Katelina reached out mentally and felt the sudden crushing presence of the ancient master. She drew back and tried to shut off her perception, only she didn’t know how.
“Are you comin’?” asked Micah.
She pushed herself to follow him. They moved past the last of the buildings, and hopped over a wall. A courtyard spread on the other side, peppered with ornamental trees and hedges, buildings and roofed walkways. Malick stood on the roof of one, a smile on his lips, and his staff in his good hand. The moonlight glinted from his crown and his white hair, giving him an artificial halo. Two vampires stood on either side of him, gripping their weapons, their faces an open threat.
Oren and Torina stood on the other side of the courtyard, splattered with crimson. Loren and Lurid were behind them, both wounded. The teen leaned on the wall. His pale face and tight skin spoke of blood loss. To Katelina’s right, Maeko and Hikaru stood back to back, her gun drawn and his stick at the ready.
Verchiel crouched on the roofed walkway like a vulture. Jamie knelt near him, battered and bloody. Katelina didn’t think any of them could make it through another battle.
In the center of the paved yard was Jorick, covered in blood, his clothing torn. With a crack, he broke the neck of an opponent, then punched his hand through the vampire’s chest. He crushed the pulpy heart in his hand and threw the dead body aside.
“Malick!” His eyes were dark fire. Katelina could feel the power and fury radiating from him in a throbbing cloud.
“My son,” Malick called. “You have made your way to me at last, soaked in the blood of your enemies and full of fire, just as I remember you.”
“I am not here for a reunion!”
Malick chuckled. “Yes, my son, I know why you are here. You come as my dark angel, bringing death. And I know why. I know your list of grievances, some imagined and some real. The greatest: that I ordered the death of one whom you hold dear, one who bleeds another master’s blood. Would you destroy the fount of your own immortality for another’s fledgling?”
Katelina glared at the ancient master. How dare he bring up the debacle with Micah!
“Katelina is mine,” Jorick snarled and drew closer. The air around him shivered as his power continued to grow, broiling out in furious waves.
“No, my son. Samael’s blood flows through her. She will never belong wholly to you. She will always be torn between two masters. If he calls for her, she will go without thought.”
With a jolt, she realized Malick had never meant Micah. To the master, Micah’s turning was an unimportant event that did nothing to pollute what Samael had already left in her.
Jorick roared. Katelina felt the throb of his anger, so strong it made her head hurt. She could almost see the power he threw at Malick. One of the master’s guards leapt in front of him, to fall from the roof with a cry. He landed in a heap and rolled into a ball, hands on his ears, a blood trail leaking from one nostril.
Katelina had a flash back to the atrium. Vampires fell to their knees clutching their heads, blood running from their ears and noses as they died. She pressed back against the wall and tried to come to terms with the past and present at once. For the first time since she’d met Jorick she was scared of him, scared of what he could do.
Like one of the ancient monsters.
Malick smiled. “You’ve improved, my son, more than I gave you credit for. However, I did not come all this way for you. Samael!” he bellowed. “What does it take to draw you from your hole?”
The ancient vampire appeared in the center of the courtyard, moving so fast she couldn’t see it. His hair settled around him like liquid night, and his yellow robes shone like the sun in the darkness. His eyes touched Katelina a moment, then moved to the invader on the roof. “Why do you call me, child? Do you wish for death?”
Malick laughed. “I will not die at your hands. I would say that you will perish at mine, but you are already dead. Even in your threats you are cold. You care for nothing, not the woman you shared your blood with—her pain and death were not enough to rouse you—and not your bloodline. I destroyed your descendants in a symphony of splintered bones and screams. Your legacy is forever wiped from this earth, yet you still did not stir. All those who issued from your loins, they are ashes! And still—still!—the great master does not lift a finger. ‘Then kill them,’ you said, and kill them I did. I wonder if you felt their pain?”
Destroyed. Wiped out. What had Boris said? “In Russia and Syria he has had me looking into the history of bloodlines.” Of course. That was why Malick had kidnapped and killed the bizarre mixture of humans and vampires in Tajikistan. They were the descendants of Samael and his brother’s wife, the child his brother had believed was his, the child that had enraged Lilith and brought everything to a head between them.
The child that inadvertently caused a bloodbath.
Samael’s expression and voice held no feeling. “I have no connection to those you murdered. You call them my descendants, but what are they to me? When I lay entombed, they did not come to my aid. As for the woman, I protected her in my own way. She did not need me to race like the wind in the autumn and shake the branches of your house. She stands here now, whole and strong. You have done nothing. You are nothing.”
