She closed her eyes against the chaos.
“Pretty snazzy, huh? With some investment, your house can look this good.”
She opened her eyes reluctantly. “I don’t think Jorick would like that.”
Verchiel moved around her and stood, hands on hips, reveling in his riot of an apartment. “He just needs a nudge. Maybe I should invite him over for cocktails? A little AB positive? Perhaps a sprig of mint for flavor? I think I have glasses somewhere.”
She imagined Jorick’s furious expression at such an invitation. “That’s okay.”
“Well, now you know where I’m at, anyway. I’ve probably got enough junk in here to keep six people busy.” He prodded one of the game systems with his toe. “There’s a desktop PC and a bunch of other crap in there.” He jerked his thumb towards the smaller bedroom. “I had to get the desktop to play that RP game. I can’t think of the name. It wasn’t bad, just a little too easy. Anyway, if you get bored just drop by.”
She thought of Jorick’s outburst. “Why?”
Verchiel shrugged. “Why not? These guys are pretty boring. Everyone’s so serious or out for something. Besides, we all get along so well! I thought about suggesting we double date, but I can’t whittle it down to less than three girls, and I don’t think we’d all fit in one booth.” He broke off into laughter. “Seriously though, I dunno. I find you two amusing. What more do you want? Don’t you think it’s more fun to just go with things instead of questioning them?”
“I guess.” Whenever she’d taken that attitude before, she’d always landed in trouble.
Verchiel retrieved a plastic case and waved it towards her. “How about a game of Pong?”
It was after midnight before Verchiel convinced Katelina to go back to the first floor and he had to promise they’d stop at the sixth floor restaurant first.
The eatery had an open front, like a mall restaurant. Inside was a broad bar with stools and scattered tables. A back section was shut off from the rest and labeled “Humans Only”. Katelina tried to peer into it, but it was empty.
She and Verchiel were barely seated at a table when the redhead suddenly waved enthusiastically at someone. Katelina turned to see Sorino and his chained human pet walking towards them.
The tall vampire stopped next to the table. “Babysitting again, I see?”
“More of a social engagement. Feeding yours?” Verchiel nodded to the boy. His shaggy blonde hair hung in his face so that only the end of his nose and his chin were visible. With his white tank top, tight black pants and thick collar, he looked like a punk rocker.
“Yes. Perhaps we’ll join you.” Sorino unfastened the boy’s chain, rolled it up and slid it into his pocket. He pointed to the empty chair next to Katelina. “Sit by her, Kai.”
The boy obeyed and Sorino took the seat next to Verchiel. Katelina’s unsettled eyes were drawn to Kai’s thick scars. They covered his arms, neck and shoulders. Most of them looked old, but a few were pinker than the others. Maybe Verchiel was right and Sorino was responsible for them. Kai looked to be sixteen or seventeen, old enough to stop him if he wanted to. Or maybe he didn’t mind. All she knew was that if Jorick did that to her, she’d run as fast as she could.
Sorino turned to Verchiel. “I must apologize for cutting yesterday’s reunion short. I had business of great import.”
“No worries. You were telling me about your hunting trip to Brazil?”
“Yes, but hunting rogues is not nearly as interesting as hunting for relics. Especially ancient relics.”
Verchiel snickered. “You’re not after another legend are you? What is it this time? The Golden Fleece?”
Sorino’s eyes glowed smugly. “Hardly. This one is real, and far more accessible. I’ve known an easy way to find it for some time, but thought it best to try other methods. Now seems the perfect time to, as they say, go for the gusto.”
Verchiel leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. “You’re talking in riddles again.”
“Am I? Perhaps you’ve never heard of the Heart of the Raven, my friend?”
Katelina groaned. Not this again! On her last trip to the Citadel, it had been the main topic of conversation.
Verchiel glanced at her, then back to Sorino. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it, but it isn’t real, any more than Lilith was real. Come on, a mother of all vampires who lets her ex husband rip her heart out? Women are evil. If it was real, she’d have killed him.”
