Amaranthine Special Edition Vol I

by Naylor, Joleene

  Jorick ignored her and looked down at Katelina again. He took a deep breath and then informed her, “I'll go get it.” Katelina’s eyes widened at his words, but his only assurance was, “I'll be right back.” He started to slide her into the empty space between himself and Kateesha, but she clutched his arm, and shook her head. She didn’t want left alone with them. She’d happily do without as long as he stayed.

  He met her eyes squarely. “I'll be right back,” he repeated firmly. He quickly opened the door with one hand while he moved her gently off of his lap with the other.

  Kateesha smiled broadly and laid a hand on Katelina’s leg. “Isn’t this cozy?”

  Katelina jerked away and plastered herself against the window. She gave Jorick a last pleading look, but he only nodded to her and headed for the convenience store.

  “Awww,” Kateesha mock pouted. “I get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”

  Torina popped down the sun visor and examined herself in the vanity mirror. “That’s not a surprise.” She produced a tube of red lipstick and applied it slowly to her lips. She smacked them together and glanced over her shoulder. “No one likes you.”

  “That isn’t true.” Kateesha’s voice got sweeter with every word. “I seem to recall at least one person who was especially fond of me, that is until…”

  Torina growled low in her throat and her lips curled back dangerously from long fangs.

  Kateesha laughed and added, “Jorick likes me.”

  The redhead studied her adversary before she said forcefully, “No he doesn't.” She turned back to the mirror and applied another layer of lipstick. “He doesn’t like anyone anymore.”

  “Think what you will,” Kateesha said lightly as she looked smugly at Katelina.

  Katelina glanced from one to the other nervously, and then through the window at Oren. He stood next to the car, dutifully pumping gas. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a blue, long sleeved, button up shirt, the cuffs rolled up. His long blonde hair had been tamed into a pony tail and his amber eyes stared absently past the numbers flipping by on the pump, as if he were looking into a realm only he could see. But Torina, still in the midst of making herself presentable, interrupted his reverie when she opened the car door and shouted to him, “I need a different pair of shoes after all!”

  Oren’s head snapped up and, though he didn’t answer and went back to staring at the pump again, it was obvious that the doorway to his far away world had closed and that he was now focused his task.

  He finished pumping the gas and opened the trunk. It slammed shut moments later and he appeared with a pair of spiky–high heeled shoes dangling from his fingers. Torina took the shoes and handed him the old pair.

  He stared at them as though they were a foreign object. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

  She rolled her eyes and stretched her legs to examine the effect of the new shoes. “Put them in the trunk, of course!”

  “I already closed it,” he said flatly and handed them back. “Hang on to them.”

  “What?” she cried as he started to walk towards the building, ignoring her. “Oren! Come put these in the trunk!” He continued to walk and she amended, “Or give me the keys! I suppose I can do it–”

  Oren reached the glass door to the building and glanced back, his finger to his lips. Then, he disappeared inside.

  “Of all the – selfish, asinine...” Torina broke off and hefted the shoes up distastefully. “Hang on to them” she repeated and dropped them into the floorboard. She slammed the door and growled, “I'll show him how to hang on to things!”

  Kateesha laughed again and Katelina didn’t comment.

  Oren and Jorick returned together. Oren climbed in the driver's seat wordlessly, and Jorick handed Katelina a fountain cup and the baggy of pain pills the nurse had given him. “Better take it now,” he advised. “Before the other stuff wears off.”

  Her fingers shook as she opened the bag and popped one of the pills from the blister seal. She stuffed the round, white object clumsily in her mouth and took a drink through the straw. She tried to swallow and choked loudly, which drew a look of amusement from Kateesha.

  “Careful,” Jorick said quietly. When her coughing fit subsided he held out a large blue bag of pretzels. “I got you something to eat.” She took the shiny bag and cradled it in her lap uncertainly. Her stomach clenched and heaved at the thought of food. With some of the images from her ordeal still fresh, she wasn’t ready to eat yet.

