Goddess of Night (Amaranthine Book 9)

by Joleene Naylor

  Verchiel seemed to misunderstand. “Right. We should say a prayer.”

  “A prayer?” Des asked. “Are you serious? Our kind—”

  Verchiel coughed and motioned Des to the door. “If it bothers you, you can wait in the hall.”

  Des’ confusion doubled and Verchiel mouthed, “Go stand guard.”

  He shrugged, then did as instructed, pausing at the door to say he’d see them when they were done.

  When he was gone, Verchiel mouthed, “go on,” then moved to stand between her and the neighbor’s bed. With a wink, he started a prayer in low semi-dramatic tones. It felt fake, but she realized it was just to keep their neighbor’s eavesdropping ears busy.

  Katelina didn’t know how much blood to give her mom. She didn’t want to turn her — she really would be the world’s worst vampire; the kind who’d wear glitter and want to keep her job. But, if she didn’t give her enough, it wouldn’t do anything.

  She glanced to Verchiel for a sign, but he only motioned her impatiently. With a “whatever” shrug, she bit her arm. The pain came, quick and sharp. She let go instinctively. The wound wasn’t as deep as she planned, but at least she was bleeding.

  She shoved her mother’s oxygen mask aside and her arm between her mother’s lips. Unlike vampires she’d given blood to before, her mother didn’t stir, didn’t clamp on, didn’t pull the blood into her mouth on her own.

  “Fuck.”

  “It’s harder than you’d think,” Verchiel mumbled, before raising his voice again in an eloquent speech about the Lord giving.

  Katelina pressed harder, paranoid attention moving to the door and back again. “Come on, Mom.”

  The woman didn’t react. Katelina shoved until the front of her mother’s teeth pressed into her skin.

  The roommate coughed, as if to say “enough of the prayer thing”. Afraid she’d call a nurse, Katelina surrendered.

  She rolled down her sleeve and took in the results. Blood spotted her mother’s lips, and shone red on her teeth. From the looks of it, it was unlikely more than a drop had gotten inside her mouth.

  But it needs to.

  Frantically, Katelina grabbed the pitcher of water and tried to pour it in her mother’s mouth. Hopefully it would wash some of the blood down. Verchiel jerked it away from her before she could do more than splash it on her gown.

  “You don’t want her to choke,” he whispered, then gave a loud, “Amen!”

  Des’ voice came at the door. Katelina managed to wipe away the blood and shove the mask back into place a moment before a Certified Nursing Assistant stepped through.

  “Oh, hello.” She smiled and moved to their neighbor, pausing before the closed curtains. “I’m sorry, but you need to wrap your visit up. You’re already past the nine o’clock curfew.”

  “Curfew?” Katelina asked sharply.

  The CNA nodded. “They’ve instituted a curfew for everyone, nine p.m. to five a.m., unless you have a pass. I can sign something for you, but they’re still going to harass you.”

  Katelina thought of the dark vehicles they’d passed in town, and of the barricade they’d driven through “Who are they?”

  “Feds. FEMA. Homeland. You name it. Either way they have badges and the right to send you somewhere you’ll never come home from, charges or not.” The CNA shivered slightly. For a moment, Katelina was in another time and place, having a conversation not about human governments, but vampires. Maybe they weren’t as different as she thought.

  “They’re everywhere,” the CNA added in hushed tones. “A terrorist group took responsibility for this, but they didn’t explain why. The feds are determined there was a sleeper cell. Imagine. A sleeper cell in nowhere Ohio! I don’t think they’ll be leaving anytime soon. It’s only a matter of time before we have truckloads of soldiers showing up. The National Guard is already here. Mostly they’ve been helping with disaster relief, but I don’t care. Those guns make me nervous.”

  “With good reason,” Verchiel said. “But I’m sure everything will be fine.” He nodded to Katelina. “We’ll be going, though can I leave a number for you to call if anything changes with Mom’s condition?”

  Mom? Katelina tried not to choke.

  “Oh! You’re another son? I’m sorry, I, uh, I didn’t realize.” She looked away from his Asian features. Katelina could feel her embarrassment and discomfort.

