Chapter 651
Sleep came surprisingly easy, and brought few dreams. The sudden wash of sunlight was a surprise, as were the palm trees that waved outside the window. Like the last dream meeting, there was no peace, only an itchy sense of urgency.
It took Katelina a moment to find the center of the impatience. Samael sat on the floor of an open closet, jackets hanging above him. Though she couldn't see bodies, she sensed they were there in reality, no doubt the owners of the house.
"You judge me to be in the wrong?" Samael asked.
"You can't kill people because you want to stay in their closet. As powerful as you are, you could turn yourself invisible or take over their minds."
"Yes, but why? Do you take the time to step over an ant, or trod upon it without thought?"
"They're people, not ants."
"Not to me."
She didn't like where the conversation was going. "Did you find Lilith?"
"Yes."
When no more came, she pressed. "Where?"
"She is near here. I know not the names mortals have given these places."
Katelina groaned. "Then how are we going to get there?"
"You do not need to. The war is between me and the whore of darkness."
"But she has an army. You said yourself she was raising one. And she has that ancient sword, and who knows what else."
"Do you believe in the magic of the Gods? I understood you thought the sword to be a relic, a piece of metal with no meaning?"
"It is. I think. I don't know. The curse-everyone who's had it really did die horribly. If there's something to that-" She laid her hand on the back of a cream colored sofa. "It's better safe than sorry."
"You may join me if you wish. Leave your fresh fledgling behind. She is weak, as are the humans. Bring only your strongest."
"Bring them where?"
"The desert," Samael said.
"You realize the desert is a huge place, right? It's like four states or something." Truthfully, she had no idea. She'd never been west.
Samael lifted his head, and closed his eyes. A soft murmur of voices rose, like a low buzz. They grew louder, until she could recognize words, some in English, some in Spanish, and some in languages she couldn't guess.
"The thoughts of the ants."
Not ants, but people. Samael was tuned into the humans, sifting through a million minds. Voices peeled away, until there was a single word.
Phoenix.
"Remember what I said. Bring only your strongest. Death waits here for the weak."
Katelina started to say she was weak, but the room and the vampire disappeared before she could.
***
Katelina opened her eyes the next evening and shook Jorick awake. He gave the familiar gasp, then, "Little one?"
"Samael is in Phoenix."
"What?" He sat up. The film of sleep slipped away, leaving him alert. "Arizona?"
She nodded. "He says that Lilith is nearby and that we can come, but we need to leave Mom and the humans behind because 'death waits for the weak'."
Jorick leaned back on his elbows. "Taking a fresh fledgling and humans to battle is never a good idea. Let's feed, and we'll speak to the others."
To Katelina's relief, Etsuko offered Patricia bottled blood. The thought of taking her mother through the underbrush, showing her how to drink from a squirrel-she didn't want to contemplate it.
"You'll need to do it eventually," Jorick said.
"I know. The longer I can wait, the better." She hated to look a gift horse in the mouth, but-"Why do they have all that bottled blood, anyway?"
"Oren doesn't like to drink from living creatures," Jorick said. "He objects to the connection with his victims. He prefers to hunt, kill the animal, drain it, and drink the blood later. It creates a separation. He says it's 'easier'."
Though she hated to say it, she agreed with Oren. "Where do they get it?"
"He kills a deer, or some other suitable creature, then drains them." Jorick squinted over the property. "I assume he's using the barn for that."
Katelina glanced at the building and imagined a row of carcasses hanging, throats slit, their blood running into buckets. While it bothered her, it also made her hungry.
After their breakfast, they returned to the house. Xandria was in the living room with Brad. "Hey, Kate, was I supposed to let him out?"
Brad rounded on her. "Why was I locked in?"
Katelina stepped back from his anger. "I didn't know you were."
"It was for his own protection," Oren answered from the doorway. "And ours. We don't know him, or what he might do during daylight hours. He had adequate facilities. There is a private powder room attached to that bedroom."
"But I'm starving," Brad snapped. "And I want to see Patricia. Where is she?"
"Here I am." Katelina's mother came out of the kitchen. In the borrowed dress, sans her usual glasses, she looked like a stranger to Katelina.
Brad hurried to catch Patricia in a one armed hug. "Are you all right?"
Both the question and sentiment echoed inside Katelina. It was like watching a scene from her past. When she was still human, how many times had Jorick rushed to check on her after they'd been separated?
When everyone was fed, Jorick gathered most of the vampires together in the kitchen. Katelina repeated the dream, warning and all.
