Chapter 639
There was nothing to do but wait for Andrei. Katelina took advantage of the downtime to do laundry. She had to pull Verchiel's coat out of the dryer. Singed and full of holes, she wasn't sure it was worth saving.
Two hours later, she was in the middle of folding her second load when Micah wandered in, lugging a military style duffel bag.
"Hey, slave, wash this."
She didn't look up from Jorick's black shirt. "Hey, jack ass, wash it yourself."
"What the fuck kind of answer is that? You're supposed to respect your master."
"Right. Like you do."
He jerked the nearest of four washers open. "Mine's a different story. I told ya already, he ain't in the picture."
She set the shirt aside and started on another. "You expect me to believe he turned you and walked off? Why didn't you go after him?"
"Because I didn't know where to go, plus I didn't know the lunatic." Micah dumped the bag into the machine. "I ain't in the mood for a history lesson, girlie."
"Whatever. It's not like I care." She set aside the shirt and went for a third. "You said he pulled you out of the water?"
"Jesus!" Micah slammed the lid. "What do you want? The goddamn story?"
She shrugged and moved for a fourth identical shirt. My God. Jorick's wardrobe needs variety.
"Fine." Micah banged the lid open again to dump in laundry soap. "I was working at Lo Dog's mechanic shop. He was a friend of mine. Or I thought he was a friend of mine. His fucking son was a junky, and started stealing money. Of course they blamed my ass for it, so I quit and took off on my bike. I ain't gonna sugar coat it. I got fucked up and drove my fucking bike off the pier. Yeah, I meant to fuckin' drown. Everything went black. When I woke up I was on the goddamn beach, that fucking lunatic bent over me, all fangs and shit. I went nuts, punched his fuckin' face. He laughed. Then he said, 'You were strong, but now you're stronger. If you still want to die, wait for the sunrise.' And took off. That was it. No explanation about what he'd done, what he meant, what the hell he was, what he'd made me-" Micah finished setting the washer and started it. "I never saw the psycho again, and I'm happy that way. Anything else you wanna know?"
She shrugged and folded Jorick's jeans. Black jeans. "Is there anything interesting?"
"That wasn't interesting. I ain't done a fucking interesting thing since I was born."
"Then no, I don't want to know anything else." She set the jeans aside for a pair of trousers.
"You sure are a good little housewife. You gonna fold mine?"
"Not a chance. Get your own little 'housewife'."
"Done tried it, didn't like it." She looked up, suddenly interested. He sniggered. "Nice try, princess. You already said there was nothin' else you wanted to know. See ya later."
She stopped from calling after him. He'd done that on purpose, and probably had it planned from the beginning.
Damn him.
***
Katelina stuffed the last of the clean clothes in the suitcase. As she snapped it closed, she heard the plane. Andrei was there. In a few minutes, he'd pronounce sentence on Estrilda.
Katelina squared her shoulders and headed to the living room. She thought about Estrilda, as she'd been the night of the ball. Despite the scars, she'd appeared fragile and delicate, even more so hours later when Lilith lifted her above the mess and smiled that slow, evil smile.
Fucking bitch.
Katelina passed Zander and Torina to join Brandle and Jorick by the open front door.
"He's here," Jorick said.
Outside, buildings obscured her view of the planes. She shifted impatiently and counted the heartbeats for something to keep her calm. At last, Andrei came into view. Tall and slender, he wore a tailored suit of dark blue. His long golden brown hair fanned out behind him as he strode purposefully toward them. He looked straight ahead with a resolution Katelina couldn't believe.
He stopped outside and nodded. "Acwellen."
"It's Brandle now. But at the moment it hardly matters." He offered his hand. "Would you like to rest first or-?"
"No. I'd like to see her."
Andrei walked past them to the couch. When he lifted the blanket, Katelina heard his sharp intake of breath. He dropped it for the wrapped arm. With deliberate motions, he unwound the cloth. Estrilda's hand was gone up to the wrist. What was left above was shaped like a lumpy sausage. Though the skin was smooth, there was obviously a lot of bone and tissue missing underneath.
Andrei cupped her cheek. Katelina saw the slow swallow as he forced down his emotions. Finally composed, he turned back to them. "Who holds her in sway?"
"I've kept her quiet," Jorick said.
Andrei nodded. "It's for the best. You know what must be done."
And that was it. Like Jorick and Oren had said. But
"You can't kill her!" Katelina cried.
Jorick took her hands. "He can, and he should. Her quality of life"
"Who are you to judge her quality of life? That's the same excuse they use to kill babies, Jorick. Better they never live than have a low quality of life. But how do they know? Maybe one of those 'useless, inconvenient' children will grow up to do something, be something. Just because you don't see any value in her, doesn't mean she's worthless! Maybe you should ask her if she wants to die."
Andrei's mouth tightened until his lips disappeared. "If Jorick released his influence, you wouldn't receive an answer to that question, only a scream; a constant, horrified, confused scream. Would you condemn her to an immortal life like that? Or worse, send her home, so that in months, or years, her mother has to end it? Do you want to look in Annabelle's eyes and see the weight of that decision? Because I'm not going to."
"How do you know she'll be like that forever? How do you know she won't adjust, heal"
"Katelina," Jorick warned.
"How do you know?" she repeated. "When Loren lost his arm he was in shock, he was in pain. Should we have killed him instead of giving him a chance to get over it?"
Andrei's face twisted. "What is there for her to get over? Look at her. She will never dance again, never play again, never climb into her mother's lap. And it won't get better. She'll be like this, unchanging forever."
Katelina opened her mouth to ask how he could be so sure, when Jorick clamped his hand on her shoulder. "You've had your say," he murmured in her ear. "Go, now."
"No. I"
The world blinked, then came back far away. She shook her head, trying to grasp the voice that said, "Torina, take her somewhere."