  “I married in.” Verchiel produced a pen and scribbled the number on a paper towel. “Thanks a lot.”

  Katelina scowled, but the nurse smiled brightly. “No problem. You’d better be going. Stop at the desk and have them write something up for you.”

  “Thanks again.” Verchiel dragged Katelina to the door. She hoped a little of the blood made it down her mom’s throat. At least enough to keep her alive. They could always come back and try again later. Maybe if she got a syringe…

  “She’d choke,” Verchiel commented.

  “Who would?” Des asked as they joined him. “Are you ready?”

  “Not quite,” Verchiel said.

  “You’re coming with us? I thought you were supposed to finish the hospital.” Des narrowed his eyes.

  “I can do it in half an hour, tops. You guys better pull up a chair in a waiting room. Unless you brought your own car?”

  He had them there. Though she wasn’t against walking, there was the problem of all the roadblocks and the curfew. Without a whisperer, they’d never get through, unless they started incapacitating people.

  “Glad you’re seeing things my way.” Verchiel mussed her hair and winked. “Go find a quiet, out of the way place to wait. I’ll join you in half an hour. Oh.” He leaned close and dropped his voice to a whisper. “You might get some blood to heal that. Don’t want it bleeding all over everything.”

  She looked to the dark stain that stuck her sleeve to her arm. When she looked up, Verchiel was gone.

  Since she wasn’t a whisperer, she couldn’t get someone to willingly give her blood, so she snagged rolls of gauze and medical tape from a cart of supplies, then hurried down the hallway, following signs for a waiting area.

  Though the room wasn’t locked, it was dark. They left the light off as they took seats. Des flipped through magazines while Katelina worked on her arm. She prayed silently that Verchiel found something—anything that might lead them to Sarah and Estrilda.

  When she finished her bandage, Des asked, “Do you think Sarah escaped?”

  “I hope so.”

  He closed the magazine and stared at nothing for a moment before speaking. “She’s a strong woman. She’s been through a lot already.”

  “Yes,” Katelina answered slowly.

  “What I mean is, if anyone could escape and take care of themselves, I think she could.” Des hesitated, as if looking for words. “I realize we didn’t know each other long, but we connected.” He ran his hand through his short hair. “Or I think we did. She told me a lot of things—things I don’t think she’d tell just anyone. About her past, about what happened to her.” He pursed his lips then pushed on. “And I told her a lot of things. She didn’t judge me for them, and I didn’t judge her. I’m not saying we’re in love, or we’re the next Romeo and Juliet, but I think there could be something there, you know?”

  Katelina didn’t, but she murmured a sort of vague agreement.

  “I warned her about Kali—Lilith, I guess. Sarah was crazy about her, but then maybe it wasn’t her fault. As powerful as Lilith is, maybe she made Sarah like her.” He slammed his fist into the chair. “I was at the damned ball. I should have been able to get Sarah away from her. Instead she…”

  “I know,” Katelina said quietly. “But you’re not the only one. We were all there.”

  Des took a sharp breath through his teeth. “All right, when the joker gets done, where should we start looking?”

  “Brad saw her at Mom’s. It seems as good a place as any. If she’s not there, maybe there’s some kind of a clue.”

  “Or maybe the other one go
t away. What’s her name?”

  Katelina stiffened. “Estrilda.”

  “Right. She’s Andrei’s daughter, isn’t she?”

  Katelina’s chest tightened until it was hard to speak. “You…you know about her?”

  “Sarah mentioned her. About how the girl wanted to be friends because they both had asshole fathers, but Sarah…She didn’t dislike her. The kid just made her uncomfortable, because of the mind reading and because she’s all scarred up.”

  Katelina tried to swallow down her anger. “Sarah told you about her after she promised not to? I warned her that children were illegal, and she still-”

  “Whoa, whoa. Children? You mean Estrilda is an actual child? As in a child they turned into a vampire? I thought it was just someone they treated like a kid. You know, with maybe developmental issues.”

  Shit.

