“You’ll have to do better than that.”
Katelina’s head snapped around to see Kateesha smiling. She jerked her roughly to her feet. “You’re too weak human, but if you crave blood so deeply, go after the fresh ones.” She shoved Katelina towards a young man who might have been 15 or 16. “He is not so tough,” she called, laughing loudly.
Katelina stared at the boy dumbly. Though she only had a few moments to observe, she understood what Kateesha meant. He wasn’t human, but he didn’t look as inhuman as the others did. He was beautiful, but he lacked the glossy perfection that Jorick or Kateesha had, and his movements weren’t as smooth.
He saw her and reacted by grabbing her arm and reaching for her throat. Kateesha’s voice shouted above the din, “Stab him, you fool!” and Katelina did as commanded, thrusting the dagger between his ribs by sheer luck.
His eyes grew wide with panic and he cried out. He released her automatically, while he reached for the dagger in his chest, but Katelina’s hands worked instinctively and twisted it to force it deeper. Cold blood ran over her fingers as he screamed.
Kateesha laughed as the boy crumpled to the floor. Katelina stared at her bloody, shaking hands. The implications of what she’d done crashed over her. But, before she could dwell on them, Kateesha clapped a hand on her shoulder, her mouth close to her ear. “Wasn’t that delicious?” she purred and then her voice hardened and she barked, “Get your dagger!”
Katelina obediently knelt to the floor, her body running on autopilot. She gingerly avoided the slowly spreading puddle of blood and pulled the dagger free with a sickening squelching sound.
“Wipe it off,” Kateesha ordered impatiently, and Katelina stared at the blade helplessly. “On your dress!” Katelina again followed the instructions.
“Good.” Kateesha smiled evilly. “I don’t have time to baby sit you, so you’re on your own now.” She moved away to grapple with another vampire and sent him crashing noisily into a set of shelves.
Katelina stood shakily. Though she clutched the dagger, Jorick and Kateesha quickly made short work of the remaining vampires without her help. When it was over they stood amidst the carnage, gazing around at the dead.
Kateesha brought a hand to her mouth and slowly licked the blood from it, a smile of ecstasy on her face. Jorick didn't even look at her; instead he moved quickly to Katelina. “Are you all right?”
She nodded her head dumbly, unable to trust her voice. She was afraid it would crack and betray how her insides quivered.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him as he glared at Kateesha. “She didn’t need to get involved.”
“I could have let her die,” the vampiress replied, her voice demonstrating that both options had held equal appeal. “But she was a willing pupil. Regardless, someone is missing. I would say Claudius is hiding like the rat he is.”
Jorick squeezed Katelina tightly and then released her as he addressed Kateesha. “He’ll be here somewhere. Come, we’ll find him.” He gave Katelina a reassuring smile and then carefully guided her up the stairs.
Kateesha followed them closely, still licking the blood from her fingers like a cat cleaning mouse from its paws. When Katelina glanced back, Kateesha only laughed and snapped her teeth together. Katelina looked away and tried not to think about the reality of her situation. These were monsters that walked with her and, outside in the darkness, more of them undoubtedly waited.
The smell of frost and dead leaves filled her nose as they stepped out of the protection of the cellar. She shivered as the cold breeze skimmed her damp body. Jorick seemed completely unaffected by the temperature, as did Kateesha. She wondered if they were even aware of how cold it was, but she doubted it.
The three of them went unmolested as they walked around the small house. When they reached the front they found the door hanging open on sagging hinges. Light spilled out onto the small concrete porch in a pool of electric yellow while inside creatures moved, twisted, fought.
Jorick tightened his grip on Katelina. “Stay out of trouble.” He nodded to Kateesha who grinned broadly, then, wordlessly, they plunged through the door and into the fray.
Katelina hung back on the porch and tried to follow the fight raging inside. Oren and Torina were already engaged in battle. Oren’s face was grim and Torina’s was alight with joy. Meanwhile, Jorick and Kateesha wasted no time in finding opponents.
