Goddess of Night (Amaranthine Book 9)

by Joleene Naylor

  There was a shout. Katelina saw Jorick sever Zachariah’s head. It bounced and rolled, stopping face down against a cactus, while Jorick kicked the body to the ground and cut out the heart.

  Brandle kicked his attacker’s legs out from under him so that he landed on his knees. Swiftly, Brandle stabbed his dagger into the vampire’s head. His victim screamed. Brandle pulled the blade free to jam it through his chest.

  Torina kicked the body over on its face. “This is fun enough, but where is Anya?”

  Angelica brandished the tonfa and stepped back. Her head swung in all directions. Katelina saw the understanding in her eyes when she realized she was the only one left. “She’s inside.”

  “Is Sarah here?” Katelina demanded.

  “Hardly. She’s with Kali—Lilith if you prefer— and Ishkur.” A soft shudder showed her opinion of him.

  “Good.” Micah lunged for her.

  Again, Brandle stopped him. “Angelica—”

  Micah pulled away. “Who the fuck’s side are you on?”

  A streak zipped past, knocking Katelina aside. It materialized into William. The vampire snarled, then disappeared, taking Angelica with him.

  Micah spun in a circle. “Where the fuck is our wind walker?”

  Verchiel popped up next to him, his hair in disarray. His tattered coat even worse for wear. “You called?”

  “Fucking go get them! I’m not done with that bitch yet!”

  Katelina noticed Verchiel clutching his stomach. “You’re hurt.”

  With a wink, he lifted his arm to show his slashed shirt and plenty of blood. “Just a flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, same here.” Micah pointed to his own injury, though it wasn’t as bloody as the Executioner’s.

  “Ouch.” Verchiel nodded to the fallen. “Looks like you took care of them.”

  “No thanks to you.” Torina pushed past them. “If you’ll excuse me, I have someone more important to see.”

  So did Katelina.

  Clutching her dagger, she followed the redhead down the stairs to the door. Their eyes met. For once, Katelina felt a mutual understanding between them. Torina owed Anya for Des. Katelina owed her for Estrilda. They were going to make sure she got paid back.

  Torina shoved the door open and stormed in, Katelina on her heels. The first room was like a mudroom, with a pile of shoes and a deep freezer. Walls made of concrete blocks were painted white. A layer of dirt confirmed the abandoned status.

  Torina lifted her dagger and called, “Where are you? Hiding like the coward you are?”

  A doorway in the far wall led to a narrow hallway lined with doors. A vampire stepped from one of the rooms, his dark hair slicked back. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Torina growled. “Where’s Anya?”

  He eyed the weapons. “What do you want with her? Where’s Aalot and Cecil?”

  “If you mean the idiots that were outside, they’re dead.”

  The vampire did a double take between them and the door. “What the—Anya!”

  Torina dropped into a defensive stance. The vampire shouted one more time, then charged. Torina stepped aside at the last second. Katelina tripped him as he barreled past. He landed on his face and skidded into the wall.

  “He’s yours.” Torina headed down the hallway. “Anya! Come out, come out!”

  “Hey!” Katelina called. So much for their understanding.

  The guy was on his feet, swinging a boot as a weapon. It caught Katelina off guard and knocked her back into the wall. She straightened, shaking her head. Before she could overcome the surprise, he jammed an elbow into her stomach, and kicked her in the knees. She stumbled forward. An elbow to the back of the neck drove her to all fours.

  Micah’s imaginary voice rang through her head, “That the best you got?”

  With a snarl she stabbed her attacker in the leg. The dagger stuck. He hopped back on one foot, cursing. Katelina swept to her feet, lunging for the weapon. He yanked it free and threw it down the hallway.

  “Now you’re going to die,” he snapped.

  Anya’s voice floated to them from deeper in the complex. “Look who it is.” At the sound, Katelina’s fury rose to a fever pitch.

  “Sorry, I don’t have time to mess with you.” She swung her fist at his heart, like she’d seen the others do. Warm liquid splattered her face. She blinked and realized she was wrist deep in his chest, his broken ribs sticking out at weird angles, his heart in her hand.

