Proditor

Book 5 of the Heku Series

Published by T.M. Nielsen at Smashwords

Find us at

http://www.hekuseries.com/

Copyright © 2010 by T.M. Nielsen

This book is available in print at http://www.amazon.com

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Belonging

Chapter 2 - Traitors

Chapter 3 - Reconciling

Chapter 4 - Valle Trial

Chapter 5 - New Mexico

Chapter 6 - Exavior

Chapter 7 - Resolution

Chapter 8 - Paranoia

Chapter 9 - Owls

Chapter 10 - Mission

Chapter 11 - Island Coven

Chapter 12 - Guards

Chapter 13 - Encala Palace

Chapter 14 - Interrogation

Chapter 15 - Healing

Chapter 16 - Ultimatum

Chapter 17 - Enforcers

Chapter 18 - Last Chance

Chapter 19 - Negotiations

Chapter 20 - Four Weeks

Chapter 21 - Clark Coven

Chapter 22 - Dr. Hayden

Chapter 23 - Rumors

Chapter 24 - Coup

Chapter 25 - Coma

Chapter 26 - Breeding

Chapter 27 - Ferus Elder

Chapter 28 - Another

Chapter 29 - Home

Chapter 1 - Belonging

Emily sat up quickly in bed, unsure at first where she was. The room was empty and her suitcase was still lying open on the table in the corner. She could hear Allen and Alexis talking in the pink nursery, so she got up and moved to the door and smiled. Allen was reading to Alexis as she sat on his lap and pointed at the pictures.

“Allen?” Emily asked softly.

“Mom!” Allen yelled, and stood up, sliding Alexis off his lap. Emily’s eyes grew wide. In the two months she’d been gone, Allen had grown and was now almost as tall as she was. He ran into her arms and she hugged him tightly.

“I sure missed you,” she said, and kissed the top of his head.

“Where were you?” he asked, and looked up at her.

“It’s hard to explain,” Emily said, and moved into the nursery. “Anything fun happen around here?”

“Nothing really new, just… well, Dad,” Allen said, and leaned against the wall.

Emily nodded, “What about him?”

Allen shrugged, “He missed you is all. Course, he’s pretty mad now that he knows you’re safe.”

“He is?”

“Of course, he looked for you, all the time. He wouldn’t go into the stables and was… moody.”

“I had to go.”

“I know you did. I heard the Council talking about it yesterday,” Allen told her.

“You were in a council meeting?”

“No, but I can hear them when I want.”

Emily just took a deep breath and nodded, “How have you been?”

“If you go, will you take me?”

“I want to.”

Allen watched her carefully, “But you don’t know if you can.”

“Let’s just hope I don’t have to leave.”

“Are you feeling ok?”

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“I have to get to school. I have a test in Human Pathology,” Allen told her, and headed for the bedroom door.

“Human pathology? Allen… you’re 8,” Emily reminded him.

Allen grinned, and it almost stopped Emily’s heart. He had Chevalier’s grin, “Only my body, Mom, and I’m taller than you are. I’m studying Medicine and should be ready to take my MCAT next fall.”

“MCAT?” Emily asked, frowning.

“Medical College Admissions Test.”

Emily sighed, “Why would you go into medicine?”

Allen chuckled, “Not all of us are afraid of the medical sciences, Mom.”

Emily just nodded as he walked out to class.

“I’m hungry,” Alexis said, and took Emily’s hand.

“Let’s go, I’ll make pancakes,” Emily told the 3-year-old. They walked out of the bedroom and stopped at the fifth-floor foyer. There were guards posted by the stairs that turned and bowed when Emily and Alexis appeared.

Emily picked up Alexis and started down the stairs. She used the toddler to block herself from view. Two months away from the palace and she felt like an unwanted outsider. Everything seemed almost surreal as she descended the stairs and passed guards posted at each floor.

When they got to the kitchen, it was abandoned, so Emily sat Alexis down on the stool and went to the pantry. She frowned at the empty shelves and found the cupboards in the kitchen were also bare. The fridge and freezer weren’t even turned on, so Emily shut the doors and turned back to Alexis.

“Shall we go into the city for breakfast?” Emily asked, smiling.

Alexis nodded, “Pancakes.”

“Good, we’ll get some groceries while we’re out,” Emily told her, and helped her down off of the tall stool.

Emily ran up the stairs and grabbed her purse, and then led Alexis out into the garage.

“Leaving?” Mark asked from behind her.

Emily nodded, “Yeah, we’re going to go get some breakfast.”

“May I go?”

“Sure,” Emily said. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble than she already had.

Mark smiled, shocked that she was allowing him to go, so he called for Silas.

“We going somewhere?” Silas asked, walking over to the Jeep.

“Boring stuff, just breakfast and grocery shopping,” Emily told them, and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Should I drive so we get there sometime today?” Mark asked, grinning.

“I do not drive slowly!” Emily said, and pulled out of the garage.

Emily drove up to an International House of Pancakes and stopped the Jeep. Silas took Alexis’ hand, while Emily got her purse, and they all headed inside, then sat down and Emily ordered while Mark and Silas scanned the room.

“What?” she asked when she heard a low hiss from Mark.

“Our waiter is a heku,” he told her, and looked around the room again.

Emily frowned, “Seriously?”

Mark nodded, and his hands tightened into fists when their waiter returned with their drinks.

“Your breakfast will be up shortly,” he said, and jerked his head away from them before leaving quickly.

***

“You can go in,” Derrick said to Mark and Emily.

Emily glanced at Mark as he opened the door and ushered her inside.

Quinn smiled, “Welcome back, Emily. It’s good to have you home.”

Emily smiled slightly and moved closer to Mark.

“Derrick said you wanted to talk to us,” Zohn said, and looked down at them.

Emily’s heart pounded in her chest. The old feelings of hatred for him flooded back into her, and she started to panic. She avoided looking at Chevalier, but glanced up at Mark instead.

Mark smiled, “We went into town, me, Silas, Emily, and Alexis. We ran into a heku at a restaurant.”

“Ok, was there a problem?” Quinn asked.

“No, not at all. They ate and then he decided to follow us out to the Jeep and then savored Emily,” Mark told them.

Quinn frowned, “You don’t call that a problem?”

“Not at all,” Mark said. “Before I could even react, he turned and walked back into the restaurant.”

“Without attacking?” Quinn asked.

“Without attacking,” Mark said.

“Get on with it. Why does the Council need to know this?” Zohn asked, irritated.

Emily sighed and stepped forward. She shut her eyes and then moved back to Mark.

“Derrick said you wanted to talk to us,” Zohn said, and looked down at them again.

Quinn looked at Zohn, “You said that already.”

“I did not, they just walked in,” Zohn said, irritated.

Kyle chuckled, “Nice, Em.”

Zohn glanced at Kyle, “What?”

“When did you perfect that?” Kyle asked her.

Emily shrugged, “While I was away.”

“Perfect what?” Zohn asked.

Emily shut her eyes again and then glanced up at Zohn.

“Derrick said you wanted to talk to us,” Zohn said.

“I was going to tell you,” Emily said, and risked a brief glance at Chevalier. He was watching her, expressionless.

“How controlled is it?” Quinn asked, glancing at Zohn.

Zohn frowned, “How controlled is what?”

“I can control how far back I take you, but it’s only temporary,” Emily explained.

“How long does it last?” Kyle asked.

“About an hour, then everything comes back.”

“How long were you going to keep this from us?” Chevalier asked, annoyed.

Emily swallowed and steadied her voice before answering, “I was going to tell you today.”

“What the hell is everyone talking about?” Zohn yelled.

Emily moved back slightly behind Mark and shut her eyes again briefly.

“Derrick said you wanted to talk to us,” Zohn said.

“Stop it, Emily,” Chevalier said sternly.

Emily grasped Mark’s arm.

Quinn smiled softly, “We appreciate you showing us, and we also appreciate you keeping it from the other factions.”

Emily nodded and then ran out of the room. She didn’t stop until she got into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

“What?” Chevalier growled at Mark, who was glaring at him.

“Nothing,” Mark said, and looked over at Quinn.

“Mark, you may go,” Quinn said, and then waited until Mark left the room. “Kyle, take Zohn, and the rest of you leave.”

The Council filed out of the room as Kyle ushered Zohn out and shut the door behind them.

Quinn turned slowly to Chevalier, “What was that?”

“What?” Chevalier asked, his voice ominous.

“You are just pushing her out the door.”

“I am not. She does what she wants.”

“You’re going to regret this, and I wish you would check your temper and get over it.”

Chevalier frowned, “Why should I? She left for two months without a word. Why should I act like nothing ever happened?”

“Because she did it for a reason. She wasn’t just leaving for the sake of making you miserable, and as soon as you realize that, you will want her back,” Quinn told him.

“I already want her back. I’m not pushing her away.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Stay out of it,” Chevalier said, and stormed out of the room. He walked up to the bedroom and looked around the empty room, noticing Emily’s suitcase was gone.

Chevalier followed Emily’s scent out to the stables where he saw Mark and another member of the Cavalry standing outside the front doors.

“Where is she?” Chevalier growled.

“In her new bedroom,” Mark said, standing at attention and not looking at the Elder.

Chevalier walked through the stables to the caretaker’s room that Sam had occupied. Since his death, the room was abandoned. He knocked on the wooden door and stepped back.

Emily opened the door slightly and peeked out. When she saw who it was, she stepped back and let him enter.

“You’re going to live out here now?” Chevalier asked, sitting down on an old, rickety chair by a small table.

“For now, yes,” Emily said, and watched him. “You can keep the bedroom.”

“Interesting new talent you found.”

“I guess.”

Chevalier looked around the room, “Everyone missed you.”

“Not everyone.”

“Emily… I…” he started, and then cocked his head to the side slightly. “I have to go.”

Emily nodded and watched him leave for the council chambers. She gave him enough time to get in his seat before heading into the palace to collect the rest of her things.

“Commander?” Darren asked when Emily got to the fourth floor.

Emily smiled and went over to the Thukil Captain, “Nice to see you again.”

“We’re not here for pleasantries,” Darren said. “The Valle have some of the Cavalry.”

Emily frowned, “How many?”

“Six”

“You’re going to ask the Elders to help you get them back?” Emily asked.

Darren shook his head, “No, we want to go, but will need their permission. They are being kept at the Valle’s palace.”

“Let me go with you. I can get them back,” Emily told him.

“If you wish,” Darren said, and they walked in when Derrick opened the door for them.

Emily stood by Darren to address the Council.

“We understand the Valle have some of your coven,” Quinn said, glancing at Emily.

“Yes, and we want to petition to get them back,” Darren said. “Myself, the Commander, and four of Thukil’s Lieutenants want to go talk to them about a release.”

Zohn frowned, “The Commander?”

“Yes, me,” Emily said, watching Zohn closely.

“That’s out of the question, but the rest of you may go,” Quinn said.

Emily frowned, “Why? I’m their Commander, and I want you to name one other Commander you would say no to.”

“It’s still out of the question,” Zohn said. “I’ll go with the Captain and we’ll get them back.”

Darren touched her arm softly, “It’s ok. We’ll get them back.”

“I can help you,” she said to him, her voice full of desperation. “Please let me go.”

“I can’t, not without the Council’s permission,” Darren said, and glanced back at the Elders.

Emily looked at the Council for a moment, and then left the trial area before she lost her temper. She went up to the bedroom and started collecting the rest of her things from around the room.

“Don’t be mad, please,” Quinn said, and walked into the room. “We are just worried about you.”

“Yeah, right,” Emily said, and dug around in the closet before coming out with an armful of clothes.

“Are you leaving?” Quinn asked, watching her.

“Not yet. I’m going to stay in the stables until I figure out where to go,” she told him, and started throwing clothes into a bag.

“He’ll come around.”

Emily shrugged, “Maybe.”

“Just give him time.”

Emily turned to Quinn and crossed her arms, “I want to go to the Valle.”

“I know, and I have no doubt you could get them back, but right now, we need you to stay here,” Quinn explained.

“Fine,” she said, obviously not happy.

Quinn couldn’t help but smile some, “It’ll help Chevalier if you will do what the Council asks.”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m quietly packing to move into the stables. I’m not running off to challenge the Valle.”

“I’m just saying…”

“You’re just telling me to behave, I know.” Emily pulled the full suitcase onto the floor and started to drag it to the door.

“Let me get that,” Quinn said, and picked up her suitcase.

“I need to put some things in Kyle’s bathroom, be right back,” Emily said, and ran a handful of toiletries across the hall.

She came back and ignored Chevalier, who was now sitting on the bed.

“Ready, Quinn,” she said, and they both headed down toward the stables.

Chevalier looked around the empty room. It was common for members of the Council to have a bedroom, even though they didn’t sleep. It was considered a private place where they could go to relax, undisturbed. His room had always been full of life with Emily’s things scattered around, a reminder of her presence, even when she was out. Now the room seemed cold and dead.

“Enter,” Chevalier said when he heard a knock.

Quinn came back into the room, “She’s getting settled in the stables.”

“Ok”

“She’s not planning on staying in Council City for long.”

“Ok,” Chevalier said again.

Quinn sighed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Emily looked around the small room. It had everything she needed to be comfortable, except a shower, and she was going to use Kyle’s. She sat down on the bed and looked around the room. It seemed weird to think that Sam was gone, and she was now living in the stables, a far cry from palace life.

Emily sighed, already bored with the small quarters. She walked out into the stables to find something to do. Before long, she was trimming the mane off all of the horses. When she was done, she started to braid their tails to pass the time.

“Em?” Mark called out.

“In with Kralen’s horse,” she told him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, resting his arms on the stall door.

“I’m braiding his tail.”

“Why?”

“I’m bored.”

Mark grinned, “You could always finish breaking that demon.”

Emily stood up, “You know? That’s a good idea.”

“I was kidding,” Mark said, frowning.

Emily finished braiding the stallion’s tail, grabbed her riding gloves, and then slipped on a pair of spurs. She led the mustang out into the corral while Mark watched anxiously. He was shocked to see her wearing the hated spurs.

The mustang took the bridle and saddle well, and Emily handed him a treat, then turned around and saw that most of the Cavalry had come to watch. She blushed slightly, and then hoisted herself up onto his back. She waited while he settled down and then took a deep breath and kicked his sides.

The mustang reared up once and tried to buck her off, but she held tightly and he soon calmed back down.

“Why don’t you let me do that?” Mark asked, obviously nervous.

“What fun is that?” Emily asked, and again kicked the mustang’s sides. He edged forward a few steps and then stopped.

“I guess I lost the bet,” Silas said from the fence.

“What bet is that?” Emily asked as she kicked again and led the mustang around the corral slowly.

“I bet he’d kill you before you broke him.”

“Gee thanks,” Emily said. “Open the gate please.”

“I don’t know, Em,” Mark said, still unsure of how well the mustang was broken.

“Just do it, please.”

Mark sighed and opened the fence. Emily led the mustang out of the corral and pulled him to a stop, then took him in a few slow circles and smiled.

“It’s now or never, eh?” she said, and then kicked the mustang hard. He jerked forward and took off at a fast gallop. Emily led him quickly through the city. She’d never been on a horse this fast, and it was exhilarating. She was soon up on the hills to the west of town and running toward the tree line. The mustang didn’t even slow down as he ran into the woods. He wove in and out of the trees, and Emily turned control over to him and just held on as she shut her eyes and felt the wind in her hair.

Emily pulled him to a stop on the far west side when she saw the dead Durango still sitting out by the trees. She looked at it for a few minutes, and then headed back. She soon emerged out of the forest and kicked the stallion into a full gallop again, racing for the city. The Cavalry was still waiting for her when she got him back to the stables.

“Oh good, we don’t have to come scrape you off of the ground,” Mark said, grinning.

“Such faith! I think Damon’s going to be a good horse, but I’m guessing he’ll never be gentle enough for Allen,” Emily said, and slipped off of him.

“You named him Damon?” Silas asked, shaking his head.

“Sure, he’s a pain in the ass and as mean as they come,” she explained, and led him back into his stall.

Mark followed her, “We could let Chatotay have him. His horse is pregnant.”

“Yeah, he can use him until his mare foals,” Emily said, and scooped food into the stallion’s trough.

“He’s not going to want to ride a horse named Damon though.”

“He’ll live… now… how do I get through to your Cavalry to stop letting the mares into the corral with the stallions while they are in heat?” Emily asked, and shut Damon’s stall.

Mark shrugged, “I told them… again.”

“Do they need a birds and bees lesson? I could go over it with them… how exactly foals come about.”

Mark leaned his head back and laughed, “That would be interesting.”

Emily turned to Mark, “That mustang’s the fastest horse I’ve ever been on.”

“Really?” Mark asked, shocked.

“It’s amazing.”

“Can I give him a try? Maybe tomorrow?”

Emily nodded, “Sure, take him out.”

“Sweet!” Mark said, and grinned.

“I’m going out for a run. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure, I’ll go too,” Mark said, and headed in to change.

“Solo, Mark. I won’t leave the city, promise,” Emily told him, and then grinned when he walked out of the stables, irritated.

Within a few minutes, Emily was out running with her iPod clipped to her arm and her hair tied up high. She ran through the city, taking random streets and ignoring the way the heku watched from their windows as she passed.

“Damnit,” she sighed as her iPod died. She stopped and pulled the earphones out of her ears to see if she could fix it, then looked around, not entirely sure where she was, and sat down against a small store so she could fix her music. She stopped working on the iPod when she heard whispers.

“In three days,” a man whispered from the alleyway behind her.

“We’re going to get caught. We can’t keep letting the Valle in here,” a woman replied.

Emily’s heart pounded in her chest as she listened, unmoving.

The man sighed, “We’ve been here for thirty four years. We can’t give up now. We’re both Generals, and they don’t suspect a thing.”

“They are getting suspicious though, wondering how the Valle keep getting into the city,” the woman whispered.

“Until we get Selhman and Ingram back, we have to just stay here and keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Yeah, but that bloody mortal is back in the palace. That makes things more dangerous.”

“She won’t matter once we take out the Council. Just have patience, Terry. We’ll be back in our coven soon enough,” the man whispered.

Emily stood up suddenly when she heard the voices moving closer, but forgot that her iPod was sitting on her lap, and it crashed loudly to the cobblestone ground when she stood. Suddenly, the three heku blurred and surrounded her.

“What have we here?” the male heku asked. Emily saw the rank tag on his guard uniform, he was a Commander.

“An eavesdropper,” the female said.

Emily suddenly found herself restrained by the male General. He had one arm around her upper chest and one around her waist.

“What did you hear, Baby Girl?” he whispered into her ear.

“Enough,” Emily scowled.

The three heku led Emily into a house in the city. She looked around the sparsely decorated house as she was pushed down onto a hard wooden chair.

“What do we do with her?” the male General asked.

Terry looked at Emily nervously, “I don’t know. Not sure why she hasn’t ashed us yet.”

Emily cringed when she heard a deep inhale.

“Damn,” Terry said.

Emily felt someone beside her as the Commander ran his nose up her neck. He finally pulled away from her and she could breathe again.

“Stop it,” the male General said, and pushed the Commander toward a window. “No feeding from her until we decide what to do.”

Chapter 2 - Traitors

Mark slipped off of his horse and reached down to grab Emily’s iPod off of the ground. He inhaled and looked around.

“Her scent is a few hours old,” Mark said to Kralen and Silas.

“I knew I should have gone running with her,” Silas said, and slipped off of his horse.

Kralen looked around, “She promised to stay in the city. We weren’t worried about it.”

Four more members of the Cavalry rode up.

“What’s up?” one of them asked.

“We found Emily’s broken iPod. She went for a run a few hours ago,” Mark explained.

“This’ll make the Council happy. Emily’s gone so soon after returning,” Silas said, and grinned slightly.

Mark sighed, “Let me think.”

“Why don’t we talk to Kyle and see what he says,” Silas suggested.

“Great idea, let’s do that,” Mark said, and mounted his horse. The Cavalry ran through the city streets, and while Kralen took Mark’s horse into the stables, Mark went into the palace and knocked on Kyle’s office door.

“Enter,” Kyle said, and looked up when Mark entered. “Yes?”

Mark sat down across from Kyle’s desk, “While we were out on patrol, we found this on the street.”

Kyle took the broken iPod from Mark and looked at him, “Emily’s, I take it?”

Mark nodded, “She went out for a run a few hours ago. We didn’t go because she promised to stay in the city.”

Kyle sighed, “Damn.”

“Her scent is in the area, but it’s a few hours old.”

“See if you can find her. Chevalier’s head may explode if she’s already missing,” Kyle said, and looked at the iPod.

Mark nodded and left Kyle’s office.

“Quinn, Zohn,” Kyle called out, and then told both of them to enter when they came to his door.

Zohn waited by the door while Quinn sat down.

“Where’s Chevalier?” Kyle asked them.

“He’s out. I think he ran to Banks Coven for a few hours,” Quinn explained.

“Emily’s missing,” Kyle said, and grinned slightly.

Zohn’s shoulders fell, “Define… missing.”

“The Cavalry said she went out for a run, but while on patrol, they found her iPod broken on the streets.”

“Great,” Quinn said. “Let’s find her before he gets back.”

Kyle nodded, “The Cavalry is out right now looking.”

***

Emily watched as the three heku fought over what to do with her. One wanted to drain her and get it over with, but he seemed to be the only one that wasn’t acclimating to her scent. The woman wanted to take her to the Valle Council, but the other man reminded her that their orders were that she was to be left alone.

“Damnit, this isn’t leaving her alone! Now we’ve defied the Valle Council and kidnapped the Winchester,” the male General said, frowning.

“So let me just drain her. No one will know who did it,” the Commander suggested.

The woman looked over at Emily, “Why doesn’t she turn us to ash?”

They all three looked over at Emily.

“I’m not ashing you because I’m being good, and letting the Equites handle things,” Emily told them.

“They aren’t even looking for you, though,” the General told her.

“Then… maybe you’re stuck with me,” Emily said, and smiled.

“We can’t keep her here, and we can’t take her to the Council. We weren’t supposed to touch her,” the Commander said, and sat down.

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you took me… or maybe you should have paid more attention to who was around while you three talked about being traitors,” Emily said, and saw them cringe.

“So that’s it. We have to kill her,” the General said.

“Yeah, like I’m going to let you kill me.”

“You won’t have a choice, Child.”

“Yes I will. It’s not that I can’t ash you… it’s that until now, I’ve chosen not to.”

“I suspect you can’t, or you would have,” the General said, and grinned at her.

“Ok, you keep thinking that.”

The General sighed, “Let’s take her to the Valle Council. We don’t have a choice.”

“Oh fun, I haven’t seen Sotomar in a while,” Emily told them, and rolled her eyes.

Emily’s hands were tied behind her back and she was put into the trunk of a small car. She wasn’t afraid or scared, but just laid back and napped during the long drive to the Valle’s Palace City.

Emily squinted when the General opened the trunk door and pulled her onto her feet. She saw the familiar Valle Palace and walked in with her three captors. The door guard to the council chambers gasped when he saw her, and immediately let them into the council chambers.

Emily grinned when she saw the horrified look on Sotomar’s face.

“What have you done!?” Sotomar yelled at them.

“We had to, Sir. She heard us talking,” the General said.

“Nice to see you again, Sotomar,” Emily said, and smiled.

“Emily… we’re so sorry,” one of the other Valle Elders said.

“First, let my hands go, please,” Emily said, and Exavior appeared at her back and untied them.

When her hands were free, Exavior pulled her into a strong hug, “I’ve missed you.”

She pulled away and smiled, “Have a seat, Exavior. I’m not done.”

The Council watched her nervously as Exavior moved up to his seat and sat down.

“What… what can we do to make this up to you?” Sotomar asked, his eyes showed the terror.

“Last time I was here, I let all of your prisoners go,” Emily reminded them.

The Council watched her carefully.

“What Equites do you have here right now?”

Sotomar sighed, “Exavior, take her down.”

Exavior walked down and took Emily’s hand, “Let me show you.”

“Keep these three here, I’m not done with them,” Emily told Sotomar as she left with Exavior.

Emily followed Exavior down into the prison cells. He led her past a few empty cells, and then opened a door, revealing seven members of the Thukil Cavalry.

“Commander?” Darren asked.

“Come on,” Emily told them, and they fell in behind her. Exavior opened another cell and Emily looked inside.

“Zohn?”

Zohn looked up at her, shocked, “Emily? What are you doing here?”

“Getting you out, come on,” Emily said, and Zohn joined the Thukil guards behind her.

“That’s it for the Equites,” Exavior said.

Emily glanced back at Zohn, “Who came with you?”

“They let the guards go and just kept me,” Zohn told her.

“Ok, back to the council chambers,” Emily said. She rolled her eyes when Exavior tried to take her hand again, and she pulled her hand away from him, then cringed when he dropped down to his knees.

“Marry me, Emily,” Exavior said, and took her hand.

“Seriously… Exavior…” Emily started, but he stood suddenly and pressed his lips to hers. She pulled away from him as she heard growls and hisses from the Equites behind her.

“Marry me,” Exavior said again.

“Take us back to Sotomar,” Emily told him, and took Zohn’s hand, pulling close to his side. Exavior glared at Zohn and led them back to the council chambers.

The Valle Council was in a discussion when they returned. Exavior headed back for Emily, but she pulled closer to Zohn and heard him growl. Exavior sighed and returned to his chair.

Emily stepped forward, “What are we going to do about this? I warned you…”

Sotomar stood, “Please, don’t disappear. We are still under the month long protection.”

“Yes, but this isn’t a stray heku attack. This is bigger,” Emily said.

“Sit down!” Sotomar yelled at Exavior when he stood up to walk down to Emily.

“So… this is what I suggest. You let my Cavalry members go, and I take Zohn with me. The three of these Equites guards come with me, too,” Emily said, and crossed her arms.

“What!?” Sotomar yelled. “We can’t give you eleven prisoners.”

“Yes you can, or you can face the wrath of the Encala and the Equites when I disappear,” Emily said, and smiled sweetly.

“Damnit, we want to punish these three for what they’ve done,” Sotomar said, motioning to the three Equites guards.

“Nope, I take them too,” Emily said.

Sotomar growled, and then slammed his fist on the table, “Take them and go.”

“We’ll need a ride,” Emily said, and glanced at Darren. “A helicopter back to Council City, please.”

Sotomar nodded.

Emily turned to the Thukil Cavalry, “Take those three into custody.”

They followed their Commander’s orders immediately, and took the two Generals and the City Commander, restraining them.

“Emily, why are some of the top Commanding Officers for Council City under arrest?” Zohn asked, sounding irritated.

“Oh, there’s a good story. Let’s go and I’ll fill in the Council,” Emily told him, and followed the Valle guards up to the waiting helicopter.

They all crawled into the Valle helicopter, and Emily grabbed the radio as they approached the city, “Base from Emily.”

There was a pause, “Emily? This is base.”

“We’re coming in in a Valle helicopter, can we land?”

“One moment,” the voice said, and the Valle pilot hovered over the city, waiting for permission to land.

“Emily from base,” Kyle said.

“Go ahead Kyle,” Emily said.

“Permission to land, take it to the roof between Equites 1 and Equites 2.”

“Got it.”

The Valle pilot glanced back at her, “If I land this thing, am I going to be able to leave?”

Emily nodded, “You have my word. As soon as we’re off the helicopter, you can go.”

He nodded and landed the helicopter between the two Equites’ Blackhawks. Guards quickly surrounded the enemy helicopter and crouched low as the pilot cut the engines and the door opened.

“Emily?” Mark asked, helping her out of the helicopter.

“Take them into custody. The Council will want to see them,” Emily told Mark, and he nodded and ordered the three Commanding Officers into custody. They were escorted into the palace by both the Thukil and the Council City guards.

Emily nodded to the pilot, and he quickly started the helicopter and took off. Emily, Darren, and Zohn headed inside and walked into the council chambers. Zohn moved up to his seat after he shrugged at the other Elders.

Emily noticed that Chevalier was more relaxed and wasn’t glaring at her anymore.

“Ok, so, Emily… care to explain?” Quinn asked, leaning forward.

“Sure,” she said, and stepped forward a bit. “I was out running and overheard the three stooges here talking about how they’ve been letting the Valle into the city, and that there is a Valle attack coming in three days.”

“What!?” Zohn yelled, looking at the two Generals.

“She’s lying!” the male General said.

“Oh, shut up,” Emily said, and then turned back. “Geniuses freaked out after they kidnapped me, and decided to take me to the Valle’s palace.”

“I’m imagining their orders were to leave you alone,” Quinn said.

Emily nodded, “Yes, so Sotomar was pretty mad. So I agreed not to disappear in return for the captured Thukil Cavalry and Zohn. See, simple enough.”

Quinn rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Ok, so these three are traitors, the Thukils are all free, and you returned Zohn.”

“Yes, seems so.”

“Escort them to the prison,” Zohn said. “Everyone out, except Emily.”

Emily cringed and smiled at Darren when he left.

“Step up here,” Zohn said.

Emily stepped forward, “What’d I do now?”

“Do you want to explain the relationship between you and Exavior?” Zohn asked.

Emily frowned, “You mean the marriage proposals and the kiss?”

Chevalier frowned and she heard a low growl.

“Yes, that,” Zohn said.

“What do you want me to say? I’m not going to apologize because he has a crush,” Emily said, and scanned the Council.

“How far has he gone with you?” Chevalier hissed.

Emily glared at him, “What do you care?”

“You two can fight later,” Zohn said. “I want to know what you are going to do about the… what did you call it? Crush… by the Valle’s Chief Interrogator.”

“I’m not going to do anything,” Emily told him. She was watching Zohn carefully, avoiding the fierce look in Chevalier’s eyes.

“Very well, you may go,” Zohn said, and turned to Quinn.

Emily left, mumbling, “Thanks Em, for returning all of the Equites and exposing the conspiracy.”

Quinn grinned when the door shut, “We could make our Faction Liaison Officer the new Coven Liaison Officer, and give her the Faction Liaison position.”

“Do what?” Chevalier asked, still angry.

“They can’t kidnap her. She could handle all relations with the Valle and Encala.”

“No”

“He has a good point,” Zohn said. “She just got every Equites released from the Valle prison.”

“No,” Chevalier said again.

“It might give her a reason to stay,” Kyle said.

“No”

Quinn sighed, “Who wants to interrogate the traitors?”

“I do,” Chevalier said, and disappeared from the room.

“I do, too,” Zohn said, and followed him.

Kyle followed the Elders and the three Valle into the interrogation chamber, and made sure the door was shut before he took one of the prisoners and pushed him toward the Iron Maiden.

Chevalier clasped his fists together and slammed them into the side of the General’s head, sending him back into the fireplace. He pulled the heku out of the ashes and tied him to the rack.

Zohn was tying the female heku to the electrified table and watching Chevalier closely, “The Faction Liaison Officer idea was good.”

“No,” Chevalier said, and stretched the heku slightly on the rack.

Kyle pushed the Iron Maiden shut, ignoring the screams from inside, “She’s going to leave if you don’t stop.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Chevalier said, and sat down by his heku. “Want to tell us what’s going on in three days?”

“No,” the Valle said, gritting his teeth against the pain.

“I will!” a voice sounded from the Iron Maiden and Kyle laughed.

“I always get the squealers,” Kyle said, and opened the tin coffin. “Start talking.”

“Please, let me out,” Kyle’s prisoner said. “I’ll tell you if you let me out.”

Kyle shrugged and shut the door to the Iron Maiden, “I still want to talk about Em.”

“I think she and this Exavior guy have a thing,” Zohn said, and touched the button on the electrical current. He waited until the screaming turned to deathly gurgles before letting up on it.

“They do not,” Chevalier growled, and cranked harder on the rack.

***

“What did you find?” Quinn asked.

“The Valle are coming after Ingram and Selhman in three days, arriving at night. The illustrious three musketeers were going to make sure they had a clear shot into the city,” Zohn said, picking something fleshy off of his shirt.

“Or… they were,” Chevalier said. “I’m thinking now that Sotomar knows we have these three, we don’t have to worry about them.”

“We need to decide, once and for all, what to do about those two,” Quinn said, deep in thought.

“We just have to fill the last spot. We can’t try them with a missing member of the Council,” Zohn reminded them.

Quinn growled, “We can’t fill his spot though. No one is fit to do it.”

“You do realize that we have one more member of the Council,” Kyle said, and nodded when everyone looked at him.

“We do?” Zohn asked.

“Yes, we made spouses of the Council full members after Damon.”

“Bring Emily into this trial?” Quinn asked, confused.

“Why not? All she has to do is fill the thirteenth spot so the Council is full,” Kyle said, sitting back in his chair.

“No,” Chevalier said sternly.

“That’s one no… I vote yes,” Quinn said. “I’d like to get these two taken care of.”

All eyes turned to Zohn, “Gah, I’m thinking. I would be nice to have them out of the way, but she’s so emotional and illogical.”

“Elders get the deciding vote,” Kyle said. “All she has to do is sit here and represent the 13th.”

Zohn sighed, “Yes.”

“Damnit, no,” Chevalier yelled, slamming his fists on the table.

“Your dislike of Emily does not mean that she can’t hold a valid position with this faction,” Quinn said, obviously angry. “You need to get over your feelings for her, and let us carry on with business.”

“No one said I dislike Emily,” Chevalier hissed.

“You sure as hell act like it,” Quinn snapped at him. “Two votes have it, and she’ll be on this trial, so we can finally be rid of these two.”

Chevalier glared toward the trial door.

***

Emily sat up suddenly in bed when she heard a loud thud from the stables, then slipped on a light jacket and moved out by the stalls. She saw Kralen’s mare lying up against the wall of her stall. She walked in and knelt down by the mare.

“Damnit,” Emily whispered when she felt the horse’s high temperature. “Mark!”

Mark appeared, “What’s wrong?”

“Get the Cavalry. I need all of the horses out of the stables immediately,” Emily said, and ran for the storage room.

Within seconds, the stalls were full of heku and the horses were being led out to the corral. Mark came in just as Emily was giving a shot to the horse. He couldn’t help but smile slightly, how Emily fought when she needed a shot, but had no problem giving one.

“Sit with her,” Emily said, and stood up. She left the stables and went out into the corral. The Cavalry was surrounding the corral and watching the horses.

Emily went horse to horse as the Cavalry watched, still not sure what was going on. She walked up to Patra slowly and the mare nipped at her and whinnied. The Cavalry was shocked. Patra was the calmest and most gentle horse in the stables.

“Take her inside,” Emily said, and one of the Cavalry wrestled Patra back into the stables.

“This one too,” Emily said again, and the appaloosa stallion was forced into the stables.

Emily went back inside and shut the stall doors as Patra reared back and tried to slam into her.

“What’s going on?” Mark asked.

“I think they have a mosquito transmitted illness. Call Thukil, see if Darren can come,” Emily said, and started to fill another syringe.

Mark ran off and Silas came into the stall, “What can I do?”

“Watch the horses. If they are irritated, nervous, or listless, they need to come in here. The rest need to stay far away,” Emily said.

“Em, the Council needs you,” Kyle said, strolling casually into the stables. He frowned when he saw the look on Emily’s face, “What’s going on?”

“Encephalomyelitis,” Emily said, and gave Patra an injection. Patra tried to kick her, and she dodged out of the way, barely missing the angry hoof, “The Council’s going to have to wait until this is over.”

“Did… did Patra just try to kick you?” Kyle asked, wide eyed.

“Yes,” Emily told him, and then gave the stallion a shot.

Kyle blurred from the stables and appeared back in the council chambers.

“Is she coming?” Zohn asked.

“No, there’s a problem with some of the horses. Mark said she’s called the Thukil Captain in to help,” Kyle said, and sat down in his chair.

“She said no to the Council because a horse has the sniffles?” Zohn asked, frowning.

“Not the sniffles, this is usually fatal,” Kyle said. “Plus, Patra has it.”

Chevalier frowned, “Are you sure?”

Kyle nodded, “So far three of them have come down with symptoms.”

Chevalier was torn. He wanted to go comfort Emily, to help her with her beloved horses, but he realized how badly he’d behaved and wasn’t sure she would take any help from him. He’d watched her sleep the night before, hiding in the corner shadows of the small bedroom, and it was obvious from her soft talking that she thought he no longer loved her.

“Go and help her, keep us posted,” Chevalier said, and Kyle disappeared from the room.

“Let’s wait until the horses are well then. We will start the trial as soon as Emily is ready,” Quinn said, and looked around. “Until then, let’s adjourn.”

Four hours later, the sound of a helicopter coming in brought the Elders out of their discussion about replacing James on the Council. They went out to meet with the Thukil’s Captain.

“Thank you for coming, Darren,” Quinn said.

Darren was in a hurry to get to the stables, “Have you kept Emily away from them?”

Quinn stopped Darren with a hand on his arm, “No, why?”

Darren frowned, “If it really is Encephalomyelitis, then it can be passed on to humans.”

“What?” Chevalier growled, and blurred down into the stables. He found Emily leaned over Patra, who was lying motionless in her stall.

Emily looked up at him with tear filled eyes, “She’s paralyzed.”

Darren walked around the corner and knelt down by the painted mare. He quickly looked her over, “What have you done for them so far?”

“They’ve had an antibiotics, acyclovir, vitamins, and ribavirin,” Emily said, and leaned her head on the mare.

“That’s all we can do right now. We just have to watch them, but, Emily,” Darren said, and touched her hand. “This can pass to you by mosquitoes.”

“I don’t care,” Emily said, and rubbed Patra’s nose.

“Lady Emily?” A member of the Cavalry walked in with another horse, whose head hung low and his ears drooped, “This one is listless.”

Darren stood up and took the stallion into an adjacent stall, “Where are the medications?”

“They’re out here on the bale of hay by Chevalier,” Emily said, and stood up slowly. She walked over to check on Kralen’s pregnant mare, which was also paralyzed in the stall next to Patra.

“Darren’s here now. Why don’t you let him handle it?” Chevalier asked softly.

“I can’t leave them. If I’m going to catch it… I’m already infected,” Emily said, and returned to Patra.

Darren came in with a long tube and needles, “We need to intubate.”

Emily nodded and took the tubing, quickly putting an I.V. into the mare as Darren intubated her so her airway stayed clear.

“Do we have Dilantin?” Darren asked.

“No, there’s Diazepam and a corticosteroid in the storage room though,” Emily told him.

Chevalier sat helplessly, and watched as the two of them worked through the night to make sure all four horses were medicated and intubated. Only one of the horses stayed on his feet, but swayed slightly in his stall.

Emily was checking on Patra’s I.V. when Chevalier handed her a cup of coffee. She glanced at him briefly, and then took it, sipping it while she adjusted the horses I.V.’s.

“Emily?” Darren said from the pregnant mare’s stall.

Emily looked up at him, exhausted.

“She’s gone.”

“No!” Emily yelled, and ran into the stall. She knelt down beside the mare and ran her hand along her long body. The Thukil Captain stepped out of the stall and went to help the stallion, leaving Emily alone to mourn in peace.

Chevalier watched her in silence. The anguish on her face was painful for him, and her sobs tore at his heart. After a few minutes, Emily stood up and pulled herself out of the stall. She briefly looked at Chevalier, and then turned into the other stallion’s stall. After adjusting his I.V., she returned to Patra’s side.

The city’s Cavalry ran errands for Emily and Darren throughout the day as they feverishly fought to save the three sick horses. The Elders gathered toward dusk to check on the progress.

“She needs to rest,” Quinn whispered to Chevalier.

Chevalier just nodded and watched her give one of the sick stallions a shot.

“Hypocritical, isn’t it?” Zohn said, and then shut his mouth quickly when both Chevalier and Quinn glared at him.

“Emily, why don’t you go take a quick nap? I can handle these three,” Darren told her.

“No, I’m ok,” she said, and sat down on the straw by Patra.

“You need to eat at least,” Darren said, and quietly ordered a sandwich.

Emily took the sandwich from the Captain and sat down against the stall wall. A light rain started and the stables turned cold as a breeze swept through them. After eating, she went in to check on the stallion in the stall beside Patra.

“No,” she cried, and fell to her knees. The Elders had already smelled death on the air, but didn’t want to be the ones to tell her. Emily pulled out his I.V. and intubation tube, and several of the Cavalry members came in and took him to burn the body.

Emily curled up by Patra and was soon asleep while Darren watched over the one remaining stallion. The Elders all sat back and watched the rain turn to snow while the night passed. The smell of death filled the air again, and the Thukil’s Captain stepped around the stall and sighed when he saw Emily curled up asleep against the mare.

“It’s Patra, isn’t it?” Chevalier asked him, and the heku nodded slowly.

Chevalier sighed, and the other Elders left respectfully, while Darren disappeared into the stall with the one remaining sick horse.

Chevalier knelt down by Emily and touched her arm. She jerked awake and immediately checked on Patra.

“Em,” Chevalier said, and touched her shoulder. “She’s gone.”

“No, she’s not,” Emily said, and stood up to adjust Patra’s I.V.

Chevalier took the syringe out of Emily’s hand and pulled her close to him, “It’s too late.”

“No,” Emily whispered, and collapsed into Chevalier’s waiting arms. He carried her past the quiet members of the Cavalry and up into their bedroom, then laid her down on the bed and covered her up after ordering the fires lit. After slipping her jeans off of her so she could be comfortable, he curled up next to her and pulled her against him. She was crying in her sleep.

The last horse died early the next morning, and Darren ordered the entire stable bleached down before any horses were to be returned. He checked in on Emily, and then left for Thukil once the horses were vaccinated.

“Chevalier,” Quinn whispered from outside of the bedroom.

Chevalier pulled slowly away from Emily and she rolled over and fell back asleep, facing away from him.

“Yes?” Chevalier said after he’d shut the bedroom door.

“This is Dr. Cook from the Pason Coven. He was called in when we heard that the disease that killed the horses could be transmitted to humans,” Quinn said.

Chevalier nodded at the heku doctor.

“Do you know if Emily has been bitten by any mosquitoes recently?” Dr. Cook asked.

“She didn’t say, why?”

“That’s how the disease is transmitted from horse to human, by mosquito,” the doctor explained.

Chevalier went back into the room and sat down on the bed, “Em?”

Emily rolled over and looked at him.

“Have you had any mosquito bites recently?” Chevalier asked her softly.

She rolled back over onto her side.

“Emily, I really need to know.”

Emily nodded slightly, never opening her eyes.

Chevalier walked back out, “She said yes.”

Dr. Cook sighed, “We’re going to need cerebral spinal fluid to test for it.”

“What’s that?” Quinn asked, concerned.

“It’s the fluid around the spinal cord. We’ll need to put a needle into the space between the spinal cord and vertebrae, and withdraw some fluid.” Dr. Cook frowned when the three Elders glanced at one another nervously.

“She’s never going to go for that,” Chevalier said.

“We can always hold her down,” Dr. Cook suggested.

Quinn sighed, “Is there anything else? Something not involving needles?”

“I don’t think you understand… 90% of those infected die within just a few days of the first symptoms. Those that do recover, usually have neurological problems for the rest of their lives.”

“How long do we have before she starts to get sick?” Quinn asked.

“About 4 weeks. By the time she gets sick, it will be too late.”

Chevalier glanced at the door, “If she does have it, can it be fixed?”

“There are antibiotics and anti-seizure medications, but those won’t cure it, they will just stop some of the symptoms,” Dr. Cook explained.

“So that’s it then? If she has it, she’s going to die?” Chevalier asked angrily.

Dr. Cook nodded, “Pretty much. The lumbar puncture would let us know before she got sick though.”

“And we could turn her,” Chevalier whispered, mainly to himself.

“Maybe we all need to go and talk to her,” Quinn suggested.

“If you’re going to turn her, do it soon,” the doctor said.

“She just lost her horse. We can’t drop this on her now,” Chevalier said, and turned to them. “Can’t this wait a few days?”

“Why don’t we control her long enough to get the lumbar puncture, then we’ll know for sure,” Zohn suggested. “If she has it, then we bring up the turn to immortality to save her life.”

“I don’t know if I can lock her long enough for it though, can’t we sedate her?” Chevalier asked.

“We could try,” the doctor said, but seemed unsure.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “Again, I don’t know. I still wonder about the control.”

“How long can you normally control her?” Dr. Cook asked.

“It depends. When she’s very ill it can be indefinitely... but when she’s not, no one can get a lock on her,” Chevalier explained.

“What about now? She’s tired and depressed,” Zohn said.

“We’d have to try it, I don’t know,” Chevalier said.

Zohn sighed, “Let me do it. She already hates me.”

Chevalier nodded, and Zohn disappeared into the bedroom. He came out a short time later, rubbing his jaw as it healed.

“I couldn’t even get control,” Zohn said, frustrated.

“Damnit,” Chevalier growled, and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door. Emily was sitting up in bed, watching the fire.

“Care to explain?” she asked angrily.

“Em, the doctor wants to get a lumbar puncture to test you for the disease that killed the horses,” Chevalier said. He decided to be honest with her.

“No,” Emily told him, and laid back down.

“The disease will kill you. If we find out you have it before you get sick, we can turn you.”

Emily frowned, “You want to turn me?”

“That’s not what I said. If you have the disease, you are going to die. I’d rather turn you than lose you.”

“No”

“Emily, do it, please… for me,” Chevalier said softly.

Emily slid out of bed and pulled on her jeans.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t really know.”

“Just talk to me. We need to find out.”

“No, you need to figure out what in the hell you want. You treat me like crap for a week, and now decide that this way painful procedure is necessary, and then suddenly, you’re husband of the year,” Emily said angrily.

Chevalier followed her out of the bedroom, “Em.”

“Don’t, Em, me… who the hell are you?” Emily asked the doctor.

He put a hand out and then pulled it back when she glared at him, “I’m Dr. Cook. I was called in to see if I can help.”

“Go away,” Emily said, and ran down the stairs.

“She has a slight…” Quinn watched her run out the door. “No… she has a severe medical phobia.”

“I see, then, I suggest we hold her down,” Dr. Cook suggested.

“Hold her down? You do know she can turn us all to ash,” Zohn reminded him.

Dr. Cook cringed, “I forgot about that.”

“Sedation is our only option,” Chevalier said, and turned to the doctor.

“Fine, it’s risky, but I don’t see that we have a choice.”

“We do risk her leaving though, afterwards,” Quinn said.

“So we have no alternatives here?” Chevalier hissed.

“I suggest Mark and Kyle talk to her,” Quinn said. “They have always had good rapport with her.”

After Mark and Kyle were filled in, they took off in Chevalier’s Humvee to see if they could find Emily. She left the palace in her Jeep, which normally meant she was out off-roading somewhere. They were able to follow her trail up behind the woods to the Durango. She was sitting in the passenger seat with her feet propped up on the dashboard when they drove up.

Kyle slid into the driver’s seat of the dead Durango, and leaned the chair back, “How’s it going?”

Emily glanced to the back seat when Mark crawled in and lay down across the seats with his hands under the back of his head. He smiled when he saw her looking.

“No,” Emily said, watching them.

“What? We can’t just come talk?” Kyle asked. “We heard about Patra.”

Emily turned to look at the trees as her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m so sorry,” Kyle said, and touched her hand.

“I had her for 16 years,” Emily told them, her voice cracking slightly.

“Let’s go back to the palace where it’s warm.”

“I’m fine here.”

“You can’t stay out here in the Durango, Em.”

“I can too.”

Emily got out of the Durango and went around to the back. She pulled a blanket out and returned to the passenger seat. Kyle watched the rain as it started to turn the ground to mud.

“Why don’t we go back to the palace and hit the Internet, see if we can find you a new horse,” Mark suggested.

“No,” Emily said again, and turned onto her side, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders.

“You know why we’re here, right?” Kyle asked.

“Yes”

“We only have a limited time to see if you’re infected. If you are, we can turn you so you don’t die. If you start to show symptoms, it’ll be too late.”

“No”

“So you’d rather leave Allen and Alexis without a mother, than go through this one little test?” Kyle asked.

Mark cringed.

“Go away,” Emily said, and pulled her knees up under the blanket.

“Em, please… at least come back to the palace and talk about it.”

“I need to be here alone. I need to think.”

Kyle sighed, “You’ll freeze to death out here.”

“Yeah well, I don’t want to go into the stables, and I’m not welcome in the palace. This seems like a good enough spot for now,” Emily said, pulling the blanket up higher.

“You’re welcome in the palace,” Mark said, frustrated.

“Yeah right. Chevalier’s made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with me.”

“That’s not true,” Kyle said. “He was just confused, but he wants you back now.”

“Now? Oh that’s great. Please… leave…” Emily said, and shut her eyes.

Kyle and Mark got into the Humvee and headed back to the palace. The Elders were waiting in Zohn’s office when they returned.

“How did it go?” Quinn asked.

“Not good. She’s not going to agree to those tests, and now she’s living in the Durango,” Mark said.

Chevalier frowned, “Living in the Durango?”

“Yes, she said she can’t face the stables, and isn’t welcome here, so she’s going to live in the Durango,” Kyle told him.

“She’ll freeze out there,” Zohn said, and leaned back in his chair.

“She’s never going to have those tests,” Mark told them.

Zohn nodded, “Let’s sedate her then.”

“If we sedate her, we risk her running off afterwards,” Quinn reminded them.

“Damnit, let’s go talk to her,” Chevalier said, and stood up.

“She’s pretty sure you want nothing to do with her,” Kyle explained, with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Quinn stood up, “Mark, Kyle, Zohn… come with me. Chevalier, stay here.”

“No,” Chevalier said. “I’m coming.”

“I have an idea, and it doesn’t involve you,” Quinn said, and they left Zohn’s office, leaving Dr. Cook and Chevalier behind.

Quinn, Zohn, Mark, and Kyle piled into Quinn’s Range Rover and drove toward the Durango.

“Who’s that?” Mark asked. Parked beside the Durango was a black Lexus LX.

“Guess we’ll find out,” Kyle said when he pulled up by the LX.

Quinn sighed. Sitting in the driver’s seat beside Emily, was Exavior. The Equites got out of the Range Rover and surrounded the Durango. They could hear whispers, and from the look on Emily’s face, she was mad. Exavior glanced nervously between Emily and the Equites.

Quinn finally opened the door and Emily stopped whispering and looked at him.

“What’s up?” Quinn asked, looking at Exavior.

“I’m just checking up on her, and find it disturbing that she’s living out of a broken down car in the middle of nowhere,” Exavior said angrily.

“She’s not living in the Durango,” Zohn told him after opening the passenger side door.

“Just get out, all of you!” Emily scowled.

Exavior turned back to her, “Get the test. It’s not worth your life.”

“It’s none of your business,” Emily told him.

“How do you even know?” Zohn asked, watching Exavior’s face closely.

Exavior smiled, “I’m not stupid. I’m a Chief Interrogator, and I’m not falling for that.”

“Last warning. If you are a heku, then I suggest you leave me the hell alone. I’m tired, I don’t feel well, and I want to take a nap,” Emily said angrily.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“Exavior, go home. I’m not coming with you.”

Exavior took her hand, “But I love you, you have to see that.”

Kyle reached into the Durango and pulled Exavior out by the collar on his shirt. When Exavior got to his feet, he turned and crouched at Kyle.

“Leave her alone,” Kyle scowled, his hands balled into fists.

“No, I love her, and I can take better care of her than you can,” Exavior said, and grinned.

Kyle took a menacing step closer to Exavior, “Don’t push me.”

Emily scrambled out of the Durango when Kyle and Exavior blurred into a fight. She heard growls and hisses coming from the fight as she ran toward it. Quinn grabbed for her just as she disappeared into the brawl. Kyle and Exavior continued to blur around her as she tried to catch one of them to make them stop.

Exavior’s instincts had kicked in, and all he felt was the need to kill, the feral desire to feel blood on his hands. He felt a neck between his grasp and slammed Emily to the ground, pinning her to the mud with his hand. His other hand balled into a fist, ready to crush her skull and end the fight.

“Exavior,” she whispered, her hands pulling at the hand wrapped around her neck.

Exavior pulled her up to standing by her neck and turned to face the Equites. He had Emily’s head grasped between his hands and had it turned precariously to the side. A fraction more and her neck would snap.

“Stay back,” he growled.

“Exavior… you have Emily,” Kyle said sternly.

Exavior’s instincts began to calm and he started to understand what happened. His innate desire to kill whoever was between his hands began to fade as he saw the long red hair, and felt her soft skin beneath his fingers. He felt her body shake against him as her hands pulled at his.

Emily watched the Equites with wide eyes. Her neck ached at the angle, and she realized that Exavior was about to kill her. She knew that the Equites were afraid to move. Any movement could send Exavior’s predatory nature over the edge of reason, and she would be killed instantly.

“Exavior,” Emily whispered.

Exavior spun her around quickly and grasped her head in his hands to look into her swimming green eyes. He paused, and then pressed his lips hard against hers as she fought to get away from him.

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders as Zohn pulled her away from the Chief Interrogator. Kyle tackled Exavior, and Zohn held her back as the two heku continued to fight. Blood soaked the snow and Emily fought to get free of Zohn’s grasp, to stop them from fighting.

“Stop it!” Emily screamed, pulling at Zohn’s arms.

The fighting stopped and Emily was finally able to see what was going on. Kyle had Exavior pinned against the snow. There was blood pouring out of the Valle where his arm used to be. Kyle’s hands were grasping Exavior’s neck and the dark cloud covering his expression made Emily shrink back away from him.

“Don’t kill him, please… Kyle,” Emily whispered.

Kyle looked at her. His eyes were uncaring and cold.

“Please,” she whispered again.

He looked back down at Exavior and wrenched his neck to the side, snapping his neck, then stood up and straightened his shirt before walking back to the other Equites. Zohn began to lead Emily back toward the Jeep as she watched the bloody heap on the snow.

“We can’t leave him,” Emily said to Zohn.

Zohn glanced at Exavior, and then opened the door to the Jeep, “Yes we can. He’ll be ok.”

Emily slid into the passenger seat of the Jeep and watched Zohn get into the driver’s side. The other Equites took off in the Range Rover, and Zohn followed while Emily watched Exavior start to move as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Zohn,” Emily whispered. “He’s hurt.”

“He was going to kill you. Do you understand that?” Zohn asked, frustrated that she still wanted to make sure the Valle was going to be alright.

Emily brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, laying her forehead on her knees. Her entire body shook. She could still feel the pressure of Exavior’s hands as he considered breaking her neck.

Chapter3 - Reconciling

Emily didn’t move, even when Zohn turned the Jeep’s engine off and stepped out. He glanced over at Quinn, Mark, and Kyle as they walked over toward the Jeep. Kyle had calmed some, but the image of Emily perched to die at the hands of a Valle was still fresh in his mind and his hands were still clasped into tight fists.

“Is he ready?” Quinn asked Silas when he appeared in the garage.

“Yes, and he’s pissed,” Silas said with a smirk.

Zohn chuckled, “I bet.”

“Let’s go then,” Silas said, and opened the passenger door of the Jeep.

“Maybe we should postpone this,” Kyle said, watching Emily shake.

“No, now is perfect, come on,” Quinn told him, and picked Emily up out of the Jeep.

Emily was still shaking and she looked up at Quinn, “No.”

“Trust me, Child,” he told her, and headed into the palace.

Emily watched as he carried her past several guards and into the game room. She felt the fast whirl when the secret door to the bar began to spin, and before she could stop it, she was sitting on the cold, hard, wooden floor of the bar, and the door had spun around.

“Let us out!” Chevalier yelled, and pushed against the door. Emily watched him, confused. She stood up and pushed against the stone that spun the door around, but it held steady.

Emily looked over at Chevalier. He was furious and glaring at her, “Is this your idea?”

She shook her head, and moved to sit down behind the bar, then curled up into a ball and hid her face. She couldn’t get the feel of Exavior’s hands out of her mind, or the fierce way he pressed his lips against hers.

Chevalier yelled at the others to open the door, and Emily covered her ears with the palms of her hands. He gave up after a few minutes and sat down on a table.

“I know they mean well,” Chevalier said, irritated. “However, this is going too far.”

Emily leaned back against the bar as she sat on the floor. She started to feel sick to her stomach and shut her eyes against the feeling.

“I guess we better make up or we’ll never get out of here,” Chevalier said, and stood up. He walked behind the bar and frowned when he saw the bruises on her neck and the way she was trembling, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Emily said, and looked up at him.

Chevalier frowned, “You’re shaking.”

Emily shook her head, fighting back the tears. Only once before had she come that close to dying at the hands of a heku. The first was Damon in Paris, but this time it was Exavior, someone she considered a friend.

Chevalier sat down beside her and then hesitated before touching her arm. There was a jolt when he touched her, and images from the fight with Exavior flooded into his mind. Emily looked at him, shocked, as a slow hiss escaped his lips and his hand tightened on her arm.

“Chev, you’re hurting my arm,” Emily said, and pulled at his hand.

Chevalier relaxed his grip and looked at her, “He was going to kill you.”

Emily frowned, “How do you know?”

“I saw it, when I touched your arm,” he whispered, and she could see that he was remembering the images.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, and looked down at her hands.

“Why do you always apologize when it’s not your fault?”

Emily shrugged.

“I’m glad Kyle was there.”

“He was really mad.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “His temper puts mine to shame. He just has more control over it than I do.”

Emily nodded slightly, “I’ve never seen it.”

“It’s controlled… amazingly well controlled.”

“I don’t know what to do about Exavior,” Emily told him as he took her hand.

“Nothing much you can do. We just have to try to keep you two apart.” Chevalier tried to control his voice, his jealous temper was about to rage out of control.

“How did he find me?”

“That’s something we’ll have to find out when we get out of here,” he said, and touched her cheek lightly.

“We’re stuck in here?” Emily asked.

Chevalier chuckled, “Yes, we are.”

“There are some things I want to tell you then, that may help.”

“Like what?” Chevalier turned his body toward her.

“The Cavalry has things under control. I see no reason why you have to keep me around, so I’ve been looking… there’s a house in town that would be perfect for Alexis and I,” Emily said, and pulled her hand out of his.

“You belong in the palace.”

“No, I don’t. You belong in the palace… I don’t belong anywhere, so the city is the best bet.”

Chevalier put his hand under her chin and lifted her face, “You belong with me.”

“I used to. I know that I made a mistake in disappearing for two months, but I can’t erase that.”

“That wasn’t a mistake,” Chevalier whispered, and suddenly realized his words were true.

“Yes it was. I put our relationship in jeopardy for selfish reasons, and I fully understand why you want nothing to do with me,” Emily explained.

“Is that what you think?”

“No, that’s what I know.”

Chevalier brushed his lips lightly against hers, “You’re wrong.”

“I see it in your eyes. You hate me, and can’t even stand to look at me,” she said, and pulled a little further away from him.

“I’ll admit that I was mad, but it was never hatred.”

“I’m sorry I went away.”

“It was necessary. You’re the only one in the history of the heku that has put the factions at a standstill. It’s quite amazing,” Chevalier smiled warmly.

“At what price though?”

“No price. We lost nothing, I swear.”

“Just us.”

“Not us, damnit, Em. We didn’t lose anything.”

“I’m so confused,” Emily sighed.

Chevalier grinned, “That’s normal.”

Emily frowned and hit him on the chest, “I’m not confused all the time.”

He reached up and brushed her hair away from her face, “We’re ok.”

Emily shrugged, “We’ll see.”

“Shall we do our normal?”

“What?”

“Give me two months to make it up to you,” he said, and grinned.

“What happens in two months if I’m still getting ‘you’re in my way’ vibes?”

“In your way vibes?” he asked, and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes”

“Then I’ll buy you your house in the city, any house you want,” he promised.

“In any city?” Emily asked.

“Yes, in any city.”

“Deal.” She reached out to shake his hand, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him and kissed her softly.

“You’re never in my way,” he told her, and pulled her onto his lap, facing him.

“Sure…”

“So are you leaving me for Exavior?”

“Yes, I always love a heku who tries to kill me, twice in one day even.”

Chevalier cringed, “Do I get to go talk to him?”

“No, I think Kyle handled it,” Emily told him.

“If he kisses you again, no one will be able to stop me.”

Emily nodded, “Deal, 6th time’s a charm.”

“Six?” Chevalier asked, frowning.

Emily just grinned and then kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and she pulled closer to him.

“We need to find out if you have the disease.”

“No, we don’t.”

“We can save your life by turning you though,” Chevalier said, and took her hand.

“I’m not going to be turned.”

“But you’ll die.”

“Do you know what the chances are of a mosquito biting the horses, and then biting me immediately after?” Emily asked.

“Yes, and I don’t like the odds.”

Emily kissed him softly, “No.”

“Damnit, Em, just do it.”

“No”

“I don’t want to fight with you.”

“Then don’t.”

“Emily,” Chevalier said, and took her head in his hands. “You can’t die, not of this disease. Please, do it for Alex and Allen.”

“No, I won’t turn.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t talk about it,” Emily said, and stood up. She walked over to the wall and pushed, but it didn’t move.

“Tell me,” he said, and wrapped his arms around her.

Emily looked up at the high windows. All of them except one were too dirty to see through. The clean one was the one she shot out, and it had recently been replaced, “Lift me up there.”

“Em, we’re not done talking,” he said, and followed her over.

“I bet I can get through those windows, and then I can come around to the game room and let you out,” Emily said, motioning for the windows.

Chevalier looked up, “They’re too high up.”

“We won’t know for sure until I look out, come on,” Emily said, and took his hand.

“Can we finish talking first?”

“Afterwards, ok?” Emily crawled up onto a table, “Lift me up.”

Chevalier sighed and lifted Emily. She crawled onto the ledge by the windows and looked out, then gasped and turned around, blushing deeper.

“What?” Chevalier asked, not quite sure what to think of the look on her face.

Emily turned back again and looked, and then turned to face Chevalier and buried her face in her hands.

“What exactly do you see?”

Emily was a brighter shade of red than he’d ever seen, and the look on her face was pure embarrassment, “Get me down.”

“Jump, I can’t reach you,” he said, still watching her closely.

Emily glanced again at the windows, and then dropped down into his arms, “Oh… my… God.”

“What? Just tell me,” Chevalier said, amused.

Emily crawled out of his arms and pushed on the door, “Kyle! Let us out.”

“Kralen!” Chevalier called. “Let me out, this instant.”

“I think Kralen’s occupied,” Emily said, and blushed deeper. “Kyle!”

“Yes, we have,” Chevalier said, and smiled at Emily as she frowned.

Emily cried out when the floor spun and she fell forward into Zohn’s arms. She pulled away from him quickly, then slapped him across the face, “Never, do that again.”

Zohn chuckled, “Wasn’t my idea.”

Emily stormed out, still blushing.

“What do those windows in the bar look out over?” Chevalier asked after she left.

“I don’t know,” Kyle said. “I’ve never looked.”

“Thanks for dealing with Exavior,” Chevalier said to Kyle.

Kyle nodded, “I didn’t mean to lose my temper in front of Emily though.”

“Do you know he’s kissed her before… a lot?”

“He has?”

“Apparently… and… never lock me up again, or I’ll have to kill all of you,” Chevalier said, and walked out of the room.

“He’ll get over it, it worked,” Quinn said, walking out with a grin.

Zohn ran to catch up with Chevalier, “Did she agree to the test?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“We should all go talk to her again,” Quinn said when he caught up to them.

“She won’t change her mind,” Chevalier told them as they walked into the bedroom. They all stopped and looked at Emily. She was on the phone in the corner.

“Just tell me, Exavior,” Emily said, frustrated. “That’s bullshit, just tell me.”

There was a long pause and Emily sighed, “No, I won’t agree to marry you if you tell me.”

Chevalier growled slightly.

“No! I don’t want to talk to….” Emily sat down, “Hello, Sotomar.”

“Thank you, but Kyle handled it.”

“Yes, he did.” There was a pause before she continued, “No I’m not going to disappear over that. I told you, Kyle handled it.”

Chevalier moved up and took the phone as Sotomar spoke, “I just want to make sure that you aren’t going to leave.”

“She’s not leaving,” Chevalier said, and shut the phone.

Emily sighed, “Exavior won’t tell me how he found me. All he’ll say is how much he loves me, but I have a theory.”

“Oh, do tell,” Chevalier said, obviously irritated.

“I think when I was getting that massage, Sotomar put a tracking device on my Durango. Maybe even bugged it,” Emily said, and headed out of the bedroom, followed by the Equites Elders.

“Good evening, Ma’am,” Kralen said at the bottom of the stairs.

Emily looked up at him with wide eyes, and a dark blush rose into her cheeks, “Erm… he… umm… I’m… do you…?”

“What’s wrong, Em?” Chevalier asked, amused at how flustered she was.

“He… they, I mean… is…” Emily blushed further, and ran out of the palace and into the garage.

“What’d you do to her?” Kyle asked Kralen.

“Nothing, Sir,” Kralen said, confused.

Chevalier ran for the garage when he heard the Jeep start up, and was soon in his Humvee with Kyle, Zohn, and Quinn. He punched it and spun out before gaining traction and speeding out after the Jeep Rubicon.

Chevalier grabbed his cell phone when it rang, “Yes?”

A grin crossed his face and he shut it quickly. He floored the Humvee, and it quickly picked up speed, catching up to the Jeep.

“What?” Kyle asked from the passenger seat.

“Emily said the winner gets a massage,” Chevalier said, and his face lit up.

They saw the Jeep slow for a second when Emily popped it into 4-wheel drive, and then she turned a sharp left and headed across a rocky field. Chevalier followed her and almost caught up when she headed up a cliff.

“You can’t beat her Jeep. This is too heavy,” Zohn said, holding onto the roll bar.

“I don’t want to beat her, but I can’t let her win by too much,” Chevalier said, and laughed.

“She’s going to roll it!” Quinn said, shutting his eyes.

“That thing has roll mitigation, and she knows what she’s doing,” Kyle said, grinning.

“I shouldn’t have jacked it up when she asked, it gave her too much clearance,” Chevalier said, obviously having fun.

Emily turned suddenly and took the edge of the cliff, staying at a dangerous angle as she sped toward the down slope of the cliff.

“Damn, she’s insane,” Zohn said, slightly impressed.

Emily started down the smooth grassy slope toward the Durango, and slid to a stop in front of it. She jumped out and started a victory dance while the heku climbed out of the Humvee.

“You, Child, are braver than I thought,” Quinn said, leaning back against the Humvee.

She brought her finger to her lips and got down on her hands and knees. Soon, she was under the back end of the Durango. She crawled out from under the car after twenty minutes, and saw Kyle motion her to the front of the Durango. He pointed out a small electrical device under the driver’s seat that had a tiny green blinking light on it.

Emily’s eyes narrowed and she walked over and popped the hood on the Jeep, then took the small bug and sat it down on the Jeep’s horn.

“Ooooh Exavior?” she said, and then opened the door to the Jeep and pushed against the horn for thirty seconds. The silence was eerie after the loud sound of the Jeep’s horn.

Emily pulled the small bug off of the horn and tried to snap it in half. After the second try, Kyle took it from her and easily smashed it in his fingers.

“I can’t believe they bugged my car! There’s a tracking device on it too, course, that doesn’t really matter. It’s not going anywhere,” Emily said.

“We’ll have it towed away. Then it won’t matter,” Quinn told her.

“No,” Emily said, frowning. “I like it here.”

“Why would you want the dead thing sitting here?” Zohn asked.

“Just leave it, ok?” she said, and got back into the Jeep. Kyle slid into the passenger’s side and she took off for the palace, followed by the Humvee.

“We need a favor,” Kyle said, watching the rocky terrain.

Emily sighed, “Like what?”

“You know about Ingram and Selhman, right?”

“I know the names, and that the Valle and Encala want them back,” Emily told him.

“We need to try them. Get it over with, but we can’t try them because we’re short one council member.”

Emily glanced at Kyle, “What does that have to do with me?”

“As Chevalier’s spouse, you’re automatically a member of the Council.”

Emily laughed slightly, “You need me to be there?”

Kyle nodded, “Just for this trial. With these types of political prisoners, only a full Council can be used.”

“So replace James, it’s been long enough.”

“We haven’t found a good candidate yet, otherwise we would.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll go fill in for the trial,” Emily said, and pulled into the palace’s garage.

“I’ll have a robe made for you. We… we need you to keep the hood on, so they don’t see who you are,” Kyle said, and cringed slightly.

Emily looked at him, “Seriously?”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah, sure, whatever helps,” she sighed, and got out of the Jeep.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Kyle asked when Emily leaned up against the Jeep.

“I don’t know where to go.”

Kyle frowned, “What do you mean?”

Emily looked over at him, “Can I crash in your room?”

“Why don’t you stay in your room?” Kyle asked.

Emily shrugged.

“I thought you two made up.”

“We did,” Emily told him, and walked into the palace.

Kyle sighed and followed her in, “You obviously didn’t.”

Emily saw the two guards posted at the bottom of the stairs and immediately blushed and looked away. Kyle’s eyes narrowed as he watched her.

“What’s up?” he asked her.

“N... nothing I guess… ex… well… no,” she said, and headed up the stairs past them.

Kyle frowned at the two guards and headed up with her. He turned suddenly when he heard a hiss and the two main-floor guards flew past him and tackled the second-floor guards. He turned back toward the fight and saw Emily sitting on the stairs, leaning against the railing.

Kyle knelt down beside her, “Are you ok?”

Emily watched as the two main-floor guards restrained the growling and hissing second-floor guards, “What was that all about?”

“You didn’t answer me. Are you ok?” Kyle asked her, and then turned to the guards. “Take them outside. I’ll be right there.”

The guards nodded, and when Kyle turned back to Emily, she was blushing again.

Emily put her hand out and Kyle helped her to her feet, “Freak.”

“What?” Kyle asked.

Emily started up the stairs slowly, “Why do they always have to throw me? Why not a simple, ‘Hey, can I eat?’”

Kyle chuckled, “Sorry, Em.”

Emily made her way to Kyle’s room and laid down on the bed, “Ahhh, better.”

“It’s your back again then?”

Emily nodded, “I’m good now.”

“Good afternoon,” Dr. Cook said when he came into the room.

“Damnit, Kyle,” Emily yelled, and glared at him.

Kyle grinned slightly, “How can someone so tough, be afraid of a doctor?”

“I’m not afraid of him,” Emily scowled.

“Then let him look at your back.”

“No way, he wants to stick a needle in it,” Emily said, and looked over at the doctor. “Come at me with a needle and I’ll ash you.”

Kyle looked at the doctor, and Emily saw their lips moving quickly, but couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Dr. Cook looked at Emily, raised an eyebrow, and then left the room.

“What did you say to him?” Emily asked.

“I just told him you’re afraid of him, so he better leave,” Kyle explained.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not afraid of him.”

“Rest. I’ll have your tailor make you a robe for tomorrow’s trial,” he said, and left the room.

Kyle blurred outside of the palace and met up with the second-floor guards, who were getting yelled at by Mark while the Elders watched.

“Is she ok?” Chevalier asked, glaring at the guards.

“She hurt her back, but won’t admit it,” Kyle said, and watched Mark. “What’s he finding out?”

“They’re new to the palace guards, and apparently hadn’t caught Emily’s scent before,” Quinn explained, irritated.

“She agreed to help us with the trial. I’m having a robe made,” Kyle told them.

Zohn nodded, “Good, we can get it out of the way then.”

“I’ll go check on her,” Chevalier said, and headed inside.

“Elder?” Kyle called to him. “She’s in my room.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea.”

Chapter 4 - Valle Trial

Emily carried the dark green robe into the council chambers and saw that the others had already arrived.

“I’m here, now what?” she asked.

“Put it on and sit here,” Kyle said, and pointed to an empty chair between him and Chevalier.

“How do you not cook in these robes?” Emily asked, slipping it on and sitting down.

Kyle grinned and turned around. He didn’t want Emily to see he was laughing.

Emily glared at his back, “You do realize this robe isn’t fooling anyone. I’m obviously not heku.”

“Hmm, she’s right. We didn’t think about that,” Zohn said, looking at the drastic height difference.

“They will just have to deal,” Chevalier said. “Turn on the fan, pull up your hood, and we can begin.”

Emily shrugged and pulled the hood up so it shaded her face, and the rest of the Council did the same.

“What’s with the robes and hoods anyway? You don’t normally do all this,” Emily asked Kyle.

“This trial is different. It’s not as casual as the others.”

“Hmm, ok,” Emily said, and turned around.

Four guards brought in two haggard looking Valle. They were obviously starving, and their skin had begun to wither and crack. One of them looked right at Emily and studied her for a bit before he was pushed to his knees by the guards.

Papers were handed down to each of the council members. Emily looked through them, but none of them were written in English, so she grabbed her pen and started doodling on the back of them while the council members read through the details.

