Chapter 641
When Katelina finally joined the others, Andrei was in the middle of his thank yous. He held a small box under one arm, and shook Verchiel's hand.
The redhead looked unusually serious. "I'm sorry we were only able to recover a body."
"A body is better than never knowing," Andrei said. "It will give her mother closure."
After he left, Katelina asked what was in the tiny box.
"Her ashes," Jorick said. "He didn't want Annabelle to see her like that."
Torina's words came back to her. "We send men to do the things we'd rather not do ourselves, and expect them to hold up under strain we refuse to carry."
It was three in the morning. There wasn't enough time to drive to the airport and get to Ohio before the sun was up.
Jorick nodded. "If we had a private airstrip like Andrei, we could land and sleep in the plane, but with the terrorism scare in Ohio, I don't think we'd better risk it."
Micah dropped into a chair and lit a cigarette. "Good. Slave can go fold my laundry."
Jorick growled but, before he could defend her, Katelina snapped, "I told you, do it yourself. And no smoking inside."
He blew a puff of smoke at her. "This ain't your den, princess. I can smoke wherever the hell I want."
Oren made an aggravated noise. He snatched the cigarette from Micah's mouth, tossed it to the floor and ground it out with his heel. "Debate ended."
He stalked from the room, leaving Micah and Katelina gaping after him.
The bald vampire rubbed his head. "Damn. He didn't need to waste it."
"Or ruin the carpet." Katelina rooted at the scorched spot with her toe.
Jorick cleared his throat. "Oren's-"
"Not in a good place," Verchiel finished.
"Join the club." Katelina held her hand out. "Give me a cigarette."
Micah snorted. "Get your own."
"Don't make me kick your ass." She ignored Jorick's continued unhappiness.
Micah laughed, and tossed her one with a lighter. "You get that coz you made me laugh. Next time you gotta fold laundry."
She waved his comment away and headed outside. After the first puff, she leaned back against the building, eyes on the stars. She heard the soft, slow sound of footsteps. Zander. Or Brandle. Either way, she wasn't in the mood, so she slipped away.
She passed several out buildings, including one labeled "well house". Curiosity got the better of her. She rounded it, hoping to peer inside, but stopped when she heard Oren's voice.
"things are going?"
Katelina waited to see who he was talking to. When a second voice didn't come, she edged closer.
Oren spoke again, "Zander is-he's fine, I suppose. I haven't spent much time with him. He seems to have taken a liking to Bramble, or Brendle, or whatever his name is."
Katelina realized he must be on the phone. Given the conversation, it was probably with Baltheir. Who else would want news of Zander except his own coven?
Oren went on, "Andrei arrived today-Yes, he's the child's father. There was only one course of action. It was a pity, but what could he do? No father could leave their child to live like that. Had it been Alexander or Tristan-" He broke off. Katelina's mind conjured images of Oren's dead children. Alexander had been about five, with his mother's dark hair and eyes too old for his chubby cheeked face. The baby had been a nonentity, silent and still like a doll.
Oren replied to a comment she couldn't hear. "Of course the incident brought certain things to mind-" He gave a heavy sigh. Katelina imagined him sort of folding up in surrender. "I should never have allowed her to turn the children. I knew it at the time, and every day for the next two hundred years. Jorick warned me over and over that the outcome would be bad. I imagine Andrei knew the same. How can it be anything else? To try to stop a child's development, to freeze them in crystal forever and expect them to stay the cherub they were, even as decades and centuries slip through their fingers."
That he was this open with Baltheiror anyonesurprised Katelina, but why not? Baltheir was in his coven for who knew how many years before it broke up. No doubt they were friends.
Oren paused, then, "Torina's taking it badly. You know how that bothers her. I wish she'd find someone and settle down in her own den-If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. I admit I haven't met a man I'd trust her to, except Jorick. He'd know how to handle her moods."
Katelina stiffened at the suggestion, but Oren went on. "No, you're right. It would never work. They had a-dalliance for lack of a better word, but it bore no fruit. He's not passionate enough for her. She needs someone who will throw plates, as my father used to say. Besides, it seems Jorick has found his pet-Oh, I suppose you're right. She isn't his pet anymore. For better or worse she's his mate."
For better or worse? What was that supposed to mean?
Oren made another aggravated sound. "No, she's not entirely bad for him. Though, now she's immortal, I believe he's bitten off more than he thought-No, no. When he first took her she was-Terrified would be a good word- No, she wasn't raised with vampires. To my knowledge she didn't know about us. She was at our den before she knew what he was- He should have been open with her from the first. If he planned to court her, he should have revealed what he was, and given her time. But he rushed it at the last minute because he'd planned to deny himself- Yes, I told him to let her go. I figured she was an infatuation he'd get tired of once he had her. She was forbidden fruit, the lover of another. That makes a woman more appealing to a certain kind of man. By the same token, I also told him that if he really wanted her, to take her and be done with it, not drag it out."
Katelina crossed her arms. Forbidden fruit? Like she was some kind of peach hanging in a neighbor's garden? Hardly!
"I look for him to make it official one of these days. He's more sentimental than he likes to admit, and more old fashioned. Especially considering she's not his fledgling. He'll want some kind of mark on her. Not that I blame him with Verchiel skulking around. I was sure he'd turn her and start a claim war between them."
She covered her mouth. Verchiel turn her? Of all the crazy, ridiculous-
"Yes, she drank from Verchiel in the past. I wasn't there, but it was supposedly some trickery of Malick's."
Not supposedly, it was. Malick had put Verchiel in a cell and starved him, then threw her inside. As expected, Verchiel bit her. Instinctively, she'd bitten him back, but it hadn't meant anything, and there was no damn connection.
As if he'd read her mind, Oren chuckled. "The connection is precisely why Jorick was worried, but he admitted to me not long ago that he'd given her his own blood, before he ever courted her-Exactly. It means she was linked to him before she was ever linked to Verchiel-I only thought Verchiel would do it to cause trouble. I don't believe he's in love with her-Because Verchiel is Kateesha's fledgling.
"I realize you didn't meet her, but Kateesha's one love in life was always Jorick. He was the one man she couldn't conquer- No! She never tried to conquer me. Had she, there'd have been two men she failed with. As I was saying, from what I understand, she turned Verchiel, but was only with him for a few years before she left to join Jorick and their master. You understand the master/fledgling connection, not to mention, I believe they were lovers-Yes. You can see how Verchiel would hold a grudge. Jorick took his lover. I won't be surprised if he doesn't make a move to get retribution-"
Katelina was ready to burst. Retribution? The redhead was suspicious, sure, but that he'd-what? Try to have an affair to get even with Jorick for something that happened in the 1700s? Not only was that crazy, but it took two to have an affair. She wasn't planning to participate.
"Yes-I'm glad I don't need to worry about such things. It's getting late. I should let you go. I'll talk to you tomorrow one way or another -Good night, Etsuko."
He said something in Japanese. Though Katelina didn't know the words, she felt the meaning in them.
I love you, too.
The clamshell phone clicked closed. Without distraction, she worried he might smell her but, with the wind blowing the other way, maybe she'd be okay.
Luck was with her. He heaved a sigh, then his footsteps moved away. When the sound faded, she sagged and pressed her hand to her mouth, as if holding in an exclamation. He'd been talking to Etsuko the whole time, as if she was his equal, his friendhis girlfriend.
I love you, too.
She felt the sudden warmth on her fingers and looked down to see her cigarette filter burning. With a string of curse words, she dropped it to the ground and stomped it out. She'd missed smoking the whole thing.
I guess that's what I get for eavesdropping.
