Chapter 665
Footsteps pounded toward them. Loren skidded around the corner. "Hey! What was allshit! You're killing them without me." His eyes landed on Katelina. "There you are. Did you find Jorick?"
"No, but we found Ishkurthe leader from the Kugsankal," she added for their benefit. "Verchiel's alone with him on the roof. There's no way he can take him alone."
"Why the fuck didn't you say so. Come on, pipsqueak." Micah motioned Loren with his gory hand and started down the hall.
"Wait!" Katelina cried after them. "What do you think you two can do? He's ancient!"
"Guess we'll find out," Micah called back.
She said a quick prayer they wouldn't get killed, then hurried downstairs. On the next floor, Oren, Jorick, and Brandle waited in the hallway. She hurried to them. "Ishkur. On the roof with Verchiel. Micah and Loren went to help, but they need more."
With a nod, Brandle banged on one of the doors. "Zander, are you coming?"
He leaned out and his eyes landed on Katelina.
"No time for that now," Brandle said. "Verchiel needs our help against Ishkur."
A lens slid over Zander's excitement. "Of course." He disappeared inside and returned with the large rusty mace.
Jorick wiped blood from Katelina's cheek, the question in his eyes.
"We ran into a pair of twins," she explained. "Micah killed one, but the other is still running around. If she's like her sister, she's a ghost hand. Where the hell were you?"
"Downstairs. It's chaos."
"That's what Verchiel said." She touched his face. It looked pinker than normal. "You were in the sun?"
"The lobby has windows. But I'm fine. Come, Oren."
Oren hesitated. Finally, he slid into the room to return with weapons. He nodded to Katelina. "Stay here with Torina."
Katelina expected Jorick to correct his fledgling it wasn't Oren's job to give her ordersbut he only hurried away. She took an uncertain step after them. She didn't want to hide with the women and children. At the same time, there was a powerful vampiress roaming the halls. No one should be alone.
"Crap!"
She stuck her head in the door to see Torina cradling the children, singing softly. Katelina tried to motion the urgency of the situation when a loud noise did it for her; not an explosion, or a blast, but a sort of squeal that made her grab her ears and bend double.
The children wailed. Torina covered them with her body, as if to shield them from the unseen wave. It passed as quickly as it came, leaving Katelina blinking, and rubbing her ears.
Torina pulled back. Katelina caught a whiff ofblood?
The redhead swore. "Quick! Get me a towel."
Katelina hurried to obey. Torina ripped the cloth from her hands. She pressed it to first one child's face, then the other. The scent of their blood was like a hamburger after a long day with no lunch. Katelina retreated a step or two, forcing herself not to look. "What's wrong?"
"Their noses are bleeding," Torina said desperately. "Why? What makes a human's nose bleed?"
"Lots of things." Katelina was only half thinking about them. "I need to go stand in the hall."
"Why?" Torina suddenly understood. "Fine. It's not like I need you."
Katelina slipped out the door, grateful to be away from the smell. Her throat tightened as she forced herself to swallow.
She heard footsteps and drew her dagger, but it was Sorino that breezed around the corner, Kai on his heels. "They've put you as a guard? What an interesting choice."
Though his eyes glittered with humor, she didn't correct him. The truth would amuse him more.
"Where have you been? Surely, not looting the hotel?"
"No. They don't have anything I'd want. If you must know, our suite is on a different floor. However..." He unsnapped his cane to draw a blade, then snapped it back. "Lilith has one less follower."
She noticed the blood splatter on his clothes and relaxed. Thank God. He'd taken Gret out.
"The others are on the roof, fighting Ishkur," she said.
Before he could reply, the building shook. Katelina caught her balance. She looked up and down, unsure if the attack was Ishkur or Lilith.
Kai nodded to some silent command, then disappeared into the nearest open door. Sorino closed his eyes and murmured understanding. "He can see Samael and Lilith in the street below. Dead are scattered. I can almost smell the blood from here."
Katelina shivered at the vampire's smile. She started to ask if Kai was sending him that description, then thought of their linking. Stories said a master could see through the eyes of his linked human. Maybe they were right.
Kai returned. Sorino looked up to the ceiling. "It appears the action we're interested in is up there. Though perhaps you should remain?"
When Kai nodded, Sorino opened the boy's backpack. He removed several items before he zipped it back up. A silent message passed between them. Katelina imagined it was something like the "If you need me" that Jorick usually said to her.
Sorino strode away, and Kai motioned to the bedroom door. Katelina hesitated. He smelled like a ham sandwich. The thought of mixing him with the bleeding, roast beef-scented children was overwhelming.
With a silent shrug, the teen pushed the door open. Katelina followed, but froze just inside. Torina stood at the foot of the bed, the washcloth in her mouth, her eyes guilty.
"Oh my God, were you sucking the blood out of it?" Katelina cried.
Torina motioned the accusation away. "I didn't see a reason to waste it."
Katelina looked to the children. "They're-better?"
The vampiress' chin lifted a notch. "They're sleeping. I can do that."
Katelina wasn't sure if she meant she could calm them down, or she could knock them out the way Jorick could.
Kai took a seat in the nearest chair. Katelina thought she noticed Torina eyeing the teen, like someone might look at a high calorie donut from the corner of their eye. They knew they shouldn't eat it, but it looked delicious anyway.
With nothing to do, Katelina ducked into the bathroom and cleaned up. She came out, her face still damp, in time to hear someone in the corridor.
"That was fast." She pulled the door open, ready to ask if they'd defeated Ishkur, but it wasn't her friends; it was Gret, the redheaded twin Sorino supposedly killed.
Katelina slammed the door but couldn't lock it. Either someone had broken it or else it wouldn't work without power.
"I thought Sorino killed her!" she cried as she tried to stuff a chair under the knob.
Torina pulled Kai up and shoved him toward the sleeping children. "Killed who?"
The door rattled. Gret rammed into it hard enough to stop Katelina's efforts and send her back a few steps. With a snarl, Katelina slammed into the door, nearly catching her enemy's arm.
"Her." Katelina pushed against the door with all of her strength. She felt the vampiress smashing against it, but it didn't give.
"Master killed one of Lilith's vampires," Kai confirmed from his station in front of the bed.
"Then it must have been a different one. I don't suppose Sorino left you any weapons?"
Kai pulled the backpack off and produced a pair of duckfoot pistols. Katelina'd seen them in action before. They took forever to load, but with multiple barrels, even one shot might do something.
The teen quickly readied them, while Torina swept the children into the bathroom. The tots stirred, but didn't wake, leaving Katelina with the impression she'd quieted them using Jorick's method.
