“Who?” Wolfe asked coldly.
“Ume and Qu-what’s-her-name.”
Wolfe looked uncomfortable. “They were initially charged with attacking Scharfrichter and Executioners, but since it was determined we weren’t on official business, and they didn’t actually attack us first—in fact it was your companion, Micah, I believe, who threw the first blow.” The sneer in his voice said Jorick was somehow to blame.
“He’s hardly my companion,” Jorick replied coldly. “Look to Oren.”
“And is not Oren one of yours?” Wolfe asked.
Sadihra cut in. “It doesn’t matter. What Wolfe was trying to say is that they are to be released.”
“And what of the Children of Shadows?” Jorick asked. “Are there any other rumors of their resurrection?”
Wolfe gulped the last of his blood and leaned back in the chair. “None.”
“Then who attacked us and killed everyone in the marina?” Katelina asked
Wolfe made a low noise. Katelina wasn’t sure what he was aggravated about in particular. Maybe everything. She knew she was.
Katelina wanted dessert, but Wolfe and Sadihra excused themselves. Sadihra said they would have to eat together again, “Should your stay become prolonged.” Katelina hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
She ate her pie in silence. On the way out of the restaurant they ran into Oren and the others, seated at a large table. Micah waved to them and called loudly, “Hey, Lunch! I heard you’re some kind of freak now!”
Jorick only checked his fury a second before he reached him. “If you ever say something like that to Katelina again…”
“What? You’ll rip my head off? Come on.” The bald vampire pushed back from the table and held his arms out in a welcoming gesture. “Let’s go, Executioner dog.”
“Shut the fuck up, Micah,” Katelina snapped. “People are staring.”
“Yeah? Let ‘em stare, huh?” He flexed his muscles and broke into deep throaty laughter. “So what is all this shit, anyway? We gotta stay now until the old geezers in the basement decide you’re not worth hanging on to? Why the fuck didn’t we stay at the beach while they deliberated this shit?”
Oren snapped, “Micah, be still.” Then he turned to Jorick. “How was your dinner with Wolfe?” He said the name with all the distaste he could muster.
“Not as informative as I’d hoped. I imagine we’ll know tomorrow when we can leave.” He shot Micah a final furious look.
“Tomorrow then.” Oren said, though his voice held no optimism.
Katelina was grateful to climb into bed and say goodbye to the horrible day, except she doubted tomorrow would be any better. Like Oren, she expected they’d be stuck at the stronghold for a long time.
Jorick slid in beside her. He hesitated for a moment and then reached for her. She came willingly, though his indecision left her unsure.
“Unsure of what?” he asked, as he stroked the hair back from her face.
“Everything,” she murmured. “This tainted thing…”
He sighed heavily. “You’re not tainted, little one, I told you that already.”
“But you said I’m different.”
“So?”
She couldn’t answer him, couldn’t say she was afraid that just as she’d changed, his love for her might change too.
“Katelina, do you think I’m that shallow?” She didn’t answer and he continued. “Had I turned you as Oren suggested, as we both know will have to be done someday, don’t you think that will change you? Do you think that I’ll stop loving you then?”
“That’s different. Then you’d be the one who… I mean…you’d be the one in control of it.”
“No vampire can control the changes a fledgling undergoes. Oren should’ve inherited an accomplished mind reading ability, but he didn’t. He’s had to struggle for what little of the ability he’s managed. And though Kateesha possessed no speed abilities of any kind, you notice the redheaded idiot is a wind walker.”
“That’s still different.”
He tangled his fingers in her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “No, it’s not, and you’re not different in the sense you think. You’re still who you were before.”
She sighed, but couldn’t find any words.
“I still love you, Katelina.”
She wrapped her arms around him and murmured, “I love you, too.”
Katelina’s dreams were nightmares. Raging seas, thundering storms, and bloody vampire councils. They took her to a dungeon where they put her in a cage and did Dark Age experiments on her.
