“Just as I suspected.” Wolfe glared from one to the other. “You have much to answer for.”
“If you mean your guards—”Jorick began. Wolfe cut him off.
“That is an issue. More important are the orders you disobeyed. You were to return with me to Munich, instead you ran to Laos. You do not understand what it means to serve the Sodalitas!”
“I don’t serve them. I was only reinstated because Malick thought I would join his rebellion. I’m not here by their command, or yours. I’m here to kill Malick.”
“He isn’t here.”
“He will be.”
Wolfe and Jorick glowered at one another while clouds of power gathered around them. Finally Wolfe relented. “Yes. Our intelligence reports that he will arrive tomorrow with an army. We know that Samael can stop them. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, just as we’re unsure whether he would respect civilian lives. As a precaution, we have evacuated the area. No one is allowed to enter. That includes you.”
Micah scoffed. “If this is where Malick is gonna be, then this is where we’re gonna be.”
“You could fight us, if you wish,” Sorino said smoothly. “Or you could join us.”
Wolfe laid his hand to the radio on his hip. His eyes moved from one to the other, calculating. Finally, he relented. “I will allow you to enter, but only because I wish to speak to this Samael.”
Without further comment, Jorick scooped Katelina up and bounded over the wall in several leaps.
Samael waited on the other side, wearing yellow robes, his black hair long around his shoulders. She caught her breath as she met his jewel-like eyes. The depths spoke to her of summer turning to autumn, burnished grain and golden leaves dripping from swaying branches. For a moment she could smell the drying grass, feel the sun, taste the last of the summer breeze. Then a voice whispered through her mind.
“You think I will take her?”
The words brought her back. She realized she was still in Jorick’s arms. He set her on her feet, but kept his arm around her shoulders.
“I do not cage that which wishes to be free. Neither should you.”
Katelina realized the conversation was meant for Jorick. Had everyone else heard it?
Verchiel hopped over the wall, Xandria in tow. He deposited her on the ground, then disappeared to help the others. Xandria looked to Samael. She froze. Her mouth went slack and her eyes glazed over.
Samael turned away and she crumpled to the ground. Katelina hurried to her side to find her unconscious.
“He’s too much for her,” Jamie said.
Ryuu was already asleep when Verchiel landed. Katelina suspected Maeko had done it to spare him Xandria’s fate.
Samael studied them and Katelina had a sense that he was speaking to them individually. He paused at Sorino. She wondered what he could possibly say to the double dealing treasure hunter.
“Do you want to know?”
She flushed and dropped her eyes.
“I asked him if this moment was worth the effort to attain.”
She tried speaking to him silently, “What did he say?”
“He said ‘It will be.’”
Samael stepped back, as if he’d been through them all and was no longer interested. “You may stay if you wish. There are servants to attend to your needs.”
As he walked gracefully away, a single phrase whispered through her mind. “Welcome back.”
After a heartbeat Micah said, “That’s it? I thought there was gonna be a fight.”
Verchiel shrugged. “He doesn’t seem one for violence. Why would he be when he can explode your head with a look?”
Katelina had a sudden memory of the battle in the Raven Queen’s temple. Samael hit one of Malick’s lackeys with a ball of power. Blood, brains, and bits of skull rained around them. The headless body had slumped to the floor, scarlet pouring from the stump.
Maeko’s voice brought her back to the present. “This way, I believe.”
Katelina’s recollection of the complex was blurry, so she followed the pint sized vampiress to a collection of buildings. One of them seemed familiar. She peered through the window to a built-in bed and a vanity table loaded with random objects. The bedding was missing. Yes, this was where she’d stayed.
It was hard to find a room without windows. At last they settled into one large enough for them to lie on the floor. Verchiel deposited the unconscious Xandria, and Etsuko woke her up.
“It’s okay.” She sat next to the woman.
“What was that?” Xandria rubbed her head. “It was like looking into an exploding H bomb.”
“Yeah, he’s something like that.”
