The door opened to reveal Fleur, her cell phone pressed to her ear. “Right. Right. It looks the same.” She glanced to Katelina and scowled. “Hang on, I’m still looking for somewhere private…No. I really don’t think…Just hang on.”
She slid back out the door, but Katelina had heard enough. She thought about the red dotted map the news had shown. How many kids were on it? Could their murderer really be a vampire, and one of the guests? If the bodies were on Andrei’s private property then it had to be. No human would have been there, and since the children in the park were from the mainland, it had to be someone who’d also come from the mainland, not someone who lived there. But who?
She understood that vampires had no qualms about murdering humans, but children? Surely that taboo carried over, otherwise Annabelle wouldn’t have made the comment that none of her coven would do such a thing. That meant they were dealing with a vampire who thought they were above social norms and the rest of their society.
Like that helped narrow it down.
She threw herself into the chair and chewed her lip. Her new fangs were sharp and she tasted blood.
“Fucking vampire shit!”
The door opened again. This time it was Jorick and Jamie, Andrei on their heels. Like Fleur, Jamie was on the phone.
“You’ll have to send someone. We’re stretched thin as it is.”
Jorick took a seat in the chair closest to Katelina. She caught his attention and asked, “The Guild is going to investigate?”
Jorick nodded. “Canada got the incident they wished for and Eileifr has no intention of letting it turn into a debacle.”
“I didn’t think they’d care. The High Council probably has kids for breakfast all the time.”
Jorick frowned at her angry tone. “They care because the killer’s made headlines. What would happen if he’s arrested?”
“They’d rescue him,” Katelina said bitterly. “And probably kill any of the police officers who’d seen him.”
“They’d more likely wipe their minds, but yes, they’d rescue him. Now imagine the heyday Canada’s pro-independence group would have. They’d use it as proof that the United States can’t keep a handle on things.”
“Maybe they can’t. I don’t understand why you care so damn much. Let Canada have their own Guild.”
“It’s Munich that cares. They want to keep things consolidated. The fewer Guilds, the fewer councils to rise up and challenge them.”
“Who cares what they think?”
“If Eileifr is determined unequal to the task of leading the Council, the Höher Rat can dismiss him and appoint Heng, Obi, or Celandine, or they can send someone new. Losing Canada goes a long way toward showing incompetence.”
“I guess. But if Canada thinks they can do better, why didn’t they catch the killer sooner?” If they’d figured out it was vampire related back when there were only a couple of red dots on that map…
“There wasn’t any proof until now, and technically there still isn’t. The Assembly is sending an investigative examiner to look over the bodies, and The Guild will send someone. Probably Ark.”
She thought about the head Executioner. “He’s an ass.”
“Yes, but he’s intelligent and focused.” Jorick patted her knee. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
Tell that to the kids’ families.
The children’s bodies were taken to the freezers to wait for the Canadian Examiner who might not arrive for a couple of days. “He’s busy,” was Fleur’s explanation.
After lunch, Katelina followed Jorick and Jamie to the library where Sarah joined them. The two women brainstormed over the details of the murders and Jorick asked, “What happened to your phantom stalker?”
Sarah looked thoughtful. “You think they’re related?”
“No,” Jorick said. “But if you want to play Sherlock Holmes, you should stick to that and let Ark handle this.”
“Yes,” Jamie agreed without looking up from his laptop. “Someone should keep an eye on whoever plans to kill Jorick. He isn’t interested and I don’t have time.”
“You’re just saying that,” Sarah accused, though her voice lacked conviction. “It’s a ploy to keep us focused on something minor.”
Jamie shook his head. “No, I believe someone hunting Jorick while he sleeps is important, especially given this new development. However, if you think it’s minor…”
“Of course not,” Sarah snapped.
“All right then. We’ll leave you to handle that, and Jorick and I—” he gave his partner a meaningful look. “Will concentrate on this.”
