Chapter 680
Sorino and Kai took their turn. She shook the teen's hand, then steeled herself as Sorino pressed a dry kiss to her cheek. "Best wishes are in order, it appears. Kai."
The teen held out a small paper wrapped box with a bow.
Katelina looked to Jorick, who shrugged. When Kai inched the present closer, she took it. "Thank you."
She tugged at the ribbon, but Sorino laid a hand on hers. "Tut, tut. Don't waste your guest's time on such frivolities. Open it later." His smirk turned smug, as he stepped back. He shook Jorick's hand stiffly.
Kai cocked his head to one side, as if studying her. "Master's quest is now revealed, though in the end the joke meant more than the prize." He bobbed and hurried after Sorino.
Katelina blinked. When Micah stepped in front of her, she shoved the package off on Jorick.
After Micah was Ark, who stiffly offered his best wishes, then Jamie. He kissed her hand politely, and teased, "You may have a time keeping Jorick in check. He can be difficult."
"You're telling me," she agreed.
He moved on to shake Jorick's hand. Verchiel took his place, trailing three women. "Have you met my dates? Sharon, Amy, and Tonia." The redheaded woman was busy giving Micah a once over. Verchiel coughed loudly and repeated, "Tonia."
"What? Oh, nice to meet you. Congratulations."
"Thanks," Katelina said uncertainly, while the other two giggled. The women gave her a little wave, then stepped close to where Micah leaned on the wall, an unlit cigarette in his mouth.
When Katelina was sure they wouldn't hear her, she asked, "Three of them? I thought all the women here knew better."
Verchiel shrugged. "These girls are new. Besides, I think they just wanted to go to the wedding. But hey, if I play my cards right I think I can get at least one of them to leave with me." He craned his neck in their direction. "Maybe two. Three if Micah stops winking at Tonia."
"You couldn't spare one for him?"
"Oh, I suppose, but it's more than he deserves." He turned serious and took her hand in his. "Best wishes. Really."
She flushed and pulled away. "Thanks."
He leaned closer and dropped his voice. "Though now that you're married it's going to be hard to run away together."
Katelina blanched. "What?"
He laughed. "I'm only joking. We both know it would never work. Although-" He leaned closer, until his breath tickled her ear. "They say forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest."
She gaped. He took advantage of it to kiss her on the cheek before he moved on, chuckling.
Jorick growled low while she laid a hand to her face. "What in the hell was that?"
"Nothing," she muttered. The last thing she needed was Jorick murdering someone on their wedding day. "Verchiel being Verchiel."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"He's not a bad sort, really," Jamie said. "He means well. Sometimes."
Katelina wasn't sure who some of the next well-wishers were. Among strangers, Maeko's thirteen-year-old face was a welcome sight.
"Kate-chan!" The girl threw her arms around Katelina and laughed. "We were so happy when the invitation came. I did not think Jorick-ue would be able to overcome your commitment phobias so quickly."
Katelina patted her and tried to escape the hug. "I don't know that he has."
The girl pulled back with a wink. "Oh, I believe so. Kate-chan doesn't mind that we will come to visit for a few days?"
Jorick had already arranged for Makeo and her boys to stay with them in Maine. They'd cleaned out the spare room in the basement for them. Jorick even went to the trouble of a couple of air mattresses, though he put his foot down on anything else. "I don't want them to stay forever."
Considering the accommodations, there was no chance of that.
"Of course I don't mind. We're looking forward to it."
Jorick made a noise and she elbowed him as Maeko moved to offer her congratulations. Hikaru, Takeshi, and her human Ryuu, all bowed and offered the appropriate wishes.
Aine, Beldren, and Zuri, all Executioners, moved through the line, followed by more vampires Katelina didn't know. Finally, at the end, was a face she recognized but hadn't expected.
"Ume?"
It was Verchiel's sister. After years of hunting for her brother, she'd found him, only to leave when Jorick killed her master.
The vampiress offered an uncertain smile. "I know I wasn't officially invited, but Aki thought it would be all right."
Aki. The name she called Verchiel. "Of course it's fine." Katelina made a mental note to smack him. He should have mentioned his sister was there.
Though Ume wasn't a mind reader, Katelina's face must have given her away. "He didn't tell you, did he?"
"Um-"
"It's okay. I decided that just because of-" A sideways glance to Jorick held more venom than Katelina was comfortable with. "I understand why he did what he did. Regardless, it has nothing to do with Aki. To allow another's actions to further estrange us-That would be wrong. I can't say what will come of this. I don't see myself living here permanently, and I doubt Aki would want the burden, but we'll see."
