Masque of the Vampire (Amaranthine Book 8)

by Joleene Naylor

  “Enough to know he was telling the truth,” Jorick replied.

  “But is he the stalker?”

  “I didn’t look for it. I realize you aren’t well versed in mind reading, but a dream stealer doesn’t just open their brain and hope to stumble on something useful. They focus their query and bypass all of the junk. Otherwise they’d have to listen to days of rubbish.”

  Sarah shifted uncomfortably and Katelina stared at him. So it was like a vampire search engine. “How do you find out something unless you already know to look for it?”

  “One doesn’t need to look for something specific, a feeling is enough sometimes, like guilt or anger. It gives the dream stealer something to focus on.”

  Katelina bit her lip. “Is that what you meant when you said I was doing it wrong?”

  He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Yes and no. There’s nothing wrong with the open attempt if you want to know what they’re thinking right now, but if you want something deeper…The few times you’ve gotten it to work, I imagine your subconscious was looking for something specific without your being aware of it.”

  Katelina dropped back into her chair. “If you say so. When they bring in Acwellen, please check his brain.”

  Except Eagan came next. He answered the questions, then nodded to Jamie. “You should visit your sister, lad. She worries.”

  “I doubt that. You can go.”

  “Yer still her blood, boy.”

  Jamie’s shoulders stiffened. “So was our father. Pity she didn’t feel that way about him. Next, please.”

  “Aye, but she did. She’s told ya before, was the English that hung yer father, not Androu.”

  Jamie’s hand wadded into a fist around his pencil. “Because he let them! You know he wanted Father’s lands and title, but I stood to inherit, not Caitrin. He made deals with the English to get what he wanted and murdered my wife. Because of him half our clan was arrested, tortured, and murdered. You want me to forget that?”

  Eagan shook his head. “He did what he had to, to keep Caitrin safe. He’s her husband, lad, an’ that’s his duty. If he hadn’ made deals with the British they would’ve put an English Laird in his place. They knew ya were a rebel and would never have allowed ya the power. As to yer wife, Margaret caught a fever shortly after ya left. Was no doin’ of Androu.”

  “You would say that!” Jamie broke off. “Enough. The past is the past. You are dismissed. Next.”

  Eagan shook his head as he walked to the door. He paused to throw back a, “Yer should at least send her a letter,” before he disappeared.

  Jamie slammed his fist on the table. The pencil snapped, and the top half narrowly missed hitting Jorick in the head.

  “Don’t let him get to you,” Jorick murmured.

  Jamie growled. “Cornelius, for the love of God, bring the next! I don’t care who!”

  Cornelius hurried away and returned with Demetrious. He was followed by his wife Diana, then Bassile, then Grimald, then several vampires Katelina hadn’t run into before, and finally the redheaded Rangvald. None of them had any relevant information, and Jorick assured her none of them had any thoughts about sneaking outside their room.

  One of Andrei’s servants came to announce dinner. The slender vampire stood and stretched. “I think that’s enough interrogation for today. You can resume Monday, if you wish.”

  “Monday?” Katelina was pretty sure it was only Friday.

  Andrei met her gaze. “Yes. Tomorrow is the Feast day, and Sunday is a day of rest, even for non-believers. You will excuse me?”

  Without waiting for a reply he strolled out the door.

  Sarah tossed her notebook on the desk. “Now what? That was pretty much a waste of time.”

  Katelina groaned. “I feel like my brain is going to fall out of my head. If I have to deal with one more argumentative vampire I may go crazy.”

  “Welcome to the life of an Executioner,” Jamie said with amusement. “They’re all argumentative, and most are idiots.” He stacked up his notes and shut off his laptop. “By Monday, Ark should be here. He can spearhead this.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Jorick stood and straightened his shirt. “I don’t know about you, but an afternoon of idiocy means it’s time for some well-deserved refreshments.”

  Jamie nodded. “It’s times like this I miss alcohol.”

  Sarah murmured softly, “Me, too.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Katelina woke when Jorick bolted upright. She blinked tired eyes against the vague knowledge there’d been a sound. She looked to Jorick, then imagined him leaping out of bed, wearing his usual nothing. With a groan, she waved him under the covers. Sarah had already seen enough of him.