“There isn’t much to concentrate on,” Jorick said cheerfully. “Ark will handle it when he gets here.”
“In a couple of days.” Jamie scribbled a note in a pad and looked up. “I think we should start the questioning. Ark will appreciate the head start.”
Katelina didn’t give a damn what Ark appreciated, but Sarah shushed her objections. “We might be able to find out something about the stalker.” Katelina bit her tongue to keep from saying she’d already solved it.
It’s the creepy, wind walking twins.
The Executioners set up in the library. Sarah and Katelina took chairs behind them. Andrei and Fleur stood next to the desk, both unreadable.
Jamie shuffled through sheets of hand written notes. “The Heartless killings, as the human media’s dubbed them, started several months ago in Ontario. There’s speculation that they began earlier in Saskatchewan or Alberta, though they couldn’t prove a link.”
“I’d think a missing heart would be a pretty obvious connection,” Jorick commented.
“The hearts weren’t missing in all of the earlier cases.” Jamie clicked through several screens on his laptop. “There are a lot of unsolved child murders and disappearances, and some involve varying degrees of mutilation. There’s no way to link them to this, or know exactly when the offending vampire might have moved into the area.”
“If the killings have been going on for months, then we know it has to be someone who’s been in Canada all that time,” Katelina said. “Just check The Guild’s database.”
“A fine idea,” Andrei replied coldly. “Assuming the United States keeps a close eye on Canada.”
“They don’t,” Fleur added.
“It’s the Assembly’s job to keep tabs on locals,” Jamie said sharply.
Fleur scoffed. “We’d like to, but, our manpower and resources are minimal. It’s a moot point. If any of the guests were registered in Canada you’d have pounced already.”
“Actually, there are two,” Jorick said. “Aside from Andrei’s coven.”
Andrei’s chin rose a notch. “I can vouch for my own.”
“I’m sure you can,” Jamie said. “But we still need to ask them some questions.”
“So you’ll want to interview my coven and the two guests from Canada?”
“We’ll need to talk to everyone,” Jamie replied.
Katelina and Sarah exchanged looks.
Andrei’s frown deepened. “Is that really necessary?”
Jamie nodded. “As you said, The Guild keeps very loose track of who is, and isn’t, in Canada. Any one of them could have been here for months, not to mention you’ve hired some Canadian vendors. It could as easily be an entertainer as a guest.”
The staff. Though Katelina was technically a member of it, and had all of her meals in the smaller “staff dining room”, she hadn’t considered them as possibilities.
Andrei’s irritation doubled. “Since this is my den, I demand to be present for your interrogations.”
Both Executioners scowled. Jamie looked ready to refuse, then his face smoothed. “Fine. But if I suspect you’re imparting answers to anyone, you’ll have to leave.”
Andrei sniffed disdainfully. “In that case, I insist the interrogations are spoken, and not purely mind reading.”
“Obviously,” Fleur said. “Otherwise I can’t keep up.”
They
interviewed the members of Andrei’s coven first, brought in one at a time by Cornelius. When they questioned Kolli, the blond looked confused. “What you mean is did I kidnap children from somewhere and dump their bodies in the weeds? Why don’t you read my mind and see I didn’t?”
The Executioners exchanged looks, then did as he requested.
Jamie scribbled a few notes on a pad of paper and dismissed their suspect.
Fleur scowled and Sarah whispered, “If they do that with all of them, we won’t learn anything.”
“Can’t you do it?” Katelina murmured back.
Sarah looked at her like she was crazy. “I can’t keep up. When they announced he was innocent, I’d barely gotten past his conversation with Trivila about the bodies. I don’t know how they see so much so fast.”
Katelina hadn’t realized there was a difference in the ability, past being able to get around tougher resistance. “Maybe they’re more focused, like using better keywords in a search engine.” Vampire Google. The idea made her chuckle.
