Masque of the Vampire (Amaranthine Book 8)

by Joleene Naylor

  Verchiel shrugged. “Apparently they got un-busy.”

  “I’m sure she’ll turn up.” Jamie stood again. “In the meantime, get back to the list. I’ll take over after lunch.”

  As the Executioner disappeared, Jorick scoffed and glanced to the grandfather clock. “It’s close enough to lunch that it’s pointless to bring anyone else in.”

  “Shirking your duties.” Verchiel grinned. “I’m starting to rub off on you.”

  Jorick’s voice was chilly when he said, “In that case I’d best bathe.”

  Sarah didn’t turn up until supper time, surprised that anyone was looking for her. “We went for a walk.”

  “That’s what someone told Verchiel, but he couldn’t find you.”

  She shrugged. “He must not have looked very hard. We were right out there.” She stopped. “Who’s Verchiel?”

  “That would be me.” The redhead stuck his head between them and Sarah flinched back.

  “He’s the Executioner that The Guild sent to investigate,” Katelina explained.

  Sarah gave him a once over. Her expression said she found him lacking. “Interesting hair.”

  “You like it? You’d be surprised how much work this takes.” He took Sarah’s hand and gave her a wink. “Any friend of Kately’s is a friend of mine, and I can be very friendly.”

  She tugged away. “I bet you can. If you’ll excuse me, they’re showing a movie in the basement and I told Des I’d go.”

  “Oh yeah? When did you see him?” Verchiel asked conversationally.

  “On my way in here. Excuse me. I’ll see you later, Kate.” Then she hurried off.

  As soon as she was gone Verchiel turned serious. “I was hoping someone saw her and Kali on their walk.”

  Jorick scoffed. “After all the interviews you conducted, that’s what you’re worried about?”

  “Call it a quirk, but I think it’s weird when vampires disappear and no one knows where they are for hours. I’m surprised you aren’t interested.”

  Jorick smiled. “It’s not my investigation. Speaking of which, shouldn’t you get back to it?”

  “I’ve been interviewing them all day. I deserve a movie break, too.”

  Katelina didn’t bother to change into her pajamas, even as Jorick stripped off and climbed into bed. She stuffed a small book in one pocket, and Memnon’s dagger in the other, just in case.

  She glanced at her watch, then paced a small circle in front of the door. “This is a waste of time. William will smell us.”

  “So you’ve decided he’s the culprit.”

  “Long ago. He has motive. He has means, and everyone admits he’s up to something.”

  “No, they admit that he and Acwellen are up to something. But that’s right, you ruled him out because he’s too ‘nice’.”

  She stopped walking to stare at him. “So you think it’s Brandle?”

  “No. But I don’t think its William. Never mind. Maybe you’ll solve it tonight.”

  “I doubt it.”

  She made a couple more circles before the knock came. Sarah ran over the plan; Katelina would hide in the cupboard, and Sarah would stay in the chest. If someone came by, they were supposed to leap out, tackle them, and shout for the other. It couldn’t be much simpler.

  Katelina climbed into the cabinet and pulled the doors closed. The smell of mothballs and dust was overwhelming. She groaned as she imagined hours trapped with it.

  She tugged the dagger out of her pocket and, with a silent apology to the furniture maker of old, bored a small hole in the side. Clean air eked through and she breathed it in.

  She got as comfortable as she could near the hole, and pulled the paperback out of her pocket. Thirty pages in, the too-perfect heroine lectured all the characters, the supposedly attractive hero was more jerk than nice guy, and the sci-fi promise of aliens and intelligence seemed like a lie that made her yawn. It was nine a.m. when she decided she could close her eyes for a second. Maybe she’d care about whether they lived or died after a quick break…

  A scuffling sound woke her. In a flash she came to terms with her surroundings and pressed her eye to the air hole.

  The creature stood no more than four feet high and wore a long white nightdress with cap sleeves. Skeletal arms peeped out, wrapped in discolored skin the consistency of wadded paper. The head was bald and covered in the same pitted wrinkles.