  She opened the door, the word, “What?” on her lips, but her friend wasn’t there. “Sarah?” She stuck her head out and peered in both directions.

  The hallway was empty.

  “What does she want?” Jorick called irritably.

  With a shrug she shut the door. “No one’s there.”

  “I heard someone bang on the door.” He brushed hair back from his face. “Never mind. You can ask her tomorrow.”

  But when Katelina asked her that evening, Sarah looked puzzled. “I didn’t knock on your door.”

  “If you didn’t…” Katelina trailed off and shivered. “Now do you believe us, Jorick?”

  His answer was a murmur, but she thought she saw concern flash in his eyes.

  Jamie was late for breakfast. He mumbled an excuse about checking a shipment for the Feast. “There’ll be a few more today.”

  When Katelina asked what was in them, Jamie turned his attention to his glass. She poked Jorick in the ribs and repeated her question. “I thought this was some a pagan ceremony where they sacrificed someone?”

  “They’re having a sort of ball around it.”

  “You mean they’re going to dress up in fancy clothes and kill someone?”

  “Something like that. I think Annabelle’s advice was sound. I doubt you’d like the Feast.”

  “What makes you think I wanted to go?”

  Jamie coughed lightly. “There’s a quartet coming in later. I may need you to help check them in, Jorick.” He glanced at Katelina. “The decorators will be in the ballroom most of the morning. If you and Sarah would like to help out?”

  Sarah crossed her arms. “I’m not a member of the staff.”

  “Technically you are,” Jamie replied. “You’ve gone along with telling everyone The Guild sent you, which makes you both as much staff as Jorick or I.”

  “That’s why you two are going to help decorate,” Sarah replied coldly.

  Katelina laid a hand on her friend’s arm. “You always liked—”

  Sarah pulled away. “Yeah, I used to.” She looked at Katelina’s confused face and relented. “Never mind. We’ll help.”

  “Thank you.” Jamie’s tone sounded more sardonic than grateful, but Katelina let it go.

  Jorick escorted them to the ballroom, and Katelina paused at the door. “I don’t mind helping out if it keeps Sarah busy, but shouldn’t we be more worried about William and Acwellen than decorating?” When he looked blank she snapped, “You heard the knock last night. You know someone was there.”

  “I don’t know that it was a knock. It might have been someone banging into something accidentally.”

  “Either way, it means they were there. We need to do something before they start popping into the room with a dagger.”

  Jorick sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Read their minds and arrest them. Geeze! How hard is that?”

  “In case you’ve forgotten the interrogation, William’s mind was nearly impossible, and Acwellen is three times his age, and three times as powerful. To get deep enough in their brains to see a plot I’d have to manage a full on assault like Malick used to do, and I’m not sure I can.”

  “But you read everyone’s mind.”

  He chortled. “Not by a long shot. I can r
ead many of them, yes, but older vampires are harder. I’ve explained that to you before. And most of the vampires here are older than I am.”

  “So what? You plan to wait until they attack you? I thought you were going to take this seriously.”

  Jorick sighed. “I am. And yes, I heard a noise, but there’s been no criminal activity, no attacks, no real threats. No one has harassed either of us.”

  “In other words, you won’t do anything until it escalates.”

  “There’s nothing to do, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Tonight’s the feast. Everyone will be busy with it, and I doubt very much we’ll have a visit from our friend, so relax. You can worry about it tomorrow.”

  He pulled loose and she let him go. If he didn’t take his own safety seriously, why should she worry?

  Except, she couldn’t help herself.

  She tried to discuss it with Sarah but got only half answers. Her friend had been odd since breakfast and finally, elbow deep in black plastic, Katelina asked, “Is everything okay?”

  Sarah stopped punching holes in the plastic sheets to stare at her. “Yeah, this isn’t hard.”

  “I meant earlier. When you went off on Jamie.”

