Masque of the Vampire (Amaranthine Book 8)

by Joleene Naylor

  Katelina nodded and scooped up the surprisingly light luggage. “Get the door, would you?” Xandria hurried to obey and Katelina waddled through, her arms full of precariously balanced bags, boxes, and suitcases. “Wonder what he’s stressed out about.”

  “I don’t know. You want some help with those?”

  The men waited in the welcome room. “Arrangements have been made,” Jorick said stiffly.

  “Good. Unless someone’s bringing a Sherpa, it’s time you helped.” She dropped half of the luggage in front of him. “You can throw tantrums later.”

  Jorick growled but grabbed the suitcases and marched up the stairs. Katelina followed. The farmer in the seed office checked their IDs and informed them the rental car was outside.

  “Rental car?” Katelina asked.

  “I rented it from The Guild,” Jorick replied irritably. “Ours is still in Maine, if you’ll recall.”

  The four-door looked inconspicuous, and the trunk was inadequate for the luggage. Micah threw his bag on top of the mound. With a snarl of impatience, he compressed the belongings until he could slam the trunk.

  “You probably broke everything,” Katelina cried.

  “You do it next time.” He turned to Jorick, his hand out. “Keys.”

  Jorick walked purposefully around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be? Fine. Fuck you, too.” Micah jerked the back door open and flung himself inside. He kicked the passenger seat. “Move this fucking thing up.”

  With a smile at Xandria, Loren slid into the middle and let her have the window. Katelina expected her to send a pleading look for salvation, but the woman stuffed herself next to him.

  Jorick fired up the car and peeled out of the driveway in a spray of gravel. Katelina glanced back at the looming grain elevators. Lit with orangey flood lights, they stood bright against the backdrop of stars and night. As they grew smaller, she said a silent prayer of thankfulness. They’d finally escaped.

  She waited until Loren and Xandria fell into a conversation about TV before she looked to Jorick. “I think you guys hurt Verchiel’s feelings.” Jorick didn’t reply and she pressed, “He’s right. He’s been friendly and you’ve been hard on him.”

  Jorick made an incredulous noise. “Friendly? Have you forgotten he got me arrested by the police in your home town? That he befriended you at The Guild, and spent time with you, on Malick’s orders, then lied about it? That he attacked you and drank your blood—”

  “That was a misunderstanding,” Katelina said quickly. “He was starving and didn’t know it was me.”

  “Of course not. I’m sure he gives all of his victims euphoria!”

  Katelina looked at him blankly and Jorick growled. “You’ve been bitten enough, Katelina. You know the vampire controls the sensations their prey feels.” She shrugged and he punched the dashboard with enough force to crack it. “Damn it, Katelina. I know what happened. Why else would you have bitten him back?”

  Katelina’s cheeks flushed and she looked away. “It isn’t like that.”

  “No, of course not.” Jorick took a deep breath and held it. “It doesn’t matter. We’re free of The Guild, and free of him.”

  “Good riddance,” Micah muttered from the back.

  Katelina readied to argue and Jorick demanded, “Do you care for him so much that you’d continue to defend him, even when the discussion is over?”

  “Yeah, can it, Lunch,” Micah added.

  Jorick half turned in the seat. “I don’t need your input.”

  Katelina grabbed the wheel and jerked them away from the ditch. “Maybe not, but you need to watch the road.”

  He wisely kept his reply to himself.

  It was some hours later when they stopped at a gas station so Xandria could pee and get a soda. Katelina studied the giant map full of pushpins and a bright orange “You Are Here” sticker.

  “Why are we going to St. Louis?”

  Jorick leaned casually against the wall. “We’re not. We’re going to Kentucky.”

  “My mother doesn’t live in Kentucky.”

  “No, Oren does. Your mother’s house is more than ten hours from The Guild. There isn’t enough night to make the full trip, so we need a place to sleep. By adding four extra hours to the journey we can do that—for free—and get rid of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb.”

  Katelina settled next to him. “I doubt it. Micah seems pretty determined.”