Emily jumped when Quinn spoke. His voice was ominous and echoed through the chambers.

“Ingram and Selhman, charges are brought against you and you will be tried and punished in this court,” Quinn said, while the two prisoners watched him, cowering.

Quinn sat down, and Chevalier stood to speak. His voice was also malicious and made Emily’s skin crawl, “Charges against you are for the murder of 426 heku from the Randolph Coven. The charges include committing treason by giving information to the Valle, and providing them with the information they needed to carry out the attacks.”

Emily frowned. She hadn’t heard about the deaths, but was already getting upset at the thought.

Chevalier sat down, and Zohn stood, “Do you have a defense?”

Ingram stood up. He was hunched over and the bones in his back stood out against his thin skin, “We didn’t do it! We were victims.”

“Noted,” Zohn said, and sat down.

“Please,” Ingram said. “You have to believe us. We did nothing wrong! We are Equites.”

“Kneel,” Quinn yelled, and the heku dropped to his knees.

The Council turned back to the papers in front of them, so Emily did the same, continuing to doodle oddly shaped flowers across the page. After an hour, her legs started to ache. Her feet didn’t reach the floor and her legs had gone to sleep. She leaned back in the chair and put her feet on the desk in front of her, then moved the paper to her lap and started sketching a horse.

Zohn cleared his throat, and when Emily looked up, the entire Council was watching her. She quickly dropped her feet off of the desk and sat up straight again. Kyle took her paper and wrote on it quickly, and then handed it back to her.

Do you need a footstool?

Emily started to write a nasty response, but sighed and just wrote,

Yes

Kyle left the council chambers quickly and came back with a heavy wooden box. He slid it under Emily’s chair, and she heard him chuckle as she propped her feet on it.

Emily stifled a yawn as the second hour of silence drew to a close. She was also starting to get hungry, and a quick glance at her watch showed her it was well after noon. She wondered how long it was going to take the Council to read whatever it was that was written on the papers on which she was drawing.

Just after the fifth hour of the trial, the Court Reporter handed down another stack of papers. This one containing gruesome color photographs of the carnage left by the Valle. Emily flipped through the pictures and her heart ached at the sight of hundreds of dead heku, killed for no reason while they went about their daily lives. There were bodies piled along the streets, and blood dripped from walls and ceilings.

Emily stopped at a photo. It was inside a small house located within the city. There were beautifully engraved wooden chairs and tables. The soft couch had embroidered pillows with matching curtains. There was a blood soaked book open on the table, and pieces of a female heku were lying across the chair behind it. The décor reminded her of the ranch she grew up on, and her heart tightened at the thought of how terrified they must have been when the Valle descended on their peaceful lives.

A tear fell down her cheek as the pictures continued. She glanced up at the cowering Valle and wanted badly to burn them. She could feel the anger rising within her, the fury that made it harder to resist. She wondered if anyone would be mad if she burned them for a few minutes, let them feel pain for what they had done to the Equites.

Emily jumped when she felt a hand on her arm. She looked up at Chevalier, who took the pictures from her and held her hand tightly. He had noticed the tear streaming down her face, and began to realize what she had in mind. He turned to Quinn and whispered something.

“Return the prisoners. We will continue the trial tomorrow,” Quinn said to the guards, who quickly ushered the prisoners out of the room.

Emily felt all eyes on her, so as soon as the prisoners left, she stood up, pulled off her robe, and tossed it on the chair, then quickly left the council chambers and ran into the garage. Within a few seconds, she was on the road leading out of Council City and turned off of the black-top, headed toward the Durango.

The Durango held some peace, some glimpse of the aloneness that she needed. She reclined in the passenger’s seat and put her feet up on the dashboard. The blanket was freezing from sitting in the cold Durango all night, but she pulled it up and covered her face with it.

The Council stayed in their seats after Emily left and listened to the Jeep take off.

“I forgot about the pictures,” Kyle said, stacking his papers neatly.

“I think she was going to turn them to ash,” Chevalier said, and turned to Quinn.

Zohn sighed, “It’s too late to stop now. Talk to her and see if you can get her to agree not to turn them to ash during the trial.”

“Zohn’s right, we can’t stop the trial now,” Quinn said, and looked through Emily’s rough sketches.

“I can guarantee she’s going to want to see this through,” Chevalier said. “I’ll talk to her.”

“We may also want to consider a lunch break. I don’t think she’s eaten since this morning,” Kyle said. “I know we don’t normally break at all, but we need to reconsider that.”

***

Emily sat up just after dark and looked toward the trees. In the dark, they were scary, and she realized what could be hiding in there, watching her. She quickly got into the Jeep and headed into town, determined to go and get something to eat.

She pulled up to a small Italian restaurant and grabbed her book before heading inside and being seated at a small booth. After ordering lasagna and a Coke, she sat back and started to read.

“May I join you?” She looked up at Exavior.

“Are you following me?” Emily asked.

“No, I was passing by and saw you come in,” he said, and slid into the seat across from her.

“Have a seat,” she mumbled, irritated, and started to read again.

Exavior watched her for a few minutes before speaking, “Is everything ok?”

“Not feeling the Valle love at the moment is all.” She sat her book down as the waitress brought her a drink and some bread sticks.

Exavior frowned, “Oh? Why is that?”

“It’s a long story. Why are you here? I mean, why are you even this close to Council City?” she asked, and grabbed a hot bread stick.

“I have a residence here.”

“What have we here?” Emily heard, and turned quickly. She sighed when she saw Encala Elder William walk up.

“Looks like a party to me,” Emily said, and then frowned when William sat down beside her. She heard Exavior hiss slightly.

“Odd to find you in the company of the Chief Interrogator,” William said, watching Exavior closely.

“Odd to find both of you here, when all I wanted was some Italian food,” Emily said, and moved her Coke away from William. She noticed that William and Exavior were staring at each other.

“What were your plans with her?” William asked.

“Just visiting, we’re friends,” Exavior explained.

Emily rolled her eyes. She knew that nothing good could come out of this.

“Do the Equites know you are here in the company of a Valle?” William turned away from Exavior to face Emily.

“No, I just came to eat,” Emily said, and sighed. “I didn’t realize there was a heku convention in town.”

The waitress came up and handed Emily a plate of lasagna, “Anything else for you?”

“I’m good, unless these two want to eat,” Emily said, and grinned as she grabbed her fork.

“No, thank you,” William told her.

“I’ll have what she’s having,” Exavior said, and smiled at William.

“Would you two stop glaring at each other? People are starting to stare,” Emily whispered.

The Valle and the Encala both relaxed and sat back further in their seats.

“How are you then?” William asked her.

Emily finished her bite and then shrugged, “Ok.”

“She’s fine. The Valle watch over her,” Exavior said.

“Yeah right, last time I saw you, you tried to kill me… twice,” Emily said, and grabbed the bottle of parmesan.

William frowned, “You tried to kill her?”

“It wasn’t like that! She got in the middle of a fight,” Exavior explained, and William nodded, understanding.

“I don’t care about the circumstances. If you ever start to snap my neck again, I’ll ash you first,” Emily said, now getting mad.

“You can’t step into a heku fight, it’s too dangerous,” William said.

“You’re defending him?”

“No, defending our species.”

“Ok,” Emily said, and took another bite. “I’m alive. You both can go so I can eat in peace.”

“I’ll stay here as long as he is here,” William said, motioning to Exavior.

“I’m not leaving you alone with an Encala, either,” Exavior told her.

“Great.” Emily took another bite, now anxious to finish and get back in the Jeep.

The waitress brought Exavior some lasagna and then smiled nervously at Emily before leaving. Exavior stirred it a bit, and then took a bite while William watched, cringing.

Emily pushed the breadbasket towards Exavior, “So, William, what brings you so close to Council City?”

“Rumor has it that Ingram and Selhman are being tried,” William explained. “Therefore, I have to be available.”

Emily frowned, “I thought they were both Valle.”

“The Encala have some stakes in this as well.”

“Like what?”

Exavior cut in, “Like something that’s none of your business.”

“Is that why you’re here too, the trial?” Emily asked Exavior, and pushed her half eaten lasagna away from her.

“Finish eating, you look ill lately,” Exavior told her, and pushed the plate back.

“Are you here for the trial, too?” Emily asked again, ignoring the plate.

“Yes,” Exavior said, and then sighed.

“So you two are in cahoots,” Emily said, and frowned at Exavior.

Exavior’s hands clenched into fists, “No, we are not.”

“Waitress! Two shots of tequila and another Coke, please,” William said.

“We’re going to have drinks together?” Emily asked, laughing.

“Yes, I thought it fitting.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Certainly, I’m sure the Chief Interrogator and I have enough control.”

“That we do,” Exavior said, and took his shot from the waitress. Emily watched as he and William both downed their drinks and ordered another round.

“While you two drink it up, I think I’ll be heading back,” Emily said, and waited for William to get up so she could leave.

“No, I think it’s more fun with you here,” William told her, and then drank his second shot.

“Another round?” the waitress asked them.

“Keep them coming, and get the lady some cheesecake,” Exavior said, grinning.

Emily frowned, “Who said I want cheesecake?”

“Of course you do, you’re too thin.”

“He didn’t mean to be rude,” William told her. “You do have to admit you are getting thinner, and your color is off.”

“What the hell? You two keeping tabs on everything about me?” Emily asked angrily.

“Yes, we do,” William told her, and grinned.

“Let me up.”

“No, we’re drinking,” William said, and Emily glared at Exavior when he downed his drink and didn’t come to her defense.

“I’m not bailing you two out of jail, just so you know.”

“Figured, we won’t end up in jail though,” Exavior said, grinning.

Emily grabbed her phone from her purse when it rang, but William tore it out of her hand and gave it to Exavior.

“Give that back,” Emily yelled.

“No, I don’t want your little Elder coming to break up the fun,” William said, and nodded to Exavior.

“You are supposed to be enemies.”

“Oh, we are,” Exavior told her.

“Well act like it! You two are acting like a couple of frat boys out on vacation. Give me that!” Emily grabbed for the phone when it rang again.

“Incessant isn’t he?” Exavior asked, and looked at the phone. “Oh, never mind. It’s not the husband, it’s the boyfriend.”

A man that had been watching them from the corner came up and nodded to Emily, “These two bothering you?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, but I can handle it, thanks.”

“Get lost,” William said, and glared at the man.

“Excuse me?” the man asked angrily.

“Seriously, we’re ok, thanks though,” Emily told him.

“I got some friends that can come help you out to your car. If you’re ready to go,” the man told Emily.

“She’s with us,” Exavior said, and pushed the man’s hand off of the table.

“Exavior, stop it,” Emily hissed, then reached out for William, but he was already standing up.

“You thinking you can get by me, Son?” William asked.

“William, sit down,” Emily begged.

As William reached out and pushed the man, four more men came up from a table behind them. Emily got between them and pushed William away with her back, while she held her hands out to the mortals.

“Calm down, we were just leaving,” Emily said.

One of the mortals pushed Emily out of the way, and when she hit the table, the entire restaurant broke into a fight. She tried to pull Exavior off of four men, while William took off across the restaurant after a few more that were getting bottles to use as weapons. Emily dodged a flying piece of glass and slipped a $50 under her plate before heading for the door.

She was almost to the door when a hand connected with the side of her face, and she fell back against a window, breaking through it and landing on the glass covered cement. She felt cuts on her forearms when she struggled to stand up, and her head swam, but she made it to her feet and leaned against the Jeep as she waited for the world to stop spinning. She heard sirens in the distance as arms wrapped around her waist, and before she could react, she was lying down in the back of the Jeep.

William spun the tires and pulled out of the restaurant, heading away from the sirens and taking an immediate back street to get away from the police.

“Take her to my house,” Exavior said from the passenger seat.

“I’m not going to a Valle home,” William scowled. “I have a hotel room, we’ll go there.”

“She’s not going to back to an Encala hotel room either. We might as well just take her home.”

“Oh, yeah right, us in Council City? We’ll be arrested.”

Exavior sighed and looked back at Emily. She was still lying down and had her arm draped over her eyes. There was blood dripping onto her shirt from her forearms.

“Never mind, let’s just return her. They’ll let us go,” William said. “We have diplomatic immunity.”

“We’re bringing her back injured… that could start a small war,” Exavior explained.

William glanced back at Emily, “We obviously didn’t hit her, her jaw’s not even broken.”

“Just pull over. I’ll drive from here,” Emily said, and sat up. She flexed her jaw and glanced in the rear-view mirror at the bruise forming. “Damnit, this is going to cause a problem.”

“Will it help if we go explain everything?” William asked.

“Why are you being so nice to me, William? You hate me,” Emily said.

William chuckled, “I don’t hate you.”

“Why then? I know why Exavior is... but when did you become an Emily fan?”

“Everyone is an Emily fan, my Dear. You just don’t normally see us away from our factions,” William said, and Exavior nodded.

“Just take her back to Council City. We’ll explain what happened, and I’m sure they’ll be more than ready to get rid of us,” Exavior said.

“Fine, but if I end up in the Equites prison, I’m coming after you,” William said as he pulled off of the Interstate and onto the road to Council City.

“No, don’t,” Emily said, and laid back down when the world began to spin again.

“Hmm, that’s not very safe. The city guards just waved us in,” Exavior frowned.

“They know my Jeep,” Emily said.

“I can’t believe I’m about to drive into the Equites’ garage,” William said, and looked up as the Jeep disappeared into the large underground garage.

Exavior was out of the Rubicon first and opened the back, holding a hand out for Emily. She took his hand, and almost fell when she got to her feet as the world shifted out from under her. Exavior put a steady arm around her, and she took a deep breath and headed inside.

“Should we go then?” William asked. “The blood… the scent…”

“Don’t be an idiot, use some control,” Exavior growled.

Emily glanced down at her forearms and saw that they were covered in dried blood. She shut her eyes as the building began to twirl, and Exavior picked her up.

“Damnit, don’t pick her up,” William hissed, glancing nervously at the door to the palace.

“So just let her fall?” Exavior asked, and stopped at the door. “Do we knock?”

“I don’t know,” William whispered. “Damn, we shouldn’t even be here.”

“Buck up, open the door and let’s go in,” Exavior said, and took a deep breath when William walked in, following him.

William turned to Exavior when the palace went into lock down, “I think they know we’re here.”

“Just find the boyfriend,” Exavior said.

They were suddenly surrounded by members of the Cavalry, palace guards, and all of the council members except for the Elders.

Kyle and Mark stepped forward, “Care to explain?”

Kyle took Emily from Exavior.

“Let them go. They were just helping me home,” Emily whispered. Her head was pounding.

Mark looked at her and then back to the enemies, “She’s injured?”

“I can explain…” Exavior said. “I was driving by when I saw Emily going into a restaurant, so I decided to go see her.”

“I came by later and saw him in the window,” William added. “I went inside, and couldn’t just leave him with the Winchester.”

“This isn’t telling me what I want to know,” Mark hissed.

“Ok, so we had a few drinks, and a mortal started to pick a fight with us,” Exavior explained. “So… it turned into a fight, and at some point, one of the mortals hit Emily through a plate glass window.”

“That’s when heard the police coming, and we drove off in her Jeep,” William said. “So here is your Winchester, and we’ll be gone now.”

“Phone,” Emily whispered.

“You took her phone?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“That… was a little joke,” Exavior said, and handed her phone over.

“Get lost,” Mark growled, and the enemy heku blurred from the palace.

“Stand down,” Kyle growled.

“Put me down,” Emily said, and Kyle stood her up and looked at the dried blood on her forearms.

“Did they hit you?” Mark asked, his hands clenched into fists.

Emily sighed, “No, a mortal hit me, and you know what? I’m starting to dislike mortals more and more.”

“We have to go give a report to the Elders,” Kyle said, and took Emily’s arm.

“What? Why me?” Emily asked, wide eyed.

“You brought the Valle’s Chief Interrogator and an Encala Elder into the palace,” Mark said, taking her other arm.

“I did not! They walked in,” Emily said, and struggled a bit while they pulled her up the stairs to the council chamber’s door.

Derrick opened the door for them while Mark and Kyle drug Emily through the doors and up to the trial area.

“We were in lockdown because of Emily?” Quinn asked.

“No,” Emily scowled, and pulled her arms from Mark and Kyle.

“Damnit, Emily. Where’d the bruise come from?” Chevalier sighed.

“Fine…” Emily took a deep breath, and as quickly as she could, explained. “I went to eat and Exavior came in and then William came in and then they drank and there was a bar fight and a mortal hit me and pushed me through a window and then William drove the Jeep home with Exavior and then I got dizzy and Exavior carried me inside and that set off the alarm.”

Emily took another deep breath and cringed.

Zohn grinned slightly, “Well, explains that.”

“We called you, and you didn’t answer,” Quinn told her.

Emily sighed, “They took my phone.”

“Why didn’t you ash them?” Zohn asked, frowning.

“There was no threat. As annoying as it was, they just talked while I ate,” Emily told them.

“So you had dinner and drinks with an Encala and a Valle?” Zohn asked.

Kyle took a step back when he saw Emily’s hands clench into fists, “Am I on trial?”

“No, it just seems…”

Emily cut him off, “If I’m not on trial, then I suggest you mind your own business, and leave me the hell alone. I… did… nothing… wrong!”

She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

“You’re being quiet,” Quinn said, turning to Chevalier.

Chevalier blurred from the council chambers and the others followed him quickly. They all stopped in Kyle’s bedroom as Emily was sitting on the bed. Zohn, Quinn, Mark, and Kyle appeared between Chevalier and Emily.

“He tried to kill you, so you decided to have dinner with him?” Chevalier growled, and crouched slightly.

Emily stood up, “No I did not! He showed up out of the blue, so did William, and by then I couldn’t get out of the booth.”

Quinn put his hands out, “Both of you calm down.”

“Yet you wouldn’t defend yourself?” Chevalier hissed.

“I said calm down!” Quinn yelled.

“From what? Forced cheesecake?” Emily yelled. “I saw no reason to cause a major incident because of dinner.”

“You were injured…”

“By a mortal! I did what you asked. I let the heku fight their own battles, and still got punched,” Emily said angrily. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Elder, calm down,” Kyle said when Chevalier took a step forward.

Emily glared at Chevalier and then shut her eyes as her breathing slowed. The heku all frowned slightly and then she opened them and looked at Chevalier.

“How did I get in here?” Chevalier asked, and looked around the room. He was standing straight and perfectly calm.

“Did you have to do that?” Kyle asked, sighing.

“Yes, I did,” Emily yelled, and ran past the heku and down the stairs.

Chevalier frowned, “Who in the hell made her mad, and why does she have a bruise on her face?”

Quinn sighed, “Come with me.”

Chevalier followed Quinn out of the room.

“Do we follow her?” Mark asked Kyle.

“Let’s give her an hour to calm down. I’m pretty sure she’s going to the Durango,” Kyle said, and sat down on a chair by the empty fireplace.

“There was some validity to Damon’s claim,” Zohn said, sitting down.

Kyle glared at him, “There was not.”

“He was an idiot,” Mark said, leaning against the fireplace.

***

Emily sat in the Durango, covered in a blanket, and shivered from the cold. She’d cried enough it had made her headache worse, and all she wanted to do was to feel some warmth and go to sleep.

She jumped when the driver’s side door opened, and watched Chevalier get inside and shut the door.

“I’m not mad,” Chevalier told her.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Emily said, fighting back the tears that had been falling for the last hour. “I just went to get something to eat. I didn’t invite them.”

“Em,” Chevalier said, and took her hand. “I know that. The thought of Exavior carrying you into the palace just… it was just a little much.”

“I didn’t ask him to. I hate when I get carried around like a doll,” Emily explained.

“I think that sometimes, we, as heku,” Chevalier sighed, “Me included… tend to think of you like a doll, and I apologize for that.”

“I’ve noticed, well, not the Equites as much as the others,” Emily said, and rolled over to face him.

“Why are you staying in Kyle’s room?”

Emily crawled into Chevalier’s lap and pulled the blankets over both of them, “I’m confused.”

“About what?” he asked, and kissed the top of her head.

“Everything,” Emily said, and rested her head against his shoulder.

“Take the time you need, but promise you’ll tell me if there’s something I can do.”

Emily nodded and opened the door to the Durango and crawled out. She took his hand and jumped into the Jeep when he opened the door. Chevalier slid into the driver’s seat and started off for the palace.

“Did you ever consider how much easier your life would be if I weren’t in it?” Emily asked.

Chevalier smiled, “Yes, and I don’t think I would like it.”

Emily passed Kyle’s door and went into her room. She headed in to take a shower while Chevalier waited out in the room. She felt more secure with the dark shower curtains, and was able to relax as the hot water flowed over her. When she got out, she pulled a towel out of the warmer and wrapped up in it.

Emily pulled a nightgown out and quickly got dressed.

When she got out into the bedroom, both fires were going and the room was warm. She laid down on the bed and pulled the down comforter up over her.

Chevalier looked at her, unsure if he was supposed to join her, or stay in the chair.

“We made some changes to tomorrow,” Chevalier said. He opted to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Like what?” Emily asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

“First of all, we’ve built another chair for you,” he explained.

“Ok”

Chevalier chuckled slightly, “We’re also calling a break every two hours, so you can eat, or stretch, or whatever you need,”

Emily sighed, “Thank you.”

“If you need anything else, please, don’t hesitate to ask. We sometimes forget that you need things we don’t,” he told her, and touched her cheek lightly.

Emily nodded and shut her eyes as she yawned.

Early the next morning, Emily woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. She stretched and crawled out of bed. Alexis came out to eat and sat down beside her mother. Emily piled food on each of their plates, and sat back with a cup of coffee to wake up.

Alexis started to eat quickly, and when her plate was empty, she ran back into her room to get dressed. Emily finished her breakfast and pulled on the heavy green robe that was hanging on the back of the chair.

“They are ready for you,” Silas said when Emily gave him permission to come into the room.

“Joy,” she mumbled, and walked down to the council chambers. She walked in and nodded before crawling into her chair. The new chair was propped up almost a foot and had a built-in footstool.

Kyle chuckled when she settled in and she glared at him before pulling her hood up.

“Bring them in,” Zohn commanded, and Emily watched as the two prisoners were brought in again and knelt down before them.

“Today we continue. The Council has reviewed the reports of the attacks on Randolph Coven from witnesses and documenting officers,” Zohn said. “Now is time for each of the council members to ask any questions they may have.”

Zohn sat down, and Quinn stood up, “What are your ages?”

Ingram looked up at him, “I am 378 years old, Sir.”

“I’m 1,307 years old,” Selhman said.

“How long had you been helping the Valle before the actual attack?”

Ingram gasped, “We are innocent. We didn’t do it.”

“There were witnesses that place both of you at the coven gates before the time of the attack, and one witness that puts you both at the scene of…” Quinn hesitated. He didn’t realize how hard this was going to be in front of Emily, “At the scene of the assault of the Lady Randolph.”

“Lies, I swear to you,” Selhman said frantically.

“Can you explain then… how you are the sole survivors of the attack?”

“We were lucky. We hid outside of the city, afraid for our lives,” Ingram said.

“So while your city was attacked, you cowered?” Quinn growled.

“No, no, we tried to go get help,” Selhman said.

“Did you hide or did you go get help then?”

Ingram glanced at Selhman before speaking, “We hid until it was clear, and then we went and got help.”

“I see,” Quinn said, and sat down. Emily had heard that tone before, and knew he didn’t believe any of it.

The Chief Interrogator stood up to speak. Emily hadn’t met him yet, but his face was angry and his voice boomed with authority, “Can you explain why the Chief Investigator found your bloody fingerprints at the scene of Lady Randolph’s murder?”

“We tried to help her, when we went back inside,” Ingram said.

“So after you ran to help the Lady of the coven, you then decided to hide from the Equites Army in a storm drain?”

“We were afraid. Everyone was dead.”

“Hm.” The Chief Interrogator sat down.

The Council member on the end stood up. Emily knew his face, but had never spoken to him, and didn’t even know his title, “If you watched it all happen, can you explain how the Valle were able to not only break in through the front gates, but also destroy the back cement wall to gain immediate access to the warehouse area?”

“I didn’t see that, Sir, we were up front,” Selhman said.

Emily frowned and wrote something down on the paper in front of her.

“So there was a huge crash only 100 yards from you, and you didn’t hear it?”

“We were busy fighting.”

“I thought you were hiding.”

“We fought first, and then hid.”

Emily felt like she was watching a bad cop drama.

The Councilman sat down, sighing.

Emily wrote something else down and then looked up when Chevalier stood up.

“I want to hear from you, Ingram, everything you did from the start of your shift, until the time the Equites Army arrived,” he said, and then sat back down.

Ingram looked up at the Council, “We arrived for work at 1500. Things were quiet, until a bunch of Valle came out of the west and down toward us. We knew we couldn’t hold them off, so we moved behind some pillars.”

“Once things started to quiet down, we ran into the castle to check on the Lord and Lady Randolph. When we got to the castle, it was too late, so we ran back out and hid until the Valle disappeared. Once they were gone, we ran toward the sound of helicopters that we knew must be the Army.”

Chevalier nodded and took a note from Emily. He frowned and then stood back up, but Emily put a hand on his arm. Things grew quiet for a few seconds, and then Emily let go of Chevalier’s arm.

“No, no, we tried to go get help,” Selhman repeated.

Ingram looked at him with wide eyes.

Chevalier chuckled, “Selhman, tell me what happened from when your shift started until the Equites Army arrived.”

Selhman nodded, “Our shift started at 1500. We only had a few things happen, nothing major, until the Valle came down from the west towards us. We stood our ground and told them to stop, but they just ran through us.”

Ingram glanced nervously at the Council.

“We followed the Valle into the castle, but we couldn’t stop the assault on the Lord and Lady. We watched from a hallway, but there were too many,” Selhman told them. “When we heard the helicopters, we ran out of the castle and met up with the Army.”

“I think I’ve made my point,” Chevalier said, and sat down.

“Let’s take a break until Selhman has fully regained his memory,” Kyle said, and the guards hauled the prisoners out.

Emily pulled down the hood and wiped the sweat from her forehead, “This thing is so hot.”

Chevalier chuckled and pulled his hood down, “Well played, Em.”

Emily stood up and pulled the robe off and moved to one of the fans. She turned when her lunch arrived, and sat back down. She took one bite and then looked over at Chevalier and Quinn.

“I’m confused about something though,” she said, and ate another bite.

“What’s that?” Chevalier asked.

“Where do the Encala figure into all of this?” Emily opened up the Coke and took a drink.

“They don’t, this was Valle only.”

“No, the Encala are in on it, too.”

Chevalier frowned, “What do you mean?”

“William… last night he told me he’s in town because of the Encala’s interest in this trial. It also seems to me like the Encala have some kind of stake. It was the Encala that attacked Thukil, not the Valle,” Emily said, and picked up her sandwich again.

Chevalier looked over at Quinn, “They said they were helping out the Valle in return for some prisoners.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed, “We at first thought it was a combined attack, but then the only evidence we could find pointed to the Valle.”

“Where was most of the evidence? From the back broken wall, right?” Emily asked.

Zohn nodded, “Yes.”

“So the Valle came in through the back, and Dumb and Dumber let the Encala in the front.” Emily sat back with the can of Coke.

“We found no dead Encala though, all of them were Valle,” Zohn reminded them.

“How do you identify them?” Emily asked.

“Uniforms… which can be easily given out,” Chevalier said, and then frowned. “Why would the Valle give the Encala uniforms?”

“What were they after?”

“Nothing that we could tell, other than blood,” Quinn said.

“Find what they were after and you’ll find out what they were up to,” Emily said, and stood up. She ran out of the council chambers, “Back in 5!”

“What did you find in the interrogation chamber?” Kyle asked Zohn.

“I wasn’t there… Damon took them in,” Zohn said, and then turned to Quinn. “Maybe we better take them back in.”

“Let’s adjourn until tomorrow then. Take them in separately, so they can’t just copy their story,” Quinn told them.

Kyle grinned, “Coming, Elder?”

Chevalier shook his head, “No, not today.”

Emily walked in and grabbed her robe, “Ready.”

“We’re done until we get some interrogating done,” Quinn told her.

“Oh good. I’m going to go run naked through the rain,” Emily said, and walked out of the room.

Zohn frowned.

“She’s just hot.” Chevalier chuckled and followed her.

Chevalier caught up with Emily on the stairs, “Let’s go out riding.”

“Umm, no, I don’t really feel like it,” she said, and stopped in front of the guards on the fourth floor. She blushed deeply and looked away from them before running up the stairs.

“What did you all do? She can’t even look at you,” Chevalier asked them.

“Nothing, Sir,” Kralen said. “Honest, she just started acting weird around us.”

“Hrm,” Chevalier sighed, and went up the stairs to the bedroom. He shut the door and watched Emily, standing in front of the open window as rain was blown in on her from outside.

“What’s up with you and the guards?” Chevalier asked, sitting down in a chair.

“Nothing,” Emily said, and pulled her hair off of her neck.

“Did they say something to you?”

“No”

“Did they do something?”

“No”

Emily reached into her pocket when her phone rang, “Hello?”

“Yes, Exavior, I’m fine,” she said, and turned around to sit in the windowsill and cool her back.

“Stop calling him my boyfriend.” She sounded annoyed.

Chevalier frowned.

“Yes I know you do, bye,” she said, and hung up.

“You know he does what?” Chevalier asked.

Emily shrugged, “That he loves me.”

Chevalier hissed, “And who did he call your boyfriend?”

“He and William kept referring to Kyle as my boyfriend,” Emily explained, and then shut the window.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Em?” Chevalier asked, no longer angry.

“What?”

“We need to talk about the lumbar puncture.”

Emily sighed and sat on the bed, “No, we don’t.”

“What if I told you that I can’t live without you?” Chevalier asked.

“You don’t have a choice. I’m mortal, and I’m going to die.”

“But we’re talking death in weeks or days even.”

“I’m not sick,” Emily told him, and leaned back on the bed.

“You can’t know that.”

Emily’s eyes welled up with tears, “I can’t do it.”

“What if we sedate you? You won’t know a thing,” Chevalier said.

“Is it really that important to you?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I can be sedated? Won’t feel a thing?” Emily asked.

“I promise.”

Emily sighed and looked up at the ceiling as Chevalier blurred out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with Dr. Cook, Quinn, and Mark. Emily sat up quickly and glared at them.

“Why so many?” she asked, sliding off the bed.

“Don’t panic, Em. They are just here to help,” Chevalier said.

Emily backed up to the window, “I don’t need help.”

“You’re already panicking, calm down. The shot is the worst part,” Chevalier said, and took the needle from the doctor.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “I changed my mind.”

“I knew you would,” Chevalier said, and handed the syringe off to Mark.

Emily pressed further back against the wall, “Mark, I’m warning you.”

Mark grinned slightly at her, “You agreed to this.”

“I changed my mind,” Emily yelled, and then screamed when Mark blurred to her. She sunk down against the wall before she could focus enough to turn him to ash. Mark picked her up and laid her down in bed.

Chevalier chuckled, “That was the easy part, now what?”

“First we need to get her shirt off and lay her on her side,” Dr. Cook said.

Chevalier glanced at the other heku in the room, and they all turned around toward the door. Chevalier slipped Emily’s shirt off and laid her on her side, toward him.

“Ok, flex her chin, knees and hips toward her chest,” Dr. Cook said, and started washing Emily’s back. The doctor was done within the hour, and hurried off to the lab after giving Chevalier instructions.

Chevalier slipped a nightgown over Emily and laid her on her back, as per the doctor’s instructions.

“One more, Mark,” Chevalier said, and handed Mark another syringe.

“When do I give this?” Mark asked.

“If she has a headache when she wakes up, we keep her on her back and give her that.”

“Stop,” Emily whispered, and her hands tightened around the blanket.

Chevalier touched her cheek lightly, “Em?”

“Too bright,” Emily mumbled, and frowned, even though her eyes were still closed.

Quinn turned the lights off and blurred to the window to pull the blinds.

“Em, how’s your head?” Chevalier asked.

“Hurts,” she whispered softly.

Chevalier nodded to Mark, and he gave her the injection with no reaction from Emily. Her breathing slowed as she fell back to sleep.

“How long until we know?” Quinn asked.

Chevalier brushed the hair away from Emily’s face, “He didn’t say.”

“Have you picked out the other twelve?” Mark asked, watching Emily sleep.

“Not yet, I still don’t even know if she would survive the process. She affects it negatively, so it may not even work,” Chevalier said, his voice pained.

“Mark, let’s go,” Quinn said, and he shut the door behind him, leaving Chevalier and Emily alone.

***

“Is she coming?” Quinn asked as the council members waited to start the trial.

“Yes, she said she’s still groggy from the sedation, but will be down,” Chevalier said as he thumbed through some of the reports.

Emily went down to the council chambers as soon as she’d eaten breakfast and kissed Alexis good-bye. She ignored their eyes on her as she slipped on the green robe and sat down in her seat.

“You ok?” Kyle asked her.

Emily nodded, “Let’s just get on with it.”

“Bring them in,” Kyle told Derrick.

The usual guards brought in Ingram and Selhman, and forced them to kneel before the Council.

Quinn stood up, “Let’s begin day 3 of the trial with a report on the interrogation.”

Quinn sat down while the Chief Interrogator stood up, “We were able to get out of them that the Encala were helping, our suspicions were correct. The Valle attacked through the back wall while these two let the Encala in through the front, though the Encala were dressed in Valle clothing.”

“Why, exactly, would they do that?” Zohn asked.

“As far as we can gather, the Encala were still severely hurting from the… erm… from Emily’s attack on them, and the Valle were protecting them from being implicated,” he explained.

Emily cringed.

“What was their purpose in attacking the small coven?” Chevalier asked, glaring at the prisoners.

“This was a practice run… and also a way to get a closer staging area for an attack on Powan Coven,” the Interrogator said, and sat back down.

Emily glanced along the Council when she heard them whispering quietly among themselves. She quickly wrote a note for Kyle and handed it over.

Why would they want the Powan Coven?

Kyle glanced at the note and handed it over to Chevalier. He read it and wrote quickly.

Will explain later

Emily sat back to pay attention. Once the Council talked it over, they quieted down and turned back to the prisoners.

Quinn spoke from his seat, “Do you, then, finally admit to turning your own coven over to the enemy?”

“No, we didn’t do it on purpose,” Ingram said.

Emily sighed. She couldn’t believe they were still denying their role.

Quinn’s voice was amused when he spoke again, “It was very nice of the enemy factions to fill you in on their plans, and then let you free.”

Selhman spoke pleadingly, “We overheard it, nothing more. We aren’t traitors.”

Zohn sighed, “I’ve heard enough to know my decision.”

“I have also,” Chevalier said.

Emily passed another note to Kyle.

So which is Valle and which is Encala?

Kyle read the note and then spoke, “So which of you is the Encala?”

Ingram glanced at Selhman, “Neither, we are Equites.”

“I find that hard to believe. Which of you is Encala?” he asked again.

“We are Equites!” Selhman said, panicked.

Both prisoners fell to the hard floor, writhing in agony as the room filled with the smell of burning flesh. No one spoke or tried to stop her, as Emily took charge of the interrogation. They both collapsed to the ground, panting as the pain stopped.

“Which of you is Encala?” Kyle asked again.

Ingram slowly got to his knees and scanned the council members. His eyes showed the terror he felt, “The… the Winchester is here?”

“I do believe I asked you a question,” Kyle reminded him.

Ingram screamed and clutched at his chest as he fell back to the floor, his body gripped in the burning pain.

Selhman got to his knees and looked down at Ingram, “He’s the Encala.”

Emily let Ingram go and sat back in her chair.

“Well that was easy,” Quinn chuckled.

Ingram finally made it back to his knees, “He… it was his idea… to take out the Lady.”

Zohn raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, well he burned the warehouse,” Selhman said, glaring at Ingram.

Ingram pointed at Selhman, “He chose the coven!”

“Bloody Encala! We should have known better than to try to work with you,” Selhman growled.

“Us? It was your fault the Equites Army was even alerted! If you’d followed the Encala’s plans, then the Equites wouldn’t have had time to call for help,” Ingram hissed.

“Shut up!” Zohn yelled, and the two prisoners looked back at the Council.

“Not another word from either of you,” Chevalier growled. “Pass down your votes.”

Emily glanced over and saw Kyle writing on a small piece of paper, so she did the same, and then passed them down to Chevalier. He counted the votes and then stood up.

“The decision is in. We have 12 votes for Guilty, and one that just says ‘fry them’,” Chevalier chuckled.

The prisoners looked down at the ground.

“Because of the attacks on the Equites for your return, we will not even vote on a punishment. Keeping you in prison is not an option,” Chevalier said. “Therefore, you will both be banished for 800 years.”

“You can’t do that to us!” Ingram yelled. “This Council is a joke. It’s time the Equites gets new, stronger leadership…”

Ingram’s words were cut short when he fell to ash on the floor.

Selhman’s eyes grew wide as he saw the ash scattered across the trial room floor at his side. He turned to the Council and gasped when Emily lowered her hood, “Do you want to give us your opinion of the Equites Council?”

He shook his head and whispered, “No.”

Emily watched as the Kyle scooped Ingram up into a leather bag and then turned Selhman to ash. He took both prisoners out of the council chambers.

“What’s so special about the Powan Coven?” Emily asked when the doors shut.

Chevalier glanced at Quinn and then back to Emily, “The Powan Coven is the only coven that no one can join. You are born into it… or turned into it, I guess I should say.”

“Ok”

“They are all direct descendents of an ancient that could illusion himself as a wolf.”

Emily grinned slightly, “They are werewolves?”

Quinn chuckled, “No, but they are where the werewolf legends came from. It is merely an illusion, nothing more.”

“Why, exactly, would one want to illusion as a wolf?”

“Stealth, mostly,” Zohn told her. “It also keeps mortals out of their coven.”

Emily grinned, “I want to see.”

“You’ve met them before,” Chevalier told her. “Some of them were the wounded at the Island.”

“I didn’t see any wolves.”

“They had no reason to illusion. It’s something they don’t share with others unless necessary,” he explained.

“Hmm,” Emily thought. “Vampires, werewolves… what else did you all start?”

“Stories of zombies and lich’s were formed out of some of our starving, recently unbanished heku,” Quinn said. “I do believe China’s Jiang Shi was one of our… shall we call it… fun loving heku, who found it amusing to hop around at night and terrorize small children.”

“Nice,” Emily said, peeling off the hot robe.

“I’ll go to Powan and talk to them about the attacks,” Kyle said, standing up.

“I want to go,” Emily told him.

Kyle looked at the Elders.

“Fine with me,” Chevalier said. “Take Mark, and go in uniform.”

“What? Why?” Emily asked, frowning.

“Trust me, go in uniform.”

Emily ran out of the room to get ready, and an hour later Equites 2 was leaving for Powan Coven.

“I don’t like the scent,” Kyle told her after a few minutes of silence.

Mark nodded, “I don’t either.”

Emily grinned, “So it’s working. You don’t want to eat me anymore?”

“No, far from it,” Kyle chuckled. “What did you do?”

“I thought of it after Sotomar’s little massage… I found a way to mask my scent.”

Emily watched as the pilot circled Powan Coven, waiting for clearance to land. The coven had high cement walls and large warehouse like buildings.

“No houses?” Emily asked, looking over at Kyle.

“No, Powan is completely militaristic. They live in barracks only,” he explained.

Mark smiled, “They’re probably the most disciplined and strongest coven out of all factions.”

“No families then?” Emily asked.

“No, no families, and no shops… only soldiers,” Mark said.

Emily watched as the helicopter landed on top of one of the barracks.

Emily unbuckled, “So not even a main house?”

Mark shook his head, “No, even the Lord of Powan lives in the barracks.”

Kyle and Mark jumped out and turned to help Emily out of the tall helicopter. She looked around when she got to the ground, and was amazed at the gathered army. There were perfectly formed rows of heku, all wearing fatigues and standing straight at attention. Not one of them even looked over at the arriving members from Council City. She was glad Chevalier insisted she wear her Thukil uniform. It made her feel like she wasn’t standing out as badly as she would have in civilian clothing.

“Chief Enforcer, it’s always good to see you,” a General said, shaking Kyle’s hand.

“This is Mark. He’s Captain of our Cavalry, and this is Lady Emily,” Kyle said.

The General nodded, “Captain, good to have you here. And… Commander, is it?”

Emily nodded and shook his hand. She couldn’t stop looking at the Powan heku. They stood still enough that she had to look closely to even see them breathing. They looked like statues out on the lawn.

Kyle turned to Mark and Emily, “This is the Lord of Powan Coven, General Skinner.”

“You said you had information for me?” General Skinner asked, and opened the door to the closest barracks.

Mark, Kyle, and Emily followed the General inside and into a small conference room. There was a pitcher of ice water and a glass already sitting on the table, and the General pulled Emily’s chair out for her and helped her slide in.

Once the others were seated, Kyle explained to the General about the combined Encala and Valle attacks on Randolph Coven, and their ultimate plans to attack Powan.

“Do we know of any further attacks that are planned?” General Skinner asked.

Kyle shook his head, “Nothing yet, obviously we are keeping an eye out.”

“We have… recently…” the General glanced at Mark briefly, “Caught a traitor in our midst. We haven’t been able to get any information out of him though, but we suspect he might have joined the Encala.”

“I can get him to talk,” Emily said, and blushed when everyone looked at her.

“She does have quite the knack for getting information,” Kyle said.

General Skinner smiled, “Then by all means.”

Emily stood up and followed the General as Kyle and Mark whispered behind her. He took them into another set of barracks and down a flight of metal stairs, into a small prison. He stood in front of the electrified bars of a cell that was only 4ft x 4ft. A large heku was sitting on the cement floor and glaring up at the General.

Emily stepped in front of the bars, and he stood up quickly, “Did you bring me a donor?”

Emily frowned, “I am not a donor.”

“Then why the beautiful girl?” the prisoner asked, watching the vein in her neck closely.

“I have a question for you,” Emily said, and smiled sweetly.

The prisoner reached out of the cell to grab her, but she was already out of his reach.

“Are you an Encala?” Emily asked, watching his eyes closely.

The prisoner smiled. His black, jagged teeth more prominent against his white, sunken face, “Why would I tell you?”

His smile turned to a grimace as he fell against the back wall of the cell, screaming and grabbing at his chest. The General watched, amazed, as the air filled with the smell of burning flesh.

“What else did you want to know?” Emily asked.

General Skinner glanced at the prisoner, surprised that Emily could hold him in pain and still talk, “See if he knows of any plans to attack.”

The prisoner collapsed and groaned when the pain stopped.

“Are you an Encala?” Emily asked again.

The prisoner got to his hands and knees and finally pulled himself up to standing, “I don’t talk to little girls.”

Emily smiled, “I can make this a lot worse for you… a lot… worse.”

“A young mortal? I’m not afraid of you.”

Emily shrugged and then smiled at Mark as the prisoner screamed again and fell in pain. Just before he went unconscious, Emily released him.

“Last chance, tell me,” Emily said.

The prisoner shook his head and groaned.

“Fine, no more chances… General, Kyle, Mark?” Emily turned to then.

They all turned toward her.

“You may want to leave for a minute,” she told them.

“I don’t know, Em,” Mark said, looking at the fierce way the prisoner was watching her.

“Are these bars sturdy?” Emily asked the General.

“They are.”

“Good, then I’ll be out in a moment,” Emily said, and smiled.

Kyle and the General left, while Mark looked around the area and then hesitantly followed them.

Emily sat down, out of reach of the prisoner, “You thirsty?”

The prisoner nodded and ran his tongue along his teeth.

“There are worse things than pain, and you know it. Last chance to give me the information I want.”

“I won’t bow down to a mortal,” he told her, and touched the air with his tongue.

“Fine…” Emily said, and pulled a pair of fingernail clippers from her purse. She smiled at him and then cut her wrist a tiny bit, enough to send a drop of blood to the floor. The entire prison erupted in growls, screams, and hisses. The prisoner she was talking to ran full force at the electrically charged bars and slammed into them, desperate to get to her.

“Want some?” Emily asked him softly.

He looked up at her, no longer able to reason as his feral nature came to the front. He grabbed for her again, and inhaled as a guttural noise escaped him.

“I bet it tastes as good as it smells,” Emily told him, and he looked at her, his eyes fierce.

He inhaled again and his body shook as he reached for her, his hand grasping at the air in front of her.

“Want just a little bit?” Emily touched her finger to the drop of blood on the floor and showed him. “I have plenty of this… just for you.”

He hissed and his eyes fixed on the blood on her finger, “Yes, I joined the Encala.”

“Good, now we have some conversation going… I’m not done though, so you can’t feed quite yet,” Emily said, and he lunged at the bars again. “Why are you here, in Powan?”

“Give me a taste, just one taste!”

“Good idea,” Emily said, and went over to the sink. She took a paper towel, and dipped the corner of it in the blood on her wrist, and then tossed it to the prisoner. She watched, amused, as he touched the blood to his tongue and savored the small amount.

“More!” he yelled.

“I have all you would want… just tell me why you are here,” Emily said again, ignoring the way the prisoners were all screaming for her.

“We are giving information to the Encala, for an attack,” the prisoner said, reaching a shaking hand out to her. “Now give me more.”

“Not yet… we? Who else in this coven is Encala or Valle?” Emily took a pen and paper out of her purse.

The prisoner inhaled again, his eyes rolling back in his head slightly, “One more taste.”

Emily stood up and let one more drop of blood hit the floor, “I’m leaving unless you tell me.”

“No! No, Child, let me feed,” he said to her.

“Last chance and I’m walking,” Emily said, and looked toward the door.

“Phil, Yon, and Wesley,” the prisoner told her, watching her neck. “They are Encala also. Jeremy and Korey are Valle.”

“See, that was easy,” Emily said, and sat back down. “When’s the attack on Powan?”

“Let me feed!” he screamed at her.

“No screaming or I walk,” Emily said, and reopened the small cut on her wrist. “When I walk, the blood comes with me.”

A low hiss escaped him, “Three weeks on Friday, both factions will come.”

Emily stood up and headed for the door, pressing her shirt against her wrist.

“No! You promised me!” the prisoner screamed at her. Emily opened the door and smiled at the heku waiting for her. They were frowning as they heard the commotion from the prison.

“My God, Emily, what did you do to them?” Mark asked, shocked.

“I’m not telling, or you’ll get mad,” Emily said, and handed the names over to the General. “They are attacking three weeks from Friday, both the Valle and the Encala.”

General Skinner grinned, “How, Child, did you do this? We’ve inflicted pain, we’ve starved him, and we got nothing.”

“Ok, I’ll tell,” Emily said, cringing. “You can’t get mad.”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “What did your scheming little mind come up with now?”

Emily sighed, “I cut my wrist…”

“You what!?” Mark growled.

“Stop it. I said no one can get mad at me,” Emily said sternly.

“I let just a drop of blood hit the floor… then I let him taste just a little, on a tissue,” Emily said, and watched the General’s eyes grow wider. “I told him if he gave me the information, I’d let him feed.”

“Did… did you?” Kyle asked, surprised.

Emily frowned, “I’m not an idiot.”

“That… that’s probably the most sadistic torture I’ve ever heard of,” Mark said, slightly impressed.

Emily shrugged, “I figured he was hungry.”

Kyle took Emily’s hand and flipped it over, exposing her wrist. The General gasped and turned away from her, his body tense. She heard him inhale and she braced for an attack, but he slowly relaxed, yet stayed facing away from her.

“Least it’s not a deep cut,” Kyle said, and let go of her hand.

“Are you ok, General?” Mark asked.

General Skinner nodded, “I just… need… a moment.”

Mark pulled Emily back behind him.

The General finally turned, “Sorry.”

Kyle chuckled, “Don’t be, we understand. We’re just used to it.”

Emily sighed, “So can we keep my little interrogation technique to ourselves?”

Mark grinned, “Not wanting the Elder to find out you cut yourself in a prison full of starving heku?”

Emily nodded.

The General laughed, “You gave me more information than anyone here was able to get. I’ll do anything you ask.”

“Just keep it a secret is all,” Emily said, and watched as Kyle sighed and nodded.

General Skinner glanced at the door behind her, “So how much blood is on the floor in there?”

“Two drops, why?” Emily asked, looking at the door.

Emily saw the General’s lips move, and Kyle chuckled.

“What?” Emily asked.

“He’s just ordering his coven to stay out of the prison until you’re gone,” Kyle said.

“Oh,” Emily said, and blushed.

“Let’s go,” Mark suggested, and took Emily’s arm as he headed for the helicopter.

“We’ll send reinforcements, just in case they decide to continue their attack,” Kyle told the General as he got into Equites 2. The helicopter was soon on its way back to Council City.

Chapter 5 - New Mexico

Quinn and Chevalier were waiting for Equites 2 when it landed. They stopped the stream of guards that normally met up with the arriving helicopter, and opened the door when the rotor stopped.

“We’ve already been filled in by the General,” Chevalier told them as he helped Emily out of the helicopter. She glanced at him to make sure he didn’t know about the blood, and relaxed when he smiled at her.

“I told him we’d send backup, in case they decide to try to carry out the attack,” Kyle said, and they all started inside.

Emily was ignoring their talk of tactics when her phone rang, “Hello?”

She froze, and the heku turned toward her when she whispered, “When?”

Tears started to fill her eyes, “I’ll be there tonight.”

The rest of the heku left when Chevalier walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. Emily hung up the phone and turned toward him slowly. His arms wrapped around her as she cried.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

She finally calmed down enough to speak, “Aunt Jess died. She got thrown from a horse and… she died.”

“I’m so sorry,” Chevalier said, and led her to the bedroom.

“I… I told Alec I’d be there tonight,” Emily told him, and sat down at her laptop to make plane reservations.

“Take Equites 2. It’ll be more comfortable and you can leave immediately,” he told her.

Emily nodded, still in shock, and packed a quick bag.

Chevalier watched her for a few minutes, “If you can wait an hour, I will go with you.”

“No, I need to go alone. That way I can stay and help Alec if he needs me,” Emily explained, and slung the bag over her shoulder. She said a long good-bye to Alex and Allen, and then left on Equites 2, headed for Albuquerque.

***

The pilot shut down the engines and watched the truck approach, “Here’s your ride.”

“Ok, thank you,” she said, and got out of the helicopter. She sighed when Exavior stepped out of the truck.

The heku pilot appeared at her side, crouched slightly.

“Just giving her a ride, nothing else,” Exavior said, and watched the pilot closely.

“I can’t leave you with him,” the pilot said to Emily.

“It’s ok, he’s harmless,” Emily said, and smiled reassuringly at the pilot.

“I wouldn’t call myself… harmless,” Exavior said, offended.

Emily glared at him, “You’re not helping,” she said, and turned back to the pilot. “Seriously, head back, I’m ok.”

“No, Ma’am,” the pilot said. “I can’t leave you here alone with the Chief Interrogator.”

“I order you to return… can I do that?”

The pilot growled, and got back into the helicopter, obviously angry. He was just taking off as Emily crawled into Exavior’s truck.

“Nice… now you can order Equites around,” Exavior said, amused.

“So what personality are you going to have today?” Emily asked him as he crawled into the driver’s seat.

“Do what?”

“You know… are you going to be the dashingly suave type, the hopelessly in love sap, or the bar fighting brute? I never know which to expect,” Emily explained.

“I didn’t realize you had me pegged.”

“Normally, it depends on the company you are around. If history serves… today you are the smooth talking friend.”

He nodded, “Exactly.”

“How is he?” Emily asked, suddenly serious.

Exavior sighed, “Not good. She was out alone riding and fell. He didn’t find her until the next morning, and he’s blaming himself.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence while Emily faced the window as tears streamed down her face. She jumped out of the truck and hugged Alec.

“Thanks for coming, Emi,” Alec said, hugging her tightly.

Emily pulled away from him, “Is there anything I can do?”

Alec shook his head, and they all walked back inside. Emily couldn’t help but notice the dirty kitchen, and immediately went to work. She knew Jess would be embarrassed if people saw it. Exavior sat down to watch her as Alec went to lie down.

“When is Pat coming in?” Emily asked, starting on the dishes.

“He should be here in the morning,” Exavior told her.

Emily turned to Exavior and tossed him a rag, “Make yourself useful.”

He grinned and started to wipe down the table, “You do realize that as a member of the Council, I don’t have to… clean.”

“I thought we were factionless here,” Emily reminded him, and started to load the dishwasher.

“True enough,” he chuckled.

They cleaned in silence until they were finished, and then Emily took the rag from Exavior and went back over what he’d already done.

“I just did that,” he said, frowning.

“Been a while since you cleaned?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Ok.” Emily tossed the rag into the sink and grabbed a broom.

“Do you ever just… sit?”

“Not when there’s work to do, no,” Emily said, and motioned for him to lift his feet.

“What happened to your wrist?”

Emily sighed “Damn heku, don’t miss a thing do you?”

“No, so?”

“It’s just a little cut, no stitches required.” Emily turned to look at him, and he was laughing.

“We need to give the Equites a raise, just for having you around.”

Emily frowned, “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re just high maintenance.”

“I am not,” Emily said, and hit his feet off of the table.

“Let’s go out for a ride, for old time’s sake.”

Emily looked out at the bright sunny day, and nodded, “Sure, let me just leave Alec a note.”

Before long, they were out on the horses and heading for the far end of the property.

“Can I ask you something?” Emily asked, looking over at Exavior.

“Anything”

“Thing is… you can’t laugh, and you have to tell me the truth.”

“As long as it’s not confidential Valle stuff, I think that’s doable,” Exavior said, and stopped his mare.

Emily turned to face him, “I saw something… at the palace.”

Exavior grinned, “You’re blushing.”

“You know what? Never mind,” Emily said, and kicked her mare into a slow walk.

“Oh come on. I won’t tell a soul. Who else can you ask?” He matched her speed.

“There’s a room I saw… accidentally. Another round room with runes on the wall... but not the room like you tried to turn me in,” Emily said, and couldn’t help but notice the way he winced slightly.

“Ok, what about it?”

“Do you know what room I mean?”

Exavior smiled, “There are several possibilities.”

“There were… people in it?” Emily asked him, blushing deeper.

Exavior became serious, “What exactly did you see?”

“Never mind,” Emily said, and looked away from him.

“No, tell me.”

“No, just never mind, ok?”

“Was it Chevalier?” Exavior’s voice was tense.

“No!” Emily yelled, and then whispered. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“Do what? I don’t know which room you saw,” Exavior said, frustrated.

Emily sighed, “There was a… erm… foursome.”

“You found a round, runed room where heku go to have sex?” Exavior was now amused.

Emily nodded slightly.

“Do you remember when I told you that there are some things in a heku’s nature that you aren’t aware of?”

“Yes, I remember that.”

“That’s one of them and… don’t kid yourself… Chevalier goes in there.”

Emily frowned at him, “He does not.”

“Yes he does. We all do.”

Emily stopped her mare, “You go in one?”

Exavior nodded, “Every one of us does.”

Emily clicked her tongue and started the mare walking again, “Why though? Why would he?”

“It’s part of our nature,” he explained, catching up with her.

“Kyle?”

“Yes, boyfriend, too.”

“Stop calling him my boyfriend.”

“I will when he stops acting like it.”

“So you, too?” Emily looked at him.

“Yes,” he said, and grinned. “You offering?”

“You’re disgusting,” Emily told him, and kicked her mare into a gallop, heading back for the ranch.

Exavior slid off of his mare once he got to the stables, “It’s no more disgusting than drinking blood.”

“I think it is,” Emily said, sliding off the saddle.

“Try it out, you may like it… if you don’t want to tell hubby, you could always join me.”

Emily frowned and heaved the saddle onto the rack, “Don’t hold your breath.”

“So who did you see?”

“Why the ceremonial room? You all and your runes are about to drive me insane,” Emily said as she started to brush down the mare.

“It’s a controlled environment.”

“That’s it?”

Exavior laughed, “What else would it be?”

“Other than disgusting?” Emily wrinkled her nose and then jumped slightly when her phone rang. “Hello.”

She grinned, “Yes, he’s here.”

“No, I didn’t know he was going to pick me up.” Emily rolled her eyes.

“First we cleaned the kitchen and then… yes, he cleaned… not very well, but he tried.”

“I will, ok… bye… bye Chev,” Emily said, and shut the phone.

“Are you in trouble with the Equites Police?” Exavior asked, amused.

Emily ignored his comment and went into the house to start dinner. She found the ingredients for fried chicken, and started to cook just as Alec woke up from his nap.

“Not sure what I’d do without you two,” Alec said, sitting at the table. “Exavior made the funeral arrangements, and you’re cleaning and making dinner.”

“I also wanted to wait for Emily… before asking…” Exavior said, and Emily noted the serious tone in his voice. “What happens now, Alec?”

Alec shrugged and fought back the tears.

“What do you mean?” Emily asked, and sat down.

“Can you run the ranch by yourself? Can you cook and clean?” Exavior asked.

Emily glared at him, “Do we have to do this now?”

“No, it’s ok, Emi. I can run the ranch by myself, and I can cook some, and clean some. I’ll be ok,” Alec said. “Pat will be back next month, they’re moving into the guest house. That was planned before…”

“My offer still stands,” Exavior said.

“What offer?” Emily asked.

Alec sighed, “I know, but I’m not sure.”

“What offer?” she asked again.

“It’s something you wouldn’t understand,” Alec told her.

“Oh, I think she understands more than she lets on,” Exavior told him.

Emily’s eyes narrowed and she spoke through gritted teeth, “What offer?”

“I’ve offered to turn him.”

“What? Alec… No!” Emily yelled.

“You don’t know how tempting it is, Emi. Now with Jess gone, nothing’s really holding me back,” Alec explained.

“No, I won’t let you.”

“I haven’t decided yet, either way.”

“How could you offer this to my uncle?” Emily yelled, and turned back to Exavior.

“He’s a friend, a good friend, and he would be good for... you know.”

“Alec, did he tell you that it would make us enemies?” Emily asked him, and Exavior hissed slightly.

“What do you mean enemies?” Alec asked.

Emily turned to Exavior, “What have you even told him?”

“How do you know about him?” Alec asked her.

“Calm down,” Exavior said. “I told him only what he needed to know and Alec, she’s pretty intertwined with my world, and actually knows more than you do.”

“Why enemies though?” Alec asked.

“Exavior and I are supposed to be enemies,” Emily told him.

“That’s enough, Emily,” Exavior said sternly.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You offered to turn him, but didn’t tell him the whole story?”

“No, it’s tradition. He’ll learn the rest when he’s decided.”

“That’s backwards! How can he make an informed decision if he isn’t told everything?” Emily asked, irritated.

“It’s done this way for a reason,” Exavior said.

“Listen to me, Alec, I won’t do it either. Exavior tried once, and I won’t do it. I know everything… and I won’t do it,” Emily said to him.

“Not what I heard. If your spinal tap comes back positive, I heard you will be turning,” Exavior said, grinning.

Emily glared at him, “How the hell do you know about that?”

Alec cleared his throat, “Stop fighting, please. We’re here for Jess, and I haven’t decided yet. Either way, and I will let you know.”

“Make him tell you everything first,” Emily said, still glaring at Exavior. She got up when the timer went off, and turned the chicken.

“Emily?” Exavior said from behind her.

She turned around just as he pressed his lips to hers, and kept her from moving away from him with a hand on the back of her neck, and another on the small of her back. She pushed against his shoulders with her hands, but he pressed his body to hers and trapped her between himself and the counter.

Exavior finally broke the kiss and smiled at her.

Emily slapped him across the face, “Don’t do that.”

“The sexual tension between us is strong,” Exavior said, and returned to his seat.

Emily glanced to make sure Alec was gone before she moved to Exavior. She pushed him again, almost tipping his chair, “Listen to me. There is no sexual tension, and you have no right to kiss me, so stop it.”

Exavior grinned, “You’re just mad because you liked it.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Emily scowled. “Another thing, my ultimatum to the factions said that none of you mess with my family, and Alec is my family.”

“Not by blood,” Exavior said, and took Emily’s hand.

Emily ripped her hand away from him, “He is my uncle, and you will leave him alone or you can face the factions when I leave.”

Exavior chuckled, “I’m sure the factions will understand. It’s his decision.”

“Leave him alone, or so help me, you’ll wish it was the factions after you.”

“Why don’t you just sleep with me and get it over with?”

Emily screamed and then stormed out of the house. She disappeared into her bunkhouse and slammed the door, locking it behind her.

She sighed and grabbed her phone when she’d calmed down, then dialed Kyle’s number and tried to forget about the new round room.

“Em?” Kyle asked.

“Hi,” Emily said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Exavior knows about the lumbar puncture. How does he know?” Emily asked.

There was a short pause before Kyle spoke, “We’ll find out.”

“Is nothing I do a secret? Nothing private?”

“We’ll find out who’s telling him, I promise.”

Emily sighed, “It’s just frustrating.”

“I know, but we’ll fix it.”

“Go away!” Emily yelled when she heard a knock on the door.

“Do you need me to come down?” Kyle asked.

“No, but give me the phone number to the Valle Council.”

“That’s it, I’m coming.”

“No, I said. I can handle it. I’m going to bed now though… stay in Council City,” Emily told him, and hung up. She slipped on a big t-shirt and crawled into the warm covers, and was finally able to fall asleep.

Emily stretched and opened her eyes when the rooster crowed. She pulled the covers off and sat up suddenly when she saw Exavior in her room, “What are you doing?”

“Watching you sleep,” Exavior said as he leaned back against the wall.

“Get out,” Emily yelled at him.

“You slept late. Alec and Pat have already gone to the funeral home. I told them I’d drive you in.”

“Get out!”

“Ok, I’ll wait for you out by the truck,” Exavior said, and then grinned before blurring from the bunkhouse.

Emily dressed quickly in a simple black dress and heals, and then threw her hair into a French braid. She sighed before walking out of the bunkhouse and over to the truck. She opened the passenger door and growled when Exavior lifted her inside.

“Stop touching me,” Emily said, and slammed the door. She buckled in while Exavior got into the driver’s side, laughing.

Emily scowled in silence all the way to the funeral home, and jumped out as soon as Exavior stopped the truck. He caught up with her and they walked in together.

She ran quickly to Pat and hugged him. Exavior moved to one of the back pews, while Emily sat with the family up front. After the funeral, she rode in the limo to the grave site and wished she had taken Chevalier up on his offer to come with her. She felt alone as she watched her Aunt buried.

Emily rode back to the ranch with Alec, and was soon playing hostess to dozens of well-wishers who brought dinners and deserts with their tears. Emily was cried out, and welcomed them into the home, ignoring the way that Exavior sat silently and watched her every move. Things became tense when Jeff wheeled in, but he avoided Emily and Exavior and only stayed for a few minutes, just long enough to give his condolences to Alec.

Too soon for Emily, the guests stopped coming and she set about heating up dinner for those left, herself, Alec, Pat, and Exavior. Pat’s wife was expecting their first baby and wasn’t able to fly. She was supposed to be arriving the next evening.

Emily dished up the casserole and they all sat down to eat.

“I appreciate you two helping Dad. I couldn’t get here soon enough,” Pat said softly.

Exavior nodded, “Our pleasure.”

Emily glared at him briefly and then turned to Alec and Pat, “I’m glad I could come help family. I know I’m far away, but I think about you all the time.”

“How are things up north?” Pat asked.

“Good thanks, Allen is growing so fast. He’s already taller than I am, and Alexis is already 3.”

“How long are you staying?” Pat asked them.

“I’m going to be here for about a week. I promised to help with some of the paperwork,” Exavior said.

“I have to leave in the morning,” Emily said, ignoring Exavior’s glance.

After dinner, Emily opted to clean the kitchen instead of following the others into the living room. She had time to think about Jess and about the decision Alec was trying to make. She also wondered about how all of her secrets were getting out to the Valle. As soon as the kitchen was clean, she went to her bunkhouse and locked the door behind her.

Emily pulled out her phone and dialed Chevalier.

“Hi, Em,” Chevalier said.

“Hi, how’s it going?” Emily asked.

“Things are ok. Kyle told me about Exavior’s knowledge. We’re narrowing it down.”

“I should have let you come.”

“I can be there in a few hours.”

“No, I’m coming home in the morning, if there’s someone to come and get me.”

“Sure, meet Equites 2 at 10am.”

Emily nodded, knowing he couldn’t see her, but she was afraid her voice would give away the strain she was under. Strain from the round room, from Exavior’s advances, from Jess’s death, and Alec’s thoughts of turning into a heku.

Chevalier’s sighed, “Em… talk to me.”

“Do… you… you know… ever…” Emily couldn’t say it. She kept hearing Exavior say that it was a heku’s nature, and that all heku did it.

“Do what?” Chevalier asked.

“Never mind,” Emily whispered.

“No secrets. If you want to know if I’m doing something… just ask.”

“No, I think I’ve decided I don’t want to know.”

“That’s almost worse,” Chevalier said softly.

“There are some things in a heku’s nature that I don’t understand,” Emily said, quoting almost exactly.

“Meaning… what, exactly?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Em, and I wish you’d tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Emily hung up the phone and dropped it onto the floor before rolling over and falling asleep.

She was dreaming about fighting to get out of the round room when she heard a soft voice whisper next to her, “Shh, it’s ok.”

Emily’s eyes opened, and she pushed against Exavior, who was lying in bed next to her, “Get out.”

“No,” he said, and then kissed her, pressing his body against hers, so she couldn’t get away.

Exavior gently ran his hand down her side and around to the small of her back, and slipped it under her t-shirt, so he could feel her soft skin beneath his fingers.

He finally broke the kiss, “I love you, Emily.”

“Get away from me.”

“I’m so much better for you than Chevalier. Why can’t you see that?”

Emily tried again to pull away from him, but his hands held her tightly, “I don’t see that because it’s not true. You’re more like Jeff, apparently, than Chev.”

A flash of anger passed Exavior’s face and then he smiled, “Nice try. I’m not in the mood to fight though.”

“If you don’t get away from me, I’ll ash you,” Emily warned.

“No you won’t. That would break the peace agreement,” Exavior said, and started to kiss her neck.

Emily stopped for a moment, analyzed Exavior’s weak points, and then made a quick decision where to strike. She knew she had only one chance before he restrained her, so she planned carefully and struck. Quickly putting her hands on his head, she turned it hard to the side. She heard the bones snap as he hissed and rolled away from her.

She sat up and scooted off of the bed, and was just standing when his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. His fingers dug into her flesh and crushed the bones beneath his grasp. Emily screamed in pain, and Exavior let go and sat up with fear in his eyes.

“Emily, I’m so sorry,” he said, and tried to help her, but he felt the burn start in his chest and fell back against the bed, gasping for breath. The burn ended quickly, but he took the warning and moved away from her.

Emily’s arm was already swelling and turning purple, and she groaned with the pain as she grabbed her cell phone from the floor.

“Emily, please, forgive me… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She turned and glared at him before leaving. The night air was cold, and all she had on was a big t-shirt. She looked around the dark lot and decided on Exavior’s truck. She crawled in and stepped on the gas, spinning out as Exavior watched her from the bunkhouse door.

Emily drove with her elbow as she dialed Chevalier’s number, “Em, what’s wrong?”

“Come… tell them to come now,” Emily whispered.

“Are you hurt?”

“Yes,” Emily whispered. “Please, come now.”

“We’re taking the jet. Meet us at the little airport outside of town, ok?”

Emily nodded and hung up the phone, then changed course and fought to stay focused as she drove out of the city toward the municipal airport. The throbbing in her arm was getting worse and it was swelling. Every small bump sent a jolt of pain through her arm and shoulder, and made her feel like she was going to pass out.

She drove Exavior’s truck across the field and onto the runway, and hoped the Equites would hurry. She knew that Exavior would first check for her at the helipad, but when he didn’t find her, she knew he would come and check here. She locked the doors and laid back on the seat, breathing through the agonizing pain.

Emily was only vaguely aware of an airplane landing nearby. The deafening roar was muted by the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She opened her eyes when she heard the truck’s door torn off of the hinges, and soon found herself in Chevalier’s arms. He blurred her onto the plane and laid her down on the bed in the back as the pilot took off for Council City.

Kyle watched from the door as Dr. Cook gave Emily a pain medication and she felt the sharp pain dull slowly. The doctor started looking over her arm and hand.

“This is more than I can fix. We need to take her to an Emergency Room,” Dr. Cook told Chevalier. “This swelling, though, looks like a hand.”

Emily nodded, “Exavior broke it with his hand.”

Chevalier growled, “He did?”

“Yes, after I broke his neck,” Emily said with a slight smile. The medicine was making her relaxed and with the dulled pain, she was able to settle down.

“Why did you break his neck?” Chevalier asked, touching her face lightly.

“I can handle him. Tomorrow, I’m going to talk to Sotomar,” Emily said, her words slightly slurred.

“Tomorrow, you are going to be in bed,” Dr. Cook told her, and checked the pulse in her hand.

“I warned him, but he didn’t listen,” she said, and drifted off to sleep.

“Warned him for what?” Chevalier asked, and took her good hand. He felt a jolt and images flashed quickly through his mind, silent pictures showing the trip, everything from the funeral to the numerous advances by Exavior.

Chevalier hissed and the doctor looked at him with wide eyes. The Elder stood up, and clenched his fists, “I think Exavior and I need to have a talk.”

“What did he do?” Kyle asked angrily.

“He wouldn’t stop kissing her,” Chevalier said, and brushed past Kyle and tore a chair from the airplane floor.

The plane landed smoothly and Chevalier carried Emily onto Equites 1. They made arrangements with the hospital and used their helipad. Several nurses and doctors came out with a gurney and transferred Emily over to it. She was whisked away to the Emergency Room. Kyle went to fill out the paperwork, while Dr. Cook and Chevalier followed her to the curtained room.

An x-ray tech came and took multiple x-rays of her arm, and the doctor had them in his hand when he came into the room.

Emily watched him walk in, but her eyes felt heavy and she had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying.

“I’m Dr. Manney… I wanted to show you the x-rays,” he said, and put the x-rays up on the lit board. He glanced at Emily and back to the x-rays, “I’ve never seen a break like this. It looks like a crushing force injury.”

“Exavior did it,” Emily said softly.

“Who is Exavior?” Dr. Manney asked.

“My horse,” Kyle said, stepping into the room. “She tried to lasso him, but the rope caught on her arm.”

The doctor looked back at the x-ray and nodded, “Ok, I can see that now.”

Dr. Manny looked over his glasses at Kyle, “I’m going to cast her entire arm eventually, to see if those bones will fuse on their own. She’ll need to be seen in a month, so we can see if she needs surgery to correct it.”

Chevalier nodded, still focused on the x-ray.

“Course, I can’t cast it until the swelling goes down. So for now, I’m putting her on bed rest and leaving that arm alone. When the swelling’s down, we’ll cast it,” he finished.

Kyle nodded, controlling his temper.

“This is Dr. Cook, he’s on my staff and will be overseeing her care,” Chevalier said to Dr. Manney.

Dr. Manney looked at Dr. Cook curiously, “Ok, easy enough. I’ll send some pain pills and a few injections if you would like. She’ll need the cast for eight weeks, but again, I want to see her back in four weeks so we can x-ray and see if it’s healing properly.”

Dr. Cook took the medications from Dr. Manney and tucked them into his pocket, where Emily couldn’t see them, “I can cast it when the swelling goes down.”

Emily was still watching them all in a daze.

“Until then, just keep it still,” Dr. Manney said, and left the room.

The nurse came and ran though the instructions again with Dr. Cook, and then brought a wheelchair after refusing to let Chevalier carry Emily out. The nurse helped Emily into the wheelchair, and had her arm propped up on a pillow. Its grotesque swelling and purple color reflected what kind of pain she was in with every movement.

Mark pulled up in the Humvee when they arrived outside, and Chevalier put Emily inside and buckled her seat belt. He sat beside her and she leaned against his shoulder for the drive in to the palace.

Emily’s cell phone rang from Kyle’s pocket, and he grabbed it and sighed, “It’s Exavior.”

“I can’t even talk to him right now,” Chevalier growled.

“What?” Kyle asked over the phone.

“Where’s Emily?” Exavior asked.

“What do you care?”

Exavior whispered, “It was an accident.”

“You seem to have a lot of accidents,” Kyle said angrily.

“Just let me talk to her.”

“She’s not able to talk right now, thanks to you,” Kyle said, and hung up.

“He says Kyle does it… and you do it…” Emily whispered softly.

“Do what?” Chevalier asked her, and Kyle looked over to see what she was talking about.

“I saw them… he said you all do it.” Emily’s voice was growing softer.

