Chapter 99
Jorick led Katelina through Oren's house and up the stairs to the second story, where they found a long deserted hallway lined in doors. Deep shadows hid most of it, but silver moonlight splashed through the windows on the landing and highlighted cobwebs and various bits of debris that lay on the naked floorboards.
They came to a stop near the first gaping doorway and Jorick lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across it. "So, what did Loren have to say?"
She looked at him in surprise. "Oh, you weren't listening in, only watching?"
"Of course I was watching." He shrugged and released her hand slowly, meeting her eyes. "I'm not a fool, Katelina."
"No, I suppose not," the words were like a sigh. "He said you'd pissed off everyone here and that I should watch out. Oh, and that you're mad at him."
Jorick mused silently before he replied. "I wouldn't use the word mad. Disappointed maybe, but not mad. What else?"
"He said this was all your fault," she faltered uncertainly. What was the point in bringing it up? He'd only brush it aside or say it was unimportant. But he pressed.
"Oh, did he?"
"Yeah," she responded reluctantly. "According to him you were supposed to kill Kateesha a long time ago and didn't." She stopped short of mentioning Velnya. He probably knew what she meant, anyway.
"I see. So they're still saying that, are they?" He shook his head in disbelief. "No, it wasn't mine to do. Malick gave her a reprieve and I was overdue as it was." Sorrow passed across his face like a ghost, then disappeared as quickly as it had come, though his sadness continued to resonate in Katelina's mind. "Malick accepted her apologies. He was always soft with her. He turned her, it should be his job to destroy her, but he always finds a way out of it. Kateesha is his favorite after all. Just as blood thirsty and power hungry as he is. His prot¨¦g¨¦."
"Then who wanted her dead?" Katelina's eyes skipped past him to the glowing orb of the moon outside the dirty window. This was just another surreal moonlit moment, like so many she'd had lately.
"She broke The Laws," Jorick's voice was calm. "Back then she was an Executioner too and, though they're given a lot of leeway in distributing punishment, she and another Executioner went overboard. They wiped out an entire coven without cause. The Guild said they had to be destroyed, but she ran back to Malick, showering him with tears and excuses and pleas for forgiveness, and he heeded them. The Guild still wanted her destroyed, but my obligation was never to them. Malick promised that if I left Kateesha alone, and instead hunted down her partner, my blood debt would be paid. So, I killed her partner and went home."
Katelina had a lot of questions, but started with the one she thought he'd answer. "What is this 'blood debt'?"
"A blood debt is the debt one owes to their master as payment for being turned. Only the master chooses when it has been paid. One vampire's blood debt may be finished in a year, while others have it dangled over their heads for centuries." There was bitterness in his voice, and she suspected he had been one of the latter.
Her familiar reply slipped from her lips, "Oh." She paused thoughtfully. "Well, I don't see how it's your fault."
"It's not," he agreed. "But others would place blame where there is none. Someone must be responsible, and no one will blame the one whose fault it is-" Jorick's eyes hardened. "- Malick. He'll stay where he is, protected by his old blood and his power and no one will point a finger."
"I thought The Guild just got done attacking her? When Oren attacked, too, and it all ended badly?"
"Yes, they did. She kidnapped that human and The Guild had to do something about it, but I doubt she's marked for death because of it." Annoyance flickered in his eyes. "Oren's war is also with The Guild and, whereas I'd like to see Malick suffer, I fight only Kateesha, and only because she provoked it."
"Why?" she asked softly, recalling Loren's accusations. Jorick wasn't a coward, but Loren was right that he stubbornly refused to fight.
He sighed heavily. "Katelina, I've seen more death than you can imagine. I've fought war after war since before I became this," he held out his arms. "Haven't I earned some time for quiet? Why can I not be allowed the same peace that everyone else enjoys? Don't I deserve it?"
"I didn't mean anything." She looked away guiltily. "I just wondered."