  Like the minion at the lodge. Except this time it’s not on accident.

  She ripped the heart lose and threw it to the ground. Though she didn’t know if it was necessary, she stomped on it. It popped like a tomato and splattered up her leg.

  She shook gore from her arm. She’d have time to be grossed out later. There were more important things.

  She retrieved her dagger from the hall. When a cry sounded from deeper in, she hurried down the corridor. It ended at a room carpeted in blue with a TV and a low couch. She dashed through an open door in the back, down another hallway to a storeroom lined in silver shelving racks. In the middle of the room, Torina and Anya struggled. Katelina pounced toward the blonde vampiress, but Torina shouted, “Don’t help me! Get them out of here!”

  Them? Katelina noticed a small heap in the corner, wrapped in flannel. A curly head peeped out of the top. Katelina moved closer to realize it was a toddler—no two toddlers. One with a mop of light brown curls and hazel eyes. The other with dark skin and eyes like ebony. Their round faces, maybe a year old, were creased with terror. Tears ran down their cheeks.

  Images of the Lilith’s Canadian holding cell popped into Katelina’s mind. The bitch was starting over with a new pair.

  Like hell.

  Katelina scooped up the squirming bundle. She turned for the door, as Anya dodged away from Torina. “My God, you’re a pain.”

  Before Katelina could turn, the vampiress hit her across the back. The children squealed as she stumbled, struggling to hang on to them.

  “I wasn’t done with you.” Torina punched Anya in the face.

  The blonde reeled and pulled up. “I’ve been done with you for a long time, like most of your men.” She grabbed the nearest rack and swung it. The corner caught Katelina in the head and knocked Torina into another rack. They collapsed together with a clatter. Torina pulled up, sending broken shelves scattering.

  Katelina struggled to stand. With her burden she couldn’t get leverage. The children burst into tears, writhing in her arms. She tightened her hold, until one look at her gory hand stopped her. She’d punched through a vampire’s chest. What was to stop her from crushing them?

  Anya threw the shelving unit at her opponent, jumping away as it bounced. In an action movie maneuver, she grabbed Katelina around the neck ready to twist, as she’d done to Torina in Texas. Katelina choked, more reflex than physical reaction, and released the kids, ready to fight. Before either could make their move, Torina slammed a shelf into the back of Anya’s head.

  Katelina pulled away. She jerked the kids out of the way so Torina could slam Anya to the floor.

  “First your brother and now you,” Torina sneered. Anya opened her mouth to shout. Before she could, Torina grabbed her lower jaw. With a scream from the depths, she ripped it loose.

  “Holy fuck!” Katelina pressed back against the wall. Anya made horrible high pitched sounds, her hands over the lower half of her face, trying to stem the flow of blood. Torina tossed the jaw aside, then hefted the bar from the shelving unit. With another cry she beat Anya over and over, splattering blood, until the post bent.

  Torina threw it aside. Anya struggled up to her knees, her midsection raw and gory. She lashed out, but the redhead grabbed another pole and smashed her face. Anya fell back, with more horrible high pitched sounds. Her hands fluttered to her eyes. Katelina saw blood run between her fingers, and looked away. She didn’t want to see the pulp that was left.

  Torina shrieked. Katelina heard the sound o
f metal biting into flesh and bone; wet, squelching, while Anya made those horrible, strangled noises.

  Footsteps pounded down the hall. Jorick skidded through the doorway. “For the love of—” He broke off and looked quickly to Katelina. “Little one?”

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled, trying not to look.

  Oren stepped inside. “Torina! Enough!”

  Katelina chanced a look as Torina dropped the metal tube to the floor. She was splattered with blood. Eyes crazed with fury and bloodlust peered out from a mask of scarlet. She met her brother’s gaze. Her gaze cleared and her face relaxed.

  “Fine, Oren.” She grabbed the nearest piece of misshapen metal. With a huff of impatience, she rammed it through the Anya’s chest, then pulled it loose and threw it aside with a clang.

  Finished, she spun on her heel and sashayed past them, her hips swaying like she was on a runway. “I need a shower.”