  Jorick cast a sideways glance at her. “You didn’t help much. It doesn’t matter. At the very least they can find their own transportation. If I remember correctly, Micah owns a car, and I know Loren does.”

  Katelina picked at invisible lint. “But their cars aren’t in Kentucky, are they?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” He straightened. “Speaking of possessions, your human is coming.”

  Katelina didn’t bother correcting him.

  Even after they bought a map, it was nearly dawn when they located Oren’s new den. The house was two stories of chipped brick, with sagging shutters, surrounded by a sea of dead weeds. Spring greens peeped between the old vegetation and budding trees waved in the early morning breeze. Wisps of an old curtain waved through a broken window, like the beckoning hands of a ghost.

  “This place is creepy,” Xandria muttered as they climbed out.

  “Only if you’re a pussy,” Micah replied. “Or a chick, I guess.”

  They crunched through the yard and around a pile of old trash to the back porch. The steps were gone, but the cement slab seemed solid enough. Jorick didn’t knock, only shoved the protesting door open.

  Inside was a kitchen. Old appliances were coated in layers of dirt and rust. A countertop was heaped in dead leaves and spider webs. Old spray paint screamed the word “death” in fading red.

  Oren leaned through the doorway and motioned them on. A chandelier with most of the crystals missing gave Katelina the impression of a dining room.

  “You found us,” Oren said.

  Jorick cocked an eyebrow and surveyed the blackened, half collapsed fireplace. “I only needed to look for the most dilapidated house in the county. It seems you appreciate a certain atmosphere.”

  Oren scoffed. “Abandoned houses are more convenient for temporary dens. When you have to displace the current owners, there’s the risk someone will notice and call the human police.”

  Katelina thought of another brick house they’d once set up in; one that still smelled like an old lady. “Like that’s ever stopped a vampire.”

  Micah kicked a couple of the blackened bricks. “I took my place from an old geezer. He was an ass-hat no one liked, so when he disappeared and I showed up, sayin’ he’d died and left the place to me, no one cared enough to look into it.”

  “That takes research,” Oren said. “There was little time for that.”

  Loren’s shoulders sagged. “There’s time now, right? There has to be some old lady no one cares about?”

  Katelina gaped and Micah slapped the teen on the back. “Don’t worry. We’re only stayin’ the day.”

  Oren lifted his brows and Jorick coughed. Katelina could almost feel the silent conversation pass between them. Though she couldn’t hear it, she imagined it went something like Oren saying, “Oh?” And Jorick’s reply of, “He thinks he’s going with us, but…”

  Footsteps sounded on creaking floors and Torina stepped into the room. Her long red hair fell in perfect waves around her shoulders, and her ample cleavage swelled over a low cut bodice. The skirt ended just above the knee, and hugged her hips.

  “Jorick,” she purred. Then her tone turned sarcastic, “Welcome to another edition of abandoned houses.”

  Oren growled. “Baltheir is procuring a more permanent den, I told you—”

  Katelina cut him off rather than listen to their argument. “Why don’t you go back to Virginia? You still own the land there, right?”

  All eyes turned to her as if she’d drop
ped down the chimney. Oren’s tone turned icy. “Yes. However, The Guild knows where it is, and I’d rather they don’t know my location.”

  She started to say they’d track him down eventually, but a look from Jorick asked her to drop it.

  “We can catch up later,” he said. “It’s nearly dawn.”

  Oren led them back to the kitchen, through a trap door, and down a narrow flight of stairs. Xandria gasped and clutched the back of Katelina’s shirt, her steps halting. Katelina suddenly realized there was no light. Xandria couldn’t see.

  Not that she was missing much. The cellar was one room with a dirt floor and crumbling brick walls. Etsuko stopped from spreading out a pair of blankets to bow a greeting, then excused herself to finish Oren’s bedding.

  “I will also lay out a bed for Jorick-sama and Katelina-san.”

  Torina picked casually at her manicured nails. “You can do mine as well.”

