Jorick returned before Oren and motioned Katelina and Verchiel to follow him. They reached the lobby of the movie theater just as it was getting out. A group of vampires swarmed past, talking loudly about the movie and the lockdown. That was when Jorick leaned close to Katelina and said, “Sadihra will help us get out.”
“Really?” A wave of relief swept through her.
“Why?” Verchiel asked.
“There’s been an attack in Syria. Like Turkey, there were few survivors. Wolfe is in the field and since the attack she hasn’t been able to reach him. She’s worried he was injured or killed and since she can’t go herself she wants us to. She’s still suspended for her last rash vacation. If she leaves without permission again she’s likely to be permanently relieved.”
“Which is what caused the rift between her and Wolfe in the first place,” Katelina said. “He wanted her to quit being a Scharfrichterin and she refused.”
Jorick nodded. “If she gets relieved of duty then all of that was for nothing.”
Katelina understood but it was still hard to believe. “I’m surprised she trusts us to go in her place.”
Jorick smiled. “She doesn’t, but she can’t think of another solution.”
Katelina was suspicious. “Did she think of this one on her own?”
“Of course.”
She swore she saw something less than innocent in his eyes, but she swallowed her objections. “How are we going to get out?”
Jorick glanced at the dwindling crowd. “Sadihra fears there will be a revolt in the stronghold soon, and I agree. We’ll wait until it’s started and sneak out during the bedlam. Sadihra knows of a maintenance shaft that leads to the garage and she will arrange for a plane at the airfield.”
“And if we get caught?” Katelina asked.
Verchiel grinned. “Best not to be, I imagine. Sounds like fun. When do we leave?” The crowd was thinning and any moment they’d be the only ones left.
“As soon as they revolt.” Jorick caught Katelina’s hand. “It wouldn’t hurt if someone made sure the revolution started at a convenient moment. I suppose we’ll have to wait until that moron is out of prison tomorrow. It would be better to go while he was there, more unexpected, but I doubt Oren would come. He has a bizarre sense of loyalty.”
“Probably because Micah joined him in his war on The Guild,” Katelina suggested.
Verchiel lit up. “So shall we spend time among the masses?”
“I believe that’s a job for you,” Jorick said.
They met the crew at the café the next day. It was teeming with vampires, and Katelina couldn’t figure out why Jorick had chosen to meet there. “It’s hardly discreet.”
“The best place to hide is in plain sight,” he answered. “This way the cameras won’t be able to catch our conversation.”
“What do they need with cameras when they have so many mind readers? Not to mention the Kugsankal in the basement.”
“Because they’re open to all the thoughts, all of the time. It would be near to impossible for them to keep them constantly untangled.”
“Do you have that problem?”
Before he could answer they discovered Oren and the gang at a pair of tables. Micah leaned back in his chair and held his arms out. “What, Lunch, no ‘yay you’re out of jail’ hug?”
“It takes more than that to get affection around here,” Torina teased.
Before they could get derailed, Jorick took a seat and motioned them to silence. In a low voice he explained that Sadihra had offered to help them escape during the rebellion.
“What rebellion?” Torina asked. “We’ve only been locked down for five days.”
“That’s why it hadn’t gotten very far,” Verchiel said. “Luckily I prodded a bit. It might take another day or two to get organized.”
Jorick nodded toward the corridor. “When the fighting starts we’ll meet at the elevators near the coffee shop.”
“Are you inviting Ume and I to go with you?” Quenby asked suspiciously.
Jorick nodded. “We want to meet with the Black Vigil.”
“It was my idea,” Ume said. “They need answers only Fethillen has.”
Micah downed his blood in a single gulp. “Where is this Black Vigil at?”
“Northern Finland,” Ume said.
Jorick interrupted. “Since we don’t know when we’ll leave, it’s best to pack early and be ready. Take only what you must. The smaller your luggage, the better.”
