Chapter 670
Jorick tugged on Katelina's arm. Reluctantly, she let him pull her toward the hotel. They'd nearly reached the shattered lobby windows when Ishkur landed in front of them, swinging his heavy mace.
Jorick threw Katelina back, using himself as a shield. She slid to a stop, tripping over chunks of concrete. She righted herself in time to see Jorick dodging away from Ishkur's attack.
"Jorick!" The sun beat down. Though she wanted to help him, her instincts drove her back into the shade of the ambulance. Ishkur swung. Jorick blocked with his sword. The ancient growled and pulled back. His eyes flicked from Jorick to her. He evaporated and reappeared before her, the mace raised.
Katelina tensed, ready to run. She met his red-ish brown eyes and everything stopped. The world was still there, only frozen like a photograph. She could see the dented mace, streaked with gore and dirt, see the way his dark hair blew back from his face. The stubble on his jaw. The way the sun gleamed on his breast plate. The wounds on his arms and legs, dust stuck to the patches of moist blood.
Over his shoulder was Jorick. His face was twisted in fury, his mouth open mid roar as he swung his sword. Beyond him, she could see Samael. His black hair danced. The sun set his dark eyes on fire in his pale face. He had one hand raised, a ball of energy gathering around it, aimed at the hotel where Lilith stood on a ledge, the ancient sword of Nu-Gua in her hand. Thick and blunt, it looked more like a bludgeoning weapon than a sword to slice. Strapped to her back was a string-less bow. Like Ishkur, she wore a breastplate of gold, engraved with runes, whose purpose Katelina could only guess. Matching bracers were on her wrists. She wore tall leather boots under a tunic of shimmering teal. Her thick hair had clips, but most of it had fallen wild about her face. A thin layer of white dust made her look like something long dead.
Then Katelina saw Inanna, one of the Kugsankal. In the midst of the rubble she shone like a star dressed in silver. Barely taller than a child, with long white hair and cerulean blue eyes. She wore a silver crown on her head. In her hand she held a sword. Behind her was Utu, dressed in black armor, his gaze a hell of empty darkness.
The world picked up again. Ishkur half turned toward his sister and brother, and Jorick's sword found its mark. Ishkur stumbled face first into the ambulance. Utu moved, but Inanna held him back with a tiny hand.
Ishkur made to push himself up. Jorick didn't give him a chance. Katelina watched with a mixture of horror and satisfaction as he swung the sword again and again, finally severing the ancient's head in a spray of blood.
Ishkur's body swayed. Jorick punched through his back. Katelina heard the crunch, even as blasts echoed from Samael and Lilith's battle.
Jorick drew back, and threw something to the ground; Ishkur's bloody heart. He ground it under his heel as the dead body crumbled to the ground. Brandle nodded, acknowledging it was over. Zander turned his fierce attention toward Lilith. The vampiress had dropped down from the building to stand on the crushed roof of a car.
Inanna swept forward, her movements more like floating than steps. She swept the crown from Ishkur's severed head. With a glance to Utu, she replaced her own with it, then turned to Samael and Lilith.
"Enough!" her voice crashed between the buildings like a tsunami, and Katelina cowered against her will.
Lilith considered the diminutive vampiress like one might look at a yapping dog. "Why do you trouble us, child?"
Utu stepped forward, a bladed lance raised. His long hair snapped in the breeze. His eyes narrowed. His stance made Katelina think of a protective knight coming to Inanna's defense. As if she needed it.
"You know that you have violated our Laws," Inanna said. "There can be no exceptions."
Lilith laughed. Samael took advantage of the lull to leap onto the car next to her. His feet had barely touched the roof before she was gone, appearing several feet away. She flickered, then reappeared near Katelina.
Her presence was overwhelming. Katelina curled in on herself to escape. Before she closed her eyes, she saw Lilith look at her dead lover's body, then to Jorick.
No!
Katelina forced herself out of the tiny ball. Lilith chuckled. "As if he was important enough to avenge, child. He served his purpose long ago. It is one of the mysteries of nature that men do not understand when they are no longer useful." She turned burning eyes on Samael. "Now we come to the end of our game. Though I set others to the task, I must score the final point myself."
She pulled Katelina up by her shirt. Jorick charged, but Lilith sent him flying into the side of the hotel.
Katelina tried to look to Jorick, tried to see if he was all right, but she couldn't take her eyes off Lilith. Darkness sucked at her. She felt a strange prying pulse in her head.
"She's trying to open the door."
Katelina screamed silently. Pain rippled. She stared into a blackness as dark as Utu's eyes. Shadows of agony and torture writhed beyond it, smoke that reached toward her with twisting tendril-like fingers.
"Samael sealed them away, because he knew you couldn't deal with it. Imagine if he hadn't. For all you know, you might have wanted to kill everyone."
Or yourself.
No!