  Katelina watched her disappear, open mouthed. It was only when Jorick moved to Anya’s body that she snapped out of it. One look at what was left would have made her vomit in her former days. Even now it made her stomach clench.

  “I’m…outside.” She hurried through the house. Outdoors, she paused to lean against the doorframe and take deep breaths of air.

  “What the fuck is that?”

  She looked up to see Micah. She started to ask what he meant when the children squirmed in her arms.

  “Oh. These.” She trooped up the stairs to join him and Loren. “They were in the storeroom. I think Lilith had them saved for a snack.”

  “Are you fucking serious? Little fucking toddlers?”

  Katelina was suddenly weary. She foisted them off on the bald vampire and dropped to sit in the dirt. “Yeah, Lilith is a sick bitch.” She looked to where Zander knelt on all fours, his long hair hiding his face. Brandle stood beside him, his hand on his shoulder. “How’s he doing?”

  “You’re looking at it.” Micah juggled the children. “Is Lilith really the Night Goddess or whatever?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” She squinted at the moon. “When I was with Samael, he talked about the gods, but they were just vampires. Something about Zander’s prayers reminded me of Samael’s…I don’t remember much from when I was with him in China, but I do remember that; the sing-song chant. It’s not farfetched that after Lilith entombed Samael, she took that religion and ran with it, inserting herself as the Goddess.”

  “Zander’s been worshipping Lilith all this time?” Loren asked.

  “Could be,” Katelina said wearily.

  One of the kids started to wail. The other took up the song. Micah tried to shove the kids on Loren, but they clung to his shirt. “Hey! What am I supposed to do with them?”

  “I don’t know,” Katelina said. “They’re probably locals. Maybe we could take them to the police?”

  A voice answered, “Unless they’ve been claimed by one of you, they’re Guild property.”

  Katelina’s gaze snapped to Ark. The leader of the Executioners stood, arms crossed, face expressionless.

  She pulled up to her feet. “Where did you come from?”

  “A whole fucking truck load of them arrived.” Micah looked desperate. “Fuck, Loren, take one of these.”

  The teen held up his only hand. “No way. I’m not good with kids.”

  “How the hell do you know? Come on.”

  Ark stepped toward him. “I’ll take them both. They’ll be destroyed.”

  Torina swept up the stairs, her face and hands clean. Blood was still clumped in her hair and on her clothes. “Like hell they’ll be destroyed. They’re mine.”

  Ark sighed. “I know better than that. It’s not a pleasant task, but it’s the Law. After what they’ve been through, it’s a mercy.”

  Torina pulled them away from Micah and glared. “Keep your goddamn mercy. I told you, they’re mine.” She bit one child on the hand, and the other on an exposed shoulder, bringing their cries to a fever pitch. “They’re marked, Executioner. What do your laws say about that?”

  Jamie joined them, shaking his head. “Best to let it go, Ark. She’ll only challenge.”

  Ark rounded on him. “You’ve been influenced by Jorick. There are laws, Jamie. No one is above them. Not even me!”

  Jamie nodded. “I know, Ark. But she’s compliant enough. In the scheme of things—”

  “What does it matter?” Ark finished. “Very little—this time. Hardly anything the next. Just a little the third, and so on, until it matters a great deal. When you allow even one—”

  “It turns to chaos?” Verchiel stopped next to them, still holding his stomach. “A little chaos is good for the world. And I’m afraid I’ll have to second that. Those children belong to her. You should see her mother the little darlings. It’s precious.”

  Torina cast him a look of distrust, bouncing the tots softly.

  Jorick and Oren climbed the stairs. “Anya’s dead,” the dark haired vampire announced. “And another. Torina was efficient.”

  “The other wasn’t mine,” Torina said. “Look to your own.”

  Jorick’s surprised gaze swung to Katelina, then to her hand crusted with blood. “You were both efficient.”

  Katelina wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment. What are the Executioners doing here?”

  “They came while you were inside,” Loren said.

  “We left as soon as we got the call.” Ark narrowed his eyes at Verchiel. “Had someone called sooner…”

  Katelina looked between them. “He called you?”

  “Well…” Verchiel rubbed his neck with his free hand.