“What about all of my dresses?” Torina cried.
Oren snorted. “I suggest you learn to live with fewer.”
The conversation fell off. Katelina turned to her pastry and tried not to seem conspicuously nervous. On the other hand, a human having lunch with eight vampires probably should be worried. She tried to ignore it, but vampires – even vampires she liked – were feeding off of humans in one way or another. The stronghold might sanitize it by getting it from blood banks and donors, putting it in glasses, and even adding cinnamon, but human blood was human blood.
When they’d finished eating, Jorick turned to Katelina. “Come, little one. I’m afraid you’ll have to pare down your luggage, as well.”
She soon learned that Jorick’s idea of luggage was a large purse from one of the stronghold’s shops.
“Not to sound like Torina, but you’re joking?”
“We can get more clothing later,” he said. “We cannot get out later. As soon as Wolfe surfaces , Sadihra’s offer will evaporate.”
“You think he will?” Katelina dumped her clothes and accessories out on the bed and started sorting. The overwhelming heaviness of the stronghold was there, but in the background, like a toothache dulled by painkillers.
“Yes. I imagine he’s fine.” Jorick pulled out a single shirt, a pair of trousers, the plastic soap holder and his toothbrush. “That should be more than enough for me. Traveling in luxury, really.” He gave her a wink.
She gathered all her clean underwear into a wad and glared at him. “Hardly. If you think Wolfe’s all right, then aren’t we using Sadihra?”
“It depends on how you look at it. You might skip your pajamas. They’re not necessary.”
She hated to admit it, but he was right. Depending on their sleeping arrangements she might sleep fully clothed. “And that doesn’t bother you?”
“What? Your sleeping without pajamas?” He grinned lasciviously. “Not at all.”
“No! I mean using Sadihra!”
“She’d use us if she deemed it necessary, as would anyone. People are not as self-sacrificing as you think.”
“Maybe they’re not as self-centered as you think?”
He gave her an indulgent smile. “I’m afraid in five hundred years I’ve found the opposite is true. Never mind. Hang on to your optimistic innocence. It’s one of the things I find so interesting about you.”
“Only one?”
“Yes, there’s quite a list.” He picked up a Ziploc baggie that held random odds and ends; rubber bands, chap stick, nail polish, some gum, a tarnished metal cross. “I imagine you’ll want this?”
She snatched it from him. “Do you really think we’ll be able to get everyone out?”
“We’ll have to. I can’t leave Oren behind, and he refuses to go without his new coven. He’ll never get the hang of being free of one.”
“Not like you? Or am I the start of your coven?” she joked as she sifted through socks.
“You have to be a vampire to belong to a coven.” He smirked. “Until then you’re just a slave.”
“I’ll show you slave.”
He leaned over her shoulder and murmured suggestively in her ear, “I might like to see it some time. You could start by calling me master.”
He expertly dodged the shoe.
The next evening they were still at the stronghold. Katelina watched TV and tried to hide from the nearness of the Kugsankal. It didn’t feel as if they were purposefully bothering her, just crushing her by proximity. She wondered how the usual residents put up with it.
Jorick paced restlessly around the room and finally announced he needed to see Oren.
He’d been gone some time when a knock sounded on the door and she opened it to find Verchiel.
“My, you are way down here, aren’t you? Metaphorically speaking, how would you like to get some air?”
She thought about Jorick’s reaction, but he’d let her go with Sadihra the other day. If he thought the Scharfrichterin was capable of taking care of her then Verchiel should be. He was probably older. . “Yeah, sure.”
“Better grab your coat and your luggage.” He held up his own leather bag. “Just in case.”
She rolled her eyes, but donned her long black coat, a hand me down from Jorick, and then grabbed the bulky purse and slung it over her shoulder. “There.”
They left the lower levels behind and roamed through the public floors, past shops full of things she couldn’t buy—there was no more room in her bag—and groups of vampires. There was something palpable in the air; like heavy anger, and more than once she caught angry glares, until she wondered if there was something wrong with her.