  At Katelina’s gasp, it turned toward her. With no nose or lips to speak of, the most prominent features were a pair of mismatched eyes—one green and one milky white—and a gleaming set of vampire fangs.

  It wasn’t a creature, but a vampire.

  The eyes went wide, and the vampiress scampered away. Katelina more fell than climbed out of the cabinet. She found her feet and dashed after her, only shouting for Sarah as an afterthought.

  She turned through the storage area, and saw a wisp of white swish around the corner. She pushed herself and bounded into a corridor in time to see the door to Annabelle’s mysterious room slam closed.

  “Hey!” Katelina skidded to a stop and pounded on the locked door. “Hey! Open up!”

  Nothing moved inside. She banged again, then fell back to gather her thoughts. Sarah’s plan had worked. They’d found the stalker; a vampiress whose wrinkled skin denoted an age she couldn’t even guess. But who could be that old?

  A single name leapt to the forefront of her mind, and her heart stopped.

  Lilith?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Terror sliced through Katelina and left her legs watery. If it was Lilith outside their door then it wasn’t Jorick she was stalking but…

  Katelina choked on the idea. She backed down the hall and screamed silently for Samael. When no answer came, she shook herself. She needed to get Jorick!

  She raced back toward her room and plowed into someone. They fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Katelina pulled away, ready to swing, when she recognized Sarah’s furious face.

  “Sarah!” she gasped out and fell back. “I...I saw her.”

  Her friend pulled to her haunches. “Her who?”

  “I don’t know. Lilith maybe. She looked ancient. Imagine a three hundred year old person. She’s so old she doesn’t even have hair.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “Annabelle’s secret room.”

  Sarah’s face hardened. “Let’s get some answers.”

  She pulled to her feet, and Katelina jumped to stop her. “Are you crazy? If that’s Lilith she has powers you can’t imagine.”

  Sarah tugged away impatiently. “If she planned to hurt you, she’d have done it when you were alone with her.”

  There was logic, but Katelina wasn’t sure enough to embrace it. “We should get Jorick.”

  “Of course. I forgot you can’t do anything by yourself. No wonder Jorick is always waiting to swoop in and protect you. You obviously need it.”

  Katelina scowled at Sarah’s retreating figure. Anger overrode her fear, and she hurried to catch up. Though her friend didn’t comment, she thought she saw a smug twinkle in her eyes.

  They reached the door and Sarah pounded on it. “We know you’re in there! Come out!”

  Katelina choked on a wave of fear. She clutched the wall and realized the terror wasn’t hers, but-

  “She’s scared,” she whispered.

  Sarah frowned, but when she knocked again, she called in a softer voice, “We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to know why you’ve been standing outside Jorick’s room every day.”

  A voice sounded in Katelina’s head, “I like to talk to you.”

  She turned sharply to Sarah. The look on her face said she’d heard it, too.

  Katelina tried to calm her pounding heart. Breathe. Breathe. “Who do you like to talk to?”

  The seconds stretched, then the voice came again over the sound of Katelina’s ragged breathing, “Sarah.”

  Her friend stiffened. “I’ve never talked to you before.”

  “Yes
you have. While you’re asleep.”

  Sarah reeled and Katelina snapped, “Wouldn’t it be better to talk to her while she’s awake?”

  “No. She doesn’t want to talk about those things when she’s awake.”

  The air crackled with a mixture of tension and fear. Katelina choked on it to demand, “What things?”

  “Bad things.”

  Katelina slipped her hand in her pocket to find the reassuring presence of the dagger. The vampiress might be short, but with age came strength. “What kind of bad things?” She looked to Sarah, but the panic in her eyes made her useless.

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  The reply must have been to Sarah’s thoughts, though Katelina had no idea what they were.

  “Who are you?” Sarah whispered.

  No answer came, and Katelina pushed back the panic. She tried to make her tone reasonable even as she gripped her weapon. “Why don’t you come out?” Silence was the answer and she pressed, “Just unlock the door.”