  “Of course,” Ark said. “His assignment was to stick with Jorick and tell us when Lilith was cornered.”

  Micah spat at his feet. “I knew that little son of a bitch was up to something.”

  Verchiel gave a mock gasp of shock. “Hey! No need to insult my mother.”

  “Seriously?” Katelina asked. “What happened to ‘I don’t have an assignment’?”

  “Did I say that?” Verchiel asked innocently.

  Jorick ignored him. “Never believe anything he says, little one. I thought you’d learned that by now.” He turned to Ark. “You can take your spy back to Eileifr with my compliments. Or you can kill Lilith yourselves. It’s not my problem.”

  Jamie cocked his head to one side. “No, but it’s Katelina’s. She struggled through your wars, are you going to leave her on her own?”

  Jorick growled. “This war has nothing to do with her.”

  “Come, even you can’t say that with a straight face. She’s tied to Samael, and her best friend is Lilith’s right hand. Your mate is as involved as it gets.”

  Katelina stiffened at his words. Though she already knew it, hearing it said was something else. This was her war. She wasn’t standing on the outside, trying to cope, she was right in the middle.

  “Yes, but now that you’re here you can do it without us,” Jorick snapped.

  “No they can’t,” she said. “They can deal with Lilith and Ishkur, and the rest, but Sarah…I don’t know how to handle her, but I need to do it.”

  “Getting yourself killed isn’t going to do anything!” Jorick cried.

  “No more than risking your own life to help Oren did? How many times did we do that?”

  Jorick threw his sword. “God dammit, Katelina! Do you have any idea what you’re messing with? This isn’t Kateesha, or Malick. Lilith is beyond powerful. Do you understand? She can crush you without touching you. How the hell am I supposed to protect you?”

  “You don’t. You let me take care of myself.” She threw his words back at him. “You said it was good for me to handle things myself.”

  “There’s a difference between dealing with your mother and facing Lilith.”

  “Only to you! To me they’re both horrible. You had faith in me for the one, you should believe in me for the other.”

  “Katelina, I can’t beat her. How in the he
ll are you going to?”

  “I’m not. Samael will. I’m going to deal with Sarah.”

  Jorick jabbed a finger at Jamie. “If anything happens to her, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth.”

  Jamie didn’t flinch, but Katelina felt his surprise. “It has nothing to do with me.”

  “Look, what the fuck are we doing?” Micah asked impatiently. “Are we getting in the damn van or not?”

  “I doubt Lilith is coming back, so there’s little point in staying here.” Jamie glanced at Torina. “Unless you want to clean up.”

  “We will clean up at the hotel.” Torina adjusted the children in her arms.

  Oren noticed his sister’s burden. “Torina?”

  “Don’t start,” she barked.

  “Later.” Jorick narrowed his eyes at the Executioners. “It’s after midnight. Unless you have Lilith cornered somewhere, Torina’s right. We’ll clean up at the hotel. You can call us if anything develops.”

  Verchiel moved to join them. Jorick stopped him with a growl. “Not you.”

  The redhead smiled sweetly. “Last I looked, Sorino paid for the van, and the rooms. Unless he says no, I’m going.”

  Though Jorick snarled, Verchiel moved around him to climb into the back of the vehicle.

  “Fuck it,” Micah said. “We’ll beat the shit out of him later.”

  Katelina looked from the children wriggling in Torina’s arms, to the dead vampires, then on to the cement house where Anya’s remains were smeared all over the storeroom. Verchiel, or no Verchiel, she wanted away from it.

  “He’s right. We’ll deal with him later.”

  The ride back to the city was tense. The children cried and babbled until Jorick put them under. Though neither he nor Verchiel said a word, Katelina felt the animosity between them. It was only Brandle that spoke, trying to soothe Zander’s heavy mood.

  “It doesn’t matter who the progenitor was, whether Lilith or another. The Goddess you believe in, whose teachings you follow…She has nothing to do with Lilith. From what I can see, the teachings are the same as many religions. Though I don’t pretend to know who or what anyone is actually worshipping, there must be something, an energy of some kind. The name you use for it makes no difference.”