Oren was the first to comment, "I was under the impression we were finished? The goal was to retrieve the child and your-Katelina's friend. The child was retrieved. As to the other, I see no point in risking life and limb to rescue someone who doesn't want rescued."
Brandle laid a hand on Oren's shoulder. "That was indeed your goal. None can fault you if you've fulfilled it. Mine, however, was to retrieve William and Angelica, which has not yet been accomplished."
"It was not my goal, either," Zander said. "I wish to see an end to Lilith and all who would cause such destruction. It is an insult to the Goddess."
"I want to kill Anya," Torina said.
"And I don't give a shit," Micah added. "I'm down for a fight. I got nothing better to do, and I ain't never been out west. I always wanted to see California. Redwoods and that shit."
"I'm available," Verchiel said, though Katelina thought it more likely he was AWOL.
Sorino remained conspicuously silent, a half smirk on his lips.
"What about you, Jorick?" Oren asked.
The vampire ran a hand through his dark hair. "On my own, I would say this is a matter for the Guild, or the Kugsankal, or for Samael himself. But Katelina wants to go."
She twisted her hands together. Did she?
"You'll want to deal with Sarah," Verchiel prompted.
A voice came from the doorway, "What about Sarah?"
Katelina swiveled to see Brad and her mother.
"Mom." She broke off. How could she explain this?
"You said yesterday that Sarah was kidnapped and tortured. Is that what you're talking about, or something else?"
So her mom remembered that. Katelina regretted the outburst. No doubt there would be uncomfortable follow up questions.
Verchiel gallantly stepped up to the plate. "Sarah is with a crazy vampiress who wants to wage a major war with her ex. We thought Sarah was kidnapped, but it turns out she joined on purpose."
"I saw her," Brad said slowly. "Before everything exploded. The investigators said I thought I had, that it was a suicide bomber that reminded me of Sarah, and that my brain swapped the faces in my memories, but-"
"It was probably her," Verchiel said.
"Why?" Brad asked.
Katelina choked. "Are you serious? Brad, you dumped her for the woman she looked at as a surrogate mother. She's hurt, and she's angry."
"She blew us up?" Brad demanded.
Katelina flinched. She hadn't said Sarah was responsible for the attack. "Who said-"
Brad made to cross his arms, then dropped his good hand uselessly. "I told you yesterday, Kate, I can piece things together. If Sarah did that, if she's the one who hurt Patty-"
"We'll handle it," Katelina said quickly. "You and Mom need to stay here. It's no place for a new fledgling, or a human."
Patricia silenced Brad's arguments. "That's fine. We have things we need to do. Brad's in school. We need to clean up the house and"
"Are you crazy?" Katelina gaped. "You're a vampire. You can't go on with business as usual. All that stuff doesn't matter anymore."
"Like it didn't matter to you?" Oren asked sarcastically.
Katelina shot him a dirty look. "I didn't try to go to college."
"Technically, Brad isn't a vampire," Verchiel said. "There's nothing to stop him."
Patricia took Katelina's hands. "You worry about you, dear. We can take care of ourselves."
It was an argument Katelina wasn't going to win, so she surrendered. "We'll discuss it later."
Sorino snapped straight. "Good. I'll make the arrangements. We can leave tonight."
Micah cut in. "Okay, that's it. What's the deal? What are you getting out of all this?"
"Excuse me?" Sorino asked innocently.
"Don't give me any shit. You don't give a damn about killing Lilith or saving anyone. You've been here to steal shit, not that I care. I don't want a bunch of old pots or moldy books but"
"Speaking of books," Sorino interrupted. "I have yet to find what happened to those we took from Lilith's den in Quebec."
"They must have gotten lost," Jorick said.
"Yes. I'm sure." Sorino eyed him suspiciously. "As for why I'm accompanying you, our concerned friend, let's say I'm bored and I find this most entertaining."
"Maybe we don't like being your entertainment," Micah snapped.
"Or maybe you don't care," Sorino said. "I handle the arrangements, provide the plane, rent the vehicles. All you have to do is come along for the ride. Is that so much to ask? If anything, I'm being taken advantage of."
Jorick scoffed. "If anything, it shows your endgame is that much more valuable. But I agree with the basic sentiment: As long as you don't do anything to endanger myself or Katelina, I don't care what you're up to."
"And if he endangers the rest of us?" Oren asked with mild disapproval.
Jorick shrugged. "You're capable of threatening him yourself."
Sorino smiled. "Good. Now that we know where we stand, I'll make the arrangements."
As he slipped out the door, Katelina's mother leaned close and whispered, "I don't like him. He gives me the chills."
The only thing she could say to that was, "Me either."
