Chapter 86: Chapter 86

Jorick's voice caressed Katelina's consciousness in soft murmurs, "Katelina, it's all right. I'm here. It's all right."

She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. She was trapped somewhere between awake and asleep, unable to scream out loud. "Jorick!" she shouted silently before that final image of him flashed through her mind. His eyes were blank and full of blood lust, his face more animal than man, like Nirel's had been while he drank from her. Her mind shuddered. Jorick was a monster, no different from the others. He could kill her on a whim, drain her blood, drink her life, or destroy her with coursing pain like Claudius had tried to do.

Jorick's voice answered her, soft and soothing, "I am what I am, Katelina. I can't change that, any more than you can change what you are."

"No!" she tried to shout. "No, Jorick! Why?" She'd have sobbed if she could. She felt broken and defeated, disillusioned and destroyed.