Two men and two women entered, carrying bedding and braziers. The men set the heavy metal basins in the corners and lit them, while the women laid out the beds. One of them caught Katelina’s eye. A spark of recognition flared, as though she should know her, but she didn’t.
Micah watched the girls appreciatively. When they left he broke into a grin. “I’d take a couple of them any day. Where’d Samael dig ‘em up at?”
“They were here when he took over.” Wolfe selected a bed roll. “Tourists and hotel staff. I imagine he’s drained some of them, and kept the rest as servants. They’ve been reported dead to their families; killed in the poisonous gas leak.”
“People really believe that?” Xandria asked.
Loren shrugged. “Why not? I used to see things on the news, like earthquakes or gas explosions. I just assumed they were telling the truth, but who knows? Maybe it was really a vampire massacre and they lied about it.”
Katelina thought of the news articles she’d skimmed at the Russian Konfederatsiya . The so-called terrorists—really Malick and his goons. Shelay the dead pop singer—really killed by vampires and mangled to remove the evidence. How many other stories had the facts rearranged or made up to hide the truth?
She shook the thoughts away. She sounded like a conspiracy nut.
Hikaru laid Takeshi on one of the bedrolls. The wilted vampire nodded, as if to say he was still alive.
Loren opened the shirt bundle and Hikaru lifted out what was left of Takeshi’s foot. Even Katelina could see that there was a chunk missing between the two.
Micah glared at Wolfe. “What the fuck kind of bullets were your butt-buddies using?”
“Special anti-vampire ammunition,” Wolfe answered without a trace of guilt. “Traditional ammunition only punctures a hole in the denser tissue of vampires. This explodes on impact, making guns a viable weapon.”
Katelina sneered at him. “Just what the world needed, exploding bullets. Did your research department in the basement come up with those?”
“They’re a Chinese design,” Wolfe bit back. “You’ll be happy for them when they’re taking down Malick’s followers.”
“What’s that going to do for Takeshi’s foot?”
“He’d be fine had you not engaged the guards and waited as you were told to do.”
“Of course,” Jorick said sarcastically. “We should have waited for you to arrive and throw around your sense of importance.”
They fell to arguing. Maeko and Hikaru held one another’s gaze; a silent conversation. When they finally broke, Maeko knelt next to Takeshi and spoke to him in Japanese. Katelina watched his pained expressions melt into stoic determination. He gave a sharp nod. “Hai.”
Maeko wiped her bloody hands on her jeans. “Hikaru-san, please dispose of that properly.”
“Won’t it reattach overnight?” Katelina asked.
“There is an excessive amount of tissue missing. It might reattach, yes, but it would be misshapen and one leg would be an inch shorter than the other. Takeshi-san believes it is better to have none than one that is impaired.”
Katelina gaped at the insanity of it. Before she could comment, the women returned with food for Xandria and Ryuu. While the pair gulped down the rice and meat, Jorick turned to Wolfe. “You said you had intelligence concerning Malick?”
“He met with his army earlier today. They ‘re headed this direction and should arrive tomorrow.”
“Why doesn’t someone stop him?” Katelina asked.
“Where?” Wolfe inquired dryly. “Should we ambush him randomly? Not worry about the human casualties?” He rolled his eyes. “You obviously do not understand strategy. It is better to battle in an area we can control and prepare.”
“And what preparations are you making?”
Wolfe cocked an eyebrow. “You’re demanding.” Jorick gave him a dark look and he snorted sarcastically. “Obviously we have warriors deployed, including the Scharfrichter, the Guìzishǒu, and what you would call their guards. We have roadblocks to keep everyone out.”
“Except Malick.”
“There is a roadblock for him as well; one he will break through.”
“He’ll kill them,” Katelina bit back. “You’re purposefully sacrificing people?”
“Death is always a possibility.”
“Would you be as casual about it if Sadihra was assigned to that roadblock?”
He growled. “If there is no roadblock on his route he’ll know the trap.”