“You’re a human,” Verchiel said cheerfully. “And an American, neither of which make you an ideal companion, but it’s not you.” He rubbed his hands together. “I think the time is ripe. Let’s go have some fun.”
His idea of fun was an elevator ride to the crowded entrance hall. Guards holding silver maces and armed Scharfrichter ringed the room. In the middle was a seething mass of angry vampires.
“Better hold on.” Verchiel offered her his arm and she took it uncertainly. He plunged into the multitude, worming his way through the crush of the crowd toward the stairs where the guards and Scharfrichter were the thickest.
He pulled to a stop and whispered in her ear, “Stay here.” Then he pushed forward and evaporated, leaving her grabbing after thin air.
The crowd moved around her and knocked her into a large, burly vampire. He growled down at her. “Watch it!”
“Sorry,” she said quickly. What in the hell was Verchiel thinking?
“Let us out!” a voice shouted from the front of the crowd.
There was a murmur of agreement and someone else called, “Why are you keeping us here?”
Another vampire shouted, “Yeah, let me leave! I got stuff to do! I only came to visit my sister for a week!”
A female with bright maroon hair yelled, “I don’t want out, just let my girlfriend in! She’s stuck out there, in Munich, with nowhere to go!”
“You don’t want her in here,” someone hollered from the far side. “They’ll charge her a boatload and refuse to let her out.”
“They’re taking our money!” another one cried from the back of the group. “That’s why they won’t let us leave!”
The idea permeated the crowd, and the anger got thicker.
“Yeah,” a woman near Katelina said. “If they want us to stay then they shouldn’t charge us.”
“Right, prisoners get free room and board!”
Verchiel popped up next to Katelina, as though he’d crawled through the crowd and stood. He gave Katelina a wink, then met the eyes of the bulky vampire next to her. The vampire’s face went slack, then he shouted, “That’s what we are! Prisoners! And we’re payin’ for the privilege.”
Verchiel patted Katelina on the shoulder, then dropped and disappeared. The bulky vampire didn’t seem to notice that he’d been under any influence and added, “You’re as good as stealing our money!”
There was a chorus of agreement that melted into individual complaints. Someone from the back started to chant, “Let us out! Let us out!” and soon the whole mass took it up.
Their voices echoed off the marble walls and Katelina covered her ears. The guards gripped their weapons and the Scharfrichter shouted, “Stop and disperse! We are authorized to use force if necessary!”
“Force?” someone bellowed. “You’ll kill us so you can keep charging us?”
“That’s the way it works with The Sodalitas!” a male with a thick accent called.
The chant started up again and someone in the front pushed one of the guards. The guard gave a cry and lashed back with his mace. The weapon connected with a crunch and knocked the vampire back into the crowd.
“Did you see that?” a female screamed. “They killed him!”
The answer was a roar of anger, and the crowd surged forward. Katelina was swept along, squashed between angry, writhing bodies. She struggled, but they didn’t seem to notice. She could hear shouts and cries as the front of the group clashed with the guards and the Scharfrichter. A splatter of blood splashed up above the crowd and Katelina cried in horror as it fell over them like a shower. She was far enough back that only a few drops splattered on her face, but it was enough.
“Kately!” The call came from behind her and she tried to turn against the tide. She could see the top of Verchiel’s bright red hair sticking up among the mob, but the throng forced her forward.
There was a great cry from the front of the line, and they were all pushed backwards, as if a wall had come down. Katelina stumbled and fell against the bulky vampire. He pushed her off, taking no notice, and bellowed toward the Scharfrichter, “Your fucking tricks won’t do any good!”
The loud speaker crackled to life and an urgent message went over it, calling for immediate backup. The pack surged forward again. This was it; their window, and she was stuck and probably going to be crushed by the Scharfrichter!