“Exavior did?”

Emily sighed softly, “Some things in... heku… nature…”

“She’s asleep,” Chevalier said, frowning. “Wonder what Exavior told her we do.”

“There’s no telling,” Kyle said, frustrated.

Mark pulled the Humvee up to the front doors and let them out, then disappeared into the garage as Chevalier carried Emily into the palace.

“Is Mom hurt?” Allen asked, running down the stairs to meet up with them.

Chevalier considered lying for a moment, but thought better, “She had a run in with a Valle.”

Allen frowned, “What happened?”

“She fought him, and he grabbed her arm and broke it,” Kyle told him.

Chevalier laid Emily down in bed and cringed when she cried out as her arm moved. He carefully placed her arm on a pillow and covered her up.

“I’m sorry… I’m always hurt,” Emily whispered.

Chevalier smiled, “It’s part of your charm, Em.”

“Tell Exavior… if he does it, I’ll kill him.”

Chevalier frowned, “If he does what?”

“We just got back from Powan,” Quinn said, stepping into the room. “Dare I ask what happened?”

“Exavior was…” Kyle glanced at Allen, “Pushy, as Emily once put it. She broke his neck, so he grabbed her arm and crushed the bones. She called us from New Mexico.”

“There’s more though,” Chevalier said, watching Emily. “He’s told her something that all of us do… and he’s doing something Em wants him dead for.”

“Pretty cryptic,” Zohn said. “Maybe drug induced.”

“She seemed pretty adamant about it,” Kyle said, and set Emily’s phone on the table.

Allen grabbed Alexis as she tried to jump on the bed.

“Is Mommy sick?” Alexis asked, looking down at her.

“She has a hurt arm,” Allen told her.

Alexis frowned, “Who did it?”

“A heku,” Allen said, and then looked at his sister’s face. “Dad!”

Chevalier looked over and stood up quickly, “Alexis, no!”

Alexis scanned the heku in the room. Her angelic face held a hint of anger, and she started to get the faraway look that Emily used to get before she turned a heku to ash.

“Silas,” Quinn said hurriedly.

Silas came in and quickly took Alexis out of the room.

“I hope she doesn’t turn him to ash,” Zohn said after they left.

“She won’t, she trusts Silas,” Chevalier explained, and sat back down.

“How does Exavior keep finding out private information?” Zohn asked.

“He either has this room bugged, or an informant… and I want to know which,” Chevalier said angrily.

“I’ll get a team in here to search for bugs as soon as she wakes up,” Zohn said.

“Do it now, while she’s unconscious.”

Zohn nodded and blurred away.

Chapter 6 - Exavior

“Em?” Mark asked.

Emily looked up from her breakfast, “Come… sit.”

“I can’t, Sotomar and William are here. They are waiting for you in the council chambers,” Mark said.

“Damnit, they’re early,” Emily said, and stood up. Her left arm was in a full cast, and was propped up high on a stick that attached to her waist.

“Yes, they are,” Mark said, and held the door open for her. “They’re all anxious to talk to you.”

Emily nodded and walked sideways through the door, careful not to bump her arm. She walked into the back of the council chambers and sat in the chair that was made for her during the trial.

Sotomar and William watched her carefully.

“You are injured?” William asked, frowning.

Sotomar sighed, “I’ll go ahead and get it in the open. She was injured by our Chief Interrogator.”

William growled, “Exavior interrogated her?”

“No,” Sotomar hissed. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“Has he been punished?”

“Yes, he has,” Sotomar told the Council.

“That’s part of what I wanted to bring up,” Emily said. “During the attack, he reminded me that I couldn’t turn him to ash, or I would negate the peace agreement.”

“Was he… feeding?” William asked.

“No, he was…” Emily glanced nervously at Chevalier, “Kissing… mostly.”

William frowned, “I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself against unwanted sexual advances.”

Emily winced at his terminology.

Sotomar nodded, “We as the Valle agree.”

“Lastly,” Emily said. “I wanted to remind you… I warned of any of the three factions messing with my family. That means my entire family.”

Chevalier glanced at her, unsure where she was going with this.

“We understand that,” William said.

“That goes for trying to turn my Uncle,” Emily said, directly to Sotomar.

Chevalier frowned at her, “Who is trying to turn Alec?”

“Exavior is, and if it’s done, it activates the ultimatum of the peace agreement. My uncle is part of my family,” Emily said angrily.

Sotomar nodded, “I wasn’t aware Exavior was planning on turning any of your family.”

“Well he is, and he has neglected to tell my Uncle about the heku. He doesn’t even know the name of your species.”

“That’s not really uncommon,” Zohn said.

Emily glared at him and he sat back in his chair.

“Leave my uncle alone,” Emily said to Sotomar.

“I assure you, he won’t be turned, not while I’m an Elder,” Sotomar said.

“No more bugs… or spies… or whatever it is the Valle have either.”

Sotomar frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean that private conversations I have with Chev are being listened to, and the information is being spread throughout the Valle,” Emily told him angrily.

“Every faction has spies,” William said in the Valle’s defense.

“You damn well better not have them on me.”

Sotomar nodded, “No, we don’t have them on you. We are leaving you alone.”

“Then how does Exavior know things that only Chev and I know?”

“He has a dangerous obsession. We thought it was harmless, but after the… attack…” Sotomar sighed, “In New Mexico, we realized how precarious it really is. We have taken all precautions to ensure it won’t happen again, and that includes spying.”

Emily nodded, somewhat pacified.

“We also know he told you about the…”

“Hush,” Emily told him, blushing. “Any private conversations between Exavior and me are also to remain between just us two.”

Sotomar frowned slightly, “That’s not what I was….”

“No,” Emily said again firmly.

“Well I, for one, want to know about this conversation between you and Exavior… that no one seems to want to talk about,” Chevalier said, watching Emily.

Sotomar took a step back and Emily’s blush deepened.

“Yes, what exactly is it that we are all accused of?” Kyle asked.

“Sotomar… can I trust you?” Emily asked him.

Sotomar nodded, “Yes, I won’t bring anything up.”

Emily smiled, “Thank you… now… I hear some pancakes calling my name.”

The Council watched as Emily walked out.

“Ok, spill it,” Chevalier told Sotomar.

“I’m not going to defy the Lady,” Sotomar said, grinning slightly.

Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “Can you at least tell us if what he told her is true?”

“I can assure you, I don’t know. I’m not sure we were talking about the same thing.”

“Well, damnit, someone needs to tell us… she can’t even look at some of the guards, and now she watches us like we’re doing something wrong,” Chevalier said, frowning.

“Now, let’s go over next Friday’s attack on Powan,” Zohn said, changing the subject.

William frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean… one of your insiders told us everything, including names and dates, so I suggest you back off. Now that we know, we’ll reinforce.”

Sotomar shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Zohn grinned, “Apparently we, as Equites, have a new interrogation technique that’s quite effective, and your guy sang.”

“We have no attack plans on Powan,” William said indignantly.

“Sure you don’t,” Kyle said. “Before we let you go, Ingram and Selhman have been banished.”

Sotomar frowned, “You had no right to do that.”

“We did. They were punished as traitors,” Zohn told him.

“They should have been turned over to us,” Sotomar said.

“Why would we do that, when it’s our coven they destroyed?”

“We should have been notified before!”

Zohn turned to William, “You’re not mad at all? We banished your spy, too.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” William said.

“Oh don’t play stupid. We know the attack on Randolph Coven was a combined attack from the Valle and the Encala, and that the Encala were disguised as Valle,” Quinn said.

“That’s insane, why would we do that?” Sotomar asked, irritated.

“You underestimate our new interrogation technique. We know exactly what happened.”

“We would never disguise ourselves as Valle. We wouldn’t stoop to that level,” William said, and Sotomar glared at him.

Zohn shrugged, “Either way, they have both been banished.”

“I want to know what happened to Exavior,” Chevalier said. “Now that Emily is out of the room.”

“He’s none of your concern. He has been dealt with,” Sotomar told him.

“He is of my concern! He assaulted my wife, and I personally want to have a chat with him.”

Sotomar grinned, “I’m sure you do. However, he is restricted from communicating with the Equites at all.”

Chevalier frowned, “That’s his punishment? He can’t call her anymore?”

“That is all it will take to stop his obsession with the Winchester.”

“If that is all, I will be going. I just wanted to ensure that the Valle didn’t cause the Lady to disappear,” William said. He turned and then left the palace.

“Anything else?” Sotomar asked.

“No, you may go,” Quinn said, and watched as he left.

Chevalier sighed, “Where’s she going now?”

The heku all listened and heard her Dodge Ram leave the garage.

Emily pulled up to the derelict Durango and climbed out of the truck. She crawled under the back end and pulled off the tracking device. Once she got back to her feet, she chucked it into the trees and then chained the Durango to the back of the truck. She sighed and started to change out the shredded tire for the spare. It was taking longer to do one-handed.

“Moving it?” Exavior asked from behind her.

Emily stood up and turned toward him, “What the hell are you doing here? I thought Sotomar punished you for being a jerk.”

“Oh, he did,” Exavior said, grinning. “I’m not to contact you at all.”

“Erm… so what is this, exactly?”

“Breaking orders… I needed to apologize.”

Emily moved aside when Exavior started to change out the tire for her.

“Apology accepted, now go away or I’ll call for Chev,” Emily warned.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Exavior said, standing up after he finished with the tire.

“You have too much of a temper and I don’t feel safe around you, so you need to leave,” Emily said, and headed for the truck.

“Found my truck, seems to be missing a door,” Exavior said, blurring to block Emily from the door to her truck.

“Move,” Emily yelled, glaring at him.

Exavior smiled, “Forgive me first.”

Emily sighed and instantly turned Exavior to ash, “Forgive that.”

After scooping Exavior into an empty cup from the truck, Emily slowly towed the Durango back to the road and headed for the trees to the east of the city. She started off-road across a path she found through the trees, and left the Durango almost 2 miles off of the main road, in a spot surrounded by woods.

A few hours later, Emily walked into the palace and was stopped by Dr. Cook.

“I got the results back,” Dr. Cook said. “It came back negative. It’s not conclusive though. It’s hard to find this particular virus.”

“I’m sure I’m fine, thanks,” Emily said, and walked into the council chambers. She sat the cup in front of Kyle and he looked inside.

“Tell him to leave me the hell alone,” Emily said, and headed for the doors.

“Wait…” Kyle called out, looking at the ashes. “Who is this?”

Emily turned around, “Exavior.”

Kyle gasped, “He contacted you?”

Chevalier growled, “Sotomar said he was taken care of.”

“Yeah, well, he’s back and wouldn’t let me into my truck… so I ashed him,” Emily told them, smiling.

“What did he do?” Chevalier hissed.

“He changed the tire I was in the middle of changing, and then blocked my way. That’s all he had time to do. He did mention that he wasn’t supposed to contact me anymore.” She thought about it and frowned, “Anyway, do whatever you want, but tell him to leave me alone.”

Kyle nodded, “Oh, we will.”

“Next time he comes near me, I’m going to ash him and scatter it,” Emily said, and some of the Council gasped, surprised.

“We’ll pass that along,” Kyle said, grinning.

“And you can stop planning my immortality, the tests were negative.”

Chevalier smiled, “Good to hear.”

Emily headed out of the council chambers, so Quinn dialed the Valle Council on speakerphone.

“What now?” Sotomar said, sighing.

“Your Chief Interrogator contacted Emily again and has been turned to ash,” Quinn said, amused.

Sotomar hissed, “Your Chief Enforcer turned him to ash?”

“No, Emily did after he blocked her way to her truck.”

“Revive him then, we will punish him.”

“I think not,” Chevalier said. “Your punishment didn’t work. He’s now our prisoner.”

“Not for long,” Sotomar said, and hung up.

Kyle grabbed the cup of ashes, “This will be fun.”

“Yes, it will be,” Chevalier said, and they both left for the interrogation chamber.

Emily woke up after her nap and stretched. The room was nice and warm, and she stayed in bed for a few minutes, replaying in her mind the encounter with Exavior. She eventually got out of bed and propped her arm up on what she called its ‘perch’.

Emily walked out and turned to Mark, “Where’s Chev?”

Mark tensed slightly, “He’s in a meeting.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “So he’s in the council chambers?”

“No”

“Council’s conference room?”

“No”

“His office?”

“No, Em,” Mark said.

Emily couldn’t help but feel her heart sink, “Where is he?”

“I told you, he’s in a meeting.”

“Is he… with… someone?” Emily asked.

“I think Kyle and Zohn are with him,” Mark told her.

“I see,” Emily said, deep in thought. “Take the night off.”

Emily ignored the complaints and headed into the game room. The room was empty, and she quickly spun into the bar, then looked up at the high windows and pushed one of the tables up underneath it. With a lot of time and effort, she was able to stack another table on top of it, and a chair on top of that table.

“Don’t fall, Emily,” she whispered, and slowly headed up the tower with only one arm. After a few perilous saves, she made it to the top and was able to climb onto the ledge by the windows. She crawled to the clean window and peeked down into the round room. Someone was just leaving, and all she could see was the green cape and then the door shutting.

Emily crawled back down, and once she was on the floor, she knocked the table off of the other one and ignored the loud crash as she took the spinning door back into the game room.

Several guards looked at her, shocked, as she emerged, blushed, and ran out of the room. She ran down the stairs and stopped when she saw Zohn, Chevalier, and Kyle walking toward her from an unknown hallway. She quickly calculated in her head where that room might be, and she surmised it would down that hallway.

“Hi, Em,” Kyle said, and then stopped in front of her. “Em?”

“A meeting?” Emily asked, tears filling her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Chevalier asked.

“You were… in a meeting?”

“Yeah… so what’s wrong?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier frowned, “Emily, tell me what’s wrong,” he said, and touched her arm. The second his hand met her skin, a vision invaded his thoughts and he saw Exavior and Emily talking. This vision gave him a close up view of their conversation and he could hear it.

“Do you remember when I told you that there are some things in a heku’s nature that you aren’t aware of?” Exavior asked Emily.

Emily nodded, “Yes, I remember that.”

“That’s one of them and… don’t kid yourself… Chevalier goes in there.”

Emily frowned at him, “He does not.”

“Yes he does. We all do.”

Emily stopped her mare, “You go in one?”

Exavior nodded, “Every one of us does.”

“Why though? Why would he?”

“It’s part of our nature,” he explained.

“Kyle?”

“Yes, boyfriend, too.”

“Elder?” Kyle asked as he watched Chevalier’s face. He had suddenly gone expressionless and his eyes were far away.

Chevalier let go of Emily, and she stepped back and looked down at her arm, “What was that?”

“What did Exavior mean when he told you, ‘Don’t kid yourself… Chevalier goes in there?’” he asked.

Emily looked from Chevalier to Kyle and blushed, “How do you know about that?”

“It started a few years ago, but just recently got clearer. I’ve been able to see what you’re thinking about when I touch you… what did he mean? Something he said Kyle does too.”

Emily frowned, “Then don’t touch me, that’s private.”

“Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“How did I get brought into this?” Kyle asked. “What is it I do?”

Emily blushed, “Nothing, just forget about it.”

Chevalier grabbed her arm when she turned to leave, “Tell us.”

“It’s… something…” Emily looked from Kyle to Zohn. “No, well… so… no.”

“Emily, I’m getting angry,” Chevalier growled, and Emily took a step back. “It’s time you tell us what Exavior accused us of.”

“I’m… trying to understand, ok? I want to be open… about… heku nature,” Emily said, and felt her chin quiver slightly as her eyes filled back up with tears. “So just… give me time. I’ll be ok with it.”

Zohn moved to stand in front of Emily, and she looked up at him, “Was it ceremonial?”

Emily shook her head, “I don’t think so.”

“Was it something with donors?”

“No”

“Was it entertainment?”

Emily frowned, “Don’t interrogate me.”

“So it was entertainment,” Zohn said, and Emily turned away from him. She hated his natural ability to tell when someone was lying to him, “Was it the interrogation chamber?”

Emily didn’t turn toward him, but headed up the stairs to her room. She didn’t stop running until she was in the room and the door was locked.

Kyle sighed, “She already knows about the interrogation chamber.”

“Yes, but she never did verify if we do it for fun,” Chevalier said. “I get the feeling this is something different.”

“Let’s go see what Exavior has to say about it,” Zohn said, and the three heku headed down into the prison.

They stopped in front of Exavior’s cell. He was shackled to the wall by electrified metal shackles, and glared at the Equites angrily.

“What?” he growled at them.

“What did you tell Emily we all do? Something that’s in a heku’s nature?” Chevalier asked.

“She’s still going on about the interrogation chamber?” Exavior asked.

“No, when you were on horseback in New Mexico last week. You said it again… about what?”

“We didn’t go horseback riding last week, she wouldn’t go,” Exavior said.

“Life can get a lot harder if you don’t tell us,” Kyle said.

Exavior grinned, “We… did… not… go horseback riding last week… and I said nothing to her about a heku’s nature.”

Chevalier hissed, and Kyle took his arm.

Zohn frowned, “Odd, he’s not lying.”

“Come on, Elder, our best bet is with Emily,” Kyle said.

“She’s too embarrassed about it to tell you?” Exavior asked, amused.

“You two go talk to Emily. I want to spend some time with the Valle,” Zohn said.

Kyle and Chevalier went upstairs while Zohn took Exavior back into the interrogation chamber.

“There’s nothing to tell you,” Exavior said as the guards pushed him toward the shackles on the wall.

“I could care less what Emily is upset about. She’s a pain in the ass, and I would love to see her gone,” Zohn said, and grabbed the cat-o-nine tails.

Exavior frowned, “She is not a pain in the ass.”

“Oh, yes she is,” Zohn said, and grinned as he started his own interrogation.

Chevalier and Kyle got to the room and found the door locked. Chevalier sighed and broke the lock, and they walked into the stiflingly hot room.

“Damn, is she trying to cook?” Kyle asked. The room was so hot it was hard to breathe.

“She’s always cold,” Chevalier told him, and turned toward the bathroom when the sound of the jetted tub filled the room.

“Tub time, I’ll catch up with you later,” Kyle said, and left, shutting the door behind him.

After a few minutes, Chevalier went to the bathroom door, but found it also locked. He frowned and broke the lock easily, and walked inside. Emily was asleep in the bathtub again. Her casted arm was propped up on the edge of the tub.

He smiled down at her and then knelt down by the tub, “Em?”

Emily jumped and grabbed for a towel, quickly covering herself, “Get out.”

Chevalier frowned, “Why?”

She fought to keep the towel covering her, but the jets made it hard to do with only one hand, “Don’t look at me.”

“Em…”

“Please, don’t look at me. Just go,” Emily said, and brought a second towel into the water.

Chevalier sighed and gave her the privacy she requested. He waited for her out on the edge of the bed, and she appeared a short time later wearing a nightgown and long robe.

“What was that?” he asked softly.

Emily shrugged and sat down at the table. She pulled the dome off of the tray and looked down at the cheeseburger and fries, then put the dome back on and stood up, heading for the door.

“Something wrong with dinner?”

“No, just… not what I want tonight,” Emily told him, and headed down to the kitchen. Chevalier followed her and backed her guards off, who returned to her door.

Her bare feet padded on the marble stairs as she ran down toward the kitchen, not looking any of the guards in the eye. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl, then headed into the walk-in refrigerator. Emily heard Allen talking to Chevalier, so she grabbed the blood supply kept for him.

“Where’s Alex?” she asked, and poured him a glass.

“She’s up eating,” Allen said, and took the glass over to the microwave.

Emily set about cutting up vegetables for a salad while Chevalier watched her, and she felt that he was scrutinizing her every move.

“You’re craving a salad?” Chevalier asked, and Allen turned toward her.

“No,” Emily said, and sat down to eat.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat one,” Allen said, and sipped from the glass.

“There’s nothing wrong with eating a salad,” Emily said, and glared at both of them until they looked away.

Emily looked back down at the lettuce and carrot salad and tossed the bowl into the sink, “Guess I’m not hungry.”

She felt self-conscious as she headed up the stairs. Suddenly, the palace seemed full of curious eyes, all watching her, and she wrapped her arms around herself and ran up the stairs.

Emily tried to lock the door, but found that the lock was broken. She crawled into bed still wearing her robe and softly cried herself to sleep.

Chevalier came in after he knew she was asleep and sat on the bed beside her. He debated lying down next to her, but things were still different between them since her return, and he wasn’t sure she was ready for it. He brushed her hair away from her face and gently wiped away a lingering tear.

He finally decided to lie next to her, and she pulled up against him when he wrapped his arms around her. Her dream held no answers for him, but flowed between images of people he didn’t know, and places he’d never been.

Emily sat up suddenly when the alarm on her phone went off. Chevalier also sat up.

“You set an alarm?” he asked.

“Yes,” Emily said, and crawled out of bed, disappearing into the closet.

“Going somewhere?”

“Yes,” Emily said again, and he could hear her struggling to get dressed with only one arm.

“Can I come?”

“No,” Emily told him, and came back out in a loose dress. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Good, then we can talk.”

“Ok,” she said, and grabbed a cup of coffee before leaving.

Emily got into the Jeep and started into town. She pulled up at the medical office buildings just in time for her appointment. She signed in and waited for the nurse to come and get her, then followed the nurse and looked away when she was weighed. A few minutes after she got into the room, the doctor entered.

Dr. Hayden looked over her chart, “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Emily said, swinging her legs nervously.

Emily couldn’t help but tear up. Dr. Hayden helped her sit up and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Emily liked this doctor. He had been discreet about her wishes to keep things private, and he only called her when she called him first. She suspected he was about as old as Alec, and had a kind, gentle nature.

“I’m… so big,” Emily said as a tear trailed down her cheek.

Dr. Hayden touched her arm, “You only gained 5 pounds while you were pregnant, and you’ve already lost 3 of those.”

Emily shrugged.

“How are things going at home?” he asked, watching her closely.

Emily hid her face in her hands and broke down in tears.

Dr. Hayden sat with her patiently until she’d calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” Emily said, and took a tissue from him.

“I want to take some blood,” he said, and smiled when he saw her start to panic. “No time to worry, just going to do it fast. I want to make sure everything’s ok.”

Emily had a hard time telling him no, and she barely had time to get away before he was done and showed her the four vials of blood.

“Any pain?” he asked, and picked up her chart again.

“There was at first. Now I’m just tired,” Emily told him.

“How is the bed rest going?”

“It’s going ok,” she lied.

“Stress related miscarriages can be risky,” Dr. Hayden said as he wrote on the vials. “You lost a lot of blood, and I want you to keep resting, you’re still pale.”

“Ok,” Emily nodded.

“Call tomorrow and I’ll tell you what the results are. In the meantime, I want you to start on vitamins. I’ll send you with some samples and a prescription,” he told her.

After filling the prescription at the hospital across the street, Emily went back to the palace and parked the Jeep in the garage. She looked down at the crook of her arm where the blood was taken, and pulled off the bandage. There was a tiny red mark that the needle left, and she wondered if the heku could smell that much of a wound.

Emily bent her arm and headed into the palace. She relaxed some when she made it past the guards at the stairs and into the bedroom without anyone staring at her. She dropped the medicine bag onto the bed and then jumped when Chevalier moved. She hadn’t seen him in the chair.

“Don’t do that!” she said, holding her chest.

“Sorry, I was just waiting for you,” he told her.

Emily picked up the bag and shoved it into a dresser drawer, then pulled off her coat and kicked off her shoes in silence as Chevalier watched her.

“Come… sit,” Chevalier said, and touched the chair next to him.

Emily sighed and sat down, fully expecting a fight.

“How are things?” he asked her, a little awkwardly.

“Fine”

“Did you get a cut?”

Emily smiled slightly, “It’s so tiny. I’m surprised you can tell.”

“You’d be amazed at what I notice,” he said. Emily looked over at him, unsure what to make out of the tone of his voice.

“What, exactly, do you mean by that?” Emily asked, frowning.

“I’m not here to fight, but something is going on and I want to know what it is.”

Emily shrugged, “Something I need to deal with.”

“Not when it has to do with something I’ve done, or something I’ve been accused of doing.”

“I need you to let me deal with this alone.”

“No, I’m not going to let something Exavior said put a rift between us.”

“I’ll be ok when I have time to get used to it.”

“Damnit, Em, you don’t have to get used to it by yourself. I’m not even sure he told you the truth.”

“I’m pretty sure he did.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Chevalier told her. “Can’t you see how telling me could help? If it’s true, then maybe I can help you understand… if it’s not, then I can diffuse the situation.’

“No, I don’t see that.”

“Will you talk to Kyle?”

Emily blushed, “No.”

Chevalier frowned, “Mark?”

“No”

“David?”

Emily frowned, “Why would I talk to David?”

“I don’t really care who you talk to, as long as it’s not Exavior,” he explained. “Will it help if you go back to the island?”

“No, I can’t go to the island.”

“Why not?”

Emily shrugged, “I just need to stay here for now.”

Chevalier growled when someone knocked on the door, and Emily glared at him.

“Come in,” she called out.

A strange heku guard came in, “There’s a mortal at the farmhouse for you, Lady Emily.”

Emily frowned, “Who?”

“I didn’t ask, cowboy type… his shirt says K. Russo.”

“Seriously?” Emily asked, surprised.

“Yes, Ma’am, shall I tell him to get lost?”

“No, I want to talk to him,” Emily said, and stood up slowly. She walked out the doors, following the guard, and sighed when she saw Kyle, Mark, and Chevalier follow her, “I can handle this. No reason to call out the minions.”

“Anyone with the last name of Russo deserves the… minions,” Chevalier said with a grin.

“Sir, here are those reports,” Storm said, walking up to Chevalier and handing him some papers.

“Storm? I didn’t know you were here,” Emily said, smiling.

“Yes, just here this week for some meetings.”

Emily’s face fell, “I bet you are.”

Storm looked quickly at Chevalier, confused, and he shrugged and followed Emily down the stairs.

Emily walked as quickly as she could through the underground tunnel to the farmhouse. She emerged, smiled, and ran into the arms of the mortal waiting for her.

Chevalier and Kyle both froze, eyes wide, as Emily hugged a man who looked like Keith. Mark looked at them and then back at the mortal.

“Damn, you’re short,” the mortal said, and grinned as he looked around for the source of the growl.

“And you’re ugly.” Emily laughed and sat down on the couch, “What brings you here?”

The mortal looked at the towering heku and frowned, “They always this friendly?”

Emily sighed, “Stand down, geesh. This is Keenan, Keith’s brother.”

Chevalier and Kyle relaxed some, and Mark went back into the hidden tunnel.

“I’m here for a couple of reasons… first to see how you are doing after the trial,” Keenan said, and sat down beside her. “I knew you didn’t kill Keith. You don’t have that in you.”

Emily smiled, “No I didn’t kill him, but you’d be amazed what I can do.”

“You’re too tiny to do anything dangerous,” Keenan said, and dodged when she tried to hit him on the arm.

“So what’s reason number 2?” Emily asked.

“Trying to find out why you went to this guy,” Keenan said, nodding toward Kyle. “You were supposed to come to me when that Sonofabitch died.”

Emily laughed, “Marry another Russo? Not a chance.”

“Don’t classify us all with Keith, he was always a moron.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Well, the last reason I came was for this,” Keenan said, and handed Emily a large manila envelope. She opened it and pulled out a stack of papers and then started to read through it.

Emily frowned as she read.

“You better be taking care of her,” Keenan said to Kyle. “Or you’ll have to deal with me.”

Kyle grinned, “I think we have it covered.”

“She may only be 3 feet tall, but she sure finds enough trouble.”

Emily reached over and hit Keenan on the chest.

Kyle laughed, “Yes, she does.”

Chevalier was silently watching Emily. Her eyes went from confused, to mad, and then upset.

“Why did he do this?” Emily asked, still flipping through papers.

Keenan sighed, “Keith was a selfish bastard, what can I say?”

“All that time… I worked two jobs, and then came home to feed the cows, and he had this,” Emily said, clearly upset.

“I didn’t know, Emi. When he and I talked, he was always telling me about how the ranch was having problems and could go under,” Keenan said.

Emily pulled some papers out of the stack, “He… he had a million dollar life insurance policy on me?”

Keenan nodded, “Apparently, he did.”

Emily turned toward the window. She was so mad that tears were forming. Kyle had to hold Chevalier back when Keenan reached out and touched Emily’s hand.

“None of us knew… we knew what he did to you, no one’s that blind, but we didn’t know about the ranch, or money, or the life insurance policy,” Keenan said softly.

Emily handed all of the papers back to Keenan, “I don’t want any of it.”

“Take it, no one can afford to turn this down, and I have the horses with me, if you have a place for them.”

“I don’t want the money. I don’t want anything from Keith.”

Keenan smiled slightly, “I know... but think how mad Keith would be if he knew his death gave you $500,000 and seven of his fastest racing horses.”

Emily laughed and nodded, “That’s true.”

“Dad and I guess that racing paid off in the end. There’s no other way he could have gotten the money to buy that ranch.”

“Why don’t you take the money?”

“I got half of it already, take it, it’s yours,” Keenan said, and turned to Kyle. “Do you have room for 7 horses?”

Kyle nodded, “Yeah, we do. Are they out front?”

“Yes, take the bridles and saddles too, I don’t need them,” Keenan told him.

Kyle waited with Chevalier, afraid to leave him alone.

Keenan handed Emily a pen, and she signed where he told her to, and then stood up, reaching a hand out to Emily to help her up. He pulled her into a hug, and then looked down at her.

“When Tiny over here dies,” Keenan said, motioning to Kyle, who stood over 8 inches taller than he, “Don’t forget, I’m next in line.”

Emily frowned, “I thought you preferred cows over women.”

Keenan laughed, “Only in a pinch.”

“Ew, nasty,” Emily said, and pushed him slightly.

“I’ll help you get those horses,” Keenan said, and hugged Emily again briefly.

“They’re taken care of,” Kyle told him.

Keenan frowned, “Oh… I guess… I didn’t see you call someone to get them.”

Kyle smiled, “Well I did, and your trailer’s empty.”

Keenan nodded and shook Kyle’s hand, “Lucky bastard.”

Kyle just smiled and nodded.

“Take care, Hun,” Emily said, and saw Keenan to the door. She shut the door behind him and turned around, “I am such an idiot.”

“Why’s that?” Chevalier asked her.

“I supported Keith’s ass for eight years, and the whole time, he had money… and another ranch that I didn’t even know about,” Emily said, heading down into the tunnels.

“That somehow doesn’t surprise me,” Kyle said. “But the life insurance is disturbing.”

“I swear if he were still alive, I’d kill him myself,” Emily said angrily.

When they got into the palace, Emily handed the packet of papers over to Kyle and then took off for the garage, still mumbling about Keith. Chevalier watched her go and then heard the Jeep leave the garage.

“Damnit, we were talking,” Chevalier said, frowning.

“Did she tell you what Exavior accused us of?” Kyle asked.

“No, she’s not talking. I swear… she’s more stubborn than most prisoners we interrogate.”

“It’s too bad she doesn’t trust Zohn, he got closer than we did.”

“I may try Quinn, see if she’ll talk to him.”

Kyle held up the papers, “I’ll take these to the lawyers, just in case anything’s fishy, and I’ll put that check into her account.”

Chevalier nodded and went to his office.

Emily sat in the Durango, covered in a blanket, and stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t believe that Keith had money. Most of their fights had been over money problems, and the entire time, he had the extra ranch and money to spare.

Her mind suddenly shifted back to the round room and Storm’s sudden appearance. Emily always suspected that Storm and Chevalier may have been an item at some point in their lives, but hadn’t seen any sign of it since she came around. Now with the round room, she wondered if the flame was rekindled.

“There are some things in the heku nature that you might not understand,” Emily whispered to herself.

Emily jumped when someone knocked on the Durango’s door.

“Sorry,” Quinn said, and slid into the driver’s door. “That little quote of yours is about to drive half of my Council insane.”

“So much for moving the Durango,” Emily said, and looked back out the window.

“Sorry, you’re just not that hard to find.”

“So Chevalier thought I’d talk to you, eh?” Emily asked, still looking out the window.

Quinn grinned, “Yes.”

“I won’t.”

“I figured as much.”

“Why is it bothering them so bad?”

“We’re misunderstood as a species, and you mean a lot to them. They don’t want you getting the wrong idea about something an enemy told you.”

“I’ve been thinking about that… maybe I should go talk to William.”

Quinn nodded, “From Thukil?”

“No, the Encala Elder… you all need last names.”

“Why would you want to talk to him?”

“To get an unbiased opinion on the matter, see if his story lines up with Exavior’s,” Emily explained.

“I can give you an unbiased opinion.”

Emily smiled, “Not if you’re doing it too.”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” Emily said, and pulled the blanket up higher.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t aware I was doing it also.”

“You all do.”

“So William would be doing this as well? How is that unbiased?”

“Because I can see if what he says… matches what Exavior said.”

“I see,” Quinn said, and leaned back in the chair.

“Was there… something else?”

“I heard about what your ex-husband did.”

“Oh great, I love when news of my idiocy travels,” Emily sighed.

“I know what you’re thinking, and you aren’t gullible. You’re trusting, which is an endearing trait.”

“Damn, do you remember everything I said?”

Quinn laughed, “Yes, I do.”

Emily reached her hand out of the blanket, “Can I borrow your cell phone?”

“Where is yours?” he asked, and handed it over.

“I don’t need Chev finding out I’m calling the Encala Council,” she explained, and smiled slightly.

“I see,” Quinn said again. He glanced over at Emily and took the hint that it was time for him to leave. He smiled and then blurred from the area.

Emily jumped when Quinn’s phone rang, “Hello?”

“This is the Encala Council,” a gruff voice said.

Emily almost hung up, but took a deep breath, “Is William there?”

“Who is this?” another voice asked, and she could tell she was on speakerphone.

“It’s Emily.” She hated how she could hear whispers the second she gave her name.

“I’m here, Emily,” William said.

“Can you… talk… alone?”

“Go,” she heard William say, and then the static from the conference call ended when he picked up the phone. “Ok, I’m alone.”

“I’m sorry to bother you…”

“Never a bother, Child.”

“Can I talk to you without any of it getting back to the Equites… or even around your own faction?”

“Yes, I can guarantee that.”

“I need to talk to an unbiased heku,” Emily said, and she blushed, even though she was alone.

“Ok,” he sounded nervous.

“I saw something… here in the palace…” Emily looked around the trees quickly.

“You shouldn’t talk to me about the Equites palace,” William told her.

“It’s not that specific… anyway… it’s a round room, with runes…” she paused, hoping he would understand.

“There would be several.”

“Please… don’t make me say which one.”

William chuckled, “Yes, I know the room.”

“So, what’s it for?” Emily asked, irritated that he sounded amused.

“Well… was anyone in it when you saw in?”

“Yes”

“Then… that’s what it’s for.”

“Does…” Emily sighed, “Everyone… use it?”

“Are you trying to find out if Chevalier uses it?”

“Sort of,” she whispered.

“That’s hard for me to say. I’ve never joined… in… with the Equites,” William said, and chuckled.

“So you… use it?”

“Yes”

“Does anyone you know, not use it?”

“I only know a couple that don’t use it regularly.”

“Have you ever been married?” Emily asked softly.

“Well,” William said, and hesitated. “Yes.”

“Did you use it then?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Emily thought for a moment, “Why is there even a special room for that?”

William sighed, “It’s a controlled environment.”

“That’s what Exavior said.” Emily thought for a moment, “Are there always… you know… groups?”

“Mostly, thus the control is needed.”

“This is… beyond insane,” Emily said angrily.

“It’s simply part of our nature. If you are this concerned over it, I suggest you give the room a try.”

“What? No!” Emily said, surprised.

“Your decision,” William said.

“I’ve lived with heku for almost 11 years, and I’ve never seen or heard anything about it.”

“It’s not something we advertise.”

Emily was too mad to talk. She was sure Storm was in the palace for a reason, and it disgusted her. Her talk with William hadn’t entirely confirmed what Exavior said, but came close.

“Child… are you ok?” William asked, and his voice sounded truly concerned.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have a pen and paper?”

Emily opened her glove box and grabbed some, “Yes.”

“Take down my number, and call me if you need anything. Anything at all,” William said, and gave her his cell phone number.

“Ok”

After hanging up, Emily got back into the Jeep and returned to the palace, where she was stopped by the main-floor guards.

“Lady Emily, the Elders are waiting for you in Quinn’s office,” Kralen said.

Emily blushed when he spoke to her, and then nodded, heading off for Quinn’s office. She knocked softly, and when the door opened, she frowned and turned around to run, but Kyle grabbed her arm gently.

“You’re not in trouble, come in,” Kyle said, amused.

Emily turned around and stepped into the office. Chevalier, Zohn, Quinn, Mark, Kyle, and Silas were all in there, watching her. She sat down on the only available seat.

“What?” she asked nervously.

“Did you speak to William?” Quinn asked.

“You told?” Emily asked him, starting to get angry.

Quinn nodded, “Yes, I felt it was important.”

“Actually, he called your phone and yes, I talked to him,” Emily said, glaring at him. “I bet he can keep a secret.”

Chevalier had already warned the heku that she would try to pick a fight, and they were prepared to resist.

“I bet he can... but did he talk to you?” Quinn asked.

Emily glanced around at the heku uncomfortably, “Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“None of your business,” Emily said, frowning.

Zohn sighed, “Can you at least tell us if he confirmed what Exavior said?”

Emily shrugged, “For the most part.”

“But not entirely?”

“No, not entirely.”

“So he disproved it then,” Kyle said.

“No, he didn’t.”

“Em, we gathered to help you. We got the heku you trust the most, so we can get to the bottom of this,” Chevalier said.

“No, you gathered a bunch of heku to gang up on me, and I don’t appreciate it,” she said, irritated, and then stood up.

Kyle pushed her back into the chair, “Sit down, we’re not done.”

Emily’s eyes turned fierce, “Am I being detained here?”

“No, not detained, but we’re still talking,” Kyle said.

Emily grabbed Quinn’s phone from her pocket and started to dial. Mark took it from her and handed it back to Quinn.

“Hey,” she said angrily.

Quinn looked at the number, “What were you going to call the Encala Council for this time?”

“To tell them I’m being held against my will,” Emily said, and pulled her own cell phone out of her pocket, along with William’s number and started to dial. This time it was Silas who took her phone and the paper with William’s number.

“Now who are you calling?” Quinn asked.

“William”

“You have his direct line?”

“Maybe”

“I see,” Quinn said, sitting back in his chair.

“We’re not restraining you,” Chevalier said. “This is more like an… intervention.”

“I’m not going to tell you, and after 11 years, you should know that. So let me go,” Emily yelled.

“We just want to help.”

“Then leave me alone.”

Zohn sighed, “These heku don’t appreciate being accused of something that upsets you, yet they don’t even know what it is.”

“You too,” Emily said, watching him.

“Wait… when did I get in on this?” Zohn asked, surprised.

Emily crossed her arms, sat back in the chair, and waited.

“Can you at least give us a hint?” Chevalier asked.

Silence fell across the room as they watched her.

Emily didn’t speak. She could feel a strong headache coming on, and the tiny lights began to flash in front of her eyes.

She grinned slightly when she had an idea. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Never before had she tried to control the memories of an entire room of heku. She concentrated hard and felt the subtle tingle of control. She took them back a few hours and then opened her eyes.

“So… as far as nightly assignments go…” Chevalier looked over at Emily. “Em? How did you get in here?”

“Sorry, I thought you called for me. I’ll just go,” Emily said, and smiled before leaving, then quickly ran to her room. She wasn’t sure how long this one was going to last, and she wanted to be far away before they remembered.

“Come on Alex,” Emily said, and picked sleeping Alexis up as she called for Allen. She grabbed her purse and ran for the stairs, then remembered that Silas had her cell phone, but she knew Allen would still have his.

“Mom, where are you going?” Allen asked her, frowning.

“Hurry, let’s go,” she whispered, and handed Alexis over to him before running down the stairs.

“Where are we going?” he asked again as he slipped into the back of the Jeep. He started to buckle Alexis into her car seat.

“Just away for a bit, before your Dad realizes I altered his memory,” Emily said, and sped out of the garage.

“What happened?” Allen asked. He looked at his mom as she started to shake and break out in a sweat.

“They ganged up on me,” she said, and swerved slightly as she pulled onto the Interstate.

“Mom, let me drive,” Allen said, and crawled up front.

“You can’t drive. You’re only 8,” she reminded him.

“I don’t care, you’re sick. Let me drive,” he said, and she pulled over at the side of the road when she felt her blood pressure spike again.

Emily barely heard Allen call for an ambulance. She suddenly became aware that she was in the Emergency Room, and Dr. Hayden was with her.

“Emily? Can you hear me?” he asked softly.

Emily nodded and pulled her oxygen mask off.

“Keep it on,” he said, and slid the mask back over her face. “You passed out. Your blood pressure got too high, and your son called an ambulance.”

Emily nodded.

“You’ll need to stay here for a bit, until we get it under control.”

Again, she just nodded. Her head was pounding and she could still see little swirls of lights.

Dr. Hayden sat down and took her hand, “What happened?”

“I… had a fight,” she said, and looked away from him.

“With your husband?”

Emily nodded, unable to talk.

“He’s here. Do you want me to keep him away?”

“He’s here?” Emily asked, looking around the room.

“Your husband, brother, and dad are here,” Dr. Hayden told her.

Emily frowned, “I don’t have a brother and my Dad is dead.”

Dr. Hayden smiled, “Ok, I’ll tell them they can’t see you right now.”

Emily nodded and slipped back off to sleep.

Dr. Hayden walked out into the waiting room.

“Can we see her?” Chevalier asked. He was holding Alexis, who was nervously looking around.

“Not right now. She’s not ready to see anyone and she’s confused, so it’s best if we just let her sleep,” Dr. Hayden said.

Allen frowned, “Confused?”

“Yes, she says she doesn’t have a brother and that her father is dead. It’ll all come back to her when she’s fully awake,” Dr. Hayden explained.

Allen looked at Chevalier nervously.

“So what happened, exactly? Allen just said she was driving and started to swerve, so he called an ambulance,” Chevalier asked.

Dr. Hayden sighed, “Her blood pressure spiked, it’s been high for a few weeks, but this morning it wasn’t this bad.”

“You saw her this morning?”

Dr. Hayden nodded, “Yes, she’s been coming to me regularly.”

Chevalier just nodded and sat back in his chair.

“We’ll watch her for a few days, and send her home… course… she mentioned you and she had been fighting,” Dr. Hayden said, looking at Kyle.

Kyle nodded, “Sort of.”

“We can’t have any of that. She needs to stay in a calm environment, or we could lose her. The miscarriage was a nasty one and she’s still recovering because she left the hospital too early for us to stabilize her.”

“We can do that,” Kyle assured him.

“When can we see her?” Quinn asked.

“Let’s try again in the morning, when she’s had a chance to sleep for the night.”

“She... has a fear of hospitals… needles, oxygen, everything,” Chevalier told him.

Dr. Hayden smiled, “Yes I know, drawing blood this morning was interesting, but I got it. We’ll keep an eye on her.”

The heku watched as the doctor walked out and left them alone in the waiting room.

“Did you know she’s been seeing a doctor?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier shook his head, “No, I didn’t.”

Allen sighed, “She didn’t want you to know.”

“Why?” Chevalier asked him, wondering how his 8-year-old son knew.

“Because the doctor put her on bed rest after the miscarriage. She’s supposed to be taking vitamins, and she’s not, she’s supposed to be eating more, and she’s not,” Allen said. “It’s easier for her to control what she does and doesn’t do, if you don’t know what the doctor said.”

“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier said. “If she’s not going to listen to a doctor, why go?”

Allen shrugged, “I better not say anymore. I probably shouldn’t have even brought it up.”

“How is it you know all of this?”

Allen shrugged again and looked at the floor.

“Tell me,” Chevalier growled.

Kyle put a hand on Allen’s shoulder. Allen glanced at him, and then back to his Dad, “I read her diary.”

Chevalier raised his eyebrows, “Your Mom has a diary?”

Allen nodded.

“How far back does it go?”

“She started it the day she left for two months,” Allen said. He knew he couldn’t fight the heku. They were stronger than he was.

“Keep talking, Boy, your Dad asked you why Emily is seeing a doctor,” Kyle said, tightening his grip.

Quinn frowned, “Does this not seem a tad intrusive? Her diary would be private.”

“If it helps me figure out what’s going on, then I don’t really care… spill it, Allen,” Chevalier said.

Allen’s shoulders dropped, “She was afraid she was going to die while she was away. She liked the doctor enough that she kept going to him when she got back.”

“Wait… she was this close to us for two months?” Kyle asked, shocked.

Allen nodded, “Yes.”

“Why did she think she was going to die?” Chevalier asked.

“I guess she was in a lot of pain for a while. She was up at night in agony, and she was alone. The doctor not only helped her through the pain, but also listened to her,” Allen explained.

“Where’s this diary?”

Allen shook his head, “I’m not telling you.”

“Allen,” Chevalier hissed.

“No, this has gone on far enough,” Quinn said. “That diary is private, and you shouldn’t turn Allen against his Mom.”

Chevalier sighed, “I guess you’re right.”

Allen sat down against the wall and glared at Chevalier.

“Kyle… go find it,” Chevalier said, and Kyle blurred away before Quinn could say anything.

“I’ll tell her,” Allen scowled.

Chevalier appeared at Allen and pushed him against the wall, “You better watch yourself.”

“Alexis, no!” Quinn shouted, and picked her up quickly when she began to focus on Chevalier.

Chevalier turned back towards the toddler and then moved a step away from Allen, “Sit down.”

Quinn flipped open his cell phone and frowned, “The Encala Council didn’t call.”

“What do you mean?” Chevalier asked.

“She said the Encala Elders called my number… they didn’t, and I don’t show that she called them either,” Quinn explained. “Why would she lie about that?”

“I don’t know,” Chevalier said, and pulled her cell phone out of his pocket. “She didn’t use her phone either.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Quinn unfolded the paper Emily said was William’s cell phone, and dialed the number while Chevalier watched.

Quinn hung the phone up, “That number has been disconnected.”

Chevalier sighed, “I don’t understand.”

Allen sat back down against the wall, and Quinn settled down in a soft couch with Alexis, while Chevalier paced. They waited through the night with no word from the doctors. Just after dawn, Silas came to take Alexis back to the palace, but Allen refused to go.

Dr. Hayden came in just after his rounds and looked around the waiting room. He walked over to Quinn and Chevalier, “Where did Kyle go?”

“He had to step out, can I see her?” Chevalier asked.

The doctor thought and then nodded, “Ok, but if you upset her, I’m stopping all guests for the rest of the day.”

“Maybe I should go,” Quinn said, too softly for the doctor to hear.

“It’ll be ok,” Chevalier told him, and followed the doctor into the room. He was surprised to see an x-ray machine in the room, but couldn’t help but grin when the doctor froze.

“Emily, why did you take your I.V. out?” he asked, and turned off the drip. “We talked about this.”

Emily shrugged and watched Chevalier.

The doctor wrote something in her chart and then left after a warning to Chevalier to keep it calm.

Chevalier pulled a chair up to her, and she watched him as she sat cross-legged on the bed.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked her.

“No,” Emily said, and pulled a blanket up over her.

Chevalier sighed, “I’m sorry. I admit it wasn’t right of us to…”

“Gang up on me?”

“Right… gang up on you. Until you brought it up, I really thought it would help if we were all there.”

Emily shrugged, “I guess I can see that.”

“I like Dr. Hayden,” Chevalier said, and reached out to take her hand. When she didn’t pull it back, he laced his fingers through hers.

“I do too,” Emily said, and watched their hands.

“I promise to drop it, if you promise not to let it cause a rift between us,” Chevalier suggested.

“I can’t get it out of my head,” Emily said, frowning. “I’m trying hard… to understand… how to make it not quite so disgusting or repulsive... but then Storm comes and I just can’t stop thinking about it.”

“So, is Storm involved?”

“Pretty sure, how can she not be?”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “I don’t know what it is, so I can’t answer that.”

“I will…” Emily looked up at him, “Try to fix it. Both William and Exavior said I should… you know... but I just can’t.”

“No, I don’t know, actually.”

“I don’t know how you can, either,” Emily said softly. “I guess I just don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

Chevalier shrugged slightly, “I don’t know what it is I could keep from you for 11 years, and I don’t understand why you can’t just tell me what it is.”

“Because… it’s… humiliating,” Emily whispered.

“I would never do anything to humiliate you.”

“Not if you didn’t think it’s humiliating. Not if it’s just part of your nature… your everyday life.”

Chevalier looked at her and fought to calm his temper, “What’s the x-ray machine for?”

Emily looked up at it, “They x-rayed my arm, and it’s healing correctly without surgery.”

“Oh, good, four more weeks in a cast is all?” he asked.

“Yes,” Emily told him.

“So… bed rest now?”

“Not entirely.”

The nurse walked in and took down the I.V. equipment and checked Emily’s blood pressure. She wrote in a chart and then left.

“So… how long ago were you and Storm together?” Emily asked him.

Chevalier frowned, “What makes you think Storm and I were together?”

“Weren’t you?”

“No, we never have been.”

Emily looked up when a nurse brought her breakfast tray.

“The doctor said he wants you to eat it all,” the nurse said, and smiled as she left the room.

Emily looked over at the tray and picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip.

Chevalier looked over at the bacon and eggs on the tray, “Tasty.”

Emily laughed slightly, “You eat it then.”

“I wouldn’t want to deprive you of hospital food.”

Emily set the small cup of coffee down and poked the eggs with her finger, then looked toward the door and slid out of bed.

“Now what are you up to?” Chevalier asked when she took the plate into the bathroom. He sighed and shook his head when she flushed the breakfast, and then sat the empty plate back on the tray.

“Are you going to tell?” Emily asked him suspiciously.

Chevalier chuckled, “No, I’m not going to tell.”

Emily used the controller to lean the bed back and then rolled onto her side facing Chevalier, and pulled the covers up.

“Do you want to nap?” he asked, watching her.

Emily nodded, and he kissed her forehead before leaving the room. Chevalier went back to the waiting room and saw Kyle.

“So?” he asked Kyle.

“Nothing yet, but… I found a bug in Emily’s Jeep and another in your room,” Kyle said. “I don’t know if they are new, or if the guards missed them before.”

“Damnit, they just can’t leave her alone,” Chevalier growled.

“What about you? Find anything out?” Kyle asked, and leaned up against the wall by the window.

“Not a thing… nothing more than somehow Storm is now involved, and it’s humiliating.”

“Humiliating for us or her?” Quinn asked.

“For her.”

“That doesn’t help,” Quinn said, frowning. “What about the lack of phone calls?”

“I didn’t bring that up yet. I don’t want to upset her.”

Dr. Hayden came back in, “Oh, good, you’re back… if she’s not going to leave the I.V. in or the oxygen on, we might as well send her home.”

Kyle smiled slightly, “Sounds about right.”

“I want to see her in 2 weeks. Keep her off her feet as much as possible, but don’t risk making her mad to do it. Get her to eat, too. She’s lost two pounds since checking in.”

Within the hour, they were all headed back to the palace with Kralen driving the Humvee, while Emily sat behind him and blushed, unable to talk.

“So… Kralen… notice how Emily can’t even look at you?” Kyle asked, and Emily glared at him.

“Yes, Sir, I have,” Kralen said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Do you know why that is?”

“No, Sir.”

Kralen pulled up in front of the castle and Emily started inside, pulling her blanket tightly around her. Chevalier tried to pick her up, but she refused and walked up the stairs and sat down on the bed. Both fires were roaring and the room was stiflingly hot, so she dropped the blanket and sat back against the headboard.

“Can we get you anything?” Kyle asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Food then, what do you want?” Chevalier asked her.

“Just some orange juice.”

“That’s not food.”

“I’m aware of that, orange juice,” Emily said, and pulled a book from her table.

“Ok, I’ll have it delivered, we have a meeting,” Chevalier told her, and headed for the door.

“In the council chambers?” Emily asked him.

“No”

“In your office?”

Chevalier grinned, “No, if you need me, your guards can find me.”

“Are you going, too?” Emily asked Kyle.

“Yes, I need to be there,” he told her.

Emily nodded and watched as they left the room. She gave them enough time to get to their meeting before leaving her room. She dismissed the guards, much to their dismay, and then headed down into the prison for a few minutes before going into the game room. She got lucky, and it was empty again, so she quickly spun into the bar.

Emily rebuilt her tower and climbed up, avoiding using her injured arm. It was still stiff and hurt to move too much with the cast off. She was just glad Greg was still insane. He readily removed her cast for the promise to feed.

Once she was on the ledge, she peeked through the clean glass. The room was empty again. She studied the runes, and looked closer around the room, but didn’t see anything interesting. She moved away from the window before anyone could see her, and headed back down the tower.

When her feet hit the second table, the tower began to teeter and crashed to the floor, throwing Emily into a chair as it splintered to the ground.

“Freak!” Emily yelled, and sat up. She could feel the blood dripping down her neck, but nothing else hurt. She felt around and found a pretty good cut on the side of her head. She went to the mirror and grabbed the dress that had been hanging since the day Damon was banished. She pressed the white cotton dress against the side of her head, and sat down to think of how to get out of this.

Unsure what else to do, Emily spun back to the game room and headed out of it, pressing the dress hard against the gash in her head. The guards looked at her, concerned, but didn’t attack, so she went up to her room.

Emily shut the door softly and locked it, but froze when she heard the voice.

“No reason to lock it, we’re already in here,” Chevalier said.

Emily turned slowly and looked at the Elders, all sitting by the fire and watching at her.

“So many question…” Chevalier said, frowning.

“To start with, who removed your cast? There was a direct order not to,” Zohn said angrily.

“I don’t need it anymore,” Emily told him.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I’m not telling you,” she said, and walked over to sit on the bed. She sat down, cross-legged, still holding the dress to the side of her head.

Quinn stood up and sat behind her on the bed. He pulled the dress out of her hand, and she rolled her eyes.

Quinn sighed, “You have a 3 inch cut, though it looks like the bleeding has stopped, so probably no stitches will be required.”

“Were you attacked?” Zohn asked, still irritated with her.

“No, I did this to myself,” Emily told him, and watched as Quinn joined the other Elders by the fire.

“So how, exactly, did you do it?” Chevalier asked finally. He had been fighting to control his temper.

“I’d actually rather not say,” Emily told them, and cringed.

She could tell the Elders were talking quietly among themselves, but couldn’t hear what they were saying, so she opted to go and take a shower to wash the blood away. When she got out, she threw on a clean nightgown and went into the bedroom. They were still deep in conversation, so she slipped under the covers after taking her vitamin and fell asleep quickly.

Chapter 7 - Resolution

Kyle walked into the game room and up to the group of guards gathered, “What’s up?”

“We smell blood, Sir,” Kralen said, and winced.

Kyle frowned and looked around, “That’s Emily’s blood.”

Kralen nodded, “I figured.”

Kyle followed the scent to the spinning door, “Everyone out.”

He watched as the guards disappeared from the room and took the door around to the bar. He had to fight against the burning in his throat as the smell of blood assaulted him. He shut his eyes, concentrating on regaining control. Once he stopped salivating with thirst, he looked around the room.

Kyle walked up to the broken chair and saw a small pool of blood beside it. He scanned the room and took in the table by the wall and the table on its side beside it. He looked around the room, and back to the odd angles of the tables. His eye caught the stream of light coming from the one clean window, and he got an idea. Getting a small run at it, he jumped up and hoisted himself onto the ledge by the window, then looked around the bar once before turning to look through the clean glass.

He jumped down from the ledge, “Chevalier… bar.”

Kyle waited, pacing, until Chevalier, Zohn, and Quinn came through the spinning door.

“Why are we here?” Chevalier asked, and then frowned when he caught the strong smell of Emily’s blood. He watched Zohn and Quinn as they acclimated to the scent, and then they straightened up and looked at Kyle.

“Does Emily have any reason to be up by those windows?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier nodded, “Just once… when you all locked us in here. She thought she could get out that way, why?”

“Go have a look,” Kyle said, and moved out of the way.

Chevalier quickly climbed up to the ledge. He glanced through the glass, “Hmmm.”

“What?” Zohn asked, and was soon also on the ledge. He peeked through the glass and got down so Quinn could see.

Once all of the Elders were on the floor, they sat down in the chairs and looked at each other.

“It’s just the abandoned ancient’s room. Why would she crawl up there to look at it?” Quinn asked.

“I have no idea,” Chevalier said. “When she was up there last time though, she blushed.”

“I wonder if someone was in there the first time,” Kyle suggested.

Chevalier shrugged, “Why would anyone be in there?”

“Maybe it has nothing to do with Emily’s heku nature thing,” Zohn said. “It’s just an empty room… isn’t it sealed?”

“I don’t think so, no reason to seal it, it’s useless,” Chevalier said. “I do have an idea though.”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “What?”

“I’m going to take Em in there and see what happens,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“Ok, can I go? This could be interesting,” Kyle asked.

“Sure, let’s go.”

“Oh, I’m all over this,” Zohn said, and followed them out of the bar.

Quinn caught up with them, “What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?”

“Just going to see if she has some harebrained idea about that room,” Chevalier said, and opened the door to make sure Emily was awake.

The heku all walked in while Emily read in bed. She was leaned back against the headboard and looked up at them suspiciously.

“What?” she asked, putting the book down.

“Field trip,” Chevalier said, and handed her a robe.

“No”

Chevalier chuckled, “Come on, it’s nothing bad.”

“Then why the backup?”

“It’s a fun field trip, everyone wants to go.” Chevalier handed her the robe again.

Emily hesitated, and then got up and put on the robe. She watched the heku closely. They all seemed amused and curious about something.

Emily followed them down the stairs and around to an old door. She stopped and watched Chevalier open the door and motion for her to follow the others inside. She looked into the room and saw the Elders and Kyle standing to the side of the door.

Emily walked in and looked at the familiar runes on the walls and the windows high up by the ceiling on one side. Her eyes grew wide, and she spun and headed for the door. Zohn and Chevalier blocked her way and Quinn took her arm gently.

“Em…” Chevalier said, just as he, Quinn, and Zohn turned to ash.

“Emily!” Kyle yelled as she ran out of the room.

Emily headed straight for the garage and jumped into the Jeep. She went to turn it on, but the keys were gone, so she got out quickly and checked her truck. The keys were gone from it too. A quick glance into the McLaren and Humvee and she realized all of the keys had been stripped from the garage.

Unsure where else to go, Emily ran out of the garage and glanced toward the stables. She hesitated before going into them, and within minutes, was bareback on one of Keith’s racing horses. She kicked the stallion hard and ran through the city.

Her phone rang as soon as she passed into the trees, and she pulled the phone from her pocket and answered it.

“Good morning, Emily,” William said.

“Help me,” Emily whispered, looking around the trees.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quickly. Emily heard the static as he put her on speakerphone.

“I think I’m in trouble… I just ashed the Elders,” she said, going further into the trees.

“You turned the Equites Elders into ash?” a strange voice asked.

Emily frowned, “Who is this?”

“Elder Diego, Child.”

“William! Get me off speakerphone,” she whispered angrily.

“It’s just the Elders, not the Council,” William assured her. “What did the Elders do?”

“They took me into that room,” Emily said furiously.

Emily frowned when she heard someone chuckle.

“Why is that so funny?” she asked.

“You,” William said. “You turned the Equites Elders into ash because they took you into the room we spoke of?”

“Yes, I still don’t see why that is funny,” Emily said, and turned when she thought she heard something behind her.

“Shall we come and get you?” Elder Diego asked.

“No, this horse can outrun a heku.”

“But where will you run to?”

“Someone’s coming,” Emily whispered, and shut the phone, then grabbed tighter to the stallion’s mane. She hadn’t had time to put a bridle on him.

“Emily,” Chevalier said from behind her. She turned toward him quickly.

“Stay back, this horse can outrun you.”

“I’m sure it can, but I start faster… so it’d be a draw,” he said, and then cringed, deciding he shouldn’t have mentioned that.

Emily turned and saw Kyle step out from trees beside her.

“Ok, we’re not mad… our plan just backfired. I’m pretty sure though, that horseback riding wasn’t on the list of approved activities by the doctor,” Chevalier told her.

“Sure, and your little room was approved?” Emily asked angrily. She turned when she heard a noise to the other side of her, and saw Quinn. They were surrounding her.

“What, exactly, do you think that room is for?”

“Calm down,” Kyle said when he saw her starting to panic.

“Just stay back,” Emily warned them, out of breath. She could feel the terror setting in, and she knew that meant her blood pressure was rising.

“What’s the room for, Em?” Chevalier asked again.

“I know what it’s for,” Emily told him. “How dare you try to get me in there.”

“That room is not for anything. It’s an abandoned ancient’s room. I don’t know what Exavior and William told you, but it’s wrong,” Chevalier said.

“I saw it, Chev… don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not! I don’t know what you saw in there, but it’s an empty room, nothing more.”

“Damnit,” Emily whispered, and pressed her palms into her eyes. Her head was pounding and she was having a hard time concentrating.

“You’re going to end up back in the hospital if you don’t… calm… down,” Chevalier said, frustrated. “Come back into the palace where it’s warm and talk to us.”

“That room…” Emily whispered.

“Is nothing… empty… abandoned…” Kyle said.

Her headache calmed some as she forced herself to relax and stop worrying. She looked up and nodded, “Talk only?”

“Yes,” Chevalier said, relieved she was agreeing.

“Not in that room?”

“No, in our room where it’s warm.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

“Let Kyle take the horse. I’ll carry you back,” Chevalier said, and Kyle took a step forward.

“No!” Emily yelled, and then lowered her voice. “I don’t want you to carry me.”

“What? Why not?”

Emily’s eyes started to fill up, “I’ll take the horse.”

“Ok, fine, we’ll meet you there,” Chevalier said. He watched as Emily kicked the thoroughbred and took off back toward the castle.

“Damnit, what’s in her head?” Kyle asked, frustrated.

“I wish I knew. She’s acting very weird… not just the room, but other things,” Chevalier said, and they all blurred back to the castle.

Emily was walking through the front doors when they arrived. They stayed back from her as she made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom. She sat down on the rug in front of one of the fires and tried to warm up.

Chevalier sat in a chair by the fire after handing Emily a cup of hot cocoa.

She sipped the drink and looked at him.

“Ok, now that we’re both warm… what’s the room for?” Chevalier asked her.

Emily blushed and took another sip. She looked over when Mark and Kyle came in, and she pulled her robe tighter around her.

She glared at them, “Don’t start gathering in here or I’ll call Diego to come and get me.”

“Who is Diego?” Chevalier asked.

Emily turned to him, “Elder Diego, from the Encala… they called me while I was out on horseback.”

“Em, there is no Diego on the Encala council,” he told her.

“Yes there is. You’re just misinformed,” Emily said, and turned back toward the cocoa.

“They called you?” Kyle asked.

Emily nodded.

Kyle held his hand out, “Can I see your cell phone?”

“Why?” Emily asked skeptically.

“It’s for the good of the Equites that we get the phone number they are using,” Kyle said, and Chevalier watched them closely.

Emily nodded and handed him the phone. Kyle flipped it open and scanned through the phone calls. He shook his head at Chevalier and handed the phone back to her.

“Please get out,” Emily said, still watching the fire.

The heku all left and headed down to Chevalier’s office. Emily waited until they left and locked the door, then went into the bathroom and started a hot bath, also locking the bathroom door. She took two towels with her in case Chevalier returned, then climbed into the tub and leaned back, letting the hot water work against her frozen feet.

Emily sat up when she heard voices in the bedroom. She quietly got out of the tub, wrapped in a towel, and put her ear against the door.

“She knows too much,” Quinn said softly.

“No she doesn’t, she just thinks she does, but I see doubt,” Zohn said.

“Just have patience. When we turn her, we’ll have control. She’ll obey like the rest of the Equites,” Chevalier whispered.

“I don’t like it,” Kyle said. “It doesn’t seem right.”

“You just have a crush on her,” Chevalier chuckled. “Once she’s turned, you can have her. She’ll be of no more use to me.”

“Lock up the horses, take the keys from the cars, and have the gate guards on watch. Make sure she doesn’t leave,” Quinn whispered.

Zohn laughed, “Are you kidding? She can’t fight back.”

Chevalier laughed, “Yeah, she’s put on some weight also, when she was pregnant.”

“She’ll thin up after she turns. She’ll get taller and tougher too, no more short, wimpy mortal,” Zohn said.

“I need to burn off some energy, let’s go to the room,” Kyle said, and Emily heard them all leave.

Emily threw on her nightgown and robe, tying it tightly around her waist. She grabbed her laptop and started searching. Once she knew the supplies she needed, she grabbed a bag and headed down to the garage.

“Sounds like Em’s out of the tub, should we go talk to her?” Kyle asked from his chair in the council chambers.

“Let’s give her a bit. Sounds like she’s doing something… besides… we still need to replace James,” Chevalier said, thumbing through the roster again.

“When’s Zohn coming back?” Quinn asked, looking through his roster.

“He just left a few hours ago, so I’d say tomorrow morning,” Chevalier said. “How about Jack?”

“Jack? How old is he?” Kyle asked.

“Pretty young, just over 1,000 years.”

“Let’s try for someone older,” Quinn said, frowning.

Chevalier looked up when he heard Emily run back up the stairs, “She’s up to something.”

Kyle shrugged, “Who knows.”

“Ok, my vote is for Dustin. He’s over 1900 years old and has been an Equites the entire time. He’s a loyal Powan though, but if the General orders him, then there won’t be a problem,” Quinn said.

“We’ve never had anyone from Powan Coven on the Council. This could be interesting. I concur, let’s get him,” Chevalier said.

Kyle nodded and shut the book, “I’ll go talk to him tomorrow.”

“Dad,” Allen whispered. His voice echoed through the palace and the tense panic was heard clearly. “Don’t touch the door.”

Kyle frowned, “Don’t touch what door?”

“I wonder what Emily’s done now,” Chevalier said, standing up. “Let’s go see, we’ve finished here for the day.”

As Kyle, Quinn, and Chevalier stepped out of the council chambers, they heard a scream and a loud commotion coming from the 5th floor. They blurred to the foyer and saw Mark knelt down by one of the heku servants, and a tray of food was splattered across the hallway.

“What happened?” Quinn asked, kneeling down.

“He went to knock on Emily’s door, to bring her dinner and… I think he was electrocuted,” Mark said, watching the burns slowly disappear from the servant’s skin.

“Electrocuted?” Chevalier asked, and walked closer to the door. He picked up a fork and tossed it at the door. A bright flash lit up the hallway, and the burned fork fell to the ground.

“Em?” Kyle called through the door.

“Ha! You can’t get in,” Emily said, sounding pleased.

Kyle frowned at Chevalier.

“Emily, are you ok?” Chevalier asked.

“I am now, I’m protected,” Emily told him.

“Did you electrify the door?”

“Yes”

“Who are you protecting yourself from?”

“You”

“Are the kids with you?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“Of course, I’m not going to leave them out there with you.”

Quinn sighed, “What did we do to make you think you need protected from us?”

“I may not have heku hearing, but I’m not deaf,” Emily said angrily.

“Are the kids ok?” Chevalier asked, staying clear of the door.

“Of course, I’m not going to hurt them,” Emily said.

“What did you overhear?”

“You, Quinn, Zohn, and Kyle… just a few minutes ago.”

“Em, Zohn’s been gone for hours.”

“Stop it!” Emily yelled. “Stop lying to me, and if you think I’m going to let you turn me, then you better be prepared to burn.”

“No one’s trying to turn you, and we weren’t in your room a few minutes ago.”

“Let’s just cut the power to her room,” Kyle whispered, too softly for her to hear.

“Then she’ll just turn us to ash,” Chevalier replied.

“Can one of us come in? Just to talk?” Quinn asked through the door.

“You’d love that wouldn’t you?” Emily scowled.

The heku heard Emily run across the floor when her phone rang.

“Hello?” Emily asked.

There was a slight pause.

“Dr. Hayden, I’m so glad you called. I don’t know what to do. I’m trapped. They are going to try to kill me,” Emily said frantically.

Chevalier sighed and shrugged at Kyle, “Where is she getting this stuff?”

“No, I’m not, I’m serious. You need to believe me. They are going to turn me, and then I’ll be forced to marry Kyle, and Chev will keep the kids.”

Kyle’s eyes grew wide, “She’s telling him about turning… and he thinks we’re already married.”

“Good idea! See if you can make him let me go,” Emily said, and gave the doctor Kyle’s cell phone number. A few seconds later, Kyle’s phone rang.

“This is Kyle,” he said.

“Kyle, this is Dr. Hayden… I’ve just had a disturbing phone call from Emily.”

“Yeah, I heard. I’m outside of her door,” Kyle told him.

“I saw something strange on her blood test, and I’d like to test it again,” Dr. Hayden explained. “Can you get to her?”

“No, actually, she’s electrified the door.”

“Wow, ok, let me think. Is there anyone there she trusts enough to let them in?”

“I doubt it, and she has the kids in there with her,” Kyle told him.

“Oh, that’s good! Your son, Allen… she said he’s very bright, well above his age?” Dr. Hayden asked.

“Yes, he is.”

“See if you can arrange something with him.”

“Will do, but what do we do once we get in there?” Kyle asked.

“Do you think you can get her to the hospital? Maybe by ambulance?”

Kyle sighed. He knew that any attempt by the heku to force her to do anything, would result in her turning them all to ash, “I can try.”

“Have the paramedics call me at this number if you get her to an ambulance,” Dr. Hayden said. “She has to come out eventually.”

Kyle nodded, “We’ll let you know.”

Chevalier and Quinn had heard the conversation and turned to the door.

“Emily?” Chevalier asked.

“Go away,” she said, pacing.

“Dr. Hayden said there’s a chemical imbalance that’s causing all of this. None of it is true. You need to believe me.”

“I can’t believe you! You and that bloody room. You and your plans for me, there’s no trust now,” Emily said scathingly.

“How can she believe any of that?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“She doesn’t, not if she were thinking straight,” Chevalier whispered.

“Emily, is there anyone you trust? We can call in Darren even, from Thukil,” Kyle asked.

“No! He would be using the room too,” Emily told them.

“There is no room!” Chevalier growled. “That room does nothing. We aren’t trying to turn you, none of this is real.”

“Mom?” Allen asked, and they heard Emily sit down on the bed.

“It’s ok, just a headache,” Emily told him.

“Why don’t you sleep? I’ll watch Alexis.”

“Don’t touch the door. It’s our only protection,” Emily said, and yawned.

The room grew quiet after she crawled into bed and the heku all sat down in the chairs in the hallway. They spent most of the night discussing how to get into the room. Their conversation was interrupted early the next morning when Alexis opened the door to the bedroom.

Chevalier blurred inside and stopped by the bed. Allen had Emily’s gaze locked. She was unmoving and looking into her son’s eyes.

“Kyle, call an ambulance and the doctor… Allen, keep her locked,” Chevalier said quickly, while Quinn took Alexis out of the room.

“Can’t… keep her…” Allen whispered, strained.

Chevalier quickly pushed Allen aside, and immediately locked her gaze. She barely had time to move before she was relaxed and in his control.

Allen went to work immediately, and disconnected all of the wires that were once electrifying the door.

“Sleep,” Chevalier said softly, and Emily’s eyes slowly closed. He picked her up and blurred out to the farmhouse where Mark and Kyle were waiting. They could hear the sirens approaching.

“Dr. Hayden talked to the paramedics. They are bringing restraints,” Kyle said, and opened the curtain to look out.

“Maybe you better go, Kyle, just in case,” Mark suggested, and Kyle nodded and quickly left.

“Get my car, I’ll go in the ambulance,” Chevalier said, and headed out to meet the paramedics. He laid Emily down on the gurney, and they quickly restrained her hands and feet, and then one left to drive while the other put oxygen on her and started the setup for an I.V.

“Her blood pressure is dangerously high,” the paramedic said to Chevalier.

Chevalier nodded, “I don’t doubt it. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

“Yeah, that’s what the doctor said.”

Emily’s eyes flew open when she felt the I.V., and she pulled against the restraints, “Let me go!”

“Sorry, Emily, you need to get to the hospital,” the paramedic said, taping down the I.V.

“He’s a heku, he’s going to turn me… you have to believe me,” Emily yelled, watching Chevalier.

The paramedic smiled, “I won’t let him, ok?”

Chevalier headed up to the front of the Ambulance, hoping if she didn’t see him, she wouldn’t ash him.

“Let me go before they turn me. I don’t want to be a heku.”