Katelina drew closer to the door. Her eyes flicked from the fighting vampires to the faded walls and the bare wooden floor. Overturned furniture littered the corners of the room, smashed until it was no longer recognizable as anything but kindling.
“Who are you?” a gruff voice demanded and she found herself staring into a set of dark, bloodshot eyes. She faltered, and when she didn’t answer he grabbed her with one hand and dragged her into the light. “I know you!”
Katelina panicked, and pulled back. The dagger flashed as she swung it towards him. She felt it connect and she heard him cry out in surprise, but his hold didn’t lessen.
“You bitch!” He laid a hand on his face to catch the blood she’d spilled. He snarled and pulled her towards him, his teeth flashing, but she twisted away so that all he could get was the fleshy part of her left forearm. It was enough.
She shouted at the pain and slashed the dagger again, but he was ready for it. He pulled her into the room, and pinned her against the wall, his face snarling into hers. Horrified, Katelina stared into the depths of his angry eyes – and then his head was gone and she was staring at a bloody stump.
She screamed.
Despite losing his head, the vampire continued to hold her in place. She screamed again and her eyes landed on Oren, who stood behind the headless body with the bloody machete in his hand. Coolly, he rammed the weapon through the vampire’s back. He jerked it straight up so that it split the torso in half. Blood spurted out, but the hands let go of her and the body fell to the floor to land near the wide-eyed head.
Oren met her eyes and then hurried to his sister, who was surrounded by three snarling attackers. Katelina stayed against the wall, the dagger still in her hand and her left arm throbbing from both the shoulder wounds and the new bite.
Despite the pain, she couldn’t take her eyes off of the severed head at her feet. His lips were still curled back in a snarl, and his blood shot eyes stared, now cold and empty but no less menacing.
She managed to stay out of the battle as blood splattered amidst screams and howls. She wanted to close her eyes and block it all out, but she knew better and forced herself to stay alert, though her mind tried not to process the carnage around her.
When Oren finally hacked the last vampire down, the four stood gazing towards a gaping doorway. As if on cue, Claudius strode through it, an ornate axe in his hand. His wounds from the previous night were completely healed, and he was restored to his perfect, sneering self.
A wave of power rolled through the room at his entrance and smashed against them like the stormy sea breaking against rocks. Katelina made a noise of fear in her throat. She was unable to move, held in place by the sheer will of Claudius.
As if in answer, the space around Jorick seemed to crackle with his overwhelming presence. Between the two of them, the air was so thick with energy Katelina could barely breathe.
“So you’ve come back, Jorick?” Claudius’ sulky face took on a superior air as he came to a stop. His eyes flicked to the dead and his face grew sulkier. “You saw fit to kill everyone, I see.” Then he saw Katelina and smirked. “But you brought me a present. How nice. I can finish what I started.”
“You won’t touch her,” Jorick stated flatly. His dark eyes burned in his grim, blood splattered face.
“I already have,” Claudius replied and laughed. Cold and cruel, it was a sound that made Katelina’s knees tremble. Jorick growled and leapt at the haughty blonde.
Claudius stepped out of the way. Jorick hit the ground rolling and came to a stop, crouching, next to a fallen b
ody. Snarling, he jerked a jagged shuriken from the corpse’s back and with the other hand grabbed the spiked tonfa from its dead fingers.
Jorick leapt to his feet and hurled the shuriken at Claudius. He easily deflected it with the axe, but it gave Jorick time to cover the distance between them.
Claudius swung the axe. Jorick dodged, but the blade caught his arm and sliced through his shirt and left a shallow gash in his skin.
Claudius swung again, but Jorick stopped the blow with the tonfa. Jorick ducked to the left, and when Claudius spun to follow him, he kicked his legs out from under him. The blonde crashed to the floor, but rolled away before Jorick could slam his weapon into him.
Katelina watched the fight, horrified. Jorick and Claudius crashed into one another again and again, but the other three vampires made no move to intercede. They only watched from the edges of what had become the gory arena, their expressions cool and their eyes interested but dispassionate.