  Jorick handed her a small white box that rattled noisily. “And I also got you some other pain medication, in case you need it.”

  She nodded in acknowledgment and he stuffed the box back in his pocket before he slid into the backseat, and settled in between the two women.

  Torina glared over her shoulder. “There, your little human’s all taken care of. Can we go now?” Before he could answer she swiveled her gaze to Katelina and her pretzels. “And don’t eat those in here,” she added fiercely.

  Katelina didn’t answer. Instead she turned her face to the window.

  They left the town behind, and spent the last few hours of darkness driving towards their unnamed destination. Katelina dozed against Jorick’s shoulder. She clutched the pretzels tightly to her like a teddy bear. When they parked next to a sagging motel, Jorick woke her gently. For once, he stayed in the car and let Oren and Torina procure the rooms - one for Oren and the two women and one for himself and Katelina.

  The room was like any other and Katelina curled up on the bed while Jorick began his sunlight calculations. Her stomach growled and she unconsciously opened the bag of pretzels. She stuffed the crunchy snacks one after another into her mouth without thought. She watched him stack the furniture with only half interest, her mind fogged by pain pills.

  When he had all the furniture piled before the window, he threw the heavy flowered bedspread over the heap for good measure. Then, he stood back, satisfied, and said smoothly, “I’m going to go take a shower?” It was really more a question than a statement, as if he expected her to object.

  She nodded absently and he disappeared to the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later with only a towel swathed about his narrow hips. He motioned to her and she stood so he could turn down the sheet and slip beneath it. She peeled off the large coat and dropped it to the floor. She was surprised to find the hospital gown still beneath it. It would have to do in place of anything else.

  Jorick settled into bed and held out his arm for her. She climbed in next to him and he pulled her close. In the darkness and silence of predawn she slowly relaxed against him and all her tightened muscles began to uncoil. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her face against his clean smelling skin. Unshed tears built up behind her eyelids. Last night she’d been so certain she was going to die; that she’d never see him –or anything– again. Now, the experience seemed somehow surreal, like a bad nightmare that hadn’t really happened.

  Tentatively she raised a hand to her shoulder to find the bunched up skin and stitches beneath her fingers. She shivered in repulsion and told herself that it had been real, despite how it seemed now.

  “Are you all right?” Jorick asked her as he ran an absent hand over her back.

  She drew in a deep, cleansing breath. “Yes.” Despite the answer, she wasn’t sure it was true. There was too much crowded inside her head; too many questions. “Kateesha…” Words failed and she trailed off. “She and Troy were in it together, but I – I don’t understand. He – why would he betray Claudius? I mean, Kateesha, she said…” She stopped again.

  Jorick drew a tight breath. “Yes?”

  “She – she said something to Troy about Patrick.”.

  Jorick tensed. “There are some things you should leave alone, little one. Some answers you don’t want.”

  She struggled with his answer. “You – you mean?”

  Jorick sighed. “Troy had a… soft spot for Patrick, in his own twisted way. He was no doubt displeased when Patrick was killed.�
�

  The words made her stomach feel slippery and sick. “Are you saying…” She couldn’t finish it.

  “No. For his part Patrick intended to be… monogamous. Troy was not his choice.” Jorick cleared his throat noisily. “There are some things you don’t want to know, particularly when it comes to slaves and masters.”

  She suddenly understood, and it made her even sicker. Right now, after everything she’d been through, it was too much to deal with. She squeezed her eyes closed and wished she hadn’t asked.

  Jorick shifted and pressed his lips against her ear for a moment; a fluttery kiss. Then he asked, . “You said Kateesha tricked you. How?”

  “I thought you knew? She said it was a mind trick.” She closed her eyes again. A deep pool of nothingness sucked at her consciousness and tried to pull her down. It was better than the real world and she mentally moved towards it.

  “What mind trick?” he asked sharply.

  “She…” Katelina searched for words. “There were… words in my head; thoughts. I thought they were mine, but they weren’t, they were things she was saying.” She was too ashamed to tell him what those thoughts had been.

