Amaranthine Special Edition Vol I

by Naylor, Joleene

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  BOOK 2:

  LEGACY OF GHOSTS

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  Chapter One

  Katelina woke with the taste of a bad dream in her mouth. She shivered in the slowly deepening darkness and looked around the motel room. All of the furniture, save the bed, was stacked in front of the window to block out the sun. But the pile was too small and the last light of a November day splashed around it and onto the bed.

  Katelina glanced over to the figure stretched out on the floor, safely out of the way of the sunlight. His long, dark hair was fanned out against the ugly carpet and his usually warm eyes were closed in sleep. His lashes rested on his pale, flawless cheeks. He was beautiful; too beautiful, really. She guessed that should’ve been her first clue to his true identity. When she’d met him, she’d stupidly thought he was human, like she was, but she’d been wrong. Jorick was one of them.

  A vampire.

  It had been almost two weeks since Katelina’s world had been turned upside down by a single phone call. In the days since, she’d learned a lot. Not only were vampires real, but her friend Patrick had been involved with them. In fact his brother, who’d murdered him, had been a vampire.

  They were lessons that came at a heavy price. Her best friend Sarah had been killed, and Katelina had barely escaped death herself. Now, she and Jorick were staying in a cheap motel and waiting for the sun to go down so they could travel to his home. Not that she was sure where that was, beyond the description “near the beach”. As long as it was quiet, she didn’t care.

  She slipped from the bed and stole quietly to the bathroom where she shed her clothes and climbed into the shower. As she washed herself, her mind replayed scenes behind her eyelids. Arowenia; the dead child bride. Claudius’s den; the torture she’d endured, her rescue, and then the final battle at the dilapidated house where Claudius had been beheaded and Kateesha, an evil vampiress, had claimed his coven.

  It had been Claudius who’d hunted Katelina. Claudius who’d killed Sarah and ransacked her house. Claudius who’d ruined everything. Now that he was dead she should have been safe. Instead, she had to fear Kateesha and her jealous lust for Jorick, despite his assurances that they would be all right.

  She dried off and examined herself in the mirror. As she thought about Jorick, her eyes went straight to the spot above her collar bone that bore his “mark”; a set of fang marks with a lopsided cross scratched beneath it. When it healed it would leave a scar, but she supposed that was the point: a vampire mark to claim her as his property, or his human slave as Kateesha called it. It was funny, in an ironic way, that the claiming was one of the things that made Kateesha so angry, and yet he’d only done it to make Katelina “legal” and save her from a vampire execution squad.

  Katelina dismissed the bad memories and swept her gaze over what was left of her injuries from Claudius and his men. Her black eye was faded and the lump on her head was almost gone. The other bruises were colored in greens and yellows, like a finger-painting gone bad. The worst was her shoulder. The skin was pink and puckered around the stitches and itched -a sign it was healing, or so her mother always said. If only the uneasiness would heal, as well.

  Katelina brushed out her long, blonde hair and put on her clothes. The red dress, borrowed from another vampiress, clung to her. She tugged uselessly at it as she walked back into the bedroom. There, she found the sunlight gone and Jorick awake. He’d partially disassembled the stack of furniture and sat in a wicker chair, wearing nothing but a pair of faded blue jeans.

  “Good morning.” He gave her a warm smile that flashed his shining fangs. “Did you sleep well?”

  She answered with a halfhearted shrug and noticed that he had the gauze and ointment laid out on the small table. “You’re playing doctor again?”

  “At every opportunity,” he murmured meaningfully. He smirked as she blushed, and indicated the empty chair opposite him. “Sit down and we’ll get started.”

  With her cheeks still pink, she did as he asked. Gently, he treated and bandaged her hurts. His lingering fingers did little to calm her pounding heart, but something in the way he watched her made her cautious. He peered at her from underneath his eyelids expectantly, but she didn’t know what he was waiting for.

  He finished in silence and leaned back in his chair. She cleared her throat noisily, just for the sound, and he finally relented. “I just wondered if you hadn’t changed your mind about going home.”