“Scoff if you like, but I’ve seen it. Malick kept it on an altar in his chambers.”
“I’ve heard this one before. Supposedly Jorick went crazy after he found out Malick ordered his wife killed and stole it from him, right?”
Katelina choked. “What?”
“Oh, they claim he took it because it’s supposed to give some amazing power to whoever drinks from it. If that was true Malick would have done it, already.”
“No,” she said quickly. “The part about Malick ordering his wife to be killed.”
“Oh, that.” Verchiel shifted uncomfortably and looked to Sorino for help. The other vampire pretended not to notice. “I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the rumor. Jorick was trying to quit so he could settle down with her, and Malick wanted him here.”
Katelina’s insides turned cold. “She was burned alive by humans for witchcraft! How could he control that?”
“Slip a vampire or one of his humans in among them, to stir things up? I don’t know. I’m just telling you what they say. There’s always ridiculous gossip flying around, like the crap over the heart.”
The waitress interrupted to offer them menus. Verchiel ordered two pints of blood for himself and his friend while Katelina chose roast beef and vegetables. Sorino ordered a sandwich and fries for Kai, then waited until the woman disappeared before he continued.
“As I was saying, I’m not the only one looking for it. Traven has been seeking it since it went missing. One would assume he’d have had inside information, being Jorick’s brother-in-law, but after the incident with his wife, Jorick cut him dead.”
Katelina perked up at the familiar name. She still remembered the outburst when they’d met Traven, “Where is it? ...It disappeared at the same time you did! You can’t fool me!” She was sure that was why he’d agreed to help Oren and added the stipulation that he got to go through Malick’s chambers first; just in case the mythical heart was still there.
“I ran into him fourteen years ago in Estonia.” Sorino’s eyes touched on Kai. “And I’ve heard rumors recently. One theory has always been that Jorick gave the heart to Kateesha, but if she’d had it, she’d have won her war, not fallen to a human foe.” He glanced at Katelina from under his heavy eyelids. “From what I hear, Traven and the Carvelho sisters have sent messages to the fragments of Kateesha’s coven, looking for who inherited her effects. It’s a waste of time. The heart is not on this continent.”
Sisters? She remembered the conversation she’d overheard at Oren’s. “I spoke with the sisters last night and they got an answer from Anya’s coven.” Was the heart the mythical weapon Kateesha was supposed to have? Was that what Kale’s mysterious messenger had been seeking, and what Traven’s friend was going to Kentucky in search of?
Verchiel yawned. “If Jorick stole it, then it would be here. He hasn’t been out of the country.”
“That’s why he had someone else hide it. One of his fledglings, perhaps?”
Katelina snapped to attention. One of, as in more than one? If Jorick had fledglings besides Oren, he’d never mentioned it to her.
Verchiel rolled his eyes. “I don’t think so, Sorino. And if you’re hoping Kately knows anything, you’re out of luck.”
Sorino’s gaze swung to her, probing and fierce. “Why? Have you asked her?”
She shook her head quickly. “Jorick says it isn’t real.”
“No matter. I will find it.” Sorino’s false smile lacked warmth. “It’s interesting to see Jorick with a human, though. I’d like to hear that st
ory.”
With an eerie precision, Verchiel related the tale, including the war with Claudius, Patrick’s accidental involvement, and her subsequent immersion into a world of darkness. When he’d finished, he grinned. “I did research when Malick sent me to bring you guys in. Everyone loves gossip, and you two are a hot item.”
She wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or creeped out. “Oh, thanks.”
Verchiel nodded to Kai. “Since I told you where she came from, where did you get yours? Estonia?”
The waitress brought their meal. When she left, Sorino said, “Yes. I’ve already revealed my reasons for being there. My efforts were futile, but I heard of a group of rogues that were rampaging in the north. Intending to make the trip worthwhile, I tracked them for two nights before I came on the wreckage of a house. Among the ruins I found a babe of perhaps three years. Though he was mangled, he was not beyond saving, and I thought perhaps a human would be an entertaining diversion for awhile.”