“He already knows!” Katelina shouted. “The bastard knows everything!”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” Verchiel said. “He wants you to believe he has everything planned to a fine point, that every move you make was anticipated, that you’re always playing into his hand. I don’t believe it. He doesn’t have it all arranged, he’s just good at twisting the outcome to suit his agenda. It’s a combination of luck and bullshit.”
Though Katelina wasn’t finished fighting with Wolfe, Jorick pulled her to him. She struggled briefly, then surrendered to the warm safety of his arms. Tomorrow Malick would crash into Samael’s peaceful palace like a tsunami and lay waste to everything he could. For all she knew, one of them might be crushed beneath the waves.
“It will be fine, little one,” Jorick murmured.
She clutched him tightly and wished she believed him.
Katelina woke before the others. The first thing she did was check the cargo pocket of her jeans. She felt the hilt of the dagger and relaxed. Sorino hadn’t robbed her while she slept.
A pale strip of sunlight leaked around the edges of the door. An unnatural compulsion to approach it grew until she couldn’t shake it off. She slipped from the safety of Jorick’s embrace and tiptoed across the room.
She stopped just short of the door, her shoes at the edge of the light.
“You cannot cross the threshold,” Samael’s voice said inside her head.
“Not anymore,” she whispered.
“It is no matter. The sun is sinking. The others will wake soon.”
She nodded and twisted her hands apprehensively.
“You need not fear. Nothing can touch us inside these walls.”
She edged closer, as if to press the urgency. “Malick is bringing an army.”
“So long as he remains outside these gates he will live.”
Katelina tried to fight her impatience. “You don’t understand. He’s coming to fight you. He wants to defeat you to prove how powerful he is. He’s already taken the crown from the True Council.”
“I care not for his trinkets. He has no power here.”
“Yes he does. You can kill his army, but how many will they kill first? Your servants? The Scharfrichters? The Guìzishǒu? All those guards armed with guns?”
“They are inconsequential.”
She banged the door with her frustrated fist. “How can you say that? They’re alive, just like you, with thoughts and dreams.”
“Did you feel that way when you defeated the Black Vigil? How many have you killed, or helped to kill? Life is death and death is life. One cannot exist without the other. To live one must consume the living. To die one must have lived. It is a cycle that cannot be broken. To mourn for its completion is futile.”
She pressed her forehead against the time worn door. “Yes, but…” But what?
Jorick woke with a gasp. She looked to see him sit up, seeking her. Their gaze met and he relaxed. When he reached her side, his dark eyes moved to the door. “Do you need something?”
Samael’s rich, melodic voice flowed through the wood. “This is my palace, child. I go where I will.”
“Katelina does not belong to you.”
“Jorick!” she whisper-yelled.
“Nor to you,” Samael replied. “She is a moment’s diversion that you will grow weary of. What will you give her but heartache, in the end?”
Jorick grabbed her hand and wove his fingers tightly with hers. “Do not presume to tell me what I will or will not do.”
“I presume nothing. I can see your heart and mind in completion; a puzzle whose scope is so large that you yourself cannot view its entirety. It is no matter. All will be what it will be. When your party has woken, you may hunt for food in the grasslands. There are deer and other animals. Leave the servants untouched. They are mine.”
Though there was no sound, she felt him drawing away. “When will Malick get here?”
“Before the moon has risen.”
His answer meant nothing, but there was no point in pressing the issue. He was already gone.
The sun had set by the time everyone woke. They agreed to split up in search of food. “Meet here in an hour,” Wolfe commanded. Though most of the vampires rolled their eyes, an hour later everyone but Sorino and Kai were gathered back in the building.
Jamie looked suspiciously at Lurid. “Where’s your friend?”
The dark vampire shrugged. “No idea. We were together, then I turned around and he and short-stuff were gone.”
“The coward probably ran away.” Micah scoffed.
“More likely he’s skulking among the historical artifacts,” Wolfe said darkly. “I fail to understand why you trust him.”