  She shook her head no and held up her bandaged arms. “I can’t go home like this. What would my mom say? I may be an adult, but can you imagine the hysterical fit she’d have, anyway?”

  Jorick nodded and commented casually, “Yes, but someone’s listed you as a missing person. Perhaps…” he broke off and gestured with his hand to dismiss the conversation. “If you’re sure, then it’s fine with me.” He flashed a tight smile. “How long do you plan to stay away from home?”

  “Until I’m healed up, I expect.” She frowned as she tried to figure up the date. “It’s almost Halloween now, isn’t it?”

  Jorick shrugged his shoulders. “The last time I noticed the date was August.”

  “August?” she demanded incredulously, then rolled her eyes. “Never mind. There should be something.” She stared uselessly around the motel room, then noticed the room receipt crumpled on floor. She scooped it up, and smoothed the yellow paper. “It’s-” a pause. “November first?”

  She added dates up in her head, but came to no conclusion before a knock sounded on the door, followed by the call, “It's Oren.”

  Jorick shrugged his shoulders and stood. “November sounds right.” He moved to the door and flipped the row of locks. “Come in.”

  Jorick’s fledgling, a tall vampire with tawny hair and amber eyes, strolled into the room. It wasn’t just his coloring, but his mannerisms that made Katelina think of a lion. Though his long hair was tamed back in a ponytail and he wore a button down shirt tucked into jeans, there always seemed to be something just barely contained about the man. She wasn’t sure she liked that.

  Oren strolled to the middle of the room and glanced from Katelina to Jorick, his face serious. “I think we soon come to a parting.” He held Jorick’s gaze. “Unless you wish to join my sister and me?”

  Jorick shook his head. “No, Oren.” His eyes flicked to Katelina and then back. “My fight was with Claudius, and it’s over now. I have no reason to war against The Guild.”

  Oren’s jaw tightened at the mention of the vampire government. “Yes, I know. It wasn’t your wife and children that they burned.” He quickly composed himself. “I apologize. The fault isn’t yours, and I don’t seek to change your mind. I cannot deny, however, that you’d be an asset. A former Executioner; one whose blood is older than any who currently hold that title.”

  Jorick held up a hand to stop him. “Perhaps. But this isn’t my fight - at least, not yet.” He motioned to Katelina. “She’s injured and needs time to heal both her body and mind and digest all that’s happened. I’m sorry, but that must be my priority, right now.” He added, wryly, “After all, I’m the one who brought her into this, as you’ve so eloquently reminded me many times.”

  Oren didn’t look defeated or disappointed, only unhappily satisfied. “I feared you’d say that.” He met Jorick’s gaze, his spine straight. “I will not try to dissuade you from the path you’ve chosen. You’ve rarely done so to me, and I’ll return the favor.” He turned and started towards the door, but stopped just before it. “If ever you wish to join us, there will be a place of honor for you.” The invitation hung in that air like a tangible object that Katelina wanted to reach up and brush away.

  “I know, Oren,” Jorick replied, looking past the offer with another tight smile.

  Oren nodded crisply. “I’ll take you as far as your den, but then I have other things I need to see to.”

  “I appreciate it.” Jorick moved next to Katelina and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And I wish you
luck.”

  Oren nodded to himself. “We will need more than luck.” Then he added, “We can feed your human on the way.”

  Before either of them could reply, he was gone and the door closed behind him. Katelina let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She’d been afraid that Jorick would change his mind and agree to go with them into another battle. She was sick of fighting and killing and blood. If he’d said he’d go then – then what? Would she turn and run home, leaving him alone? She didn’t know, but luckily she didn’t have to find out.

  Jorick packed what little they had with them in a wrinkled shopping bag. He double checked the room over and, without bothering to unstack the rest of the furniture, they headed out into the night. The air was damp and cold. It cut through Katelina’s borrowed dress as if it was made of tissue paper. Oren’s giant blue car was almost a welcome sight and Katelina slipped into the backseat without comment.