“Get back!”
The vampires around her fell away, leaving her room to breathe. Their faces were startled, but they didn’t have time to do more than stare before Verchiel appeared next to her and dragged her down to her knees.
“What in the hell are you doing?” she cried. “We’ll get crushed!”
“This way.” The redhead dragged her through the forest of feet and legs. She half crawled, half stumbled until she reached the edge of the crowd, where she practically fell out. Verchiel caught her and dragged her to the stairs as an army of guards and Scharfrichter came storming up them.
Verchiel let her go and quickly knelt. “All the reinforcements are coming, and this place is about to turn into a war zone. Climb on!”
There were times when she’d have argued, but this wasn’t one of them. She threw her arms around his neck and, as he stood, hitched her knees up around his waist.
“Don’t scream,” he ordered and then took off, streaking down the stairs. His bright red hair flapped in her face, and she turned her head, but the blur of stairs and wall made her sick, so she squeezed her eyes closed and buried her face against the collar of his coat.
They skidded to a stop and Katelina groaned and tried to adjust to the halt. The elevator doors swam before her and she heard another round of shouts over the loudspeaker, this time in German.
“So that was the great underground movement?” Katelina asked, still clutching him.
“No, the underground movement is the reinforcements I mentioned. That was just the spark to get things rolling. The rebellion proper was waiting for the signal to start, like we were.”
“That was the signal, right?”
Katelina looked over to see Ume and Loren. She wondered what they were doing together, but the pleased look on Loren’s face gave her a hint.
“It damn well better be the signal.” Micah came to a stop and dropped a backpack to the floor. “Where’s the rest of the gang?”
“I’m here,” Torina announced as she and Quenby arrived. The redheaded vampiress wore a 1950s style winter coat and lugged an overstuffed duffle bag. Katelina could imagine her saying, “I did get rid of things. This is only the ten or twelve necessary outfits and coordinating shoes and accessories.”
Verchiel grinned, and Torina ran her eyes over them. “Is it fashionable now to wear a human on your back?”
Jorick’s cold voice came from behind them, “No, it isn’t.”
Katelina scrambled to get down as Jorick pushed his way to the front, Oren and Etsuko behind him. The lion-maned vampire wore his usual long gray coat and had a satchel slung over his shoulder. Etsuko’s puffy white coat and fur lined hood looked too warm for the indoors, and forced her to carry her bulging overstuffed backpack like a carry-on.
Jorick gave Verchiel a dark look, and then hit the button for the elevator. The doors whisked open and they stuffed themselves inside. Jorick hit the button for the bottom floor, and Katelina and Oren exchanged questioning looks that quickly melted into feigned cool indifference. It wouldn’t do for them to agree, but she couldn’t stop her thoughts. What in the hell is he doing?
When the elevator stopped, Jorick led them out into the red carpeted corridor. They wound through the hallways, closer and closer to the secret entrance of the Kugsankal, and Katelina tensed. The thrum of their years pounded in her ears and stole her breath. The sensation grew almost unbearable as they passed the silver door and Katelina shivered. She imagined she could feel the ancients reaching up through the hallways and elevators, ready to drag her down to their subterranean sanctuary. She wanted to push them out, but was afraid it would draw their attention away from the swarm upstairs.
The loud speaker sounded again. The voice was filled with panic and choked off into a semi-hysterical scream. Verchiel shrugged as if to say whatever happened up there wasn’t his fault, but she wasn’t so sure.
They turned a corner and came to an abrupt stop. A vampire stood in the middle of the corridor, a surly expression on his face. Though he was dressed in jeans and a sweater, Katelina recognized him. It was Burton, the guard Micah had assaulted!
Katelina clutched Jorick’s arm and tried to communicate the danger to him. No doubt catching them would earn him his lost favor and end his suspension.
“What are you doing?” Burton demanded.
“Exactly what you think,” Jorick said impassively.