“I won’t let them, I promise,” the paramedic said, and began to write in a chart.

“You can’t stop him. He’ll just drain you, only I can stop them,” Emily told him.

“He won’t drain me. I have anti-draining gloves,” the paramedic said, amused. Chevalier winced just before Emily started to scream.

“What the hell… I’m not an idiot! You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You have to listen to me and let me go!”

Chevalier was relieved when they pulled into the Emergency Room and he saw Dr. Hayden waiting for them.

“Hello, Emily,” he said when he opened the door.

“Dr. Hayden, help me, they are going to turn me,” Emily yelled.

“I heard,” Dr. Hayden said, and put an injection into her I.V.

“Then let me go, before they turn me.”

“Good night, Dear,” the doctor said, and smiled as Emily relaxed and fell asleep. “She’s good, take her up to the fourth floor. They have a room ready.”

Chevalier came around the ambulance as they wheeled Emily into the hospital, “Did you knock her out?”

“Yes,” Dr. Hayden said. “Her paranoia has gone beyond cute and into dangerous. This will be easier until we get her regulated.”

“You said you saw something on her blood tests?”

Dr. Hayden nodded, “Yes, I want to run more tests to make sure. Is her husband coming?”

“He’ll be along in a bit,” Chevalier said, and followed the doctor into the hospital and up to the fourth floor where Emily was just being moved onto a bed. “Is this the psychiatric ward?”

“Yes,” Dr. Hayden replied, and watched the nurses for a moment and then turned to Chevalier. “Any depression apart from the hallucinations and paranoia?”

Chevalier frowned, “I hadn’t thought about it, but yes, I think she has.”

“Any chance she might try killing herself?” Dr. Hayden asked, and began to fill out Emily’s chart.

“No,” Chevalier answered, frowning.

Kyle stepped into the room and moved to stand by Chevalier.

“Good, you made it. I’ve started her on high dose vitamins and nutrients, so we can regulate her. I don’t really understand how she got this stuff in her system, but I want to double check first to see if the tests were right,” Dr. Hayden said.

Kyle grinned slightly, “What exactly did you find?”

“I’ll let you know when I’m sure,” Dr. Hayden said, and then left the room.

Chevalier went and sat by the bed, taking one of her restrained hands in his and whispered, “I can’t believe how long this has gone on… she’s had us chasing our tails for weeks.”

Kyle nodded, “I know.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Do you think we’ll ever find out what she thought that room was for?”

Kyle chuckled, “I certainly hope so.”

A few hours later, Dr. Hayden came back, shaking his head, “I confirmed it. She’s on high levels of melatonin and cowbane. The melatonin is easy to find, every drugstore has it, but cowbane is poisonous and hard to come by.”

Chevalier glanced at Kyle, then back to the doctor, “Isn’t cowbane what monks use to lessen sexual cravings?”

Dr. Hayden nodded, “Yes, it’s extremely poisonous and causes an intensely painful death. It hasn’t been readily available since the medieval times, though. Both, however, cause hallucinations and large amounts of melatonin can cause paranoia.”

Kyle spoke when he saw Chevalier’s anger, “So what do we do now?”

“Get her off of it. There shouldn’t be withdrawals, but until we run a psychiatric evaluation to make sure she’s not suicidal, we’ll need to keep her here. Once at home, she’ll need some bed rest and relaxation for a while. Her body hasn’t fully recovered from the miscarriage, and I’m guessing it’s because of stress.”

Chapter 8 - Paranoia

“No, I’ll walk,” Emily said when Chevalier tried to pick her up. She scooted out of the Humvee and headed into the palace.

He started to argue, but followed her in, deciding the full bed rest would start as soon as she got up to her room. She walked past the stairs and headed toward the large kitchen.

“Em,” Chevalier sighed. “The doctor… just… went over this.”

“I want a glass of milk,” Emily said, and turned to Chevalier when he grabbed her arm.

“Upstairs, we’ll get you a glass of milk,” Chevalier told her, and went to pick her up.

Emily frowned and moved away from him, “Fine, but I walk.”

“You know what? Ash me,” Chevalier said, and picked her up, then blurred into their bedroom.

“Don’t do that!” Emily yelled, and hit him on the arm. “I don’t want carried around.”

Chevalier held out the glass of milk while she pulled off her shoes. Emily looked up and grabbed it from him, irritated.

“Need anything else?” Chevalier asked, sitting down in the chair.

“Yes, I need you to stop carrying me.”

“Deal, if you stay in bed, I’ll stop carrying you,” he said with a grin.

Emily drank her milk, glaring at him.

“What was it?” Chevalier asked, amused.

“What was what?”

“The room… what was it?”

“I’m not going to tell you… ever,” Emily said, and put the empty glass down. She reached over and grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels.

“Just give me a hint.”

“Ok... but just one,” Emily said, and looked over at him.

“Fine, just one,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“It has something to do with you being a pain in the ass,” Emily said, and went back to searching the TV channels.

“Oh, funny… come on. We’ve been trying to find out for weeks.”

“No”

“I’ll buy you a new truck.”

“No”

“More horses.”

“No”

“I’ll put in a pool.”

“Really?”

“Yes”

“No… now stop it.”

Chevalier leaned his head back, “Come on! Just tell me.”

“Orange juice… and I’ll give you a hint.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Chevalier asked, and got up to get her some orange juice. He ordered some from the hallway.

Kyle walked up with the orange juice, “How’s it going?”

“She won’t tell me,” Chevalier said, and took the drink. “She’s taunting me to entertain herself.”

Kyle chuckled, “Least she’s back to normal.”

Chevalier turned back to the room and found the door locked, “Why does that not surprise me? I need to take up stocks in door locks.”

Chevalier tapped the lock, and when it snapped, he walked in, followed by Kyle.

“Stop tormenting the Elder. He takes it out on the rest of us,” Kyle said, and sat on the bed beside Emily.

Emily took her drink from Chevalier, “It’s keeping me busy. This room is soooo boring. Besides, I got a pool out of the deal.”

“No you didn’t. I said I would trade a pool for information.” Chevalier chuckled and sat on the other side of the bed.

“I don’t think so… you said ‘I’ll put in a pool’ and I said ‘Really?’ and you said ‘Yes’.”

“You know very well what I meant,” Chevalier said, shaking his head.

“Yes I do, you meant you’re going to put in a pool,” Emily said. “Ford!”

The Border collie came running into the room from Allen’s room, and crawled up on the bed. Emily started petting his tummy.

Chevalier wrinkled his nose, “Must he be on the bed?”

“Why not? He’s cuddly,” Emily said, still petting Ford.

“Still… he stinks.”

Emily grinned, “Ford, get the heku.”

Chevalier jerked away when Ford began to growl. The dog jumped off of the bed and lowered to the floor. His hackles rose as he growled at the bathroom. They watched as the Border collie inched forward, his teeth showing menacingly.

“Fo…” Emily started to talk, but Kyle put his hand up and then stood up and crouched slightly, following the dog into the bathroom.

Emily got on her hands and knees and tried to look through the bathroom door to see what was going on.

Chevalier hissed and blurred into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Emily frowned when she heard glass shatter and got up from bed. She walked to the bathroom and opened the door, her eyes growing wide. Her bathroom floor was covered in shattered glass and the walls and ceiling were dripping with blood. Emily peeked over Kyle’s shoulder and saw pieces of heku in her shower.

“Emily!” Chevalier growled.

Emily jumped, “What?”

“Bed,” Kyle hissed.

Emily sighed and went back to bed, careful not to step on any glass. She passed Mark on his way into her bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. She saw the shelves full of DVD movies, and went over to pick one. There were too many, so she sat on the floor and started going through them.

“Hey!” Emily yelled when hands wrapped under her arms and pick her up. She frowned as she was sat on the bed and she glared at Mark.

“Do not… pick me up,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Elder’s orders. He’s still meaner than you are,” Mark chuckled, and went back into the bathroom.

Emily threw the DVD she had in her hand at Mark, and it smacked him in the back of the head. She heard him laugh as she turned back to the TV, grinning when she found a vampire movie on TV, so she turned it up loud enough that every heku in the palace could hear it.

"Here she is!”

"Who? What?"

"The vampire!"

"Hurry, douse her with holy water!"

"You cannot kill me!"

“What are you watching?” Mark asked, peeking out into the bedroom.

“Vince the Vampire, want to watch?” she asked, and grabbed a bowl of popcorn from the heku who brought it.

Mark sighed and walked to Emily. He took the bowl of popcorn and smelled it before handing it back.

Emily wrinkled her nose, “Can’t we stop smelling my food? It’s weird.”

“Nope… can’t you stop watching insulting movies?” Mark asked, and went back into the bathroom.

Emily ate popcorn and watched numerous servants go in and out of her bathroom. It wasn’t until the movie was almost over that Chevalier, Kyle, and Mark came back out.

“Who talks like that?” Mark asked, motioning to the TV.

“So… what did you find to play with in my bathroom?” Emily asked, and then jumped out of bed when Ford appeared on her bed, covered in blood.

“Damnit, Ford,” Chevalier said, and picked the dog up.

Emily went over to Ford and started looking him over, “Is he hurt?”

“No… get back in bed,” Chevalier said, but she ignored him and kept checking the Border collie over.

Emily tried to take the dog from Chevalier, but he pulled Ford away, “No.”

“I need to bathe him, he’s covered in goo,” Emily said.

“Sit!” Chevalier yelled, and handed the dog off to a servant.

Emily sat down quickly, her eyes wide.

“Stay there,” he said, and left the room angrily.

Emily glared after he’d left and turned to Kyle, “So, who was my visitor?”

“You’re not worried at all that there were heku hiding in your bathroom?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“No,” Emily said, and picked up her bowl of popcorn again.

“They could have attacked.”

“No they couldn’t have. Ya’ll won’t leave me alone,” she said, irritated.

“Fine, we’ll leave you alone,” Kyle said, and stormed out.

Emily looked up at Mark, “Does your testosterone need a walk, too?”

Mark grinned, “Nope, I’m good… and Elder’s orders, I’m posted in here now.”

“What? No! Get out,” Emily said, frowning.

“Sorry, Em.”

Emily crawled out of bed and slipped on her robe.

“Where are you going?” Mark asked, sighing.

“If you’re posted in this room, then I’ll find another one,” she explained, and headed out of the bedroom.

Mark followed her out, “I don’t think that’s how that works… I’ll just go stand in your new room too.”

Emily stopped at the fifth-floor foyer and backed up against the wall, “Who’re those heku?”

Mark glanced toward the ground floor, “Dignitaries, tonight is the coronation for the new Liaison to replace James.

“Liaison to what?”

“Covens… he pretty much keeps the peace between them and stops any dispute,” Mark explained.

“Do you realize, that as a species, you have too many rituals and ceremonies?” Emily headed back toward the servant’s stairs.

Mark grinned, “Yes, and Chevalier said your dress is almost done too.”

Emily stopped on the stairs and turned to Mark, “What dress?”

“For the coronation tonight.”

“He’s delusional then, I’m not going.”

“You have to. You’re part of the Council,” Mark said.

“Oh? I have to?” Emily asked, and started down the stairs again.

Mark decided it would be best to just keep quiet and followed Emily into one of the unused servant’s bedrooms. She crawled into the hard bed and pulled the scratchy white sheets up as Mark grinned from beside the door.

Mark opened the door when there was a light knock. The palace tailor came in with a garment bag.

“Your dress is here for the coronation,” Mark said, and took the garment bag.

Emily sat up and looked at the tailor, “Chevalier said he wanted that?”

“Yes, Lady Emily,” the heku replied, smiling softly.

“Good, then he can wear it,” Emily yelled, and rolled onto her side away from the others.

Mark motioned for the tailor to leave when he started to argue with her. A few minutes later, Chevalier came into the servant’s room.

“Why the new room?” he asked, looking around the tiny room.

Mark whispered something to Chevalier, and he chuckled, “I see.”

“Go away,” Emily said, livid.

“As part of the Council, we need you to be there tonight,” Chevalier said.

Emily sat up and glared at him, “No, I’m not going to go stand in front of all of those heku… oh look… the Elder’s wife is huge, how does she even walk? I’m surprised the stage doesn’t cave in.”

Chevalier cringed, “Is that what this is all about?”

Mark quietly stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.

“I’m not going,” Emily told him.

“You’re not fat, Em. I know you gained a little, but you were pregnant, that happens. No one’s going to be staring at you.”

“Yes they are! They stare at me when I’m not the size of a house.”

“You are not the size of a house,” Chevalier said, frowning. “Dr. Hayden says you’re even a little underweight.”

Emily screamed at him and threw the pillow at his head. He caught it and set it down on the bed as she rolled onto her side away from him.

Chevalier sat down on the edge of the small bed, “Is this why you’re not letting anyone pick you up anymore.”

“Get the guard out of my room,” Emily told him.

“I can’t… there were three heku in your bathroom, for who knows how long, and if they attacked you, then you might not have had a chance to call for help.”

“So I’ll let Ford check the room out before I go in. Get him out of my room.”

“Come to the coronation and I will.”

“No”

“I can force you,” Chevalier reminded her.

“Yes you can, if you don’t mind half of the faction seeing me in my nightgown,” Emily said, and grinned slightly when she heard him growl.

“For tradition, we need you there.”

“I told you. I’m not going and having them all stare at me.”

“Em…”

“No, now go away. I’m starting to get a headache,” Emily said, and rubbed her temples.

Chevalier sighed, “Fine.”

Mark came back into the room when Chevalier stormed out. He turned out the light and watched as she drifted off to a restless sleep.

Emily woke up a few hours later, and her back was screaming from the hard bed. She rolled onto her back, and looked up at the ceiling, and then over to Mark. He smiled at her when she looked at him.

“If I go back to my room, will you stay outside so I can sleep? I can’t sleep if I’m being watched,” Emily said.

Mark’s lips moved a bit and then he nodded, “Agreed.”

Emily got up slowly, stretching her back, and walked to her room. She went the back way to avoid any coven dignitaries and was finally in her own room. She headed into the bathroom first, but froze when she heard a strange noise, so she turned to her bed and saw the covers move slightly.

She walked toward the bed slowly. The covers were still flat, but they moved slightly. She reached out and grabbed the top of the blanket, took a deep breath, and pulled the covers back quickly.

Emily screamed when a diamondback rattlesnake bit her with lightning speed, and she stepped away from the snake covered bed, holding her arm as the bite started to burn. She felt arms around her and instantly she was lying on the cold tiles of the fifth-floor foyer. Mark was kneeling above her and had her arm in his hand. Her entire arm was starting to burn. She heard the sound of heku guards blurring past her.

“It’ll be ok,” Mark said softly, and put his lips to her arm, then began to suck the venom out.

Emily looked up from the floor when she heard a growl, and saw Chevalier crouched toward Mark, but he was blocked by Kralen.

“Elder! He’s not feeding,” Kralen said quickly.

“It sure as hell looks like he is,” Chevalier growled, his fists clenched tightly.

“She was bitten by a rattlesnake, he’s getting the venom out,” Kralen said, and turned back to Mark when he’d finished.

A few drops of blood came out of the snakebite, and Mark’s body began to shake as he hissed softly.

“Captain… get out,” Kralen shouted, and pushed Mark to the side. Kralen called for help and four guards came and wrestled Mark down the stairs.

Emily sat up and looked at her arm, then toward her bedroom. Chevalier knelt down beside her and looked at her arm.

“Are you ok?” he asked, and wiped the blood from her arm.

Emily looked at him and nodded, her entire body shook with fear.

“Stay here,” he said, and disappeared into her room.

Chevalier froze just inside the door and looked, surprised, at the bed. Silas was at the bed trying to grab a cobra before it could bite him. Several guards stood behind him with pillow cases held open. One of the pillow cases was already moving with the snakes Silas had put inside of it.

“Shit!” Silas yelled when a viper struck and sunk its teeth into his arm. He grabbed its head and dropped it into a pillow case, and then stepped back and sunk to the floor. His arm, under his hand, was turning black, and he groaned with the pain.

Kralen appeared in the doorway and instantly took Silas’ spot by the bed. He began working on the black Mamba next, planning his movements carefully to avoid getting bitten.

Chevalier growled angrily and went back out to the foyer. The Thukil’s Captain and Quinn were kneeling down by Emily, while Zohn kept an eye out around them. Emily’s arm was tightly wrapped with gauze and tape to cover the bite mark.

“He just needs some time… there was blood with the venom and… well… it’s going to be a while before he can be around you again. Once he got the taste…” Quinn looked up at Chevalier.

“Where’s Kyle?” Emily asked, still shaking.

“He’s on a mission… come on. Let’s get you to his bed, you’re freezing,” Quinn said, and reached under her legs to pick her up.

“No!” Emily squirmed out of his arms and slowly got to her feet. Darren put his hand against her back when she swayed slightly. She started down the hallway, but instead of turning into Kyle’s room, she stopped and looked into hers.

Kralen and Silas were situated on each side of the bed and were still trying to get the poisonous mixture of snakes off of the bed without getting bitten. Chevalier took her hand and led her into Kyle’s room.

“Why would they do that?” Emily asked, frowning.

“We’ll find out,” Chevalier hissed.

“Is it the same ones that poisoned me… again.”

“We’ll know soon, I promise.”

Emily walked into Kyle’s room. The fire was dead, and the room was cold and dark. She turned to the bed and hesitated. Chevalier let go of her arm and went up to the bed. He reached out and pulled the covers back, exposing only clean sheets.

“It’s ok, no snakes,” he said, and stepped aside.

Emily turned when Quinn started up the fireplace and then moved to the bed. She hesitated again, and then sat down, but pushed the covers to the foot of the bed. She didn’t want any part of the bed that she couldn’t see.

Emily sat cross-legged on the bed and watched the fire as the heku whispered in the corner. She screamed when someone touched her arm and jerked away from him, then calmed down when she saw a familiar heku servant with a cup of coffee in his hand, and finally took the coffee from him.

“Sir,” Kralen said, coming into the room. “We’ve cleared the room.”

Emily glanced out the door as four pillow cases full of squirming snakes were taken out of her room. She saw Silas sitting beside her bed, grasping his arm, and she could tell from the look on his face that he was in pain.

“Any idea who?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“Not yet, Sir. Some of those snakes aren’t even native to this continent, but they’ve all been removed,” Kralen reported.

“I find it hard to believe that her being poisoned, finding heku in her bathroom, and the snake incident aren’t related,” Chevalier growled. “Find out.”

Kralen nodded and left the room. He met up with Silas in the hallway, and they disappeared.

“I’m not safe here anymore,” Emily whispered, still watching the fire.

Chevalier turned away from her. He didn’t want her to see how furious he was. Quinn walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand.

“We’ll figure this out,” Quinn said.

“When? After I’m dead? Maybe I should go back to New Mexico,” Emily said, turning toward him.

“I don’t think living as a mortal is going to be your best bet right now. I know it doesn’t seem safe here, but this is the safest place for you, I promise.”

“We can take her to Thukil for now,” Darren suggested. “At least throw them off of her track.”

“Em, do you want to try Thukil for two weeks?” Chevalier asked her.

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“Bring her back in two weeks for her doctor’s appointment, and then, if we haven’t found the culprit, we’ll either send her back to Thukil or maybe try Powan,” Quinn said.

“I don’t want to go to Powan,” Emily frowned.

“I’ll make the arrangements. We should be able to leave in thirty minutes,” Darren said, and left to call Lord Thukil.

“We’ll send Alexis, Silas, and Kralen,” Chevalier said.

Emily frowned, “Not Kralen, send Mark.

Chevalier sighed, “He has training.”

“How long will it take? We’ll just wait for him,” Emily asked.

“It’ll be a while.”

“Fine, I’ll take Kralen,” Emily said, and crawled out of bed. She walked into her bedroom, skirting the bed, and grabbed a bag, then disappeared into the closet and came back out to throw an armful into the suitcase.

“We’re ready,” Kralen said as he and Silas came into the room.

Emily walked up to Silas and took his hand in hers, and then inspected his arm, running her fingers lightly over where the snakes had bitten.

“Are you ok?” Emily asked him.

Silas looked over at the Elder nervously, “Yes, I’m fine.”

Emily put his hand down and looked at Kralen, “Are you?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Kralen told her.

Darren came in after talking to Thukil, “Lord Thukil has put the Ranch on lockdown, and posted the Cavalry inside the mansion. Not one servant will even be in the palace, Lord and Lady Thukil and the Cavalry will be the only ones inside.”

“Is that really necessary?” Emily asked as she shut her suitcase.

“Yes, I think it is, Commander,” Darren said.

“Give me a moment, please,” Emily asked, and the heku all left her room. “Chev?”

Chevalier shut the door and walked over and kissed her softly, “Yes?”

“Come with me.”

“I can’t, I need to find out who did this.”

Emily nodded, clearly not wanting to be away from him.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, “I wouldn’t send you to Thukil if I didn’t know you would be safe.”

“I’m not worried about attacks. I just don’t want to be away from you.”

“Do me a favor, be good, ok? Stay in bed and take the pills.”

Emily nodded as she started to tear up, and she kissed Chevalier, putting her hands on his face. He lifted her slightly and wrapped his arms around her again.

Chevalier pulled away from her and looked into her eyes, “Do those for me.”

“I promise,” Emily said, and he put her back on the ground and picked up her suitcase, then took her hand and walked her up to the waiting helicopter. He lifted her up into the helicopter after kissing her softly, and then backed away and watched the helicopter lift off and head for the jet that would take them into Texas.

Chevalier turned to Mark when he walked out, “I’m sorry, Sir.”

Chevalier grinned, “I know… it’s good.”

Mark grinned, “Extraordinarily so.”

“Thank you, again.”

“Just doing my job… what now?” Mark asked.

“I want everyone that was in the palace tonight to report immediately to the council chambers, and then put the palace on lockdown. No one is to be in here unless they are in the chambers. Call Zohn, get him back immediately, and bring in the entire Cavalry,” Chevalier said, and headed back into the palace as Mark blurred down the stairs.

Before Chevalier had gotten to the council chambers, the alarm sounded and heavy steel bars were dropped down to cover all of the doors as the windows were sealed with sheets of metal. He stepped into the council chambers and sat in his chair beside the others. Zohn and Kyle were still missing, but he was told Zohn would be back within the hour.

“No one is to leave until we finish with this,” Chevalier said as the servants and guards filed into the trial area, filling it quickly.

***

“Commander?” Darren said, touching her arm lightly.

Emily screamed and pushed at his hand, jumping up quickly.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just me,” he told her.

Emily grabbed her chest, “It’s ok… damn snakes.”

“We’re here. Lord Thukil wants your arrival to be a secret, so we’re not taking the helicopter. The limo will take us into the mansion quietly,” he explained, and opened the door to the jet for her. Silas carried sleeping Alexis into the limousine while Kralen got all of the bags. Emily slid into the car and sat back for the ride into Thukil.

When the limousine pulled into the underground garage of the mansion, Emily saw over twenty of the Cavalry standing around the garage, scanning the area and watching defensively.

Darren helped Emily out of the car, and she was immediately greeted by Lord Thukil, “Commander, it’s so good of you to come.”

“Good of me to come? I’m sorry I’m being a pain in the neck,” Emily said.

“No, no! We owe you. This is minor compared to what you have done for us, come. I’ll show you to your room,” Lord Thukil said, and held his hand out for her.

Emily took his hand and he led her into the mansion. There were Cavalry members everywhere she looked. They all seemed to be on guard and highly aware of their surroundings. She felt pangs of guilt at what they were going through for her stay.

Emily disappeared into her room. The fire was lit, and the room was warm and cozy. Alexis ran off to her room with Silas, and Emily could hear Kralen talking to Darren outside of her door.

***

Zohn sat down in his chair and turned to Quinn after looking at the full trial area, “What’s up?”

Quinn filled Zohn in while Chevalier watched the Cavalry block both doors, several heku deep in case of runners. When the Council was all filled in, Quinn stood up to address the guards and servants.

“We pride ourselves on the safety of the palace, and how our rules are followed without question. Lately, things have gotten lax, and it’s unacceptable. Things are going to change, and we’re starting with punishments for whoever is orchestrating attacks on the Winchester,” Quinn said angrily. A murmur ran through those gathered.

“We all know the importance of keeping Emily as part of this faction,” Quinn continued. “If she was to go to another faction, we could find ourselves wiped out as she’s done in the past to both the Encala and the Valle, in the name of the Equites. She brings children to this palace that are unique and powerful, another reason we strive to give her a safe environment.”

“Over the last 24 hours, Emily has been attacked twice. First, by three heku hiding in her bathroom, and the second, when her bed was filled with thirty two deadly snakes, one of which actually bit her. I’m not going to stress how dangerous this is and how it puts the faction at risk. When we find out who did it, they will be severely punished.”

Quinn sat down while Zohn was given time to scan the crowd. The Chief Interrogator, Richard, stood up to address those gathered, “No one is leaving until we get to the bottom of this, so this is how the trial is going to go. Each of you is going to step forward, one at a time, and will tell us your exact whereabouts and jobs for the last 24 hours.”

“When you are called forward, state your name, your age, and how long you have worked in the palace,” Richard said, and sat back down.

Chevalier pulled out the list of employees gathered and passed a copy down to each member of the Council.

***

Emily took her spot back on the bed, sitting cross-legged, and grabbed her book. She was already bored with this room and was only on day 2. The Thukil Cavalry had been making her food, and so far, she’d had boxed macaroni and cheese and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

She decided that in two days, she was going down to make a decent meal for Alexis, whether she was supposed to or not. Until then, she kept her promise to Chevalier and stayed in bed and took her pills when they were due.

Just after dark on the second day, Darren came in with a box that made Emily grin, “Pizza!”

“Yeah, we figured you could use something other than sandwiches,” Darren said, and sat the pizza down.

“Alexis, come eat,” Emily called out as she took a slice of pizza.

Alexis sat down on the bed and looked at the pizza, “I don’t want pizza.”

“She didn’t eat breakfast either,” Silas said, frowning.

Emily felt Alexis’ forehead, “You’re not hot. What do you want?”

Alexis shrugged.

Emily’s shoulders fell, and she looked over at Silas, “Do you think… she… wants…”

Silas sighed and shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What?” Darren asked, concerned.

“Do you have any blood in the house?” Emily asked Darren. “Like in a bottle?”

Darren nodded, “Yeah, we have some for emergencies.”

Emily fought back the tears, “Bring it to me please.”

Darren called for some, and a member of the Cavalry brought it in and left. Emily took it from him, drank the milk in Alexis’ glass, and poured the blood into it, then handed it to her daughter.

Alexis smelled the contents and looked up at Emily. Emily had to turn away. She desperately needed her daughter to be fully human. Emily’s body tensed when she heard Alexis drinking and then the soft hiss escape her small body. Emily got up and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sat down on the cold floor and curled up into a ball as someone refilled the toddler’s glass.

***

A red-haired heku stepped forward. He stood a little shorter than most, and his uniform was dirty and worn, “I’m Pavel, I’m 478 years old, and have been in Equites the entire time. I started in the palace 52 years ago. Twenty four hours ago, I was in my small home in Council City. I live alone. I came in to work at 7am, and have been doing laundry since. I wash clothes, I don’t gather or deliver, I just wash.”

“Did you know about the heku in the Elder’s bathroom?” Zohn asked him.

“No, I did not,” Pavel said.

“Did you know about the snakes in the bed or the poisons?”

“No, Sir, I did not.”

Chevalier nodded and wrote something down. He checked his phone when it rang, “I need to get this.”

Quinn and Zohn nodded and Chevalier left the council chambers before answering.

“Good evening, Silas,” Chevalier said.

“We have a… situation…” Silas said hesitantly.

“Like what?”

“Emily hasn’t eaten in two days, and hasn’t been out of bed either. She’s locked the door and burns anyone who tries to open it,” Silas said nervously.

Chevalier frowned, “What happened?”

“I’m… not sure I should say. Can you call her?”

Chevalier answered him by hanging up the phone, and he immediately dialed Emily’s phone.

Emily opened her phone, but didn’t say anything, she just listened.

“Em? What’s going on?” Chevalier asked when he heard only silence on the phone.

Emily’s voice was almost too soft to hear, “I’m alone.”

“I can be there in a few hours,” Chevalier said.

“She’s drinking.”

Chevalier thought, “Who’s drinking?”

“Stay there. Tell them to just leave me alone.”

“Who’s drinking, Em?” he asked again.

“Alexis,” she said, and broke down crying again.

Chevalier thought for a moment and then his eyes grew wide, “Is she really?”

Emily heard the excitement in his voice, and shut her phone, then threw it at the door, where it broke into pieces.

Chevalier dialed Silas, “Is she really drinking blood?”

Silas’ voice was amused, “Yes, she is. I think Emily just broke her phone.”

“This is great news!” Chevalier said. “Just leave Em alone for now. She got used to Allen, too. It just takes time.”

“Ok, not that we have much of a choice,” Silas said.

“I’ll call to check on her tomorrow,” Chevalier said, and returned to the council chambers. Zohn and Quinn turned to talk to him, and their faces lit up when he told them about the development with Alexis.

The Elders turned back to the trial area, where one of the fourth-floor guards stepped forward, “I’m Yaing Lee, I’m 899 years old, and have been an Equites the entire time. I’ve been working in the palace for 77 years. I started out in laundry, and am now a fourth floor guard. During those 24 hours, I was working a double. I was on the first-floor from 3am until 9am, and then I moved to the fourth-floor from 9am until I was called to this meeting.”

Richard looked up at him, “Did you know about the heku hiding in the Elder’s bathroom?”

“No, Sir, I did not.”

“Did you know about the snakes or the poison?”

“No, Sir.”

Richard glanced at Zohn quickly, and then back to Pavel, “Guards, take him to the conference room.”

Four of the Cavalry entered, and took the heku from the room, and then put him in the Council’s conference room with a few other heku.

“Next up,” Zohn said, aggravated. He hadn’t expected so many of the palace employees to lie to the Council, but the numbers were growing.

***

Kyle stepped into the palace, having just arrived by helicopter. He was surprised that the door guards were gone. He listened and heard no noise from the servants, and no footsteps anywhere in the palace. All he heard was a single voice from the council chambers.

He walked into the council chambers and took his seat, then frowned as he looked at the gathered heku in the trial area.

“Welcome back,” Quinn said.

Kyle nodded, “What’s going on?”

Quinn filled Kyle in while Zohn called up the next heku. In the past ten days, they had heard 127 heku try to defend themselves, and in that time, twelve of them lied about something and were waiting in the conference room.

“I’m… I’m Jaques, I’m 1,928 years old, and was unfactioned before joining the Equites 1,644 years ago. I’ve been in the palace for 298 years. Most of the time I was on fifth-floor cleaning duty, but when Lady Emily was moved here, I became one of the morning chefs. I spent most of those 24 hours at home. I had only been in the palace for 3 hours when we were called in here.”

“Did you know there were heku in the Elder’s bathroom?” Quinn asked.

“No, Sir.”

“Did you know about the poisons or the snakes?”

“No, Sir.”

The Chief Interrogator stood up, “You may go.”

Jaques bowed and quickly left the room while the council members all turned to their papers.

“Next,” Richard said, and sat back down.

The last heku left in the council chambers stepped forward, “I’m Stanton, I’m 453 years old, and I’ve been an Equites the entire time. I have worked in the palace for 52 years. During that 24 hours, I was on cleaning duty on the fifth-floor the entire time, pulling a double.”

“Did you know there were heku in the Elder’s bathroom?” Quinn asked, bored.

“Yes”

The Council all looked up from their papers, shocked.

“You did?” Richard asked, and stood up.

“Yes, Sir, I did,” Stanton said.

“Did you know about the snakes?”

“Yes”

“The poisons?”

“Sure did.”

“Did you put the snakes in Lady Emily’s bed?” the Chief Interrogator asked.

“Yes, I did.”

Chevalier growled, “Why?”

Stanton shrugged, “To get rid of her, obviously.”

Richard motioned for Chevalier to stop, and then turned to Stanton, “Did you work alone?”

“Yes”

Richard smiled at Zohn and turned back to Stanton, “You’re lying to us… did you work alone?”

“Yes,” Stanton said again.

“You’re taking the fall for everyone involved, so that we don’t find out this was some type of conspiracy?”

“No”

“He’s lying,” Richard said to the Council, and then sat down.

“Guards, take him to the conference room,” Zohn said, and they watched as he calmly left with the Cavalry.

“Least we’re done with that part,” Quinn said. “Seems we’re getting somewhere, too.”

Chevalier nodded and grabbed his phone, dialing Silas.

“Silas… how is she?” Chevalier asked.

Kyle glanced at Quinn, “Is there a problem with Emily?”

Quinn whispered, “Alexis started drinking blood.”

“That’s great!” Kyle said excitedly.

“We all agree, but apparently, Emily isn’t agreeing and has stopped eating again… she burns anyone who tries to open her door,” Quinn explained.

Kyle cringed, “Damn.”

“Switch her to decaf,” Chevalier said after listening to Silas for a while. “Just don’t tell her.”

Chevalier smiled, “I’m glad she’s drinking well. Let us know if you need more, and we can send some. We’re almost done here, and she has that appointment in two days.”

Chevalier hung up his phone and shrugged, “She’s moved on to coffee, but still isn’t eating.”

“How can she be so upset? We knew there was a possibility because of Allen,” Zohn asked.

“When Alexis showed the Winchester ability, we all thought she wouldn’t have heku traits though,” Kyle reminded him.

“She just needs time to adjust,” Chevalier said. “She’s closer to Mark, so when we send her to Powan, we’ll send him with her.”

“What happened to Mark?” Kyle asked.

Zohn grinned, “He sucked out the snake venom from Emily’s arm, and got a taste of her blood.”

“It’s apparently… exceptionally good,” Quinn chuckled.

Chevalier cleared his throat, “Can we not?”

“Sorry, Chevalier,” Quinn said with a quick glance to Kyle.

“Mark?” Chevalier called out, and waited for the Captain to appear.

Mark came into the trial room and stood before the Council, “Yes?”

“I want you to go to Powan with Emily in two days,” Chevalier told him.

“I think I’m ready,” Mark said, grinning slightly.

“How do we want to handle the liars?” Quinn asked.

***

“Emily?” Silas called through the door. “The limousine is ready to take us to the jet.”

Emily opened the door. It was obvious she hadn’t slept much.

“Please come again, and bring the children,” Lord Thukil said, and hugged Emily.

“I will,” Emily said softly, and followed Silas out to the limousine.

The heku spoke quietly between themselves as Emily watched out the window in silence the entire way back to the palace. When Equites 2 landed on the roof of the palace, instead of guards coming out of the palace doors, it was the Council. Alexis ran into Chevalier’s arms and Emily passed them all and headed down to her Jeep. She was back just in time to drive into the doctor’s office.

“Em, want me to go?” Chevalier asked, following her down.

“No,” she whispered.

Emily got into the Jeep and headed into the city. It was snowing by the time she got to the doctor’s office, but headed inside without a coat. She was still numb from crying and not sleeping well for two weeks.

“Emily?” the nurse called into the waiting room, and Emily followed her back to the doctor’s office. She turned away from the scales when the nurse weighed her, and slipped into a gown after her blood pressure was taken.

Dr. Hayden came in shortly thereafter and smiled, “How are you?”

“Ok,” Emily said softly.

Dr. Hayden frowned, “You’ve lost 5 pounds.”

Emily shrugged, “Ok.”

“Are you eating?”

“When I’m hungry.”

Dr. Hayden looked at her and sat down, “How are things at home?”

“Fine”

“Fighting with your husband again?”

“No”

After the exam, Dr. Hayden sat down beside her again, “Let’s talk, something’s wrong.”

“I can’t say,” Emily whispered, looking down at her hands.

“Might I suggest some pills?”

“More pills?”

“Yes, anti-depressants, they’ll help, I promise.”

“I’m not depressed,” Emily said softly.

Dr. Hayden touched her hand, “Trust me, it’s Zoloft, and I promise you it will help. With the miscarriage, fighting with Kyle, and now the accidental overdoses, your body needs help readjusting. Melatonin overdose causes depression. We need to fight that.”

Emily shrugged and got back into her clothes when the doctor left. He came back in a few minutes later and handed her a bottle of pills, “Twice a day.”

“Ok,” she said, and tucked them into her purse.

“I’ll call you in a few days to see how you’re doing.”

“I broke my phone.”

“That’s ok. I have Kyle’s cell phone, I’ll give him a buzz,” Dr. Hayden said. “We’re done, so head home and take it easy.”

Emily nodded and went back out to the Jeep. She sat it in for a while and just looked around at the snow covered parking lot. She finally put it into drive and slowly headed back to Council City. The roads were now snow packed and slick, but she was in no hurry anyway.

It was almost an hour later when she pulled into the palace’s garage. She put the pills under her seat and headed inside. Chevalier was waiting for her inside the door and pulled her into his arms.

“How’d it go?” he asked, kissing the top of her head.

“Fine,” Emily said, and pulled away from him to head up the stairs. Chevalier followed her up the stairs and into the room. She sat in a chair, still avoiding the bed.

“Everyone’ll be ready to go in an hour,” Chevalier told her.

Emily nodded and stood up and leaned her head against Chevalier’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her. The guards all left the room and shut the door behind them.

“We’re going to have to keep Alexis here,” Chevalier whispered.

“I know,” she said softly.

“It’s going to be ok.”

“The Jeep is making noises,” she said, trying to change the subject.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Emily just nodded and buried her face in his chest. She couldn’t tell him what she was feeling or thinking. The thoughts were awful and unspeakable, and she was ashamed to even have them.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Chevalier said, and kissed her softly.

“I can’t,” she said, and looked into his eyes.

Chevalier nodded, “Eat, for me… and call if you need anything. Mark has your new cell phone.”

Emily nodded and took Chevalier’s hand. They walked up to the helicopter, and she was soon on her way to Powan Coven for the next two weeks.

Chevalier went down and joined the Council again, “Shawn?”

One of the Cavalry appeared, “Yes, Sir.”

“After the initial interviews, look at Emily’s Jeep. It’s making noises.”

“Right away,” he said, and blurred out of the room.

“We’ve decided to bring the group back in, see if we can find out what they lied about, but we want to start with Stanton,” Zohn told Chevalier.

“Or we let Richard and Kyle take him down to the interrogation chamber while we question the others,” Chevalier suggested.

Kyle grinned, “I like that idea.”

Zohn nodded, “Go.”

Kyle and Richard blurred from the room.

“So let’s bring them back, one at a time, and see what we can find,” Zohn said, and nodded to one of the Cavalry. A few moments later, a nervous heku was standing before the Council.

“Ok, Elizir, let’s try all of this again…” Zohn said, taking the interrogator role while the Chief Interrogator was down with Kyle.

“I told you the truth,” Elizir said, scanning the Council.

“No you didn’t, so try again.”

“Let’s start with easy questions. When you came to the palace 79 years ago, which coven did you come from?” Quinn asked.

“I wasn’t... they were… it’s actually…” Elizir loosened his collar and shifted nervously.

“Coven… now…” Chevalier growled.

“Katorga Coven,” he said, and looked down at the ground.

“That wasn’t hard, what did you do there?” Quinn asked him.

“I was a guard.”

“Zohn?” Quinn turned to him.

“So far, he’s not lying,” Zohn said.

“I didn’t lie!” Elizir yelled.

“Yes you did. Now shut up unless you’re spoken to,” Zohn said sternly.

“Did you know there were heku hiding in the Elder’s bathroom?” Quinn asked.

“No,” Elizir said.

“He’s lying,” Zohn growled.

“I am not!”

“How did you know them?” Zohn asked, sitting back in his chair.

“I didn’t.”

“How did you know them?”

“I didn’t, I swear.”

“Then how did you know they were hiding?” Quinn asked.

“I…” Elizir sighed. “I saw them go into the Elder’s room.”

“Didn’t you think it was odd?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“What are the outstanding orders about going into any of the Elder’s rooms?” Chevalier asked, watching him closely.

“No one is to enter the Elder’s bedrooms without prior authorization by a member of the Council,” he said.

“And what do orders say you are to do if anyone breaks a direct order?”

“They are to be turned in to the Chief Enforcer, immediately.”

“Did you?”

“No, Sir,” he whispered.

Zohn leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on the desk, “Did you know why the heku were in the Elder’s room?”

“No, Sir.”

“Liar… tell us the truth.”

“No, I didn’t know why they were there.”

Zohn turned to Quinn, “Interrogation chamber? Maybe he’ll learn how to tell the truth.”

“No! Wait…” Elizir said. “I… I heard them talking before they went in.”

Zohn sighed, “I still don’t believe that. Did you put snakes into the bed?”

“No, Sir, I didn’t.”

“See, now that’s the truth,” Zohn said, smiling. “Do you know who did?”

“No”

“Damnit, Elizir, stop lying,” Zohn yelled. “Tell me.”

***

Emily sat down on the only bed in the barracks. The room was massive, and she couldn’t see from one end to the next because of the lack of lighting. Her bed was small and hard, and the sheets were stiff and uncomfortable. She knew there were guards at each end of the barracks, and the windows and doors were barred over with iron bars for her arrival. Mark and Kralen had chairs off to her sides and were sitting silently, scanning the room often.

“This is stupid, Mark,” Emily said, looking around the room.

“I’ll admit, it seems a tad… overprotective,” Mark said, “But let them do what they feel is necessary.”

“Where are the heku that were supposed to be in here?”

“I actually have no idea,” Mark said.

“They have been moved to the other barracks,” Kralen told her.

“Just take me to Council City, and give them their barracks back,” Emily said, and grabbed her bag.

Mark put his hand out to stop her from lifting it, “Elder’s orders, we stay here for two weeks.”

“I’ll give you more blood if you’ll take me back.”

“Emily!” Kralen said, and stood suddenly.

Mark shut his eyes and then opened them slowly, “I’m ok, but don’t do that.”

Emily shrugged and grabbed her book, “Offer stands.”

“Stop,” Kralen hissed at her.

Emily rolled onto her side and tossed her book onto the floor. She pulled the covers up to see if she could get any sleep.

***

“We’ve got to start moving them through here faster than two a day,” Zohn said after the second heku was finished.

“If they would just tell the truth,” Chevalier sighed. “That second one was stupid, four hours to admit he skipped out of work early to meet a donor.”

“Can we take an hour?” Kyle asked. “I had a thought and I want to check something out.”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, let’s meet in an hour.”

He watched as the others left the Council area, and soon he was alone. He pulled out his cell phone to call Emily, but looked up when someone walked into the room.

“What did you find?” Chevalier asked Shawn, the member of the Cavalry that had gone to look at Emily’s Jeep.

“It just needed steering fluid, now it’s running fine,” Shawn reported. “I found these, though.”

Chevalier reached out and took the pill bottle from Shawn, “Where?”

“It was under the driver’s seat. It slid out when I was raising it.”

“Ok, you may go,” Chevalier said, and read the bottle. “Kyle?”

Kyle appeared beside him with a stack of files, “Yes?”

Chevalier handed the bottle to Kyle, “That was under Em’s seat in the Jeep.”

Kyle put the files down and took the pill bottle, reading it. He grabbed his cell phone and called Dr. Hayden.

“Dr. Hayden, it’s Kyle, Emily’s husband,” Kyle said, and glanced nervously at Chevalier. He knew the reasons why he had to pretend to be Emily’s husband, but it always made him nervous.

“Yes, she is, well, I was cleaning out her Jeep, and found a bottle of pills under the seat.”

Kyle nodded, “Those are the ones, but she’s gone away for a few days to visit family and didn’t take them.”

There was a pause while Kyle listened to the doctor and then he grinned slightly, “Yes, you were right.”

“I’ll try,” Kyle said, and hung up the phone. He turned to Chevalier. “They are anti-depressants that she’s supposed to be taking twice a day.”

“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier sighed.

“Dr. Hayden said he got the feeling she wasn’t going to take them,” Kyle told him. “The overdose on melatonin caused it. These pills can counteract their affect.”

“I can go tonight, make her take one, but she won’t keep taking them,” Chevalier said, and rested his elbows on the table. “Did he say anything else?”

“No, just wants us to try,” Kyle said, and moved to his chair and then began going through the folders.

Chevalier opened his cell phone and dialed Emily.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“How are you holding up?” Chevalier asked her.

“I want to come back.”

“I know… we’ll be done soon. Are you eating?”

“I eat when I’m hungry.”

Chevalier sighed, “Your Jeep is working… and we found your pills.”

“This is Mark,” the heku said.

“Damnit, Mark, why do you have the phone?” Chevalier growled.

“She just handed me the phone, Sir.”

“Fine,” Chevalier said, and shut the phone. He sat back in his chair as the council members all returned from the hour-long break.

“I want to bring in several of them at once,” Kyle said, and looked up at the Cavalry. “Bring in Stanton and Elizir… again, Dalton, Rick, Filipe and Bryce.”

Within a few minutes, the six heku were standing back in the trial area.

“These six all came to us from the Katorga Coven. I thought that seemed odd,” Kyle said to the Council.

“Katorga stats?” the Chief Investigator asked.

The Records Keeper opened a folder, “The Katorga Coven is home to 298 heku in Northern Ohio. They were made a coven in 1211, an offshoot from the Zio Coven. It’s run by Lord Victor, who was also the founder.”

“Any problems with them?” Zohn asked.

“Nothing, they’re quiet and self-sufficient.”

“Kind of a coincidence isn’t it? Six of you are from the same coven originally?” Zohn said.

“No, Sir,” Bryce told them. “We at Katorga Coven strive to move to Council City and serve in the palace, it’s our duty.”

“I see,” Quinn said, sitting back in his chair.

“Even stranger… we have three guards missing from the barracks, and all three are also from Katorga Coven,” Kyle told them.

“Three missing? Dead, maybe, found while hiding in Emily’s bathroom,” Chevalier said angrily.

“No, no, no one from our coven would have done that,” Bryce said.

“Only guards and servants have access to the palace, and none of the servants are missing,” Zohn said. “Plus, I’m sensing a lot of nervousness in your little group there. You wouldn’t be lying to us would you?”

“The Katorga Coven is honorable. We wouldn’t do that.”

“Stanton admitted to knowing the three heku, and to putting snakes into the bed,” Quinn said. “He’s from Katorga.”

“Then he acted alone, without permission from Lord Victor,” Rick said nervously.

Zohn sighed, “There’s something deeper here.”

“Put them in holding cells. Let’s talk to the last three and either add them to the list, or clear them,” Quinn suggested.

Cavalry came and took the six Katorga Coven members away.

“Lord Victor,” Kyle said, “Was an ancient supporter.”

“He was?” Quinn asked, turning toward Kyle.

“Yes, once the ancient’s were banished, he pledged to follow the new rules though.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time an entire coven has turned on the Council,” Chevalier reminded them. “As Chief Enforcer, I personally wiped out fourteen of them.”

Kyle grinned, “Sounds like fun… maybe Emily would stop referring to me as the wimpy Chief Enforcer if I do that.”

Chevalier frowned, “She did?”

Kyle laughed, “Not in so many words. More like in comparison to the three Chief Enforcer’s she known, I’m calm and sweet.”

Quinn chuckled, “You? Sweet? You put our tempers to shame.”

“I told her that,” Kyle said. “She didn’t believe me.”

The Council turned when the three remaining heku came into the room.

***

“So you lied to us just because you’ve only been with the palace for 49 years instead of 50, and you didn’t want to leave?” Zohn asked, frowning.

“I’m sorry! I love my job, and I didn’t want to lose it. I was only short a few months,” the heku said, looking at the floor.

“That wasn’t very smart. You could have come back to your job in 6 months… now you’re going to be returned to your coven, your services are no longer needed here,” Zohn told him.

“Please, don’t do that.”

“It’s done. Next time the Council asks you a question, you will answer it truthfully.”

“Yes, Sir,” the heku said, and lowered his head as he walked out of the council chambers.

Zohn sighed and turned to Quinn, “We need to make some changes.”

“I agree. We have traitors in our palace and heku who lie. It’s despicable,” Quinn said angrily.

“After we handle the Katorga Coven, I suggest we make some much needed changes.”

“Agreed”

Kyle called out, “Bring the Katorga Coven members back.”

The six heku were brought back in. The members of the Cavalry were asked to stay, and they moved back along the walls.

“Why,” Zohn started, standing up. “Why would you try so hard to kill the Winchester?”

“We didn’t do anything to her,” Bryce said. “Stanton worked on his own.”

“I did, well, myself and the three that were killed… honorably I might add,” Stanton said.

Chevalier growled, “How do you figure? They were hiding like cowards in the room of a mortal.”

“A Winchester… dangerous work, we know what she can do.”

“Why though? What’s the purpose of killing her?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“To clean house, of course. We couldn’t get rid of the Council with the Winchester around. We all know that she is attached to every one of you, and wouldn’t let anything happen,” Stanton said bluntly.

“So you wanted to kill Emily to get to the Council?” Quinn asked.

“Sounds about right. You have to realize how weak the Council has become. We suspect it’s because of the mortal, in the palace even.”

“Are you still saying that none of the five heku around you were involved?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Zohn shrugged, “He’s lying.”

“I am not!” Stanton scowled.

“He is lying,” Richard confirmed.

“So did the orders to kill Emily and replace the Council come from Lord Victor?” Quinn asked.

“I am acting alone,” Stanton said again.

“This is getting old, and the matter needs resolved before Emily returns in a few days,” Quinn said to Zohn.

“I agree. I’ll take Elizir down to the interrogation chamber. He’ll talk,” Zohn said, grinning.

“I won’t talk because I’m telling the truth!” Elizir yelled.

“Good, then you have nothing to worry about… Richard, come with,” Zohn said. He and the Chief Interrogator led Elizir down to the prison.

Quinn watched the rest of the heku in the trial area, “The rest of you from Katorga Coven can return to your cells for now.”

***

“Where’s Kyle?” Emily asked as she crawled out of the helicopter.

“He’s on a mission,” Chevalier told her.

“When will he be back?”

“It’ll be a while. He’s taking care of an entire coven,” Chevalier told her. “The ones that were staging the attacks.”

“Oh,” Emily said, and headed down the stairs.

“We moved Allen into his own room on the fifth-floor.”

Emily shrugged, “Fine.”

She went in to her room and into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Chevalier sat down to wait for her. She came out a short time later wrapped in a towel and drying her hair.

“Feel better?” Chevalier asked.

Emily shrugged.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No”

“Do you want to talk?”

“No”

Emily crawled into bed after checking for snakes, and rolled onto her side. She turned to Chevalier when he put a hand on her arm.

“Here’s your meds,” he said, holding out a little pill.

Emily took it, not wanting to fight, and then rolled over to sleep.

Chapter 9 - Owls

“Ready to go back?” Emily asked, holding tightly to Alexis. It’d been two years since the Katorga Coven tried to kill her and remove the Council, and all was back to normal.

“Sure,” Allen answered and pulled the reins. “Do I have to go? It seems stupid.”

“Yes, you have to go. Will you all trust me?” Emily frowned. She’d been over this with both Allen and Chevalier, and she wasn’t going to bend.

“An orthodontist though? Honestly? Who cares that my teeth are a little crooked.”

“Deal with it, we’re going.”

“Dad said…”

“You’re going,” Emily told him, and stopped the stallion in front of the stables.

“3pm?” Allen asked, slipping off of his mare.

“3pm,” Emily confirmed, and walked her horse into her stall.

Emily glanced over at a group of Cavalry members standing around looking at something. She slipped off of the stallion and walked over, “What did you find?”

“Look at this,” Mark said, holding something out to her.

Emily walked up and looked at the bones and tissue in his hands, “Oh my God, put that down!”

“What is it?” Silas asked, stepping back.

“Owl pellets, seriously, put it down and go wash your hands,” Emily said with a disgusted look on her face.

“What’s an owl pellet?” Mark asked, looking closer at the bones in his hand.

Emily took another step back, “It’s what the owl spits out after they eat a mouse whole… you have the inedible parts left in your hand.”

“And you think it’s gross?” Mark asked, a mischievous grin crossed his face.

Emily pointed at him and stepped back again, “Come near me with that thing and so help me… I’ll ash you.”

“How can someone as tough as you are, be afraid of this?” Mark asked, and took a step towards her.

“I didn’t say I’m afraid of it,” Emily said, carefully watching him. She grabbed the cattle prod from a shelf and started walking backwards.

“Going to floor me over a dead mouse?”

“Yes, I am.”

Mark chuckled, “You put a cat in my bedroom.”

“You can’t prove that was me,” Emily said, stifling a grin.

“You moved my desk to the roof.”

“Again, can’t prove that was me…. Silas, stop him,” Emily begged, still walking backwards.

“You haven’t had a personal guard in 18 months, I can’t help you now,” Silas told her.

“Well… I want one now,” Emily told him.

Silas grinned, “It doesn’t work that way.”

“I don’t suppose you’re the one that exchanged my hot blonde donor for the little old man, either?” Mark asked, gaining on her.

“I wouldn’t!” Emily yelled, and put a hand out. “Get away from me with that thing.”

“If you don’t like them dead, do you mind them alive?” Mark asked, and took a squirming, live mouse from Silas.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “Seriously… not funny anymore.”

“How can you be afraid of mice? You work in a barn,” Silas asked, laughing.

“Any ideas who put Ferris Bueller on the missing guard report?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow.

Emily grinned, “Ok, so that one was funny.”

“Or how about who might have put pink dye into the laundry when they were washing the Cavalry’s white shirts?” Silas asked, stepping to move around Emily.

Emily backed into someone and spun quickly. She had bumped into Kralen, who was smiling. She quickly turned back to Mark and Silas, and felt Kralen’s hands on her shoulders.

“Don’t do this, I’m serious!” Emily yelled, and pushed back against Kralen.

“I have a deal for you,” Mark said, and stopped moving forward.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What?”

“Tell us what you thought the ancient’s room was for two years ago, and I’ll let you go.”

Emily blushed, “No.”

Silas put his mouse on the ground. The scared little creature ran from the heku, which put him in a direct path towards Emily. She screamed and clawed her way onto Kralen, hanging on with her arms and legs. She suddenly found herself surrounded by the palace’s door guards and the rest of the Cavalry, all on defense.

“You screamed?” the door guard asked, looking around for an attacker.

Emily was looking at the ground, “Where’d it go?”

“Where did what go?”

“She’s afraid of a mouse, stand down,” Mark told them, laughing.

“Lady Emily?” Derrick asked, pushing through the crowd. “The Council wants you.”

Emily was still watching the ground from Kralen’s back, “I’m not getting down until you tell me where it went.”

“Where what went?” Derrick asked, scanning the ground.

“The mouse.”

“You can’t go to the Council’s summons because of a mouse?”

“It ran off, Em, you’re safe,” Mark said, amused.

Emily crawled off of Kralen and smoothed down her shirt, “This isn’t over.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” Mark told her.

Emily followed Derrick into the palace, keeping a close eye around her. She heard the Cavalry laughing behind her and ignored them.

She didn’t stop scanning the ground until she got into the trial area of the council chambers. She looked up and blushed slightly when she saw them all looking at her. There were two heku standing before them, and she walked forward to stand beside them. Her eyes grew wide when she realized it was Exavior and Sotomar.

“First off, Lady Emily, are you injured?” Zohn asked, somewhat irritated.

Emily frowned, “No, believe it or not, I’m not always hurt.”

“We heard a scream,” Quinn said, concerned.

“Nothing I can’t handle, I assure you,” Emily said, grinning.

“I apologize for taking you away from… whatever it is you were doing,” Zohn said.

“I was in the middle of being tortured by the Cavalry. Something I’m sure I’ll reciprocate when we’re done,” she said, smiling sweetly.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Do I want to know?”

“No, you don’t,” Emily said, and glanced at Sotomar. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too, Child,” Sotomar said, and bowed slightly.

“Enough with the pleasantries,” Zohn interrupted. “Emily, we’ve brought you here because Sotomar has come to seek the release of their Chief Interrogator.”

Emily frowned, “Since when has the Council asked me when someone wants a prisoner released?”

“Since you are the one that put him there,” Quinn chuckled.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Emily glanced at Exavior and then back to Sotomar. “You haven’t replaced him yet?”

Sotomar smiled slightly at the rude question, “Yes, we did, and he is retiring.”

Emily shrugged, “I guess it’s ok. It’s been two and a half years. That’s long enough.”

“And the stipulations?” Sotomar asked.

“Stipulations? Wasn’t he breaking one of your stipulations when I ashed him?”

“Yes, he was.” Sotomar obviously wasn’t over that misconduct.

Emily thought for a moment, “Let Chev set the stipulations while I talk to you alone for a moment.”

Sotomar frowned, “Ok.”

The Council watched as Emily led Sotomar out of the council chambers. When they left, the Council turned their attention back to Exavior.

“Do you love her?” Quinn asked bluntly.

“Yes,” Exavior replied.

“Do you wish to marry her?”

“Yes”

“Would you break any rules to get near her?”

“Yes”

Chevalier growled, “Then let’s not let him go.”

“So you would risk Emily disappearing, just so you can be near her for one moment?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“I believe that if she were to do what she has warned, she would take me with her,” Exavior said, amused.

Zohn raised his eyebrows, “You really believe that… that’s surprising.”

“Of course I do, it’s true.”

“Let’s make this simple… no rules…” Quinn said.

“None?” Exavior asked questioningly.

“None... but if Emily turns you to ash again, you’ll be banished.”

“Deal, she won’t do it again… she loves me.”

“I see,” Quinn said, and leaned back in his chair.

Emily and Sotomar came back into the council chambers. She had something clutched tightly in her hand, and Sotomar was laughing. They turned to face the Council.

“So?” Emily asked.

“We’ve agreed to let him go.”

“I agree that he may go,” Emily said, smiling.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Might we ask what you are up to?” Zohn asked her.

“No, you may not.”

“What did you give her?” Zohn asked Sotomar.

Sotomar smiled, “Something private. Not dangerous though, I assure you.”

“We have set but one stipulation,” Quinn told the enemy Elder. “If Emily turns him to ash again, he will be banished.”

Sotomar nodded, “Sounds reasonable. We will also be setting restrictions for him.”

Emily started to follow Sotomar and Exavior out of the room, but the Chief Interrogator called her back.

“Yes?” she asked him.

“It concerns me that you requested alone time with the Valle Elder,” the Chief Interrogator said.

“Alone time? Seriously? You make it sounded like a conjugal visit,” Emily said, frowning. “I simply wanted to ask him something.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

Emily glared at him, “Are you interrogating me?”

“No, I am not,” he replied.

“Then what’s up with the twenty questions?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“It’s a simple question that I would ask any Equites if they were to request a private visit with an opposing council member,” the Chief Interrogator said calmly.

“I thought as a member of this Council, that I couldn’t be questioned on my behavior, unless it’s by an Elder,” Emily said, and grinned.

Quinn chuckled, “She is correct.”

The Chief Interrogator sat back in his chair, irritated, and waited for an Elder to ask her, but then became furious when they didn’t.

“If that’s all, I have a prank to play,” Emily said, and started again for the door.

“A prank? Em… on who?” Chevalier asked.

She smiled at him, “Not on anyone in this room. You’re safe.”

Emily left the room and glanced at the floor guards. They were all in conversation, so she slipped the tiny vial from Sotomar into her pocket and snuck the back way to the sixth-floor rooms. They housed the leaders of the palace guards, and Mark’s room was one of them. She stopped in front of his door and listened closely, but didn’t hear anything. She tried the door, but it was locked, so she slipped a stolen key from her pocket and was soon alone in his room. Once her breathing calmed down, she took the tiny vial and popped the lid off. She smelled the dark liquid and shrugged, it seemed harmless.

Emily got onto her hands and knees and laid the vial down on the floor beneath Mark’s bed, and then quickly ran out of the room. She already had a full bucket on the roof, now she just needed the guards from outside to come inside, and her plan would be set in motion.

She got to the roof and looked straight down onto the door guards. Today it was Mark and Kralen because the lower ranks were all in training. It was just the Cavalry that was left in the palace.

Emily positioned the bucket of sudsy water carefully over the door, held her breath, and then dumped it. It was a few seconds before the cold water hit the heku beneath her.

“Emily!” Mark yelled, and she dropped the bucket and ran into the helicopter. She wasn’t supposed to be able to access the helicopters, but had managed to steal a set of those keys also and thought it would be a good hiding spot.

She knew her plan worked when no one appeared on the roof and she stifled a laugh, wondering how hard the guards were searching for the owner of the scent. The Valle scent that Emily had been given by Sotomar.

The Elders waited in the council chambers while the rest of the palace was put on alert to find the sources of the Valle smell.

Chevalier chuckled, “They aren’t going to find any Valle.”

Quinn nodded, “I thought so.”

“Why not? It smells like hundreds of them are here,” Zohn asked them, confused.

“Do you remember the last time we smelled Valle that strongly in the palace?” Chevalier asked him.

“Yes, I do, it’s when Sotomar put the scent on… ooooh,” Zohn said, understanding. “Well call off the units then.”

“We can’t, what if we’re mistaken,” Quinn said, and leaned his head back on his chair.

“She should be punished for this,” Zohn said angrily. “She’s disrupting the Council’s session and wasting the guard’s time.”

“And bringing life to a lifeless palace. Let her have her fun… I suspect the scream earlier was from something the Cavalry did to her,” Quinn said, grinning.

“This is not how a palace should be run. Not one that we are still trying to get back on track,” Zohn told them. “Discipline is essential, and if members of the Cavalry don’t show it, then maybe they should all be replaced.”

“Just because you don’t like Emily, doesn’t mean that the guards have to hate her also,” Chevalier said, amused. “They aren’t showing a lack of discipline, and she keeps them on their toes. It’s good for them.”

Zohn sat back, frustrated.

A short time later, Mark, Kralen, and Silas came back into the trial area. Emily was slung over Kralen’s shoulder. She was blindfolded and her hands were tied together with someone’s belt.

“Put me down!” Emily said. She was laughing too hard to fight back.

“We have the perpetrator,” Kralen said, and set her down gently.

“I object!” Emily yelled toward the back of the trial area. Mark reached over and spun her to face the Council.

“Very well,” Chevalier said. “What are the charges?”

“I charge that being older than dirt takes away your ability to pull off a good prank,” Emily said, grinning.

“You should have gagged her, too,” Zohn mumbled.

“We have several charges, Sir,” Mark said. “Not the least of which is polluting the entire palace with the Valle scent.”

“I’m innocent, they can’t prove it,” Emily said.

“Prove what?” the Chief Investigator asked as the Council returned.

“That she filled the palace with the Valle scent, sent half of the new guards on a snipe hunt, doctored the guard reports, tampered with the laundry, assaulted two members of the Cavalry, and put a dangerous animal into the Captain’s quarters,” Silas said to the Council.

“All lies, I’m completely innocent,” Emily said, nodding.

“Had a busy week, Em?” Quinn asked.

“If I did all of those things, then yes, it would have been a busy week, but I’m innocent.”

“We’ve also found something very interesting about her, something that she’s managed to keep away from us for 13 years,” Mark chuckled.

Emily’s face fell, “You wouldn’t.”

“Do you know that Emily has a fear, other than medicine?” Silas asked, grinning.

“She does?” Chevalier asked him, surprised.

“Don’t do it…” Emily told them and took a step back.

Mark looked over at Silas, “How did we get inside?”

“I don’t know,” Silas said, looking around, confused.

“I smell a Valle though,” Kralen told them, and turned toward the door.

“Emily…” Chevalier chuckled.

“We better go check it out,” Mark growled, and the three ran out of the trial area.

“Erm… I have an appointment I need to leave for,” Emily said, stepping out of the shadows. Chevalier appeared at her side and untied her hands and blindfold.

“They’ll remember,” he said, laughing as he took his seat.

“I’ll deal with them later,” Emily said with a grin, and ran off. Within a few minutes, the Council heard her Jeep leave the garage.

Quinn sighed, “She’s taking that poor child to the orthodontist?”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, he’s having a procedure of some kind today.”

“Can’t you stop her?” Zohn asked, feeling sorry for Allen.

“I pick my battles carefully… so no.”

Mark came in, laughing, “I know, I remember…”

Quinn chuckled, “We figured.”

“Permission to ambush… Sir,” Mark said, looking at Chevalier.

Chevalier sighed, “Permission granted.”

Mark nodded and blurred from the room.

“Aren’t you worried?” Zohn asked.

“Not at all… well… I’m worried about the guards,” Chevalier said, amused.

The Council’s phone rang and Zohn hit the speakerphone, “Go ahead.”

“It’s Kyle.”

“Do you have a report?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, and it’s worse than we thought. The entire coven is gone. No sign of them, but there is a V.E.S. group that claims to have captured them, and rumors in the area are that they are running experiments on them,” Kyle explained.

“Experiments?” Quinn whispered.

“That’s what the rumors are. So far I haven’t been able to get onto the compound, but there are heku inside, I can smell them.”

“Head back. This needs to be addressed immediately,” Quinn said.

“I’ll be back by morning.”

The Council was deep in deliberations when they heard the Jeep return. They looked up as Allen walked in the back council doors.

“How’d it go?” Chevalier asked.

“Did you know what she had planned?” Allen asked.

Chevalier sighed, “No, what did she do?”

Allen smiled, exposing his new elongated canines, “Now I can feed easier.”

Chevalier gasped, “Come here.”

Allen got down so Chevalier could see his teeth. Emily had veneers put on him that perfectly matched the heku’s canines.

“I didn’t know they could do that,” Chevalier said.

Allen stood back up, “She wouldn’t tell us, because she wasn’t sure the dentist would do it, and he wasn’t very happy about it either.”

Quinn was shocked, “She… she fixed it so you can feed… I thought she hated the idea.”

“She does, but she also knows I hate mortal food,” Allen said, pleased.

“I can’t believe she did that,” Zohn said, shaking his head.

“I think she wanted to come prove that she wasn’t being mean, but… about a mile back, she was dragged out of the car by Mark and Silas and I brought the Jeep in,” Allen said, shrugging.

Chevalier laughed, “She had it coming. Why don’t you go get ready and we’ll take you out to celebrate.”

“Really?” Allen asked, excited.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, go.”

Allen blurred from the room.

“I’d like to go,” Zohn said.

“As would I,” Quinn told them and stood up. “Let’s plan on meeting as soon as Kyle returns. I’ll have the Encala and Valle join us, this concerns us all.”

***

“This better be important,” Sotomar said angrily. “I wasn’t aware you invited the Encala.”

“It is important, and we all need to be here,” Quinn said.

William glared at them, “So get on with it.”

“We’re just waiting for Emily, to keep the peace, if you will,” Zohn said.

Emily came in a few minutes later and blushed brightly. The Council all had to turn away to hide their laughter. Written across her face was ‘Heku Rule!’ in an ink she couldn’t seem to wash off. She stepped up between Sotomar and William.

“Stop laughing,” she said, trying not to grin. “It won’t wash off.”

“Interesting,” Sotomar said, grinning.

Emily glared at him, “It won’t come off.”

“I would imagine it will eventually,” William chuckled.

“Did you call me here to laugh at, or was there a reason?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

Once the Council was composed, they turned around and avoided looking at Emily for fear of losing control again.

“There is a problem that concerns all factions and we’ve asked Emily here to just keep the peace during these talks,” Zohn said, standing up. “The V.E.S. has gone too far this time, and has captured an entire Equites coven.”

“Why do we care?” William growled.

Kyle leaned forward, “They are running experiments on them.”

Emily gasped, “Mortals are?”

“Yes, and I’m positive there will be more covens attacked. All three factions are in the area,” Kyle told them.

“Then let’s go get them out,” Sotomar said, frowning. “If their experiments expose us, it will ruin everything we’ve striven to accomplish.”

“It’s not that easy. They are using electricity lined gates, no guards, nothing that we can overpower or run past,” Kyle said.

“Then call the police, let the mortals handle it,” Sotomar suggested.

“If the police go in there and get any of the records, we can still be exposed. We don’t know what has been found out yet,” Quinn said.

“I’ll go in first,” Emily said, and everyone turned to her. “I can ash the heku and bring them out with all of the records.”

“No, it’s too dangerous,” Chevalier said.

“I’m the only one that can mesh with the V.E.S. without risking heku exposure. I’m also the only one that can ash the prisoners undetected and bring them out,” Emily said.

“No,” Quinn said. “You can protect yourself against heku, but you have no defense against mortals.”

“The Valle agree. We can’t risk the Winchester for the lives of this coven,” Sotomar said.

“The Encala agree also,” William told them.

“I’m the only one that can do it,” Emily said. “How many are in there?”

“The coven housed 21 members,” Kyle said. “I don’t know how many are left alive.”

“Then let me go now. Don’t risk their lives by hesitating.”

“We can’t risk it, Em,” Chevalier told her.

Emily walked up into the Council area and knelt down by Chevalier, “I can do this.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, but it’s too risky.”

“I’m the only one that can do this. It has to be a mortal that the V.E.S. can’t change the mind of. It has to be me.”

“No, I’m not going to let you save the heku again,” he whispered.

“It’s not a matter of saving the heku anymore, it’s a matter of saving my family,” Emily told him, and touched his hand. “Let me go.”

“I don’t…”

Emily smiled, “I can do this.”

Chevalier sighed and looked down the row of council members, one at a time they nodded.

Emily stood up and walked back down, “I already have a plan on how to get in. After that, I’ll wing it.”

“How are you so sure they will take you?” Zohn asked.

“Bites… lots of bites…” Emily said, smiling.

Chevalier frowned, “I already don’t like this.”

“It can’t be worse than when dumb nuts had me bitten thirteen times,” Emily reminded him.

“What? When?” William yelled.

Emily glanced at him before continuing, “So I show up at the V.E.S.’s doorstep covered in bites, pale, sick, weak… they’ll take me in and I’ll owe them my life.”

“Pale? As in… almost drained?” Kyle asked, growling. “That’s not safe.”

“It’s a sure way in,” Emily said, shrugging. “I need to get in fast and I need to gain their confidence before they kill one of the heku.”

“We will have no way to contact you once you get inside,” Quinn said, frowning.

“Chevalier will know if I need help, or if something happens to me.”

“By then it could be too late,” Chevalier said.

“So it’s agreed, I’m going?” Emily asked.

“I don’t like it, but I also don’t see another option,” Sotomar said. “We agree.”

“As Equites, we agree,” Quinn whispered, glancing nervously at Chevalier.

“Fine,” William hissed, “But if there needs to be a rescue effort to get to Emily, the Encala want in.”

“As do the Valle,” Sotomar said.

“Great, then I leave as soon as someone decides to have me for dinner.” Emily smiled, and the enemy heku each took a step away from her.

She rolled her eyes, “Oh come on, you have all been dying to taste for hundreds of years.”

Chevalier stood up, “No, I will do it.”

Emily nodded, “Mark?”

Mark appeared suddenly beside her, “Yes?”

Emily sighed, “Hit me.”

“What?” Mark asked, glancing nervously at Chevalier.

“Hit me. I need a good bruise too,” she said, and shut her eyes. She opened one eye and then the other, “Mark?”

“I… I can’t… hit you,” Mark said.

“Do it,” Chevalier growled. “I just can’t watch.”

Mark watched as Chevalier left the room.

“Why me?” Mark asked, unsure.

“Because I trust you.”

“But…”

“Just don’t break anything, come on, hit me,” Emily said.

Mark frowned at the Council and then sent Emily flying into William’s arms with a hit to her cheek. He pulled her away from the enemy and sat her down on the floor.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked frantically.

Emily nodded, “That really hurt.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Emily smiled, “Will it bruise?”

Mark nodded and helped her to her feet.

Emily lifted her shirt up on the side, “I need one of those rib bruising ones, too.”

“No,” Mark said sternly. “I’m not hitting you again.”

Kyle hurdled the desk, “Come here, Em.”

Emily walked over and lifted her left arm and braced for it. The impact knocked the wind out of her and she fell to the ground, gasping for air.

“Holy shit,” Emily wheezed as Kyle helped her to her feet.

“You ok?” he asked, checking to make sure he didn’t break a rib.

Emily nodded, “Now a few bruises and we’re good to go.”

Kyle sighed and nodded, “Here goes.”

Emily held out her arms, and Kyle wrapped his hands around each of her wrists and twisted his hands, leaving round bruises on her wrists. He finished with a grab to her upper arm, which left a perfect hand bruise.

“Now, just the bites and we’re good,” Emily said, looking at the bruises.

“Bites?” Mark asked, frowning.

“We’ll tell you,” Kyle said, and ushered him out. Emily, Quinn, and Zohn followed them up to her room where Chevalier was waiting.

He hissed slightly when he saw her and forced his temper under control, “I don’t like this.”