  His answer was slow in coming. “I see. I didn’t know she was that powerful.” He tightened his arm around her. “We need to be careful of her.”

  Katelina nodded against him and found words slipping unbidden from her lips. Even as she said them, they sounded foreign to her ears, as though they had nothing to do with her. “She killed Arowenia and blamed it on you. She had a deal with them. They were supposed to make sure Claudius killed me. She said you’d be upset and have only her to turn to.” She thought for a moment that she’d already told him this, but she couldn’t concentrate long enough to be sure.

  He sighed heavily. “I'm eventually going to have to kill her. I've tried to avoid it for many years.” He paused before uncharacteristically explaining, “We have the same maker. He made her shortly after me. He thought she'd be a good companion.”

  Katelina murmured but was unable to say anything. Her heart beat a steady lullaby rhythm in her ears and the memory of Kateesha had faded away in favor of cool darkness.

  “I've always disliked her,” Jorick continued. “She's too cruel. Malick was always trying to encourage me to be more like her.” He gave a soft, hollow laugh. “She enjoys killing so much; she was quite an asset to The Guild.”

  Katelina roused herself and tried to concentrate on his words. “She was in The Guild?” She half imagined Kateesha standing by the bonfire, her skin glowing as she smashed in the baby's skull and laughed that cold, musical laughter.

  “Yes. She was under me – one of the Executioners. She left several years after I did in a bid to overthrow The Guild, which she expected my help with. Needless to say she was disappointed.”

  “Oh?” she was so tired that all she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget everything that had ever happened to her. She couldn’t understand why Jorick was suddenly talking to her when all she wished for was sweet oblivion. “Then why is she helping you?”

  Jorick laughed scornfully. “She's hoping to overthrow Claudius now. She wants power and intends to take his place once he's dead and then, I think, she still intends to rival The Guild. But, I've already told her that I won't help her.” He stopped his narrative. “I'm sorry.” Some unspoken emotion hung on the edges of his voice. “You're tired.”

  “A little,” she murmured. Somewhere, beneath the haze of medication, she was just glad to be alive and away from that nightmare.

  “Go to sleep, little one,” he whispered softly and brushed her hair back from her face. “Tomorrow we'll need to regroup and try to discover where Claudius has gone. That wasn't even half of his coven, so they must have moved to a new location, already.”

  “Sorem.”

  His hand stopped mid motion. “What?”

  “Sorem,” she repeated. “He sent them to Sorem and he’s meeting them there later. I heard them talking,” she finished in explanation as she began to drift into purple shaded dreams.

  She heard him muse, “Sorem,” and then she knew no more.

  “Liar!!” Claudius’ voice echoed through the stone chamber. His face pressed close to hers and his lips snarled back from his shining teeth.

  Katelina stifled a sob, and tried to free herself. He threw her to the floor again and she felt her body break beneath him. His voice was in her mind screaming shrilly; a sound to make her ears bleed. And then the pain came. Her body was enveloped in invisible fire and, her terrified screams filled her ears–

  “Katelina!” a voice shouted her name, but she struggled against the hands that held her. “Katelina!” the voice shouted again, and she felt herself being shaken.

  She jerked up and slashed at Claudius, her fingers like claws. But, as her eyes snapped open, she saw only milky darkness and a pair of large hands holding her wrists. Her head jerked around, and she found herself staring at Jorick. His dark eyes were filled with alarm.

  “Katelina! Stop!” He insisted. He lowered his voice, but his words were still forceful, “Stop!”

  She blinked at him and her pounding heart began to slow. He released her arms and she let them fall to her lap. The skin was scraped and bruised – such a contrast to the clean white sheet. Tears slipped down her face. They came slowly at first, and then in torrents until her whole body shook with sobs.

  Jorick hesitated and then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, “Shhhhh,” he murmured in her ear. “It's all right, you're safe. Shhhhh....”