  Oren made a low, irritated sound. “Do it yourself. I’m tired of you taking advantage of Etsuko’s good nature. She isn’t your slave.”

  “Of course not,” Torina replied caustically. “You refuse to share. Never mind. I’ll find my own place to sleep.”

  Torina nearly bowled Xandria over on her way up the stairs. The trap door slammed. Loren started after her, but Oren laid a hand to his arm. “There’s a windowless room. She’s thrown this fit before.”

  Loren shrugged and Etsuko quietly spread out another blanket a few feet from the first. She layered on a second, then bowed low. “I apologize that I have only these blankets. Tomorrow we will purchase more.”

  “It’s fine,” Katelina assured her. “Thank you.”

  “Katelina-san is welcome.”

  With Etsuko’s expectant eyes trained on her, Katelina hurried to detach herself from Xandria, and laid down to show her how “fine” it was. The ground was lumpy, but the blankets smelled new.

  Jorick stretched out beside her as Etsuko handed a pair of thinner blankets to Micah and Loren. The teen cheerfully spread his out, then helped Xandria lay down on it. The woman’s grasping, reaching fingers were another reminder of her blindness. A shard of guilt stabbed Katelina. She should have made sure there was light for her. How could she forget something that important so soon?

  Oren took his bed. Katelina noted he had four blankets under him, compared to their two. Etsuko bowed to him and made to lie on the floor. With a low grumbling noise, he scooted over and motioned her to take the other half. Etsuko bowed again, then carefully stretched out. Oren caught Katelina’s curious eyes and glared at her until she looked away.

  Though the two weren't touching, their proximity was interesting. Katelina wondered if it had happened before, especially when Torina was skulking upstairs, and, if they were alone, what else had happened.

  The thought was too much. She snuggled against Jorick and tried to wash the images from her brain.

  Chapter Five

  Katelina woke first the next evening. She watched a spider spin webs in the rafters and wondered how many bugs it took to keep it alive. One a day? One a week? She didn’t know much about arachnid biology, just as she knew almost nothing about vampires’.

  Jorick woke and the others followed. Katelina marveled that, despite the lumpy bed, she wasn’t sore, achy, or stiff. It was another perk of vampirism.

  Xandria bounced urgently, and Katelina realized she needed to go. She excused herself to lead the woman upstairs. The smell of her blood made Katelina’s stomach tighten. She thought about taking a nibble, but quickly dismissed the idea.

  Outside, the sun was down and stars popped out in a clear spring sky. Xandria hurried to crouch down behind a clump of dead vegetation while Katelina stood sentinel-like a few feet away. The smell of Xandria’s urine wafted on the breeze and quieted her hunger. No wonder Jorick called them disgusting human bodily functions.

  Jorick and Oren passed her with a little half wave. She tried not to be impatient as Xandria finished and utilized the toiletry items from her messenger bag. When she was done, they followed the men toward a grove of trees and underbrush. At the edge of the thicket, Katelina could hear the vampires’ voices. A few more steps and she could make out their words.

  Oren’s tone was practiced patience. “I know you don’t want Micah around, but he is her legal master. Even you can’t expect to circumvent that law.”

  Xandria shot her a questioning look as they drew to a stop. Katelina realized the woman couldn’t hear the men with her human ears, but they couldn’t risk moving closer. She shushed her and focused on the conversation. She’d missed Jorick’s answer and caught only a portion of Oren’s reply.

  “…You’re worried the blood was what tied her to you and now she’ll only be attached to Micah?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know.” Jorick broke off with an aggravated sigh.

  What in the hell?

  Oren scoffed. “At least you don’t have to worry about the idiot anymore. If Micah’s blood severed your link, it certainly obliterated the small one he had.”

  “Except it doesn’t work that way. The link was formed while she was still human. Turning doesn’t erase emotional bonds.”

  Link? Did he mean the fondness she was supposed to feel for Verchiel since that blood-drinking incident?

  Oren sounded smug. “Then you’ve answered your own question. If her bond with the idiot remains, so does yours.”

  “But what if the blood is the reason she thinks she loves me?”