The dream shifted to a room with painted pillars. A large window was set in the wall, and she took a step towards it when she was conscious of another presence. She turned to see him standing to one side, his long black hair shimmering in the lantern light.
She breathed in the feelings of warmth and peace that flowed from him; the comfortable familiarity, like finding home in the middle of a battlefield.
“It is a battle that does not concern you.”
“It’s the Kugsankal,” she murmured, eyes closed. Though she knew she should be terrified at that word, she wasn’t.
“It is all meaningless.” She opened her eyes to see him motion to the window. Lightning slithered across dark skies, and rain fell on a landscape painted with night. “Even this will fade and pass away to nothing.”
She woke with those final words echoing in her ears. She blinked in the darkness and tried to recall the dream, but the details were lost to the world of sleep. All that was left was a feeling of tranquility and the knowledge that everything would be all right because none of it mattered. It would all fade away, anyhow.
She dressed and emerged from the bathroom as Jorick woke. He caught her and gave her a long good morning kiss, then dressed and asked if she’d like to go for breakfast. The restaurant was as crowded as usual, and they ate in virtual silence. Something nagged at the back of her mind, drowned out periodically by a host of worries. It was all too much, and she wished the strange calm she’d woken with would return.
They checked back at the room but there was no summons to speak to either the Höher Rat or the Kugsankal. Waiting in the room for the axe to fall seemed too horrible, so they set off to wander around the stronghold.
“If we keep doing this you’ll learn your way around,” Jorick teased.
“I hope we don’t get the chance.”
They soon found the common area, which was crowded by stores like a shopping mall. One had a sign for photo developing, so they fetched the full disposable camera and dropped it off, then stopped at a bookstore. Jorick browsed the shelves with interest, occasionally selecting something and then putting it back with an air of disappointment.
“Can’t find anything you haven’t read?” Katelina asked.
“Not worth reading.”
She knew better than to argue with him and his books. She browsed the magazines instead, and selected one on spring fashions when she saw Ume, one of the prisoners they’d brought with them. The vampiress stepped in the door and looked from face to face, as if seeking someone. Disappointment blossomed on her features, and she started to leave when she spotted Katelina and Jorick.
Ume hurried over, and Katelina noted she was still wearing her odd black ninja outfit. “I’m looking for Aki—the one you call Verchiel. Do you know where he is?”
“Sorry, no. I take it he hasn’t talked to you yet?”
Ume’s expression wavered, and then crumpled and large tears sprang up in her eyes. “No.”
Katelina didn’t want to feel sympathy for her. Ume had attacked them. But really, she hadn’t hurt anyone. Not like the first four. Even the Höher Rat was letting her go.
She motioned to a bank of chairs against one wall. “We might as well sit down. Who knows how long Jorick will be.”
Ume took the chair and quickly blotted her tears. Katelina sat and sought for something to say. She didn’t want to blurt out, “What’s the deal with you and Verchiel?” Not only di
d it seem rude, but she doubted she’d get an answer. It would be better to start smaller.
“I heard they released you. Are you staying here, or going home?”
“I’d like to go home. They said they will help us, but we have to pay for it ourselves.”
There was a lot of that where The Sodalitas was concerned. Here, we dragged you to Munich, but now pay for your own room, your own food, and, if you want to leave, your own travel arrangements. It seemed like a scam.
“We don’t have any money,” Ume continued. “And I can’t get in contact with Fethillen without a radio. I don’t know what to do. Quenby’s trying to locate one, but I doubt she’ll have any luck. They’re happy to be helpful here so long as you don’t actually need any help.”
Katelina thought of Torina and the extra coffins in her room. “If you need a room maybe we can arrange something.”
Ume faltered. “Are—are you sure? After the way we met, I…I assumed you’d regard me as your enemy.”
Katelina shrugged. “As long as you’re not going to attack us anymore.”
“No, of course not. At the time we thought you were with them, but I know Aki would not be a member.”
There was the opening Katelina’d been looking for. “Why do you keep calling him Aki?”
