RBC05 - Bloodline (32 page)

“I can’t see her. I have no idea where she is. Kate and the others are in Sangustae with Tao. Fredrik and Elizabeth are there as well. But I can’t find Katrina.”

“What does that mean, Allwain? We
have
to find her.”

“It means she is either somewhere in the underworld that I can’t reach or in another dimension.”

“What can we do? I feel so helpless, so worthless.”

“Calm down, anger can’t help us now. There is much to do. You need to contact our allies in the city. A cover story must be told. Meil will be missed. Those vampires that scattered may or may not need to be hunted down. Fill your time with these things and come back here to help Cain watch over Cathos and Ceron. These are the important tasks that cannot wait. In the mean time I will consult with Nira and figure out a way to find Katrina. That is if she wants to be found.”

“What do you mean by that? Why wouldn’t she want to be found? And tell me something else. How is it even possible that Katrina could be with child? Normally vampires wouldn’t conceive until they are a hundred and twenty years old or so.”

“That is true, normally. But Damien, Katrina is anything but normal. When she received power from the Dark Prince and then Cathos it changed her. She is no longer
just
vampire, after all.”

“She is carrying our child. A child conceived when I still held dark power.”

“You’re sure?” Allwain questioned.

“As sure as I can be. Cathos as much confirmed that at the party.”

“I’m just saying that Cathos’s pronouncement was just as much of a shock to Katrina as it was to the rest of us. She now realizes that not only she is with child but that the child is in danger. Like any mother she is going to protect that baby at any cost. Meil, well whoever he really was, sent her somewhere for safe keeping, somewhere he only knew about and now he’s dead. I will know more after I talk with Nira. She is researching this Leonard Cathos spoke about.”

I sighed in frustration, “I’ll do as you wish and be back as soon as I can.”

When I entered the hall I heard the back door open. Liridon and Yanna straggled in.

“You look exhausted, what can you tell me?” I said as I helped them into the parlor.

We chased and killed as many Noctu and Belnovus as we could. We aren’t as fast as they are, even in wolf form. The ones that stopped and fought were no problem, but so many got away,” Liridon panted.

“You had other wolves with you. Where did they come from?”

“Shape-shifters like us. We had been sensing them for days. They wanted to help when we told them what we were up against. They are still patrolling Paris and the surrounding area,” Yanna added.

“And they have grendal with them,” Liridon said. “What happened? We saw most of the party guests leave and then we felt the protections drop and suddenly we were overrun by vampires.”

“You pretty much summed it up. Meil was much more powerful than we could have imagined. So much so that he almost succeeded in killing Cathos and Ceron with Auguste’s help. Cain and Arthur’s pure blades were able to kill them.”

“I see, like when Belial told Cain he could kill Samael by stabbing him through the heart with a pure blade.”

“Yes, I have to go out to take care of business. Get something to eat and rest. I may need you again very soon. Katrina is still missing.”

Liridon and Yanna looked shocked. “What about the others?”

“The girls are safe. Unfortunately we had several losses we will have to deal with.”

“I brought some food and something to drink. Damien…”

“We’ll find her Sarah, I promise.”

She started to cry as she set the tray down in front of Liridon and Yanna.

“Eric and the others are in the front parlor, they want to know what we need them to do now,” she said wiping the tears away with her hanky.

“I’ll go and see them. We need everyone’s help right now.”

I walked the short distance to the front parlor. They at least had been able to wash up, while I was still covered in blood.

“Damien, what can we do,” Eric asked anxiously.

“We know the girls are at least safe. What about Katrina?”

“No sign of her. Allwain is working on it. Because of our Jinn power, either Cain or I have to stay with Cathos and Ceron as they heal. Right now the most important thing is to get our story straight. Meil will be missed. The Arnuant brothers shouldn’t be. Any suggestions?”

“This is Paris. We can say he ran off with Suzette. I’m sure that people noticed his recent infatuation with her. End of story,” Gerhardt offered.

“Good, that gives us the reason why the Suzette’s house of pleasure is out of business as well. Portal back to your home and get the rumor started.”

“I’ll inform all our allies on the situation,” Eric added. “If there is anything we can do to help find Katrina of course we will.”

“Thank you my friends.”

It felt good to say that out in the open now.

Katrina:

I searched the cottage and found food and clothing. I was so glad that I had strapped a sword and dagger onto my thigh, underneath my gown. My thinking at the time was that I would rather be safe than sorry.

Allwain always told me to follow my instincts and that advice had saved me on more than one occasion.

