Chapter 76
The following evening, Katelina was packed, dressed, and waiting in the living room before Jorick and Loren were back from "eating". She wasn't sure why Jorick was taking Loren with them, except that he had a car. But why didn't Jorick just borrow it or get his own? He could drive, she'd seen him, so why did he always hand it off to everyone else?
Just another unanswered question.
The two vampires returned, snow melting on their shoulders. Jorick offered her a half smile, "Ready?"
She nodded, then eyed the white snowflakes that hung suspended in his black hair. "Is it snowing out?"
"Yeah." Loren nodded enthusiastically. "Not a lot, though. Just starting to really stick out there."
Katelina moved around them both and opened the door wide. Beyond the painted frame, the black night gaped at her. The falling flakes were small and fluffy, and they caught the light briefly as they drifted to the ground, like tiny stars.
"Wow," she murmured. "It's winter already."
"Is it?" Jorick asked without any real interest.
Loren snickered "It's like the thirteenth of November. Man! You should keep up with things."
"Time doesn't concern me," Jorick replied dismissively. "It's all the same. Only the backdrop changes, nothing else."
"Lots of things change," Loren objected.
Jorick gave him a tolerant look. "Not really. Your blood is still young. When it's aged, you'll understand better."
Loren scoffed. "No, I won't."
Jorick made a soft sound in his throat and Katelina stepped out onto the porch to get a better look at the snowfall. She wasn't sure who was right anymore. Was it really the thirteenth? And if so, was that a Tuesday or a Friday, or even a Saturday? Did it really make any difference? Her whole world had become a strange blur of dark night followed by dark night, with very little to set one day apart from the other. Or, at least that's how she felt.
Jorick cut into her thoughts. "Come, let us go. If we make good time we'll be almost there before sunrise."
Katelina held out her hand to catch a snowflake and asked, "How long is the trip?"
Jorick cleared his throat. "Oh, twelve hours I believe. But we should have thirteen hours or more of night. The winter is useful for that." He gave her a fanged smile. "Shall we?"
***
The car trip was just as long as Jorick had promised, and twice as boring. Katelina started out in the backseat with Loren driving and Jorick in shotgun, then halfway through she demanded they switch. Jorick let her have her way, and soon she was in the front seat and in charge of the radio. If only the antenna hadn't been snapped off, and they'd had some reception, it would have been great. But, with no radio, there was only Loren's CD collection to get them through, and he seemed permanently stuck in nineties grunge land.
After a gas station break, Loren asked suddenly, "You're sure those Executioner dudes aren't following us?"
"No," Jorick answered from the backseat. "I told you last night they're gone, they'll have left early this morning to go meet the others."
"Others?" Katelina asked as she skipped yet another Nirvana track.
"Yes, there are two others who are out looking for Kateesha. I'd wager they're not far off in their assumptions; if they find one they may well find the other."
Something twisted in Katelina's gut that had nothing to do with gas station food. "You don't think they'd work together?"
Jorick mused silently for a moment, then spoke. "Given Torina's very vocal attitude, I doubt it, but, I don't know."
That answer left Katelina with chills.
***
They checked into a random motel for the day. Katelina stayed in the car with Loren, while Jorick arranged the rooms.
"I thought we were staying out of this," she muttered to no one in particular.
Loren shrugged and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music. "I'm glad we aren't. I think he owes it to him to help him out, you know? Oren's, like, his fledgling or whatever."
"But how long should he have to take care of him? Forever? Christ, even kids move out of their parents' home eventually!"
"Yeah," Loren agreed. "But if your kids needed help, even if they're grown up, you'd still go help 'em, wouldn't you?"
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times and she finally said, "That's different."
The youth grinned. "If you say so."
Their conversation ended as Jorick arrived with the keys, but Katelina's mood didn't improve. Her worries carried over into her sleep and gave her bad dreams; dreams of blood and anger and flashing fangs. Troy laughed, Alexander burned, and Claudius mourned Arowenia before he tried to kill all of them. She woke with a scream caught in her throat and tears pressed behind her eyelids.
Jorick was there, solid and cool. He wrapped her in his arms and soothed her gently. "It's all right. It was just a dream."
Hot tears slipped from beneath her crinkled eyelids. "I know, but I'm tired of these dreams." She took a deep, shuddering breath. So many things were wrong she didn't know which one to give vent to. "Why are we going back?"
"Shhhhhh." He slid his arm beneath her body and cradled her. "I'm sorry. But we're not 'going back'. I'll see what he needs, but that's all. I swear to you, Katelina, I'm not joining his war. He has a right to avenge the deaths of his family, but I have no interest in it."
For the first time, Katelina started to get suspicious. "And why is that?"
Jorick laughed softly. "Now you're questioning me? I hardly expected it from you." The smile remained, but his voice turned more serious. "Oren is my friend, I suppose, but Jesslynn-" he broke off. "I felt no love for her, shall we say. When I gave him what he wanted, I schooled him in the most important laws. I warned him against turning Jesslynn and Torina, and more than once I reminded him about the children because I feared what Jesslynn would do. He didn't listen, and neither did she. Unless it means Oren's death, I won't interfere."
"So you say," she muttered. "But we're here, aren't we? You keep promising and yet-"
He caught her face in his hands and stared deeply into her eyes. "You have to understand, little one. I cannot abandon Oren, not yet, not even for you."
"No, of course not." She bet he could have abandoned him for perfect Velnya.
Jorick sighed wearily. "He's alone now, more alone than he's ever been. He's always had Jesslynn at his side to run him and now he's cut adrift. You forget, it has been so short a time since he lost both his wife and children. How would you feel?"
"He has his sister," she objected.
Jorick smiled indulgently. "Though, I'm sure he cares deeply for Torina, a sister is hardly a replacement for a wife." He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against his chest. "Trust me."
She wanted to press the issue, but Loren chose that moment to bang on the door and chirp that it was time to get up. As if Jorick sensed an uncomfortable conversation coming, he took the opportunity to escape and they were soon dressed and back in the car again.