“Because that’s his name. Or it was before he disappeared. I don’t know where he came up with Verchiel. Isn’t that the name of an angel?”
“I don’t think he came up with it,” Katelina said vaguely. “I think Kateesha came up with it, when she turned him.”
“It doesn’t fit him,” Ume said firmly.
“That’s true, he’s no angel. In fact I think he’s a bit of a player.” Katelina caught herself. “I mean… I’m, uh, I’m sure you and he, you know, meant something…”
“He and I?” Ume asked, surprised. “You think we were lovers?”
Katelina felt very uncomfortable. “Oh. Well, Jorick said you loved him…” She trailed off lamely.
“I do,” Ume said unabashedly. “But he wasn’t my lover. He’s my brother.”
Chapter Six
Katelina gaped at Ume and stuttered, “Your b-brother? Are you serious?”
“Why? What has he said about me?”
“Nothing,” Katelina answered truthfully. “Verchiel says he doesn’t remember anything from before he was turned into a vampire.” Katelina rubbed her face. “But if you’re his sister…did Kateesha turn you too?”
Ume scowled. “Is that her name? The one who lured Aki away?” Katelina didn’t answer and she went on, “He left with a strange, dark woman. I tried to follow him, but I was unsuccessful. If it hadn’t been for rumors…” She took a deep breath. “I knew there was something unnatural about her or she couldn’t have bewitched him into abandoning me. Our parents were dead and I had no one else. In my ignorance I thought the woman was a witch or a demon. Then I discovered what she really was, and there were rumors she’d made him one, too. So when Fethillen offered to share the gift with me I accepted. That’s how I came to be a member of the Black Vigil.”
Katelina had nothing to say. She could only stare. Now that she knew their connection she could see a resemblance; the same violet eyes, the same Asian inspired features, and yet Ume’s hair was a normal, natural black.
Ume filled the silence, “It’s odd for the quest to end where it started. Like an eternal circle.”
“What do you mean?” Katelina asked.
“The city where we found you at the marina. That was where we used to live when we were human. Though it was different then. They called it Batavia.” She stopped. “I’m sorry, I doubt you want to hear about it. It isn’t very interesting and my memories are mostly impressions and disconnected pieces.” She fell silent for a moment, then said, “If he remembers nothing of before, it makes sense he wouldn’t know me. I’m not sure he’ll welcome the information.”
“I don’t know. I think he likes not having the burden of a past, but sometimes not knowing where you came from must be like a kind of hole, you know?”
“Maybe. But how do I tell him? When I thought he knew, it was simple, but if he doesn’t? We were only together for sixteen years before he disappeared, and that was more than three hundred years ago. I’m not sure a family tie from that distance matters. But I spent so long looking for him that it became a sort of life defining quest. To find it ended so unexpectedly, and in such a way…it wasn’t what I imagined. When I called to him I expected him to be surprised; so far as I’m aware he didn’t know I’d been turned into his kind. It never occurred to me that he wouldn’t recognize me. Maybe I should go?”
“No,” Katelina said. “If you’ve been looking for him that long, it seems a shame to abandon him like that.”
They fell silent. Katelina wished she hadn’t gotten involved. When she’d thought Ume was a jilted lover it was one thing. That would’ve been Verchiel’s fault, but a sister he couldn’t remember because Kateesha had screwed up the turning process…That was something Katelina didn’t want to be tangled up in.
She looked up as Wolfe walked through the door, his usual cold expression in place. He glanced at Katelina and as quickly dismissed her and headed toward Jorick. She squinted in their direction and tried unsuccessfully to hear their conversation. Most of the other customers scrambled to get to the other side of the store, their eyes on Wolfe and his medallion.
Jorick gave a sharp, unhappy nod and then he and Wolfe walked toward the girls. He paused to give Ume a calculating look, then addressed Katelina, “The Kugsankal wish to see us and make their decision.”