  “Oh that.” Sarah turned back to her work. “This is all so much fluff, isn’t it? The real reason they want our help is to keep you out of the way, so you aren’t obsessing over someone getting killed tonight. Plus, you’re safe. None of the decorating staff would bother you and, if they did, your mighty protector is only a moment away.” She scoffed. “It’s ridiculous. Like yesterday. The only reason we got to ‘help’ was because it kept you under his thumb.”

  Katelina laid her plastic sheet aside. “It isn’t like that. He’s not a controlling asshole like Brad.”

  Sarah choked and looked up. “Excuse me?”

  “Oh come on. You saw the things he has my mother doing. Cutting her hair. Changing her clothes. Redecorating the house. He even has her going to the Y. Look at this.” Katelina jammed the fit watch at her. “It’s one of those fitness watches. She got us a matching pair. It’s crazy! She tried to tell me it’s all her idea, but I’m not stupid. I know he’s manipulated her into it, probably using the ‘I’m so much younger’ crap on her.”

  Sarah wadded the plastic in her hands. “Brad isn’t like that. If your mother is changing things, it’s to seduce him. She knew she had no chance the way she was. He wouldn’t fall for a dowdy flighty old lady with no decorating sense!”

  Katelina swept to her feet and let the plastic fall to the floor. “My mother is not dowdy! And she may not have decorating sense, but at least her house doesn’t look like a sterilized hospital. No wonder you didn’t move in with Brad. It would have been like living in ICU.”

  Sarah wadded her plastic and flung it at Katelina. “I didn’t move in with him because I wasn’t ready yet. And thanks to you, I’ll never have a chance to get ready!” She threw her scissors. Katelina barely ducked out of the way as they flew past her head.

  “What the fuck?” She resisted flinging her own. “How is it my fault that you took too long to commit?”

  Sarah bared her fangs and stepped forward menacingly. “This has nothing to do with my commitment and everything to do with this.” She waved her arms around the room. “It’s your fault, you and that stupid Patrick Mullins! If he wasn’t already dead I’d rip him apart myself!”

  With a roar Katelina tackled Sarah to the floor. They fell in a heap of thrashing limbs and snapping fangs. Sarah slammed Katelina in the face. She reeled back, and Sarah pulled up into a semi-sitting position, her fist ready to fly again. Micah’s voice came to Katelina, a memory from previous training sessions.

  “You gonna take that shit?”

  No, no she wasn’t.

  She punched back. One. Two. Three. Boom. Boom. Boom. Sarah’s ear spurted blood under her knuckles. Her jaw crunched, and her ribs cracked. Sarah rolled to her side, an arm to her face and one wrapped around her middle. Katelina was aware of people shouting in the background. She hit Sarah in the side of the head and readied another blow when someone hauled her backwards. With a cry she pulled away and her captor shouted, “I need a titan! Quick!”

  A wiry vampire and a woman rushed over and grabbed Katelina, one on each arm. She struggled, but they were stronger. Memories flashed behind her eyes. Captured. Restrained. Tortured. Malick.

  “Let me go! I said let me the fuck go!”

  “Calm down!” a voice boomed over the top of her terror and she was compelled to look into a smooth, well sculpted face. Eyes like sapphires glittered and held her attention. “It’s all right,” the voice promised her. “Relax now. The fight is over.”

  As calmness flooded her, she became aware of her surroundings: the torn black plastic spread across the floor, the crowd of staring vampires, the blood on her hands, and her weeping friend.

  “Sarah?”

  Katelina moved to go to her, but her captors held tight. She turned to tell them it was okay, when Sarah rolled to her feet and charged. Katelina had a flash of Sarah—her curly hair in disarray, her nose and jaw at odd angles and her honey colored skin streaked in blood and tears—before she jammed an elbow into Katelina’s throat.

  Katelina choked and sagged. The restraining vampires dragged her away from the onslaught and someone pulled Sarah’s arms behind her back.

  With a scream, Sarah’s injured face twisted into something terrifying. She jerked loose and knocked her assailant to the ground. She grabbed the scissors that lay open on the floor and raised them like a knife.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Jamie roared. His large hand wrapped around Sarah’s wrist. When she turned to him in outrage, her body fell slack. He lifted her up, and spun back to the crowd.