Samael raised his hand and a ball of shimmering power coalesced around it. With a flick of his wrist he sent it flying to Malick’s prone guard. He didn’t even get a chance to scream before his head exploded in a shower of bones and brains.
Casually, Samael lifted his hand higher. With a flick, he sent another ball of power into Malick’s second guard. The master flinched as his ally’s blood splattered on his pale face.
“And now your petty life ends.”
Malick lit up. “No, I think not. You have forgotten something.”
Samael turned toward the building behind him. Through the open door rushed a herd of vampires, weapons raised. The eerie battle cry tore from their lips as they poured into the courtyard. Jorick grabbed the first and slammed him into the ground. Maeko shot off several bullets, and Hikaru hurled himself at another, spinning and attacking with his stick, like something from a ninja movie.
Micah moved to join, but Samael fluttered his hand. As he did, the vampires fell in a line, holding their heads and screaming. With another flick, their brains exploded one after another in a rolling wave of destruction.
Their allies rushed over their corpses. Behind them came a wave of vampires in black coats and golden eye medallions; Malick’s army from outside the walls.
Samael moved his hand, like running his fingers through water, and another line fell. He repeated his gesture and again their heads exploded.
“Holy fuck,” Micah muttered. “They ain’t gonna be able to put their heads back on.”
Katelina thought of Takeshi’s missing foot, and Loren’s arm. They both had to live without the limbs now, but what happened if a vampire’s head was destroyed? It was their heart you had to crush to kill them…
Thick black blood oozed from the open wounds of the fallen. Katelina guessed that it wasn’t just their brains Samael liquefied, but all their organs, including their heart.
Samael moved his hand to take out the next wave. Some of the vampires drew back. Samael flicked his wrist and a third row of heads exploded. All but four of the vampires in the back fled. Jorick took one. Hikaru and Maeko another. With a tired nod, Jamie leapt to deal with the third, while Verchiel went for the fourth.
His enemies taken care of, Samael turned back to Malick. “Your army has deserted you, child. You die alone and unsung.”
Malick leapt to the covered walkway and Samael’s ball of power slammed into the roof. Katelina tensed as Samael let loose another blast. Again Malick leapt away. He landed in front of the ancient and swung his staff. It met with a jolt, like swinging a bat into a concrete pillar. His staff shattered and he flew backwards and slammed into the wall.
Jorick punched through his opponent’s chest, then moved to stand in front of Samael, the gore still dripping from his fist. “Malick is mine.”
Samael dropped his hand. “Then kill him, if you are able.”
Malick stood, wiping blood from his face. “He can try.” His eyes gleamed like polished mahogany and a smile curved across his lips.
With a roar, Jorick charged. His black hair streamed behind him like a war flag and his anger burned around him like armor. He knocked Malick against the wall in a spray of splintered wood. They snarled in one another’s faces, fangs snapping. Their arms strained as they tried to push each other away.
Katelina moved to go to him. Micah grabbed her back. “Don’t try to help him, princess. This is his fight. It’s about honor. Malick fucked with his woman, fucked with both his women if that shit Loren said is true. He fucked up his life and now Jorick’s got to man up, fucking take control and get revenge for that shit. For the shit he did to you.”
Micah’s words made sense, but it didn’t matter. If it came down to life or death, she was going to interfere, whether it was honorable or not.
Malick finally shoved Jorick back. They circled, hands claws and iron will clashing. Katelina could feel the battle of their power, twisting, struggling. In her mind she imagined Malick’s black and Jorick’s white; monochrome tendrils choking one another for dominance.
Jorick punched Malick in the face. The master fell back a step. He swept up a sword from one of the fallen vampires. “I can feel your anger, my son!”
He brandished the sword in quick, sharp movements that left Jorick bleeding. Jorick went for a weapon. Malick cut him off with a flurry of attacks until he fell back, his chest heaving.
Malick smiled. “So like the old days. How your fury burns!”
Jorick charged Malick. The ancient vampire stabbed him through his left shoulder. Katelina stifled a cry and gripped her dagger until her knuckles turned white.
Still impaled, Jorick punched Malick in the face. The master kicked him off his blade with enough force to knock him to the ground. Jorick was up again, bleeding freely from his wound, his face twisted in inhuman wrath.
Malick seemed to breathe it in. “How your moral indignation sears your soul.”
Jamie finished off his enemy and tossed his sword to Jorick. Armed, he circled his master. “What do you know of morals? You play others like pawns. The world is not your chess board!”