  Katelina caught her breath. How could he even contemplate that?

  Oren was equally impatient. “She thought she loved you before you gave her blood, didn’t she?” A moment of silence, then, “Didn’t she?”

  “Not exactly…There was an incident, before we were…officially introduced.”

  What?

  The vampires’ footsteps stopped and Oren demanded, “What are you talking about?”

  “When she was with Patrick. She was hurt. I gave her some blood and erased her memory.”

  Katelina clutched a tree. Was he serious?

  Oren coughed uncomfortably. “Then why did you refuse to give her blood when she was injured at Claudius’?”

  “I gave it to her, before you got downstairs. Her brain was hemorrhaging, and she’d lost too much blood. If I hadn’t she’d have died.”

  At least she remembered Jorick telling her about it. She’d freaked out at first, but now…

  Jorick went on. “I didn’t completely heal her because I didn’t want to give her too much until I was sure of her feelings. I wanted to avoid this problem in the future.”

  Oren made an aggravated noise. “That’s why you refused to turn her?”

  “Yes. I’d have never known if she loved me as a man or as her master.”

  “Yet you’re torturing yourself with it, anyway. What difference does it make? You love her, and she loves you. Be glad it’s worked out and let it go.”

  Jorick scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say. Etsuko was devoted to you the moment she saw you.”

  “Dazzled is a more appropriate word,” Oren muttered uncomfortably.

  “She loves you.”

  Love? Really?

  “She thinks she does,” Oren said. “Love is ninety percent convincing oneself of the feeling. There’s no storybook romance, Jorick. I’m surprised after all these years you’re actually looking for it.”

  Jorick’s reply was sharp, “How do you know there isn’t? Because you’ve never experienced it?”

  Oren asked what Katelina was thinking, “What’s gotten into you, Jorick?”

  “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know. Never mind.”

  “You’re really afraid of losing her, aren’t you? I’ve taken your jealousy and obsession as a bit of a joke, but I had no idea how serious you were. I’d ask why, but…”

  “I had forgotten I was alive.” Jorick’s voice was raw. “I said I died with Velnya, but it was before that. Malick accused me of being cold and he was right. Even Velnya could no
t warm me. Then, watching Katelina, I don’t know. There was something about her, something childlike and trusting, even as she was clearly a woman. One moment she needed to be protected and the next she needed someone to hold her back. The mixture was at first fascinating then intoxicating and I…I’d forgotten what it was like to crave someone. I know you don’t want to hear it, but your sister and I…in our encounters there was only a quick heat then coldness again. With Katelina, I wanted her in every way there is to want someone. I wanted her body. I wanted her blood. I wanted her soul.”

  Oren cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Erm, yes. Well, you have her, she has you. Quit looking for phantoms and enjoy it. Isn’t that what you said to me?”

  At Jorick’s words, the heat rose in Katelina’s cheeks and she couldn’t stop the silly smile. That was the sort of speech most women waited a lifetime for and never heard. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and…

  The vampires’ footsteps resumed, headed their way. She pulled herself from her reverie, grabbed Xandria, and started down the path as though they’d just arrived.

  The men came into view. Katelina caught a flash of Jorick’s grim expression before it melted into a smile. “I thought you’d gotten lost. Have you fed yet?” He stopped in front of her. “Never mind. I can tell you haven’t.”

  “She probably needs help,” Oren muttered.

  “I can find something for you,” Jorick suggested. He nodded to a squirrel hopping among the tree branches. The creature went still, held by his will. “Can you reach it?”

  Oren scoffed. “You’ll have to get it down for her.”

  His attitude deflated her happiness. “I can catch something myself, thank you.”

  “Can you?” Jorick chuckled. “In that case.” The squirrel sprang to life. With a shake of its head and an angry chitter, it took off.

  “You don’t have to act like I’m less than you,” she snapped.

  “Not less, only new and unpracticed. Never mind. Don’t let us detain you.” Jorick gave her a wink. “When you’re finished we’ll leave.”