“I don’t.” Jorick glanced at Xandria, and Ryuu. “The next order of business is to feed the humans and find somewhere safe to put them.”
Katelina cursed silently. How in the hell could she forget about Xandria’s food? Only a couple weeks ago she’d lamented the lack of vampiric concern. Now she was doing the same thing.
Maeko fed Takeshi some kind of rodent, and the servants appeared with food and canned soda. When Xandria and Ryuu had eaten, the servants returned to “take them to safety.” Xandria glanced back to Katelina. Whatever she saw made her shrug and follow them.
“Takeshi-san will go with them,” Maeko announced. “Should enemies get by us, he will defend the humans.”
Though the vampire looked better than he had the night before, he was still paler than usual. He rose with help from Hikaru, and Ryuu helped him walk. The make-shift tourniquet was gone from his ankle and they could see that the skin had grown over the stump in a smooth, perfect cap, like Loren’s left arm.
Oren cleared his throat. “Etsuko you should…do the same.”
The vampiress bowed. “As Oren-sama wishes. I will do my best not to disappoint.”
She moved quickly to Takeshi’s other side. Together she and Ryuu led him out of the building.
Jorick cocked an eyebrow at his fledgling. Oren muttered something undecipherable and looked away.
As soon as the others were gone, Verchiel laid out a small wrinkled park map.
“Where did that come from?” Micah asked.
“The airport.” He broke into a grin. ”Don’t you guys ever check out the brochures? I have some good ones of the Forbidden City and some museums in Beijing if anyone’s interested.” No one replied and he pointed to a spot on the map. “I think Samael made some changes. There are supposed to be food stalls here, but I didn’t notice them on the way in.”
“That’s probably where the rubble in the gates came from,” Jorick said.
Jamie laid out strategy. Wolfe’s forces were scattered around the outside of the walls and in the town, hoping to ambush Malick. While the Scharfrichter, Guìzishǒu, and guards were busy dying, the rest of them were supposed to wait at the different gates inside the compound, in case Malick and his goons broke in. Katelina mentioned that Samael had shored them up, so it was more likely the attacking forces would hop over the wall. Wolfe brusquely pointed out that from good vantage points near the gates, they could keep their eye on a large area.
Wolfe assigned teams of two to each gate. Though no one said it, Katelina knew they were counting on Samael to rip apart anyone who slipped past them.
Wolfe’s radio crackled to life. Someone shouted a string of German. Katelina could hear yelling in the background. The words choked off with a cry. Though Wolfe called for them to answer again and again. Nothing came.
Malick had reached the blockade.
“Tor!” Wolfe shouted into the radio, then stashed it savagely on his hip. “That was not the planned road block. He’s less than twenty minutes march from us.”
Katelina stopped from saying, “I told you so.”
“Go to your assigned places. Choose high vantage points. None of you has a radio. Communication will be scarce. There will be no way to notify each other of last minute changes, so stick to the plan.”
Micah gave Wolfe a mock salute and they broke apart. Katelina could hear the Scharfrichter on his radio, “Malick is on his way. Stay close to the gates. Tell B squad to fan out through the streets. Send C squad to gate number three. D squad…”
“Do you think his strategy will work?”
“No,” Jorick answered.
She and Jorick took their place near one of the gates. A stone foundation stretched across the ground and a lake glittered through the screen of trees. Budding branches swayed gently. Early spring grass poked up from the damp ground. Katelina could smell the earth and the young greenery. Somewhere a cricket chirped, unaware of what was coming.
To her right she could see the next gate, where Verchiel and Jamie were stationed. The redhead hopped up the wall to stand on the gate’s ornate roof, hands on his hips like a medieval knight surveying enemy forces.
She turned to Jorick. “We’re supposed to take a high vantage point.”
“He has one.” He nodded to Verchiel, who ran along the wall toward them. “He can tell us if there’s anything to see.”