  Des bounced his leg uncomfortably. “I’m not going to turn them in, if that’s what you’re worried about. I know I’ve had my problems with you and Jorick, but I’m not a complete asshole.”

  Katelina released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Thanks.”

  “Yeah.” A moment passed, then he asked, “I guess Brandle and Sorino already know she’s a kid?”

  “Brandle does. As for Sorino, he’s probably picked it out of my mind by now.”

  “Yeah. I can’t say I like the guy. It’s like he’s always up to something.”

  She nodded and played with the tape roll. In her mind’s eye, she pictured Estrilda. Though she couldn’t attend the ball downstairs, she could still dress up. She smiled her strange lipless grin and spun. Her purple skirt swirled around her. The wings attached to her back sparkled.

  “I am a fairy.”

  The door opened, pulling Katelina back to the present. Verchiel strolled in.

  “So?” Katelina asked as she stood to join him.

  He motioned them toward the exit with his head, and didn’t speak until they were outside in the heavy spring night.

  “No one saw anything useful. Good news for me, because I didn’t need to play with their memories, but bad news for the search. However, a lot of patients were sent to neighboring hospitals. I let Ark know, and he’s trying to figure out whether we need to send damage control to each.”

  “Meaning you’ll have to go,” Katelina said.

  “Actually, I think they’re happy to leave me here doing clean up.” They stopped next to the bright orange car. “The human…I don’t know what agency. The people who deal with terrorist stuff. Anyway, they’ve mapped the epicenter of the attack. Two locations were harder hit than the others.”

  “Those are?” Des asked.

  “A residential block on Sycamore and your mother’s block. They’re clear across town from each other.”

  Sycamore. Sycamore. The name meant something to her, or should. Then it hit her. “Sarah’s mom.”

  Verchiel perked up. “What?”

  “Sarah’s mom lived on Sycamore. That’s where Sarah grew up. After she graduated, her parents got divorced and her dad eventually went to Texas, but her mom kept the house.”

  Verchiel nodded. “If I were Sarah, and I’d escaped a crazy vampiress, I’d go to my mom’s house first. Though I’m not sure why she’d go to your mom’s? Was she looking for her ex-boyfriend?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it was my mom. Sarah…” She glanced uncomfortably at Des. He obviously knew about Sarah’s past. “Sarah’s dad was an abusive alcoholic, there’s no other way to put it. Sarah spent a lot of time at my house, with me and my mom. When she finally moved out in high school, she stayed with us for a while. She always kind of looked at my mom as a second mother. Actually, I always thought she liked my mom better. Her mother didn’t do a lot to save her from her dad, you know? She wasn’t a bad person, just…weak, I guess. Sarah never trusted her.”

  Verchiel nodded. “Makes sense, since they think it started on Sycamore. Sarah might have gone there first. Lilith followed. Sarah escaped and ran to your mom’s house. From there, Ark thinks she went downtown.”

  “Should we look there first?” Des asked.

  Verchiel tapped his chin. “No. If she’s still free, it’s because she’s somewhere unexpected; somewhere Lilith hasn’t looked yet. Or, somewhere Lilith’s already looked and hasn’t backtracked to.”

  “Mom’s house?” Katelina suggested.

  Verchiel nodded. “That seems most likely, especially since she considered it a safe place from her childhood.”

  Katelina caught his arm. “You said Sycamore was badly hit. Could you find out what happened to Sarah’s mom?”

  “I can try. What’s her name?”

  “Maria Townsend—no. She went back to her maiden name after the divorce. Maria Hernandez.”

  “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, let’s see if we can get through these roadblocks and find your friend.”

  Katelina climbed into the backseat and said a silent prayer. If only Sarah and Estrilda were safe, she’d give anything. Almost anything. Not Jorick, or her mother or…the list went on. It bothered her how little she was willing to surrender. Maybe she wasn’t as good a friend as she thought?

  As the CNA warned, the checkpoints gave them grief over the time, but Verchiel got them through. Until the last one.

  “I’m sorry,” the soldier said, trance-like. “No vehicles allowed. You’ll have to proceed on foot.”