They zoomed through the remaining coven members. Sarah doodled absently on her notepad, and Katelina tried to keep track of the names and faces. As Andrei promised, all of his coven members had alibis for the last year, and all denied having been in Ontario or Quebec.
“We’ll need to see Annabelle, too,” Jamie said.
Andrei scoffed. “Surely she is above suspicion? She helped locate the body.”
“No one is above suspicion,” Jamie answered irritably. “Besides, she may have seen or heard something.”
“Perhaps. But I insist you delay her questioning. Uncovering such a…scene today has upset her. She’s retired to her room.”
“Fine.” Jamie made a note and glanced to the waiting Cornelius. “Lets’ start on the Canadian staff.”
There were two troupes from Canada and a set of caterers. One after another had no information, weren’t on Jamie’s list of wind walkers and phantoms, and could account for their whereabouts for the last year.
“We aren’t getting anywhere,” Katelina murmured to Sarah.
“Neither are they,” her friend replied.
“Patience,” Jamie said. “Or perhaps—” he broke off at a look from Jorick. “Never mind.”
“He was going to suggest we leave,” Sarah whispered. “But I imagine your boyfriend told him not to. What better way to make sure you’re safe than to keep you under his watchful eye?”
Jamie gave them a hard look then turned to Cornelius. “Bring the Canadian guests next.”
The guard saluted, then hurried away. He returned with a vampire whose dirty-blonde hair was full of gel. His years hung around him like a mantle. His brown eyes swept the room. When they landed on Katelina she fell into them a moment before he moved his attention elsewhere, leaving her with goose bumps.
Great.
He called himself Jome, and admitted to living in Saskatchewan with a coven that included fellow guest Yuki. “Neither we, nor our coven mates have ventured to Ontario to feed in a long time.”
Jamie asked, “Have you seen or heard anything suspicious or do you know of anyone who’s left the premises?”
“Several of us have come and gone. I myself went for a walk with a lady last night. Möngkedai was gone overnight, or rather over-day, the day before yesterday. He said he needed cigarettes. Though we assured him there were plenty here, he insisted on going.”
Möngkedai. He was on Jamie’s list. The day before yesterday was when it snowed. If he’d been gone he couldn’t have been standing at their door, and she was sure someone had been that day.
Sarah seemed to be thinking the same thing when she scribbled down, “Monk guy has an alibi”.
“Grayson’s young stud has disappeared a few times,” Jome went on. “The one with the damaged brother…I’ve barely seen her. Grimald disappeared three days ago for several hours, but I believe Petta could tell you what he was doing. Saul was gone for most of the night, shortly after the party started. If rumor is true he consulted a lawyer over a payment to Sorino.”
Jome went on. Hopper disappeared the other evening, but he thought it more likely he was meeting someone for some private time. Demetrious and Diana were hard to pin down, while Eagan, Jamie’s former master, acted suspicious on several occasions. Kali, Tol, and Ren nipped out to their rented camper a few times. Zarra never joined in the activities so she could be sneaking away, and on and on it went. Jome managed to implicate nearly every guest before Jamie sent him out the door.
“Eager to draw attention away from himself,” Sarah commented.
“Or just gossipy,” Jamie sighed. “You could tell he was enjoying it.”
Though Yuki was in the same coven, she was exactly the opposite. When she was dismissed she’d said only a handful of words, none of them useful.
“That finishes the Canadians.” Jamie rubbed his forehead. “On to the rest of the guests.”
Cornelius brought Sorino and Kai. The vampire left the teen at the door and took a seat.
“Sorino, fledgling of Percy, 1536.” He gave them a smug smile. “I can recount my movements for the last year. The three months the killer was most active I was with Jorick overseas. This is my first visit to Canada in some time. As to your next question, have I noticed anything out of the ordinary, I would say yes. Urian and Taylor had quite a fight the other evening and Urian accused the younger vampire of sneaking to town to meet with someone else.”
Katelina remembered the fight over Grayson, but before she could comment Jorick asked, “Are they lovers?”