An explosion cut through the air. Katelina saw the plume of smoke rise in the distance, likely in the middle of the town. “That wasn’t twenty minutes.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Gunfire ripped through the night. She called up to Verchiel, “What’s going on?”
He motioned to her. With a glance back to Jorick, she hurriedly climbed the wall and crouched next to him. On the other side, a concrete parking area lay empty. At the outer edge of it, she could see groups of SWAT style vampires waiting, their guns pointed in the direction of the noise.
A black blur rounded the corner, raced across a narrow bridge and into the lot. The vampires fired, one after another. A guard fell, his neck broken. Another dropped to the ground, his head cleaved in two. A third cried out as a splatter of crimson exploded from his chest. Katelina had a nanosecond view of the attacker. Blond hair, long black coat, pale, pointed face.
It was Arlen, the wind walker.
Verchiel’s expression hardened. No doubt he was recalling his previous encounters: Japan, where Arlen had impaled him on a rock, and China, where he’d left him in a gory heap on the hood of a car.
“Looks like I have an appointment.” Verchiel glanced at Katelina. “You’ll need to get down. You’re exposed up here alone.”
She edged toward him and shook her head. “Don’t go. You’ll get killed. Remember the plan.”
“It was never going to work.” He met her gaze. His lips parted, as if he was going to speak. A moment passed, then he broke into a grin, gave her a wink, and swung off the wall.
“Verchiel!” She hung over the edge to watch him morph into a red and black blur. He sped toward Arlen, two freight trains waiting to collide.
They split aside at the last moment, both sliding to a stop. Verchiel wielded his sword in one hand and the hard scabbard in the other. Arlen’s blade was long and square on the end, with a hook shaped notch cut out of it. The pair circled each other, then sprang. Katelina could hear the clang as their blades met.
They fought, swords clashing. Arlen caught Verchiel’s thinner blade in the hook, and ripped it from his hands. Katelina saw the flash of silver as the sword flew away and landed in a group of buildings to the right.
Jorick called up to her, “Katelina!”
Verchiel streaked away behind a building. Arlen followed. When they reappeared Verchiel had his sword again.
“Katelina!”
Reluctantly she hopped off the wall and landed in a heap. Jorick pulled her up. “We should find a vantage point that isn’t on top of the wall they’re going to attack.”
He chose a tree and swung up it like a preternatural monkey. Spurred on by the sharp staccato of gunfire, she shimmied up faster than she thought possible.
Jorick pulled her onto a limb, then moved carefully along it for a better view. She’d barely adjusted her balance when a building exploded in a spray of rubble.
The smoke cleared. She saw several of the SWAT vampires lying among the debris on the other side of the wall. Scarlet splatters turned white as the dust settled. One of the victims moved, pushing aside twisted chunks of metal and stone. A vampire with long dark hair stepped up, a corkscrew spear in his hand. The SWAT vampire made it to his feet, then slipped and fell. His opponent rammed the spear into his chest, twisting it deeper and deeper. The vampire screamed, spasmed, then went still.
The victor ripped the corkscrew from his foe’s chest and shook loose a glob of gore. He turned to the others strewn throughout the wreckage, doing the same to each of them.
As he finished the last, a vampiress in SWAT gear snuck up from behind. Her gun blasted to life and his body jerked as bullets exploded inside the tissue. Katelina could see the small eruptions of blood, like flowers blossoming and dying in the space of a second.
The barrage stopped. The vampire turned toward her. He shambled a few feet forward, then fell to one knee. The overconfident vampiress stepped closer. She pressed the barrel of the gun against his chest.
The move was so fast Katelina almost didn’t see it. One minute the vampiress stood, and the next she laid on the ground, her head separated from her body by ten feet and a trail of gore. The dark haired vampire rammed his corkscrew spear into her chest.
So much for Wolfe’s bullets.
Katelina looked for Verchiel amongst the debris. Was he injured? Dead? She didn’t see him or Arlen. Maybe they were still fighting. If only there was something she could do.