"Good luck," Katelina said for lack of anything else.
"Thank you." Ume shook her hand and dropped her voice. "I don't hold you responsible, either. The weight of one's deeds should be carried only by the doer."
"Right." Katelina pumped her hand. "Wise words."
Ume smiled, then stepped away, skirting Jorick before she slipped into the elevator.
Jorick took Katelina's hand and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's done. I'm not sure it was completely necessary."
"If you have a wedding, you have to do it right," Katelina said, like she had every time he'd mentioned cutting and running after the 'I dos'.
He pulled her to him. "Then let's compromise and skip the reception?"
As much as she wanted to say yes, she knew they couldn't. "We don't need to stay long." She tugged lose from him. "Justoh." She stumbled over the little wrapped box. "Sorino's present."
She scooped it up. Jorick stopped her from opening it. "It's probably a bomb."
"I doubt that." She ripped off the paper and stared at the small glass box. Inside was a lump of something like beef jerky that had been cut down the middle. A neatly written label said: The Heart of the Raven, Goddess of Night.
An envelope was taped to the top, containing a certificate and a letter. Jorick unfolded it and read:
Jorick,
As you were entrusted with the fake for so long, it seems only fitting you should finally acquire the real thing. I plucked this from Lilith's chest myself before joining you in the van. I've had it painstakingly certified, though I'm sure that won't mean as much to you as it should. Still, enjoy it as the priceless artifact it ishowever, not so priceless that, should your bride find herself widowed and in need of funds, I could not facilitate a sale.
Best wishes,
Sorino
"Master's quest is now revealed, though in the end the joke meant more than the prize." That was why Sorino had gone along, paid for vehicles, and provided weapons. He wasn't just after loot, but the biggest score of all: Lilith's real heart. In the end, as Kai said, the joke of giving it to Jorick was worth more to him than keeping it.
Yet he still got it certified-
The certificate authenticating the item was signed by half a dozen names she didn't recognize, and stamped with a heavy gold seal.
"Lilith's heart," she muttered. "What do you suppose he meant about my being widowed?"
"Wishful thinking on his part," Jorick muttered. "I imagine he thinks I'll eventually die in one war or another, then he could have his laugh and get it back. I should take that upstairs and"
"And you'll never return. I'll get Loren to run it up. If I have to go through the reception, so do you."
He sighed. "It wouldn't be so bad, but we have to go through this again in a few months."
"Then it won't be us on the deck. We get to sit back and watch Mom and Brad take center stage."
Jorick studied her. "You're all right with her marrying him? Even with the age difference?"
Katelina sighed. "Yes and no. It's-He loves her. I mean, he actually loves her. I've felt it. And she loves him."
"And now that she's a vampire and he's still human, you're hoping he'll catch up to her a little before she turns him?" Jorick suggested.
"It wouldn't hurt."
Oren joined them. "Are you coming to the reception, or should we move the guests back here?"
"We're coming. Unfortunately," Jorick added.
"The greetings took longer than the wedding," Oren said with some annoyance. "Not that I objected to the short wedding. It was better than a long one." He shot Jorick an accusing look, as though his last wedding had been one of those.
His last wedding.
Katelina touched the necklace through her bodice. She thought about what Torina said, that even if Velnya was alive they'd be split up by now. "He was quitting the Executioners. How long do you think they could have stood one another with no distractions?"
The question bubbled out before she could stop it. "Do you think you'll be able to stand me forever without distractions?"
Jorick cocked an eyebrow. "It's a little late to wonder that, but yes. Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know. Now that there aren't any wars to fight, or people to kill, or evil masters to kidnap me, how long before you get bored?"
"I'd welcome the peace."
Verchiel's words came back to her, "He says he wants peace and quiet, but he had it. Look what he did with it. He joined Oren's war-"
"I don't think you do. I think you get bored when it gets quiet. As Verchiel said"
Jorick took the box away from her, so he could wrap her hands in his. "Perhaps I got bored after holding out for more than a hundred years, but there was something drastically different then."
She thought of a thousand things; he'd been mourning Velnya, his fledgling was in a war, he lived alone, on and on, but she refused to offer any. "What was that?"
He moved close, so that she could feel the heat from his body. "I didn't have you."
Before she could reply, he swept her to him, claiming her mouth in a kiss that quelled any further doubts. No matter what the future held, they would be together.
Eternal. Unfading. Forever.
