A soft buzzing started in the back of Katelina’s mind. The spokesman on the right motioned to her. “It is obvious from her memories that she was taken against her will and held prisoner.”
“Is it?” The left demanded. The talk of what was inside Katelina’s head doubled her fury. She’d never given them a free pass to her brain.
The vampires on the left continued. “You will note there is a hole in her recollection between being taken for questioning and being returned to her cell. Why are those memories not available? Is she shielding them?”
If I knew how, I’d shield it all, she thought bitterly.
The vampires on the right frowned. “Given the memories surrounding the lapse, hiding them would serve no purpose. One must remember that she was human when it occurred. In its weakness, her mortal mind might have dumped the memories for the sake of preservation. If you examine what comes after you can clearly see that she could not have been colluding with Malick.”
There was another whispered conference, then the golden robed vampire slammed the gavel and announced, “It is this council’s finding that Katelina Mauldin, fledgling of Micah, did not willfully cooperate with Malick the Malcontent. As such, no further inquiries are needed. Final judgment has been made.”
Katelina was torn between anger and relief. When the gavel sounded again she hurried out of the box and took her seat. Jorick wrapped her hand in his, but his attention was focused forward, as if he was running through the thoughts in the councilmen’s minds. Could he do that? Was he powerful enough to break through their defenses? Verchiel had once hinted to her that there was a lot more to Jorick than anyone knew. Though she’d always known he was strong, she wondered just how strong.
Hethin escorted Boris to the dock. Katelina expected the Russian to try to fight or disappear, but he marched forward, his head high and his shoulders straight.
“Presenting Boris of Russia, fledgling of Bassile,” the guard announced. The gavel pounded and the inquiry began.
While the vampires went back and forth, Katelina asked Jorick, “Why is he on trial?”
“To make sure he isn’t working with Malick. If he’s found guilty he’ll be imprisoned.”
A knot of worry settled in her stomach but dissipated as the trial continued. Though the opposition pointed out how useful he’d been to Malick, Boris’ memories of being locked up, occasionally beaten, and starved were enough to prove he wasn’t a willing confederate. Finally, the golden robed vampire smacked the gavel and announced that Boris was free to go as long as he remained in the stronghold for the time being.
The Russian muttered his agreement and followed Hethin out of the room. Katelina could imagine the relief he felt as the double doors shut behind him.
There was only Braydon’s trial left, then she planned to go. She turned to Jorick, to communicate her intentions, when a guard came to a stop before them. Xandria shrank back, eyes wide. “Me?”
Unreasonable fear gripped Katelina and it took all her willpower not to race out of the room.
The guard nodded at Xandria and Katelina struggled to calm herself. What in the hell did they want Xandria for? And why was she so terrified?
She swallowed her fear and forced words out, “Is it really necessary?”
The guard checked his clipboard. “Are you her master?”
“N—yes,” Katelina amended. That was the point of the marking, wasn’t it?
The guard glanced at the council, then back. “Part of the inquiry is to determine who her master is. If they decide it’s you, they’ll call you forward. Until then stay here.” He motioned to Xandria. “This way.”
Xandria straightened her spine and stood. “It’s fine, Kate. Thanks for trying.”
Katelina’s terror disappeared, replaced by anger. “This whole council is bullshit. The idea that humans don’t matter, that we’re second class that—”The look on Jorick’s face stopped her. We. Of course. She wasn’t one of them anymore. How long would it take her to get used to that?
The guard presented Xandria as “Human of questionable ownership,” then stepped back.
The gavel sounded and the vampires on the right interjected immediately, “Until it has been determined who the human’s master is, by our own laws she cannot stand trial, unless she is tried as a rogue human.”
Both councils turned to Xandria. Katelina saw the woman’s knees buckle as they assaulted her mind all at once.
“A conflict has been found for ownership,” the vampire on the left determined. “She associates most closely with Sanjay of India. There is also a claim of ownership by Katelina of the United States, fledgling of Micah. Suggest an examination of the marks to see which is newest.”
The three blue robed vampires left their box and descended on the trembling woman. Katelina had been in that position before; the terrified human surrounded by vampires in a confusing, stilted trial. The anger left over was enough to make her teeth grind.
Xandria nearly fell out of the box in her rush to show the mark on the back of her neck, obviously Sanjay’s handiwork, and the new bite Katelina had left. The vampires looked at one another, as if having a silent conversation, then moved back to the central box.
“It has been determined that the human belongs to Katelina of the United States, fledgling of Micah, until such a time as Sanjay of India causes a petition to be filed on his behalf.”
Fledgling of Micah. Each time they said it her chest ached and Jorick’s scowl deepened.
“Katelina will now join her human.”
Her human. The phrase felt wrong, but she took her place in the box. She patted Xandria on the shoulder and tried to look comforting.