She didn’t see Jamie near his assigned area. It was bad enough that Verchiel was gone. Now they were both missing.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Jamie raced into view. He skidded to a stop. “They’re heading for the main gate!”
Jorick growled and dropped to the ground. He and Jamie took off at a run. Katelina climbed down and raced after them. She followed the massive wall around a corner, past a tower, to a large paved area. Wolfe stood in the center with his radio. Lurid paced in circles. On his hands he wore clunky metal things that looked like brass knuckles. He swung his arms restlessly and she saw that they wrapped around to his palms and turned into large metal discs with blades sticking out on either side.
Wolfe slammed his spear in frustration as a voice shouted over the radio. He yelled back, “Zurückziehen! Zurückziehen! Withdraw!”
He jammed the radio into its holster and turned his attention to them. “You’re supposed to be at the other gates!” When no one offered an excuse he said, “I’ve called the squads to retreat. The groups manning the roadblocks are making their way here. They may be able to come up behind and surprise them.”
“I doubt it.” Jorick hopped to the top of the wall. His eyes went wide and he leapt back with the shout, “Down!”
Katelina barely had time to drop before an explosion ripped through the gates. The rubble packed in the openings blew outwards, throwing chunks of cement and twisted metal.
It took her a moment to recover. A thick cloud of dust and smoke hung on the air. She waved it out of her face and choked. “Jorick? Jorick?”
Something moved under the rocks. A hand poked out. She grabbed it and pulled. To her surprise she was able to tug the limp body out from under a heap of cement. It was only when she let go and knelt down, still shooing away the vaporous billows, that she realized it wasn’t Jorick.
“Wolfe?”
He coughed out a mouthful of blood. He gripped his spear in one hand and raised himself with the other. His body shook and he collapsed again. As the dust settled she saw the blood splashed over the debris, then the huge, gaping hole in his back.
“Shit.” She searched for something to stop the bleeding. There was only rock and waste. She had a sudden image of Jorick in worse shape; limbs torn away. “Jorick! Jorick are you okay?”
Wolfe looked ready to berate her, then he stiffened, and clumsily pushed her back. “Go. He’s… here.”
“What?” The words had barely left her lips before she knew the answer. She looked up to the gate. The metal doors hung like twisted curtains. Streetlights shone through the slowly settling smoke and dust, illuminating the black silhouette of a robed vampire.
“Malick.” She crouched low to the ground, trying to disappear in the debris.
As the haze around Malick dissipated, she could just make out figures behind him. The ancient master stood at the fore wearing a cape of scarlet and gold, the immortal crown on his head. In his hand was a long, carved staff. He slammed the butt of it into the rubble at his feet. When he shouted his voice reverberated from the rocks and the buildings.
“Come forth, Samael!”
Katelina looked back toward the palace. Naked tree branches swayed gently. The moon, just cresting over the hills, spilled light on the paved stones and dappled the inner gates with marble-like patterns. In the distance she could see pagodas rising into the sky and, farther, the mountains, their peaceful peaks shimmering silver. From the other side of the walls, gunfire and screams sounded. It was a strange contrast that did nothing to summon the ancient vampire.
Malick laughed. “As I expected.” He slammed his staff again and repeated his challenge.
Katelina whispered to Wolfe, “What do we do?”
“Go.” Wolfe coughed. “You can’t…too weak to defeat him.”
“But Jorick?”
“He’s alive. I can smell him. And he can fight better without having to protect you. This is no place for a battle. Too open. Draw—” he broke off into a cough. “Draw them into a narrow space. Bottleneck them. Fight them one on one. The others…from the blockades, they’re coming. They will sneak up on the rear.” He gripped Katelina’s arm. “Remember this. It is the only way. Now go. Quickly. Tell…the others.”
She hated the logic, but he was right. She drew back a few steps, still crouched low to the ground. As she moved, she sought among the ruin for Jorick. The cloud dissipated, but she found only destruction. Her eyes danced from mound to mound, from twisted metal to stone, then to the gate.
She choked.