  She jumped back when the lock clicked. Sarah moved away, shaking her head. This was it, the answers Sarah was after, and now she wanted to run?

  Katelina stopped from throwing a remark about cowardice at her. Tit for tat never helped anyone. With a final glance to her friend, she pushed the door open.

  The room was pink with plush carpet. Katelina stepped inside and let her eyes sweep over the furnishings; bookcases, chests, a desk, a princess canopy bed, and a rambling doll house. Seated on the floor in front of it, surrounded by dolls, sat the withered vampiress. Not ancient, as Katelina had supposed, but—

  A child?

  The girl pulled her knees up and ducked behind them. She peeked out slowly and her lipless mouth spread in what was probably a smile.

  “Hello.”

  Katelina glanced to Sarah. “You can talk out loud. We can hear you.”

  A giggle sounded in Katelina’s head and the girl buried her face again. It was the same giggle she’d heard before, when she was trying to read Sarah’s thoughts, and when she’d run into this door the night of the Feast.

  “I could hear you trying to read her mind. It was funny.”

  Katelina took a cautious step forward. “Why was it funny?”

  “You listen too hard. If you relax, the thoughts flow into you. When you are tense, you stop them.”

  “I’ll, uh, try to remember that.” She looked to Sarah, but her friend hovered wide eyed in the doorway. Katelina knew she needed to keep the dialog going if they wanted answers, so she asked, “Do you live here?”

  The girl nodded.

  When no more came, she said, “My name’s Katelina. What’s yours?”

  “Estrilda.”

  “That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The answer made sense and reminded her of another vampire child; Oren’s son Alexander. With his name came the recollection of his death; the fire, the screams, burned by Executioners because children vampires were illegal.

  Jorick’s voice echoed in her memory, “Möngkedai turned several children who had to be destroyed.”

  Estrilda looked at Katelina quizzically. She forced a smile. “It’s okay. We won’t tell anyone you’re here.”

  The girl beamed, showing a full set of teeth and sharp fangs. Her smile slowly melted as she looked past Katelina. “Sarah is scared of me.”

  “No she isn’t.” Katelina tried to motion her friend through the door with her eyes. “Are you, Sarah?”

  “I…” Sarah started forward then pulled back. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head, then fled.

  “Sarah!” Katelina turned back to the child. “She’s shy.”

  “She’s afraid.”

  Katelina could feel the girl’s certainty and knew she was right.

  “You can go with her. You’re scared too.”

  Since the child was obviously a powerful mind reader, she stuck to the truth. “I’m not scared. I’m confused.”

  The girl tightened her arms around her knees and hid her face. Though Katelina prompted her with questions, she refused to answer. As the minutes stretched, Katelina’s discomfort increased, and she finally surrendered.

  “It’s getting late, Estrilda. I better go to bed.”

  The girl nodded. With a final, “Good night,” Katelina slipped out into the hall and pulled the door shut behind her. The lock clicked.

  She stood in the hall, waiting for things to make sense. When they didn’t, she turned for her room.

  She knocked on Sarah’s door. No answer came, so she headed for bed.

  Jorick jerked awake. He met her gaze, relaxed, and laid down again. “Did you catch your stalker?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t think—” He jerked upright. “What?”

  Katelina reached for her pajamas. “Am I talking to my boyfriend Jorick, or Jorick the Executioner?”

  She felt him in her head and purposefully imagined a brick wall.

  “Katelina.” His tone held a warning.

  “I’m sorry Jorick. But you have to promise you won’t tell Jamie, or the rest of them.”

  He was silent a moment. “You know I can pull the memory from you.”

  “That would pretty much negate all that ‘I respect you’ crap you’ve said since we met, so I don’t think you will. Now, all you have to do is promise you won’t tell any Guild related person.”

  “That depends. If it’s something dangerous…”

  “It isn’t dangerous.” She peeled her shirt off and pulled on her pajama top. “Just promise.”

  “This is ridiculous.” He glared as she finished changing. When she shut off the light he snapped, “Fine, Katelina. I promise. Are you happy?”