The vampires’ argument was brief. The gold robed vampire announced the decision in a matter of minutes. “It is this council’s finding that the human belonging to Katelina of the United States , fledgling of Micah, being only a human and having no discernable will of her own, is not culpable for her previous master’s association with Malick. As she has a new master, has left the company of the reactionaries, and has no information of any value to this council, she is excused. Final judgment has been made.”
Xandria gave a groan of relief. Katelina dragged her out of the box, passing Braydon as he was dragged to it. She felt more apprehension for him than she had for Boris, but one glance at Jorick’s face made her ignore it. In fact, it would be better if she missed the whole damn trial.
“Presenting Braydon Drake of the United Kingdom, fledgling of Bernard.”
Katelina pulled Xandria to the door. She paused at the threshold and looked back as the accusers said, “Braydon of the United Kingdom chose to join an illegal war and fight under the banner of a dangerous reactionary, whose ultimate goal is to destroy the world, using the Children of Shadows as his puppets.”
Katelina thought she saw Braydon flinch, but reminded herself it wasn’t her concern.
She tugged Xandria into the corridor to the nearest bench. “Thank God that’s over.”
“You’re telling me.” Xandria produced a wrinkled pack of cigarettes. “Are we allowed to smoke in here?”
“I doubt it.”
Xandria gave the pack a look of disappointed longing before she jammed it back. “I assume we’re waiting for Jorick? I hope he hurries up. I feel like crap.”
Sadihra’s words came to mind, “...you probably need blood…” Katelina looked away and tried not to think about how good Xandria had tasted, or about how she still smelled like a ham sandwich. “About that…earlier…I’m…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. All part of the risks, you know?” Something in her eyes said she didn’t completely trust her.
It was several minutes before the doors opened and Jorick stalked down the corridor, Verchiel, Jamie, and Maeko on his heels. “Katelina!” His eyes sought hers. She saw a thousand tell-a-tale fears slither through their depths. “Why did you rush out?”
“I’m fine, but Xandria needs blood.”
Jorick frowned. “I suppose she does. You’ll have to accompany her, since you’ve been ruled as her master.” The frown deepened.
“You act like that’s a bad thing.”
Jamie surveyed them. “It depends how you look at it. You will now be held responsible for everything the human does, or doesn’t do. Depending on the human, that can be problematic.”
The smooth veneer of his expression flickered. Katelina had the impression that something had ended badly. She wished she was a mind reader like Jorick, then she could just pluck it out of his brain. If only it hadn’t been Micah who’d…
Maeko bowed. “If Jorick-ue will excuse my speaking out. Perhaps Verchiel-san and I would be more useful if we found Oren-san and discovered whether he has made arrangements to stay?”
“Yes,” Jamie agreed. “And I should contact The Guild and let them know the ruling.”
Jorick scoffed. “If they care they can find out for themselves.”
Jamie cocked an eyebrow. “Who do you want them to send next time? Ark, perhaps?”
Katelina scowled at that name. Ark. The head of the Executioners. He wasn’t someone she was eager to see again.
“Let them,” Jorick said dismissively. “I’m not afraid of Ark, or The Guild.”
“You don’t respect them, either.”
“Should I?”
Jamie’s eyes narrowed and Jorick waved the conversation away. “Do as you like.” He turned to Katelina. “Come, little one. We’ll get your human taken care of.”
Katelina had to sign to allow Xandria treatment, and Jorick had to take responsibility for the bill.
“I can’t believe they’re charging us,” Katelina muttered as she dropped into a plastic chair in the waiting area.
“Did you think it was free?” Jorick flipped absently through a magazine.
“I thought Europe had socialized medicine.”
“I’d ask what that is, but…”
“It’s free healthcare,” she said.
“Really? Who pays the doctors? Who pays for the medication, or the bandages, or the electricity for the hospital?”
She paused. “Taxes, I guess.”
“Do vampires pay taxes to the Sodalitas?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“No.” He tossed the magazine to the table. “Nothing is free. Everything has a price, whether it’s money, or hard work, or time. You live because something else has died, or given its blood. You obtained that life, or that blood, with money that you or someone else, worked for, trading their time and knowledge for a paycheck. There are no handouts and no shortcuts. Everything cost. The question is, are you willing to pay the required price?”
Katelina had the feeling they weren’t talking about Xandria’s medical bills anymore, but she wasn’t sure what the real subject was.
Jorick closed his eyes and Katelina felt the wall come down. She let her attention roam the small room and noted the sharp smell of antiseptic. Underneath it was the scent of blood, sweat, iodine, and a thousand other smells she couldn’t identify. The blood made her stomach rumble. With disgust, she tried to ignore the sensation and concentrate on something else.
“What was Braydon’s verdict?”