  Katelina’s captors released her. She stepped away and hastily wiped at the droplets of blood on her face. “We got in a fight.”

  “I can see that.” He handed Sarah to someone else. “She’ll snap out of it pretty soon. When she does she’ll be emotional. Give her some blood and stay back.”

  The vampire looked ready to argue but, at a sharp look from the Executioner, he relented and lugged Sarah away.

  Jamie wiped his hand on his pants and turned back to Katelina. “Go clean up and have a drink. And no more fighting.”

  He stalked off and she realized everyone in the ballroom was gawking at her. Cheeks flushed, she muttered, “I’ll be back,” before she dashed away.

  She didn’t know where the bathrooms were, so she locked herself in her and Jorick’s bedroom. She checked the small mirror. Sarah’s blood was on her hands, arms, and face. It dotted her shirt and flecked her hair. Her nose was swollen from Sarah’s first punch, and a bruise blossomed on her throat.

  You should see the other guy.

  After a fast shower and a change, she headed down for the kitchens and the healing drink Jamie suggested. As she headed back to the ballroom, Annabelle’s angry voice floated out into the hallway. “—Andrei, tell me you didn’t!”

  Katelina stopped, her eyes on the sliver of darkness revealed by a partially open door. Andrei’s reply was muffled, but Annabelle’s response was clear as a bell. “How could you? You know what that is. You know—”

  Annabelle broke off and a sudden stillness made the hairs on Katelina’s neck stand up. It was as if she could feel them listening; waiting.

  They know I’m here.

  She pushed herself forward at a brisk pace, her eyes ahead of her. The fight with Sarah was forgotten under the mystery of what Andrei had done. Was he the one responsible for the dead children?

  She returned to the ballroom and her job of cutting tiny holes in black plastic. As she finished the sheet, she looked to where they’d already started hanging pieces. The cheap star effect reminded her of junior prom and the decorating committee. Sarah had enjoyed it, until one of the preppy girls took control. Then she and Katelina refused to work. They spent prom night loudly criticizing the crooked towers and lopsided moat
on the so-called fairytale castle that was the gym’s centerpiece.

  Her shoulders sagged as the memory slipped away, replaced by Sarah’s bloody face. She was going to have to apologize later. No matter what her friend said, there was no reason to strike out at her, especially when she was obviously so much weaker.

  “God, how does Micah stand it?”

  At lunch Jorick nearly swept her into his arms. “Are you all right? I heard that you and Sarah—”

  “We got into a fight.” Katelina gave him a quick hug before she stepped back. “She’s still mad about this whole vampire thing, and I let her get to me.”

  “What did she say?”

  Katelina opened her mouth, but stopped. How would she feel if he was fighting over Velnya?

  “Patrick,” Jorick said with no emotion.

  She sighed. “She blamed him for her being like…this.”

  “As you said, she’s angry.” He squeezed her again. “It’s probably best to let her be for the evening. You can apologize tomorrow, if you feel it’s necessary.”

  “Of course it’s necessary. I shouldn’t have taken her seriously. She was just spouting nastiness because she’s upset. I should have been mature.”

  Jorick smiled and ruffled her hair. “You could also apply for sainthood while you’re at it. You never cease to fascinate me. One moment you’re chomping for violence over an imagined insult, and the next you’re preaching pacifism and understanding.”

  She shrugged. “I guess it depends on the situation.”

  “Or on your mood, or the phase of the moon, or whatever mysterious force governs women.” He winked at her.

  Roger leaned over. “Trying to understand women is like trying to count the grains of sand on the beach.”

  Katelina tensed, waiting for Jorick to slug him. Instead he grinned and raised his glass. “That’s the truth.”

  Wasn’t it nice they could get along to make fun of her?

  Katelina mentioned the overheard conversation, but with so many potential eavesdroppers she didn’t get to explain her theory. Jorick pressed a kiss to her forehead and murmured, “I’ll look into it. I have to help Jamie. When you’re done with the ballroom, go ahead and go up to our room. I’ll join you with dinner as soon as I can get away.”