Burton looked past him and locked eyes with Micah. The bald vampire responded with a sneering grin that invited violence.
Burton looked away. “Then follow me.”
He moved to an air conditioner grating in the wall and snapped out the cover to reveal a long, dark tunnel. “She’s waiting in the garage.” Jorick started forward and Burton cleared his throat noisily. “The orders were not to wait for you.”
Katelina gave him a puzzled look, but Jorick nodded stiffly and crawled into the hole. Katelina looked from him to Burton. When he didn’t clarify, she followed Jorick on her knees. The tunnel was really an air conditioner shaft. The only light came through the opening, and as they crawled forward it faded and left her blind. She strained against the darkness until she fancied she could see the vague outline of Jorick ahead of her.
“Stop.”
Jorick’s command came too late and she ran into him. Someone ran into her, and from the “oofs” and “watch its” she imagined everyone running together like a train buckling on a track.
There were a few clanging sounds and then the noise of ripping metal. Jorick moved forward and after a moment called back, “Come but be careful. There are sharp edges.”
She felt her way forward and cautiously crept through the hole he’d created. What was beyond wasn’t made of metal, but cold stone. It was another low tunnel and she moved forward slowly. Luckily the passageway was short, and soon she sensed that the walls had fallen away.
“We’ve crossed under the street,” Jorick said as he helped her to her feet. “That was probably once part of a sewer.”
“Ewww!” She wiped at her clothes as if removing invisible but ancient yuck.
“It’s fine,” Jorick said. “Now we have to climb, and we need to hurry. They should be close to quashing the rebellion.”
“I don’t know,” Verchiel commented from her right elbow. “They’re organized in waves.”
Katelina squinted against the black and thought she saw the outlines of a ladder. “How am I supposed to go up that in the dark?”
“Climb on my back,” Jorick ordered impatiently. When she was in position he said, “Hold on,” then pulled them upwards quickly. She couldn’t see, but she could imagine the height, and squeezed her eyes closed against it, as if that would blot out the image of falling stories to their death.
Or at least to her death.
When they reached the top, Jorick knocked on the ceiling, and then a trap door opened and light flooded the shaft.
Katelina shut her eyes against the onslaught, but opened them again as Jorick pulled them out into the cavernous room above. She dropped slowly to the floor and looked around the brightly lit garage. A plethora of black vehicles were parked in shiny rows and Sadihra stood nearby.
The rest of the group climbed out, and Katelina noticed with surprise that Oren had carried Etsuko. He set her down wordlessly, and then glared at Katelina, as if he wanted to make sure there was no mistaking his motives.
Loren popped up. He gave a self-satisfied grin, obviously proud that despite his one arm, he’d made it to the top unassisted. Micah was the last out. He slapped the teen on the back and then they all turned to Sadihra.
“I see we have quite a gathering.” The Scharfrichterin pressed a button on a key ring remote. One of the SUVs beeped and the headlights flashed. She held the keys out to Jorick. “I have two pilots and a plane waiting at the airfield. You can find it by following the GPS built into the dash. Leave the keys in the center console and the SUV in the parking lot.”
Jorick took the keys, studied them a moment, then turned to Oren. “GPS?”
The lion-maned vampire shrugged and Verchiel snatched them. “Global Positioning Something. I got this.”
Sadihra winced but only said, “You should not be harassed. The pilots believe the mission is sanctioned but covert, and so have orders to maintain radio silence with The Sodalitas. Contact me as soon as you find Wolfe, no matter what his condition.”
Though Sadihra hid behind the words, Katelina knew what she really meant; even if Wolfe was dead.
They jammed into the SUV. Katelina sat in Jorick’s lap, squashed against Loren until she felt they might really be Siamese twins. Verchiel drove the vehicle out through an automatic garage door. As they turned onto the street, Katelina caught a last glimpse of Sadihra framed in the gaping door, her face creased with worry.