  She settled back and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Jorick climbed in, but she didn’t bother to lean against him for warmth. Until a vampire fed their skin was icy cold. It was only the heat of someone else’s blood that gave them warmth.

  Fed.

  The word made her shudder instinctively. She’d accepted the reality of vampires because she had no choice. All she had to do was look around and the proof was staring at her with glittering, too beautiful eyes. But somewhere, deep inside, was a Katelina who believed in computers, fast food, Twinkies and concrete, and that Katelina didn’t like to think about anyone “feeding” on blood. In fact, that Katelina didn’t like to think about anything that had happened since she’d last been at work, two weeks ago.

  She looked towards the motel to see Oren accompanied by his sister, a curvy red headed vampiress. Torina’s long wavy hair bounced freely around her shoulders and her hips swayed under a slinky dress. Her full lips were moving, but Katelina couldn’t hear the words.

  The pair climbed into the front seat and Torina glanced back over her shoulder. She gave Jorick a once over, pointedly ignoring Katelina. “You’re all ready?”

  Jorick made a noise in his throat. “Yes. We’re ready.”

  Torina dismissed them both and turned back to her brother. “As I was saying, we should move quickly.”

  Katelina cringed, but Jorick laid his arm casually over her shoulders and he gave her a smile, as if to say “Don’t worry.”

  Oren started the car and dropped it into gear. “We’ll make our plans later, Torina.”

  “There shouldn’t be too many plans to make. We kill whoever gets in our way and then I’ll rip out Kateesha’s throat.”

  “Kateesha?” Oren asked, surprised. “Our war is with The Guild. She isn’t a part of the plan.”

  “She’s part of my plan,” Torina growled. “I owe her a debt, and it’s long overdue.”

  Oren sighed heavily. “His blood is cold, leave it that way.”

  Katelina looked at Jorick questioningly, but he made no sign he’d heard the conversation. She poked him in the ribs, but he ignored that, too.

  Torina’s green eyes flashed and she snarled, “I could say the same of you, brother!”

  With those words the car fell into a sickeningly tense silence. Jorick gave Katelina a halfhearted smile before he turned to stare through the window at the town that slipped past. She wished they’d at least turn on the radio, but couldn’t bring herself to suggest it. There were too many memories running around her head for her to feel any kind of peace.

  Though the vampires returned from an early gas station break, looking warmed and fed, it was nearly eight o'clock before Oren remembered his promise to “feed the human” and stopped at a fast food place. It was after they parked that Oren mentioned drive through, but Jorick assured him it was fine.

  “I don’t mind going in.” He swung the heavy car door open. “I’ll be right back.”

  Katelina thought about going with him, but she didn’t want anyone to see her all banged up, so she tried to pretend that she was comfortable being left alone with Oren and Torina. Not that she thought they’d kill her, particularly, but she didn’t know what to say.

  She watched Jorick lope across the parking lot, his hands in his pockets, and disappear inside the building. The door was decidedly uninteresting on its own, so she stared down at her folded hands and willed Jorick to hurry.

  Oren was equally stiff. He stared through the windshield at his own secret world. Silence settled over the three of them in a deep mantle, and only Torina was brash enough to break it. She turned around, glared at Katelina, and said pointedly, “Jorick has done much on your behalf. I hope that you appreciate it.”

  Katelina's mouth opened, but no reply came. It was like a scene from a bad date movie, only the characters were all wrong.

  Oren cut in, “Leave it.”

  “I only think someone should mention it,” Torina purred softly. “It isn’t every day that one of the old Executioners – and Jorick, no less - sacrifices anything for a…” she paused. “Mortal. He hasn't had a lover in many years. And she wasn’t of the mortal variety.”

  “I said leave it!” Oren snapped firmly.

  “Think about it! The way that ended, who would think he'd ever look to a mortal for companionship?”

  “Torina,” Oren hissed without looking at her. “Stop.”