Their swords clashed. They fought back and forth, clang after clang, until Malick knocked the sword from Jorick’s hands.
“You are wrong, my son. The world is a game played by those with power. Your friend Samael understands this even better than I.” Jorick went for his fallen weapon. Malick knocked him out of the way and stomped on the blade with enough force to shatter it.
“You think Samael is good?” Malick asked. “You think that he is righteous because he hides here and does not touch the world?”
Hikaru rammed his staff through their bullet riddled enemy, then tossed his bloody weapon to Jorick. He caught it one handed and set on the master. Malick dodged most of the blows. The last caught him in the face with a crunch that sprayed blood from his nose.
Malick fell back a step. “He will, my son. When the mood strikes him, Samael will roll over this world like fire and scorch it clean of those he does not deem worthy.”
Jorick sprang at him. Malick used his sword to block the blows. The stick broke. Jorick was better with the shorter piece, but it was only wood, and Malick soon cut it from Jorick’s bleeding hands.
He stood back, his arms open in invitation. “Join me, my son. Together we can rid the world of such a threat as it has never known. Together we can destroy Samael, as we destroyed the monster Memnon!”
“Destroyed?” Jorick wiped blood from his eyes. “You did not destroy the monster, only burned his body and embraced his spirit. You are the monster now.”
Jorick roared as he tackled Malick to the ground. The sword fell away with a clatter. Jorick slammed his fist into his master’s chest. It impacted with a crunch but didn’t go through. Malick laughed and threw him off. Jorick slid several feet to crash into the wall near Katelina. She ran to him and knelt down.
Malick advanced, his hand before him like a sorcerer. Katelina could feel his power coalescing, the way Samael’s had. “You say you are not a monster, my son,” he bit the word off bitterly, “and yet you try to murder your master?”
Jorick motioned Katelina away. She met his eyes. The hatred and anger in their dark depths scorched her. She felt a burst of fear at what he could do; at what he could be.
She looked to Malick. The humor had faded from his face. His eyes were a dark, fathomless void that sent shivers through her. It was as if she could finally see past the mask to what was inside of him: nothing but empty dark malice.
To defeat a monster one must become a monster.
“Go.” Jorick shoved her back and struggled to his feet. She pressed her dagger into his hand and retreated. Micah pulled her back against the wall. “What the fuck you doin’, leaving yourself open? You givin’ Malick something to use against Jorick?”
She didn’t get a chance to reply before Jorick stood to his full height. “You are no longer my master.”
Malick’s power knocked him back into the wall. Katelina stifled a scream, but unlike Samael’s attack, Jorick’s head stayed intact.
Samael’s silky voice whispered through her mind. “He’s not as strong as I, and Jorick can block him.”
“I will always be your master!” Malick threw bursts of psychic energy at Jorick with each word. “You have forgotten your place, boy! You will kneel before me!”
With the last, he sent the blast at Jorick’s knees. They buckled, but Jorick caught himself on the wall and pulled upright.
“I will never kneel to you again.”
“You think you will kill me?” Malick threw another blast. Katelina realized it wasn’t as strong as the last. The next was even weaker. He was running out of energy.
“You think me evil?” Malick shot off another that had little effect. “Destroy me now and ask yourself where you will be in five hundred years. You are no different than me! You will be no different than me!”
With a roar, Jorick tackled the ancient master to the paving stones. His muscles bulged with the effort it took to hold him down. “I will be different than you because I have something you don’t.”
“And what is that?” Malick asked with a sneer.
“Something to protect.”
Jorick gave a war cry and rammed the dagger into Malick’s chest. The ancient master screamed and flailed as Jorick sliced through skin and bone to cut a circle around his heart. Katelina could see Malick’s face; see the frozen terror and disbelief, the spark of betrayal that flashed through his jewel-like eyes. In the end it was his son, his favorite, who would take his life.
The circle complete, Jorick plunged his hand in and ripped skin and organs free. Blood bubbled from Malick’s lips and ran down his chin as his eyes went glassy. His heart bled in Jorick’s palm and, with a howl of rage, his son tore into the organ with his fangs.
Katelina pulled away from Micah to creep closer. Jorick rose to his feet. Blood sprayed on his face as he shredded Malick’s heart and gulped the blood inside. Finished, he threw the pulpy remains to the ground.
Katelina stopped next to him uncertainly. She could feel the swirl of his emotions; the rage, the fear, the elation. They crashed into one another and overwhelmed her, as they must be overwhelming him. He turned to her. She hesitated to meet his eyes, afraid of what she’d see in the depths.