“For joining Malick, he was sentenced to his choice of five years imprisonment or ten years servitude to the Sodalitas.” Jorick’s voice shook with fury. “For kidnapping you, he will have to pay restitution to me. The Lesser Council will try the case to determine how much.”
“Do they mean money? Seriously?”
“Yes, money.” He snarled. “The only restitution I want is his blood! I plan to appeal at the restitution hearing.”
She doubted he’d get anywhere. She’d been human at the time, so she only counted as a possession. Pay off the man whose suitcase you stole and move on.
She tried to channel her fury into something else. A clock hung across the room and she concentrated on the ticking. It grew louder and louder. Just when she couldn’t stand it anymore, it gave way to the soft hum of voices. She strained her ears and soon she could hear Xandria.
“—guess I’m with them for now. Kate’s okay. I don’t know how she got mixed up with that bunch. I mean, the old guy was bad enough but they’re like a death squad, wiping out vampires left and right. Sure, we helped blow some up, but as I said that was all the old guy’s idea. It’s not like there’s anyone controlling Kate’s bunch. Is there? They’re just killers.”
Katelina leaned back in her chair and shook her head. How could Xandria think that she’d been with the good guys? Sure, no one ever thought that they were evil, but that Xandria didn’t recognize Cyprus and the Children of Shadows as bad made Katelina question the woman’s moral compass.
Katelina was starving by the time Xandria was released. She could smell the woman’s blood, and it only made her hungrier and more disgusted.
Without comment, Jorick led them to the restaurant. An open door and row of windows looked out into the corridor. In front of them stood Loren and Ume. The set of their shoulders was uncomfortable, and Katelina caught the boy’s whispered words, “…not much money…”
She called to them, “Loren! Ume!”
The boy’s face lit up. He grabbed Ume’s hand and hauled her toward them. “Thank God! I was afraid they took you guys prisoner or something.” He faltered. “Where’s everyone else?”
“Maeko and the red-headed idiot are supposed to be looking for Oren. And Jamie is making a call,” Jorick added with disgust.
“Cool. How about lunch?”
Jorick rolled his eyes, but motioned the pair to join them. The restaurant was decorated in sharp contrast; white table cloths, black chairs, and gleaming silverware with warm wooden floors and the occasional textured rattan mat on the wall. The mix of organic and cold monochrome was like a metaphor for life and death that Katelina wasn’t in the mood to think about.
“What did the Höher Rat want?” Ume asked.
Katelina gave them a quick run-through that ended when the waiter brought menus. She glanced at hers, expecting the usual selection of food. In its place was a list of blood in different serving sizes, some with flavorings like cinnamon or mint. She looked sharply to Jorick.
He shrugged. “Why would we need menus of food?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed they were all the same.”
“Aren’t they?” Xandria leaned over and studied Katelina’s. “Weird! Mine has food.” She brandished the familiar page. “I guess we get different menus depending on what we are.”
What we are. The choice of words left Katelina staring at her fluted napkin uncomfortably.
The waiter reappeared. Loren and Ume ordered, and Jorick ordered two glasses of plain blood. When he gave Xandria a pointed look she asked, “Am I paying for this, or are you?”
“Just order.”
She ordered something with the word beef in it and the waiter left.
Loren leaned back in his chair. “Oren ended up shelling out for rooms, but he’s crabby about it.”
“He’s always crabby,” Katelina muttered.
“I think some of that’s a front,” Ume said. “He turned Etsuko to save her life. A cold man wouldn’t have done that.”
“Kind of the same thing that happened to you.” Loren grinned at Katelina.
“Except Etsuko had yellow fever.”
Jorick glared at him and the group dropped into an uncomfortable silence. Katelina’s hatred for Malick burned in her chest until it was hard to swallow. It was his fault that things hadn’t worked out the way they were supposed to.
Sorino and Kai walked through the door, the teen on his leash. When they stopped next to the table, Sorino unfastened the chain and slipped it into his pocket. He motioned Kai to sit next to Xandria, then took the chair next to Jorick. “You don’t mind if we join you?”
Jorick gave him a dark look. “Do we have a choice?”
“One always has a choice.” Sorino’s smile gave Katelina chills. The vampire was up to something.
Jorick obviously sensed it. “What do you want?”
“Want? You make it sound mercenary.” The waiter approached and he ordered for himself and Kai, then turned back to Jorick. “I came to give you information concerning the Children of Shadows.”
Ume stiffened, but Jorick asked coolly, “In exchange for…?”
“I’m not asking for anything. I only thought you’d be interested to know that the Sodalitas not only ascertained the Children’s hideout, but sent a death squad to deal with them, led by our friend Wolfe.”
Xandria gaped. “I thought the Children of Shadows split up. Is Cye with them?”
Sorino regarded her like a fly who’d landed on his plate. “If you’re referring to Cyprus, then no. He’s already dead.”