“You won’t be able to do it alone,” Kyle said. “One bite, yes, but over and over could be too much.”

Chevalier nodded, “I was just thinking that.”

“Fine, then Chev gets the neck, Kyle on one wrist, and Quinn on the other, then Mark and Zohn can each take a spot,” Emily said.

“Silas, Kralen,” Zohn called out, and the two Cavalry members appeared. “We’ll need them.”

Emily nodded and sat on the chair, “I need to be pale though, don’t stop too fast.”

Silas and Kralen looked at Zohn, terrified. He quickly filled them in, and they took up positions around the chair Emily was in, both looking at each other nervously.

“Ok, I’m as ready as I’m going to be,” Emily said, and didn’t have time to blink before she felt five sets of teeth pressed against her soft skin. She felt the relaxation that feeding brought and didn’t realize how long it had been until she heard Silas.

“Enough,” Silas growled.

Emily tried to pull her arms away from Quinn and Zohn, but couldn’t move them. She heard growls and hisses as the heku were pushed off of her violently and thrown across the room, crashing into the stone walls.

Emily managed to get to her feet and stumble into the bathroom. She was deathly pale, and the red punctures stood out on her skin. Her lips were white and cracked, just like she wanted. She came back out as Mark and Silas struggled to get Quinn and Zohn out the door. Chevalier and Kyle were already calm and waiting.

“Now I just need dropped off,” Emily said, and tore one sleeve off of her shirt.

“I’ll do it, I know a good spot,” Kyle said.

Emily handed her phone to Chevalier, and he pulled her into a tight embrace, “You can change your mind.”

Emily pressed her face against his chest and then looked up at him, “But I won’t.”

“If it gets too bad, get out, we’ll find another way.”

“I will,” Emily reached up and kissed him.

Kyle took her arm and helped her down the stairs while the other heku stood with Chevalier and watched her go. Quinn returned and looked down the stairs.

“I’m sorry.” Quinn frowned. “It was harder to stop than I imagined.”

Mark grinned, “We know.”

“I still don’t like this,” Chevalier said.

“I know,” Zohn said, joining the others. “There’s no doubt she’ll get in, not the way she looks right now.”

“I’m not worried about her getting in. It’s getting out that I don’t know about.”

“She’s smart, she’ll find a way.”

Chapter 10 - Mission

Emily looked down the dirt road and smiled at Kyle, “It’ll be ok.”

“I just wish you weren’t going alone,” Kyle told her.

“I have to. This could take a while to get them to trust me, and I can only do that alone,” Emily said, and got out of the Ferrari.

“If you get any way to contact us, to let us know…”

Emily smiled reassuringly, “Go, I’m going to head in.”

Kyle nodded, turned the car around, and sped away.

Emily looked up the dark road, grabbed her aching side, and started up it. She knew it was from the blood loss, but she was cold and tired and was ready to get inside so she could sleep. It was getting harder to keep her eyes open, and she could feel the swelling in her cheek growing as it began to creep into her left eye.

It wasn’t long before Emily saw light from a window of a huge compound. There were cement walls and armed guards at the front gate. She stumbled closer, and when she heard one of them yell, she fell to her knees on the gravel road.

Emily felt strong arms pick her up, and she let her body fall limp in his arms.

“Look at her neck. They done fed off her,” the man said.

“Get her in to Larry,” another voice said.

Emily felt movement when the man carried her into the compound as soon as someone turned off the electrified iron gates. The smells changed, and then Emily felt the warmth from a fire as she was laid down on a couch. She groaned slightly and then settled down as warm blankets were put over her. She knew she should stay awake, to listen to everything, but the warmth was making it impossible to fight the sleep, and she drifted off.

Emily woke slightly when she felt rough hands pick her hands up and flip them over.

“Each wrist, and her neck, and upper arms, did you see these scars? She’s been fed off of a lot,” a man said, and slid her hands under the blanket. “She’s so pale. I’m surprised they didn’t kill her.”

“How do you think she got free?” a woman asked.

“From the looks of her, she fought her way out,” the man said. “Bring her some B12 and folic acid. We won’t know more unless we can get her to wake up.”

Emily felt an arm under her shoulder as someone lifted her up and put a cold glass to her lips.

“Drink this, Dear,” a voice said, and Emily took the pills and drank some orange juice. She was laid back down and fell asleep quickly.

When Emily woke up again, she noticed she had wrappings on her neck and arms and was now in a soft bed. She opened her eyes and looked around at the small cement room. There was a chair and dresser, and with the bed, the room was full. She didn’t see a fireplace, but could smell wood burning.

“Hello?” she tried to call out, but her voice cracked and she ended up coughing. She could feel a cold coming on.

The door opened and an older woman looked in, “Oh good, you’re awake.”

Emily looked at her and pulled the covers up, “Who are you?”

“I’m Vicki, I’ve been taking care of you,” the woman said, and brought in a glass of orange juice.

“Where am I?” Emily asked, fear creeping into her voice.

“You’re safe. I can only imagine what you’ve gone through.”

“That didn’t answer my question, where am I?”

“You’re at the V.E.S compound in North Dakota.”

Emily frowned, “Let me see your teeth.”

The woman smiled brightly, “That’s a valid request.”

Emily looked hard at her teeth and then nodded, “Ok.”

“Drink, you’ll need your strength. The leaders want to talk to you.”

“What leaders?” Emily asked, taking the B12 pill the woman handed her.

“The leaders of the compound. We are here to protect ourselves against the vampires.”

Emily leaned her face into her hands and started to cry, she let the loneliness fill her emotions and the tears began to flow freely.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” the old woman said. She sat down beside Emily and put her arthritic hand on Emily’s arm.

Emily finally stopped crying, “It’s ok. It’s just been a long time.”

“Don’t talk now, the leaders will be here soon,” Vicki said.

Emily frowned, “I’m not dressed.”

“Oh, yes, there are clothes in the closet, help yourself,” she said, and left Emily alone.

Emily got unsteadily to her feet and looked through the closet. All she found were several oversized t-shirts and some large bib overalls. She put them on as best she could and was just rolling up the bottom of the pants when four men entered. Emily backed up against the wall and watched them.

“It’s ok,” one of them said, and looked at her with soft, caring eyes.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” another told her.

“Show… me… your teeth,” Emily whispered, and moved so her back was in the corner.

The man closest to her smiled and opened his mouth. Emily stretched toward him and checked for canines.

“No one here will bite you. You’re safe,” he said, and the other three smiled at her.

“How did I get here?” Emily asked him, still wedged into the corner.

“Our front security found you. Do you remember that?”

Emily shook her head, “Am I a prisoner?”

“Not here, no. You may go whenever you’d like,” the eldest man said.

“How long have I been here?”

“Three days, you’ve been pretty weak and sleeping from blood loss.”

“Will you have a seat? We have a lot of questions for you,” the man next to her said, and patted the top of the bed.

Emily followed the wall around and climbed onto the bed, careful to stay far away from them.

“We’ll start with introductions. I’m Cody,” the tallest man said. “I’m the leader of this V.E.S. compound.”

“I’m Larry, and I’m second in command,” another said. He was shorter than Cody, but looked older and wrinkled from years working in the sun.

The youngest stepped forward and smiled, “I’m Henry, and I’m over the security that found you late the other night.”

“I’m Bill, I’m a doctor, and I’ve been looking over you,” the last man said.

“We do wish you would trust us,” Larry said, “But we know you must be traumatized from the wounds we found on you.”

Emily covered her neck wound with her hand, “I still don’t know why I’m here.”

“We just want to help you. It’s not easy to get away from vampires, and we guess they are looking for you,” Bill explained.

“They’re looking for me?”

“They don’t like to let their meals go,” Bill said. “We’re sure they want you back.”

“How long were you with them?” Henry asked.

Emily looked each of them in the eye, “I… I don’t… I can’t… say.”

“You can trust us,” Henry said softly.

Emily picked up her breathing and started to hyperventilate.

“Please, calm down,” Cody said calmly.

“You leave her alone!” Vicki said. “She’s obviously been through more than anyone you’ve seen. She’s not ready to talk.”

The men nodded and left the room as Vicki helped Emily to calm down. Emily was able to break into tears again and leaned her head against Vicki’s shoulder when she pulled Emily into an embrace.

Emily calmed herself after few minutes and choked out, “I can’t tell them.”

“I know, they weren’t showing patience. They are just anxious to get your story,” Vicki said. “We don’t get many people return from… them.”

“Please,” Emily whispered and glanced out the window. “I have to get away.”

“You’re safe here,” Vicki said.

Emily moved and winced at the pain in her side. She lifted her shirt slightly, revealing the purple and black bruise on her ribs.

“My God, what did you go through?” Vicki gasped. “Let me get something to help.”

Emily watched her leave and quickly got up to look out the window. She was up a few floors and looked over part of the compound. The layout was similar to the V.E.S. compound she had already been in. Small cabins were situated throughout the barbed wire fence topped cement walls, while armed guards patrolled on top of it.

“Come, sit, let me help you,” Vicki said, and shut the door.

Emily turned and sat down on the bed, pulling her shirt up slightly. Vickie wrapped Emily’s ribs up tightly and handed her an ice pack for her cheek.

Vicki looked at the hand bruise on Emily’s arm and sighed, “What is your name?”

Emily’s body tensed, “Four,” she whispered.

Vicki frowned, “Did… they… call you four?”

Emily nodded.

“What was your name before?”

Emily looked out the window, not answering her.

Vicki smiled and patted her arm, “Baby steps… just baby steps. Are you hungry?”

Emily nodded, “What will it cost me?”

“To eat?” Vicki asked. “Nothing.”

“I, just,” Emily whispered. “What do I have to do?”

Vicki sighed, “Nothing, I’ll go get you something, you’ll see.”

Emily heard Vicki and a man talking outside of her door in whispers. She moved closer, so she could make out what they were saying.

“No, she’s not ready, she’s traumatized,” Vicki said.

“It’s important we get all of the information that we can while it’s still fresh in her mind,” the man said.

“You don’t understand. Do you know they called her? Four! A number!” Vicki whispered angrily. “She’s still trying to find out what this food is going to cost her. She’s not ready.”

“I… didn’t know she was that bad,” the man whispered. “Tell us as soon as she’s ready.”

Emily hurried and sat back down on the bed.

Vicki came in with a plate and handed it to Emily. Emily looked down at the sandwich and chips and let her hunger take its place behind her façade. She lifted the bread and examined the bologna and cheese, smelling it and watching Vicki. She sat it down and pushed it away.

“I’m not hungry,” Emily said, and looked down at her hands.

“Please eat… you haven’t eaten since you got here three days ago.”

Emily shook her head, “I’m not hungry.”

“What if I take a bite first?” Vicki asked, and cut a small corner off of the sandwich and ate it.

“No, thank you,” Emily said softly.

Vicki nodded, “I’ll leave it in case you get hungry later.”

“Ok”

“Would you like a shower?”

She shook her head, “No, please, don’t make me.”

Emily briefly thought she may be overdoing it, but realized that Vicki was buying all of it.

“No, we won’t make you do anything,” Vicki said softly.

“I’m… just tired.”

Vicki smiled, “Then sleep.”

Emily nodded and watched as Vicki left. She went back over to the window and looked out at everything going on in the large compound. She saw people walking around casually. There was a large building off to her right that she couldn’t see all of, and wondered if that’s where the heku were being kept. She caught her reflection in the mirror and saw that the ‘Heku Rule!’ was finally fading and the puncture wounds on her neck were almost healed.

Emily decided to take a nap. She was still feeling tired and wanted to have all of her strength for when it was more important. She laid down and soon fell asleep.

***

“Maybe we should move some of us back into that coven, see if they come and take us also,” Kyle suggested.

“It’s only been two weeks. Let Emily do what she needs to,” Quinn said. “Chevalier would know if she was in trouble.”

“She’s not in trouble. She’s being cautious, and that’s all I’m getting from her,” Chevalier said.

Zohn sighed, “I really thought we would have heard something by now.”

“Chevalier said she’s being cautious, caution is good, but slow,” Quinn told them.

***

Emily sat alone in the large dining room and pushed the food around her plate. She ate only when necessary, to keep up the appearance of being untrusting. Anyone who approached her got a terrified glance, and then walked to another table. Vicki was off doing something else today, so Emily was left alone, which gave her time to think.

When the dining room got too full, Emily took her full plate up to the kitchen and slid it through the door. She wrapped her arms around herself and quickly left, watching everyone around her as she went.

“Four?” Cody asked, and Emily looked up at him and stopped walking.

Cody smiled, “Do you have a moment?”

Emily nodded.

“Come, into my office,” he said, and opened the door behind him.

Emily stepped forward and stretched to see inside of his office. It was large and cluttered. The wooden desk leaned to one side, and papers had slid off onto the floor. She hesitated, and then stepped into the office and sat down on an old metal chair.

Cody sat down behind the decrepit desk, “How are you?”

“Ok,” Emily told him.

“Vicki said you aren’t eating well.”

Emily whispered, “I… can’t… do anything for it.”

“You don’t need to do anything for the food. We are giving it to you.”

“For now,” Emily said, watching her hands.

Cody sighed, “Are you ready to tell us your name?”

Emily looked nervously around the room.

“It’s important that you trust us if we are to help you. Let’s start with a name.”

Emily teared up, “Will you beat me if I don’t tell you?”

Cody shook his head, “No, we won’t.”

“Madison,” Emily whispered, still watching her hands.

“Your name is Madison?”

Emily nodded.

Cody smiled, “Now we’re making progress. How long were you with them?”

Emily’s body tensed, “I don’t know.”

“Do you think it was a year?”

“Maybe more,” Emily said.

“Will it help you if you see a vampire?”

Emily frowned, “What? No!”

“They are our prisoners. You could see how they are kept, maybe then you will trust us,” Cody said.

“You have some? Here?” Emily asked nervously looking around.

“They can’t get out of their cells. We use electricity to hold them.”

Emily shook her head and stood up, “They’ll get out and kill us all, I have to get out of here.”

“That decided it for me… come with me,” Cody said, and held out his hand.

Emily hesitated and took the man’s hand. She was finally going to see how the heku were doing, and see what shape they were in. She tried hard to remember landmarks of how they were getting into the cells. There were a lot of guards with guns along all of the passageways, and she held tightly to Cody as they walked downward and appeared in a large room with cells lining the walls.

Emily screamed when she saw the first heku and pulled away from Cody, heading for the door. She felt his hands on her shoulders and froze in the doorway.

“They can’t get you,” he said softly.

Emily turned slowly and looked at the heku in the first cell. She wasn’t surprised to see the mark of the Encala. He was sitting on the stone floor, with his head hung low, and his skin turning ashen gray, something Emily realized was from starvation. She made her way along the cells, holding tightly to Cody’s arm, and tried to memorize as much as she could about the heku.

Emily stopped at the last cell. It was larger and had a steel bed in the center. The heku on it was lying perfectly still and had tubes coming out of each of her arms, draining into a large machine which pumped the blood back into her legs. She watched the ceiling with unseeing eyes, and Emily wondered if she was even alive.

“What are you doing?” Emily asked softly.

“We want to see if we can kill her,” Cody said coldly.

“They don’t die,” Emily whispered. Her heart sunk as she watched the female heku on the table, and it renewed her drive in the mission, to get them all out alive.

Cody smiled, “We just haven’t figured out how, but we will… come… look.”

Cody led Emily over to the center console. It was lined with computers all running surveillance, diagnostics, and analysis programs. The one man sitting behind the desk was young and pudgy with brown, greasy hair and thick glasses. He had four open Mt. Dew bottles, and crumbs were strewn across the floor.

“See these computers?” Cody asked.

“Yes,” Emily whispered.

“Piece of crap is acting up again,” the portly man said, hitting the monitor slightly.

“May I?” Emily asked, and stepped around to the back. She let her fingers work quickly on the keys, and within a few minutes, it was running smoothly again.

Cody raised his eyebrows, “Do you know computers?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, I used to code… before…”

Cody nodded, “Good to know. Right now they’re running analysis on blood taken from the vampires. We’re trying to see how they work. If we can find out how they live, then we can find out how to kill them the best.”

“Oh,” Emily said, and glanced back at one of the heku.

“Also, if we can get proof that they aren’t human, then the world will finally believe that vampires do exist.”

Emily frowned, “How can they not believe?”

“People can be blind to the paranormal,” Cody said. “Come, I’ll take you back to your room.”

“You do good work here,” Emily said, and took Cody’s arm.

“We try. If we can rid the world of vampires, then everyone will be safer,” he said, and patted her hand.

“They killed my family.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, is that when they took you?”

Emily nodded and leaned her head on his arm.

Cody touched the ring on her finger, “Did they kill him, too?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

Emily let go of Cody’s arm and walked into her tiny room. She turned when the door shut, and came face-to-face with him. He pulled her close and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her. Emily slid her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair as she pressed her body close to his.

“I can’t,” Emily whispered when he tried to pull her shirt over her head. She moved away from him and straightened it.

Cody nodded and left without a word. Emily locked the door behind her, and sat down on the bed, looking out the window into the cold dark night.

***

“We demand to know! You’re holding something from us,” Sotomar yelled.

“We are not. We haven’t heard anything,” Zohn said.

William glared at him, “You think we believe that you have let this go on for six weeks without any word from the Winchester, and you’re ok with it?”

“No, we’re not ok with it, but what do you want us to do?” Chevalier growled.

“Our closest coven is now missing, 17 of them, and we are no longer going to sit by while you wait for the mortal to save them,” William said.

“She’s seen them and she has a plan. It’s just going to take time,” Quinn told them.

“That, or she’s joined them and you are too stupid to see it,” Sotomar hissed.

“She has not!” Kyle yelled.

“Let her do what we sent her to do. If she needed help, she would have told us,” Zohn said. “Right now, we have no choice but to wait and let Emily do what she was sent to do.”

“How long do we wait until we gather our factions and storm the compound?” William asked.

“And expose ourselves? Do you really think that is going to help things?” Quinn scowled.

“We wait… we give Emily the chance to follow through on the plan that’s in her head. If we do something stupid now, we could mess it up and risk not only exposing ourselves, but killing the heku in that compound,” Chevalier said sternly.

***

“Maddie?” Cody called and knocked on her door.

Emily opened the door and smiled, “Come in.”

Cody came in and pulled her into a hug, “How are you this evening?”

“Fine,” Emily said, and leaned her head against his chest, “But…”

Cody looked down at her, “But what?”

Emily sighed, “I’m bored, you all do everything for me, and I want a job that will help our cause.”

Cody sat down and thought, “Like what kind of job?”

Emily shrugged and sat down beside him, taking his hand, “Dishes?”

“No, you’re overqualified.”

“I can cook,” Emily said, and ran her fingers along his forearm.

Cody smiled and kissed her softly, “Overqualified.”

“Ok then, what am I not overqualified for?” she asked, and looked into his eyes.

“Being my girlfriend,” Cody said, grinning.

Emily smiled, “That’s not a job.”

“Do you really want to work?”

“Yes, I’m bored and I want to help the cause.”

“You said you’re good with computers?” Cody asked.

Emily nodded and then smiled, “I’m better than good.”

“Do you think you can work around the vampires?”

Emily’s face fell, “Will they be out of their cells?”

“No, never,” Cody promised.

“Is that where I’m needed?”

“We’ve needed help there for a long time. We need someone who knows computers, and can run the analysis equipment,” Cody said. “It would be as a favor to me.”

“What would I get in return?” Emily asked, and smiled.

“I would show you,” Cody said, taking her face in his hands, “But you keep saying no.”

“Patience is a virtue,” Emily whispered just before Cody pressed his lips to hers. She always got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when he kissed her like that. She felt like she was cheating on Chevalier, and each time Cody tried to take it a step further. She wondered if he would always take no for an answer.

“Say yes to me,” Cody whispered, and began to kiss her neck.

Emily pushed against his shoulders, “No, not now.”

“Why?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

“Please, no,” she said. Her eyes showed the desperation in her thoughts and he misunderstood.

“Did they do something to you?” Cody asked angrily.

“No, not like that,” Emily told him.

Cody nodded and pulled away from her, “You can start in the morning. We really need help.”

“Will they… smell me?” Emily asked, frowning.

“Maybe, the blood suckers have quite the noses on them, but they can’t get out,” Cody told her. “Trust me, Maddie. I won’t let you do anything dangerous.”

Emily nodded and watched as he left her room. She slipped off the ugly bib overalls and slid into bed in the t-shirt and soon fell asleep. She woke up early the next morning and started getting dressed.

“Maddie?” Cody called and knocked on her door.

Emily pulled on the overalls quickly, “Come in.”

Cody came in while Emily brushed her hair and tied it up into a French braid. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, then kissed her neck softly.

Emily smiled, “It’s against the law for you to harass an employee.”

“Ok, then, you’re fired,” Cody said, and moved her t-shirt so he could kiss her neck.

Emily pulled away from him, “Let’s get going. I can’t sit here another day with nothing to do.”

“Ok, let’s go,” Cody said, frustrated, and led Emily back down into the prison. She stayed close to him inside of the cell block and slid into the chair behind the computers.

“This is the blood analysis. It’s taking a while to run because their blood is so strange,” Cody explained. “Just make sure it keeps running. If it gets stuck, then reboot and it will automatically reload the program and start where it left of.”

“Easy enough,” Emily said, and scanned the six computers.

“The rest are surveillance. We watch their every move to see if we can catch a form of communication or something that could jeopardize a mission into one of their covens.”

“So do I watch for that?”

“No, just keep the cameras going,” Cody said, and he showed her how to restart them.

“What’s this last one for?” Emily asked, motioning to the only computer that had no program running.

“That’s for fun, you can surf the net or check e-mail,” Cody said.

Emily sighed, “I don’t even have an e-mail anymore.”

Cody smiled, “Then surf the net. See if you can find vampire sightings.”

Emily nodded and glanced around the room. There were more heku this time. Before there was only 1 heku to a cell, and now some had two or three.

“You’ll be ok, if you need anything, push this button,” Cody said, and pointed to a red button on the desk. “We’ll have someone bring you lunch.”

“Ok, I’ll be fine,” Emily said, and smiled.

Cody left and she looked around the room again. There was a camera on the far wall that was pointed directly at her. She smiled and waved at it, and then turned back to the computers. She wasn’t in a hurry to touch what she wasn’t supposed to, so she started up the extra machine and typed ‘Vampire Sightings’ into a search engine.

Two weeks passed by slowly, and she started to become more comfortable with the extra computer. She searched through tasks and registries and found no tracking software on it. A quick glance showed her there were no hidden key loggers plugged into the keyboard, but she still stuck with searching for vampires. Several times she went to horse auction sites, ones she knew the Thukil and Council City Cavalries used to read up on horses and look for good deals.

Emily’s heart stopped when she read the comment below a young Clydesdale:

Magnificent breed, though after we spoke on the phone, I don’t think it’s what we were looking for. We are looking for a good riding horse for a little girl that will be riding soon. The rest of our horses are for work and aren’t as gentle as the young one would require. Do you have others? ~Silas

Cody knew she was interested in horses. It allowed her to search the horse sights without question and she did it a lot, looking for any signs from home. She wasn’t sure if this was a coincidence, or if she was grasping at straws to find a trace of the palace on the horse pages. She sent a private message to the Silas in the horse review.

Silas, just a suggestion. Find a hopeless mustang and keep at him until he’s as gentle as a painted mare. Do that and you’ll be right on the MARK! ~Madison.

Emily wrote comments on a few more horses to keep up appearances, and then went back to searching for vampire sightings. She found an article written in northern Scotland about the sighting of a vampire coven that was caught burning live cows and dissecting them for food. She printed it off and put it aside for Cody.

***

“Sir,” Silas said, coming into the council chambers. He handed the reply to his Clydesdale post over to Chevalier.

Chevalier frowned, “Where did you get this?”

“I was looking at Clydesdales and asked to see if the seller had any other horses, this was one of the replies,” Silas said. “It could just be coincidence.”

“It could,” Chevalier said, and re-read the note again. “Be extremely cryptic and write Madison back. See if you get any other feel from her.”

“Yes, Sir,” Silas said, and left to go back to the Internet.

***

Emily sat down at the familiar desk and set her cup of coffee down by the keyboard. She scanned the heku and saw nothing changed. She’d gotten permission from Cody to read some of the files on the other computers. She said it would help her track down real vampire sightings, and he liked the idea. She first wanted to check the horse site, and her heart jumped when she saw a reply to her message.

Madison,

Thank you for your suggestion, though I’ve always preferred temperamental Arabian stallions. They have personality.

~Silas

Emily had to fight back the tears as she read and then re-read the post. She knew it was from Council City, and he obviously knew it was her. The danger flooded to her though and she scanned the room again before posting.

Silas,

Nothing good can come of a temperamental Arabian. I suggest a cattle prod, though I’ve heard it does nasty things to animals other than horses and cattle. My favorite horse ever though, was an appaloosa mare named EVE.

~Maddie

Emily wrote another handful of replies to the forums, and then turned her attention to the analysis computers. She started with the first, the one running blood analysis. The computer wasn’t secure, and she could see everything from past logins, to file security and passwords. She suspected whoever set this computer up, still had full access to everything. She found four back-doors and closed them, grinning.

***

Silas handed the new note to Chevalier. He read it over and over.

“I don’t know what she means by the mare’s name… EVE,” Silas said.

Kyle chuckled, “I’ve always found it odd that the first letter of each of the factions spell Eve.”

Chevalier glanced at him, “That could be it.”

“The factions?” Kyle asked.

“Maybe there are heku from all factions there now,” Chevalier said, and turned back to the printed note.

Quinn shrugged, “Or it could be something completely different. She’s obviously being watched and is afraid to say more.”

“I’m glad we have something from her,” Chevalier said. “We just need to be careful and not expose her.”

“Why don’t we put a horse up for sale? Use a photo of that mustang in front of the stables,” Silas suggested. “Then we can get a good conversation going about horse care or something insignificant.”

“Do it,” Chevalier said. “We’ll let Sotomar know that we think there are Valle in the compound also.”

Silas nodded and left for the stables.

***

Emily opened Notepad and started to type. The days of coding flooded back to her as she began to write a program that could completely erase everything on the computers instantaneously.

“Maddie?” she heard Cody call over the intercom.

Emily pushed the red button, “Yes?”

“I know this is last minute, and if you don’t feel comfortable then don’t... but…” Cody hesitated.

“Just tell me. I’m sure I can manage it,” Emily said.

“I think the tubing is twisted on the vampire in the first cell,” Cody said. “She’s completely restrained with electrified restraints, and can’t get out. Can you… see if you can straighten the tube?”

Emily glanced quickly at the heku on the table, and frowned at the camera, “Are you sure?”

Cody responded seriously, “Yes, you’ll be perfectly safe. We just can’t get away from this meeting right now.”

Emily nodded and looked at the cell. She reached back to push the button, “How do I get in?”

“The cameras are linked to the locks, just choose the image and the password is TDKAM,” Cody told her.

Emily wrote it down and nodded, “Ok.”

“Thanks, you’re a doll,” Cody said.

Emily took a deep breath, and clicked the image of the heku on the table. A password prompt appeared and she typed in the password. A quiet click sounded as the cell door unlocked. Emily glanced around the room and moved slowly toward the cell, acting as if she were terrified to go into it. She stretched into the cell and looked at the tubing, immediately seeing the kink. It was on the far side of the table on the floor.

Emily got onto her hands and knees, and crawled slowly into the cell, glancing often at the heku on top of the table. She could hear the electricity running through the restraints, and caught a fleeting glimpse of the heku’s chest moving as she breathed.

Emily hoped this worked. She leaned down to un-kink the tubing, and was able to say, without moving her lips, “I’m Equites.”

She un-kinked the tubing and started back out of the room, crawling, but glanced back and saw it was kinked again. She walked out to the desk and grabbed a piece of tape, stuck it to her cheek, and crawled back into the room nervously. She wrapped tape around the kink so it stayed open, and then stood up and ran out of the cell. She saw the heku look at her briefly as she ran out.

Emily leaned back and caught her breath before hitting the button, “How do I lock it?”

“Same code to lock it. We owe you, Maddie,” Cody said.

Emily re-locked the cell and turned to the computer. She went back to her program, carefully checking for context and hidden coding errors. She didn’t have any way to test the program once it was done. If she ran it and it didn’t work, it could be too late to delete all of the information on the heku.

Cody met Emily in the walkway outside of the cells and kissed her passionately. Emily pulled away from him and leaned her head against his chest, “I think she looked at me.”

“Who?” Cody asked, and wrapped his arms around her.

“That vampire with the tubes,” Emily said.

Cody smiled, “I’m sure she did. She can’t hurt you though.”

Emily just nodded and pulled closer to him. She looked into the cell with the heku on the table, and she was watching them.

“I want to show you something. Something the board decided we may need your help with,” Cody said.

“Ok,” Emily whispered. Cody walked over to the computer and unlocked the cell to the heku in electrified shackles. Emily pulled away from him when he headed inside.

Cody chuckled, “Come on, he can’t get to you.”

Emily just hoped the heku didn’t break her cover once he caught her scent. She was able to meet his eyes as she walked in, and saw his body tense when she got near him. An understanding crossed his face, and he watched her as she stood by Cody. Cody reached out and pushed against a brick high on the wall. The wall opened into a stark white room and he walked in, holding his hand out for Emily to follow him.

She stepped into the room and had to fight back a gasp. The white room looked similar to a surgical room. There were six heku in it that were all in various stages of torture. One had his arms removed, and they were hanging in cold storage off to the side of his cell. An older heku was screaming silently from a soundproof room where he was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, while electrical impulses were sent in to hundreds of pins stuck into his body.

Another heku was in a large MRI tube, strapped down, and he seemed to be unconscious as his body was continuously scanned. Emily frowned when she looked into a quiet cell. The heku was clearly dead. Her head had been removed and was sitting a few feet from her body, and a camera was taking still shots every 5 seconds. The gruesome click’s sounded through the room.

The last two heku were in the same cell, a male and female that weren’t dressed, and were sitting, humiliated, in separate corners. They didn’t even turn around when Cody and Emily came to them.

“Why aren’t they dressed?” Emily asked, frowning.

“We’re seeing if they will breed,” Cody said coldly.

Emily turned away from them, her anger rising quickly. She had never known someone to treat another being this badly. To torture them and disgrace them even after death. Her body shook as the anger rose.

Cody pulled her closer, “It’s ok. They can’t hurt you.”

Emily just nodded, too angry to even talk.

“Once in a while, we may need you to come in here and check on one of them. Can you do that?” Cody asked her.

“Yes,” she whispered, fighting to calm her temper.

“Now come, I have a surprise for you,” he said, and led her back out into the main prison. Someone had taken her spot at the computer, and she forced a smile as they left. Emily clung to Cody’s arm, as normal, until they got back to her room.

“Get changed, we’re going out,” Cody said, smiling broadly.

“We are?” Emily asked, shocked.

“Yes, there’s a change of clothing for you. I’ll wait down stairs,” he said, and headed down the hallway.

Emily quickly went into her room and locked the door. She slipped into the little black dress and heels that were left for her, and ran a brush through her hair. The dress was tighter than she preferred, but she was ready to get away from the dull food and gray walls of the compound. She walked down the stairs, and Cody face lit up when he saw her. She walked up to him and he pulled her into a kiss.

“You look amazing,” Cody said, smiling.

“Thank you,” Emily said, blushing. He led her out to an old Pontiac and opened the door for her. She wrinkled her nose a bit when she sat down, the car smelled like mold and ancient cigarettes. She buckled herself in while Cody climbed into the driver’s seat and started out of the compound.

Emily watched out the window into the dark trees that surrounded the compound. She didn’t see them, but had a feeling they were swarming with heku, all waiting for her to figure out how to get the prisoners out and wipe the records. She smiled when there was a break in the trees and she saw four wolves standing in the clearing, watching the car pass. The trees gave way and a small city appeared, full of quaint little tourist shops and snow covered walks.

“I’ve been going through the vampire records,” Emily said. “I was wondering though, if we should start backing them up, in case the computers go down.”

“We talked about that, about backing them up and printing hard-copies, but it’s too dangerous to keep a second set of them,” Cody told her, and laid his hand on her knee.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Emily said, and glanced back out the window.

Cody stopped the car at a rundown restaurant called La French Cuisine and ran around to open the door for her. She stepped out of the Pontiac and almost fell when her heels hit ice, but Cody caught her and kissed her again. His lips made her skin crawl, so she used the cold as an excuse to hurry inside. He hadn’t provided her with a coat and it was freezing.

Emily’s eyes grew wide when she stepped into the little restaurant. Exavior was sitting at one of the side tables, and glanced at her quickly, then back down to his drink. She hoped he wasn’t dumb enough to break her cover, and moved past him as Cody ushered her to the table. She sat down, making sure she could see him, and smiled as Cody sat in the booth next to her.

Emily grabbed the menu, glancing at Exavior often as he started on his dinner.

“So, what if there are vampires here?” Emily asked, and saw Exavior smile slightly.

Cody scanned the room, “There aren’t any. I can smell them from a mile away. Not to mention, everyone here is eating… it’s ok, you’re safe. I’ll protect you from them.”

Emily turned back to her menu when she saw Exavior start laughing.

“I’ll have the quiche and a Sprite, please,” Emily said, and handed the menu to the waitress.

She started to get uncomfortable when Cody began to kiss her shoulder, and moved the strap of her dress down to give him a clear line to her neck. She saw Exavior glance back a few times, and she could tell he was getting mad. When Cody began to move his hand up from her knee, Emily stood up slowly and excused herself to the ladies room.

She stood in front of the mirror and calmed her nerves. If Exavior did something stupid, he could ruin two months worth of work. She spun quickly when she saw a blur behind her and Exavior appeared and locked the door.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Emily whispered angrily.

“I could ask you the same,” Exavior whispered. “Who’s the new boyfriend?”

“Do not break my cover,” Emily whispered, glaring at him.

“I don’t think your undercover operation included sleeping with the mortals.”

Emily slapped him, “Go away.”

Exavior nodded, “Tell me first if there are Valle in there.”

“I’m not going to tell you anything and have you come storming in and break my cover,” Emily whispered. “I’ve spent 2 months getting to where I am, and I’m not going to let you screw things up.”

“I swear I won’t come in, but tell me if there are Valle,” Exavior said.

Emily scowled, “All three factions are in there… now go away.”

As soon as Exavior blurred out of the restaurant, Emily composed herself and went back out to Cody. She scooted into the booth and he immediately laid a hand on her knee as the waitress brought their food.

***

Silas interrupted the trial and handed a printed paper to Quinn. Chevalier was off with Allen, feeding, and Silas knew this needed dealt with immediately.

Silas,

The horse is beautiful! My Ex had a horse named Vior just like him, but I told him to get lost. I wish I had a stable to come and buy him from you.

Maddie

“Damnit,” Quinn scowled. “Get the prisoner out of here.”

Guards arrived and pulled the prisoner out of the trial area.

Quinn handed the note to Kyle, and he read it quickly and crumpled it up, “Get Sotomar on the phone, now.”

“Do you have news?” Sotomar asked from the speakerphone.

“Yes, get Exavior the hell away from that compound before he breaks Emily’s cover,” Quinn yelled.

“What? What makes you think Exavior was by the compound?” Sotomar asked, irritated.

“We got a cryptic note from Emily, and it’s obvious that she saw Exavior.”

“Did you go?” Sotomar asked.

“Yes,” Exavior told him.

“Damnit… without permission? What are you trying to do?” Sotomar asked him angrily.

“I wanted to check on her. She seems to be doing well… even has a new kissy boyfriend.”

Kyle growled, “If Emily has a new boyfriend then it’s part of her cover. You better not have exposed her.”

“I didn’t… loverboy didn’t even know I was there,” Exavior said. “She did mention all three factions are prisoners though.”

“We knew that, you moron,” Sotomar hissed, and turned off the phone.

Quinn sighed, “Don’t write her back. Give her time to settle back in. I don’t want to risk her life if he exposed her in any way.”

***

Emily read through the technical manual on the cameras installed throughout the prison. It helped pass the long, boring hours that she spent watching the prison’s cameras. She needed to find a way to loop them, so she could get the heku out without being seen.

She was communicating somewhat with the heku shackled to the wall, the one whose cell led to the experimentation room. She was comfortable asking yes or no questions, and he would nod or shake his head slightly in response. He was able to get messages to the other heku without risking exposure. They knew she was trying desperately to figure out how to get them out.

Emily had a plan formulated in her head. All she needed for her plan to work was a handful of baggies, and a way to loop the cameras. The heku were waiting for her signal to fall entirely motionless. They wouldn’t even breathe for the two minutes she needed to get a stable copy of video to loop.

Emily adjusted the settings on the cameras and took a deep breath before giving the signal. She saw the slight nod from the heku and watched carefully for any movement that might give them away. At the two minute mark, she gave the clear signal and set about extracting the two minutes of footage.

Emily turned back to the horse sales. She hadn’t heard from Silas since she’d told him about Exavior four weeks prior, and had been afraid to say anything to him. Now she felt it was necessary. With shaking hands, she typed out a message.

Silas,

Hoping to have a place for a stable as soon as tomorrow. Cross your fingers,

Madison

She shut her eyes and pressed the send button, hoping that Silas was still checking even though he hadn’t sent her any messages. If her plan worked, tomorrow she would free the heku and would have only spent 3 months on the compound.

***

Silas knocked on the door to Chevalier’s office. He knew all of the Elders were in a meeting in there.

“Enter,” Chevalier said.

Silas came in and handed him the message. Chevalier read it a few times and then handed it to Zohn.

“How many heku are in the woods around that compound?” Chevalier asked.

“Last count was 56 Equites, 24 Encala and 83 Valle,” Silas replied.

“I want the entire Cavalry out there immediately. Call in Thukil and more from Powan, and get them out there too. I don’t want Emily’s safety left to the Encala or the Valle,” Chevalier told him.

“Yes, Sir,” Silas said, and blurred from the room. Within hours, helicopters from Powan and Thukil arrived and their armies were headed out to the V.E.S. compound.

***

“Marry me,” Cody said, dropping down to one knee.

Emily’s eyes grew wide. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she nodded slightly, and then froze when he gently slipped her essence ring off of her finger, and suddenly, Emily found it hard to breathe. She took the ring from him and looked at it as he slipped another ring on her finger. She couldn’t believe the ring had come off, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that Chevalier must have died.

Emily felt the world start to swirl around her, and shadows invaded her vision. Arms wrapped around her as she succumbed to the darkness.

“Maddie?” Cody asked softly, and touched her face.

Emily opened her eyes, unsure if the removal of her ring was a dream. She felt the new ring on her finger and knew it hadn’t been.

“Stay down,” Cody said as he put a cold washcloth on her forehead.

“The ring…” she whispered, fighting to keep her eyes open.

“I didn’t take it. I know it means a lot to you,” Cody said. “It’s in your pocket.”

Emily nodded and tried to sit up. She had to be well enough to go to the prison today. She was going to put her plan into motion, and it had to be today while the leaders were gone.

Cody helped her to sit up, “You ok?”

“Yes,” Emily said, and stood up despite the dizzy headache she had.

“Why don’t you take the day off?” Cody said, taking her arm. “You can come with Larry and I. We’re going to check on a new compound that’s being built in Arkansas.”

“No, I’m ok to work,” Emily told him.

Cody smiled, “So dedicated to the cause.”

Emily smiled slightly, “Always.”

Cody pulled her into a tight embrace and pressed his lips against hers. She felt the weight of the foreign ring on her finger, and began to tear up at the thought that Chevalier was dead.

Cody pulled her tightly against his chest, “Don’t cry, I’ll be back soon.”

Emily forced a smile, “Hurry back.”

“I will. We’ll get married as soon as I get back,” he said, and kissed her again before leaving.

Emily felt her overall pockets to check again for the plastic baggies, and then headed down to the prison. She made sure and wore the painter’s overalls with lots of pockets, and couldn’t wait to get back into clothes that fit. She was still wearing the large overalls that had to be rolled up numerous times, and threatened to slip off of her shoulders and slide to the floor when she moved.

She sat down at the console, and was shaking so badly, it was hard to type as she transferred the worm onto the main computer. A virus that would wipe out every computer on the network, resetting even the master boot record. She glanced up at the heku in the shackles, and his face softened when he saw the terror in her eyes. If this went badly, she had no doubt she would be killed.

“Is everyone ready?” Emily asked, looking down at the monitor. She glanced up briefly and saw the slight nod from the heku.

Emily reached over and executed the security footage loop program and nodded for the heku to move. He shifted in his cell, but the cameras showed him sitting still. She quickly unlocked all of the cells and turned off voltage to the restraints, then watched the heku break his shackles as every other heku turned to ash.

“Hurry, give me the bags,” he said, and ran out to her. She handed him a few of the bags, and he ran into the experimentation room to begin scooping ashes into the bags, while Emily started on the heku in the main cell block.

Emily looked up as the heku returned, and he handed her the six bags as she wiped the blood that trickled down her lip. She shoved them into her large pockets and stood up, “Done… make this good. I need to bleed a lot, but don’t knock me out if you can help it.”

The heku nodded and placed his hand on her forehead. He swiftly smashed the back of her head into the stone wall and caught her before she fell. A steady stream of blood began to pour from the back of her head as she got unsteadily to her feet.

“Sorry,” he said, just before turning to ash.

Emily scooped his ashes up quickly and relocked all of the cell doors, then executed the worm program as she laid down on the ground. She felt the warm blood pool around her head and waited for help to arrive.

Alarms sounded throughout the compound and Emily kept perfectly still as the prison flooded with armed guards.

“Get Madison, she’s hurt,” a man yelled.

Emily was lifted and carried out of the prison. She groaned softly, hoping someone would stop the bleeding from her head before she passed out for real. The man laid her down on her bed as Vicki came in and put pressure on the bleeding.

“What happened?” Vicki asked frantically.

“We don’t know yet. The prisoners all escaped, and the computers have gone down,” he told her, and ran out of the room.

Emily wanted to look up and see who else was in the room, but she desperately needed them to call an ambulance or take her to the hospital, anywhere off of the compound.

“Henry!” Vicki called out.

“What?” he asked angrily.

“We need to get her to a hospital. She lost a lot of blood.”

“No,” he barked. “No one leaves the compound.”

“Are you going to tell Cody when she bleeds to death?” Vicki yelled.

“No one leaves,” he yelled, and slammed the door shut.

Emily thought quickly, trying hard to decide what to do. She either had to find a way to get out of the compound, or she needed to get word to the Equites that all of the evidence had been erased. She came up with an idea that could backfire easily, but it was the only thing she could think of.

“Vicki,” Emily mumbled.

“I’m here, Maddie,” Vicki said, and touched her arm softly.

“The… baby…” Emily whispered, and clutched her lower stomach, groaning softly.

Vicki gasped, “Henry!”

“What now?” he growled when he opened the door.

“Did you know Maddie’s pregnant? Something’s wrong with the baby,” Vicki said frantically.

“Damnit Cody, couldn’t keep it in his pants. Get her an ambulance, but no one else leaves this compound,” he yelled, and then slammed the door.

Emily heard Vicki dial 9-1-1 and had an ambulance on the way. A man came in and carried Emily out to the front gate when it arrived. She was soon in the back of an ambulance, and the doors were shut while the paramedics prepared to leave. She was strapped onto the gurney, and opened her eyes when she felt the ambulance moving.

“Hi,” the paramedic said, smiling warmly. “Where do you hurt?”

“Nowhere,” Emily said, and untied the straps.

“Wait! You can’t get up,” the paramedic said, his eyes were wide. Emily sized him up. He was just a young boy, probably fresh out of paramedic school. She shrugged and then punched him as hard as she could in the nose. She felt the bones in her hand crush again, but ignored the pain and opened the back door, then looked out into the trees and hoped someone would be there.

Counting silently to three, Emily jumped from the back of the ambulance and tried to roll when she landed. She felt her elbow and shoulder slam into the road as she rolled, then waited for the movement to stop, but soon realized she was being blurred deeper into the woods. The ambulance had stopped and she could barely see it backing up before distance took the sight away.

Emily glanced down and saw the green shirt of the Thukil Cavalry and smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “Thank you.”

The heku didn’t stop until they appeared in a clearing full of uniformed heku. They all turned toward her as the Thukil Lieutenant set her down onto her feet. Emily ran to Kyle and threw her arms around him and started to cry.

“How did he die?” Emily asked through the sobs.

Kyle pulled away from her slightly and looked into her eyes, “How did who die?”

“Chev,” Emily asked, her eyes full of pain.

Kyle shook his head, “Chevalier’s not dead.”

Emily nodded, “Yes, he is.”

“I just talked to him a few minutes ago, Em, he’s fine.”

Emily frowned and looked around, confused. She sat down against a tree and watched. She’d never before seen Equites, Encala, and Valle all working together.

A General in the Valle Army knelt down beside her, “Tell us everything you can.”

“Give her a second to rest. Can’t you tell she has a head injury?” Kyle growled.

“It’s ok,” Emily said. “I have all of the heku with me, and I destroyed all of the computers. They didn’t back up any of their records. It’s all gone.”

“What about the guards?” the General asked.

“There are armed guards and electrical fences along the top of the cement fence. The guards pass by every 30 seconds. Everything in there is protected by electricity,” Emily explained.

Kyle pulled his green cape off and wrapped it around Emily’s shoulders, “I say let’s storm it. Get rid of them, so they can’t do this again.”

The General nodded, “I agree.”

“Wait,” Emily said. “You’re going to just kill all of them?”

“No, we won’t kill all of them, but we need to kill their leaders,” the General told her.

“The two main leaders, Larry and Cody, are in Arkansas until morning,” Emily explained.

Kyle nodded, “Silas, Mark, and I will take Emily to the airport. She can show us who they are.”

Kralen knelt down by Emily, “I’ll lead the Equites.”

The Valle General nodded, “We’ll coordinate into three faction based groups.”

“Please,” Emily said, and touched the General’s hand. “Don’t kill them if you don’t have to. There are some nice people in there.”

An Encala General joined them, “Heard we’re going in.”

Kralen smiled, “Don’t worry, Emily. We won’t kill them if they aren’t leaders or security.”

Kyle helped Emily to her feet, and she wrapped his cape around her, covering her arm as best as she could to hide the fact that it was injured. She would deal with that later. Mark came over and picked her up, then blurred suddenly, and she saw Kyle and Silas running alongside him. She leaned her head against his shoulder to try to stop the pounding from hitting her head on the wall.

Within thirty minutes, they emerged onto a dirt road where two of the red Lamborghini Reventon’s were parked alongside a dozen black Suburbans. Emily got into the car with Kyle, and buckled herself in, careful not to bump her arm.

Kyle slid into the driver’s seat and started up the car, cranking the heater, and then turned to her, “Why did you think Chevalier was dead?”

Emily dug in her pocket and held out the ring, “I didn’t die, or cheat on him, or betray him.”

Kyle frowned, “It just came off?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, when Cody proposed, he pulled it off to put his on.”

Emily held out her left hand and showed him the new ring. Kyle laughed and spun out onto the dirt road and floored it toward the airport.

“What’s so funny?” Emily asked, frowning.

“You agreed to marry this guy?”

“Yes, I had to.”

“That’s why the ring came off. Don’t you think that’s pretty much a betrayal?”

Emily glared at him, “I was undercover.”

“I know that… and you know that… but the spirit of the essence was broken when you said yes,” Kyle said, amused.

Emily held her hand out, “Give me your phone.”

Kyle pushed the speed dial to the Elder and handed it to her.

“What’s the news, Kyle?” Chevalier asked.

Emily couldn’t believe she was listening to his voice. She hadn’t believed Kyle when he told her that Chevalier was alive. She held the phone to her ear and started to cry.

“Kyle?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“You’re alive,” Emily whispered through sobs.

“Em? My God, are you ok?” Chevalier asked.

Emily nodded, “You’re… really alive?”

“Of course I am,” Chevalier chuckled. “Though I’m curious why the bond was broken.”

“I miss you.”

“You’ll be back here soon, are you on the way to Council City?”

“Not yet.” Emily suddenly smiled and laughed slightly, “We’re on the way to kill my fiancé, I think.”

“Fiancé? That explains some of it,” Chevalier said, and sounded amused. “Let me talk to Kyle.”

Emily handed the phone back to Kyle.

“This is Kyle,” he said, and checked the rear-view mirror for Silas and Mark.

Kyle nodded, “The two leaders are coming in a few hours. Silas, Mark, and I will be waiting for them and Emily will point them out. Each faction is leading their own battalion, Kralen’s got the Equites, and the attack should already be underway.”

Kyle grinned, “Oh I will, as soon as we’ve taken care of the two leaders.”

Kyle shut the phone and read the signs leading them into the large airport.

“How are we going to find them?” Emily asked, looking out at the dozens of buildings of the airport.

“We’re going to buy tickets to… somewhere… and then we’ll see who is coming in from Little Rock. Then we blur between them as they land,” Kyle said, grinning.

“Of course,” Emily said as Kyle pulled the Lamborghini up to the valet. He jumped out and handed the keys to an excited teenager, and then turned and watched Mark pull up in his car. Emily crawled out, still covering her injured arm with the green cape. She could feel it swelling and the painful heat rising up into her shoulder.

“Ready?” Kyle asked.

Emily nodded and followed the three heku into the airport. She grinned when she saw how badly they stood out, and how the crowd parted to let them all through. The way they carried themselves demanded respect, and their predatory nature sent fearful chills through the mortals they passed.

Emily watched the crowd while Kyle got them all tickets. Once they made it through security, Emily went and bought herself some coffee while the heku studied the incoming flight boards. She sipped the coffee and took a few of the Tylenol she’d purchased at the coffee shop.

“So?” Emily asked. “What’s the plan?”

“There are only two flights coming in from Little Rock between now and noon,” Kyle said. “One is in two hours, and the other arrives two hours after that, easy. Let’s go to the first gate and wait.”

“Let’s go then,” Silas said, and started down the busy corridor toward a gate at the far end of the terminal.

“So tell me about the kids,” Emily said, trying to keep up with the long legged heku.

Mark slowed down some and talked about what her kids had been up to for the past three months. She listened intently as he talked about Allen’s new teeth and how Alexis was starting to read.

They all sat down to wait the hour and a half for the arrival from Little Rock. The Equites wanted to ask Emily everything that had happened, but knew the Elders would want that information and they didn’t have the authority to question her about the mission.

Emily put her feet up and sipped her coffee while watching people walk by.

“Is something wrong with your right arm?” Mark asked, frowning.

Emily looked up at him, “How exactly are you going to do this in the middle of the airport?”

“We control them and walk them calmly out to the cars. Then we put them in the trunks, and head for Council City,” Silas said.

Emily smiled at him, “I owe you, Silas. If you hadn’t realized that was me, I don’t know what I would have done. You were my only link back to the city.”

“It was a pretty smart move on your part, especially letting us know about Exavior. What an idiot,” Silas said, shaking his head.

“So, you’re engaged to Larry?” Kyle asked, grinning.

“No, Cody,” Emily corrected.

“What’s up with that getup?” Mark asked, pulling at one of the many pockets on her bib overalls.

“What? They’re what all the cults are wearing nowadays.”

“Were they nice to you?” Kyle asked, suddenly serious.

Emily nodded, “Yes, very.”

“Why do I smell fresh blood then?”

Emily smiled slightly, “It was my way out of the compound.”

“I can’t wait to hear that story,” Kyle said.

Emily leaned back in the seat and shut her eyes. She wasn’t tired, but she really didn’t want to talk about her stay at the compound until it was all over, and she could relax. She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until Silas gently touched her shoulder.

“Keep an eye out, Em,” Kyle said, and they all stood up. Emily watched as everyone got off of the plane and she saw Cody exactly when he saw her.

“Madison!” Cody yelled, and ran up to her. He stopped when Emily stepped behind Kyle a bit, “What’s going on?”

Emily looked up and caught Larry’s eye as his narrowed, “Madison?”

“She’s with us,” Kyle said, and smiled.

Cody glared at Kyle, but with that single glance, Kyle had his gaze locked and he was under control. Mark quickly locked Larry’s eyes as Silas kept an eye out for others. Emily watched the people around them as they watched the strange interaction between heku and human. She could hear Kyle and Mark whispering quietly to Larry and Cody for a few minutes before they all started for the doors.

Emily and Silas ran ahead and had the cars brought up. Mark slid into the driver’s seat of his car, and he ordered Larry to get into the passenger’s seat as Silas shut the door and blurred away. Emily checked quickly to see if anyone noticed, but no one was watching. She crawled into Kyle’s Lamborghini and straddled the stick in the middle. Kyle laughed when he crawled in, and ordered Cody into the passenger seat. Emily reached over and shut the door, noticing the odd looks from a group of frat boys walking by at the trio crammed into the expensive car.

Just off of the Interstate entrance, Kyle pulled over as Mark put Larry in the trunk, so Silas had a place to ride. Kyle checked his rear-view mirror and then headed quickly back to Council City.

“You’re engaged to this guy?” Kyle asked, glancing at Cody.

Emily nodded, “Yeah, he’s the lucky guy.”

“Did you kiss him?”

Emily grinned slightly, “Some.”

“You mean a lot,” Kyle said, laughing.

“Yeah, he’s a kisser.”

“You’re not fooling anyone, by the way.”

“About what?”

“Your arm.”

Emily relaxed some, “It’s not that bad.”

“We’ll see.”

Emily looked over when Cody’s cell phone rang. She reached into his pocket and answered it, “Hello?”

“This is Madison,” Emily said, and nudged Kyle when he chuckled.

“I called him to come and get me, Vicki,” Emily said, and then lowered her voice and turned away from Kyle, whispering. “No, the baby’s fine.”

Emily turned back to Kyle and glared at him for grinning.

“They did? No way! The vampires did?” Emily said frantically.

Kyle raised his eyebrows. He didn’t realize how good of an actress she was.

“Is everyone ok?” Kyle had to check, she sounded like she was about to cry, but her facial expression didn’t match the tone in her voice.

“Oh my God, that many are dead?” Emily frowned, and this time she wasn’t faking.

“I’ll tell him when he gets back,” Emily said, and shut the phone. She slid it back into Cody’s pocket and leaned back.

Kyle sighed, “We had to.”

He started to say more, but his phone rang and he answered it instead as Emily wiped a tear from her eye. She realized she was crying a lot lately, but she’d grown close to some of the people at the compound.

“Kyle here,” Kyle said.

“Yes, only about ten minutes, are they back?”

Kyle smiled slightly, “No problems at all. I have the leader and Mark has the second in command in his trunk.”

Emily slipped off her engagement ring and put it into Cody’s shirt pocket before pulling Kyle’s cape closer around her.

“Sure thing,” Kyle said, and hung up. Emily felt the car accelerate as he pushed the car as fast it would go, and she watched the speedometer creep well above 200 mph.

Emily watched out the window as the terrain turned familiar and within a few hours, Kyle turned off of the Interstate onto the private road leading into the city. The guards waved him through quickly, and Kyle pulled the car up to the front of the palace where hundreds of heku from all factions were waiting.

Emily cringed as they all looked at the two sports cars and waited for them to emerge. She saw Mark and Silas get out of the back car and move to the trunk. Larry was pulled roughly out and hauled inside by several of the Equites guards.

“Ready for this?” Kyle asked.

“I’ll give you $500,000 to drive away,” Emily said, and looked over at him.

“I don’t need $500,000,” Kyle told her, and got out of the car. She saw all of the heku looking in at her with anxious faces, all waiting to see who survived and who the famous Winchester managed to save.

Emily watched the passenger door fly open and Cody was hauled out just as his trance broke and he started to fight back.

“You Bitch!” Cody screamed at her, and Emily turned away from him as the Thukil Cavalry descended on him.

She slid down into the passenger’s seat and put her feet up on the dashboard, then rested her head back against the seat and shut her eyes. The noise from the heku armies made her headache worse.

“Are you hiding out?” Chevalier asked, kneeling down by the car.

Emily threw her good arm around him and leaned her head against his neck, “I thought you were dead.”

“How could you think I was dead? You were the one undercover on a dangerous mission,” he asked her, amused.

“The ring came off,” she whispered.

“I know, and I know why… now come on in,” Chevalier said, and pulled away from her. He put his hand out and she took it as he helped her out of the car. Kyle’s cape caught on the door and pulled away from her injured arm, causing the heku in the area to gasp and start talking among themselves.

“Hmm,” Chevalier said, looking down at her. Emily pulled the cape back over her arm, ducked her head, and walked quickly into the palace.

When Emily got inside, she immediately headed up the stairs, and as she started up past the fourth floor, Chevalier put a hand on her shoulder, “We need to go in.”

Emily looked down at her dingy gray t-shirt and oversized overalls and cringed, “Can I change?”

“They know why you look like that, come on,” Chevalier said, and led her around to the back entrance. He opened the door and took his seat while Emily hung back behind the Council.

Quinn spun in his chair and stood up, pulling her into a tight hug, “It’s good to have you home. We’re so proud of you.”

Emily blushed and glanced around the trial area. Off to the left was the Encala army, standing with William, while the Valle army stood to the right side with Sotomar and Exavior. The Council City Cavalry and Thukil Cavalry were all standing off to the sides of the Council’s stand, while Powan patrolled outside of the palace. Cody and Larry were handcuffed and standing front and center, glaring at her. She frowned slightly and backed away, out of their sight.

“They can’t hurt you,” Zohn said to her softly.

“Are you going to kill them?” Emily asked Zohn, looking into his eyes.

“We haven’t decided. It will be a joint decision by all of the faction Elders.”

“I don’t want to be here,” Emily whispered to him.

The Council member to Chevalier’s left stood up and moved to the side, so Emily could take his chair.

“Come… sit,” Chevalier said, and smiled at her.

Emily sighed and sat down in the chair, careful not to bump her arm.

“You Bitch!” Larry yelled at her. “I hope they drain you.”

One of the Thukil Cavalry blurred forward, and sent Larry to the ground with a backhand across his face, “You will not talk to her like that.”

Larry stood up slowly, as the guard moved back to the other members of Thukil.

“I loved you. We were going to get married,” Cody said, hurt.

Everyone looked at Emily and she turned to Chevalier, not sure what to say.

Chevalier grinned, “You were never going to marry her. She’s my wife.”

“It was all fake then? I don’t believe that! You loved me too,” he said, frustrated.

Emily blushed further and turned away from the trial area. She looked at the door and considered running.

“I don’t think we’re all gathered to hear your devotion to Emily. We’re here to try you for the kidnapping and torture of our kind,” Zohn said, standing up.

“Who is Emily?” Cody asked.

“She’s your Madison. Now pay attention and forget about the girl,” Zohn said, irritated. “You led the V.E.S. to kidnap peaceful covens and to subject them to tortures.”

“It’s our right! You are an abomination, and if our experiments helped us rid the world of your kind, then I’ll die for the cause,” Larry yelled.

“First we need to get an eyewitness account of what happened behind the compound walls,” Zohn said, and sat down.

Emily froze. She hoped he wasn’t talking about her, but then saw Chevalier’s chair turn toward her, “That’d be you.”

Emily looked at him and whispered, “What do you want to know?”

Chevalier grinned, “Turn around so everyone can hear you.”

Emily shook her head, “No.”

“Em, part of going undercover is telling everyone what you saw.”

“I’ll tell you and you tell them.”

“Turn around,” Chevalier said, laughing as he turned back to the trial area.

Emily turned around slowly and looked as everyone watched her. She took a deep breath and then started talking, “They had the heku in cells. Some of them were having experiments run on them.”

“What kind of experiments?” Sotomar asked.

“There was one that they were draining her blood and putting it through analysis, and then replacing it with animal blood, to see if they could kill her,” Emily told them.

“Keep going, Child,” William said, trying to help her nervousness.

“One heku had his arms removed, and they were kept in cold storage,” Emily said, and then turned to Chevalier. “It’s ok, we got his arms.”

Chevalier nodded, “Go on.”

“One was… dead… beheaded… and they were taking pictures every 5 seconds to analyze, to see if she came back to life,” Emily said. “Then one was in an MRI that just scanned him continuously. I don’t know why he was unconscious. We can ask him I guess.”

William smiled and nodded.

“There was one that was hung from the ceiling by his wrists and he had… little metal pins stuck in his body that sent electrical impulses through him and then… the last two…” Emily thought for a moment. “I don’t want to talk about that, and I think they should be left unquestioned.”

“Tell us, Emily,” Quinn said softly.

Emily shook her head, “No, that’s enough to try them without that information.”

“You need to tell us,” Zohn said to her.

“No, it was humiliating and degrading, and I think they’ve been through enough without all of you knowing what they went through,” Emily said, and Chevalier could tell by the way she set her jaw that she wasn’t going to tell.

Chevalier turned and whispered to the heku, and then turned back to Emily, “We’re ready to see who you brought back with you.”

Emily nodded and stood up. She handed one bag from her front pocket to Chevalier, “This heku helped me a lot. Not only did he gather the ashes with me, but he helped with preparations and my… way out.”

Chevalier nodded and handed the bag to Kyle. Emily proceeded to empty her pockets, finally placing 37 baggies full of ashes onto the counter.

“Let’s call a recess while the Chief Enforcers bring them back. We’ll meet in two hours,” Quinn said. “Take the mortals down to the holding cells.”

Two members of the Council City Cavalry grabbed each of the men and forced them down into the prison.

Emily turned around when the door opened and pulled Allen and Alexis into a tight hug when they ran in, “I missed you.”

Allen pulled back and frowned, “You’re hurt.”

“I’m ok,” Emily said, and looked the kids over.

“Come on, Dr. Cook is here,” Allen said, and put a hand out to her.

Emily frowned, “I said I’m fine, and last time I checked, I’m still the Mom.”

“Come on, Em,” Chevalier said, and pulled her to her feet. “You can’t fight off every heku in this room.”

Emily turned and glanced behind her, “I bet I can.”

Chevalier chuckled and took her hand, leading her up the stairs. She finally admitted she might need a doctor and followed him willingly. She sat down in the small infirmary and looked nervously up at Chevalier.

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for you,” Dr. Cook said, and immediately frowned. “Let’s start with the blood.”

“Back of my head.” Emily sighed and felt the doctor dig through her blood matted hair.

“This’ll need stitches,” he said, and dug out a large needle.

Emily started to turn toward him, but Chevalier stopped her, “How exactly did you do that?”

“The… I inj… hey!” Emily screamed when she felt the needle enter the skin on the back of her head. Chevalier quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her steady.

“Almost done,” Dr. Cook said calmly. “There.”

Chevalier let Emily go and dodged when she tried to slap him.

“Just a few stitches to close it up,” the doctor said, working quickly. He knew he had limited time.

“Stop glaring at me,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Done,” the doctor said. “Let me look at that arm.”

Emily held it up, still watching Chevalier. She liked how he started to shift nervously, and she briefly wondered what he would do if she burned him just a little.

“Don’t even think about it, not even just a little,” Chevalier said, fighting back a grin.

“What did you do to your hand and arm?” Dr. Cook asked, grabbing a sling.

“I punched a paramedic and then jumped out of a moving ambulance,” Emily said, still watching Chevalier.

Dr. Cook looked up at her skeptically, “Is that a joke?”

Chevalier chuckled, “Actually, it’s not.”

“Great, well, brace on the hand and a sling for your arm until the swelling goes down,” Dr. Cook said. “Same thing as normal.”

Emily frowned “I have a normal?”

“Yes, you do,” the doctor said, grinning behind her back as he fastened the sling. “Keep ice on it through the trial though and try not to use it.”

Emily winced as the doctor put ice packs into the sling with her arm and then walked out of the infirmary with Chevalier, “I know… always hurt.”

Chevalier kissed the top of her head, “We owe you for this one.”

“Remember that next time I do something stupid,” Emily said, and headed down the stairs.

“Why the hurry? We have another hour before the trial starts again,” Chevalier asked, heading after her.

“I want to see the revived heku,” she told him, and opened the door to the trial area and walked in among the tall heku. All of the newly revived heku were wearing long blue robes that were provided by the Equites.

Emily first saw the heku from the electrified shackles, the one that helped her, and she moved quickly to him and threw her arm around him. He looked nervously at Chevalier and then smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank you, Lady Emily,” he said. “I still can’t believe you were able to get us out of there.”

Emily smiled, “With your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Oh I think you could have, you’re a tough little thing.”

Emily shook her head, “I’m not little.”

The heku let her go and turned back to the members of his coven that had just been revived. They each thanked Emily after she checked to make sure they were ok, and then each heku joined their faction members.

“Let’s get started,” Quinn said finally, and Emily moved back up to the Council area.

“Bring them back,” Kyle said, sitting down in his chair. The noise from the trial area stopped as the two mortals were brought back and forced to their knees before the Council.

“We’ve revived the prisoners, at least, those that were alive, and now we need to determine how many you killed,” Quinn said.

“What do you care?” Cody yelled. “You’re incapable of caring or loving.”

Emily stood up slowly, and with almost fluid movements, made her way back down into the trial area. The heku in her way parted to let her through. She smiled down at Cody and put a hand out to help him up. He stood up, his hands still cuffed in front of him, and lifted his arms so they were around her.

“I know what you’re doing,” Cody whispered into her ear. “You’re sacrificing yourself to save Larry and me.”

“Am I?” Emily whispered back.

“Don’t do it, we can take care of ourselves. Don’t subject yourself to these… things,” he said softly.

“Are they really incapable of love?” Emily asked, and slowly ducked out from under his arms.

“They can’t love. They are incapable of any kind of emotion other than rage,” Cody told her, looking lovingly into her eyes.

Emily gently put her hand on his face and smiled softly just before raising her knee and catching Cody in the groin, dropping him suddenly to the floor as he groaned in agony. Larry barely moved toward her before he was restrained by gathered Encala.

“That’s for all the kissing,” Emily said to Cody, and then returned to the Council area and sat down. She grinned slightly when she noticed how many of the heku had turned away, grimacing.

“Feel better?” Chevalier chuckled.

Emily smiled, “Yes, very much so.”

Quinn waited until everyone settled down and Cody was back on his knees before continuing. As he started to speak, the Encala guards let Larry go and returned to their place.

“Very well, now that we’ve ascertained that Emily and Cody are no longer an item,” Quinn chuckled. “Let’s get on with how many are dead. Sotomar, how many Valle did not return?”

Sotomar stepped forward, “We are missing five that were taken and didn’t return from the… what did Emily call it? The experimentation room.”

Emily felt her temper rising quickly.

Quinn nodded, and Sotomar stepped back with the members of his faction, “Encala, what are your losses?”

William didn’t step forward, but spoke angrily, “The Encala are missing four.”

“As Equites… we are missing nine,” Quinn said, writing everything down.

“They died to further our cause. Their losses don’t even matter,” Larry said scathingly.

Emily stood up and stormed out of the council chambers, slamming the door behind her. Chevalier shrugged when the others looked at him questioningly. The Council wrote for a few minutes, taking notes on questions they wanted to ask later.

“This trial then, is for the unwarranted torture and murder of 18 of our species, along with the kidnapping and torture of…” Quinn stopped when the trial door opened.

There was a commotion by the trial door and heku from the Valle and Encala obscured what was going on from the Council. Zohn stood up to call everyone to order, but then sat down when he heard Emily.

“Give me back my gun,” Emily yelled.

Chevalier chuckled and watched the heku part back into their factions as Exavior held the 9mm up too high for Emily to reach.

“Exavior, give it back,” she growled.

“Emily, you can’t shoot them,” Quinn said, amused.

“Yes I can! They are right there,” she told him, and turned back to Exavior.

“I don’t mean that you are unable to shoot them,” Quinn explained. “I mean that we cannot allow you to.”

“You would kill your own kind because of a fleeting attachment to these vile beings?” Larry asked angrily.

Emily ran forward and kicked Larry in the face, sending blood splattering onto Cody as Larry fell to the ground, fighting to breathe. Sotomar blurred to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, restraining her as he lifted her feet from the ground.

“Let go of the Commander,” a Thukil Sergeant yelled.

“Everyone calm down!” Zohn ordered. “Sotomar bring her up here. Exavior give me the gun.”

Sotomar dropped Emily gently to the ground and escorted her up to the Council area while Exavior handed her gun to Zohn. They both returned to their faction members, laughing.

Zohn grinned, “While I’m sure we all enjoyed that… Emily, please try to refrain from killing or maiming the prisoners before we’re done.”

“You disgust me,” Cody snarled at her.

Emily started back down the stairs, but was stopped when Kyle grabbed her arm, “Come back here, Killer.”

“Direct one more comment to Emily, and I’ll let her go,” Chevalier told Cody.

Cody glared at her as she went back to her seat and sat down, livid. Larry got back to his knees after spitting blood and teeth from his mouth.

Quinn stood up, still grinning slightly, “You’ve heard the charges, and now we will let you plead your case.”

“When does she get charged?” Larry asked, his words slurred. “She assaulted us, lied to us, used us, and turned traitor to her own species.”

Emily tried to stand up, but Kyle was still behind her with his hands on her shoulders so she couldn’t leave.

“I’m warning you, Boy,” Sotomar said from behind him. “There are over a hundred vampires in this room that will tear you to shreds if you don’t leave her alone.”

Larry glanced nervously at Sotomar and then turned back toward the Council, “We plead not guilty. We have every right to protect our kind from predators who attack innocent people for their own amusement.”

“Do you concur?” Quinn asked Cody.

Cody nodded.

The Council turned around when the back door opened and Allen came in carrying Alexis, who was crying. Emily took her from her son, and she immediately stopped crying and leaned her head on Emily’s shoulder. Emily turned back to the trial area and Kyle returned to his chair as Allen stood behind his Dad to watch.

“You allow your children to live among the undead?” Cody asked angrily.

Chevalier smiled broadly, “I’m their father.”

“You whore!” Cody yelled. “You fu…”

Emily covered Alexis’ eyes as the Encala descended on Cody and his screams filled the room. When they returned to the other Encala, Cody was back on his knees with his left arm dangling at his side, and his face covered in bruises as blood dripped from his mouth.

“Please control your outbursts, or we won’t get through this,” Zohn said.

Emily softly rubbed Alexis’ back and sat back to watch the trial. She kissed her softly on the head and then brushed her black curls away from her face.

“We have your plea of not guilty on the torture, kidnapping, and murder charges,” Zohn said, sifting through some papers. “We will now hear from the victims, and the accused will have the opportunity to respond after each has spoken.”

The heku from the shackles stepped forward, smiled, and then bowed to Emily. He turned toward the Equites Council, “I’m Tyler, an Encala from the Craig Coven. We were ambushed late at night, all 17 of us from Craig. We were bound using electricity and thrown into the cells in the compound’s prison. I was shackled to the wall in a cell that led into the experimentation room. There were already Equites there when we arrived, though some of them had already been killed. Two Encala were beheaded immediately, while measurements were taken of their blood volume and count was taken of how long it took them to bleed out from the neck wound.”

“And your escape?” Zohn asked.

Tyler smiled at Emily, “Lady Emily learned quickly that she could look down at a book or a computer and talk to me. She told me about her plan, and used yes or no questions to get answers she needed. When the day came to make the footage for the cameras, she gave me the signal, and I passed the information on to all of the heku. We pre-arranged that I would help her gather the ashes. She turned everyone but myself to ash, and I went into the experimentation room to get the ashes from there.

Tyler looked apologetically to Emily, “When I was done, I… injured her… smashed her head against the rock wall. I’m so sorry.”

A murmur ran through the council chambers.

Emily smiled, “It should be noted that that was my idea. I needed a wound that would clear me of freeing them, and would also warrant a hospital visit so I could get off of the compound.”

Zohn smiled at Tyler, “Noted, it was a planned injury.”

“That was it,” Tyler said. “As soon as I apologized, I felt a flash of burning and then I was here.”

Tyler stepped back with the Encala and Zohn stood up, “Are there any comments about what he said?”

Larry shrugged and mumbled something incoherent. Zohn sighed and looked at Emily.

She grinned slightly, “Sorry.”

Cody glared at Emily, “He said… that is all true, and it was deserved… your dead for our cause made it all warranted.”

“Noted,” Zohn said, irritated. “The testimony of the next six will be told by one representative, Brad.”

The next heku stepped forward, “I’m Brad, an Equites from the Shiaoshang Coven. There were 21 of us taken in the night, including my family, which consists of six heku. Our capture was exactly like the Encala, but none of us were killed. We were split into individual cells. The six of us were never tortured.”

Brad nodded to Emily and continued, “We knew that Lady Emily was trying to get us out, and followed whatever it was that Tyler told us to do. We felt the brief burn, and then were revived here by the Valle’s Chief Enforcer.”