Samael asked her silently, “Can you love someone you fear?”
She forced herself to look at Jorick and found something she didn’t expect shining in the depths. Something soft and warm, like rich fur and heady kisses. “Jorick?”
He swept her into his arms. Relief stole her words, so she buried her face against his chest and clung to him. A sob escaped. She wasn’t sure what emotion it represented.
Jorick pulled back and cupped her cheeks with his gory hands. He searched her eyes for something, though she wasn’t sure what. His troubled expression said he hadn’t found it. Or maybe he had.
He pulled her back to him and hid his face in her hair. “It’s okay little one; it’s over.”
She nodded against him. Malick was dead, once and for all. He could never haunt their steps, never interfere, never destroy their lives. And Jorick had killed him. She replayed the scene in her mind, Jorick said he had something to protect, not someone. What did he mean by that?
Jorick drew a deep breath. “It’s you,” he murmured softly.
“I’m not a thing.”
“No.” There was a long pause, as if he was searching for the right words. “Your opinion of me is. Your love is.” He drew back and held her gaze. “I love you Katelina, and I don’t want to lose you. Not to death, and not to the slow decay of love turned to hatred. Malick loved no one. There was no one whose opinion mattered. He could do and be what he wished. I don’t want to look into your eyes and see the disgust that I felt for him shining back at me.”
She brushed the hair from his face. “You won’t.”
He claimed her lips and she poured herself into the fiery kiss. She tried to unleash the depth of her feelings into it. She would never leave him, never hate him, never turn away.
The voice in her head was not Samael, rather a female, “Never is a long time.”
She stiffened and pulled back, eyes searching. The three member of the Kugsankal seemed to float through the door into the courtyard. Dressed for battle, Inanna wore silver armor, so bright it was almost as pale as her long hair. She held a sword in her hand. Perched on her head was her silver crown. Her cerulean eyes met Katelina’s. For a moment everything seemed to disappear except their icy depths.
“Malick has been slain.”
Katelina nodded. The connection broke as the vampiress’ attention moved elsewhere. Katelina found her eyes drawn to the other ancient vampires. The male with the black eyes wore armor to match and carried a bladed lance. A small red pennant near the top snapped in the breeze. His dark chestnut hair stirred around his face.
Ishkur stepped forward. His armor was coppery gold and he wielded a giant war mace. His orange-brown eyes flicked over the scene. They stopped last on Malick’s dead body. Wordlessly, he retrieved the fallen crown and placed it on his head. Then he turned to Samael.
For the first time that evening, Katelina saw something close to emotion flicker across Samael’s perfect face. She could see the memory in her head, like a movie.
Samael stumbled. The blood drained from his body, his limbs were weak. He looked up first to Lilith, then to her lover, to the vampire who had helped to entomb him for centuries.
Ishkur.
Samael’s voice brought her back to the present. “You are not welcome here.”
Ishkur’s tone was equally frosty. “There is no corner of the world that does not welcome us.”
“Then you have found one at last. You claim rulership over this world, but your rule is nothing. Like the corpses that lay here, you are nothing. Be gone! Return to your chambers and your waking death.”
Ishkur bared his teeth. “Do not seek a fight from us.”
“I seek neither war nor peace. You are petty children, scrambling for order and power, who would kill your own. I see how you murdered he whom you called Suan so that you could take his place as the head of your council. There were many with you once upon a time, all those long years ago. Where are they now? I hear their names echo in your thoughts. Bel, Gibil, Ningirsu. How many of them did you slay in your thirst for power?”
“I owe you no explanations.”
“That is well, for it is not explanations I desire. Where is she?”
Inanna stepped forward. “She has not been known to us for centuries.”
“You lie. I can see her burning in his mind like a naked flame. The injury to his pride when she left him long ago. She—” Samael broke off. For a moment the perfect veneer of his expression fell away and left his face contorted in rage. He turned and met Katelina’s gaze. Though his face returned to normal, embers of anger burned in the depths of his dark eyes.
“Should you tire of this world, my offer is still open to you. I must go now, to complete that which I have sworn above all others to do.”
An image flashed in her mind: a woman with dark hair and red lips, cruel eyes and curvy hips. She knew both her face and her name. It was Lilith.
The thought had barely processed before Samael was gone. Inanna frowned. Her black eyed partner murmured something in a foreign language. If they thought they’d had trouble with Malick, they had no idea what Samael would do. Despite the Kugsankal’s claim, Samael had finally found Lilith.