Heartbreak flashed in Xandria’s eyes before she looked to her lap. “Oh. I knew they had casualties, but I was hoping he’d made it.”
Katelina patted her arm comfortingly and Sorino ignored her. “As I was saying, I don’t believe Wolfe will use his resources to their full potential. He is obsessed with rules. Rather than destroy the Children of Shadows, he will bring them back for questioning, trial, and punishment. More lengthy judicial nonsense.” Sorino studied Jorick from under half closed lids. “Sometimes it’s better to handle things the quick way.”
The information felt familiar and Katelina tried to remember where she’d heard it. Boris. He’d mentioned it when he’d told her Sadihra was coming. But how did Sorino find out?
“How do you know?” she asked suspiciously.
Sorino gave her a condescending smile. “I plucked it from Sadihra’s mind while we were in Namibia. And since we arrived I’ve heard from similar sources that Wolfe returns tonight with his prisoners.”
The waiter interrupted with their orders. Xandria poked at what looked like a steak covered in gravy and mysterious vegetables, and Kai started on his sandwich. The vampires drank their blood nonchalantly. Katelina’s instinct left her eyeing the gravy covered steak, but she lifted her warm blood and gave it a swirl. The crimson liquid sloshed up the side. Her stomach knotted, torn between revulsion and hunger.
She glanced at Jorick and, like a teenager with alcohol, threw it back. Unlike cheap booze, the blood didn’t burn. It soothed and she looked at the empty glass with disappointment.
An announcement came over the loudspeaker calling the guard on duty to the “unloading entrance”.
“That sounds like our cue.” Sorino finished his blood and Kai stood obediently, half of his meal on his plate. The vampire glanced to Jorick as he fastened the chain to the boy’s collar. “Care to join us?”
Ume and Loren stood and, though Katelina expected him to say no, Jorick shrugged. “Why not. Come, Katelina. And you’d best bring your human.”
“She has a name, and she isn’t mine.”
“Tell that to the Höher Rat.”
She gritted her teeth and followed them out the door, Xandria trailing behind, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
Sorino led them to the third floor, then down several corridors. They stopped before an elevator with barred doors and a number pad on the wall. Katelina recognized it. They’d used the elevator to flee to the Scharfrichter’s back entrance and escape the stronghold on their first visit. Only then they’d had Cyprus, a former stronghold guard, who knew the combination.
Katelina asked, “How are we going to get in?”
“We’re not.” Sorino crossed his arms. “This leads to a back way out, in the alley across from the vehicle garage: the Scharfrichter’s private unloading entrance. They’ll bring the prisoners through there, then down this elevator. You may recall that when we arrived we had only two prisoners, Malick’s lackey and the Russian, so the Scharfrichters searched them and did their paperwork in the Scharfrichter office upstairs. With as many prisoners as Wolfe is likely to have, they will use the official processing room.” He pointed to a door. “Once they’re finished, the prisoners will be taken to the dungeon by a private elevator, whose entrance is in the processing quarters.”
“And if we’re standing here we’ll see who they’ve captured,” Katelina finished.
Sorino chuckled. “Immortality has done something for your intelligence.”
Katelina scowled, a retort on her tongue, when the telltale whirring of the elevator cut her off. Instinctively she moved behind Jorick, her eyes trained on the gilded, barred door.
A guard pelted down the hallway, his crimson coat flapping behind him. He skidded to a halt before the elevator, then threw a reproachful look over his shoulder. “You must move along.”
Though Katelina and Xandria drew back, the others remained firmly planted as the elevator ground to a halt. The inner doors slid open, leaving the bars in place. The guard called something in German to the occupants, then pressed a number code into the pad on the wall. The bars slid away. Out stepped a Scharfrichter and four prisoners with their hands bound behind them. They wore black ninja-style outfits and Katelina knew that on their backs would be the Dragon-esque symbol of Memnon, the sign of his Children of Shadows.
Except, it wasn’t there.
The final Scharfrichter walked out. The golden emblem gleamed around his neck. His dark brown hair brushed his shoulders, and his cold grey eyes snapped over the hallway and its occupants. It was Wolfe, the leader of the Scharfrichter. “I should have expected your interference. Move on. This corridor is to remain clear.”
At his words, the last prisoner stepped into the hall. She was tall, her blonde hair swept back in a bun. A pale scar ran across one cheek, and part of her ear was missing. Like Wolfe, she glanced at them with a cool expression.
“Fethillen!” Ume cried. Katelina snatched at her, but she wasn’t fast enough to stop the vampiress from running toward the prisoner and her guard.
Reflexively, Wolfe whipped around to face her, his weapon drawn. It looked like someone had stuck several sharp, gleaming blades together on a handle to maximize the cruelty. “Get back now, or I will stop you!”