  “Why?” Torina demanded. “You didn’t tell Kateesha what not to say!”

  “Because I’m not responsible for Kateesha or the foolish things she says.”

  Katelina tried to disappear into the upholstery of the backseat, and it seemed to work as they continued their battle.

  Torina snorted sarcastically “The same as you were responsible for Jesslynn?”

  Oren's eyes grew hard and skipped away from her and back to the windshield. “Yes, Torina,” he replied, his tone as cold as his eyes. “The same.”

  Torina’s voice softened, though her words didn’t. “You have no one to blame but yourself, and you know it. You should never have allowed her to turn the children.”

  “Enough! We’re finished!” He turned his head and stared through the driver’s side window, his face white with fury.

  Torina growled low, and muttered something under her breath before she turned to face the front. She sat with her back rigid and her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the night outside.

  Katelina tried not to think about Torina’s words. A pang of jealousy tore through her chest at the word “lover”. She tried to talk herself out of it, but it made the gnawing in her stomach worse, so she turned to logic. “Jorick is obviously…” she paused as she tried to find a description that didn’t bother her, and settled on “old”. Yes, Jorick was old, and it was stupid of her to assume he’d always been single. Still, the thought of him with another woman made her feel… what? Uncomfortable? And Torina’s other words didn’t help. Actually, it wasn’t just Torina, but everyone. Their surprise when they saw her, the sneer in their voices when they remarked that Jorick had a “human”, like she was a diseased house pet that shouldn’t be taken in public. And then Kateesha had gone out of her way to remind her that, even as humans went, she was pretty much just a garden variety woman. It made her wonder what Jorick saw in her; if, in fact, he saw anything.

  She was still musing on dark thoughts when Jorick returned with a “to go” bag in his hand that smelled of hamburger and soggy French fries. She took it gratefully, and started eating before the car was even in gear. She’d never been so tired of being hungry before in her life! It was like the near starvation diet she’d gone on right after high school, except there didn’t seem to be a way to give up and eat a whole carton of ice cream. Jorick was the only one that remembered she needed food, and he seemed to think she only needed it once a night. Feeding once nightly seemed to be the vampire standard; but she wasn’t a vampire.

  Time disappeared into the primordial vacuum that was a car trip. Katelina’s mind turned to jelly as she gazed out the window, ready to weep from
the complete lack of stimulus. Her companions had all fallen into strange worlds of their own: Jorick had lapsed into one of the dark, brooding silences that so punctuated her time with him. Torina stared through the windshield, a smile curving her full, pouty lips and Oren scowled at the road as if it had angered him. Katelina couldn’t help but think that as far as “road trip” companions went, these three ranked only slightly higher than dead hamsters and moldy socks.

  When they passed the “Welcome to Maine” sign it gave her a chance to comment, but no one really cared, and the conversation died quickly. Just when she contemplated screaming for the shock value, they turned onto a well worn side road. The hope of a journey’s end made her suddenly alert, and she was too busy trying to pick details out of the darkness to worry about the others, anymore.

  The headlights landed on a rusty mailbox that leaned crookedly at the end of a long driveway. The sight did little for Katelina’s optimism, and then she saw the back side of the small weathered house and her heart sank. The house sat in the middle of an untidy yard and some distance in front of it was a thick stand of unruly trees, almost like a miniature forest that she couldn’t see beyond. If she’d been hoping for something modern and nice, then she was disappointed.

  The car came to a stop where the gravel driveway faded into a tangle of weeds. Oren spoke quietly without looking back at them, “Here you are, Jorick.” He took a tense breath and exhaled slowly. “I’d ask you to reconsider, but I know it’s pointless.”

  “Yes,” Jorick agreed. “It is.” He collected the plastic bag of belongings and motioned Katelina to get out. “I appreciate the ride, and if you wish, you and Torina may pass the day here.”

  Oren tried to smile, but it was a poor imitation. “No, I’m afraid we must use the hours remaining us to reach our destination. I thank you for the offer, none the less.”