused him of trying to steal Katelina from Jorick, and Verchiel had stormed out.
The redhead went on. "The Guild sent a bunch of us to do damage control. A good question would be what you're doing here?"
"We saw it on the news," Loren said. "And we recognized the town."
"We knew Jorick would have his fucking nose stuck in everything," Micah added. "Oren and Torina are looking for him uptown, but I knew if you guys were anywhere, it would be here." He looked smug again. "I told pipsqueak"
"Yeah, yeah, you called it," Loren said. "So do you know what happened yet? If the Executioners are here it must be vampire related."
Katelina condensed everything, starting with Canada, from Des and Sarah's burgeoning relationship, to Kali's true identity and the final battle at the ball. She followed it up with their theory on Sarah's attempted escape and possible recapture.
Loren looked around. "You really think Lilith did this? Did she have a shit ton of dynamite or what?"
"No." Des crossed his arms. "She uses her mind to make things explode."
"Like Samael," Katelina explained. "They throw psychic energy. They did it at the ball and nearly brought the house down, but this-this is way more than what she did there. I can't begin to-"
"Comprehend it?" Micah suggested. "Join the fucking club." He shook his head, as if bringing himself back to the moment. "So you're looking for Sarah?"
"Yeah, but she's not here." Katelina sagged.
"She might be somewhere else in town," Verchiel suggested.
"Where else would be 'unexpected'?" Katelina asked.
"Maybe the ruins on Sycamore street? Downtown might be a better option, though. There'd be more places to hide since a lot of the buildings are still standing. She'd need protection from the sun."
Katelina nodded, though her optimism was draining away. If Sarah was still loose, then Lilith would be looking for her. Shouldn't she have shown herself by now? No Lilith meant no Sarah.
Not a mind reader, Micah clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I know this shit looks bad, but it ain't no worse than a tornado. People bounce back from that crap all the time."
"Yeah," she said with no feeling.
Loren nosed through a pile of plaster with his foot, then retrieved a plastic knickknack. "Ah look, it's a pig."
"Put that back!" Micah barked.
Katelina shook away her secret fears. "No. Here, I'll take it." The teen handed it over. She studied the ugly little ornament. Sarah had bought it for her mom as a Christmas gift when they were in sixth grade. Since then it had been on the shelf in the front room.
"There's a couple more." Loren handed her an angel with a broken wing and a miniature kewpie.
"Okay, enough excavating," Micah said sharply. "We got that chick to find."
"You're coming?" Des asked.
"Of course they are." Verchiel descended the heap and headed back for the street. "They'd better hurry up or we'll leave them behind."
Katelina started to follow the redhead, but Micah caught her arm and held her back. "The loser giving you any trouble?"
She pulled free. "No, why would he be? You guys need to quit with all the suspicious crap. He's not trying to pull anything, or make any moves on me."
Micah gave her an indulgent smirk. "Right, princess, and bein' a man yourself, you know all the signs. I tell ya, something doesn't sit right with me when it comes to him."
Loren shrugged. "He seems okay to me. I don't think he's up to anything."
"You should listen to your friend," Katelina said. "Besides, if he tried anything, I'd smash his head in."
Micah grinned. "There's my girl. I knew there was a reason I was willing to make you a fledgling."
"You did it because you panicked," Katelina said. "Either way, let's go."
As they back tracked through the disaster, she noticed things she'd missed before; a twisted mailbox, a shattered ceramic dog, a ruined tricycle. With each item she thought about the owners. Were they injured? Dead? Would they come back, or would their next stop be the cemetery?
What will mom's next stop be?
It was more than she wanted to contemplate. She was grateful to climb in the backseat of Verchiel's car and leave it all behind.
They'd gone a couple of blocks when Verchiel's phone went off. He checked his texts, then announced, "We need to make a detour. Only take a second."
"What kind of detour?" Micah demanded.
"An official one."
With no more details, he steered them to the city hall. Vehicles filled the spaces in front of the building, some shiny black, others the buff colors of the military. Verchiel parked his bright orange car among them. As Katelina climbed out, she thought how ridiculous it looked; a bright orange sports car among all the business vehicles, like a vacation day in the middle of a work week.
"What are we doing here?" Micah tugged out a cigarette.
"No smoking inside," the redhead quipped.
"Fuck, then I'll stay here." The lighter flared, eerily illuminating his face. "Lunch?"
Katelina ground her teeth at the familiar nickname, left over from her human days. "I'm going with him."
"Suit yourself." A shrug was followed by another cloud of smoke.
Though Katelina was tempted to grab a cigarettethe smell of the nicotine was like a little piece of normalcy among the chaosshe hurried after Des and Verchiel. "Why are we here?"
"This is where the humans set up base," the Executioner said. "But we're here forthere he is."
Ark strode out the double doors, his coat billowing behind him, a pair of guards in his wake. "There you are." He shot an irritated look over his shoulder. "Obrad is still inside dealing with them. They've taken the terrorist idea and run with it. They want to lock down the town. They've already detained several humans. It's ridiculous."
"Makes you wish you were a whisperer," Verchiel commented.
Ark's scowl deepened. "Once we get the coven evacuated, I don't care what they do with the town."
"What coven?" Des asked.
Ark waved it away. "Some locals. I think all the human memories that needed touched up are pretty much done. Jamie and Jorick" he bit out the name "are doing a final sweep of the school. Apparently there was a local carrying on about seeing an 'exotic super woman' destroying a building. When they're done we need to move the coven and we're finished."
"That's it?" Katelina exploded. "What about Lilith?"
"What about her?" Ark asked.
"She might be hiding, waiting for Sarah to come out."
"If she is, she's not our problem. It's more likely she recaptured her prisoner and left last night."
It was the same conclusion Katelina'd already come to. "But what about the people in custody?"
"What about them? It's none of our business." Ark looked to Verchiel. "Deposit your-friends somewhere out of the way, then meet me at the school."
Verchiel saluted as Ark breezed away, his guards hurrying after him.
"Asshole," Katelina muttered.
Verchiel waited until Ark was shut up in his large black SUV. "He is a little, but he has a point. What are we supposed to do?"
"How about not use terrorists as an excuse? The whole country's been waiting for this; for something to make all these nonsense agencies relevant, to give them power to swoop in and detain people. But their prisoners are innocent!"
"I know, and it's not fair, but there's nothing we can do. Unless you can come up with some different people to trade for them? They have to catch the culprits, in order to stop mass panic."
"The government is all a bunch of bullshit," Micah said. "They're power hungry fat cats waiting for an excuse to get more control. And the fuckin' Guild ain't no better. Maybe it's a good thing they're walking away. Do you want them involved any more than they are, Lunch?"
He had a point. Did she want Ark in charge of the place she'd grown up, of the people she knew? The answer was a decisive No. "Fine. But now what? I thought we were going to search for Sarah?"
"Looks like I've been drafted," Verchiel said regretfully. "I can drop you guys off, but none of you are whisperers, are you?"
"Nah," the teen replied. "Micah is a titan and I'm nothing."
"Oh, you're something. It just hasn't manifested yet. It can take centuries if your master was a new vampire. Anyway, without a whisperer you'll be in for it if you get stopped by a patrol. I mean you can rip their throats out, but I think Kately is looking for kinder, gentler solutions."
"Yes!" she cried.
Des rolled his eyes. "For Christ's sake, take us to Jorick or Sorino."
"Good idea. Then you'll be their problem." Verchiel winked to soften the insult. "All right, pile in, folks."