Claudius took a swipe at Jorick, but he slammed the tonfa into his knuckles and jammed his elbow into his face. Claudius cried out and the axe fell to the floor with a clatter. He stumbled backwards, his hand to his bleeding nose, and screamed, “Dover!”
A short, squat vampire ducked through the door, a whip in his hand. Shiny bits of metal were braided into it, and with a snap he cracked the whip at Jorick.
It slashed him across the back, and Jorick dropped the tonfa. He spun towards the new threat and Claudius leapt away from him and sought a weapon among the fallen bodies.
Dover made to whip Jorick again, but he didn’t get the chance. Jorick crashed into him and slammed him to the gory floor. He struggled, but his weapon was useless at such close quarters. It took Jorick only a moment to snap his neck and shove a well-aimed fist into his chest.
Jorick was back on his feet quickly, his hand clotted with gore and dripping blood. Claudius was ready for him, a nasty curved dagger in his hand.
“How many more do you have hiding back there waiting to save you?” Jorick asked with sarcasm.
Claudius’ eyes shifted towards the empty doorway and then back to his opponent. “Enough.”
Jorick smirked. “There’s no one left, is there?”
“Why don’t you find out.” Claudius sneered.
Jorick advanced on him slowly. Claudius shuffled backwards, waving the jagged dagger menacingly. Seconds became aching hours as Jorick crossed the floor.
When he was near enough, Claudius lunged for him, but Jorick spun out of the way and kicked the dagger from his hand. Claudius stumbled and Jorick slammed him into the wall.
As if by some silent signal, Kateesha sprang forward. Jorick stepped to the side quickly so that she collided with Claudius. As he struggled against her, Jorick held his hand out and Oren tossed him the machete. Kateesha barely had time to duck before the bloody blade bit into Claudius’ neck. His severed head flew across the room from the force of the blow. It hit the floor, bouncing and rolling until it stopped against one of the fallen bodies.
Headless, Claudius raised his hands to continue the fight, but Kateesha thrust her hand through his chest and pulled out his heart in her fist. She smiled as his body slid down the wall, then she deliberately turned to face the others before she sank her fangs into the organ.
“It’s done,” Oren said unemotionally as he wiped his hands on his jeans.
Jorick nodded and then his eyes snapped to the front door. Four vampires stepped inside, various weapons still clenched in their hands. They stopped just inside the door and stared at the aftermath in confusion.
“Your master is dead,” Kateesha said silkily as she stepped forward, the ruined heart still in her hand. “Swear your allegiance to me and live.”
They stood motionless as their eyes flicked from ruined body to ruined body. Claudius’ head had landed face down, and Torina kicked it so that the face rolled around and stared at them.
Slowly, they lowered their weapons and the tallest one said quietly. “You have it.”
The remaining three nodded their heads in agreement.
Kateesha’s laughter rang through the room and something broke inside Katelina. Whatever had been holding her up gave way, and she slipped down the wall until she was sitting on the floor with her knees folded against her chest. Her fingers went limp and the dagger slipped from her grip and landed on the floor with a clatter. She closed her eyes and images flashed behind them of snarling faces and spurting blood. She opened them quickly, but what she saw was no better: the dead lying in heaps, their chests hollow, blood and gore eking onto the floor until the wooden boards were slick with it.
A hand touched her and she looked up into Jorick's bloodied face. He crouched down before her and met her eyes. “You’re unhurt?”
She nodded numbly, and his gaze swung toward Kateesha, who was leading her four new underlings from the room. “She has drunk from the heart of Claudius,” Jorick explained in a half whisper. “So she will be their new coven leader – those who do not accept her will die.”
Katelina reached up and softly traced the long scratch the vampiress with the red nails had left across his perfect cheek. “I suppose that’s the law?” she asked hollowly.
“Yes.” He nodded. He caught her fingers with one of his hands and gently pressed them to his lips before he spoke again. “I’m under no obligation to any of them.” His eyes took a faraway gaze. “I broke with all covens long ago – including Malick's. He may be my Master in blood, but I owe him no allegiance.”