“That was pretty straight forward,” Zohn said. “Anything from the mortals?”

Larry shook his head and spit out another mouthful of blood.

“Daddy?” Alexis asked, reaching for Chevalier. He reached over and took her from Emily, and she curled up on his lap.

“It’s disgusting,” Cody growled.

Emily stood up and Cody cowered away from her, but she turned and left the council chambers through the back door. She took a deep breath out in the palace and headed up the stairs, then stripped off the ugly clothes, and tossed them into the fire after removing her ring and placing it on the table. She slipped off the hand brace and arm sling before walking into the bathroom to run a hot bath with sweet smelling bubble bath. She smiled, slipped into the tub, turned on the jets, and leaned back.

Once her skin was starting to prune, Emily got out and wrapped in a soft, warm towel. She brushed her hair, careful to avoid the stitches, and then called out a lunch order. She went through her closet and decided on a dark blue cotton sun dress, something feminine after wearing men’s clothing for 3 months. Once she was dressed, she debated on shoes, and decided against them as she slipped the hand brace and arm sling back into place.

The servant with dinner met her at the Council doors, and walked in to put the plate on the desk. Emily followed him in, blushing slightly when everyone turned to look at her. Chevalier raised his eyebrows appreciatively at the change in clothing, and then turned back to the trial area when Emily sat down. She picked up the small cheeseburger and started to eat.

Emily put her bare feet up on the desk and sat back to eat and listen to the rest of the trial.

“How many electrical pins were in your body then?” Quinn asked.

“Two hundred and forty one,” the heku said, grimacing as he remembered the pain.

“You may return to the Valle,” Quinn said, and turned to the mortals. “What do you have to say in your defense?”

“He was in no pain,” Cody said coldly. “He’s making it up to make us look bad.”

“Not in pain?” Emily asked, frowning. “I saw him, and I can assure you, that he was in a great deal of pain.”

“I saw him also,” an Encala said. “He was, indeed, in pain.”

“If there’s nothing else on that case, then that will end the testimony from the Valle,” Quinn said, and turned to Sotomar.

Sotomar nodded.

“This trial is a farce. You have no jurisdiction to bring charges against us,” Cody said angrily. “If you’re going to kill us, then get it over with.”

“If you’re trying us for the crimes of humanity, then your little whore should be on trial too,” Larry said, glaring at Emily.

Emily frowned and looked at Chevalier, “I’m a whore now? I thought I was a sex kitten.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Don’t worry, you’re still a sex kitten.”

“This isn’t a trial against humanity. It’s a trial against you two for torture, murder, and kidnapping,” Quinn reminded him.

“It’s a circus!” Larry screamed.

“Nevertheless you are on trial and don’t have a choice, so shut up and deal with it,” Zohn said, and then glanced at a paper. “Next up is Ronald.”

One of the Encala heku stepped forward, “I’m Ronald from the Encala’s Craig Coven. I was taken while walking alone and put into the van with the other members. During my stay, I was confined inside of an MRI tube where scans were continuously taken. I didn’t know of Lady Emily’s plan for our rescue because the noise from the machine blocked what I could hear. I wasn’t even aware she was there until my revival here.”

Zohn nodded, “Were you tortured?”

“I don’t believe that could be considered torture. I was never in pain,” Ronald said.

“You were unconscious though?”

“No, I just waited silently.”

“Very well, you may step back,” Zohn said, and then glanced at the mortals. “Comments?”

Cody grinned, “Those scans will get into the hands of our authorities, and will show them that the V.E.S. have a valid reason to be respected.”

“Those scans were on the computers I wiped,” Emily told them. “I wrote a little worm that infected your entire network and completely thrashed all of the hard drives.”

“You couldn’t have! Those computers are linked to all of the V.E.S. in the world, and are extremely secure,” Cody said, grinning.

“Yeah… well, I did,” Emily said, shrugging.

Cody glared at her, “If you did, then you destroyed hundreds of years of the work started by one of the bravest men in history, Devin Winchester.”

Emily looked at Chevalier, “Is he…”

Chevalier smiled slightly and nodded.

“She is a Winchester, you idiot,” one of the Equites said, laughing.

Cody’s eyes narrowed, “Then she is more of a traitor than I thought.”

Alexis walked over to Allen, and they left the trial area.

Emily shrugged, “I’m sure Devin would agree with you. However, he was blind to the reality of the species. They are warm, and caring, and compassionate…”

“Then you are brainwashed,” Larry said sadly.

“I’m brainwashed?” she asked him.

“Yes, you are,” Larry told her.

“I blame Zohn.”

“How did I get dragged into this?” Zohn asked, somewhat amused.

“Because I don’t like you,” Emily reminded him.

“Of course,” Zohn said, and stood up. “Let’s get on with this… next.”

A female heku stepped forward. She was only a few inches shorter than the male heku, and had broad shoulders and a stocky build, “I’m Liv. I was in the Shiaoshang Coven with my husband when we were both taken.”

Emily could see the dread in her eyes, the fear of telling everyone in that room what experiment she had been through.

“Wait,” Emily said, and stood up. The room was so quiet that her bare feet padding across the floor was the only sound that could be heard. She took Liv’s hand, and the hand of one of the Encala, and led them out of the trial area.

“Where is she going?” Zohn asked Chevalier.

Chevalier shrugged, “Who knows.”

Emily led the two heku out into the stables where they could talk privately, and she turned to them.

“I didn’t tell them about your experiment,” Emily said.

Liv looked relieved, “They will force us to tell.”

“It was degrading, and shameful,” the Encala said. “I appreciate you not saying anything, but our superiors can force us to tell them what happened.”

“You shouldn’t have to tell them. It wasn’t pain, it was humiliation,” Emily said. “I’ll deal with it, ok?”

“I appreciate your help, but we will have to tell the Council,” Liv said.

“Just let me do the talking,” Emily said, and headed back inside, followed by the heku, who were unsure if her idea would work.

They walked into the trial area, and everyone turned to look at them. The heku each returned to their faction and Emily went up to the council area.

“Soo… what’s going on?” Quinn asked her.

“I need to meet with all of the Elders for a moment,” Emily said, and headed out the back door to the Council’s conference room.

Emily sat down in a chair and was soon joined by the three Equites Elders, Sotomar, and William.

Emily sighed, “Those two shouldn’t need to testify.”

“It’s required that all involved tell their story,” Sotomar explained.

“Their story, what happened to them, isn’t going to affect the outcome… it’s not like you’re going to set these men free any time soon, and therefore, I’m begging you to let these two keep their silence,” Emily said.

“Why is this so important to you?” William asked. “You don’t know them.”

“It doesn’t matter if I know them or not. No one should be forced to give details of their humiliation at the hands of monsters,” Emily said, her voice was tense and passionate.

“Tradition dictates we make them tell us,” Sotomar told her.

“What can I do to make it so they don’t have to?” Emily asked, and then looked at each of them.

“I don’t believe I have a say, neither of them is Valle,” Sotomar said. “I have no authority to force them to do anything.”

“There is nothing you can say that will force me not to elicit a story from the Encala,” William said, irritated.

Emily took William’s hand and looked into his eyes, “Please don’t do this. Don’t force them to tell you something that shouldn’t be shared with anyone.”

William glanced quickly at Chevalier and then back to Emily, “Tradition says…”

“Screw tradition this once… and please, for me, leave them alone,” she whispered, and the other Elders were shocked when William’s face softened.

“Agree to visit the Encala palace, and I will do as you ask,” William said, watching her.

“What? No,” Chevalier growled.

“Fine,” Emily told him. “I’ll agree to a visit.”

“You can’t let her fall into the hands of the Encala,” Sotomar said to Chevalier.

Emily frowned, “He’d be stupid to do anything. He knows I can wipe out the entire palace. I agree.”

Chevalier growled.

“We don’t need you to visit, and I want to hear everything these mortals did to our kind,” Zohn said.

“What’s it going to take, Zohn?” Emily asked, looking directly at him.

“She just spent 3 months away from her children to help this species. We shouldn’t ask for more than that,” Quinn said softly.

“Name it, Zohn,” Emily said.

“No fair,” Zohn told her. “If I cave, then I’m weak. If I don’t cave, then you’ll hate me worse.”

“Then name it, you’d rather be hated than weak.”

“Agree to guards again,” Zohn said, narrowing his eyes.

“And?”

“That’s it…”

“That can’t be all, that’s too easy.”

Zohn grinned, “Now you owe me one.”

Emily nodded, “I owe you one.”

“Then it’s settled, we skip the testimony of the two,” Quinn said.

Emily smiled and stood up to head back into the council chambers. The Equites went in the back door while William and Sotomar went to the front entrance.

Before sitting down, Emily addressed the heku, “The statement of those two will not be heard.”

Liv mouthed a thank you to Emily.

“That’s it for the experiments,” Zohn said. “The rest of the heku will be represented in the kidnapping trial, but won’t be included in the torture. As we’ve seen, most of them were not tortured in any way, only confined against their will.”

“Just kill us and get it over with,” Cody said.

“Emily.” Zohn turned to her and her eyes grew wide, “Are there any charges you need to add?”

Emily relaxed some, “No.”

“The verdict will come down from the Elders then,” Zohn said. “We will meet in the conference room and return with our decision.”

Emily watched as William, Sotomar, and the three Equites Elders left the room. She turned back to the heku and smiled slightly.

Cody dug in his coat pocket when his cell phone rang.

“I want it,” Emily said, and a Thukil guard blurred to Cody and then appeared in front of her with the phone. “Thanks.”

Emily opened the phone, “Hello?”

“It’s Madison,” Emily said. “Yes, his fiancé.”

“Help!” Cody yelled, but was suddenly restrained and his mouth was covered by an Encala.

“He’s busy, can I take a message?”

Emily grinned, “All of them? How can all of the computers be down?”

Cody fought against the Encala and Larry watched her, afraid to speak.

“I see. Well… no, I don’t think we’re coming back,” Emily told the man on the phone.

“Really? Every one of the American V.E.S. leaders will be there?” Emily grabbed the paper from Chevalier’s desk and started writing on it.

“Yeah, I’ll tell him as soon as he’s done,” she said, and smiled. “Sure, I’ll tell him… ok… bye.”

She hurried and copied the information down on three more pieces of paper, “Here we go… information for the American V.E.S. Conference.”

“Nice, Em,” Exavior said, laughing.

Emily took the stairs down to the trial area and handed a copy to Mark, one copy to an Encala General, and gave the other to Exavior, “There, now we can all get together and call it an open bar.”

The heku were all looking at the papers Emily handed out, and missed the swift movement when Larry leapt from the floor and slammed into her, knocking her to the floor as he punched her. The Equites saw what happened first, and Larry found himself in the air as one of them tore him off of her and threw him into the middle of the rest of the Cavalry.

Exavior knelt down beside Emily, “Are you ok?”

Emily held her head in her hands and nodded slightly, “Just give me a sec.”

“Heku out!” Mark yelled, and the trial area emptied out suddenly, except for Mark, Silas, Kralen, and Exavior.

Emily tried to sit up, but Mark held her down, “Don’t move yet.”

“Can you be around her blood?” Kralen asked Exavior.

“I have control,” Exavior hissed at him.

“Don’t fight, I’m ok,” Emily said, and flexed her jaw.

“Where is it?” Mark asked, and felt along Emily’s head. He drew his fingers back, and they were covered in blood.

“I think it’s just the stitches,” Emily told him, and sat up slowly.

“Let me see,” Dr. Cook said from behind her.

“Hey, who called him?” Emily asked, and tried to get up, but four sets of hands held her down while the doctor pushed her hair aside.

“The stitches tore open. I’ll have to redo them,” Dr. Cook said. He brought out the syringe and Mark grabbed Emily into a tight bear hug.

“Let me go!” Emily growled, and then screamed when the doctor injected her with the anesthetic. She fought against Mark as the doctor re-did the stitches.

“Let her go,” Exavior growled, and crouched slightly.

“Back off, she’s fine,” Silas hissed, matching Exavior’s crouch.

Emily stopped fighting and leaned her forehead onto Mark’s shoulder. Her head was pounding, and it felt good to lay it down for a few minutes. The standoff continued behind her, but her head began to swim and she ignored the threats and growls from the heku.

The doctor finished and handed Mark a few pain pills before leaving. Mark held Emily as he watched Silas and Exavior closely.

“What’s going on?” Sotomar growled, stepping into the trial area.

“Silas, stand down,” Chevalier said, jumping over the Council’s desk and landing beside them in the trial area.

Exavior stood up, “You have no right to restrain her when she says to stop.”

“She’s none of your concern,” Silas growled, and stood up.

“What happened?” Chevalier asked, pushing the hair back away from Emily’s face. He hissed softly when he saw the bruise forming on her jaw.

Kralen filled the Elders in quickly as Mark led Emily to her chair and handed her the pills with some juice.

“I don’t want those,” Emily said, pushing the pills away.

“Take’em, Em,” Chevalier said from down by the others.

Emily didn’t feel like fighting, so she took the pills and downed them with the juice, then leaned her head back on the chair while the Elders were fully filled in on what happened in their absence, and the other heku moved back into the trial area.

Sotomar turned angrily to Exavior, “How does a mortal get to the Winchester before you can stop him?”

“We were looking at the paper,” Exavior said, frowning.

“That’s what I want to know! How one slow mortal has the chance to body slam Emily before heku can get to them?” Quinn growled.

“It was my fault. Leave them alone,” Emily said, and looked over at them.

“I’m not done with you,” Sotomar yelled, and walked back to the rest of the Valle.

Emily leaned her head back again and waited for the trial to resume. She heard snarls and hisses as Cody and Larry were brought back in. Larry was only partially conscious and was covered in dark black bruises. The blood caked on his shirt came from numerous cuts on his face, and one eye was swollen shut.

“Order…” Zohn yelled, and the room fell quiet. “The Elders have decided on a verdict. The recent assault on Emily will be considered later.”

“She deserved it,” Cody snapped.

“Shut up!” Zohn growled. “We found you guilty on all charges.”

Cody laughed, “Of course you did. This entire trial is biased.”

“Punishment will be as follows,” Chevalier said, standing up. “The Elders have decided to house the mortals here in Council City’s prison for the span of 10 years, at which time they will be handed over to the Valle for 10 years, followed by the rest of their lives with the Encala.”

“This is all insanity!” Cody yelled.

“They are to be fed, given water and any amenities that will further their lives, to ensure each faction gets their due,” Chevalier explained. “They will not be interrogated further, unless more charges come forward.”

“The Valle agrees to this verdict, and the stipulations for the punishment,” Sotomar said.

“As do we,” William said. “The Encala agree.”

Chevalier nodded and sat down.

“What about charges for the latest attack?” Exavior asked, still angry.

“The assault was carried out by Larry, how do you plead?” Quinn asked, looking down at the disoriented man.

Larry looked at Cody, confused as to what was going on.

“He can’t even talk. He should be tried later when he can defend himself,” Cody said.

“Is that ok with Lady Emily?” Quinn asked.

All eyes fell on Emily as she slept in her chair. Her breathing was slow and deep, and her blood had the scent of medication.

“What did he give her?” Quinn asked, frowning.

Mark shrugged, “I didn’t ask, I just gave them to her.”

Chevalier chuckled, “I think she’s ok with postponing the assault trial.”

“I call it postponed then, everyone is free to go,” Quinn said.

Chevalier stood and picked Emily up out of her chair, and cradled her gently in his arms. He pressed his lips softly to her forehead and left the council chambers, still chuckling softly.

Chapter 11 - Island Coven

“I love you, Maddie,” Cody said, and kissed her passionately, wrapping his arms around her.

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach as she pretended to love him.

She felt his hands slip under her shirt and start to unfasten her bra, so she pulled away from him.

“No,” she said, and pushed against his shoulders.

“Don’t tell me no,” Keith yelled as Cody turned into her ex-husband.

Emily pushed frantically at Chevalier’s arms. The fight surprised him, and he let go of her as she scrambled away from him and fell onto the floor.

Chevalier looked over the edge of the bed, “Are you ok?”

Emily nodded, but stayed on the floor and looked up at the ceiling.

He reached a hand down to help her up, but she just looked at him.

“I felt like I was cheating on you,” Emily told him.

“You weren’t,” he said, still watching over the side of the bed.

“He kept wanting more.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Emily turned back to the ceiling, deep in thought for a few minutes.

“He started to get mad when I said no.”

Chevalier nodded.

Emily grinned suddenly, “Mortal men are so easy to manipulate.”

He chuckled, “I don’t think it’s just mortals… now get off the floor.”

Emily got up off of the floor and slid back under the warm covers. She pulled close to Chevalier and laid her head on his arm.

“I don’t remember the end of the trial,” she told him.

“They were found guilty,” Chevalier told her.

Emily smiled slightly, “That much I figured.”

“We split up their sentence, 10 years here, 10 with the Valle, and they finish their lives with the Encala.”

Emily sighed, “I can’t get the ring to stay on.”

“That’s because I have to put it on you to get it to stay… you’re the one that broke the bond, so I’m the forgiver,” he explained.

“What? I didn’t though,” Emily said, panicked.

Chevalier reached over and grabbed the ring off of the bedside table, and slipped it back onto her finger. She felt the familiar weight as it sealed back into place.

“Stop getting engaged and it won’t happen again.”

“But I…” Emily’s words were cut off by Chevalier’s lips.

Allen cleared his throat as he stepped out of Alexis’ room.

Emily turned toward him, “Good morning.”

“Carry on, just taking her down for breakfast,” he said, and ushered Alexis out of the room.

Emily looked at Chevalier, “That’s just wrong that he knows…”

“You have to stop looking at him like a 10-year-old,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Well… he is 10.”

“Not entirely,” he said, and then cocked his head to the side slightly.

“Seriously?” Emily asked. “We just spent an entire day in trials, and now they want you back?”

Chevalier grinned, “Never a dull moment.”

“I’m staying in bed today,” Emily said, and rolled over onto her side.

Chevalier kissed the top of her head and then left in a blur.

She burrowed deeper into the bed. It felt incredible after the hard bed with scratchy sheets she had on the compound. The palace was also a lot quieter than the constant noise of the compound, with the sirens and drill alerts.

“Emily?”

Emily sat bolt upright in bed and pulled the covers up. She looked, wide eyed at the familiar, “Sam?”

Sam smiled, “It’s not that easy to kill a familiar.”

“Where have you been?” Emily whispered, frowning.

“I gave you time to forgive me.”

“You’ve been gone for years… where were you?”

“Watching over you.”

“Mark!” Emily called out.

Mark and Kralen appeared in her room, “What’s up, Em?”

Emily turned around and looked where Sam had been, but he was gone.

Mark growled and crouched slightly when the scent caught him, “I killed him!”

“I thought so, too,” Emily said, and scrambled out of bed. She threw on a robe and then looked under the bed.

“Who are we looking for?” Kralen asked, crouching slightly.

“Where did he go?” Mark asked, and started going through her room.

“I don’t know,” Emily told him, standing up from the floor.

“What’s that smell?” Kralen asked, wrinkling his nose.

“It’s a cat, find it,” Emily told him.

Kralen nodded and started going through the closets and adjoining rooms.

“Sam, I order you to come here this instant,” Emily said, and Mark turned towards her to wait for him.

After a few minutes, Emily sighed, “Why isn’t he following my orders?”

“His scent is fading. He’s not here anymore,” Mark told her.

“A window was open in Alexis’ room,” Kralen said, coming back out.

“I killed him,” Mark said again.

“He said it’s hard to kill a familiar, and that he’s been watching over me for years,” Emily told them.

“That’s highly disturbing, let’s get the Elders involved,” Mark said.

“No!” Emily put her hand on his arm. “Let’s not.”

“If this is the cat I’m thinking of, they need to know he’s back,” Kralen said. “He turned traitor by going to the Encala.”

“Can I order you?”

“Can you order them to what?” Quinn asked, stepping into her room.

“I order you two not to tell,” Emily said quickly, unsure if it would even work. “Let me handle it.”

Mark and Kralen nodded and returned to their posts outside of her bedroom door.

“You do realize that I can order them to tell me, I outrank you,” Quinn told her.

“Please don’t, just let me do this,” Emily asked.

“Is it dangerous?”

“No… just personal.”

“Very well, but I could change my mind if I feel it’s necessary.”

Emily smiled, “Thank you.”

Quinn turned to leave.

“Wait,” Emily said, frowning. “Why did you come?”

Quinn smiled, “To see why you frantically called for Mark.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“That you said it was personal.”

“Thank you,” Emily said, and then shut and locked the door when he left. She quickly got dressed. It was nice to be back in jeans and a t-shirt that fit, and she slipped on her cowboy boots, then tied her hair up and went to get her gun, but it was missing. She remembered that Zohn took it from Exavior the day before.

Emily headed out of her room and heard footsteps behind her on the stairs. She turned to face the two strange heku guards.

“Who are you?” she asked, frowning.

“The Cavalry has training today, we’re your guards,” the shorter one told her.

“Good news, you get the day off.”

“No, Ma’am, Elder’s orders.”

Emily frowned and ran down to the back of the council chambers. The Council all glanced at her quickly, and then turned back to a group of heku in the trial area.

Emily walked over and knelt down by Zohn. He turned to look at her.

“I need my gun back,” she whispered.

Zohn reached into his pocket and pulled out the black 9mm and handed it to her. The Council chambers fell quiet while the Council all watched them.

Emily pulled the slide back and put her hand out, “Bullets, too.”

Zohn frowned and handed her a handful of bullets.

“Now call off the guards for a few hours,” Emily whispered.

Zohn raised an eyebrow, “No.”

“Come on, just two hours.”

“You said it wasn’t dangerous,” Quinn reminded her.

“It’s not, just… please…”

“No,” Zohn said again, and glanced at Chevalier, who shrugged.

“Zohn…”

“No”

“Fine,” Emily hissed, and then walked out, slamming the door behind her. The guards immediately fell in behind her as she went out to the stables. They watched as she brushed, bridled, and then put a saddle onto the sleek brown thoroughbred, Keith’s fastest racing horse.

Emily deftly slid into the saddle and smiled at her guards, “Ready for a run?”

They nodded, and Emily walked the stallion out of the stables. She brought him up to a canter through the city. There were too many twists and turns to get the racing stallion into full speed in the city, but she knew that out in the open, she would be able to outrun the guards easily.

It had been 3 months since Emily was on a horse, but she quickly fell back into it and was soon running through the open meadow, ducked low to help pick up speed, while her heku guards fell behind. She hit the trees at over 40mph and let the horse go, taking whichever path he wanted to through the winding paths of the woods.

Emily emerged on the other side of the trees and led the still galloping horse down through the open field toward the road. There, she headed back along the shoulder of the road, her guards long gone. When she reached the other set of woods to the east of the palace, she slowed the horse down and followed the familiar path back to the Durango. Sam was already waiting in the passenger’s seat for her.

Emily dismounted and tied the stallion to a tree before sliding into the driver’s seat and shutting the door.

She turned toward the familiar, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” Sam said calmly. “When Mark shot me, it was a sign that you didn’t currently want me around, so when I healed, I kept watch over you from a distance.”

“The entire time?”

“Yes, the entire time, even during your two months away, though…” Sam frowned slightly. “I couldn’t come to the V.E.S. compound, so the last three months I waited for you here.”

“You just… watched me?”

“Yes”

“Then before that… how dare you go to the Encala about me,” Emily whispered, harshly.

“I apologize for that. I truly believed they could help you.”

“You betrayed me.”

“No, I told them nothing that could hurt you. Everything I told them would have helped, had you taken their offer.”

“They are the enemy. You going to them at all was betrayal.”

Sam shrugged, “Not if I had your best interest at heart.”

“So why come out now?” Emily asked. “Why not stay in hiding?”

“I thought it’d been long enough,” he told her.

“You don’t think Chevalier is going to have issues with this?” Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I know he will.”

Emily sighed, “Can you get onto Island Coven unnoticed?”

“Yes, I’ve done it before.”

***

“Sir,” one of Emily’s guards said, walking up to the Council as they visited outside of the palace.

Chevalier grinned, “She ditched you.”

The guard nodded and looked at Zohn nervously.

“Damnit,” Zohn scowled.

“Now come on… even I saw that coming,” Dustin said. Dustin was the new Coven Liaison Officer from Powan.

“How, exactly, did she get away?” Zohn asked, ignoring how Quinn and Chevalier chuckled.

“She went out on horse. We thought we could keep up, but that’s one fast horse,” the other guard said anxiously.

“She has a horse than can outrun a heku?” Zohn asked, frowning.

Kyle grinned, “Those horses she inherited from her ex-husband are racing horses. They can run faster than any of us.”

“Where did she go?” Zohn asked them.

“We lost her outside of town. She was headed out west,” the guard told him.

“How long ago?”

“It’s been about two hours ago. We’ve been looking for her, but her scent cleared out quickly with the wind.”

“When you find her, send her to my office,” Zohn hissed, and headed back inside.

“We’ll go back out,” the guard said softly.

“No use, here she comes,” Kyle said, watching out to the east.

They all turned and saw Emily racing back into the city. She pulled the stallion into a trot as she approached them. She wasn’t sure if she was in trouble or not, and stopped in front of the waiting heku.

“What’s up?” Emily asked, biting her lip slightly.

“Elder Zohn wants to see you in his office,” the shorter guard said, irritated.

Emily frowned, “How bad?”

Chevalier chuckled, “We’ll go with you, come on.”

“I’ll take the horse. I want to see just how fast he can go,” Kyle said, taking the reins.

Emily slid off of the horse and took Chevalier’s hand. She smiled slightly at Quinn, and they all headed in to Zohn’s office. She held tightly to Chevalier’s arm as he knocked, and then opened the door when Zohn called to them.

“Sit,” Zohn said, and leaned back in his throne-like office chair.

Emily sat down and took a deep breath, “Let me have it.”

Zohn sighed, “I thought we had a deal.”

“We did, and I’m sorry, but I needed some time alone.”

“What part of agreeing to guards did you not understand?” Zohn asked.

“What’s up with you and guards? Why do I even need guards?”

“Because you do. Now... how can we rectify this?”

“Easy, I’m going back to the island for a while,” Emily told him.

“You are?” Chevalier asked.

Emily nodded, “My arm hurts, my hand hurts, and my head hurts. I just want to lie around, and swim in the pool for a while. Stress free…”

Chevalier smiled, “I like that idea.”

“I’ll send a handful of guards with you then,” Zohn said.

“Since when do I need guards on the island?”

“She really doesn’t,” Chevalier said. “It’s safe there.”

“It’s one to one… Quinn?” Zohn asked, his eyes turning furious.

“I think that after three months on the compound, she needs a relaxing vacation, and I’m ok to let Chevalier’s coven take care of her for a while,” Quinn said.

Emily looked at Zohn, “When I get back, the guards are on. I promise.”

“It’s trouble, if you ask me, you alone in Island Coven,” Zohn told them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emily asked, standing up.

“It means…” Zohn said, standing also. “That you attract trouble, and need to be watched at all times.”

“I do not,” Emily growled, and took a step forward.

“I’ll help you pack,” Chevalier said, stepping in front of her.

“And we need to go over new recruits for the Cavalry,” Quinn said, stepping toward Zohn.

“New recruits?” Emily asked, looking up at Chevalier.

“Yes, we’re talking about expanding the stables and doubling the Cavalry,” Chevalier explained to her.

“Do I get to help?”

“Of course, no one else can teach the horse parts.”

“Sweet, for now though… island,” Emily told him, and headed out of Zohn’s office. Chevalier glanced once at Quinn and then followed her out.

***

Emily stretched and rolled over in the soft bed, she opened her eyes and saw that the table already held a pot of coffee and several types of muffins. She smiled at the smell of the salt air, and the quietness of the island, and slowly got out of bed.

“Alexis?” Emily called out.

“She is down having breakfast,” Anna said from the doorway.

Emily nodded and sat down by the fire for a cup of coffee. She grabbed a muffin after getting dressed, and headed out into the antechamber.

“Good morning, Lady Emily,” Anna said, smiling.

“Anna, I need to know where Chevalier’s interrogation room is.”

Anna frowned, “I’m not sure he wants you to know.”

“I know he has one. If Quinn has one, then Chev does, just tell me where it is.”

“Maybe I should ask the Elder,” Anna said, frowning.

Emily sighed, “Never mind, I’ll find it by myself.”

“Shall I get the child ready to swim?” The change of subject seemed to brighten Anna’s mood.

“In a bit. I want to go out for a little while,” Emily said, and headed out of the room and down the stairs. She stopped in to check on Alexis, but she was engrossed in a movie with a few of the castle guards, so she kissed her and then went down into the prison.

“Who are you?” one of the guards growled at her.

Emily frowned, “Stand down. I am ok to be here.”

“A mortal in the castle? I don’t think so, Sweetheart. Get back up the stairs and leave this island,” he said haughtily.

“Excuse me?” Emily asked, shocked.

The other guard smiled, “Walk that tight little ass of yours back up the stairs, and leave.”

“Maybe she’s here as a present,” the tallest guard said, and grabbed Emily’s butt.

“Stop it!” Emily yelled, and moved away from them. “I’m Chevalier’s wife.”

“No you’re not,” the tallest guard said, laughing. “This must be a joke, the Elder’s wife isn’t this hot, and she’s older. You must be a donor then, who sent you?”

“I’m not a donor,” Emily said, backing into the corner as they stepped towards her. She didn’t want to burn them, and didn’t want to call for help because she needed to talk to David alone, “I’m Chevalier’s wife, and I seriously suggested you back off.”

“Ooooh, she’s a little spitfire,” the shorter guard said. He blurred the rest of the way to Emily, and then ran his nose up her neck, “Damn you smell good.”

“Get away from me,” Emily yelled, and pushed against him with her good arm.

“Did Gary send you?” he asked her, and pressed his lips against hers. His hand slowly followed up her waist and landed on her breast as she tried to push him away.

Emily’s eyes were wide as he pulled away from her slightly, and exposed his teeth. He slowly leaned toward her neck.

“Storm!” Emily screamed as his teeth pressed against her neck.

“Stop!” Storm yelled, and the guard looked up at her, surprised.

“Why?” he asked her, still pinning Emily to the wall.

Storm spoke through clenched teeth, “Stop fondling the Elder’s wife.”

The guard drew his hands back suddenly and stood up, “What?”

“If I’m not mistaken,” Storm said, placing herself between Emily and the guard. “You were also about to feed from her.”

“She’s… she’s the Elder’s wife?” the guard asked, his eyes showed the terror building.

“I told you that!” Emily said angrily.

“Both of you report to the Captain, immediately,” Storm said. “Send for replacements before leaving the door.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they both said, and moved back to their posts, looking straight forward.

“Are you ok?” Storm asked Emily.

Emily nodded, “I’m sorry. I thought they all knew me.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you were a donor, the second you told them to back off, they should have,” Storm said, glaring at the guards angrily.

“How did you know all of that?” Emily asked.

“They just told me what happened,” Storm said. “It’ll be easier than hiding any of it.”

Two new guards walked down the stairs, and the two trouble guards moved up the stairs slowly.

Emily sighed, “I don’t suppose we can keep this from Chev?”

“Not a chance, it’s too serious of an offense,” Storm said. She walked past the guards, and they saluted her and turned back toward the prison.

“Peachy,” Emily said, and walked over to David’s cell.

“Emily!” David said, surprised to see her. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Emily said, and moved up against the bars and whispered. “Come closer.”

David moved to the bars and touched her hand softly.

“Where is Chevalier’s interrogation room?” Emily whispered.

David frowned, “Why do you want to know?”

“Please just tell me,” Emily said. “I need to know.”

“There’s a secret door by his office… you touch the stone three up from the floor on the left, and it slides the bookshelf back,” David told her.

Emily nodded, “He’s had you in there?”

“Yes,” David said softly. “Why are you going?”

“I may not be, is the door heavy?”

“Yes”

“Can you open it?”

David nodded, “Yes.”

“Can I open it?”

“I doubt it.”

“What would the castle guards do if I wanted to take you in there?” Emily asked.

David smiled slightly, “You planning on interrogating me?”

“No… what would they say?”

“They aren’t going to let you in there. They’ll tell Storm, and she’ll tell the Elder.”

Emily nodded, “I figured.”

David touched her arm lightly, “What’s up?”

“How can I kill a familiar?” Emily asked him.

“I’ve never been around one, just kill him.”

“I tried that, and he came back,” Emily told him. “Shot him in the head.”

“You did?” David asked, shocked.

“Well, no, I had him shot.”

David grinned, “I figured. Maybe you can’t kill him.”

Emily nodded and headed back toward the stairs.

“I still love you,” David said, reaching out for her.

“I know,” Emily said, and passed the guards, headed up the stairs.

“Lady Emily?” Storm said, walking up with her customary clipboard.

“Yes?”

“The Elder will be here in two hours, he’s flying in immediately.”

Emily sighed, “I take it he’s not coming because he’s missed me after being gone for a week?”

“No, he’s furious over the actions of the prison guards,” Storm told her.

“That was a joke. I know why he’s coming.”

“The child is still watching movies,” Anna said, walking up to them.

“I’m going for a swim then,” Emily said, and headed up the stairs. The last thing she wanted was another trial, but she knew Chevalier would want them punished for how they treated her. She understood why, he had to put a tighter hold on his coven when he left for the palace. It was more important now than before that they follow his orders implicitly.

Emily threw on her bikini and walked quickly down to the pool. She had ditched the arm sling the day before, but hadn’t been able to take off the hand brace yet. She slipped it off just before climbing into the warm water, and then leaned back to float in the peacefully quiet room.

“I came as requested,” Sam said, kneeling down beside the pool.

Emily rolled over and swam up to the side of the pool, “What am I going to do about you?”

Sam shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“First you kept Allen’s change from me, then you let the Encala burn my ranch and kill my horses, and then you betrayed me to them,” Emily said, and swam over to the ladder. She crawled out of the pool and wrapped a warm towel around her.

“I would never do anything to hurt you, I’m not able,” Sam told her.

Emily sat down on the lounge chair, and leaned back, “You already have, numerous times. How can keeping Allen’s blood drinking from us help me?”

“You weren’t ready to accept it.”

“It’s not something you can prepare for. You made it worse by waiting until he attacked me.”

“That was a mistake on my part,” Sam said.

“I can’t trust you,” Emily said. “Ever.”

“I can’t leave you, we’re bound by blood.”

“So basically, you don’t care what I want, as long as you do what you think is right for me?”

“Yes”

“So what’s next on your agenda for my benefit?”

“It’s time you leave the heku,” Sam told her.

“You want me to leave Chev?”

“All of them, it’s time for you to go back into the mortal world.”

“Sure, why not? I can supply the kids with enough blood to survive. I’ll go pack.”

“I didn’t say you should take the kids,” Sam said.

Emily sat up, “So you think I need to abandon my kids, leave my husband, and move back into the mortal world?”

“It’s what’s best for you. Your children aren’t mortal, and you are.”

“Tell me how to get rid of you.”

“You can’t, we’re…”

“I know, bound by blood,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“I wish you would trust me as much as Lord Ulrich did.”

“I don’t trust you at all.”

“You know I’m right. You know you don’t belong in this world. Look how much abuse you’ve taken over the last 13 years,” Sam said softly.

“I don’t belong in the mortal world either. My children aren’t mortal, and I belong with them.”

“Those children shouldn’t be. They aren’t natural and shouldn’t have happened.”

Emily shook her head, surprised, “What?”

“If you care about yourself at all, you’ll leave the kids, leave the heku, and get out while you still can,” Sam told her.

“Maybe she’s not the only one that should get out while they can,” Kyle said, leaning against the door.

“How long have you been there?” Sam asked, standing up defensively.

“Long enough to have quite a report for the Elder,” Kyle said, grinning.

“I have no say in what he chooses to do,” Emily told him. “He does what he thinks is best for me, and doesn’t care what I want.”

“We’ll see about that,” Kyle said. “Em, Chevalier wants you in his office.”

Emily nodded and slipped her hand brace back on before heading for the door, “What about Sam?”

“We’ll take him with,” Kyle said, motioning for Sam to follow.

“Come on, Sam, time to face the Elder,” Emily said, heading for Chevalier’s office.

Emily knocked softly on his door.

“Come in, Em,” Chevalier called out.

Emily stepped in and smiled slightly, then moved to the side so Sam could enter. Chevalier stood up and growled.

“Guess who I found?” Emily said, and sat down.

“I thought we killed you,” Chevalier hissed.

Kyle came in and shut the door, “Apparently… he healed.”

“He’s been watching me in private,” Emily said, wrinkling her nose.

“You are banned from turning into a cat,” Chevalier told him, and Sam glared. “Kyle, take him to prison.”

Kyle grabbed Sam roughly and hauled him out of Chevalier’s office. Emily shut and locked the door behind him, and then dropped her towel. She crawled into Chevalier’s lap, facing him, and kissed him softly.

“Took you long enough to join me,” she told him, and then kissed slowly down to his neck.

“And I thought you needed some alone time,” Chevalier said, and untied her bikini top.

***

Chevalier kissed Emily’s shoulder softly. She leaned back against him and put her feet up on his desk.

“Ever wish we could move back here?” she asked, and pulled his cape off of the desk to pull over her.

“Mmhmm.” Chevalier moved Emily’s hair aside and started to lightly kiss her neck.

She gently ran her nails up the outside of his thighs, “Or will you just agree to anything I ask right now, so I don’t get up?”

“Exactly,” he chuckled, and bit lightly at the nape of her neck.

“Can you stay for a while?”

“Afraid not, as soon as I take care of the guards, then I have to go,” he told her.

“Storm said you’re pretty mad.”

“Furious,” he said, and went back to kissing her neck.

Emily shivered and grinned, “Maybe I should get you mad more often.”

“So… how close did he come to feeding?” Chevalier asked, and looked at her neck.

Emily turned in his lap to face him and pressed her body against his.

“About this close,” she whispered, and ran her teeth along the vein in his neck, and turned her bite into a soft kiss.

Chevalier ran his fingertips lightly up her back, “I see.”

There was a knock on his office door, “Sir, they are ready,” Storm said.

“Be right there,” Chevalier called out.

“Tell her you’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Emily whispered, and flicked his earlobe with her tongue.

Chevalier brought her face to his and kissed her softly.

She pulled away from him and sighed, “You’re going, huh?”

Chevalier nodded and Emily let him up. She watched him get dressed as she wrapped in his cape. He turned and looked at her, “You’re coming.”

Emily frowned, “No I’m not.”

Chevalier pulled her to her feet and kissed the top of her head, “I need you down there. Get dressed and meet me in the courtroom.”

“I’ve been through enough trials in the last month already,” Emily said, and then slipped her bikini on after Chevalier headed to court.

She went upstairs and put on a light green summer dress. She decided against shoes and headed down to the courtroom.

Emily blushed slightly when everyone turned to look at her as she walked into the room. She ignored the eyes on her and walked down the aisle, then headed up to the top platform. Kyle stood up and moved to the side, so she could sit down between Storm and Chevalier. Emily smiled slightly when she saw Chevalier’s eyes follow down the length of her body as she sat down. He chuckled slightly and turned back to the trial.

“I approve your request to join Island Coven,” Chevalier said to the six heku standing before him. “You’ll be on probation for the first fifty years. One tiny infraction and you’ll be sentenced.”

“Yes, Sir,” the tallest heku said, and glanced at Emily quickly before turning back to Chevalier.

“You may go,” Chevalier said.

Storm stood up, “Now that the Lady has joined us, we call forward prison guards Cole and Chad.”

The two guards Emily had problems with earlier stepped forward, along with the guard’s Captain.

“I’m not sure what’s more disturbing,” Chevalier said, his voice furious. “The fact that you thought you could fondle and then feed off of my wife…”

He paused while the gathered heku gasped and talked quickly among themselves. Emily blushed when they looked at her and felt Kyle’s hand on her shoulder.

“Or that you thought she was a donor, and when she said to leave her alone… you didn’t,” Chevalier finished.

“I thought it was a joke, Sir. I had no idea she is your wife,” Cole explained.

“Did she tell you who she is?” Chevalier asked.

Cole sighed, “Yes, she did.”

“And what did you say to that?”

“I said she couldn’t be your wife because your wife isn’t that hot, and she’s older.”

“I see…” Chevalier said, and Emily glanced at him, surprised at the shadow that crossed his face.

“Let’s start with her walking down into the prison,” Storm said. “What is the correct procedure if an uninvited donor walks into the prison?”

Chad glanced at his Captain and then spoke, “We’re to escort the mortal back up the stairs and remove them from the donor list.”

“Is that what you did?” Storm asked.

“No, Ma’am,” Chad said.

“What did you do then, in lieu of policy?”

Chad grimaced, “I told her to walk her tight little ass back up the stairs and leave.”

“And…” Storm prompted.

“And then I…” Cole sighed and looked down at the floor. “Then I grabbed her ass.”

Chevalier’s hands balled into tight fists, “What exactly made you think that was ok?”

“Nothing, Sir,” Cole said.

“Then what happened?” Storm asked them.

“I didn’t know who she is. I thought Gary sent her as a joke,” Chad said.

“Then what did you do?” Storm asked again.

“Damnit, then I savored her a bit and decided to feed,” Chad said, glancing nervously at his Captain.

“At any time did she tell you to stop?” Storm asked.

Kyle squeezed Emily’s shoulders lightly.

“Yes, Ma’am, she did.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I told you,” Chad said. “I thought the whole thing was a joke.”

“Were you aware that the Elder married a mortal?” Storm asked him.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Were you aware that she visits the island?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Do you often,” Storm asked, now sounding angry, “Feed from a mortal that has asked you not to?”

“No!” Chad said anxiously. “Never.”

“Captain? Do you have anything to add?” Storm asked him.

“No, there is no defense for that,” the Captain said.

“Lady Emily?” Storm asked.

Emily jumped slightly and looked at up her with wide eyes, “What?”

“Do you have anything to add?”

“No”

“We didn’t miss anything?”

“No,” Emily lied, but couldn’t stop the deep blush from creeping into her cheeks.

Chevalier turned his chair toward her and whispered, “What are you leaving out?”

“Nothing,” she whispered back.

Chevalier reached out and touched her arm softly, and Emily saw the blank look cross his face as the entire incident flew through her mind and she knew he could see it. He drew his hand back and turned, even more infuriated, toward the guards.

Emily cringed and glanced at Storm. If Kyle’s hands weren’t on her shoulders, she would have left before the punishments were handed down.

“I have never seen such disobedience from members of my coven,” Chevalier growled. “I expect complete compliance with any rules set forth by me, and the lack of regard of those rules will be dealt with harshly.”

Emily saw the terrified looks on the faces of the guards.

“Is this what happens when I’m gone?” Chevalier yelled at Storm.

“No, Sir,” Storm said, standing tall and looking at the guards.

“Do I need to find a babysitter to come and watch over the coven in my absence?”

“No, Sir,” Storm told him.

“If I need to make an example out of you two, then so be it,” Chevalier said. Emily thought briefly about asking him to calm down, but the look on his face was too full of rage and she turned back to the guards.

“Punishment is death,” Chevalier growled. “Because it was my wife, then I will do it, myself.”

Emily tried to stand up to leave, but Kyle held her down. She was finding it hard to breathe, and the room was shrinking in on her as the heku watched Chevalier beside her.

“Captain,” Chevalier hissed. “You’re demoted to guard. If you can’t keep better track of how your guards follow the policies, then you don’t belong in command.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Captain said.

“I’m leaving in the morning, and I’m putting Mark and Emily in charge of this coven until I return,” Chevalier hissed. “One little toe out of line and you’ll be killed. Is that clear?”

Emily’s body tensed. She knew he was furious, but she couldn’t understand how he could put her in charge.

“Clear this room… guards, take Cole and Chad to the prison. Storm, get me anyone that ranks higher than a Lieutenant… immediately,” Chevalier ordered loudly.

Emily watched as the heku cleared quickly out of the room, while Cole and Chad were hauled away to the prison. Kyle let go of her shoulders and sat down in Storm’s chair.

When the room cleared out, Chevalier slammed his fists down onto the desk, shattering the thick marble top.

Emily jumped and moved away from the falling marble. Kyle put his hand on her arm to keep her from running off. She looked at him, panicked, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Mark came into the room and stood behind Kyle. He seemed to know that it wasn’t a good time to talk.

Two Generals, four Captains, and six Commanders came into the courtroom and stood in perfect rows before Chevalier.

“I’m severely disappointed in how this coven has been run in my absence,” Chevalier hissed. “Specifically in regards to the guard staff.”

Storm joined them and stood behind the guard officers.

“I have half a mind to replace all of you, because of the lack of obedience from those subordinate to you,” Chevalier said angrily. “I’m leaving in the morning, and I’m putting Mark and Emily in charge of the coven. No one is to so much as sneeze, without consulting one of them.”

Emily fought to control the fear she had growing within her.

“Policies are to be reviewed with the entire guard staff. Every procedure, every protocol, needs to be covered in the next two days. Anyone showing disobedience will be killed, period… no second chances,” Chevalier said. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” the leaders said together.

“Get out of my sight and begin retraining your staff,” Chevalier growled.

The heku turned on their heels and blurred from the room.

“Emily, breathe,” Kyle whispered.

Emily took a deep breath, but her hands were shaking as she glanced back at Mark. He smiled at her, seemingly unaware of how terrified she was of the coming week.

Chevalier turned toward them. His furious eyes made Emily push her chair away from him some, “Did you bring your Thukil uniform?”

Emily shook her head, “No.”

“I’ll have it sent over,” he said.

“Chev?” Emily said, still fighting to breathe. “I can’t… take care of a coven… I don’t know what to do.”

“Mark will help you, you two are the only ones I can trust,” Chevalier hissed.

“Maybe Kyle…” Emily started to say, but Chevalier growled, and she stopped talking.

“You and Mark, and I want this place run like a police state.”

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said confidently.

“I have some guards to punish,” Chevalier said, and his chair flew back into the wall, smashing into pieces as he blurred from the room.

Emily turned quickly to Kyle, “Don’t leave.”

Kyle smiled, “It’ll be ok. Just ask Mark if you have any questions.”

“But why would he do this to me? Am I getting punished?” Emily asked.

Mark chuckled, “No, it’s an honor.”

“No it’s not!” Emily said frantically.

“Calm down, I suspect he just wants everyone in the coven to know your face. The last few times you’ve come here, there have been problems… twice now the pier guards wouldn’t even let you in,” Kyle reminded her.

“You don’t have to worry about punishments, Em. I’ll deal with those,” Mark said.

“I don’t know the policies or anything. If they ask me something, I’ll look like an idiot.”

“I can get you a copy,” Kyle said. “I have some in my office.”

“I don’t have a photographic memory, Kyle. I can’t do this.”

“You can. It’ll be ok, trust us,” Mark said, grinning. “So what caused all of this?”

Emily blushed while Kyle told him what happened. She turned to look at Mark as he grew furious.

“Em, he’ll be calm when he’s done with the two guards,” Kyle said.

“Yeah, killing them.”

“He has to.”

“I know, I really do, but it’s just… hard,” Emily said, and stood up. “I need to go deal with Sam.”

“What are you going to do?” Kyle asked, following her out of the courtroom with Mark.

“I don’t know. I want him dead… seems all he’s going to do from now on is try to get me to leave and go back to the mortal world.”

“What? Why?” Mark asked, still irritated.

“He says it’s best for me to leave the kids and the heku, and disappear.”

“Tell him to stop,” Mark suggested.

“I did, but apparently he’s going to do what he thinks is best for me. Even if it’s in contrast to what I want,” Emily explained.

“Just leave him in jail then,” Kyle said.

“I have an idea. Can I borrow your phone?”

Kyle handed his cell phone to her. She dialed and then waited.

Emily smiled slightly, “No, it’s Emily.”

“No, I’m fine… I have a question for you though.”

“Exavior…” Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks Sotomar. My question is… how do I kill a familiar, or get him to take a hike?”

Mark grinned, “She called the Valle Council on your phone.”

Kyle cringed, “Yeah, I know.”

“Because Ulrich was yours.” Emily stopped in the hallway and leaned back against the wall.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Stop calling him my boyfriend.”

“How far from the body? Wait… here…” Emily handed the phone over to Kyle.

“Ooooh no,” Kyle said. “I’m not authorized to talk to the Valle Council.”

Emily shook her head and put the phone back to her ear, “Ok, so how far?”

Emily sighed, “No, Exavior, I’m pretty sure the heku here can manage that.”

Emily shut the phone and handed it to Kyle, “They said the only way is to remove his head and separate it from his body by at least a few feet.”

“Who’s the boyfriend?” Kyle asked.

“You are.”

“Nice,” Kyle said, frowning.

Mark stifled a grin, “I take it Exavior offered to come help do it?”

“Exavior’s an idiot,” Emily said, and headed up the stairs.

“Is that what you want then? One of us to decapitate Sam?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t even know,” Emily told them. “I’m going to leave him in prison for a while and see what happens.”

“I’m headed out to check on the guards, want to meet me in the barracks?” Mark asked, watching them from the ground floor.

Emily’s shoulders dropped, “I suppose I have to.”

“I wouldn’t say you have to, but, it is our new mission.”

“Great,” Emily said, and disappeared into her room.

Chapter 12 - Guards

Mark stepped into the barracks and all eyes fell on him. He walked through the rows of cots and chairs, checking to make sure each heku had a copy of the Island Coven Policies, and was reading it. Some of the guards watched him nervously, while others glared at the intrusion of the Council City Captain. He ignored the looks and went about what he was assigned to do. His mind was also weighing through how to include Emily without risking the guards retaliating.

Chevalier walked into the bedroom, covered in blood and grinning, “That felt good.”

Emily glared at him and whispered, “How could you put me over the guards?”

“It’ll be good for them,” Chevalier said, slipping off his blood covered shirt.

Emily pulled on her cowboy boots and stood up to face him, putting her hands on her hips, “Retract it.”

Chevalier grinned and blurred to her, lifted her up, and pressed his lips against hers. He set her back onto her feet and caught her wrist when she tried to slap him.

“I’m not retracting the order,” he told her, then brought her wrist up to his nose and inhaled.

Emily pulled her hand away from him and moved backwards, “Tell them Kyle and Mark will be in charge.”

“No,” Chevalier said, and took a step toward her.

Emily crossed her arms and stood her ground, “Do it.”

Chevalier pushed her against the wall and held her shoulders while he softly began to kiss her neck.

Emily struggled against him, “Get away from me.”

“No,” he told her. Chevalier let go of her shoulders and started to unbutton her shirt.

“Stop telling me no,” Emily growled, and fastened the buttons he had undone.

“No,” he chuckled, and tore her shirt off.

“I’m warning you,” she said, pushing against him.

“Noted,” he whispered, picked her up, and blurred her to the bed.

Emily screamed at him and kicked toward his face. He caught her foot and pulled off her cowboy boot, then pinned her legs to the bed.

“No kicking,” he said, and ran his lips along her jaw as his hands worked at the button on her jeans.

Emily brought her knee up and was able to catch him directly in the stomach. He growled, and pressed his lips to hers, pinning her body to the bed with his. Emily slid her hand through his hair and clenched her fist tightly, pressing her lips harder against his.

***

“Tell them Kyle and Mark are in charge,” Emily said, looking into Chevalier’s eyes.

“No,” he told her, grinning, and then kissed her bare shoulder.

“Come on… why are you punishing me?”

“It’s not a punishment. I have my reasons.”

“They can’t be any better than my reasons for not doing it,” she said, and got out of bed, wrapping the sheet around her.

“I bet they are. Just do it, it’ll be good for you and them,” he told her, and slipped his hands under his head.

Emily glanced quickly in the mirror as she passed and then turned for a closer look. She brought her hand up to the puncture wounds on her neck, “Damnit, Chev, you bit me?”

Chevalier chuckled, “You shouldn’t fight me.”

Emily glared at him, “That’s going to look just great when I’m trying to order your guards around.”

“They’ll know it’s from me… maybe it’s my mark,” he said, laughing.

“What are you going to do next? Pee on my boots?” she asked angrily, and disappeared into the bathroom.

“If I peed… then I probably would,” he said, and Emily’s temper grew when she heard the amusement in his voice.

Emily came back out dressed and saw that Chevalier was still lying naked on the bed on his back, with his hands under his head.

She tossed a blanket at him, “Cover up before the kids see you.”

Chevalier chuckled, “You can’t seriously be mad.”

“Yes I can! You bit me and then you’re sending me out to get glared at by your guards,” she said, sitting down to pull on her boots.

“They better not glare at you, and they aren’t going to care that I bit you.”

“I don’t want them to think that you keep me around for sex and blood,” she said, standing up and tucking in her shirt.

“I’m sorry, ok? I can’t help it when you fight me though,” he told her, and got up to get dressed.

“You have the control of a peanut,” she said angrily, and then slipped on a turtle neck sweater.

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Where you are concerned, that is true.”

“What?” Emily yelled when someone knocked on the door. Mark and Kyle came in and Mark had a tray that he sat down on the table.

“They’ve all re-read the policies and are lining up for drills,” Mark said, and frowned slightly.

“Were you attacked?” Kyle asked, turning to Emily.

“Yes,” she snapped, and started to tie up her hair.

“Do we need to deal with them?” Mark asked defensively.

Chevalier chuckled again when Emily said, “Yes.”

“Sooo… where are they?” Kyle asked, wondering why he was having to prompt her.

“Sitting on the bed, laughing,” Emily replied, and turned to the table to eat dinner.

Mark and Kyle both turned to Chevalier, shocked.

“She deserved it,” he said, grinning.

Mark turned back to Emily, “Are you coming out for the line-up?”

“Way to defend me,” she growled, and took a bite of spaghetti.

“You’re on your own with this one,” Kyle said, slightly irritated.

“No… I’m not coming out for the line-up. Chev is here and he can babysit his own guards,” Emily told them, and threw a piece of garlic bread at Chevalier’s back, hitting him squarely between the shoulders.

“Let her be. I told her to start tomorrow when I can get some things here,” Chevalier said, still laughing slightly.

“I’m not doing it,” Emily said, and sent a meatball flying. It landed with a dull thud against the back of Chevalier’s head.

“You’re asking for it,” Chevalier said, amused.

“You’re asking for it,” Emily mimicked him.

In one movement, Chevalier blurred to Emily and threw her over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs.

“No! I’m not in the mood,” Emily screamed as Mark and Kyle followed them.

Chevalier pushed the door aside and stepped into the pool room just as Emily bit his back, “Ouch, damnit, Em.”

“I’m seriously not in the mood for this,” Emily yelled.

With very little effort, Chevalier threw Emily into the middle of the deep end of the pool and laughed.

Emily surfaced and swam to the ladder, obviously livid. She climbed out and peeled off her soaked turtle neck, and then glared at Chevalier as she struggled to get her wet jeans off and then pulled off her t-shirt and grabbed a towel. Chevalier glanced at Mark and Kyle, and they were conveniently facing away from her.

Emily wrapped in the towel and pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. She tapped her foot and waited for Chevalier to open it. He chuckled, and pushed the door open easily. She passed by him without a word and headed up the stairs angrily.

“Em… it was a joke,” Chevalier said when she stepped into the bedroom.

Emily turned to him and put her hand on the door, “You better make very good friends with your hand,” she said, and slammed the door in his face.

“I think you’ve been cut off,” Kyle chuckled.

“Seems so… let’s go see how those guards are doing,” Chevalier said, still grinning, and walked down the stairs.

***

Emily rolled over and looked out the window. Anna had already been in, and the curtains were opened some. She was still irritated from the night before, and could tell she was going to be in a bad mood. Alexis was already down eating, and she crawled out of bed and grabbed the hot coffee from the table and sat down in front of the fire.

“Good morning,” Chevalier said as he came in and shut the door.

Emily ignored him and grabbed a piece of bacon. She pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the fire.

“Are you still mad?”

“Am I still stuck babysitting your guards?” Emily snapped.

“Yes,” he said, and fought to keep from grinning.

Emily finished her coffee in silence and went into the bathroom to take a shower. She locked the door, but heard Chevalier come in anyway.

“Your Thukil uniform arrived,” Chevalier said, and admired the sleek curves of her body as she showered.

Emily washed her hair quickly and wrapped in a towel before stepping out of the shower.

“I’m leaving in about an hour,” he said as she walked past him again, purposely bumping into his chest with her shoulder.

Emily dropped her towel and walked naked to the wardrobe and pulled out the Thukil Cavalry uniform. She ignored how Chevalier watched her as she got dressed, and then fastened the cape around her neck. She wrapped the gun belt around her hips and slid the .45 into the holster, and then flipped the left side of her cape over her left shoulder and pulled on her riding glove, hand brace, and the deep green cowboy hat after putting on her black cowboy boots.

“Em, I don’t want to go away with you mad,” Chevalier said, and wrapped his arms around her.

She twisted out of his arms and went to the mirror to straighten her collar pins.

Chevalier sighed, “I’m sorry.”

Emily turned toward him, “Happy now? I’m dressed as Cavalry Barbie.”

“Actually,” Chevalier said, grinning. “Yes I am. I like it.”

Emily glared at him and opened the bedroom door. She smiled when she saw Silas, “Do you get to stay?”

Silas nodded, “Yes, I’m your escort, but I’m not supposed to help.”

“You mean babysitter,” Emily said, and glared at Chevalier.

“I also brought horses and these,” Silas said, and handed Emily a walkie-talkie.

“Emily…” Chevalier said, and Silas nodded at him.

“I’ll meet you downstairs. The horse is waiting by the front door,” Silas said, and walked down the stairs.

Emily turned toward Chevalier.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, and stepped toward her.

Emily turned on her heels and walked down the stairs, adjusting her uniform collar so it covered the bite marks.

She stepped out into the cold morning and patted the neck of the racing horse Silas brought for her. She clipped the walkie-talkie onto her belt, and then easily slid into the stallion’s saddle.

“Mark’s been busy,” Silas said, riding up next to her on an appaloosa mare. “He’ll be glad to get some help.”

“Sure he will,” Emily said, and keyed up the walkie-talkie. “Where do you need me?”

“I’m taking care of some problems in the barracks,” Mark said. “Will you go see if you can figure out what’s going on at the pier? They called for one of us about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Sure,” Emily said, and then kicked the horse into a fast gallop. Just as she arrived at the pier, she heard the helicopter taking off overhead. She got off of the horse and walked onto the pier. The guards were all blocking the end of the pier with their dogs.

“What’s up?” Emily asked, walking toward them.

The guards split and Emily saw four mortal men standing on the ferry, glaring at the guards. She walked up to the end of the pier, “Can I help you?”

“We demand to be let on this island for an inspection,” the oldest man said.

Emily crossed her arms, “You demand?”

“Yes, I demand.”

“What, exactly, gives you the right to demand anything of us?” Emily asked him.

“I’m Brayden from the V.E.S, and we suspect there are mortals on this island in dire need of our assistance,” he said, watching her carefully.

“You mean me?” Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brayden looked closely at her, “You’re… you’re human?”

“Yes, and I’m not in dire need of anything from you, so go away. You aren’t getting on this island,” Emily told him.

“As V.E.S., we want to inspect the premises,” Brayden said.

“As V.E.S., you have the right to turn around and kiss your own asses as you sail away from this pier, now get lost.”

The guards all grinned at the small mortal men, and the way they glared at Emily.

“You’ve obviously been brainwashed…” he started to say to her, but she pulled the .45 out of the holster.

“You have until three…” Emily said.

“Just hear us out,” Brayden said, putting his hands up to her.

“One…” Emily said, and pulled back the hammer on the .45.

“We can help you.”

“Two…” Emily said, and leveled the gun at his head.

“You can’t stay here with these dangerous creatures.”

“Three…” Emily said, and shot the planks at his feet, sending shards of wood into the air.

“Run!” Brayden screamed, and the four of them ran as fast as they could to the other end of the ferry.

Emily motioned to the Captain to go back to the mainland, and she holstered her gun and turned around.

“That was… impressive,” one of the guards said, grinning.

“Yes, well if they come back… I’m going to shoot him in the nuts,” Emily told him, and got back onto her horse.

The guard’s eyes grew wide and he turned back to face the water.

Silas was grinning behind her, “Why haven’t they made you part of our Cavalry?”

“Because Chevalier’s an idiot.”

“Commander?” Mark asked over the walkie-talkie.

“What?” Emily was still irritated.

“Is the pier clear?”

“Yes”

“We’re lining up for drills on the north lawn.”

Emily sighed and headed her horse over to Mark.

“See, you’re a pro,” Silas said, matching her speed.

“Right, I scared off some mortals,” Emily said. “Let’s see what else is going on.”

“I can’t wait to see you and Mark shape this place up,” Silas said. “Rumor has it, that it’s been kind of going downhill since the Elder moved to the palace.”

“Why did he make me do this?” Emily asked. “What the hell did I do to make him think I can bring order to his coven?”

“You can, I have no doubts,” Silas told her.

“If I’m so good, then why do I need a babysitter?”

Silas grinned, “Just in case it takes them a while to listen to you. Course, you’re in a bad mood now, maybe I’m here to protect them.”

Emily glared at him and then turned back as she passed the rows of heku guards lined up before Mark. She slipped off of her horse and handed the reins to Silas as he waited quietly behind them.

“What’s up?” Emily asked.

“Lots of problems in the barracks, fights, disturbances, general misbehavior,” Mark said, eyeing some of the troublesome guards.

“Who’s the worst?”

“This guy over here,” Mark said, and pointed at a grinning guard in the second row who was slouching and missing part of his uniform.

Emily walked over to stand before him, and he looked down at her as she stood toe-to-toe with him. Mark glanced at Silas, and he shrugged and quietly whispered that she was in a bad mood.

“Is there some reason you feel like causing trouble?” Emily asked him, putting her hands on her hips.

The guard grinned and looked down at her, laughing, “Because you can’t stop me. I’m not afraid of the little Elder’s wife or his Council City cronies.”

Some of the guards grinned as he spoke, but their faces fell suddenly when the guard fell to his knees. A groan escaped his lips as he clutched at his chest, then fell back onto the wet grass, writhing in agony as his chest burned deep within him.

Emily stopped the pain and looked down at him, “You have 2 minutes to get into your uniform and return to this line in proper formation. Is that understood?”

The guard stood up slowly and nodded before blurring away.

“Anyone else want to tangle with the little Elder’s wife?” she hissed, and looked along the ranks. No one looked at her or even moved a muscle. They stood in perfect formation and perfectly still.

Emily glanced at her watch, and when only 90 seconds passed, the guard returned in full uniform and fell in with the others.

“Fine then… let’s get this over with. This is your Captain.” Emily pointed at Mark. “He’s not Mark, he’s not a Council City crony… he’s Captain or Sir, got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the guards all said in unison.

“I’m the Commander, not Emily, not the Elder’s wife, not even the delicate mortal… you can refer to me as Ma’am or Commander, understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they again said in unison.

Mark and Silas watched, shocked, as she took charge and had the heku guards behaving perfectly as they feared she would turn them to ash. Mark and Silas also knew that when she was in this bad of a mood, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to be ashed.

“You,” Emily yelled, pointing at a guard.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he called out, looking straight ahead.

“You have 30 seconds to get me a copy of the policy manual.”

Emily held out her hand, and it was only seconds later when the book appeared in her hand, and the guard returned to his spot.

“Count off…,” Emily said, pointing to the end heku. “You are number 1… count down so each of you has a number.”

Mark memorized which heku had which number as they counted off, until the last heku yelled out, “389.”

“Number 81, who is authorized to sound the city alarm?” Emily yelled.

For four hours, Emily called on different heku to answer questions about the policy manual. No one deviated from their position, or did anything more than answer her questions, and then return to their silent stance.

Emily dropped the book onto the grass and slid onto her horse, “I want 8 count bodybuilders until I get back. If you so much as twitch, then you’ll have to deal with me when I get back.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they called, and immediately fell into the starting squat.

Emily watched them for a moment and then turned to Silas, “Wow, I wondered what those were… those’ll be a bitch.”

Silas chuckled and caught up as she kicked her horse into a canter toward the castle, while Mark began to count off so the troops were all in sync.

Emily tied her horse up outside the castle and went inside. She removed her glove and hat, and tossed them by the front door as she ordered lunch for her and Alexis.

“Em?” Silas asked, grinning nervously.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to have them doing 8 counts the entire time you’re eating?”

“Yes, sounds to me like they need to be kept busy,” she explained as they headed into the castle.

Alexis wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist, “Did you have fun Mommy?”

“Nope,” Emily said, and kissed Alexis’ forehead.

“Can Anna take me swimming?” Alexis asked, and grabbed a sandwich and a scarlet red glass.

“Yes, I’ll be busy all afternoon,” Emily replied, and sat down with her sandwich. She ate and talked to Alexis about her day so far.

She made Alexis clear off the table and headed out to her horse, then stifled a yawn and crawled back into the saddle. She and Silas headed to the north lawn. The 8 count bodybuilders were still going on in perfect unison.

Emily stopped her horse behind Mark, “How’s it going?”

“Nothing’s changed,” Mark said, wondering what she had in store for the heku now. He almost pitied them for taking the anger that Emily had for the Elder.

“Attention,” Emily called out.

The heku guards all stood still and straight, and looked directly ahead.

“Alright now, that was a lot nicer, no arguing, no fighting, nothing… head out to the barracks. Let’s see what we have in there,” Emily said, and turned her horse toward the barracks. She heard some mumbling behind her, but one glance and they quieted down immediately.

Emily dismounted at the barracks and handed the reins to Silas. He watched nervously as Emily disappeared into the barracks followed by hundreds of heku who were not only taller and stronger than her, but were also mad at what she made them do.

Mark was the last to step into the barracks, and saw that the guards were each standing by their small personal section of the long stone building. Emily was walking down and looking at each as she passed. He began to wonder if he should call the rest of the Cavalry to help protect her. If this amount of heku revolted, the three from Council City wouldn’t have a chance.

Emily turned at the end of the aisle, “Will there be any fighting tonight?”

“No, Ma’am,” they said in unison.

She heard Mark growl from behind her and she turned and saw him crouch, with his hands balled into fists, and Silas appeared from outside and crouched beside him.

Emily turned and looked at the guards, who hadn’t moved, “What happened?”

“We’ll take care of it,” Mark said, and Emily noticed two of the guards glance nervously at each other.

“No, tell me,” Emily said, and walked over to the two. “What did you say?”

One guard looked at Mark, and then back to Emily, “I said… if you don’t learn your place on this island, you’re going to risk getting drained.”

Mark growled again and started forward, but Emily held up a hand, “I see, and what, exactly… is my place?”

The guard grinned, “On your back, I’m sure.”

Emily nodded and smiled, “Are you going to be the one to drain me then?”

“Don’t tempt me,” the guard said, and glanced nervously at Mark.

“I’ll tell you what,” Emily said, and unbuttoned the top button on her shirt as the guards watched her. “You’ve heard how delicious the Winchester blood is?”

“Emily!” Mark hissed.

“Have you?” Emily asked, and undid the button on the cuff at her wrist.

“Yes,” the guard said.

Emily put out her wrist to him, “Take a whiff… come on. I give you permission.”

The guard grabbed her hand roughly, and ran his nose along her inner wrist and hissed softly.

Emily smiled and noticed Silas was holding Mark back.

“Like what you smell?” Emily asked, and buttoned her cuff.

He answered her with another hiss. His feral eyes watched the exposed vein in her neck.

“If you can get your teeth into my neck, I’ll let you feed,” Emily said, and took two steps back from him.

“What?” the guard asked, frowning, but still watching the throbbing vein.

“You heard me… if you can get your teeth in me, you get to feed.”

The guard crouched into an attack posture and fell to ash as Emily smiled at the guard next to him. The guards all shifted nervously and glanced at Mark.

Emily stepped to the second guard and held her collar away from her neck, “Want to give it a try?”

The guard stepped back, wide eyed, “No, Ma’am.”

“Anyone? Get your teeth into my neck and you get a freebie feeding,” Emily said. She heard a soft hiss from behind her, and the guard turned to ash without her even turning around. She walked over to Mark as Silas let go of him, the look on his face was furious.

“No one is to touch those ashes, and I’m calling general quarters,” Emily said, and walked out of the barracks.

“What the hell was that?” Mark growled as he followed her out.

“I’m not going to have them thinking they can push me around,” Emily said, and got onto her horse.

“You can’t just offer to let them feed, or hand your wrist over for savoring,” he said angrily.

“Yes I can… and I did. I think I proved my point, and I’d like to see one of them threaten to drain me again,” Emily said, irritated.

“You can’t expect them to control themselves if you offer.”

“They didn’t control themselves at first, but they learned quickly that I can’t be easily fed off of.”

“Emily…”

“Mark, I don’t want to be here any more than they want me to be, and if they are going to act like a bunch of 16-year-olds, then that’s what I’ll treat them like.”

“Do not offer your blood again,” Mark growled.

“I shouldn’t have to,” Emily said, and headed for the castle when Storm called her on the walkie-talkie.

Silas watched her go, “We need to tell the Elder, he’s not going to want to keep her here.”

“I’ll call him later,” Mark said. “I have to go talk to the Officers. I think the guards are pacified for now.”

Silas nodded and mounted his mare, kicking her to catch up with Emily.

***

Emily rolled over and checked the clock on the second day as Commander on the island. She turned the alarm off a few minutes early, and stumbled into the shower, then dressed in the bathroom and flexed her hand. She decided to return to the hand brace and went back out into the bedroom to finish getting ready. Hot coffee and chocolate muffins were waiting for her. She sat down in front of the fire to enjoy her coffee and took a few moments to relax.

Emily grabbed her cell phone from the table when it rang, “Yes?”

“Emily, stop offering to feed the guards,” Chevalier said angrily.

“Oh, that’s right. I should save my blood for you.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Don’t give me an impossible task and then question my motives,” Emily said, irritated.

“I’m not questioning your motives. I just don’t know if you realize how dangerous it is to offer to feed anyone who can get their teeth into you.” He was obviously frustrated.

“Oh, two took me up on it.”

“What?” he growled.

“And I ashed them, so leave me the hell alone,” Emily said, and hung up the phone.

She opened the bedroom door, slamming it against the wall and stormed out. Silas cringed, suddenly afraid for anyone who crossed her today.

Emily got onto her horse and grabbed her walkie-talkie, “Where do you need me?”

Silas wondered if Mark caught the fierceness in her voice, and he realized that part of her anger was toward Mark.

“Pier, someone’s waiting for you,” Mark said hesitantly.

Emily clipped the radio onto her belt and kicked the horse into a gallop, heading for the pier. She got off of her horse and tied him up to a post before stepping out onto the pier. The guards were lined up along the edge of the pier with their dogs, and Emily walked between them and stopped at the ferry.

“What do you want, Exavior?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“Wow… you look… incredible in that uniform,” Exavior said, grinning.

“What do you want?”

“Stand down, Killer,” Exavior chuckled. “I’m not here to invade.”

“I’m not in the mood to play your stupid Valle games. What do you want?”

“I merely came to check on your welfare.”

“I thought Sotomar banned you from contacting me,” Emily reminded him.

Exavior smiled, “He did.”

“So why are you here?”

“As I said, a welfare check only, and rest assured, I had Council approval to come,” he said, and the amusement in his voice irritated her.

“I don’t see why I need a welfare check.”

“There’s been… talk… of an uprising in the V.E.S., and we are afraid they will be searching for the elusive Madison and Cody,” Exavior explained.

“They’ve been here and I handled it,” Emily told him. “Chevalier wouldn’t have left me alone here if he didn’t know it was safe.”

Exavior grinned, “Does that mean you’re talking to him again?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Get the hell off this island or I’ll consider it harassment.”

“Emily…” Exavior said, but she was already walking away.

“If he steps foot on the pier… kill him,” Emily said to the guards.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the end guard said, excited.

Emily climbed back onto her horse.

“Em, you can’t have a Valle council member killed,” Silas told her.

Emily glared at him, and he stopped talking as he followed her away from the pier.

“He knows things again,” Emily told Silas.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he knows that Chev and I are fighting.”

Silas frowned, “How?”

“I don’t know, but it’s really getting irritating,” she said, and started for the castle.

“We’ll find out.”

Emily grabbed the radio, “Now what?”

“We’re running drills on the south lawn,” Mark told her. “Nothing’s happening.”

Silas grinned. He had heard some of the guards talking, and they were so afraid of Emily, they weren’t even going to think about stepping out of line.

Emily shrugged and headed the horse to the south lawn where she stopped by Mark and watched the guards running drills. Each saw her as they rounded the second corner, and suddenly fought harder to do well in the rankings.