Katelina bristled at his casual attitude. He acted as though people were hamsters! “Diversion?” She stabbed a carrot forcefully. “So you keep him on a chain? He’s not a dog!”
Sorino looked amused. “Only in public. It keeps him from wandering away. It isn’t as though it causes him any discomfort, does it, Kai?”
The boy shook his head and his hair flapped out of his face long enough to reveal a single green eye.
“You must forgive his silence. He’s shy around strangers.”
Verchiel sipped his blood and winked at her. “Best to stay out of other people’s social arrangements, Kately. Now, eat up before it gets cold.”
When the meal was finished, they left Sorino. The slender vampire sniffed and bid her a good evening, though Katelina suspected he’d rather pick apart her brain for information about his relic.
Verchiel led her into the elevator. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know he was fired up about ‘the heart’.” He cast a sideways glance at her. “You’ve heard of it before?”
“Yeah. The last time we were here, Beldren and Jamie both went on about it. Jorick said it was a stupid legend.”
Verchiel grinned. “See? I knew I liked him for a reason. I’ll give Sorino two points. One: Malick might have someone’s heart locked up for fun. Two: Malick is into all that mystical beings stuff. A lot of vampires are. I guess they’re looking for some hidden meaning behind it all. There isn’t one as far as I’m concerned.”
“You sound like an atheist.”
“I don’t know what I am. I just don’t believe in Lilith and what’s-his-name, and I don’t believe in Satan. No one needs a devil to make them do bad things; they do it on their own.” He stepped into the first floor corridor and changed the subject. “You wanted to go shopping for Jorick?”
Katelina was back in the new apartment when Jorick returned. She’d intended to show him her purchases, including a TV, and mention the conversation with Sorino, but he wasn’t alone.
Jamie followed him into the room, continuing a conversation they were in the middle of, “You don’t know that he’s responsible.”
Jorick stopped next to the couch and spun around. “You heard her thoughts as well as I did! You saw her mark! How can there be any doubt?”
Katelina listened curiously, but didn’t interrupt.
Jamie held up a pacifying hand. “She’ll be put to trial tomorrow. We’ll have the whole story then.”
“I don’t need to hear it, I already know!” He ran an aggravated hand through his hair and stopped suddenly, his eyes on Katelina. “Enough. It’s a conversation for another day.”
Jamie nodded respectfully. “As you wish.” He glanced to Katelina. “Have a pleasant night.”
She gave him a stiff nod. Though he hadn’t been directly cruel to her, she couldn’t forget his role as driver of the SUV and the escort to the farce of a trial.
In answer to her thoughts he said, “One must do as ordered.” He gave Jorick a significant look. “Tomorrow.” Then he let himself out.
The door barely shut when she stood and demanded to know what was going on.
Jorick sighed and dropped to the couch. “It doesn’t concern you, little one. It’s boring Guild business.” He patted the couch next to him. “Come.”
“If it concerns you, then it concerns me. I know you think you’re shielding me, but I don’t want to be shielded. I don’t need to be protected like Velnya was.”
He asked coldly, “Did it occur to you that I might be protecting myself?”
She faltered. “From what?”
“From your disdain. What makes you think I want to regale you with stories of Executioners’ deeds, especially when I’m the one doing them? I know how disgusted you are with those things.”
Her anger dissipated. Deflated, she sank next to him on the couch. “I wouldn’t be disgusted with you, and even if I was, why would you care?”
He ran frustrated fingers through his hair. “You’re just fishing for a compliment.”
“I’m not fishing for a compliment, but some affirmation. For the last three days it’s been nothing but bitching and nagging! I feel like I’m dating a woman!”
His brows arched. “Perhaps I need to remind you which of us is the woman.”
She smacked him in the shoulder. “Stop trying to change the subject! You’re always doing that, but I’m not-” His lips sealed over hers and cut off the rest of her sentence. She struggled against him, determined to find out what was going on. Then she slowly surrendered.