“You said if the others don’t accept her they’ll die?” she questioned. “But, aren’t they all dead?”
He shook himself to the present. “Maybe, maybe not. Who can say if all of them were even here. He may have had some running errands or guarding his other properties. But it’s Kateesha’s problem to find them all.”
He released her hands and examined the deep fang marks in her arm, his brow furrowed. “It isn’t bad. Still, perhaps Kateesha was right. You may have been safer in the car.”
Oren crouched down next to him, his eyes on the door Kateesha had disappeared through. “And where do you think those four were? You know as well as I that they were sent to the car to find the human.”
Jorick ignored his description of Katelina for once and ran a weary hand through his dark hair. “I know.”
“She will be no better than Claudius was,” Oren continued, his voice urgent. His golden eyes met Jorick’s dark gaze. “She thirsts for power – and for you. She won’t stop until she gets what she wants”
Jorick started to agree, but shook his head. “She is The Guild’s problem now. Malick can deal with her.”
“We should never have agreed to let her have his heart,” Oren whispered. “She’ll just create more problems and Malick will leave you to deal with them.”
“That may be, but we needed a fourth,” Jorick responded firmly. “What’s done is done. How much trouble can she cause?”
Oren’s laugh was mirthless. “You won’t think that when she comes after your human.”
Jorick scowled “She has no need.”
“Of course she does. Or are you completely blind?”
Jorick opened his mouth to reply, but Kateesha swept into the room, the four vampires on her heels. Without a word she quickly combed through the bodies until she found one to her liking. She bit into it and drank, a trickle of liquid crimson leaking from the corner of her mouth.
Oren looked at her and then at Jorick. An appeal flashed in his eyes so quickly that Katelina thought she might have imagined it. Jorick made no sound but broke eye contact with him as a reply.
Jorick stood in an elegant, sweeping motion, then held his hand out to Katelina. She took it and allowed him to pull her gently to her feet. Her legs were still shaking, but they were sturdier than they’d been moments before. Once she was standing, Jorick held her to him with one arm. Though she leaned against his chest, her eyes were on Kateesha. She watched the monster at her meal and shuddered in disgust and fear, mor
e afraid of the memory that would haunt her than anything else.
**********
Chapter Twenty-Four
Katelina opened her eyes. The darkness that greeted them was very like the blackness that she saw with her eyes closed. She blinked just to feel her eyelashes brush her cheek and be sure she was really awake, though the throbbing in her legs told her she was.
She and Jorick were jammed inside a wooden box like a couple trying to spoon on a too small couch. Jorick lay half beside her and half beneath her. His legs were tangled with hers, and his long hair tickled her face. She thought again how roomy the large box had appeared last night when she’d agreed to this situation. The illusion of size had apparently been a trick because, after having slept in it, she found it too small and too confining.
After the fight last night, Kateesha’s new henchmen had been charged with getting rid of all the bodies. While they’d been busy, Katelina had taken a sponge bath to mop off the worst of the blood and dirt. She’d told herself that it was enough, even though it really wasn’t. Jorick and Oren had changed their clothes and gone to a gas station in a neighboring town where they’d bought her some food, antiseptic ointment, and a roll of gauze. Though she’d had nothing else to wear they’d made her ride along, and when they got back Jorick had bandaged her wound, ignoring taunts from Torina all the while. Before dawn, Kateesha had invited them to stay the day. The coven’s coffin stash was in the back rooms of the house, and she’d grandly allowed them to each choose their own.
Katelina thought bitterly about Kateesha and her motives. Oren’s words were still fresh in her memory, “…she thirsts for power and for you.” The idea of Kateesha “thirsting” for Jorick made her chest tighten and her stomach flip. A sliver of cold fear pierced her heart as she wondered what he thought about it. Did he want Kateesha too? She’d been made as his mate, but she was “too cruel”. Did that mean that they’d been a pair until Jorick couldn’t stand her cruelty anymore? What if she reformed? Would he give her another chance?
Jorick stirred next to her, interrupting her thoughts. Though she couldn’t see him she could hear the smile in his voice. “Good morning.”
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