Chapter 67
The moon was high when Jorick and Loren returned to the house. They deposited several plastic shopping bags on the couch and unpacked them without fanfare. Jorick presented her with a large stack of what appeared to be jeans and sweat shirts and a pair of white tennis shoes. Meanwhile, Loren took the food to the kitchen and Katelina tried not to look disappointed by the small cartons of microwave macaroni and cheese.
"They didn't have most of the food on your list," Jorick commented when he noticed her forlorn expression. "So I had to improvise." He handed her another bag that held socks, underwear and a bottle of shiny pink nail polish. He waited until she'd rifled through it to ask, "It meets with your approval?"
"Yes," she agreed enthusiastically, the frozen food forgotten in the face of the small pink bottle. It was something so tiny, that she'd had plenty of at home, and yet now it seemed like a precious commodity. It was something sane amidst the chaos of irrationality.
She made herself a frozen pizza and then took a long, hot shower. When she was dry, she dressed happily in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Warm and clean, she brushed her hair and made her way back to the front room.
She walked through the doorway to find fresh wood stacked in the basket by the hearth, and a cheerful fire crackling in the fireplace. Loren was flopped on the couch with one foot resting on the coffee table and his dark locks shading his eyes. His hand lay on his leg and he drummed his fingers to some private rhythm no one else could hear.
Jorick sat in the high backed chair closest to the door, his legs crossed and a serious expression on his face. His dark eyes flicked to Katelina as she entered, and he nodded to her before he looked back at Loren and continued the conversation they'd been having. "- And then we came here, of course."
Katelina dropped down on the rug before the fireplace and retrieved the bottle of nail polish from the bag. She had no desire to hear her last two weeks recapped. They'd been bad enough in the first person.
"You still could have called," Loren said, hurt. "The last time I heard from you was in June!"
"I know. I'm sorry. Perhaps I should have let you know."
"Perhaps?" Loren scowled and then shrugged it off. "Ah, I guess it's a'right. You were busy." His eyes slid sideways to Katelina and then snapped back when he realized she'd seen him. "So, uh, this Kateesha. She's the one everyone hates, right?"
"Yes," Jorick said quietly, his voice and face giving away no emotion. "The one that Malick made."
Loren bobbed his head, and Katelina cut into the conversation, "Why does everyone hate her? Besides the fact she's an evil bitch?"
Loren covered his mouth and choked on a laugh while Jorick frowned at them both. "Kateesha's too ambitious. She's stepped on a lot of toes."
The conversation from the car came to mind, so Katelina decided to see just how chatty Jorick was feeling. "Why does Torina hate her? She said she owed her a debt."
Jorick tilted his head as if considering how many of the old dirty secrets to divulge. "Kateesha killed her first lover. Armus, I believe his name was. He interfered with one of her acquirements, a new vampire named Shawnine." Both the faces that stared back at him were blank, so he sighed impatiently and explained, "Armus took Shawnine as a lover, though, to this day Torina refuses to believe he was unfaithful to her. He must have been, though, or Kateesha wouldn't have killed him like she did." He held up a hand as Loren's mouth opened. "Before you ask, he was burned alive." His face twitched almost painfully. "That was a popular method, once upon a time."
They both cringed and then Loren perked up. "But if he was with Torina, why did Kateesha care?"
Jorick all but rolled his eyes. "Shawnine was Kateesha's lover. Her appetite does not extend to men alone."
"Oh!" A smirk settled on Loren's lips and he all but sniggered.
"It's far more common than you'd think," Jorick commented. "Society only frowns on it in cycles. I believe it's fashionable again, isn't it?" He looked to Katelina who only blinked back uncertainly.
Loren grinned at some imagined idea and Jorick glared at him. The smile slipped off his face and he stared guiltily at the floor. "So, um, what about this war on The Guild?"
Jorick dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand. "It doesn't concern us. We owe them no allegiance. Malick can't force me to fight with them." He leveled his gaze with the younger vampire. "And you owe them nothing."
Loren's brow furrowed. "I didn't mean on The Guild's side, I meant Oren's." Jorick didn't respond, and slowly a scowl settled on Loren's face. "Let me guess, I'll stay here as usual?"
Jorick studied him in silence and then said quietly. "You're young still, Loren. Why do you want to fight vampires whose blood is older than yours and whose strength is a hundred times greater? Do you value your life so little?"
"No!" The young vampire's spine snapped straight. "Of course not! I just get bored staying here all the time. If you'da let me go and help with Arowenia-"
Jorick cut him off. "If I'd let you go, you'd be dead by now. How many people do you think I can take care of at once?"
Loren stomped his foot on the floor. "I don't need to be taken care of Jorick! Come on! I could have stopped Kateesha from taking her!" He jerked his head towards Katelina.
"No, you couldn't!" Jorick snapped back. He repented suddenly and ran a hand through his long hair. When he spoke again his voice was lighter. "Kateesha would have eaten your heart and I'd have returned to a house that was even dustier."
"Man, I'm not just a housekeeper!" Loren objected, hurt. "Seriously! I could have done something."
Jorick sighed. "Sometimes inaction is the best course, young one. You should learn this lesson now, lest you find yourself in the same position as your brother one day."
Loren glared angrily into the distance and Jorick disappeared into his own world. His dark eyes reflected unspoken specters from the past. Katelina listened to the fire crackle and finished her nails, her mind full of questions that were too rude to ask with Loren present. Luckily, by the time her nails were dry, the teenager was on his feet and headed for the door.
"I'll be back, later."
"I hope you aren't planning to do anything rash?" Jorick asked without bothering to stop him.
Loren's jaw tightened. "No, I'm not."
Jorick nodded and the boy left, slamming the door behind him. Once he was gone, Katelina took his vacated spot on the sofa and leaned back. She watched Jorick for a moment and then asked conversationally, "So, who killed Loren's brother?"
"We can discuss it later," he answered shortly. He stood and stretched like a cat after a nap. "I'll return." He brushed a kiss across her forehead, and then followed Loren out the door, undoubtedly to make sure he stayed out of trouble.
"At least they started a fire before they left," she muttered to herself and eyed the books. "Looks like it's just you and me now, huh?"
The books didn't answer.
