Chapter 675
I don't know.
Jorick's words settled in her stomach like lead. Still, she followed him to the bathroom where she took a shower and put on clean clothes, transferring things from one set of jeans to the other.
With the crust of last night gone, they headed to the scruffy living room. Brandle sat in the chair, his legs crossed. Micah was flopped on the couch, his foot propped on a stack of magazines. Loren sat next to him, Paylin on his lap. Jayleth was on the floor, shaking his empty bottle, his face puckered in disappointment.
Verchiel sat in front of the tot. "You're the one that drank it all."
Katelina stopped behind the couch. "He probably wants something solid. I told Torina they can eat food."
"Maybe," Verchiel countered. "We don't know how old they are."
"Eh, about a year," Micah said. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged. "What? Ain't you all ever spent time with babies? Shit."
Katelina leaned on the back of the couch. "What's going to happen to them now-?" She couldn't say, "Now that Torina is dead."
Loren tickled Paylin's tummy and made a face. His words came out in baby talk, "I fink Oren is going to keep 'dem. Isn't he? Isn't he?"
Sorino waltzed into the room, tugging his gloves off. Katelina wondered where he'd beenhad he been burying Kai? The thought brought a surge of misery that made her look away. She'd have liked to go to his funeral, no matter how informal, but maybe it was something the vampire needed to do alone.
Sorino cleared his throat loudly. "I don't suppose there's more of the bagged blood."
"No," Jorick answered. "I took the last of it."
"I see."
Katelina kept her eyes trained on the couch, on the ugly polka dot floral pattern, on the way the threads had come loose at the seam and stood up like a miniature forest.
"I don't imagine anyone would like to contribute?" Sorino asked.
Micah chortled. "You want us to catch something for you?"
"That would be ideal," Sorino replied.
Katelina bit back a bitter thought, Life's hard without Kai to feed on.
Verchiel stood. "I suppose, under the circumstances, I could try to find something, though I'm not sure how much wildlife there is."
Katelina looked up to see Sorino checking his pocket watch. "Fine. I shouldn't need it for an hour or more."
She scoffed softly. She'd never paid attention to his feeding habits before. Was he on a schedule?
Someone entered the room behind her. Sorino narrowed his eyes. "I told you to rest."
No reply came. Katelina turned to see
"Kai?" She grabbed Jorick. "You're alive?"
"Of course he is." Sorino sniffed disdainfully.
She released Jorick and moved forward uncertainly. "How? I saw you-you were-" Then she understood. Kai no longer smelled like a ham sandwich, but like one of them; a vampire.
Sorino had turned him.
"Yes," the vampire said peevishly. "Long before I'd planned to. He's not old enough. And it's going to be an inconvenience without a human to handle things."
Kai gave her a quick nod of greeting, then focused his attention on his master. Sorino made an impatient sound as he marched to the teen. "I instructed you to rest," he barked, then dragged the boy away.
Katelina looked to Jorick. "I don't suppose Torina-?" He shook his head and she sagged. No. Two miracles would be impossible. "When are we going to-?"
"The funeral?" Verchiel asked. "Assuming Jamie doesn't arrest you" She gaped and he waved it away. "I'm kidding. If he was planning to arrest you, he wouldn't come alone. He'd bring the whole gang."
It was something to look forward to. They dropped into silence. The men played with the tots while Katelina leaned against Jorick. "It's sad about Torina," she said quietly. "You know, I always kind of admired her, even when I didn't like her."
"You should have told her that," he replied.
She looked to the children and wondered what their lives would have been like had Torina lived. "Why tell her? She was a mind reader. She knew."
"Not necessarily. She didn't practice it much. She said she respected other's privacy. I think more likely she was afraid of what she'd see."
Katelina thought about what Torina had said about Jorick, "-he was afraid of what he'd find; that you didn't truly want him, or that you were secretly afraid of him-."
She shook it away. "I don't know what she'd be afraid of. Everyone thought she was perfect."
Jorick chuckled. "They do now, but it was different when she was alive. You'd have never said you admired her, even to me."
"No. But it's expected after someone dies. When they're still alive it's weird."
"Why?"
"Because you don't go around telling people what you think about them. How strange would it be if Micah swept through and said he was fond of us? But if we die he'll be able to say he was."
"What's the point of showering compliments on someone who can't hear them? Wouldn't it be better to do it while they could hear?"
"I already explained it to you. It's the way the world works."
"Maybe the world needs to rethink that a little bit?"
She readied to reply when the door opened. Footsteps turned into Oren. "The Executioner is here. He brought his friends."
So much for Jamie coming alone.
They headed outside where a pair of SUVs waited, maybe the same two that had rescued them. Jamie and Ark were already out, as were three guards, their long gray coats snapping in the wind.
"That's quite a crowd," Jorick commented, a warning in his tone.
Jamie attempted to smile. "You know vampires are pack animals." The humor fell flat and he brushed it away. "Last night"
"We were attacked," Verchiel said. "There was no way to move the venue."
Ark cut in. "So you say."
Jamie motioned him to be quiet. "Eileifr is aware of the extenuating circumstances. You called immediately, and kept human involvement to a minimum."
"Then what do you want?" Jorick demanded.
"First to make sure you were all right," the Executioner said with some offense. "Then we'll need your versions of what happened, for our reports." He looked a little pained as he added, "Third we need to collect Verchiel."
"Hey! I'm not a library book," the redhead said.
"It's not our idea," Ark assured him. "Eileifr wants to meet with all of us."
The redhead hooked his thumbs in his pockets. "That's why you brought the full complement, isn't it? To make sure I come along."
"It's ridiculous that we need to," Ark snapped. "You're an Executioner by choiceit's your job. We shouldn't have to force you into doing it."
"Perhaps you should petition for a vacation?" Jamie suggested. "It's been twenty years since you officially took one."
"Officially being the keyword," Ark bit back. "He's taken plenty, and it's gotten worse since Jorick resurfaced."
"That's something you won't need to worry about," Jorick interjected. "Katelina and I are going home. No one will see us for at least fifty years."
"I doubt that," Verchiel said mischievously. "But a vacation does sound good. Maybe I'll visit you guys?"
Jorick and Katelina's answer came in unison, "No!"