Along with our weapons, we always had another article with us. A leather pouch that held several things: our favorite piece of jewelry - a bracelet handmade out of silver by the Voss brothers, enough crimson tablets to last us months if necessary, invisibility tablets, a compass and what Allwain had told us was a ‘cure all tablet’ in case of poisoning.

I had no idea how long I had before someone or something would come, so I ripped off the beautiful gown which now had outlived its usefulness and put on one of the much more comfortable outfits that had been provided. It was much like the traveling clothing that we always wore. The clothing fit perfectly as did the boots. That made me wonder how long Meil had been planning to send me here.

 I found other sundries here as well, enough for a very long stay.

I looked around for anything of use that I could easily take with me. I chose a water sack and a small mirror. When I had time perhaps I could make my own skrying pool. Allwain had instructed us on the magic required, if I could just remember it.

I took in a deep breath to see what I could see with that sense.

Animals, some known, along with many that were unknown. I didn’t perceive any magical barriers or protections in place. That was odd. That probably meant that I didn’t have much time at all. I had to try one more thing.

“
Cathos, Ceron, can you hear me
?”

All right. I am either not in the underworld or they for whatever reason, couldn’t hear me. No one could.

I unpinned the pouch from the remnants of the gown, re-pinned it inside my vest and ran back out the door.

I stopped at the stream not far from the house. Which way? Slowing my heart rate, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Give me something, anything to go on. I need help.

Go to the East
, I heard in my mind.

East it is. I took out the compass but its needle just spun continuously around its face. Great, this was no help at all. Well, now all I had was my training and instinct.

Instinct told me to follow the water downstream. So that’s what I did. I ran at full speed putting as much ground between myself and the cottage as possible.

After a few hours I slowed. The sun had risen and I felt that now there was enough distance from the cottage that I could afford to take a short rest and at least have some crimson before I continued on.

I bent down to fill my water sack and saw my reflection. I had been Suzette for weeks. It felt good to be Katrina and see my own face again. But then I had to laugh; my hair was still formally piled up on my head, well most of it anyway.

I finished filling the leather water sack and then found a protected grassy spot to rest.

I snuggled down in the long, lush grass and took a swig of the cool, fresh water. I then opened the pouch inside my vest and took out one of the small red crimson tablets and let in dissolve underneath my tongue. Nothing ever tasted so good.

I pulled the pins out of my hair, shook it out and ran my fingers roughly through it. “I’ll just lie down for a few minutes,” I thought.

“Quinn, where ever you are, we’re all right.”

I slept soundly and woke with someone looking down at me and just about to poke me with a stick.

“Hey, don’t even think about it!”

“Who are you, what are you doing here and where did you come from?”

“That’s a lot of questions. I need to know a little bit more before I’ll answer any. How about you start,” I said as I sat up. Who are
you
?

“I am Aaron, son of Zax, King of the Faun. This is our land.

I knew what a faun was; I had seen them in sanctuary. From the waist up they looked like elves. From the waist down, they looked like goats, much like Satyr, but smaller.

“Nice to meet you, Aaron. My name is Katrina. I was sent here without my permission. But just
where
is here, Aaron?”

“Why Faralea of course,” he said.

“Of course. I need to speak with your father, Aaron. Will you take me to him?”

“Yes, Katrina. It’s not far.”

He offered his hand and helped me up.

“You are different from any creature that I’ve ever seen before. What happened to your hooves?”

“You’ve never seen someone with feet before?”

“Father has told us stories of creatures without hooves, but no, I’ve never seen any before. But then we are at the far reaches of our world.”

Aaron too followed the stream for a few more miles before we turned inland. His village was situated at the top of the knoll overlooking the valley.

“It’s beautiful, Aaron.”

“I think so too.”

The village had several narrow streets. Each was lined with small cottages roofed with thick straw. They seemed to be made out of white-washed wood with small shuttered windows that were opened during the day, but closed for safety at night.

Other Faun were out going about their business, tending gardens and fields. When we approached they stopped and then followed us as we passed. By the time we reached Aaron’s home, we headed up quite a procession.

Aaron’s home was larger than the rest, which of course was expected, since I had been told his father was the King. But it was no palace and there were no obvious signs of any grandeur due to his station.

“Father, I found someone in the forest. She says she needs our help!”

His father came out, wiping his hands with a cloth, stopped and then looked me up and down.

He was much taller than Aaron and much bigger than any Faun I had ever seen in sanctuary. His face had strong features, but still could be called handsome. He wore his curly hair long, and his wide sideburns were both long and full. There was a kindness in his soft brown eyes, which was encouraging at least.