His mouth tasted coppery. His hot tongue danced around her lips and trailed down her neck. She moaned softly as he peeled away her shirt and leaned her back on the couch. The vinyl was cool against her skin. His hands were warm as they moved down her sides and hovered over her stomach.
She wavered between arguing and giving in completely. His caresses decided for her, and she tugged his shirt over his head. She skimmed the smooth surface of his well muscled chest. His skin was like polished marble, only warm. The texture was somehow erotic.
He leaned down and brushed his lips over her collar bone, then nipped at her playfully. She eagerly anticipated his bite, and tried to press herself into his mouth, but he shifted his lips to the exposed portions of her breasts. Her hands fisted in his dark hair as he lifted her bra and traced her wanting nipples with the tip of his tongue, tasting her.
“Jorick,” she called softly, though she wasn’t sure what she wanted. Different desires coursed through her, warring and tangling with one another until her insides were a mass of seething need.
“Shhhh,” he murmured against her skin. He dropped his hands to her waist and unfastened her jeans. He tugged them down so that he could slip his hand inside, seeking the warmth between her thighs.
She moaned in appreciation, but she still wanted more. She wanted him - all of him. She wanted his body and his blood; she wanted him coursing and thrusting inside her while she drowned in the pleasure.
He lifted himself to strip her jeans away completely. She grabbed him and rolled him off the couch and he landed on the floor, a look of surprise on his face. She made no effort to explain herself as she attacked the button of his jeans.
He caught her shoulders and tried to calm her, but she shrugged his hands away and jerked his pants open, freeing him. She gripped his swollen erection in her hand and smiled as he groaned and relaxed against the carpet. She stroked him and he cupped her firm breasts and massaged them with increasing pressure.
She pulled away from him to shed her clothing, so that she was naked from the waist down. He tried to pull his pants off the rest of the way, but she impatiently pinned him to the floor and lowered herself over his aching hardness with a satisfied moan. She could feel him, rock hard and pulsing inside her. Hands on his chest, his heart raced under her flat palms. He grasped her hips and guided her movements in time to the beat.
His lips pulled back from his gleaming teeth and his dark eyes locked with hers. Primitive desires stirred in their depths; a bu
rning hunger for something more. Her hands moved to his shoulders and she dug in until her nails cut the skin. A spot of scarlet blood blossomed around her finger and she brought it to her lips thoughtlessly. It was so small a taste. So tiny. Not enough.
She bent to him and frantically ran her tongue over the spot where his shoulder connected to his chest. His murmurs tickled her ear and his hand drifted to the back of her neck. Then, she bit him. Not hard enough to make him bleed, but enough to make him moan. The feel of his flesh between her teeth excited her; the smooth texture, the salty flavor of his skin. Salty like his blood, like the tiny dot on her tongue, like the memories that fueled her desire.
She bit him again, harder this time. He cried out, and tried to pull her lips to his mouth. She fought to stay where she was and clutched him until her fingernails cut into his ribs. He was stronger than she was and he rolled over, separating them except for her clinging teeth. She clawed at him, trying to make him roll over, but he pulled free and pinned her to the floor.
She gazed up into his face and recognized the expression. It was similar to one she’d seen the other day, though not on him. The realization shocked her back to herself for the few seconds it took him to bite into her left shoulder, above the lumpy scars. The familiar sensations wrapped around her, only stronger and more intense; more urgent than usual. She stopped struggling and sought his naked shoulder with her mouth. Her teeth ground through his skin until the salty, spicy flavor erupted on her tongue.
She could hear him moaning, feel him biting her harder, feel his hips moving uselessly as he ground himself into her leg. It all seemed to be happening outside of herself, in an alternate reality. The only thing that was real was the pulsing heat flowing through her and around her, the flashing colors and the steadily building desire for “more”.
Amaranthine Special Edition Vol II Page 55