The scream echoed in her ears. The world came back; the sun beat down, burning her tender skin. Her back shot pain down her arm. Her stomach hurt. Her insides were knotted, thirsty, desperate, but the darkness and the shadow wraiths were gone; sealed away where they belonged.
Lilith threw Katelina against the ambulance. She bounced off, landing in a pool of blood, next to Ishkur's headless body. She looked up to see Samael standing before Lilith, his face as expressionless as ever.
"You don't want me in her mind," Lilith purred. "Your weakness is betrayed. I will drink from her heart before you die, so you can watch. You should know better by now than to try to replace me."
"As if I would seek a replacement for one like you. I was relieved to be free the first time, and will be even more so now." He stepped closer.
Lilith brandished the blunt sword. "So you think, but I will strike you down and lick your blood from the blade."
Katelina felt Samael's calculations, then he whispered in her mind, "Run."
She slid in Ishkur's blood, but made it to her feet and dashed away. Lilith spun to follow when the ambulance lifted into the air. Katelina stopped next to Jorick's prone body. She looked back to see Samael's arm raised, muscles tensed as though he was lifting the vehicle. He threw his arm, like pitching a ball. The hulking vehicle flew at Lilith. One minute she was there, the next both she and the ambulance were rolling across the street.
Jorick opened his eyes and shook his head. One arm and leg hung at odd angles, and his face was blistered by sunlight; yellow lumps that ran crimson. His lips were burned and cracked, but he'd never looked more beautifulmore alive.
She kissed him with desperate relief, then pulled back, licking his blood from her mouth. He grimaced and touched her face with his good hand. "You're burned."
They dragged each other inside to the safety of the shadows. Through the fractured lobby front, they could see the ancients. Inanna and Utu stood back from the fray. Though their faces were impassive, Utu was tensed, waiting for his prey. Brandle and Zander had moved into the shade thrown by a building, while Samael strode purposefully toward the overturned ambulance, energy gathering in his palm.
There was a loud squealing sound as metal scraped. The ambulance rolled over on its side. Lilith stood, her hair wild, scarlet running from her nose and one ear. Her breastplate was dented. With a snarl she tore it free. "Is that the best you have?"
Samael's reply was to send a blast at the exposed undercarriage of the vehicle. The gas tank exploded. Unlike the movies, there was no fireball, no black smoke, only liquid that rained over the vampiress.
She attempted to shake the gasoline off, contempt in her voice. "Did you expect an explosion? Hollywood lied to you."
Samael pulled something from his coat pocket. "Not at all." There was a metallic click. Samael threw something shiny. Katelina had a nanosecond view of Micah's missing Zippo, the flame pale in the sunlight.
Comprehension dawned on Lilith's face a moment before the fire hit her tunic. The flames raced over the gasoline soaked material, down her legs and, as she beat at the fire, up her arms. Katelina drew back farther into the building, pulling Jorick with her.
She looked back out to see Lilith engulfed in flames, like an immortal torch. The vampiress screamed and beat at herself, shouting in a language Katelina didn't recognize. Zander stiffened. Katelina thought that he must understand the words. The old language of the immortals. Like his ceremonies to the Night Goddess. Only the words weren't beautiful this time, but terrifying.
Katelina shivered in spite of herself, clutching Jorick's arm. He wrapped himself around her, like a protective shield. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if it could silence Lilith's horrific shrieks.
The sound strangled off. Katelina peeked over Jorick's shoulder. Lilith pulled herself up from the ground, still smoking. Her clothing and hair were gone, leaving her burned body exposed. Bloody flesh hung like turkey skin, revealing bone in places. She roared. A nearby car flipped into the air and swept Samael back into the ruined building. A moment later the car went flying and he stormed forward, hand extended.
"Pathetic, as usual," he shouted. A crushed SUV rolled over Lilith, windows shattering. It came to a stop against the ambulance. Lilith climbed laboriously to her feet, her gory body studded with broken glass that winked in the sunlight, like diamonds.
"How is she still alive?" Katelina whispered. But she knew the answer: Because she was ancient.
With a cry, Lilith lurched toward Samael. Katelina saw her exposed muscles tighten and contract with each step. Her stomach heaved and she gagged.
Samael swept toward Lilith, disappearing and reappearing next to her. He grabbed her by the wrist and swung. She crashed into the firetruck. Samael threw something away. It took Katelina a moment to realize it was Lilith's arm.
He evaporated and popped up next to her to rip her second arm free. As he flung the limb away, she screamed and kicked, attacks he easily sidestepped.
Lilith's sword lay discarded nearby. Samael swept it up. He surveyed the weapon, then rammed it through her chest. Her back arched. Her mouth opened in a scream that never came. Then she fell still.
Inanna appeared at Samael's side, her hand out expectantly. To Katelina's surprise, he gave her the weapon. He looked from Lilith's broken body to meet Katelina's eyes.
"It is over."
Then he disappeared.