***

Emily jumped out of bed when the all too familiar alarm sounded. She glanced at the clock and it was only 2am. She quickly threw on her uniform and was just fastening her gun belt when Anna came into the room.

“Get Alexis into the cave room,” Emily said, and ran out the door, still fastening her cape.

“Em, get to the cave room,” Silas said, and ran after her.

“No, I’m supposed to help take care of this island, not hide from attackers,” Emily said, and untied the reins from the bush.

“I don’t think the Elder meant for you to go to war,” Silas told her.

She jumped bareback onto her stallion and kicked him into a run toward the pier. Silas skipped getting his horse and blurred after her. Emily jumped off the horse before it even stopped all the way when she saw a standoff outside of the main barracks. She pushed to the front and stopped, face-to-face, with the lead heku.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Emily asked angrily. She saw Mark off to her side and the guard officers beside him, they all watched her.

The heku smiled, “Well, well, look what we found. They have a pet.”

“You didn’t answer me. What are you doing on my island?” she asked.

“Your island? It’s the Elder’s island, and we are here to claim it.”

“Which faction are you?”

“They are factionless,” Mark hissed.

“Factionless or not, there are over fifteen hundred of us, and by our last count, there are only twelve hundred of you… so back off, Tiny, and let us by,” he said, grinning.

“You’ll have to get by me,” Emily said, crossing her arms.

The leader leaned his head back and laughed, “Did you hear that? The little hottie here thinks she’s tough. Don’t kill her, she’s mine.”

Silas and Mark moved to stand beside her.

“Last warning… turn around now and get off this island,” Emily told them.

“Don’t do it, Em, we can fight them,” Silas whispered.

“I won’t kill them all. This guard staff needs nothing more than to kill something,” Emily said, and heard the excitement behind her.

“You won’t kill us all?” The leader laughed, “I hope you’re as feisty in the bedroom.”

Emily smiled, “You’re not man enough to handle me in bed.”

“You’ll love it, Sweetheart,” he said, and stepped toward her, running his tongue along his sharp teeth.

“Love this…” Emily said, and he fell to ash before the eyes of his army.

The factionless heku shifted nervously and glanced at one another, unsure what was going on.

“Where is he?” Another factionless heku stepped forward, “Where is the Chief Enforcer?”

Emily raised her hand, “I did that.”

He scanned the island guards, “Where is the Chief Enforcer? Tell him to stop hiding and come out.”

“In three…” Emily said, holding her hand up to hold back the guards.

“Coward!” the heku yelled.

“Two…” Emily said, and smiled.

“Move aside, Baby Girl, let me find that Enforcer,” he said, and started toward her.

“And… one…” Emily whispered, and suddenly, 400 of the factionless heku fell to ash and Emily felt Mark’s hand on her back as she stumbled slightly.

Silas caught her as she fell to her knees, and blurred Emily back to the castle when the battle started around her. The castle door guards let him in and immediately bolted the castle door shut behind him. He ran into her room and laid her down on the bed.

“Damnit,” Emily mumbled, wiping the blood that trickled out of her nose.

Silas sat down on the bed beside her, “Where are you?”

“On the island,” Emily said, and touched the blood in her ear.

“Who am I?” Silas asked.

“My head hurts,” Emily told him, and pressed her palms into her eyes.

Silas got a washcloth from the bathroom and ran it through the cold water. He returned to the bed and placed it across her forehead.

“Who am I?” he asked again.

“I’m ok, Silas.”

Silas watched her until she fell asleep. Her breathing was deep and rhythmic. He knew she would be asleep for a while, so he quickly blurred to the battle. Only a few of the factionless attackers were left, and they were knelt in front of the island’s Generals. Silas joined Mark beside them.

“Put the island on lockdown and stop the ferry,” Mark said, and a guard blurred away to make it happen.

“Sir, what do you want done with them?” the General asked.

“Take them to the prison. We’ll see what the Elder wants to do with them,” Mark said, and turned to the guards. They were all talking excitedly and exhilaration filled the air as bodies of the attackers were scattered across the streets of Island Coven.

“Clean this mess up and take the night off from drills,” Mark said, and turned to Silas. “So how bad is she?”

“Just a headache,” Silas explained.

“Who is with her?”

“She’s asleep.”

“That was awesome… what she did,” one of the guards said, grinning.

“I’m honestly surprised she left any,” Silas said, raising his eyebrows.

“I know. I’ve never seen her let any go for us to play with.” Mark chuckled and then turned serious, “Let’s go call the Elder.”

Silas nodded and followed Mark back to the castle. The castle was called off of lockdown and Mark went to Kyle’s office to call.

“Chevalier here,” his voice sounded over the speakerphone.

“There’s been a factionless attack on the island,” Mark said.

“What!?” Chevalier growled.

“It’s ok. Emily evened up the numbers, and the guards took out the rest of them,” Mark said. “We have a few of their leaders in the prison for you.”

“How many did she take out?”

“Looks like around 400,” Mark told him.

“Wait… she left some?” Chevalier sounded confused.

“We were surprised too. She left over 1,100 of them, and said it would do the guards some good to kill,” Mark said, amused.

“That’s… interesting… how is she?”

“She’s asleep,” Mark said. “She complained of a headache, that’s all.”

“I’ll be there in three hours.”

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said, and turned off the speakerphone.

Silas met Mark in the foyer, and they went into the conference room to wait for Chevalier.

“I want a report on the attack,” Chevalier said as he sat down with Mark and Silas. Kyle came in a few minutes later and joined them.

“Factionless heku decided to take over Island Coven for themselves, 1,558 of them. They knew our numbers here, and thought they had the advantage,” Mark said. “We were at a standoff when Emily arrived and provoked the leader a bit before turning 400 of them to ash.”

Mark glanced at Silas and then back to the Elder, “She told the leader that she was leaving enough of them for the guards to kill.”

Silas chuckled, “She said she thought it would be good for the guards to kill something.”

Kyle grinned, “It only took her 13 years to figure that out?”

“Keep going,” Chevalier growled. He wasn’t finding this at all amusing.

“The fight was pretty short, only about twenty minutes. There are seven factionless left down in the prison. We were able to keep their leaders alive, except for the head heku, and Emily turned him to ash when he started getting crude,” Mark said. “The guards disposed of the bodies in a large fire.”

“How are the guards behaving?” Chevalier asked.

“The first three days was… interesting,” Silas said, stifling a grin.

“Interesting?” Kyle asked.

Mark nodded, “Emily was still mad at the Elder, and took it out on his guards.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Better them than… never mind…”

“They were starting to act up,” Mark said. “One specifically, but she let him burn for a bit and he shaped right up. She had them doing 8 count bodybuilders for almost an hour straight.”

Chevalier frowned, “Why? That won’t make them tired.”

“She knew that,” Mark said. “She wanted to get lunch, and I think that was her way of keeping them occupied.”

“I take it when she got back is when she offered to let them feed?”

“She did what?” Kyle growled.

Mark nodded, “Yes, and I was livid, but you know? Once she ashed the two that took her up on her challenge, they were terrified of her.”

“Severely terrified of her. They haven’t even breathed out of line in the five days since then,” Silas told them.

Kyle sighed, “You know what? I don’t really want to know.”

“Any other problems?” Chevalier asked, irritated.

“Had the V.E.S. show up… and Exavior,” Silas said.

“Why was Exavior here?”

“He came to do a welfare check on Em. He said the Valle heard the V.E.S. were out looking for Madison and Cody, and he came to check on her,” Silas said. “So she told him to leave and told the pier guards to kill him if he stepped foot on the pier.”

“Of course she did,” Chevalier said, and grinned slightly.

“She also said he knew that you and she were fighting,” Silas said.

“How the hell is he finding all this stuff out? It’s been three years that he’s known everything she says,” Kyle asked, frustrated.

“We searched her room for bugs, and didn’t find anything,” Mark told them.

“Very well. I want to go talk to the guards. Call them to the south lawn,” Chevalier said, standing up. “I’ll be there after I check on Emily.

***

Emily rolled over and pulled the covers up higher on her shoulders. She caught the scent of steak and opened her eyes. Sitting up, she saw the steaming plate of steak, baked potato, and corn on the table. She looked around the empty room and crawled out of bed, frowning when she realized she was still in her Thukil uniform. As she sat down at the table, she remembered the attack.

She ate quickly and then got out of the dirty uniform and slipped on clean jeans and t-shirt. She was just pulling on her cowboy boots when she heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she called out, and tied her hair up.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Cook asked, walking into the room.

“Fine,” Emily said, and walked past him into the hallway. She passed Silas silently and heard him follow her down the stairs. Her stallion was waiting for her outside the front door, and she jumped into the saddle and started toward the lines of guards on the south lawn.

“Welcome back,” Kyle said, smiling.

“Did you have to bring the doctor?” Emily growled.

Kyle chuckled and turned back to the guards. Chevalier was lecturing them on what he expected in his absence in the future. He was also explaining how he was going to be putting in a wrought iron gate across the entrance through the cement wall. It could be closed by the pier guards, and they were now to patrol in two’s along the outside of the cement wall instead of singly.

“Silas?” Emily asked.

Silas turned to her.

“Is it against any policy to torture and interrogate a member of an opposing faction’s Council?”

Silas grinned, “Depends.”

“Good enough, come with me,” she said, and rode off.

“Do we want to know?” Kyle asked him.

“I don’t even want to know,” Silas said, and blurred after her.

Emily slipped off of her horse and put her arms around Silas’ neck. She whispered as softly as she could into his ear and slipped some handcuffs into his pocket, “Time to act… be mean.”

Silas nodded and then followed her into the palace.

“I need to talk to you in private,” Emily said, and glanced nervously around the room.

“What’s up?” Silas asked.

“Not here,” Emily whispered, and pointed up to the bedroom. She ran up the stairs, and Silas followed her, a little nervous about what she was doing.

Emily went into her room and shut the door, then turned to Silas, “Remember when I told you that if I ever left Chevalier, that I would tell you first?”

Silas frowned, “Yes, I do… is it time?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, and I don’t really know where to go. The Encala once offered me my own coven, so I’m thinking about taking them up on their offer.”

“I’m not sure I’m all that happy about you going to the Encala,” Silas said, starting to sound angry.

“I think I’d be a good Coven Leader. I just hope their offer still stands. I can’t stand to be around Chevalier one second longer.”

“I can’t allow you to go live with the Encala. You belong to the Equites,” Silas said, taking a step towards her.

Emily frowned, “I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Yes you do. You just don’t accept the fact that we own you, like cattle,” Silas told her, and grinned evilly.

Emily glared at him, “Excuse me?”

“You’re our property. We allow you to run free because there are… you know… fringe benefits in it for the Elder, but in all honesty, I’m ok to lock you up.”

“You can’t lock me up. I’d ash all of you before I’d let you do that.”

“You can’t though, Kyle already told you… we found out how to make ourselves immune to your little trick,” Silas said, and pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket.

Emily backed away from him and grabbed her cell phone, but Silas took it away from her.

“Give me that,” she demanded.

“No, I’m not going to let you call the Encala or your little boyfriend over in Valle to come and save you,” Silas said. “I’m tired of your whiney assed attitude, and obnoxious disobedience. It’ll do you some good to sit in prison and rot while the other prisoners savor you and hiss for your blood.”

Emily screamed and fought against Silas when he restrained her and managed to get the handcuffs on her.

“There’s no use fighting. You’re just a weak… insignificant… little mortal. Once you pop out more babies, then we might as well just get rid of you anyway,” Silas said.

Emily cringed, “You can’t get away with this! Chevalier will let me out.”

“No he won’t. He’s had it with you, too. All you do is fight… and bitch… and moan,” Silas said, forcing her out the door.

Emily fought against him and he had a hard time holding onto her. She bruised so easily it was hard to hold tightly without leaving marks. The guards in the castle watched nervously as a member of the Council City Cavalry roughly pulled the Elder’s mortal wife into the prison.

“Let her go!” David yelled angrily.

“I told you this would happen,” Sam said as they passed his cell.

Emily got a good kick off and displaced Silas’ kneecap. He managed to hold on, and one of the guards opened a cell in an empty row and Silas pushed Emily inside.

“You can’t keep me in here,” Emily screamed.

“Watch me,” Silas said as his knee healed.

Emily sat down on the bed, glaring at him.

“Don’t let her out,” Silas told the guards, and headed up out of the prison. He ordered the entire castle to stay quiet about her being in prison, and then headed out to the south lawn.

“What was that all about?” Kyle asked.

Silas glanced around the area and then whispered, “Emily, put her in a cell.”

“Why?” Kyle asked, confused.

“She was threatening to go to live with the Encala, and I couldn’t let that happen. She belongs to the Equites.”

Kyle nodded as he realized what Emily meant when she asked if they could interrogate a member of an opposing faction’s Council, “Good, it’s about time she’s put away for a while.”

Chevalier released the guards after a few hours and turned to Silas, “Where’s Em?”

Silas grinned slightly, “I put her in prison.”

“What? Why?”

“She threatened to go live with the Encala. I’m tired of her being a pain in the ass, so I put her in lockup,” Silas said.

Kyle nodded, “She is property of the Equites and needs to learn that.”

“Obedience, that’s what she needs to learn,” Mark said. He’d also heard Emily’s comment about interrogating council members.

“Have you all lost your minds?” Chevalier growled.

“She acted like someone from one of the other factions would come and get her,” Silas said, watching Chevalier closely. “She’s wrong though, they know she belongs to us.”

Chevalier nodded, partially understanding, “Just keep her in there until she learns submission.”

“I think I’ll run down and make fun of her,” Kyle said, heading into the castle.

“Me too.” Mark grinned, and followed him inside.

Chevalier stood toe-to-toe with Silas while he explained what was going on. As soon as he was done, Silas and Chevalier blurred down into the prison with Mark and Kyle.

“It’s about time they put you where you belong,” Kyle said, looking in at Emily.

Emily glared at him, “I’ll get out, just wait.”

“Emily, I love you!” David yelled, his voice filling the prison.

Emily rolled her eyes and sat down on the hard bed, still in handcuffs.

“She’s too weak to get out of here,” Mark told the guards, and then turned to Emily. “Back up to the bars and I’ll take the cuffs off you.”

Emily did as she was told, and rubbed her wrists after he broke the handcuffs off of her. Chevalier handed a blanket through the bars, “Can’t have you freezing to death in here.”

Emily wrapped it around her.

“I would take care of you! I love you,” David yelled.

Kyle backed away from Emily’s cell and disappeared deeper into the prison. There was a sound of a cell door opening and then the screams began.

“If you agree to stay loyal to the Equites, and stop acting like a spoiled brat, we may let you out in a week or so,” Mark told her.

“Kiss my ass,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“I thought that was my job,” Chevalier chuckled.

“You better hope your ash protection never wears off, or you’ll be fried before you can say help,” Emily said.

“That’s it… interrogation room,” Chevalier growled.

“What? No!” Emily yelled as Silas opened the cell door and grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“This’ll be fun, it’s 13 years coming,” Mark said, and followed Silas as he led Emily out of the prison, fighting.

The heku were joined by Kyle just as they stepped into the interrogation chamber and shut the door. Silas let Emily go, and she went over and tried to sit down in a small wooden chair filled with tiny holes, but Mark grabbed her arm.

“Would you not sit there?” he asked, shaking his head.

“Oh,” Emily said, and sat on a nearby table.

“What exactly are we going to interrogate Exavior about?” Chevalier asked.

“About how in the hell he know so much about me? No one can find bugs, but he sure knows a lot,” Emily explained.

“It gets complicated when it’s an enemy council member though.”

“So can we do it or not?”

“I’m going to have to say no, but we can still question him,” Chevalier said.

“Fine… then strap him in that chair and let me have at him,” Emily said, raising her eyebrows.

Chevalier chuckled, “You’re going to torture a heku?”

“Sure, why not?”

“It’s not in your nature. Let us talk to him in my office,” Chevalier said.

“Not in my nature? Want to let me have a go at you in here?” Emily asked, irritated.

Chevalier chuckled, “That’s not in my nature.”

“You don’t give me enough credit. I’m meaner than I look.”

Chevalier nodded, “That you are.”

“If you can’t get information out of him, then I get a shot in here,” Emily said.

Kyle nodded, “We could put some guards down here with her.”

“If he’s not here tomorrow, I’m letting you out. I don’t like you in the prison,” Chevalier said, changing the subject.

“I’m ok for a few days, as long as they leave the lights on at night and I have a blanket.”

“I sent David to Council City,” Kyle told them.

“Oh, good, he’s annoying,” Emily said, and grabbed an odd device off the wall. She started spinning the turning head as the leaves of the metal device expanded.

“Seriously, Em, that’s just wrong,” Kyle said, and took it from her, hanging it back on the wall.

Emily grinned and grabbed another device off the shelf by her. This one looked like a pair of shears, but the blades made up a crocodile head with sharp teeth, “What’s this?”

Kyle took it from her, “Stop.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Some of these are antiques that aren’t used anymore.”

“I also want one of you to have a talk with Sam down here, something’s weird with him,” Emily said.

“Weird, how?” Kyle asked.

“He’s just suddenly decided that I need to go back to the mortal world. He disappears for years, and now he’s all trying to help me. I don’t trust him, and get the feeling he has some ulterior motives.”

“That’s not a problem. I want to have a chat with the boy,” Chevalier said, grinning.

Silas blurred from the room suddenly and returned a few minutes later with a plate. He handed it and a glass of milk over to Emily, and she sat it on her lap and started on her dinner.

“Don’t you think it’s going to be obvious that I wasn’t tortured?” Emily asked, and took a bite of the hot cheeseburger.

“Not necessarily. There are things that don’t leave marks,” Kyle told her.

“Like what?” Emily asked, looking around the room.

“Let’s not go over the stuff in here,” Chevalier said, shaking his head.

Emily ate in silence and looked at the torture devices in Chevalier’s private interrogation room. It was a lot smaller than the one in the palace, but had stranger devices and didn’t smell like dried blood like the one in the palace.

“How many days are we going to give him to show up?” Silas asked.

“If he heard, he’ll be here within 24 hours, I’m sure,” Chevalier said. “His coven is in Rhode Island, not too far.”

“I made it here in about 7 hours,” Emily said, finishing her milk.

“Ready to go back?” Mark asked.

Emily nodded, “Yeah, it’s getting late and I’m tired.”

“I had them smuggle you in a pillow,” Silas said, and trapped her hands behind her back.

“Oh, nice, thanks,” Emily said, and let him lead her back up the stairs.

As they walked into the foyer, Emily grinned and slipped her wrists out of Silas’ soft grip. She took off for the front doors, but only got a few steps before Mark tackled her, pinning her arms to her side and lifting her so her feet were off the floor.

“Let me go,” Emily yelled at him.

“Nice try, Sweet Cheeks,” Mark chuckled, and threw her down the stairs. She cried out, but Silas caught her before she could fall.

“She gets no food until the Elder says,” Silas told the guards.

Silas put Emily in her cell while Mark went and got Sam out of his. Emily watched as they walked him up the stairs and she felt a brief pang of guilt as she imagined them using those medieval torture devices on him.

Emily laid down on the hard bed and covered up with the soft down blanket. Despite the hardness of the cot, she was soon asleep.

“Hello, Sam,” Chevalier said. He was leaning up against the wall in the interrogation room, dangling a Spanish flayer in his hands.

“Chevalier,” Sam said as he was roughly pushed into the room by Mark.

Kyle smiled, “Have a seat. We have some questions for you.”

“You don’t need to torture me. Emily has given Chevalier the same rights that she has. I cannot lie to him,” Sam said.

“This is much more fun though,” Chevalier said. “Plus, I don’t feel like playing 20 questions to find out what it is you’re up to.”

“Suit yourself,” Sam said.

“We can start off simple, have a seat,” Chevalier said, motioning to the wooden chair that Emily had tried to sit in earlier.

Sam sat down nervously, and watched as Kyle fastened his wrists and ankles to the chair.

“Where have you been for 4 years?” Chevalier asked.

“I’ve been watching over Emily.”

“That’s right. She said even when she was away for 2 months by herself, you were watching?”

“Yes”

“And when she was scared and in pain from the pregnancy, you didn’t contact her?”

“No”

“What exactly had to happen to her for you to intervene?” Chevalier asked.

“Any interaction by a non-human, and I would have stepped in,” Sam explained.

“I heard you tell Em that you think it would be best if she left the kids here and went back into the mortal world alone,” Kyle said.

“Why is that?” Chevalier asked.

“It’s true, she belongs in the mortal world, and her children aren’t mortal, so she would need to leave them. If you really care about her, you would kick her out,” Sam said calmly.

Chevalier frowned, “You’re so far off.”

“You’ve changed though. Emily said you aren’t acting quite right,” Mark said.

“Emily is severely depressed, and needs to find her way in this world without you… to make it better,” Sam told him.

“Severely depressed?” Silas asked, frowning.

“Let her go,” Sam said seriously.

“You’ve never mentioned this before,” Chevalier said. “Why now? You disappear for four years, and suddenly, you want Emily out of our lives?”

Kyle walked behind Sam’s chair and turned a large crank. Thin, sharp spikes appeared from the tiny holes and pressed against Sam’s soft flesh.

“Wait… wait…” Sam said nervously. “I’m not lying. I feel it’s best for her.”

“I still want to know why the change of heart,” Chevalier said.

“I’ve always thought this,” Sam said, a sweat forming on his brow from the spikes pressing into his back and legs.

Kyle shrugged and turned the crank one more full turn. The spikes rose from the tiny holes, and blood began to drip from the chair as Sam screamed and pulled against the restraints.

“You know what I like about this chair? It doesn’t kill them,” Mark said, leaning back against the stone walls.

“Stop… please stop,” Sam groaned.

“The problem is… we don’t know what to ask to get what we want,” Chevalier told him. “So until you start spilling it… well… spilling something other than blood, then we’ll stay.”

“I don’t have anything to tell you!” Sam said, and then screamed as Kyle turned the wooden crank again, sending the spikes another inch into Sam’s flesh.

“Hrm, familiar blood smells weird,” Silas said, wrinkling his nose.

Sam’s screams turned into a feral hiss as his body transformed into a cat, and he limped over to the corner under the chair, his claws out and his back arched. His ragged clothing still hung from the chair.

“That’s not going to save you,” Chevalier said, and Silas blurred from the room. He returned a short time later with an old cast iron Dutch oven. Mark grabbed Sam by the scruff of his neck, and shoved him into the pot, then locked the lid down and Kyle lit the fire in the fireplace.

Angry hisses sounded from the Dutch oven.

“What happens if he turns into human form in there?” Mark asked.

“Hrm, guess we’ll find out,” Kyle told him, and hung the Dutch oven over the flames.

The Dutch oven’s lid flew off as Sam’s human form scrambled out of the fire, panting.

“Answers that,” Silas said, laughing.

Chevalier grabbed Sam by the back of his neck, threw his clothes into the fire, and shoved him down onto the spiked chair. He quickly fastened the restraints again as Sam screamed in agony.

Chevalier went over and stuck an iron poker into the fire, “You know how I feel about people messing with my wife.”

Sam’s eyes grew wide, “Don’t… please…”

Kyle turned the crank to its fullest. The spikes sunk two inches deep into Sam’s back and legs, “So tell us.”

Sam screamed and fought against the iron restraints, the electrodes connected to them not needed against the familiar. Blood again began to pour from the chair and pool on the dirt floor beneath it.

“There are just too many reasons to torture you,” Chevalier said, taking the red-hot poker from the fire. “You kept Allen’s heku change from us, you turned Emily over to the Valle for torture, you let the Encala burn her farm, and then joined them and told her secrets to them.”

“It was for her own good. All I want is to help her,” Sam whispered, the pain making it hard to speak.

Chevalier shrugged, “Then you disappeared for 4 years while we all thought you were dead.”

Sam’s eyes grew wide as Chevalier brought the glowing iron poker closer to him.

“Stop, please, stop… I’ll tell you,” Sam said.

Chevalier touched the end of the poker to the back of Sam’s knee. The smell of burning flesh filled the small interrogation room. Sam’s screams were silent, mere whispers as his voice gave away and the pain continued.

“Start talking,” Chevalier said, and returned the iron poker to the fire.

Sam’s head fell limp against his chest, “Stop, please.”

“That’s not what I wanted,” Chevalier said, and backhanded the familiar. Blood splattered against the back wall, and the force of the hit pushed Sam further into the spikes.

“I’m…” Sam whispered. “I’m not Emily’s familiar.”

Kyle frowned, “Ulrich has another heir?”

Sam nodded his head, “Yes.”

“Keep talking,” Chevalier growled.

“His… eldest living… is a son,” Sam groaned. “All of Master Ulrich’s children were killed by the Valle… except the two.”

“How many children did he have?” Kyle asked, confused.

“Hundreds,” Sam said, spitting out a mouthful of blood and teeth.

“Was he an incubus?” Mark asked, his eyes wide.

“Don’t talk about Master Ulrich like that!” Sam snarled.

“Guess so,” Silas said, surprised. “How could the Valle let an incubus into their faction?”

“I’m guessing that’s why his children were killed, to keep it a secret,” Chevalier said, irritated.

“So you rightfully belong to the eldest son?” Kyle asked.

Sam nodded.

“That son would be a mortal then, right?”

“Yes,” Sam said.

“What does that one son have to do with Emily?” Chevalier asked, and drew the poker out of the fire.

Sam screamed, “Don’t! Not again!”

Chevalier touched the poker to the exposed skin on his stomach, and inhuman screams filled the room. After only a few seconds, Chevalier returned the poker to the fire.

“Please, no,” Sam whispered, trying to catch his breath.

“Don’t make us ask… tell us…” Chevalier growled.

Sam began to cry softly, “The son is a prisoner of the Valle, kept in a coven in Iceland. After Ulrich’s death, the son was my master.”

“Keep going…” Kyle hissed when Sam paused.

“They make the son tell me what to do, and I obey. Their orders were clear… at first it was to befriend the Winchester, and then my orders were to take Allen,” Sam said, soft enough they had to strain to hear him.

Chevalier growled and backhanded him again.

Kyle held Sam’s head up to face Chevalier. His eye was swollen shut and his cheek was swelling with the broken cheekbone.

“My… new orders… were to…” Sam said as blood poured from his mouth, “Get Emily out of the Equites.”

“This entire time you’ve been working for the Valle?” Kyle growled.

Sam nodded, “Yes.”

“Wait,” Silas said, thinking. “If you’ve been keeping an eye on Emily… then you are the one giving information to Exavior.”

Chevalier turned away from the fire and faced Sam again, “Is that true?”

“No,” Sam said, coughing. He was turning pale as the blood slowly drained from his body, the nails still embedded deep into his flesh, “I told my Master, the eldest son.”

“Who, in turn, told the Valle Council?” Kyle asked.

“Not the Council, they don’t know,” Sam said softly. “Exavior is the only one that knows. He is going to take Emily as his mate when she leaves the Equites.”

Chevalier growled, “Over my dead body.”

“He knows… about her age…”

“What about her age?” Kyle asked, confused.

“He loves her.”

Chevalier growled deeply and blurred to Sam. With one fluid movement, he removed Sam’s head and threw it into the fire.

“We’ve let him in the palace, in the castle… we let him spy on her for twelve years,” Chevalier hissed.

Kyle pulled Sam’s body out of the chair and let it slide to the floor, “We all did. He delivered Allen and watched the children.”

Chevalier walked up the stairs and out of the interrogation room, followed by Mark, Kyle, and Silas.

“Sir,” Storm said, walking up to them and ignoring the blood on their clothes. “There’s a problem on the pier.”

“What problem?” Chevalier growled.

Storm took a step back, “The Valle are demanding to see Lady Emily.”

A malicious smile crossed Chevalier’s face, “How many?”

“Four, one of them is a member of the Council.”

“Let them in. I’ll meet them in the conference room in twenty minutes,” Chevalier said.

“Right away, Sir,” Storm said, and blurred away.

“Get out of the bloody clothes and get Em out of prison. Meet me in fifteen minutes in the conference room,” Chevalier said, and disappeared up the stairs.

The other heku blurred away.

“Em?” Silas said from the cell door.

Emily turned toward him as he opened the door, “Is he here?”

Silas nodded, “Yes, he’s coming to the conference room.”

Emily stretched, her back sore from the hard cot, and then got up and followed Silas to the conference room. She stepped in, still wearing the heavy blanket over her shoulders, and sat down. Chevalier kissed the top of her head softly when he walked in and sat down beside her. Mark and Kyle came in next, bringing hot coffee, bacon, and eggs with them for Emily.

“Where’s Sam?” Emily asked, taking the hot coffee in her hands to warm them up.

“He’s dead,” Chevalier said. “This time for good.”

Emily nodded and took a sip.

“Are you ok?”

“Just cold.”

There was a knock on the door and Kyle opened it. Storm was standing before Exavior and three Valle guards, who were surrounded by island guards.

“Come… sit…” Chevalier said to the Valle, and Storm bowed and shut the door after they entered.

Exavior moved quickly to Emily and knelt down beside her, “Are you ok?”

“Of course,” Emily said, raising her eyebrows. “Just tired… it’s 4am.”

“I thought you were in prison.”

“Why would you think that?” Emily asked.

Exavior stood up and sat at the table across from the Equites.

“So, why are you here?” Chevalier asked, crossing his hands on the table.

“We came to do a welfare check,” Exavior explained.

“I’m not in jail,” Emily said, smiling. “Your informant was wrong.”

Exavior frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“We know all about Sam,” Chevalier said. “How he’s not her familiar, and has been feeding information to the Valle.”

“What?” Emily screamed and stood up. “I think that violates the ultimatum.”

“Wait!” Exavior said, and then calmed himself. “Sit, please.”

Emily stayed standing and crossed her arms, “Violation of the ultimatum…”

“No it didn’t. We aren’t hurting you,” Exavior explained. “Plus, this started long before the ultimatum was given.”

“You’ve been spying on her in secret for twelve years?” Kyle growled.

“Yes, I have,” Exavior said, and smiled. “It was no coincidence that I was at the New Mexico wedding. It’s come in handy, and has done no harm.”

Emily glared at him, “I don’t care what you say. The punishment for breaking the ultimatum is now coming.”

“Wait,” Chevalier said, holding up a hand. “Let’s not jump to that.”

“No, no more talking, the Valle broke the agreement,” Emily said, and started out of the room, but Mark stepped in her way.

“Please, just stay,” Mark said.

“No, and you have my permission to tell the Encala that the Valle broke it,” Emily said, and turned to them.

“Don’t leave because idiot here messed up,” Kyle said softly.

Emily glared at Exavior, “He’s not going to stop. If he’s been following me for twelve years, then there’s no chance of ever getting the peace that the agreement was meant to bring. Now get Mark out of my way before I ash all of you.”

Chevalier nodded at Mark and he stepped aside. Emily stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

Chevalier turned on the speakerphone and dialed the three Councils. He ordered an immediate session with all three faction’s Elders within the hour. He thought he could stall Emily that long, and needed all factions present. They all greed when he mentioned that the ultimatum had been broken.

“Get every guard out there, patrol the streets, the walls, the castle… triple the guards in the prison, and double it in the rest of the castle,” Chevalier said, and left the room.

Kyle grinned at Exavior, “You can stay right there.”

“Em?” Chevalier asked, walking into the bedroom.

“What?” she asked angrily as she threw things into her suitcase.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck softly, “Don’t go.”

Emily leaned her head back against his chest, “I don’t have a choice.”

“He’s an idiot, you can’t punish the entire species because of Exavior,” Chevalier said.

Emily sighed, “I need to take a quick shower. I smell like the prison.”

She pulled away from him, and he saw that she was tearing up as she disappeared into the shower. Chevalier took the 9mm out of her bag and blurred it down to the safe in his office. He also told Silas to put Alexis to sleep using control. If she was napping, it could buy them a few extra minutes.

Emily took a long hot shower as she got her crying back under control, then came out dressed, and brushed her hair while Chevalier watched from the bed

She started going through a small bag and frowned, “Have you seen my gun?”

“No,” Chevalier lied.

Emily crawled on her hands and knees and checked under the dresser and bed, “Damnit, I need my gun.”

“I haven’t seen it,” he said, and blurred from the room.

Emily looked up when she heard helicopters landing, and then zipped her suitcase shut. She decided to stick with just the .45 that went with her Thukil uniform. She started to tear up again, but was finally able to get it under control.

“Anna?” Emily called out.

“Yes?” Anna said, coming into the room.

“Where is Alexis?”

“Alexis is napping, and Allen is out with the guards playing baseball on the north lawn.”

“Allen’s here now?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Wake her up and get Allen in here to pack,” Emily said, and started hauling her suitcase down the stairs. She stopped at the foot of the stairs when she saw all nine Elders looking at her.

“Damnit, Chev, it’s not going to work,” she said, and passed them with her suitcase.

“We just want to talk,” Quinn said, watching her struggle with the suitcase.

“Silas!” Emily yelled, and he appeared at her side.

“Yes, Em?”

“Put this in my truck please, and get the suitcases from the kids when they are done packing,” Emily said, and turned toward the Elders.

“Sure,” Silas said. He glanced nervously at the Elders and then took her suitcase out to the truck. He had brought her truck with the horses and didn’t realize it gave her an easy way off of the island.

“You have about 5 minutes,” Emily said to the Elders.

“Come into the conference room,” Chevalier said softly.

Emily nodded and walked into the conference room, and then sat at the end of the table while the Elders took up the other spots around Exavior. Exavior looked down at the table when his Elders came in to room.

“We’re ready to hear why you are leaving,” William said, watching Emily.

“The ultimatum has been broken by the Valle,” Emily said, and saw the Encala glare at the Valle.

“Do you care to explain that?” Sotomar asked. “We haven’t violated the agreement.”

“Exavior did. He’s been spying on me using a familiar that used to belong to Ulrich,” Emily said.

“You did what?” Sotomar scowled at Exavior.

Exavior nodded, “It did no harm. It helped me protect her.”

“It was invasive, and part of the agreement was that I wouldn’t be spied on,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“It started before the ultimatum though,” Exavior said.

Sotomar growled, “You did this without Council approval!”

“We’ve learned quite a bit about the Valle today,” Chevalier said. “Took some interrogating, but we know about Ulrich being an incubus, and how the Valle killed hundreds of his children to keep it under cover.”

Sotomar glared, “That is of no concern to you.”

“Except that Sam became the familiar of Ulrich’s eldest living relative… which isn’t Emily. A mortal you have locked up, so he can give Sam orders in regards to her,” Chevalier said.

“Orders to spy on the Winchester?” William asked angrily.

“None of his children are alive, except Emily. We took care of all of them,” Sotomar said.

“Well…” Exavior said, shrugging. “I kept one.”

Sotomar exhaled loudly, “You did?”

“Yes, and the familiar actually belongs to him.”

“Belonged, I killed him,” Chevalier told them.

“Belonged then, and yes, I used Ulrich’s eldest son to give him orders that let me keep tabs on Emily… purely to keep her safe,” Exavior said.

“Breaking the agreement, therefore, I’m off,” Emily said, standing up.

“Listen to us, please, before you go,” Sotomar said, looking into her eyes.

Emily sat back down and crossed her arms.

“This wasn’t approved by the Council. We knew nothing about it,” one of the Valle Elders said.

“We knew the Valle would screw this up,” William said. “I say we wipe them out instead of losing track of Emily.”

Sotomar growled, “I’d like to see you try it.”

“Stop!” Emily screamed. “No more… the ultimatum was clear, and it has been broken.”

“Please, Em,” Chevalier said, taking her hand. “We figured out how Exavior was finding out your secrets. We handled the familiar, give us one more chance.”

“I don’t think the ultimatum stated that there were second chances,” Emily said, and looked down at their hands.

“He’s not even an Elder,” William said. “One stupid move by a member of the Valle shouldn’t validate you disappearing.”

“It does. He’s not just a member of the Valle, he’s a member of their Council,” Emily reminded him. “One that has been a thorn in my side for years.”

“If you would realize that that irritation is love, then things would finally be right,” Exavior said haughtily.

Chevalier growled, and started to lunge forward, but Quinn held him back.

“Will you stay if the Valle agree to take care of their idiot?” William asked.

“No, they’ve already taken care of Exavior, and he still finds ways to track me down,” Emily said. “Like the night you and he showed up while I was having dinner. He just finds me.”

“You had dinner with the Winchester?” Sotomar asked Exavior.

“Yes, as did William,” Exavior said, grinning slightly.

“My part was accidental. I saw the Chief Interrogator sitting in a restaurant, and it seemed odd, so I checked it out and found him with Emily,” William told them.

“This isn’t the first mistake by the Valle. I was kidnapped by some of their members posing as Equites guards,” Emily said. “It’s obvious to me that I can’t have peace.”

“You can,” William said. “You promised the Encala a visit, come to our palace and you can have peace.”

“She isn’t becoming an Encala,” Zohn growled.

“I didn’t say she would stay, but it would give her time to think without having the Valle spying on her,” William told them.

“All we’re asking,” Chevalier said, and touched her cheek lightly, “Is for more time to iron this out. It started before the ultimatum, and that could negate its affect.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t know…”

“Go on the vacation,” Sotomar said. “See what the Encala palace looks like…”

“I’ve seen it,” Emily said, smiling slightly.

Sotomar grinned, “See it when it’s not full of ashes. Take the vacation and let us work things out with Exavior. The Equites and the Valle Elders will work out an agreement.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Quinn said. “Take some time away.”

“And the kids?” Emily asked. “I don’t want them at the Encala’s palace.”

“They can stay here on the island with me,” Chevalier said. “We’ll hold all talks here so the kids are with me.”

“Are the Encala ready for me to visit?” Emily asked.

“Yes, we have been since you agreed to come,” William said. “We can leave right away.”

“We, of course, would want to send some guards,” Zohn said. “I’m sure you won’t mind.”

“No, that’s expected,” William said.

“As would we,” Sotomar said.

“Wait… Equites and Valle guards?” Emily asked, frowning.

“It’s fine, we can house them,” William said. “I understand why they each want to protect you.”

Emily nodded, “You can each send 2, that’s it.”

“Two is good, we have them here,” Sotomar said.

“Equites in the room… Valle out though,” Chevalier said sternly.

“Of course,” Sotomar said. “She would be more comfortable with the Equites guards. We understand that.”

“When Exavior had me at his coven, when he tried to turn me…” Emily said.

William growled softly.

“He said I could have guards, and then he took them to prison…”

“We won’t do that,” William said. “We won’t risk breaking the ultimatum, I assure you.”

Emily looked at Chevalier, “Is it ok?”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, it gives us time to work something out with the Valle and I know the Encala won’t risk breaking the treaty.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t know.”

“Come to my office for a few minutes,” Chevalier said, standing up.

Emily nodded and followed him out of the conference room, and into his office where the door locked automatically behind them.

“Please, go, let us work this out,” Chevalier said, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her. He never thought he’d be trying to talk her into going to the Encala for a week.

“No one will abide by the treaty if I cave,” Emily said, leaning her head against his chest.

“They will, I swear. This is more of a wake-up call than you caving,” he said, and tightened his arms around her. “Go visit the Encala, relax, and take advantage of them being terrified of you.”

“Think they have forgiven me?”

Chevalier chuckled, “If they haven’t, they would be too afraid to do anything about it.”

“You’re seriously ok with me going to the Encala for a week?”

“Yes, I am,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes. “Anything, but having you disappear.”

Emily thought for a moment, inhaled deeply, and then nodded, “Ok, I’ll go.”

Chevalier kissed the top of her head, “Go, have fun.”

“Sure,” Emily said, and headed for the door. “Try not to kill Exavior.”

Chevalier grinned, “Do I have to promise?”

They walked hand-in-hand back to the conference room and heard yelling from outside. Chevalier ran the rest of the way, and threw the door open. He grinned and then sat down when he saw that it was the Valle Elders yelling at Exavior.

Emily stood in the door and looked at William, “I’m ready.”

The Encala Elders smiled and stood as the Valle Elders stopped yelling.

“You have agreed to give it a week?” Sotomar asked.

Emily nodded, “Yes, I’ll see what you come up with.”

Sotomar spoke quickly, and two of the Valle guards appeared behind Emily. She looked at them and then turned back to the conference room.

“Who are you sending?” she asked Chevalier.

“I’d like to send Mark and Silas,” Chevalier said, but turned to Quinn and Zohn. They spoke quickly and quietly, too soft for Emily to hear. Chevalier turned back to her after a few minutes, “Never mind, we’ll send Russ and JV.”

“I don’t know them,” Emily said, frowning.

“I know, but the Cavalry has a mission. These two are door guards from the palace. They came with the Elders, so they are already here,” Quinn said.

“Let me say good-bye to the kids, then I’ll meet you up at the helicopter,” Emily said, and left the room.

The Valle Elders had a private conference with the two guards they sent and the Equites Elders talked to the Russ and JV, giving last minute orders.

Chapter 13 - Encala Palace

Emily stretched and rolled over, cuddling the large pillow between her arms. She could smell the hot coffee and lunch waiting for her on the table. They hadn’t gotten into the Encala city until well after 9am, and with the 4am meeting and the prison sleeping, she slept past noon. She rolled onto her back and looked over at Russ and JV by her door. They were facing away from her, giving her as much privacy as possible. Emily looked around the large bedroom. The deep reds of the furnishings stood out against the black rock the room was constructed with. Two fireplaces roared along one wall and a large bay window looked out over the Encala’s main city.

She finally crawled out of bed and threw on a robe, then sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of coffee as William came into her room.

“Good afternoon” William said, smiling. He was proud of his faction for hosting the Winchester after twelve years of trying.

“Can I go for a run?” Emily asked, and took a bite of French toast.

“I see no reason why not,” William said, and sat down beside her.

“Alone?” she asked, watching him.

William cringed, “I don’t know if anyone would feel comfortable with that.”

Emily shrugged, “Had to ask. I’ll head out in a bit.”

“Is there anything you need?”

“I think I’m set,” Emily told him, and watched as he left. She finished her lunch and went into the bathroom to change into her jogging clothes then sat down to slip on her running shoes as the guards watched her, already in clothing to jog.

As Emily headed down the stairs with her six guards in tow, she felt like everyone was watching her and waiting for her to turn them all to ash again. She ignored the way they moved out of her way when she passed, or the way they dropped their eyes when she looked toward them.

Stepping out of the palace, she turned her on iPod and strapped it to her arm. She could feel the guards running at her sides and back as she headed out into the enemy city

***

The Valle and the Equites Elders sat in the conference room, talking within their factions, while Exavior sat quietly at the head of the table.

“I know what you all are thinking,” Exavior said. “I’m not going to back off. She loves me, and I’m better for her than Chevalier. She’ll see that soon.”

Chevalier growled, “Shut up.”

“Just stop it, Exavior,” Sotomar said. “We’re trying to save your life here, and you aren’t helping.”

“Banishing me won’t change my feelings for her,” Exavior told them.

“It’ll stop you from harassing her though, and possibly pushing her over the edge to disappearing,” Quinn said.

Exavior shrugged, “Give her time, she’ll come to me.”

“I say we just banish him now,” Zohn said angrily.

“He’s the best Chief Interrogator we’ve ever had. I hesitate to let you banish him,” Sotomar said.

“Will you agree to leave her alone until she comes to you?” Quinn asked him.

Exavior shook his head, “No, she needs my presence to know I’m out there protecting her.”

“Shut up,” Sotomar growled. “Just… shut up.”

Exavior sat back in his chair smugly.

“Can you not control him at all,” Zohn asked. “I thought he had direct orders to stay away from her.”

“I did,” Exavior said. “Until I heard she was being put in prison.”

“She was in prison?” Sotomar asked, frowning.

Chevalier grinned, “It was her idea. She knew information was going to Exavior, and wanted him to show up… well… she actually wanted to interrogate him in my room.”

Sotomar chuckled, “That would be interesting.”

“Should have let her,” Exavior said. “I’m not afraid.”

Chevalier smiled, “I don’t think she has it in her to do. She thinks it sounds like a good way to get even, but I once the pain started, she would give up.”

“It would turn her anger into passion, I assure you,” Exavior said, grinning.

Chevalier shook his head and turned back to the Valle Elders, “You have no replacement if we banish him?”

Sotomar shrugged, “Of course we do, would they be as good? No.”

“If it’s between losing the Winchester or the idiot…”

“Then, of course, we would remove Exavior from the Council.”

“She won’t let it happen,” Exavior said. “She still considers us friends.”

“Maybe not anymore,” Zohn said.

“You, she hates,” Exavior said. “Me, she loves… she hides it though.”

“Damnit, Exavior, just stop with the love thing,” the tallest Encala Elder said.

***

Emily stopped just inside the palace when the Encala’s Chief Interrogator stepped in front of her. He held up a garment bag.

“What’s that for?” Emily asked, pulling the earphones out of her ears.

“I thought William told you about the ball,” the Encala said.

Emily sighed, “Ball?”

“Yes, the coven dignitaries are coming to meet you.”

“Seriously?”

“It would mean a lot to us if you would attend,” he said, smiling.

Emily took the garment bag, “I refuse to be heku Barbie.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, frowning slightly.

She sighed, “Nothing, but if I don’t like this dress, you’re getting jeans.”

The Chief Interrogator smiled, “I’m sure that would do, though you may feel under dressed. It begins in two hours.”

“Perfect,” Emily said, and walked up the stairs to her room.

Emily took a long, hot shower and pulled on her robe before heading out into her room. Chevalier’s orders were clear, the Equites guards were to remain within sight of Emily at all times, even when she was in her bedroom. She walked out and sat in the vanity chair to dry her hair. She kept nervously glancing at the garment bag as she put her hair into a looped knot with soft curled tendrils that fell down to the middle of her back.

Emily finally got up the nerve to open the garment bag and was pleasantly surprised. The color was off, it was Encala red, but that didn’t surprise her. The body was tightly fitted and decorated with knots and swirls of satin sashes and the skirt was floor-length and made of layers of soft, shimmery, fluid material. The sleeves were simple, gathered straps that draped over her shoulders and fell to a plunging back.

She slipped into the dress and pulled on the red heels that came with it, then turned to the mirror and cringed. Red heads were never to wear red, but Emily figured no one told the ancient species that small bit of fashion.

Emily came out into the bedroom to look in the full-length mirror, and saw the guards watching from behind her. She blushed when she saw the look on their faces, and suddenly had the image of hundreds of heku looking at her, and she shivered slightly.

“They have begun and are waiting for you,” JV said, trying not to look at her for too long.

Emily sighed and turned to them, “What do you think?”

“Erm… nice?” Russ asked, afraid to say anything else.

Emily frowned, “Nice?”

“What?” he asked nervously.

“This is going to be weird,” Emily told them. She hated not knowing her guards. She wasn’t able to talk to them or joke with them, these two were very serious.

“Shall we go?” JV asked.

Emily nodded, “Sure, but I get your arm.”

“Ma’am?” Russ asked, his eyes wide.

“Your arm… I’m holding it all night,” Emily said, and wrapped her hands around his arm.

“I’m not sure that…” he started to complain, but Emily stopped him.

“Shut up and do it,” Emily said sternly. She walked out of her room, still holding Russ’s arm, and was followed down the stairs by the five other guards. She could hear the music and voices coming from the ballroom and felt her stomach tie into a knot.

Guards in red velvet robes stood outside of the ballroom and opened the door when she neared. Emily looked inside and turned to leave when she saw hundreds of eyes turn toward her and the room fell quiet. The guard behind her grinned and shook his head, so she turned slowly, gripping Russ’s arm tightly and stepped into the decorated ballroom.

“Ahh, here she is,” William said, extending a hand out to her. Emily hesitated and let go of her guard’s arm to take his hand. She was blushing deeply and aware of the soft murmurs that ran through the crowd.

“You look lovely, M’Lady,” Elder Aaron said, softly kissing her hand.

“So good of you to join us,” Elder Reese told her, smiling. The Encala Elders stood beside her while coven dignitaries filed past her, kissing her hand and smiling at her. Some passed by her with just a nod, nervous about her reputation to turn heku to ash, while others looked over her with fascinated awe.

“So nice of you to come. What brings you to the Encala?” one of the dignitaries asked.

“Just a vacation,” she replied, smiling.

He laughed and walked away from her when he found someone in the crowd to talk to. The next heku in line looked at her sternly.

“You caused quite an uproar in my coven,” he said angrily, and Elder William glared at him.

“I’m sorry,” Emily said, not quite sure what he meant.

“You may be here in the palace right now, but if you come near my coven, we’ll hold you responsible for the death of one of our mortals,” he told her.

“Nicholas…” William said warningly.

“She killed a mortal we were turning, an important one,” the dignitary said, still watching Emily.

Emily sighed, “I’m sorry about that. That was when the Ancient channeled through me. I didn’t mean to kill anyone.”

“Sure you didn’t… stay away from my coven, that’s a warning,” he said, and walked away from her.

Emily suddenly felt exposed. Even with William beside her, she felt the eyes on her as the mad Coven Leader walked way. Some moved away from her, afraid her temper would spike and she would turn them all to ash.

“Don’t worry about him, Dear,” Elder Aaron said. “We will handle him at the next council meeting.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt the mortal,” Emily said, starting to panic.

“We know that,” William said.

“You turned me to ash,” a heku said, turning toward her.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “I…”

“She turned most of us in this room to ash,” another said, laughing.

“Yes... but I’m not happy about it,” the first heku said.

Emily took a step back as more of the Encala moved toward her. The Encala Elders moved in front of her, and she felt the guards form a barrier that she couldn’t see past.

“Stand down,” William growled. “She is our guest.”

“She caused pain to most of us… her being here is an insult,” he told the Elders.

Emily felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder from one of the Valle guards, “It’s ok. We can handle them.”

“No,” Emily said, pushing through the Elders. “I have something to say.”

“Now may not be the time,” William told her.

Emily stepped forward, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Did you know that your ancient was my father? Did you know that he killed my mother and my brother? Did you know he used the pain ritual on me? Did you know that he killed my baby?”

“Well… that doesn’t…” he started to say.

“Yes it does matter. He channeled to me, harassed me, and tortured me. When I killed your mortal it was because I couldn’t control what he caused… a channel to him,” Emily said. “After he killed my baby, I came to the Encala to deal with him. I’m sorry you were all involved, but I’m not going to take it lightly when someone messes with my family.”

“It wasn’t our fault that happened to you,” he said.

“No, it wasn’t... but had I ashed your Council, would you have let me go?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“Well…”

“The answer is no. I know it caused you pain to be revived, but I hurt worse than you’ll ever know. I still live with the death of my baby,” Emily said, tearing up. “I’m not ash happy, and I don’t have any plans on turning any of you to ash. William is my friend and I won’t do anything to hurt him.”

“We… didn’t know…” he said, looking down at the ground.

Emily turned to leave, but Elder Aaron took her arm, “Stay, please.”

William smiled warmly, “Stay.”

Emily nodded and moved back by the guards. The Valle put his hand back on her shoulder. She watched as the room returned to the happy murmur as Coven Leaders visited among themselves. She stayed quiet and watched closely. Some started dancing with the few female heku in the room, and an area was made for a dance floor.

Emily froze when William extended his hand, “Come… dance with me.”

“No… I can’t…” she said, but he took her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. She was again amazed at how the heku always seemed to be excellent dancers, and William was no exception.

“I didn’t realize you considered me a friend,” he said as he led her through the slow dance.

“Why wouldn’t you be?” she asked, glancing nervously toward her guards. “Unless it’s because I’ve ashed you, too.”

William chuckled, “You have, more than once.”

She was shocked when William dipped her, grinning, and then brought her back close against him.

“I’d rather you not punish that heku,” Emily said, glancing quickly at the door.

“He was out of line,” William told her.

“Still, that’d be one more reason to hate me.”

“He threatened you, and it has to be dealt with.”

Emily looked over at her guards again, and her eyes grew wide. They were all holding drinks. She wondered if only the Equites had the no-drinking policy with their guards, as the Encala didn’t seem to mind their guards drinking. She knew Kyle and Mark would both be livid if they knew their guards were drinking inside of an enemy faction’s palace.

William followed her gaze and grinned, “They aren’t hurting anyone.”

“I know, it’s just… surprising,” she said.

“May I cut in?” Elder Aaron asked, smiling.

William spun Emily toward him, and she was suddenly in his arms, dancing across the floor.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Aaron asked.

“Sort of,” Emily said, smiling slightly.

Aaron smiled, “Don’t let them bother you. The majority of those here don’t hold a grudge.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive,” Aaron said, pulling her closer to him with a strong hand against her lower back.

“He’s still watching me though,” Emily said, glancing at the angry heku.

Aaron looked over at him and she saw the heku leave, “There.”

“What did you tell him?” Emily asked, irritated that she couldn’t hear what was being said.

“To leave… so is there anything you would like to do while you are here?” Aaron asked.

Emily smiled slightly, “How much do your palace guards hate me?”

“They don’t.”

“I need to learn how to punch. I keep breaking my hand.”

Aaron started to laugh, “Have the Equites not taught you?”

“They keep saying they will.”

“Do you hit often?” he asked, amused.

“Well… define often.”

“Enough said. I’ll get our Captain to show you. We also heard that you play a mean game of football.”

Emily blushed and grinned, “I do.”

“You may have to show us,” Aaron said, and spun Emily into Elder Reese’s arms.

“Oh, hello,” she said, shocked.

Reese smiled, “Sorry, you may not have heard me ask.”

“Excuse me one second,” Emily said, and pulled away from him. She slipped a finger in the strap of her shoes and pulled them off, tossing them over to the wall. She then returned to Elder Reese as he laughed.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re not very tall, are you?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not short.”

“Of course not, Dear,” he said, and deftly spun her, then returned his hand to her back.

“Heels and dancing don’t go very well together,” she told him.

“I would imagine not.”

Emily glanced back over at her six guards, and they were all taking another drink from the heku servant. She wondered how many they’d had so far, and then decided she probably didn’t want to know.

After the song finished, Reese returned her to her guards, “Your dinner is ready in the dining room.”

Emily nodded and glanced at her guards. They were all holding new drinks. The Encala guards showed them to the dining room.

“Go back to the ball. I’m ok here,” Emily told them. Without another word, all six heku left and went back to the ball.

Emily turned back to her dinner, shocked that the guards left her when she asked. She wasn’t sure what the food was, but she started to eat, hungry from the dancing. She ate slowly, enjoying her time alone, and she wondered what they would do if she went out for a walk by herself.

She finished her dinner and then went out into the palace alone. She was looking for a clock, but also enjoyed being alone and able to explore. She opened a set of double doors and looked down into the grand hall where she was once shackled to the wall and turned over 1800 of this faction into ash. There were torches burning to show her way, so she shut the doors behind her and walked slowly down toward the Council’s chairs.

Emily sat down in the chair once occupied by her ancient father, and looked around the quiet room. From in here, she couldn’t hear noise from the ballroom. All she could hear was the soft hiss as the torches burned. She noticed the shackles they once used on her were still hanging from beside the Council chairs.

She looked up when she heard the doors open, and William appeared. He smiled and blurred down to where she was sitting and sat down beside her.

“It’s weird, being in here,” Emily said, looking at the rows of empty chairs.

“I bet… things were quite different back then,” William said, watching her.

“How did you find me?”

William grinned slightly, “With your scent, you aren’t hard to track down. We got worried when you slipped your guards.”

“I didn’t… technically… slip them,” Emily told him. “I just let them go back to the party.”

“True, but they thought you were still eating dinner.”

“Well they aren’t my normal guards. My regular guards would have seen this coming.”

“What do you want to happen to Exavior?” William asked, suddenly serious.

“In a perfect world, he would just go back to being the Valle’s Chief Interrogator and leave me alone… however… I don’t think he’ll ever do that.”

“Do you want him banished?”

Emily cringed, “I’m not sure I would wish that on my worst enemy.”

“Imprisoned?”

“I don’t really want anything bad to happen to him. I think he’s harmless, just annoying.”

“Harmless? He’s notorious for being one of the most malicious Chief Interrogators the factions have ever seen.”

“I’ve heard that… I just don’t see it.”

William smiled, “Of course you haven’t seen it. The factions would fight if he even suggested he question you.”

“I’m tougher than I look,” Emily said, watching him.

“I’ve heard that, however… you don’t want to tangle with Exavior, take my word for it.”

Emily shrugged, “I just don’t see how he can harm anyone… I can see how he could drive someone crazy out of sheer annoyance though.”

William stood up and put his hand out, “Come, let me show you.”

Emily took his hand and stood up. She followed him out of the great hall and into the red carpeted hallways of the Encala Palace. After many twists and turns, William walked through a secret passageway, and they both emerged in the Encala’s prison cell.

“Sir,” the four guards said, bowing. They looked nervously at Emily and then turned back to full attention. William led her down a few rows of screaming heku before he stopped at a quiet cell with a lone, still figure lying on the bed.

“Joseph?” William called to him softly.

The heku’s body began to shake and a slight whimper escaped his parched lips.

Emily frowned, “Let me in.”

William nodded to one of the guards and he came down and opened the cell door. Emily stepped inside and sat down on the bed beside the quivering heku.

“Joseph?” Emily asked softly, and touched his arm.

“I see it all,” he whispered.

“Joseph,” she said again, and touched his face with her hand. His eyes were terrified, yet confused and distant. They scanned the room quickly, never stopping for long on any one spot.

“What happened to you?” Emily asked him, and his body stiffened as he inhaled sharply.

“I see it all,” he whispered again, and began to moan.

Emily frowned, “Exavior did this?”

“Yes,” William told her. “He was interrogated by the Valle when he accidentally walked near one of their covens.

“What did Exavior do?”

“We aren’t sure the methods he uses, but they can and will turn heku insane.”

“Why is he in prison here?”

“He’s a danger to himself and others. If his mind ever clears, he will be released.”

“Joseph, can you hear me?” Emily asked him, and took his quivering hand in hers.

Joseph’s lips moved, but he said nothing as he rolled back onto his side away from her.

“Let’s get you out of here. I don’t think the Equites would appreciate you being in one of our cells… even voluntarily,” William told her, and put his hand out for her again.

Emily hesitated and then followed him out while the guard locked the cell door behind him.

“How can they let Exavior treat someone like that?” Emily asked.

William smiled slightly, “He gets the job done. They don’t care how. He’s never interrogated a heku that he couldn’t get information out of.”

“Why does it sound like you envy the Valle for that?”

“I do. We all wish we had an Interrogator that vicious and malignant.”

Emily stopped in the Encala’s hallway and looked at the Elder, “Even if it drove innocent heku insane?”

“Yes, it’s hard to get information from a heku. You can’t kill them easily, and any pain inflicted is short lived,” William explained.

“That’s… that’s awful,” Emily said, frowning.

William smiled, “Let’s not talk about it. They are waiting for you back at the ball.”

Emily looked up at the large clock, “It’s getting late. I think I’ll just turn in.”

“We forget that you need to sleep, please forgive me. I will tell them you have retired and will send the guards up,” William said.

“Let them party. No one’ll hurt me while I’m just sleeping,” Emily told him.

William nodded, “That is true, good night then.”

Emily smiled and then went up the stairs to her room. She changed quickly into a nightgown and turned off the lights. She could hear the sounds from the ballroom and the soft murmur of voices as she drifted off to sleep.

“I don’t care what you say, our Cavalry can beat your Imperial Guards any day,” a voice said angrily.

Emily looked up from her pillow. It was still dark outside, and all she could see was the small amount of light the low fire put into her room. She could tell from the muffled voices that they were right outside of her door.

“Mounted Guards? That’s insane!” a boisterous voice said. “How stupid to put a heku on a dumb animal that moves slower than we can run.”

“You’re one to be talking. Why in the hell have an Imperial Guard? What good does it do to train specialized guards in protecting the Elders? When are the Elders ever in danger?” another voice said.

“Take that back!” someone yelled, and Emily heard a large crash outside of her door.

“Stupid Valle, why are you even here?” JV yelled. “We can protect her by ourselves without you meddling.”

“Protect her? The Equites haven’t protected her in 13 years…” Another large crash sounded.

Emily sighed and got out of bed. She pulled on her robe and tied it before stepping out into the hallway. The entire hallway smelled strongly of alcohol, and the six guards were all crouched and facing one another, their hands balled into fists.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked.

“Get back inside. This is no concern of yours,” one of the Valle guards yelled at her.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Russ screamed, and then lunged at the Valle across from him. He landed squarely against the Valle heku and they began to blur into a fight. The Encala guards began to pull them off of each other, and one of them got punched in the neck. The other Encala guard jumped into the fray, and soon, there were six blurring figures crashing into the walls and furniture, sending it flying in a mass of splinters.

“Stop it!” Emily shouted, and tried to pull one of the Equites out of the fight.

“What’s going on here?” Elder Aaron shouted, coming up the stairs toward the guard fight.

Emily turned toward him as a strong arm pushed her roughly. She flew backwards past the Elder and hit the wall. Her head smashed against the black stones and she fell to the floor as the heku all turned to look at her.

Aaron knelt down beside her, “Emily?”

“You did that!” Russ growled at one of the Encala.

“I did not…” the Encala yelled back as he watched

Suddenly, the entire floor was full of palace guards as the fighting guards were all restrained against opposite walls. Elder William and Elder Reese appeared and knelt down beside Emily.

“What happened?” William asked, and picked her up gently. He carried her limp body into the room and laid her down on the bed.

“The guards were fighting and she tried to stop them,” Aaron said, watching her.

“Damnit, put them in prison cells until we can handle them,” William said. “Get the covens on the line, find me a doctor.”

“Prison cells? Even the Encala guards?” Aaron asked, frowning.

“Especially the Encala guards,” William growled, and covered Emily up with the blankets.

“I think Bachman was a doctor,” Reese said. “I’ll get him.”

“Emily?” William asked softly, and touched her arm.

Aaron turned toward the door, and then back to William, “They are all in prison. Do we call the Valle and Equites?”

“Not yet,” William said. “I don’t want to be the one to tell Chevalier his wife is injured. Let’s see how bad it is first.”

Aaron nodded and watched as William put a cold washcloth on her forehead.

Twenty minutes later, Elder Reese came into the room with an older heku.

“You were a doctor?” William asked.

“Yes, I still practiced up until a few months ago,” he said, and sat down on the bed beside Emily. “Is this… is this the Winchester?”

William nodded.

“What happened?” he asked, shinning a light into her eyes.

“She got into the middle of a guard fight,” William said.

“They threw her against the wall,” Aaron told him. “She hit her head pretty hard.”

The doctor inhaled, “No blood though.”

He felt along the back of her head, neck, and back, and then again looked at her eyes. The Encala Elders watched nervously as he looked her over.

“She has a concussion, a pretty bad one,” Bachman said.

“How long until she wakes up?” William asked.

“It’ll be a while. I’m going to give her some pain medication and an anti-inflammatory to try to help with any swelling or headaches she has. Let her sleep it off, I’ll stay here until she wakes up,” Bachman told them, and began rifling through an old leather bag. He measured out two injections and exposed her thigh long enough to give her the medications before covering her up.

“Now what?” Reese asked.

“Now we wait. Make sure she doesn’t have a seizure, and see how she’s doing when she wakes up.”

“Do we tell Chevalier?” Aaron asked, wincing.

William sighed, “We should... but we’ve injured the Winchester and an enemy Elder’s wife… let’s hold off in case she’s fine.”

“I want to get my hands on those guards,” Reese said angrily.

“Again, let’s wait to see how she is,” William said. “If she’s badly injured, we’ll have to tell the Equites and the punishment will be harsher.”

The three Elders and the doctor waited through the night and into the next day, watching her and hoping that she would wake up. Over the course of the night, she began to get black marks under her eyes.

“Damnit,” Bachman said, and pulled her hair away from her ears. The Elders saw black bruises behind them, “She has a basal skull fracture.”

“Meaning…” William asked.

“Meaning they cracked her skull,” Bachman said, and felt along the back of her neck again. “They are going to be bloody well lucky if she doesn’t die.”

“Die? How serious is this?”

“Without an x-ray machine, there’s no way to tell. I can assure you if you take her to the Emergency Room, they are going to call the police.”

“I don’t really care about the police. If we need to get her to a hospital, then let’s do it,” William said.

“Let’s wait,” Bachman suggested. “She doesn’t have any spinal fluid in her nose or ears, so we just hope for a minor fracture.”

“We need to tell the Equites,” William sighed.

“Yes, we do,” Reese agreed.

“I’ll go,” Aaron said. “I’ll make the arrangements to bring Chevalier here.”

“Be very compliant,” William said. “We need to keep this as friendly as possible. We have injured the Winchester.”

Aaron nodded.

***

“She loves me,” Exavior said again. “You can ask her all you want, but she won’t have me banished.”

“It has nothing to do with love. Emily doesn’t believe in banishment,” Quinn said.

Chevalier grabbed his phone, angry that this had gone on for three days so far, “What?”

“Chevalier, this is Elder Aaron… there’s been an… accident,” Aaron said softly.

Chevalier frowned, “What kind of accident?”

“The guards, all six of them guarding Emily… got into a fight and somehow she got in the middle of it.”

Chevalier’s face fell, “How badly is she hurt?”

“We have a doctor here. He said she has a skull fracture. Right now she’s sedated, and he’s giving her pain medications.”

“A skull fracture?” Chevalier growled, and the other heku all looked at him, shocked at the anger that was shadowing his features.

“Yes, we have all six of the guards incarcerated, but we knew you would want to be here,” Aaron said. “The tower is advised you will be arriving by helicopter.”

“I will be there in two hours,” Chevalier said, and slammed his phone shut. “The guards got into a fight and gave Emily a skull fracture.”

“What?” Zohn gasped. “Our guards?”

“All six of them,” Chevalier told him, furious. “Kyle, meet me at the helicopter.”

“We’ll take care of the children,” Quinn said.

“If my guards were involved, then I want to go also,” Sotomar said.

“I should, too,” Exavior told them, and all six Elders glared at him.

“Sotomar may go, Exavior… not a chance,” Chevalier said, and stood up.

The Equites helicopter carrying Chevalier, Zohn, Kyle, and Sotomar circled and then landed on the helipad for the Encala Palace. Only a few guards met the helicopter, a sign of peace, and escorted them directly to the bedroom where Emily was.

Chevalier stepped angrily into the room. He saw the three Encala Elders and a strange heku sitting beside Emily’s bed. The room was warm and dark as Emily lie motionless on the bed, covered in warm, soft blankets.

The doctor moved aside and let Chevalier sit down at Emily’s side. He touched her cheek softly and took her hand.

“What’s this?” he asked, touching the black marks under her eyes.

“It’s a sign of the basal skull fracture. She also has them behind her ears,” Bachman explained.

Chevalier pushed her hair aside and looked for himself, “Has she woken up?”

“Not yet, it could be a few more hours.”

“I want to see the Equites guards,” Kyle said, livid.

“I want to see the Valle,” Sotomar said.

“Follow me. I want to have a chat with the Encala guards,” Aaron said, and led the enemy Elders down into their prison.

“What happened?” Chevalier asked William.

“There was a ball, and the guards were drinking and got into a fight while Emily slept. Aaron said she tried to break them up, and one of them threw her against the wall,” William explained.

Emily sighed softly and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at Chevalier, and then her eyes moved to the doctor and shut again as she fell back asleep.

“That was hopeful,” Bachman said, smiling.

Chevalier looked at him, unimpressed.

Kyle came in an hour later, obviously furious. He whispered to Chevalier, “They were drinking… they stayed at the ball while she came here to bed and they drank.”

Chevalier frowned, “Wait… they left her here alone while they drank?”

“Yes,” Kyle growled. “I’m tempted to leave them here.”

Chevalier shook his head, “Oh, no, I want them where we can punish them ourselves.”

“Sotomar’s guards aren’t going to make it back to the Valle,” Kyle said, grinning slightly. “He found out that they were drinking while in an enemy’s palace to protect the Winchester and… well… he’s letting them have it right now.”

“My head,” Emily whispered softly, her eyes still shut. The heku all looked at her when she spoke.

“Em?” Chevalier said, touching her arm softly.

“It hurts,” she whispered.

Bachman was suddenly at her side with a syringe, “Pain medication.”

Chevalier nodded and watched as the doctor gave her an injection and she settled back down to sleep.

“Can we move her?” Chevalier asked the doctor.

“No, not until she wakes up fully, so we know how bad it is,” Bachman told him.

The heku gathered chairs around and watched Emily sleep motionlessly through the evening and night. When the sun began to show through breaks in the curtain, Emily started to stir slightly and Chevalier took her hand.

Emily opened her eyes and blinked a few times before focusing on Chevalier. She pulled her hand away from him and frowned slightly.

“How are you?” Chevalier asked softly.

Emily sat up suddenly in bed and grabbed her head, groaning.

“Lay down,” Bachman told her, and pushed softly against her shoulders.

“Don’t touch me,” Emily whispered, her head still buried in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor said, and stood back up.

Emily slowly looked around at the watching heku and pulled the blanket higher against her. She seemed confused and concerned about something, so Bachman stepped forward.

“Do you know where you are?” he asked her.

Emily nodded.

“Where, Child?”

“In my house?” Emily asked, frowning again and looking around the room.

“Who is this?” Bachman asked, touching Chevalier’s shoulder.

“He’s… your brother? I’m not dressed.”

Bachman smiled, “It’s ok, you’re covered. Does anyone here look familiar?”

Emily looked into each of the heku’s faces and then turned back to the doctor, “No.”

“What’s going on?” Chevalier whispered, too softly for her to hear.

“Amnesia, it’s more than likely temporary,” Bachman whispered back.

“My head hurts so badly,” Emily said, and put her face into her hands again.

Bachman dug in his bag and brought out a vial and a syringe. He jumped slightly when Emily screamed and scrambled out of bed. Kyle caught her as she headed for the door, and she turned around to face the doctor.

“It’s just a pain medication,” he told her.

“Get away from me with that thing,” Emily said angrily, and fought to get loose from Kyle’s restraining hands.

“Ok, ok, I’ll put it away,” Bachman said. “But you need to lie back down. You hurt your head.”

Emily watched him step away from the bed, and she felt Kyle’s hands let her go when she moved back toward it. She saw her bag out of the corner of her eye and grabbed it before sitting down on the bed.

“Are you going to shoot us?” Chevalier asked, already knowing what her bag held.

Emily nodded, “If you come at me with a needle.”

“No needles, I promise,” the doctor said. “Will you take pills? For the headache?”

“No,” Emily told him, and pulled the covers over herself.

Chevalier turned slightly and explained her medical phobia to the doctor. When he turned back, Elder William held a plate stacked high with steaming pancakes.

“Are you hungry?” William asked her.

Emily frowned, “Where did you just get that from?”

“A servant brought it to me,” William explained, and held the plate out for her.

“Why are you all sitting around watching me?” Emily asked.

“We were just leaving,” William said. He set the plate down on the bedside table and left with the other two Encala Elders.

Emily turned back to Chevalier, “You go, too.”

He nodded and walked out of the room, glancing at Kyle before shutting the door.

“All of you, go,” Emily said to Kyle and Bachman. They smiled slightly and left.

“It’s just temporary,” Bachman said to the waiting heku in the hallway. “It’ll start to come back slowly over time.”

“Can we take her home then?” Chevalier asked.

Bachman nodded, “Yes, she seems stable enough. Do you have a doctor to watch over her? In case she gets worse?”

“Yes, we do,” Chevalier said. “With Emily, it’s always good to keep one on hand.”

“Very well, she can go,” Bachman said.

Chevalier went back into the bedroom. Emily was sitting in the bay window, looking out over the city.

“Emily?” Chevalier said, walking up to her.

She looked over at him.

“We told you that you’ve had a head injury. That’s why your head hurts.”

Emily didn’t answer, but just watched him suspiciously.

“Your memory will come back, but we want to take you home to recover,” Chevalier told her.

He felt uncomfortable at the way she looked at him like he was a stranger, one to be feared. The distrust she felt toward him was prevalent in her eyes.

“I’ll get your bag after you get dressed, and then we can go. It’s about a two-hour trip,” he told her, and headed for her bag. He turned toward her when he heard the hammer cock back on her .45. Chevalier backed up slowly, “Or not… we can stay here.”

Emily nodded and laid the gun down in her lap as he backed out of the room and shut the door.

“That went well,” Kyle said, grinning.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “Gun.”

“We heard,” Sotomar chuckled.

“May we stay for a while longer?” Chevalier asked William.

“Yes, stay as long as she needs,” William said.

“I will leave and take the guards with me. They have a date with my Chief Enforcer,” Sotomar said.

Chevalier nodded, “We’ll have the pilot return you to Island Coven so you…”

They all turned when Emily stepped out. She’d changed into a light cotton summer dress, and her hair was pulled back. The dark marks under her eyes stood out as she stepped into the light.