  “No.” She turned down the blankets and slid in beside him. “You don’t sound sincere.” She felt him readying for a tirade, and held up her hand. “But I’ll hold you to it just the same, so if you don’t plan to keep your word, tell me now.”

  He gave a huff of impatience she took as agreement. “Our stalker is a little kid who’s all…scarred.”

  “What?”

  She recounted the story. When she finished he rubbed his chin. “We need to have a conversation with Annabelle.”

  Katelina gaped. “You promised.”

  “I promised not to tell anyone Guild related. I said nothing about confronting Annabelle. For one thing, it’s dangerous for the child to run around where someone might see her. For another we don’t know her intentions. She looks young, but who knows how old she is. The child-like behavior could be a ruse. She may be up to something more sinister.”

  “I think things are exactly the way she said they are, though I don’t know why she’s latched onto Sarah.”

  Jorick settled down to sleep. “That’s what I intend to find out.”

  The sun was well down when Jorick shook Katelina awake. She held back a yawn as the memories of the day slotted into place. The locked room. The mysterious scarred vampire child. The whole thing was surreal. She needed to visit the room again, see if Estrilda was just a dream.

  “She’s real enough,” Jorick said softly. “And we’re going to talk to Annabelle about it.”

  Katelina cringed. “Can’t we leave it alone?”

  “For all we know she looks that way because they’ve hurt her.”

  She thought about the child’s reluctance to speak to them in person. She liked Sarah when she was asleep and safe. Maybe Jorick was on to something.

  Katelina dressed and knocked on Sarah’s door. Again there was no answer. With a last look she and her grumbling stomach surrendered.

  Breakfast was already over, so they got food from the kitchen, then went in search of their hostess. They ran into Jamie on his way up from the basement bowling alley. He gave Jorick a curious look. “A late good morning to you. I handled the check-ins alone. Verchiel has already started the interrogations.”

  Jorick cut him off. “We’re looking for Annabelle.”


  The curiosity in Jamie’s eyes doubled. “She and her ladies are upstairs in their sewing room, working on costume alterations for the masquerade on Saturday.”

  Jorick nodded his thanks. As they wound through the second floor Katelina asked, “You’re sure we need to do this?”

  He nodded, and knocked on the sewing room door. A flurry of sound came from inside, and Marna peered out. “Yes? Oh, Katelina. Come in.”

  She followed Jorick through the door, praying things didn’t go as badly as she feared.

  Marna smiled. “Have you decided on a costume for the ball?”

  “Um, no.” She swept her eyes over the occupants. Trivila was on the sofa, buried under a pile of taffeta, her mouth full of straight pins. Hannah stood on a stool, a giant tail of feathers held on by leather straps around her waist. An unfamiliar vampiress stood next to her, a feather in one hand and needle and thread in the other. Two vampiresses Katelina didn’t know were working on masks at the table, surrounded by glue and copious amounts of glitter. But Annabelle wasn’t there.

  When Jorick asked for her, Trivila dumped her hemming and stood. “She stepped out. I can take a message, or if it’s about the party you can look for Andrei.”

  “No, it’s something personal,” Jorick replied.

  “I guess you can wait.” Marna motioned them to the sofa.

  Katelina forced a smile that faded once they were seated. This wasn’t necessary. If they needed answers, Jorick could ask Estrilda herself. The two whisperers should get along.

  Except she’s not a whisperer. She’s an imparter. Like Andrei.

  Minutes passed. The ladies went back to work. Marna tried to make small talk, but it felt stilted on both sides. Then a piece of the back wall slid away and Annabelle stumbled in, clutching a piece of paper in one hand, her eyes wide.

  Trivila leapt to her feet. “Annabelle, we have guests.”

  The masked vampiress’ face turned as white as the paper. Katelina felt the thrum of her terror and choked.

  Jorick stood. “If we could have a private conversation?”

  Trivila laid a hand on her mistress’ shoulder. “You can speak in front of us.”

  “No,” Annabelle said weakly, the paper wadded in her hand. “It’s all right.”