The words were straight from a nightmare. Katelina clutched the arm of the chair. “That was fast.”
“Yes. It is considered top priority.” Wolfe said. “I will lead you to them.”
Katelina tried to reason her fear away. They wouldn’t really lock her up as some kind of unallowable freak—would they?
“I won’t allow them to do that,” Jorick said fiercely. “We escaped this place once, and can do so again.”
Wolfe cocked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t say that if I were you.”
Katelina forced down her terror and stood. Ume did the same, and Katelina tried to appear calm. “We’re in room number 491. If you want to come by later we can finish our discussion.”
Ume’s smile was brittle and forced. “Yes. And good luck.”
“Thanks.” Katelina gave her a halfhearted wave, and let Jorick lead her out of the bookstore. They were going to need all the luck they could get.
Wolfe led them to an elevator and then down to what appeared to be the bottom most floor of the stronghold. The elevator opened on a red carpeted corridor and Katelina shivered. She could feel the energy of the ancient vampires seeping through the stones, threatening to suffocate her with their years.
They wound through several corridors until they came to a silver door overlaid with gold bars, like an old-fashioned elevator. Wolfe pressed a button on a cybertronic box next to it. Katelina remembered that he’d said its facial recognition software was based on a photo database, but she wasn’t sure how that worked.
The bars slid aside and Wolfe unlocked the door behind them. The hallway inside was narrow, and they walked single file, Wolfe in the lead and Jorick in the back. Katelina felt sandwiched between them, and as they headed deeper and deeper, door after door unlocked and left behind, the airless sensation grew until she stumbled and leaned against the wall.
“It’s all right,” Jorick said. “You’ve seen them before.”
“It’s worse this time, like they’re more aware.”
“More awake, perhaps,” Wolfe said stiffly. “Come, please.”
At last they reached a tiny but ornate elevator. Wolfe pressed one of the glowing green buttons, and the elevator dropped to open on a room decorated with a heavy couch and several fake plants. Wolfe moved to a gilt framed mirror on the back wall, and paused as a piece of wall slid aside; a secret door.
“This way, please.”
>
Beyond the mirror was a hall that ended at a door. Katelina struggled to make herself walk against what felt like a pounding current of consciousness, as if the air had turned to treacle. The room on the other side was lit by a single shaded bulb in the center. What was visible of the walls was carved wood, and the rest was lost to a darkness that seemed alive.
A voice in Katelina’s head said, “Come.” And though she didn’t want to, she obeyed. It was one of the Kugsankal, so ancient they preferred telepathic conversation to verbal.
Katelina stopped in the center of the room. At a low table, at the edge of the light, were three motionless vampires. Like marble statues carved by a master, their faces were ageless. They could have been anything from six to forty-six, as if vampirism and time had washed even that characteristic away.
Katelina had been unable to look at them on her last visit, but this time she noticed a few things. Inanna sat in the middle, the shortest of the three. Her long silvery hair fell around her face and her cerulean eyes burned like the heart of some flame. The male on her right had black shoulder length hair and the hint of a beard. Like Inanna, it was his eyes that were the most jarring; they were an orangey brown, and made Katelina think of blood.
The last male sat with his hands folded on the table. Dark chestnut hair fell to his shoulders and his eyes were thankfully closed.
Then, he opened them.
If Inanna was icy fire, this was a black hole, like falling into nothingness with no way of knowing if she could ever get back. Jorick, Wolfe, the room, even the other two members of the Kugsankal disappeared. There was nothing but cold, endless darkness. A scream lodged in the back of her throat, but she couldn’t make a sound; couldn’t move, couldn’t pull out of the blackness. There was a door whose edges were even darker than the void, and she reached for it, though she knew that what lay beyond should not be seen. Not yet.
“Release her!”
The command was sharp, like a fiery blade that cut through the freezing night. The darkness dissolved and she was suddenly back in the room, clutching Jorick’s arm and staring into the expressionless face of an ancient vampire.
Children of Shadows Page 7