“No. Taylor and Grayson are. Urian is Grayson’s ex, however they still share a coven. I imagine spending time with them is as interesting as traveling with you, Jorick.”
Jamie made a note. “Anything else?”
Sorino gave a pointed yawn. “Not that pertains to this, but you may be interested to know William and Acwellen have been cooking something up.”
Katelina and Sarah turned to one another. They were both on Jamie’s list, and Jorick admitted they had issues with him. Not to mention Katelina remembered seeing them alone in a boat, away from everyone else.
A slow smile spread over Sorino’s lips. “I’m glad you took my meaning. If there’s nothing else?”
Jamie sent for the “young stud” Taylor. When pressed, he admitted he’d spoken to William, but not romantically. “I think he was feeling me out so he could recruit me for something. I made it clear I didn’t want involved and he quit talking to me. End of story.”
Again, William was up to something. Maybe the death of an Executioner. He and Acwellen passed the twins to take top place on Katelina’s stalker list.
She waited impatiently while both Urian and Grayson were interviewed, then tensed when Jamie called for William.
The vampire who came through the door had the smooth unlined face of a man in his early twenties, with vivid green eyes and shoulder length black hair. In another setting she’d have found him good looking.
He took his seat and gave Jorick a nasty look. “Hoping for the go-ahead to butcher some more of us?”
Katelina nudged Sarah. Exhibit A: He still resented Jorick.
Jamie cleared his throat and William’s gaze swiveled to him. “You know who he is, don’t you? The Hand of Death, leaping at orders of massacre without a second thought.”
“You broke the law,” Jorick said disinterestedly.
“No, we didn’t, but we didn’t have friends among the Council like McKenzie’s coven.”
Jorick shrugged. “It had more to do with an illegal attack than with friends on the Council.”
“It was perfectly legal. They were in our territory and they’d taken hostages.”
“Enough!” Jamie snapped. “We aren’t here to rehash old wars.”
“Old illegal wars,” Jorick commented with a barely hidden smirk.
Jamie gave him a warning look. “Please state you name, master, and approximate fledgling date.”
“William. My master is H
enry, deceased.” He gave Jorick a hard look. “December, the year of our Lord 1222.”
“Can you account for your whereabouts in the last year?”
“I could, but I see no reason to.” He glared at Jorick again.
Jamie straightened and grabbed his medallion. “William, fledgling of Henry, I am an Executioner, so assigned by the United States Guild and Sanctioned by the Höher Rat in Munich. You will cooperate with these questions or be put under arrest and sent to the Citadel where you will be detained and questioned by the High Council. Are we clear?”
“If they’re all as young as you, it’s hardly a threat,” William replied coldly.
“Enough.” Jorick stood and met William’s eyes. Though Katelina couldn’t hear the thoughts she could feel their mental struggle, trying to penetrate and be impenetrable. Finally William snarled, “Myanmar. I’ve been in Myanmar for the last three years.”
“Was that so hard?” Jamie asked coldly. He reeled off the other questions: had William seen or heard anything suspicious, had he left the premises, did he know anyone who had. He was as uncooperative as he could be, and Jorick struggled with him until Jamie finally waved him out.
William paused at the threshold and glared back at Jorick. “Stay out of my way, Executioner, or else.” Then he stormed through the door.
Katelina grabbed Jorick’s shoulder. “He’s the one stalking you, isn’t he?”
Jorick turned to her with surprise. “I thought you suspected the twins.”
She ignored Sarah’s hard glare. “You said you hadn’t run into them before, but William and his buddy are mad at you, everyone agrees they’re up to something, and in case you missed it, he threatened you! Didn’t you see anything in his head?”
“He was hardly in it,” Jamie said. “And I couldn’t get past his barrier at all.”
Barrier. They’d run into those before. It was an ability of a vampire to shield their thoughts. “But you were in his head at least a little, right?”
Masque of the Vampire (Amaranthine Book 8) Page 24