  Katelina motioned Verchiel to park. They climbed out of the car to hurry past the soldier into the Barber’s yard. Bits of rubble crunched in the grass as Verchiel led them around the damaged house.

  On the other side, Katelina stumbled to a stop and clutched his arm. Where there had once been houses, there was only wreckage, as if someone had flattened a four block radius. Yards were indistinguishable from one another, heaped with bricks, plaster, and broken trees. Electrical lines snaked across the street. Everything was coated in white dust, like a sick snowfall.

  Verchiel steadied her with a hand to the small of her back. “Do you need to sit down a minute?”

  “No,” she whispered, but she did. She needed to sit down and cover her face with her hands, block out the horror, the destruction, the complete annihilation of everything she’d known.

  She forced bravery she didn’t feel. “Come on. We need to look for Sarah.”

  Verchiel took her arm, to help her pick through the mess. The three blocks to her mother’s house never felt so long, and yet so short. When she reached the area, she had a hard time picking out which smashed heap it was.

  “This one,” she said at last.

  Gone was the neon green bungalow, replaced with a shattered roof laying over a splat of debris. A tree had fallen across what was once the front yard. Her mother’s VW bug was overturned in the middle of the street.

  It was an overload that left Katelina numb, like looking at someone else’s disaster. This couldn’t be anything she’d ever known. Not when it looked like this.

  She picked her way to what had once been the porch, buried knee deep in rubble. After a long, slow, inhale, she closed her eyes and tried to reach out with her mind, sensing for Sarah or Estrilda.

  At first there was nothing, only the soft sound of a still night, then she could feel the roof, the layers of wood and shingles. Then came the plaster, the wood, the thickness of the mass, on through to the basement, only partially caved in. A spark of life made her breath hitch, followed by another and another and another. Not people, but mice; mice living in the basement walls.

  She opened her eyes and sagged. As she turned to Verchiel, a noise caught her attention. She spun to see a bulky shape standing on what had once been the roof. Fangs gleamed in a smug smile.

  “I told you this was it.”

  Chapter Six

  Katelina dropped into a defensive stance a second before she recognized Micah. Tall and broad shouldered with a bald head, the vampire wore a brown goatee and tribal tattoos down one side of his face. The biker tank top revealed the tattoos on
his arms. His heavy boots were more suited to the terrain than her tennis shoes.

  “Micah?” She straightened, confused.

  “Hey, slave.”

  He gave her a toothy grin that earned a growl. He might have been the one to turn her, but there was only so much she’d tolerate. “I’m not your slave. What are you doing here?”

  “Trying to find out what the fuck happened.” He crunched toward her, looking down at her companions. “Des? What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “It’s a long story,” the dark vampire muttered.

  “Must be damn long. The last time I saw you, you’d turned pussy and run off with the chick with a di—”

  Katelina motioned Micah to silence. “He’s not with Anya anymore. She joined Lilith.”

  “Lilith?” Micah hopped down next to her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Before she could explain, a teenage vampire with one arm appeared. A mop of dark curly hair fell in his face. His hoodie and jeans looked like something from the nineties while large brown eyes gave him an artificial innocence.

  “Hey, Loren,” she said.

  Before he could answer, Micah’s hard gaze fell on Verchiel. “What the fuck are you doin’ here? Where the hell is Jorick?”

  “He’s with Ark and the other Executioners,” Katelina said.

  “Fuck, you mean there’s more of The Guild’s dogs running around here?”

  “I’m not going to take that personally—this time.” Verchiel’s tone held an edge of warning. His last parting from Micah hadn’t been on the best of terms. Micah’d accused him of trying to steal Katelina from Jorick, and Verchiel had stormed out.

  The redhead went on. “The Guild sent a bunch of us to do damage control. A good question would be what you’re doing here?”

  “We saw it on the news,” Loren said. “And we recognized the town.”

  “We knew Jorick would have his fucking nose stuck in everything,” Micah added. “Oren and Torina are looking for him uptown, but I knew if you guys were anywhere, it would be here.” He looked smug again. “I told pipsqueak—”