  She buried her face in his cold chest and shook her head, “No,” she whispered hoarsely. “No, it’s not.”

  He stroked her hair gently and assured her. “Yes, you're here with me. I won't let Claudius hurt you again.”

  “But you let him. You already let him.”

  He sighed deeply and cradled her tighter. His voice was husky, heavy with his own guilt. “It’s my fault. I should never have trusted Kateesha. I should have known she would betray us.”

  At the mention of Kateesha’s name she became enraged. God dammit, she cursed inwardly. It was his fault! What the hell had he been thinking? She clenched her hand into a tight fist and, unable to stop herself, she slammed it into his naked shoulder as she shouted, “Yes, it is!” She jerked away from his embrace and pummeled him with her fists as tears poured down her face. He made no move to restrain her, or to deny her accusation, and this made her even angrier. She wanted him to yell back. She needed him to feel something for once – just for once!

  “You made me stay behind!” she yelled, trying to provoke him. “You made me stay alone! How the hell am I supposed to know about all of this shit? How the hell am I supposed to do anything to them?” She hit him harder, though her fists bounced off of him, completely ineffective. “You let them take me, god dammit! You let them!”

  A sharp pain lanced through her shoulder and her fury evaporated in defeat. She hung her head and sobbed. “You let them,” she choked out. “You let them.”

  Jorick gathered her up again, and she lay against him, limp and choking for air. “Shhhhh,” he soothed. “You need to calm down and breathe.” He rocked her gently. “Breathe slowly–”

  “That's fucking easy for you to say!” She jerked away and glared at him. “It wasn't you in that fucking cage! You weren’t the one that he… did… that to.” Even in her anger she couldn't say the words, the unspeakable phrases that meant dark, violating acts. It was as if voicing any of them would summon the pain again. “You weren’t the one that he… God! He was in my fucking head! Do you understand that? Do you have any idea?”

  “Yes,” Jorick said quietly. “Yes, I know.”

  “You know?” she shrieked. “You know and yet you let him fucking do it! You let him - God! What? What was it? I don’t even know, do you realize that? I don’t even know what the fuck-”

  “He drank from you,” Jorick said softly, his eyes on the bed.

  “Really?” she snapped sarc
astically. “I hadn’t noticed!” She swung her fist again. “Of course he fucking drank from me! He drank my fucking blood, Jorick and he - he-”

  “There’s a connection,” Jorick murmured. “When a vampire bites someone. It’s a mental connection, and he can do with it what he wants. He can make it pleasurable or he can make it torture.”

  “And we know what Claudius chose, don’t we? Or do you? Should I tell you what it was like? Should I tell you how it was worse than anything else he did? Should I?”

  She raised her fists to pummel him again, but he caught her wrists. He gazed into her eyes, his voice sorrowful, “I know. I know and I'm sorry.”

  “You're sorry?” she shouted in disbelief. “Do you think that does anything?”

  His voice rose until he was shouting. “What do you want from me? What do you want me to do? Tell me and I'll do it, all right? What?”

  She gaped at him and tried to find words. She wanted him to... to... She didn't know what, but something. He had to do something to make this go away!

  As if he knew her thoughts he yelled, “I can't turn back time, Katelina. I can't erase what happened! I would if I could, but I can't!” He released her wrists and held his arms out wide. “You want to hit me? Hit me! You want to scream at me? Then scream! You want to hate me, then fine, hate me, Katelina! But know I'd have given anything to have spared you from that! I got there as fast as I could!” His voice dropped, begging her to understand. “I got there as fast as I could!”

  She opened her mouth to shout at him again, but couldn’t find a point to it. There was nothing more for her to say. He was right. He had come for her. He'd come and he'd fought Claudius, and he'd saved her from whatever other tortures the twisted vampire had had in mind. He'd taken her to the hospital, against the wishes of the others, and he'd stayed there beside her as they'd sewn up her shoulder, even though the staff thought he had abused her and the police had tried to arrest him.