He took her hands in his and folded them up in his warm fingers. "I know," he said softly, and waited until she looked at him again. "Did Loren say anything else?"
"What?" She asked, startled. She'd almost forgotten the reason they'd started the conversation. "Oh. No, just that I should be careful."
"He'd do well to take his own advice."
She nodded absently. "So, what were you and Jeda talking about?"
He started to dismiss her question, then thought better of it. "We were discussing the plan. And her mate."
She refrained from calling it the stupid plan and asked instead, "What about it?"
Jorick seemed reluctant. "About her role in it, and why she's here in the first place." His smile was forced. "Let's discuss it later."
Katelina wanted to argue, but she remembered his warning. Though they might not be able to read Jorick's mind, they could read hers, and anything he told her would be the same as telling them. Though, just because she understood it, didn't mean she had to like it. "What are you planning on doing with me during the fight?"
His amusement washed over her. "And what should I do with you?"
"I don't know." Her eyes dropped involuntarily to his chest. "I don't want to stay here alone, and I don't want to go either."
He sighed. "If I leave you here, there'll be no one to protect you. If I take you, you'll be in danger still." His frustration prickled around them in the cold air.
"I'm sorry for being such a burden," she whispered without looking up.
He lifted her chin and forced her to gaze into his pale face. "You're many things," he murmured, his voice thick. "But you're never a burden."
Despite the cold, she flushed as his warm eyes looked into hers and whispered of things they could be doing. "I just feel like I am. Loren said you pissed off everyone by bringing me. They all make snide remarks about how plain I am, or how you've lost your mind, or-"
He cut her off, "I don't care what they think. I didn't ask them to like you." He smiled. "Personally, I'm rather fond of you."
"Why?" she asked suddenly. Every vampire they'd met made a point of mentioning how substandard she was, how Jorick normally hated humans and how pathetic and useless she was, so why did he feel so differently about it?
"I don't hate humans," he laughed, answering her unspoken thoughts. "Patrick was human, if you recall."
She narrowed her eyes at him, irritated not only with the intrusion, but that he'd danced around the real question. "Stop it."
"Stop what? Commenting on your thoughts, or changing the subject?" He grinned.
"Both. You're always brushing my questions off, Jorick. I want an answer this time."
"Ah, little one." He drew her close to him, one hand twining in her long blonde hair. "Always so full of doubts and fears. Relax and let the ebb and flow take you where it will. Time is immaterial and unimportant. There are no answers for many of life's mysteries, and if there were they wouldn't be half as appealing as the wondering is."
She pulled back to look into his face, her eyes serious. "I don't know about that."
"I do," he said simply. "What do you want? A list of things I find appealing about you? Or do you want me to recount the moment I realized it all? Or the scene when Patrick realized it?"
Katelina caught her breath. "Patrick?"
Jorick sighed. "Yes. He wasn't pleased, to say the least. But, there was nothing that could be done about it, in either direction." He coughed lightly. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you want to hear."
"I thought you could read my mind?" she muttered. "I don't know. That list thing sounded like a good idea."
Jorick laughed softly, "Does it? Perhaps I'll write it down it for you someday." He glanced over his shoulder and through the window. The sky was just beginning to lighten in the east. "The sun will be upon us soon. Come." He took her hand and started for the stairs.
"Jorick." She stopped him, her hand still in his and her eyes searching his face. "I don't want to be here."
"Neither do I," he responded heavily. "But we are, so we should make the best of it. Now come before the sun rises and leaves you standing here with a pile of ashes."
She could tell by his face it was supposed to be a joke, but she didn't find it very amusing. "Your sense of humor needs some work," she replied. "Would you really turn to ash?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Not immediately. Loren might," he added thoughtfully. "I'd probably survive but it would take a lot of blood to recuperate." He smiled at her. "I'd rather not test it, though, if you don't mind."
She rolled her eyes and let him lead her back down into the house, his laughter rippling in the early morning air.