Emily turned to Sotomar, “Can you take me to the barn?”

Sotomar smiled softly, “There is no barn here.”

“Is this my house?” she asked him.

“No, it is not.”

“Is it your house?”

“No, it is his,” Sotomar said, and pointed to William. Emily frowned, moved a step away from the Encala, and took Sotomar’s arm in her hands.

“He’s… I don’t know him,” Emily whispered to Sotomar.

Sotomar glanced at Chevalier briefly and then turned back to Emily, “He won’t hurt you.”

“I know. I have this,” she said, and pulled the .45 out of her pocket.

Sotomar looked at her, surprised, and then put his hand out, “May I hold that?”

Emily nodded, “Shoot him if he gets too close.”

“I will,” Sotomar said, and tossed the gun behind him. Chevalier caught it and tucked it in the back of his pants before Emily could see.

Emily leaned toward Sotomar and whispered into his ear, “They are all staring at me.”

Sotomar looked at the others as Emily let go of his arm and started down the stairs slowly, looking around.

“Do we follow her?” Kyle asked.

“Sotomar should. She trusts him, it seems,” Chevalier said.

“I guess I stay,” Sotomar said, amused, and headed down the stairs.

Emily turned and looked at a blank stone wall. She frowned slightly and reached out to touch it.

“Prison,” William whispered to Sotomar.

She touched one of the stones and the wall slid to the side.

“Let’s not go down there,” Sotomar said, and took her arm.

“What’s down there?”

“Storage, boring place,” Sotomar said, and shut the door to the prison. “Shall we get something to eat?”

Emily nodded, “Ok, are your brothers coming?”

“Yes, is that ok?”

Emily nodded again and Sotomar led her through the enemy palace and into a large dining room. Kyle, Chevalier, and the three Encala Elders were sitting already. She blushed when she saw them all watching her and sat down.

A servant came and sat a plate down in front of Emily.

“Wait,” Emily called when he started to leave.

“Yes?” the servant asked, turning slowly.

“Don’t they get to eat?” she asked, motioning toward the others.

“Yes, bring us some also,” William told the shocked servant. He returned with plates for all of them and left quickly, without question.

“How is the headache?” Chevalier asked her. Emily looked at him and frowned.

“You have strangely shaped teeth,” Emily said, and started to eat.

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Family trait.”

“If they were longer, you could be a vampire for Halloween,” Emily told him, and started to eat the steak.

“I would imagine I could,” Chevalier chuckled, and started to push the food around on his plate.

“Hmm, this is good, but has an odd flavor,” Emily said, and dug into the baked potato.

“Those guards are going to wish the Encala had killed them,” Chevalier whispered, too quietly for Emily to hear.

“As will mine,” Sotomar said. “I’m tempted to let Exavior have at them.”

“Aaron has already dealt with the Encala guards. It’s despicable how they shirked their duties,” William whispered. “It’s embarrassing, actually.”

“Who actually hit her?” Kyle asked.

“That we don’t know, all six are saying someone else did it,” Aaron said.

“I feel funny,” Emily said softly, and Kyle caught her before she fell to the floor. He picked her up and turned to the others.

“Sorry, the doctor doesn’t want her up running around, and this was all we could think of,” William said.

Kyle handed Emily off to Chevalier, and he slowly walked her up the stairs and laid her back in bed. He covered her with blankets and watched her for a few minutes before going out into the hallway.

Early the next morning, the heku heard Emily moving around in her room. They heard her go in and take a shower, and then they waited in silence while she got dressed. She talked to herself in the bedroom, commenting on the black circles under her eyes.

Emily opened the door and ran into Chevalier, falling back onto her butt on the hard wooden floor. He reached down and helped her to her feet.

“What are you doing here?” Emily asked, adjusting her shirt.

“You know who I am?” Chevalier asked.

Emily frowned, “Of course I do. Where are my guards though?”

“How much do you remember?” Kyle asked her.

Emily looked at each of their faces suspiciously, “What’s going on?”

“Do you know where you are?”

“Yes, what I don’t know is why you are all here.”

“How’s your head?” Bachman asked.

Emily frowned, “Ok, you, I don’t know.”

Bachman smiled, “I’m a doctor… how is your head?”

Emily took a step away from him, “Get away from me.”

William nodded to Bachman, and he blurred away.

“How’s your head, Em?” Chevalier asked, looking down at her.

“It hurts,” Emily said, and sighed. “What’s going on?”

“Your guards got into a fight. You somehow got in the middle of it and got knocked into a wall,” Chevalier told her. “You have a skull fracture and your memory’s been sketchy.”

Emily looked around, “I don’t remember a fight.”

“It may come back to you.”

“That doesn’t explain why you are all here,” Emily said.

“I came to deal with my guards,” Sotomar told her.

“I came to take care of the Equites,” Kyle said.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “You know why I came.”

“When was this?” Emily asked.

“Three nights ago, after the ball,” William said.

“Did I go to the ball?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Hmm,” Emily turned and went back into the bedroom, followed by Chevalier. He shut the door behind her.

“We’d like to take you back to the island. The doctor here wants you to take it easy for a few weeks,” Chevalier told her.

“Is it rude to leave the Encala early?” Emily asked.

“No, they will understand,” Chevalier said. “I also want to get the guards back to Mark.”

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to them,” Emily said. “I don’t think they wanted to be here in the first place.”

“It doesn’t matter. They drank while on duty and ended up in a fight that you were injured in.”

“They were drinking?”

“Yes, while you were up here asleep.”

Emily pressed her palms into her eyes and Chevalier wrapped his arms around her. She turned toward him and buried her face in his chest.

“Pretty bad?” he asked her softly.

Emily nodded.

“Let’s get you back to the island. You can relax there.”

Emily nodded again and pulled away from him. She watched Chevalier pick up her bags and carry them out into the hallway.

“We ready to go?” Chevalier asked.

Kyle nodded, “I’ll have the guards in the helicopter in 5 minutes.”

“As will I,” Sotomar said, and both of them blurred away.

“I do hope you will consider coming again,” William said. “Had it not been for the misbehaving guards, we had a lot of things planned.”

“We did?” Emily asked.

William smiled, “Yes, and I’ll hold you to come back and do them with us.”

“I’d love to come back, thank you,” Emily said, and Chevalier led her up to the helicopter. She crawled in and buckled the seat belt. While they waited for the guards to arrive, she leaned her head back against the seat and shut her eyes.

Emily slept most of the way to the island, ignoring the glares and scowls from the Elders to their disobedient guards. The helicopter landed softly on the roof of the castle and Island Coven guards poured out of the doors and formed a line up to the helicopter. Emily got out first and winced when she saw Mark standing in the doorway with a furious look on his face. The other two Valle Elders were standing beside him and looked equally angry.

Emily took Chevalier’s hand, and they walked past Mark and the Valle, and went into her room. She immediately laid down on the bed as Chevalier pulled the curtains closed and kissed her softly before leaving her room. He heard the Valle’s helicopter take off as he headed down the stairs to the courtroom, where the others waited for him.

Chevalier walked into the small courtroom and sat down in his seat at the front. Quinn and Zohn were seated at Chevalier’s sides, while Mark and Kyle stood down with Russ and JV in the trial area.

“This should be quick,” Chevalier said. “Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

“Emily told us to go back to the party while she ate. Then William came and told us she’d gone to bed,” Russ said quickly.

“So you made sure she was safe in bed before going to the party…”

“Not really, she went to eat after a few dances,” JV said. “We got word from William that she had gone to bed and said we could stay at the party.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Mark yelled at him. “Did it ever cross your minds that the Encala could have kidnapped her and fed you a line while you disobeyed Elder’s orders and left her unprotected?”

JV looked down at the ground, “No, Sir.”

“You were too busy breaking a direct ‘no drinking’ order while you were outnumbered thousands to 1 by the enemy faction,” Mark growled angrily.

“It was only a few drinks,” Russ said, watching the Elders.

Mark appeared at his back and had his head turned dangerously far to the side in an instant.

“Stop,” Chevalier said to Mark, who slowly let the guard go.

“We aren’t done with him. This’ll be more painful of a punishment than that,” Quinn said angrily. Quinn was even tempered, and his rage was more terrifying to the guards than that of the other Elders because of the rarity of it.

Chevalier took a deep breath, “So once you decided to return to your post… you opted to start a fight instead of going back inside to make sure Emily was ok?”

“We could hear her breathing… and we didn’t start the fight,” Russ said.

Chevalier slammed his fists onto the desk, “I don’t care if you started it or not. If you hadn’t been drinking, the fight wouldn’t have started. If you had been in the room protecting Emily, she wouldn’t have gotten into a fight and ended up with a skull fracture.”

“The Valle hit her,” Russ said. He was thrown to the ground by a hard backhand from Mark. He looked up from the floor as blood dripped from his fast healing mouth.

“It doesn’t matter what the Encala or the Valle were doing, if you had been in her room protecting her, she wouldn’t have gotten into the fight,” Mark growled.

Russ finally got his feet, “Yes, Sir.”

“I expect each of our guards to be able to protect any member of the Council that we ask them to,” Zohn said. “It’s disturbing how easily you neglected your duties and broke several of the Equites rules.”

“Kyle?” Chevalier hissed.

“Yes, Sir?” Kyle asked, staring at the guards.

“Get them out of my sight and make it hurt.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kyle said, and grinned. He and Mark hauled the guards out of the courtroom.

“How is she?” Quinn asked.

“Her head hurts pretty badly because of the skull fracture,” Chevalier told him.

“Is her memory back then?”

“Not all the way, but at least she remembers me,” Chevalier said, and grinned. “She told me I had strange teeth and if they were longer I could be a vampire for Halloween.”

Zohn chuckled, “Had to be interesting.”

“The odd thing was she hooked onto Sotomar, wouldn’t let anyone else near her.”

“Sotomar?” Quinn asked, surprised.

“Are we losing our edge?” Chevalier asked angrily. “Our guards keep breaking the rules.”

“I know, but I don’t think it’s too late to change it,” Zohn said. “Without the Valle and Encala attacks all the time, I think they are slacking.”

Quinn nodded, “I agree, they are lax because nothing ever happens. How do we change that?”

“Harsher punishments and more responsibility,” Chevalier said. “Drills… surprise inspections…”

“That’s all good. It will keep them on their toes,” Quinn said.

Chapter 14 - Interrogation

Emily floated on top of the warm water, letting it block out any noise from the castle and relax her. Time alone was what she needed. Alexis was falling into Allen’s old pattern of wanting nothing to do with her family. She preferred to spend all of her time with Allen, and worshiped everything he did. Since coming back from the Encala Palace a month ago, Emily’s headaches hadn’t gotten any better, and Dr. Cook was following her all over the castle trying to get her to go to a hospital.

She took a deep breath and stood up in the pool to check her fingers. They were severely pruned and it was time to get out, so she swam to the ladder and then glanced back at the pool. She wanted to go back and float, but promised Chevalier they would go out together for a walk later. He’d spent the last month on the island with her, and she knew that he expected her to fall over dead at any moment from the head injury.

Emily crawled out of the water and wrapped in a towel. She shut her eyes tightly against the headache, and then headed for the door. Silas opened the door before she got to it.

“I was about to come in to see if you drowned,” Silas chuckled.

“I’m ok,” Emily said softly. The castle staff noticed a drastic change in Emily since her trip to the Encala. She was quiet and calm, and liked to spend time walking through the castle or out on the castle grounds. She didn’t get mad at mistakes, and didn’t joke with the guards. Her personality change, though considered normal by the doctor, was disturbing.

“Your dinner is waiting,” Silas said, falling back into his official guard roll. He was afraid to stray into friendship for long. The Elders had been on a quest to straighten up the guard staff in Council City, and that started with the Cavalry.

Emily nodded and went into the dining room and sat down at the head of the table. She picked, uninterested, at the cheeseburger and fries and listened to the kids talking around her. Her head was hurting, and it felt like every argument sent her closer to the edge of passing out.

Silas alerted Chevalier that she wasn’t eating again, and he appeared beside her.

“Come on, Em,” Chevalier said, and held his hand out.

Emily took a drink of Coke and then took his hand and let him lead her out into the cool night air. They started across the back pasture, and she leaned against his arm.

“I’m worried about you,” he said, squeezing her hand slightly.

“I’m ok,” she told him.

“You keep saying that, but you aren’t. I want you to go see a doctor.”

“I don’t need a doctor.”

“How’re the headaches?”

“I’m ok, Chev, really,” she said softly.

Chevalier sighed, “No you aren’t or you’d be yelling at me by now.”

“I just have a headache, it will go away.”

“Go see a doctor, Em.”

“I don’t need a doctor, being here on the island is what I need.”

“Then why aren’t you getting better?” Chevalier stopped and looked down at her in the moonlight.

Emily shrugged and pulled closer to him, “I’m just tired.”

“Then why don’t you take something tonight? You aren’t sleeping well.”

“Will you stop worrying if I do?”

“For one day, yes.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

Chevalier swept Emily off her feet and cradled her, smiling, “Off to bed then.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. He expected her to complain, and again it worried him that she didn’t. He blurred her back into her bedroom where the doctor was waiting with two little pills and a glass of orange juice.

Emily went into the bathroom to slip on a nightgown and then went out and took the two pills.

Dr. Cook nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Emily crawled into bed and slipped between the cool sheets. Chevalier laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her closely and felt her body relax as she slipped off to sleep.

Chevalier stood up slowly, and then quietly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Quinn and Zohn were in the conference room, waiting for an update on the guard staff.

He sat down and pulled a roster sheet from the table to look at, “Are these numbers accurate?”

“Yes, things have been going really well,” Zohn said.

Through the night, the three Elders went over every policy and procedure for Council City, revising where necessary, and deleting any outdated rules. At noon the next day, Chevalier’s phone rang and he answered it on speakerphone.

“Chevalier here,” he said, erasing a note he’d made on the manual.

“It’s Sotomar, we have a problem.”

Chevalier sighed, “What kind of problem?”

“We can’t find Exavior.”

“What do you mean you can’t find him? Wasn’t he in prison?” Zohn asked angrily.

“No, he was sent back to his coven to handle some problems there. Now we can’t find him.”

“Why tell us?” Quinn asked.

“Because, we think he may be coming after Emily.”

“Damnit, is he still talking about her?” Chevalier growled.

“Non-stop. We sent four palace guards with him and he killed them before escaping,” Sotomar explained.

“We’ll watch for him… if we find him…” Quinn growled.

“If he’s come for Emily, you may have him.”

Chevalier slammed his fist down on the phone, shattering it, “Mark?”

Mark appeared in the doorway, “Yes, Elder?”

“Double Emily’s guards… Exavior is missing,” Chevalier said angrily.

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said, and blurred away.

“Dr. Cook said even the smallest head injury could kill her,” Chevalier told them. “If Exavior gets a hold of her…”

“We’ll keep an eye out. She’s safe here,” Quinn said, and smiled.

“I wish she would go back to the palace. There are more guards there,” Zohn said.

“She’s safer here. I have more control over the smaller number… she hasn’t been attacked in a month and I think she feels safer here too,” Chevalier said.

“Sir!” Silas yelled, running in.

Chevalier looked up at him.

“She’s gone,” Silas said, frowning.

“What do you mean gone?” Zohn asked.

Silas sighed, “She slipped me… sometime early this morning she crawled out of her balcony using a sheet.”

“The pier guards said she took off in the yacht,” Mark said, coming into the room. “Around 6am.”

Chevalier shook his head, “That doesn’t make sense. She’s walked around here, lifeless, for a month. Why would she leave?”

“Take the helicopter, see if you can find that boat,” Quinn said.

Mark and Silas nodded and blurred from the room.

“Call Sotomar back. Tell him Emily’s taken off… just in case he finds Exavior,” Chevalier said, and disappeared from the room.

***

“How many do you have?” Chevalier asked Lord Thukil.

“We have 75 of our Cavalry out looking for her,” Lord Thukil said. “If she’s close, we’ll find her.”

“And you?” Chevalier turned to General Skinner from Powan.

“We have 75 also,” the General said.

“It’s been two weeks. How can she still be missing?” Zohn growled.

“Maybe it wasn’t because of Exavior,” William said. “Maybe she’s fulfilled her threat in the ultimatum?”

“I don’t think so,” Chevalier said. “It seems too coincidental that Exavior is missing also.”

“We’re checking all of his houses, but he may have hidden ones,” Sotomar said. “If he has her, we’ll find them.”

“Sir?” Storm said from the door.

“What?” he asked, irritated.

“Dr. Edwards is on the phone for Emily.”

Chevalier looked at her, shocked, “He’s calling Emily?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“When’s the last time he saw her?”

“It’s been since before you left for the palace,” Storm told him.

Chevalier reached out for the phone, “Dr. Edwards, this is Chevalier.”

“Hello,” Dr. Edwards said excitedly. “It’s good to hear from you again.”

“You were looking for Emily?”

“Yes, she had a follow up this morning that she didn’t come to. I have her CT scan results,” the doctor said.

“Wait… when did she have a CT?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“Two weeks ago. She came here early one morning for a checkup, and I saw signs of a serious head injury and sent her in for a CT,” Dr. Edwards said. “She made another appointment before leaving the office, but didn’t show up.”

“She’s missing,” Chevalier said softly.

“Missing? She didn’t make it back there?”

“No, she didn’t. Do you know if she left with anyone?”

“No, she said she’d taken the boat in and was heading back. I gave her some medicine for her headaches, and she was going to go home and take them,” Dr. Edwards explained.

“If you hear from her, please, call me.”

“I will, please do the same… it’s urgent that I talk to her.”

“Was there a problem with the x-ray?” Chevalier asked.

Dr. Edwards sighed, “I’m only supposed to tell the patient, but… I know things are different there so… yes, the skull fracture is worse than I imagined. She has to get on medicine to stop the swelling and pain. She has to slow down and rest for a few weeks. One little head bump could kill her.”

Chevalier winced, “Could… could she have lost her memory and wandered off?”

“I don’t think so. If she had amnesia, it would have been immediately.”

“But she did, could it have come back?”

Dr. Edwards thought for a moment, “No, I’ve never seen it work that way.”

“Call me if you see her. If we find her, we’ll bring her in,” Chevalier said, and hung up. He turned to the other Elders, “Now we know why she left, she snuck off to see a doctor.”

“Why would she sneak?” William asked.

“It’s hard to explain, but she’s snuck off before to see a doctor,” Chevalier said. “Now we just need to find out where she went afterwards. The doctor said she was coming home with a headache… her skull fracture is worse than he thought, and he confirmed… one small bump on the head and she could die.”

***

“Exavior?” Emily called out from the large bed. There were guards blocking her door, and she had been ordered to stay in bed. Her headaches weren’t getting better, even though Exavior was forcing her to take the medication.

“You called for me?” Exavior asked, coming in to her room and sitting down on the bed beside her.

“Please, let me go,” Emily asked him.

Exavior smiled, “When you are well, my love. Then we’ll talk.”

“Why am I here?”

“For your protection. I care about you, and the Equites weren’t treating you right, or you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“I don’t feel good, Exavior. I just want to go home.”

Exavior touched her cheek softly, “This is your home.”

“I miss my kids.” Emily tried a new approach.

“It’s ok, we’ll have more,” he said, and kissed her softly before standing up and leaving the room.

Emily looked over at the guards in her room and laid back down on the bed. The medications were making her tired, and she’d spent most of the last few weeks asleep. She watched the snow falling outside the window and wondered if even the Valle knew where she was.

Emily opened her eyes when a servant brought in some breakfast. She got up and looked at the fresh fruit and muffins, and then sat back down on the bed. She pulled a book out of the drawer and sat back to read.

“Em?” Exavior said, walking in.

Emily looked up at him.

“Starving yourself won’t work. You can’t turn me to ash so you’re only hurting yourself,” he said.

“What do you mean I can’t ash you?”

“Sam… he heard what you and boyfriend did to protect him. While you were medicated, I did the same,” Exavior said, and grinned slightly.

“You fed off of me?” Emily asked angrily, and felt her neck.

“I did, but not to feed, to protect myself. When you realize how much you love me, you’ll no longer want to try to get away, and then I can stop. Until then, I have to protect myself,” Exavior said.

“Go away,” Emily said, and went over to sit in the bay window to look out over the snowy landscape.

“Love, please,” Exavior said, and touched her arm softly.

Emily looked at him with tear filled eyes, “Let me go.”

Exavior ran his lips softly along hers and smiled when she turned her head away from his, “Eat, you can’t get better without food.”

“I’m not hungry,” she told him, watching the large snowflakes fall against the window.

Exavior took her hand and hauled her to her feet, then pulled her over to the table and forced her to sit down, “Come on, eat.”

Emily poked around at the cheese quiche, and thought about Chevalier trying to find her. She looked down at her hand when Exavior took it.

“Food works better if you eat it,” he said, and smiled.

“My head hurts. I don’t want to eat. I want Chev,” Emily said softly. She jumped when Exavior hit the table. It crashed into two pieces and the quiche splattered across the floor.

He turned quickly and blurred from the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Emily moved to the bed and pulled her knees up against her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. She laid her head on her knees as servants came and cleaned up the mess, replacing the table silently and then disappearing from the room.

Emily looked up when another set of servants came into the room. They went into her closet and took her only pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and filled the wardrobe with dresses and gowns of all colors and shapes and soft, delicate scarves along with jewelry trees full of jewels. They didn’t even look at her as they left.

***

The small boat pulled up alongside the yacht marked ‘Emily 2’. Chevalier deftly jumped onto the large yacht and looked around quickly. Kyle and Zohn went through the lower deck while Chevalier looked around the top.

“She’s not here,” Kyle said.

Zohn joined them, “Her scent is very weak. She’s not been here in a long time.”

“Tie up the smaller boat. Let’s get this yacht back to the island and see if Sotomar can catch any sign of Exavior,” Chevalier said, and moved up to the bridge. As soon as the skiff was attached, he kicked the yacht into high gear and set off for Island Coven.

Seven hours later, he pulled up to the pier and met Sotomar. The Valle Elder disappeared into the boat and checked every room, smelling everything he could find. He came out an hour later and joined Chevalier, Kyle, and Zohn.

“He’s been on the boat,” Sotomar said. “Not recently though.”

“He’s never had a reason to be on the boat,” Chevalier growled. “He has her.”

“I’ll try his phone again, he’s not been answering,” Sotomar said, and grabbed his phone.

“Exavior!” Sotomar said, shocked. “Where are you?”

The Equites watched, their anticipation growing.

“We need you back at the Council immediately. There are some problems with the Equites,” Sotomar told him.

“That’s an order. I want you with the Council within 24 hours, or you’ll be banished. This is important. We won’t take this from the Equites and we’ll need your services,” Sotomar said, growling slightly.

He slammed the phone shut, “He’s agreed to come to the Council.”

“We’ll come too,” Chevalier said.

Sotomar nodded, “We’ll take my helicopter. He can’t know you are there.”

Two hours later, the Equites were flying toward the Valle’s main city.

***

“Where did he go?” Emily asked her door guard.

“None of your business,” he said.

“You could let me go,” Emily told him. “Chevalier would repay you. I’m sure you could stay on his island.”

“Go sit back down. We’re not letting you go.”

“I can ash you,” Emily told them angrily.

“Good luck getting off this rock without help,” he said, and smiled at Emily.

“A phone then? One phone call?”

“Go back and sit down,” he said again sternly.

Emily sat down in the bay window and looked out. She was several floors up from the ground, and all she could see was snow and snow covered trees.

***

Exavior walked into the Valle’s council chambers and sat down in his chair with the entire Council watching him.

“Thanks for joining us,” Sotomar said coolly.

“Let’s get this over with. I’m busy at my coven,” Exavior told them.

“Actually,” Sotomar said. “You are to be questioned.”

Exavior looked at them, surprised, “Why me?”

“Emily has gone missing, and we suspect you know where she is.”

Exavior grinned, “She got away from the Equites again? I don’t know where she is, but I can assure you she’s looking for me.”

“I was on the yacht she disappeared from, and I caught your scent,” Sotomar said.

“You’re now working with the Equites? That’s a little odd, isn’t it?”

“All three factions are currently working together to bring Emily back,” Elder Ryan said.

“Still, to think that I would see the day when the Valle stooped to working with the Equites… it’s disgusting.”

“Do you have her?” Sotomar asked.

“Emily? No, I do not,” Exavior said.

“You’re lying,” Zohn said from behind him.

Exavior smiled, “A former Chief Interrogator to question me? How exciting.”

“Where is she?” Zohn asked angrily.

“I don’t have her. I would imagine she’s out looking for me.”

“She isn’t out looking for you,” Chevalier said. “We know you have her. She’s very sick and needs medical attention.”

“If I see her I’ll be sure to take her to a hospital,” Exavior said from his seat above them.

Elder Ryan frowned, “Why then, do you smell like her?”

Exavior raised his eyebrows, “I do?”

“Yes, strongly.”

“I have no idea why.”

“Tell us where she is,” Chevalier growled, his hands balled into tight fists.

“I don’t know where she is,” Exavior said.

“He’s lying,” Zohn hissed.

“You’re slipping, too long as an Elder… I’m not lying.”

“Why don’t we take him to the interrogation chamber and ask?” Zohn suggested.

“That’s against Valle policy,” Sotomar said, and turned to Exavior. “I just caught what Ryan did. You smell a lot like a Winchester.”

Exavior shrugged, “Coincidence… if I’m done here, I do need to get back.”

“To what?” Chevalier hissed.

“None of your business,” Exavior said, grinning. He stood up and disappeared from the council chambers.

“You’re going to let him go?” Zohn asked.

“What else can we do? If we keep him then it may put her in danger,” Sotomar said. “We have no idea if she’s alone while he’s gone. I suspect he has her in a remote location, a place that she can’t get out of alone.”

Chevalier sighed, “Keep looking for other residences he owns.”

“We will,” Ryan assured him.

***

Emily rifled through the new closet-full of clothes, unhappy at what she found. The dresses were all extremely short babydoll and slip style dresses. They all had delicate embroidery or hand beaded decorations and were made of soft, flowing material and light colors. She sighed and went back to the bed. One of the guards brought her a stack of books, and she sat down to read.

Emily looked up when the door opened.

“I’m back, my love,” Exavior said, and motioned for the guards to leave before he shut the door behind him.

“Oh, yay,” Emily said sarcastically.

Exavior grinned, “I know you missed me.”

“About as bad as a hangover.”

“You’re moody, hmm. Have a bad time while I was away?”

“What do you think? I’m so tired of this room I could scream. I want to go home.”

“Tired of this room? I hadn’t thought of that. Fine, get dressed then. I’ll show you around my home,” Exavior said, and leaned against the wall.

“Get dressed? Why don’t you try bringing me some clothes that cover me,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“You will be covered. You need to show more skin and stop hiding your body beneath those ugly things you normally wear.”

Emily turned back to her book.

“That’s an order,” Exavior chuckled. “Get dressed.”

Emily slammed her book down on the bed and glared at Exavior.

He winced and then grinned, “Can’t turn me to ash, can you?”

Emily got up, grabbed a random dress, and disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She came out a few minutes later wearing a soft peach babydoll dress that she kept pulling down, but it didn’t seem to get any longer.

“Beautiful,” Exavior said, smiling.

“Don’t I get shoes?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“No, you don’t like shoes.”

Emily glared at him, “Let’s get on with it.”

Exavior grinned at her attitude and took her hand. She followed him out of her room, ignoring the grins from the guards as she glared at them. They walked out into a huge room full of overstuffed chairs, a large TV, and several recliners. The room had seven doors along the back wall and two sets of stairs leading down to the floors below.

“What are those doors?” Emily asked, looking at the heavy steel doors at the back of the room.

“My room is in the middle, and the others are just extra bedrooms,” Exavior said, looking around the room.

“Planning on filling them with a harem?” Emily asked, irritated.

Exavior chuckled, “You’re cute when you try to be mad.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t like you.”

Exavior bent down and pressed his lips to hers. He held her close to him with a hand to her back and one wrapped behind her neck. She pushed against his shoulders, but couldn’t get him to let go. The more she fought, the harder he pressed his lips against hers. He forced her mouth open and his tongue began to explore hers.

Finally, he pulled away from her and smiled, “You know I love you.”

Emily kicked and her heel connected with his knee. A sickening grinding sound filled the room as he fell to the ground, clutching his knee. She quickly reached into his coat pocket and grabbed his cell phone, then ran down the stairs as his knee healed. She could hear him cursing as she dialed Chevalier.

“What, Exavior?” Chevalier growled.

“Help me,” Emily said, running through the house, taking random corners.

“Where are you?” Chevalier asked frantically.

Emily screamed when a guard caught her and shut the phone.

***

Chevalier’s eyes darkened, “He has her.”

“We knew that, now though, we have proof,” Quinn said, leaning forward in this chair.

“Is she ok?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t know… she just said ‘help me’ and then screamed before the phone disconnected.”

“Damnit, I wonder what she had to do to get the phone.”

“I don’t know,” Chevalier growled. “I also want to know why he smelled so much like her.”

Kyle’s eyes grew wide and he glanced at Mark, “Her scent on him… or his blood?”

Chevalier looked at him, “It was her blood scent.”

Kyle looked down at his hands, “That means he’s immune to her.”

“What? How?” Zohn asked.

“I thought she would have told you,” Kyle said, looking up at Chevalier. “She knows how to make a heku immune… somehow, he must have found out.”

“How did she find that out herself?” Chevalier asked.

“She went back into the crypt. She found books and ledgers kept by the Ancient, and in them, she found how he and Larsen were immune to her abilities,” Kyle explained.

“And you know this because…”

Kyle’s shoulders fell, “Because I let her try it on me. She said she was going to tell you. I had no idea that you didn’t know.”

Chevalier’s hands balled into fists, “Why would being immune make him smell like her?”

Kyle sighed, “It involves draining the heku and then feeding from her.”

“What?” Chevalier roared.

“She said if we didn’t help her, she would go to the Valle… and we knew they would do it,” Kyle said.

“You let Emily drain you and then you fed off of her?” Quinn yelled. “You could have killed her.”

“I stopped it,” Mark whispered.

“You were in on it, too?” Chevalier growled.

Mark nodded, “Kyle is right. She said if we wouldn’t help her try it, that she would go to the Valle.”

Chevalier was angry enough his hands shook, “I will deal with you two later… how does Exavior know how to do it?”

“I would imagine Sam followed us into the crypt,” Kyle said. “Or heard us talking about it maybe.”

“That explains why she hasn’t turned the entire place to ash, no use if Exavior survives,” Quinn said.

***

“That was unacceptable,” Exavior said angrily. The guard that caught Emily had her hands restrained behind her back as she stood before the Chief Interrogator.

“I don’t really care. Let me go,” Emily scowled.

“No… and now I’m going to show you what happens in my home when someone defies me,” Exavior said, turning and walking down the hallway. The guard pushed her forward to follow him and hissed slightly behind her.

They walked through a few hidden passageways and emerged into a room Emily immediately recognized as an interrogation room. She fought to get away from the guard, but he managed to shackle her to the wall across from a large fireplace. The shackles were made for a heku, and were far enough off the ground that Emily’s feet didn’t reach. She kicked at the guard, but he chuckled and left the room.

Another guard came in a few minutes later dragging a gray, withered heku who was slumped over and his skin was dry and cracked. Exavior leaned against the wall silently as the guard strapped the heku into a chair similar to the one Mark kept Emily from sitting in at the castle.

Exavior moved to Emily and took her face roughly in his hand, “Watch and learn. Your life will be much easier if you learn to obey me.”

He kissed her softly and withdrew a small dagger from his pocket. Emily tried to get free as he cut her wrist slightly. A trail of blood dripped slowly down her arm.

Exavior turned and grinned at the starving heku as a guttural scream escaped his lips and he fought against the restraints to get to Emily.

“Do you know what he did to deserve this punishment?” Exavior asked. “He forgot to inform me that a donor arrived. He waited an entire 2 minutes to tell me… my rules are clear… and he disobeyed me.”

Emily watched the heku, her breathing rapid. If he were to get free, he would drain her quickly. She knew the scent of her blood was hard even for well-fed heku to resist, and this one was starving and insane with hunger.

“You… now you have some lee way. I love you and don’t want to punish you,” Exavior said, and smiled at her warmly. “I still can’t have you fighting me, understand?”

Emily nodded, still watching the heku. Her arms were numb from hanging from the shackles, and she no longer kicked to get free. She watched in horror as Exavior tortured the heku for the next four hours. She shut her eyes and listened to the anguish from the heku and the exhilaration as Exavior proved to her that he was to be obeyed.

Tears were streaming down her face when the guard came and pulled the heku’s lifeless body from the interrogation room. Exavior gently released Emily’s shackles and set her down on the floor. He took her hand and walked her back up into the house as she wrapped her free arm around her body. She was shivering from the cold room and from the horror she’d seen.

They walked into her room and Exavior rubbed her arms, “You’re freezing.”

Emily couldn’t respond. The feel of his hands against her skin made it hard to breathe, and she couldn’t get the sight of his torture out of her mind.

“Take a hot bath and then nap. I’ll come get you this afternoon, and we’ll try the tour again,” Exavior said, and handed her the medication. Once she’d taken it, he left her alone.

She did as she was told, but couldn’t fall asleep until the medicine kicked in. She dreamt of swimming in the castle’s pool, of eating dinner with the kids, and the feel of Chevalier’s arms wrapped around her. The dream shifted suddenly and it was Chevalier in Exavior’s interrogation room, looking at her with predatory eyes as he starved in front of her.

Emily jerked awake suddenly and sat up. She was on top of the covers in her room. The fire was roaring and it was too warm. She heard a chuckle and noticed Exavior was lying beside her.

“Nightmare?” he asked, smiling, and ran his fingers lightly from her knee up to her inner thigh before she pushed his hand away.

“Don’t,” Emily said, and stood up.

“Lay down, my love,” he said, and pulled her back onto the bed. He took her wrist in his hand and frowned at the bruises that formed from the restraints.

She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he held it tightly and then kissed the bruise. He started kissing her neck and moved up to her lips, pressing them hard against hers as his hand slid up her short dress and ran lightly along her waist. Emily pushed his hand away, but he just chuckled and brought it to her back, using it to press her body against his.

Exavior growled when his phone rang, and he rolled onto his back and answered it, “What?”

“No I can’t come to a council meeting right now,” Exavior said after a pause.

Emily thought for only a second before screaming, “Help me!”

Exavior slammed the phone shut and covered her mouth and nose with his hand, “Do not do that!”

Emily struggled under his hand. She couldn’t breathe, and she pulled at his fingers with her hands.

“I thought we went over the disobedience,” he hissed, his eyes furious. “Unless you want a turn in my room, I suggest you behave.”

Exavior watched as she struggled to move his hand. He smiled as her weak body fought against him, bringing out his primal desire to inflict pain. He ran his eyes down the delicate curves of her body and the smooth, soft skin the dress revealed. He grinned as her fighting stopped and she fell motionless on the bed, then removed his hand as she went unconscious, and she began to breathe.

Exavior kissed Emily softly as she began to wake up, “Don’t defy me again.”

Emily looked fearfully up at him and nodded as her head pounded from the lack of oxygen. He kissed her forehead softly as her throat burned and her lungs ached from fighting to breathe.

“I need to go return that call. Stay here until I get back,” he said, grinning. He knew she had no choice. As he blurred from the room, the two door guards appeared and Emily pulled her dress down and reached for the covers.

Exavior returned an hour later, and Emily hadn’t moved. He sat down on the side of the bed and rubbed her back gently.

“You caused a handful of trouble for me. I guess it’ll calm down though,” Exavior said. His anger was again under control.

Emily looked over at him and peered into his eyes, “Please, let me go.”

“You’re so beautiful, do you know that? I bet Chevalier doesn’t tell you often enough. Come, let’s go on the grand tour.”

Emily stood up and pulled her dress down again. She felt almost as if it were shrinking, “Can I please get a longer dress?”

“Not a chance,” Exavior said, running his eyes down her body. “I like to be able to see you.”

“Yeah, so do your guards,” she told him, hoping jealousy would win out.

“I bet they do. They know you’re mine though,” he said, and put his hand out to her. Emily hesitated, took it, and then followed Exavior back out into the room with the couches.

“Where did we leave off?” he asked, leading her toward the stairs. “Oh yes… those are all extra rooms, for when I have guests.”

Emily didn’t comment. She noticed there were now four guards following them. They started down the same set of stairs that Emily had run down earlier, and Exavior turned right at the bottom, talking about different art pieces he had obtained and about their country or time. Emily paid close attention to exits from the mansion and where rooms were situated. She wished she could remember where the interrogation room was located, but she was too upset and couldn’t remember any landmarks.

“I had this installed for you,” Exavior said, and opened the door to a hot, muggy room. A large hot tub was situated in the middle of the floor and a dressing curtain was off to the side, “We’ll come in here later.”

Emily followed Exavior as he showed her his state of the art kitchen, his game room, and the large TV room with shelves full of movies. She noticed he neglected to show her into the prison or the interrogation room. He was pleased to show her a work-out room with a TV treadmill, also installed just for her benefit.

After hours of following Exavior around as he bragged about art or mortal amenities installed for her, they arrived back at the white room with the couches that led to the bedroom doors.

“Now, for a surprise,” Exavior said, obviously pleased. “This should help you while you stay here. Go in and get dressed. The guards will bring you down to me in an hour.”

Emily watched as Exavior strode away, almost in a strut. She glanced at the guards and then walked into the room. She went to lock the door, but found the lock was removed. There was a garment bag hanging by the bathroom door, and Emily ignored it and went over to sit in the bay window.

“You have thirty minutes,” one of the in-room guards said. Emily didn’t respond. She just watched out the window at the snow falling.

It was quiet in the room until the guard spoke again, “You have ten minutes, and if you don’t get dressed… we’ll dress you.”

Emily sighed and stood up. She unzipped the garment bag and gasped. It contained a long billowy white wedding dress. She threw it and the veil on the floor and turned to the guards with her arms crossed.

“I’m not wearing that,” she said angrily.

“Oh yes you are. Seven minutes and I’ll put it on you myself,” the guard said, grinning. “I hope you don’t. I wouldn’t mind seeing that body of yours.”

Emily screamed and grabbed the dress, then disappeared into the bathroom to put it on. The sleeveless dress had diamonds hand stitched into the fitted bodice. The skirt was a shiny, white material that fit over a hoop and trailed several yards behind her. She looked in the mirror and cringed, she looked like a southern bell bride.

Emily came out of the bathroom and glared at the guard when he sighed, disappointed. She let just a flash of burn go, and he fell to his knees briefly before standing up, his eyes furious.

“Do that again, Sweetheart, and even Lord Exavior won’t be able to stop me from draining you,” he growled.

“Lord Exavior… can kiss my ass,” Emily said, and sat down in the bay window again.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what he has in mind,” the other guard said, laughing when Emily glared at him.

“Come on, Princess. Time to go,” the guard told her, and opened the door. She left the veil on the floor and pulled up the front of her skirt so she could walk without tripping.

Emily was surprised to hear music and laughter coming from the banquet hallway. Exavior appeared at her side and kissed her softly. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with the gray Valle cape flowing behind him, and numerous medals lined his collar.

“Where’s the veil?” he asked.

Emily shrugged.

“Get it,” he told the guard, who blurred away and returned with it almost immediately. Exavior pulled Emily’s hair back and fastened the veil to her head. He hung the front part down over her eyes as she glared at him.

“I’m not marrying you,” Emily said angrily.

“Best bring 4 of you with her, make sure she comes,” Exavior said, grinning, and disappeared into the banquet hall.

One of the guards roughly shoved a bouquet into her hand, and Emily heard the wedding march begin. She turned and looked behind her, but the guards were already heading into the banquet hall. One of them had a firm grip on her arm and was pulling her down the aisle. Emily gasped. The banquet hall was full of people, mortal and heku, all smiling at her and commenting on how beautiful she looked.

Exavior was standing by what appeared to Emily to be a reverend, and the guards stopped a few yards away from him.

“Who here gives this woman to this man?” the Reverend asked, looking at Exavior nervously.

“I am,” one of the guards said, and pulled Emily so she was standing by Exavior. Emily looked up at him, shocked, and then back to the Reverend. As he began to talk, Emily noticed the he was a mortal and very much afraid of his surroundings.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here…” She heard the Reverend begin the usual marriage ceremony, and she looked around the room, not paying much attention. The banquet hall that she had seen earlier was transformed from the grays of the Valle, into the whites and blacks of a modern wedding.

“Do you, Exavior, take Emily to be your wife – to live together after…” The Reverend paused and glanced at Exavior, “God’s ordinance – in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon her your heart’s deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keeping yourself only unto her as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Exavior said, and kissed Emily’s hand lightly.

The Reverend turned toward Emily, “Do you, Emily, take Exavior…”

“No,” Emily said before he’d finished.

Exavior squeezed Emily’s hand painfully, “Yes, she does.”

“I do not,” Emily said, gritting her teeth through the pain. It felt as if Exavior were about to break her hand.

“She does… proceed,” Exavior growled.

Emily sighed and stopped paying attention again when the Reverend switched to Latin to finish the ceremony. She didn’t look up at Exavior when he pulled on her ring from Chevalier, and then slipped a large diamond ring on her finger above it when it wouldn’t come off.

Emily grinned slightly at the frustrated look on his face.

After a few more minutes of Latin verses, the Reverend handed Emily a ring and Exavior held out his hand. Emily moved her hand toward Exavior’s and then dropped the ring as she looked into his eyes. He caught it before it hit the floor and slipped it on his finger.

“She’s just nervous,” he said, smiling, and turned back to the Reverend. Emily rolled her eyes, but figured no one could see it under the veil.

After a few minutes, Exavior pulled close to Emily, lifted her veil over her head, and pressed his lips to hers while the audience erupted into cheers. He turned to face the crowd and then led her back up the aisle as she glared toward the guards at the door.

Exavior then led her into a small private room with a table in the center. A piece of paper and a feathered pen sat on the table, and Exavior leaned over and signed it.

“Sign that,” he ordered.

Emily looked over at it and saw that it was a marriage certificate from the state of Alaska, “No.”

“Sign it,” he said again sternly.

Emily crossed her arms, “No.”

Exavior shoved Emily against the brick wall and his hand dug painfully into her stomach, “Do what I tell you.”

Emily shook her head, unable to speak.

He shifted his hand slightly, and the movement shot pain through Emily’s chest and down into her arms. She couldn’t breathe as his hand pressed roughly against her lungs and diaphragm, and it felt like his hand was about to break through her skin. He moved back quickly and she fell to her knees, gasping for air.

“If you think you can resist me, when no heku can, think again. I don’t even have to leave bruises where they are visible,” Exavior said, and pulled her roughly to her feet. He shoved the pen into her hand and forced it down onto the paper.

Emily managed to scribble out some semblance of her name before he let go of her hand and she sunk back to the floor. The pain from his hand against her stomach left a lingering ache that made it difficult to stand or breathe. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen and leaned over, desperately needing to relieve the pain.

“I wish you wouldn’t make me do that,” Exavior said, sounding regretful. “I have ways of hurting a mortal that no heku ever thought possible, and I don’t want to use those on you… if you would just do as you’re told.”

She leaned over and put her forehead against the floor, curled up into a protective ball as tears streamed down her face. She just signed a marriage certificate, making her and Exavior legally married.

Exavior watched her proudly for a few minutes before pulling her to her feet. He took her left hand and removed the large wedding ring and tugged at the essence ring from Chevalier. It wouldn’t budge, so he put his ring back on her finger and dried her tears with his hand.

“Let’s go to the reception,” Exavior said, smiling, and took her hand. Emily wrapped her other hand around her stomach, trying hard not to bend even though that lessened the pain.

The reception hall was decorated with red and white roses and there were servants running around with trays full of champagne flutes and small decorated pastries. The mortals came up and congratulated them. They all seemed to know Exavior well, and were anxious to get to know Emily. The heku watched them carefully, and Emily saw more than one look at her and then turn to another and whisper. She wondered what the chances were that there was an Equites in the group who would tell Chevalier where she was.

The mortals began leaving after a few hours, but the champagne kept coming as the heku all drank and talked into the early morning hours. Exavior kept Emily close to his side and dragged her from group to group to introduce her. The pain in her stomach had subsided, but left her feeling nauseous and the smell of the pastries made it worse.

Just as the morning sun appeared over the mountains, Exavior led her back up to her room.

“Go and change into your nightclothes. You can sleep as late as you like,” he said, and sat down on the bed.

Emily disappeared into the bathroom and threw the white dress on the floor, kicking it into the corner. She pulled on the short satin nightgown and got ready for bed, taking as much time as possible while she thought through how to handle Exavior.

She finally emerged from the bathroom and her eyes grew wide when she saw Exavior lying in the bed with nothing on. She turned quickly and returned to the bathroom and heard him chuckle.

“Come back out here, stop panicking. I’m not going to try anything,” he said, amused.

Emily looked quickly around the bathroom. There were no windows, and the only door led back out to the bedroom.

“I’ll come get you, you know that,” he said, starting to sound irritated.

Emily walked back out and looked at him. He had the covers pulled up to his waist and was patting the bed beside him, “Time to sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” Emily said, and moved against the back wall.

“Now,” he said sternly.

Emily sighed and went over to the bed. She laid down on top of the covers, as far away from him as possible. He chuckled and reached over, pulling her closer to him.

“I want to see your stomach,” he said, lifting her nightgown.

Emily tried once to pull it down, but he just laughed and pulled it back up.

“Hmm, it’s bruised pretty badly,” Exavior said, and touched the bruise softly. He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her pills and juice. He handed them over to her, and she hesitated and then took them.

“That’s the last of them,” Exavior told her. “You should be all healed.”

Emily pulled her nightgown back down and rolled onto her side away from him. She felt the bed shake when he laughed as he pulled the blankets over her and slid her so her back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Exavior pulled the strap of her nightgown down onto her arm and started to kiss her shoulder lightly. She cringed, hating the feel of his lips on her skin.

“Make love to me,” Exavior whispered into her ear.

“Do I have a choice?” Emily snapped.

Exavior chuckled, “Of course you do. I’m not Jeff.”

“Then, no,” Emily said.

“I’ll get that ring off you eventually,” Exavior said, and kissed up her shoulder to her neck. He kissed her until she fell asleep and her blood began to smell like medicine.

***

Chevalier growled and crumpled the paper in his hand.

“What is it?” Quinn asked, and took the paper from him. He smoothed it out and gasped, “A marriage certificate?”

“For who?” Zohn asked, and looked at it. “Oh… wow.”

“Well, we know she’s in Alaska,” Quinn said, and handed the paper over to Kyle.

Kyle frowned, “They got married?”

“Then the bond is broken,” Quinn whispered.

Chevalier shook his head, “It’s not, though.”

“She agreed to marry Cody and the bond broke… she marries Exavior and it doesn’t?” Zohn asked, confused.

“She willingly agreed to marry Cody. I suspect she didn’t agree to the marriage with Exavior, so the bond held, which has to make Exavior extremely angry,” Chevalier sighed.

“That’s good though,” Quinn said.

“He’s malicious and ruthless. If she defies him much… she’s going to get hurt,” Chevalier said. “I’d rather her play along and save herself, than to fight back and put herself at risk.”

“Contact the troops, the Valle and the Encala, move all efforts to Alaska and I’ll contact the state to see if they know where these two are,” Quinn said. “I’ll see if I can find this Reverend Johnson, and see if he knows anything.”

Quinn glanced at Zohn, and they both left Chevalier’s office. Kyle moved up to sit down in the chair in front of the Elder’s desk.

“We’ll get her back,” Kyle said. “It’s not that easy to keep Emily confined.”

“When we do though,” Chevalier said, and looked up at Kyle, “There’ll be no way to keep her from disappearing.”

“If we banish him, maybe she’ll stay,” Kyle suggested. “Then there won’t be any more threats. The Encala and the Valle are helping us. She got what she wanted, peace between the factions.”

“I still think she’ll leave,” Chevalier said, and sunk his head into his hands.

Kyle stood up slowly and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

***

Emily wandered the mansion with the four guards in tow. She was given free reign of the upper floors, and spent a good part of her day wandering aimlessly, looking for something to do. Exavior banned her from the kitchen when she burned herself pulling a baked potato out of the oven, and then forbid her from going into the prison again when she almost started a riot.

“Where is Exavior?” Emily asked, turning to the guards.

“He stepped out for a few hours,” the tallest guard said

“Can I use your phone, please?”

“Do we look stupid to you?” he asked, frowning.

“Please, one tiny phone call and I won’t even tell him.”

“No”

“I can turn you to ash,” she reminded him.

“Yes, you can, and then you would have to be punished,” he said, and grinned.

“I’ve been here for two months. I think that deserves a phone call,” Emily said.

“You’re not getting a phone, Toots,” he chuckled.

Emily turned away from them, “I just miss my kids.”

The guard reached out and pushed her. She stumbled forward and then kept walking. She was cold in just the short slip dress, but hated to head back to the bedroom already. She suddenly had an idea and walked quickly to the back of the mansion and stepped into the banquet hall.

“What are we doing in here?” one of the guards asked.

“Looking,” she said, and moved back to the far wall where there were thick gray curtains against the wall.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked when Emily scooted behind the curtain.

“I’m getting away from you,” Emily said sweetly, and heard the guards move behind the curtain to follow her. She wiped the thin trickle of blood from her nose and ducked out from under the curtains.

Emily rifled through the ash covered clothes until she found a cell phone. She glanced around the room and went back behind the curtain and dialed.

“What?” Chevalier growled.

“It’s me,” Emily whispered.

“Em, are you ok?”

“I won’t be once Exavior finds out I ashed his guards,” Emily whispered quietly. “I had to call you.”

“We’ll find you, please don’t antagonize him… has he hurt you?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “He made me marry him, too.”

“I know. He sent us a copy of the marriage certificate,” Chevalier told her. “Do you know where you are?”

“Just Alaska,” Emily whispered. “Oh my God, he’s home.”

She shut the phone quickly and dropped it behind the curtain, then ran out the back door of the banquet room and up the servant stairs to her room. She crawled onto the bed and laid across it, pretending to be asleep.

Emily jumped when she heard the bedroom door ripped from the hinges and thrown against the wall. Exavior grabbed her arm and pulled her violently to her feet.

“Where are your guards?” he yelled.

“How should I know?” she asked, stepping away from him and rubbing her arm.

He took an ominous step towards her, “Tell me.”

“I ashed them,” Emily told him. She tried to move away from him, but he hit her with the back of his hand and she flew up against the wall. The taste of blood filled her mouth as he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her out of the room and down the stairs, her feet kicking inches off of the floor.

Emily was only partially aware that she was in his interrogation room when he threw her down onto a hard wooden table and strapped her arms and legs to ropes from the head and foot of the table.

“Please,” Emily whispered. “Don’t.”

“You don’t give me much of a choice, do you?” Exavior asked, looking down at her angrily. He turned the crank slightly and listened to Emily scream.

Emily felt like her arms and legs were being torn from her body. The pain was excruciating and when he released the tension all she could muster was a slight moan.

“See what I told you?” Exavior said. “When will you stop being defiant?”

She screamed again when he turned the crank, tightening the ropes and painfully stretching the joints in her body.

“I’ve never had such an exquisite creature in my control before. It’s quite stimulating,” Exavior said, and ran his hand under her dress and gently caressed her breast as she groaned in pain.

“Ivan,” Exavior said, and pulled a chair up beside her. She stopped screaming. Her voice had given out and a thick sweat broke out across her forehead as her body shook with agony.

“Yes, Sir?” a guard said, coming into the room. He glanced briefly at Emily, and then back to the Chief Interrogator.

“It’s time again,” Exavior said, and extended his arm.

“Yes, Sir,” Ivan said, and sunk his teeth into Exavior’s wrist. The Chief Interrogator leaned back in the chair as his blood was drained from his body. As his body turned ghostly white, he began to breathe quickly and his feral eyes fell on Emily, restrained to the table and helpless.

Ivan stood back when he was done and Exavior lunged at Emily’s throat, sinking his teeth deep into her neck. After several minutes, the guard slammed into Exavior and pinned him against the wall as the Chief Interrogator fought to get to his prey.

Exavior finally got control and stood up straight, regaining his composure, “Thank you, Ivan, you may go.”

The guard bowed and left after another glance at Emily.

Exavior ran his hand from the puncture wounds in her neck, down her side and her hip. He slipped her feet out of the restraints and then her hands as he kissed her passionately and ran his tongue along her lips.

Emily’s body fell limp against the table. She couldn’t find the energy to move, and it felt as if her arms and legs were no longer under her control. Exavior picked her up gently, and kissed her again before carrying her up to the bedroom. He slipped her clothes off and crawled into bed beside her, pulling her naked body close to his.

***

“Elder?” Kyle asked, knocking on his door again.

Chevalier pulled himself up from the floor. The pain was just fading and his body stopped shaking from the agony.

“Enter,” he whispered, and braced himself against the desk.

“Elder, what happened?” Kyle asked, shutting the door quickly.

Chevalier sat down in his chair, “She was punished.”

“Damnit, how?” Kyle sat down in the chair, concerned.

“The rack, I suspect,” Chevalier said, quickly gaining his strength back.

Kyle put his head in his hands, “He’s going to kill her.”

“She called me,” Chevalier told him.

“She did? When?”

“Just before the pain. She said they are in Alaska and then she said he’s coming, and a few minutes later the pain started,” Chevalier said, sighing. “I asked if he’d hurt her and she said yes.”

Kyle growled, “How can we not find him?”

“I’m leaving the kids with Anna, and going to Quinn’s house in Alaska. That way when we find her, I’ll be closer.”

“I’ll go too,” Kyle said, standing up.

“Quinn will be here shortly. He’ll fly us up,” Chevalier said, and left to make arrangements for the kids.

***

“Put this on,” Exavior said, and threw a bikini at Emily. “It’s been a week since you ashed my guards and it’s time you got over it.”

Emily threw the bikini onto the floor.

“Now,” Exavior growled, and handed it back to her. He stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Emily got out of bed slowly, and stood, steadying herself on the bed. Since her time on the rack, her legs felt like jelly and her back ached constantly. She slowly undressed and slid on the bikini, then wrapped in a towel before stepping out into the hallway, using the wall for support.

“I forget how fragile mortals are,” Exavior said, and picked her up. The guards laughed and nodded in agreement as Exavior carried her down the stairs. He kicked open the door to the hot tub, and sat her down in it before stripping completely and sliding into the water beside her.

Emily moved away from him and he chuckled, “I won’t hurt you.”

“You already did,” she whispered, and leaned back against the jets.

“I apologize for that. I don’t handle disobedience well,” he said, and put his hand on her knee.

Emily pushed his hand off and moved further away from him.

Exavior grinned, “You can fight me all you want, but one of these days, you’ll realize you love me too.”

Emily gasped when he appeared on his knees in front of her and pressed his body to hers as he kissed her. She pushed against him, but he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and held her close as his other hand rubbed against her back and untied the top of her bikini.

Exavior pulled away from her slightly and looked into her eyes, “Let me love you.”

“No,” Emily said, and put an arm across her exposed chest.

“Why won’t you make love to me? What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid… I don’t love you.”

“How do you know when you won’t even try?” he asked, and ran his lips lightly along hers.

Emily turned her face, “No.”

“You’re testing even my control,” he whispered, and flicked her ear with his tongue.

“Stop,” she snapped, and put a hand against his bare chest.

Exavior pulled her arms to her sides and looked at her body under the water, “I need to talk to the tailor. We’re covering you up too much. We shouldn’t hide perfection underneath cloth.”

Emily pulled her hands away from him and covered her chest as she crawled out of the water.

“Don’t leave,” he said, and watched her grab the towel.

Emily turned to Exavior, “Let me go.”

He stood up and got out of the water, not bothering to cover himself, “No, you belong to me now.”

“Chevalier is looking for me,” she told him.

“Oh I have no doubt. I’m sure the Valle and Encala are looking for you also.”

“They’ll find me.”

“Yes, they will, but by then you will love me.”

“I’m not going to love you, Exavior, not after what I’ve seen and been through here,” she said, and opened the door to the hallway.

Exavior chuckled and got back into the water as she disappeared down the hallway.

***

“Chevalier, this is Reverend James Johnson. He married Exavior and Emily,” Quinn said, motioning to a terrified mortal in black robes.

Chevalier smiled at him, “Thank you for coming.”

“I can’t tell you what you want to know,” the Reverend said. “He is evil, and I have no doubt he would kill me if I were to tell.”

“We can protect you,” Chevalier told him. “The girl is my wife and I need to get her back before he hurts her.”

“She’s… she’s your wife?”

“Yes, Exavior’s marriage is a sham. He thinks he loves her, and will go to any length to get her to return that, even kill her,” Quinn told him.

“She said no,” the Reverend said, smiling slightly. “I’ve never had a bride say no to the vows… he said yes for her, and I had to keep going.”

“We know that and don’t blame you,” Quinn said. “Right now, all we want is to get her away from him.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you,” the Reverend said, and stood up.

“Please,” Chevalier said, and motioned to the door. “Our children need her.”

The Reverend turned toward the door, and his eyes fell on the two beautiful children, “These are hers?”

“Yes, and they need their mother.”

***

“Good morning, my love,” Exavior said, and kissed her softly.

Emily pulled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Come back and let me hold you,” he said, and pulled her naked body against his. He’d banned her from wearing anything to bed since the hot tub, and replaced all of her dresses with sheer and lace ones that allowed him to see her body any time he wanted.

Emily felt his bare chest at her back and watched out the window. New snow was falling, and the morning was dark and gray.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, and began to kiss the back of her neck.

Emily didn’t answer. She hadn’t spoken to him since they were in the hot tub. In the four weeks since that time, she’d kept to her room, too humiliated to be seen in the partially transparent clothing Exavior had forced on her. Once a week, Ivan came and he and Exavior made the Chief Interrogator immune to Emily’s ability.

“You have to talk to me eventually,” Exavior said, and ran his fingers down the curve of her waist.

Emily got up from the bed and took the sheets with her, covering herself as she disappeared into the bathroom. She came out a few minutes later in a sheer black slip dress with her arm covering her chest.

“I didn’t give you those so you can hide yourself,” Exavior said, now sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed.

Emily walked over and sat in the bay window, pulling a blanket over herself.

Exavior growled and pulled her out of the window by her arm, and then gently pushed her against a wall. He smiled as he looked down at her body and the subtle hints of her curves he could see through the dress.

“You know… time’s up,” Exavior told her. “Tonight I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re my wife, and I’m going to treat you as such.”

Emily gasped, “No.”

“Yes, no more rejection from you,” Exavior said, and kissed her roughly. He pulled away and ran his eyes down her body again, “It’s been too long, and tonight, it’s time.”

“Then you are no different than Jeff,” Emily said, and fell to the floor when he backhanded her.

“I’m nothing like that lowlife.”

“You’re exactly like him,” Emily said from the floor. She wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand, “And you’re right… tonight is the night.”

“It is?” Exavior said, surprised.

“Yes, the night I get out of here,” she said, and wiped the trickle of blood from her nose.

Exavior growled and appeared out in the hallway. The mansion was perfectly silent, and piles of ash lay across the floor. He swept into the bedroom and pulled Emily to her feet by her hair. He slapped her again, and then dragged her out of the room by her neck.

“You’ll pay for that,” he hissed, and threw her into the interrogation room. She landed hard against the wooden table and turned to him just as he backhanded her again. She felt the crunch when her cheekbone shattered as he hit her.

“When I lived in Rome we called this the equuleus,” Exavior said as he forced her back into the rack. “The French call it Bac de Torture, that’s one of my favorites. Course, Streckbank from the Germans was nice, it means ‘stretching frame’.”

Emily screamed when he turned the crank and stretched her, pulling at all of her joints.

“Now… how to revive my staff,” Exavior said, sitting down on a chair beside her as her pain continued.

“I see that something also needs to happen between us for this to continue. How exactly am I going to prove to you that I am better for you than that Equites?” Exavior asked, looking around at the various torture devices at his disposal.

He touched her leg softly, and looked up at her, “This is going to set us back though. It’ll be another week before you’re able to get around, maybe longer. I have something else in mind, too.”

After an hour of intense pain for Emily, and idle chit-chat for Exavior, he released her and slid a spiked punishment collar on her. He fastened it with a lock and sat her up. She groaned as the metal spikes dug painfully into her neck, and her body ached from the rack.

Exavior hung her from the high shackles again and tightened the chains so her feet were far away from the floor. He stood back and admired her body through the thin fabric as she hung from the shackles. Emily looked up at him and kicked toward him, but he easily stepped aside. With one swift movement, he again sunk his hand into her stomach and sent a stab into her lungs.

“Stop kicking at me. This is for your own good.”

Emily groaned as he twisted his hand and increased the pain.

“I’m going to try something new. I just thought of this one,” he said, and disappeared. He appeared a short time later with five heku dressed in rags and in various stages of starvation. He slipped metal collars onto them and chained them to the wall as they fought to get at the mortal. The smell of her blood was driving them insane.

“Good, just as I’d hoped,” Exavior said, and took the small knife from his pocket. He cut Emily’s wrists slightly, and the blood dripped down her arm. The ravaged heku growled and hissed, and fought to get to her. Their clawed hands came within inches of reaching her.

Emily screamed and tried to kick away from the heku prisoners.

Exavior looked up after only six hours, and frowned, “I’ll be right back.”

Emily’s screams faded as her voice went hoarse, and she watched, terrified, as the heku tried to get to her, pulling angrily against the chains.

The Thukil and Council City Cavalry walked into the quiet mansion and looked around the main entryway as wolves flooded in from the cold outdoors. Mark motioned for teams to break off and search the entire building. He saw the elaborately decorated ‘V’ banner, and knew he had found the home of Exavior.

Their footsteps were so silent that no sound was heard throughout the entire house as they searched. Silas and Kralen were the first to step into the room with the couches and doors, and immediately found where Emily was staying. They stepped into her room and her scent hit them strongly. They knew it had only been a few hours since she’d been there.

Four members of the Thukil Cavalry followed her scent into the room and met up with Kralen and Silas.

“Mark,” Silas whispered.

Mark appeared in the room and inhaled deeply. He looked around the room, heading directly into the bathroom. He came back out and opened the closet door, then frowned at the assorted dresses and stepped back out.

“She’s been here recently,” he said, and looked around.

“We’ve found nothing but piles of ash around the building,” a member of the Thukil Cavalry reported.

“So she fought back… but Exavior couldn’t be turned to ash. He must have her,” Mark said, and turned when more of the Council City Cavalry walked into the foyer.

“We found the prison, but she’s not there,” one of them said.

“Get the Elders here,” Mark said. “Search this place again.”

Silas called the Elders, and then set out with Kralen and began to search again.

All nine Elders entered the house together, having flown in as soon as they received Silas’s phone call. Kyle walked in after them and inhaled, catching Emily’s scent strongly.

“What have you found?” Chevalier asked, walking into the bedroom where Mark waited.

“We’ve searched the house a few times. We haven’t found her, but her scent is strong. I think she’s still here,” Mark said.

“Exavior?” Sotomar asked.

“Not a sign of him anywhere. All we’re finding are piles of ashes, but he was immune,” Mark told him. “His scent is fading.”

“He ran? From us?” Sotomar growled.

“May I have a word alone with Chevalier?” Mark asked, and the other Elders left quickly.

“What?” Chevalier asked, concerned.

Mark walked over to the wardrobe, “Look at this.”

Chevalier frowned, confused, and went over to the large closet. He looked in and grabbed a few of the dresses, all short and sheer, and he growled.

Mark stepped back by the front door and waited.

“What the hell is this?” Chevalier asked him.

Mark sighed, “I’m guessing his idea of clothes.”

“Her scent is on these.”

Mark nodded, “I know. She’s worn them.”

“Find them,” Chevalier hissed, and Mark blurred from the room.

Chevalier went through everything in the room. He noticed the dual scents in the bed and how her book was opened to where she had been reading. He saw the empty medication bottle, and found a slip of paper reminding her of an appointment long since missed.

“Sir!” He heard Silas and Chevalier blurred to him and watched as the wall slid to the side and Emily’s scent became stronger.

The nine Elders appeared in the interrogation chamber at the same time and gasped. Emily was hanging from the shackles with blood pouring from her neck where the punishment collar dug into her skin. The starving heku were fighting to get a hold of her and only her kicking and moving her legs were keeping them from grabbing her.

Emily watched the heku prisoners with horrified eyes and screamed in whispers as she fought to keep away from them. She was so focused on keeping away from the heku trying to feed from her, that she didn’t notice the Elders enter.

“My God,” Mark gasped, stepping into the room. The Elders rushed the prisoners and pulled them away from her. Her scent was strong enough they had to use full control not to attack her themselves, but the anger fueled them and they quickly removed the prisoners from the room.

Mark walked up to Emily slowly and put his hands out. She screamed in whispers and kicked at him fearfully.

“Em?” Chevalier asked, walking up beside Mark. She kicked violently at him and her face showed pure terror.

“Emily, look at us,” Kyle said sternly from Chevalier’s side.

Chevalier ignored how she kicked and fought against him as he released her arms from the restraints and sat her down gently onto the table.

Her eyes grew wide and she clawed at Chevalier weakly, drawing blood on his arms as she fought to get off of the table, hoarsely screaming, “No!”

“She’s on the rack,” Kyle said to Chevalier, suddenly understanding.

Mark reached over and tore the iron collar off of her, and tossed it aside as Chevalier fought to get control of her arms.

Kyle quickly caught her face in his hands and peered into her eyes. He soon had control of her and her body relaxed as her breathing slowed.

“Damnit,” Chevalier said, standing up straight as the scratches on his arm healed.

“He doesn’t need banished,” Sotomar whispered. “He needs killed.”

“How can you control her?” William asked, watching Kyle closely as the Chief Enforcer talked softly to her, using fluid tones and calming words.

“She’s terrified and weakened, it’s the only way,” Chevalier said, and removed his shirt to cover her with. He reached down and pulled the diamond ring from her finger and slipped it into his pocket.

Encala Elder Aaron walked slowly over to the shackles, “I’ve… never seen anything… even close to this.”

“Torture like this can only come from a sadistic mind. No information can be gathered, it’s not fun, it’s not stress relieving, there’s no reason,” Valle Elder Ryan said softly.

“Shit!” Kyle yelled as Emily clawed at his face. He quickly caught her hands and restrained them as she fought to get off of the table.

“Emily,” Chevalier growled, and as soon as she looked at him, he locked her gaze and got her under control again.

“I’ve never seen such trouble to keep a mortal under control,” Encala Elder Reese said, slightly impressed. “So much trouble that it takes an ‘old one’ to do it.”

Mark reached under her and picked Emily up in a cradle as Chevalier kept her gaze. They walked in tandem up the stairs and laid her down on one of the soft couches.

“Sleep,” Chevalier whispered and Emily’s eyes slowly closed.

“How far away is Dr. Cook?” Kyle asked Silas.

“He’s only 10 minutes away.”

“Sir,” a Thukil General said.

“What’s the report?” Quinn asked.

“He got away,” the General said. “We found fresh tracks in the snow from an underground garage.”

“Track him,” Zohn growled.

“We are,” the General said. “We’ll let you know as soon as we find something.”

Dr. Cook came into the room and immediately moved up to sit by Emily. Chevalier moved aside and the heku watched him closely as Kyle stayed by her head, ready to put her under again if she woke up.

He cursed several times while looking her over and then sighed before digging in his bag, “We need to get her to a hospital.”

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked when he realized Chevalier was too angry to speak.

“What isn’t wrong with her?” Dr. Cook growled. “She’s still suffering from the skull fracture. She has a broken cheekbone, bruised ribs, swollen joints, sprained wrists and shoulders, scratches all over her lower legs, and I don’t really know what to make of the bruises on her stomach.”

“Is that all?” Zohn sighed.

“How do we explain that to an emergency room?” Quinn asked as the doctor gave Emily an injection.

“Take her in. I’ll take the heat,” Chevalier said furiously.

“You can’t. I’ll go to jail again,” Kyle said. “It’s ok.”

“Hell, she’s married to Exavior, let them accuse the guilty,” Sotomar said.

“True, let’s get her back to the palace and call an ambulance,” Kyle said, and Silas quickly picked up the phone.

“As soon as she’s out of the house, I’ll handle the prisoners,” Sotomar said. “I suspect most of them don’t belong there.”

Chevalier nodded and picked her up gently, and then followed Quinn and Kyle out to the waiting helicopter. Within minutes, Quinn was flying them toward the palace with arrangements to have an ambulance meet them at a landing pad outside of town.

The ambulance drove quickly toward the hospital with the lights and sirens blaring. Chevalier was riding in the back with Emily and Kyle was up with the driver. As soon as the ambulance stopped, the door flew open and a team of doctors and nurses quickly transferred Emily onto a bed in the emergency room.

Chevalier signed a few papers and then watched Emily sleep while the doctors looked her over. A stern looking older man came in with a large file and checked her I.V. before turning to the heku.

“Are either of you the husband?” he asked them.

“No, neither of us are,” Chevalier said. “Her husband’s name is… Exavior.”

Kyle recoiled slightly at the anger in Chevalier’s voice in having to say that.

“I’ll warn you, I’ve called the police,” the doctor said, looking at his chart.

“That’s fine, I hope they catch him,” Kyle said when Chevalier couldn’t.

“So who are you, then?”

“Brothers,” Kyle told him.

“Fine, I’m having her admitted to the ICU. I’ve seen the broken cheekbone, the bruised wrists, even the skull fracture, but never before have I seen sprained wrist and shoulders coming from a domestic. I still can’t figure how he managed to bruise her lungs in the process,” the doctor explained. “She has these little puncture wounds all around her neck, and the bruising behind her knees and on her ankles makes me think she had a stretch force injury.”

“It looks almost like a hand bruise on her stomach, and beneath that is damage to her lungs. I’m going to put her on a ventilator to make sure she keeps breathing,” he said as a nurse came in and began inserting a tube down Emily’s throat. The heku watched as she hooked the tube up to a machine and Emily began to breathe in sync with it.

The doctor looked up as the police came in and Kyle left with them. Nurses came and moved Emily to the ICU.

“Will she wake up soon?” Chevalier asked, staying far away from all of the machines Emily was hooked up to.

“No,” the nurse said. “We have to keep her sedated until we pull the tube out.”

Chevalier nodded and watched Emily sleep.

Kyle joined him an hour later, “They are contacting the authorities in Rhode Island to see if they can find Exavior.”

“He injured her lungs…” Chevalier growled. “Lungs… one thing she needs to stay alive and he bruised them.”

Kyle nodded.

“I want to know what he did to her.”

“Maybe it’s best if you don’t,” Kyle whispered.

“I want to know.”

“Have you tried to touch her arm?”

“Not yet, I barely have my temper under control as it is… later though, I will find out,” Chevalier told him.

Chapter 15 - Healing

“Do you need anything?” Chevalier asked, pulling the blankets over her. Emily shook her head. After two weeks in the hospital, they let her come back to the palace under Dr. Cook’s care. She was lying in bed with her arms propped up on pillows at her sides, and oxygen running through a cannula that she promised to leave on. She found it hard to breathe when it was removed, so she left it alone. Her ankles, knees, and arms were all braced because of torn ligaments, and she still had a bandage around her neck where the circle of puncture wounds healed.

“I need to go talk to the other Elders. Can Jaron stay in here?” Chevalier asked, motioning to a member of the Cavalry standing by her door.

Emily shook her head, her eyes growing wide.

“No, it’s ok… what about Mark?”

Emily nodded. She still didn’t have her voice back from the screaming in the interrogation room, but she didn’t want to talk yet anyway. She wondered where Exavior was and was afraid to ask. She had a feeling he’d gotten away.

Mark appeared in her room and stood by the door.

“If she needs anything, call for someone, don’t leave,” Chevalier said, and Mark nodded. He left the room and blurred into the Council’s conference room where the eight Elders waited for him. He sat down and took a deep breath.

“Does she know where he is?” Sotomar asked.

Chevalier shook his head, “I’m afraid to ask her. She’s terrified of every strange heku she sees, and I think it would be worse if she knew Exavior were on the loose.”

“Do you know, yet, what happened to her?” William asked.

“No, I will though, when things calm down. She doesn’t have much of a voice and doesn’t really seem to want to talk,” Chevalier explained.

The Elders looked at one another for a moment before blurring in unison up to Emily’s room. They stepped in and Mark handed Chevalier Emily’s cell phone. He looked at the caller I.D. and handed it to Sotomar.

“Exavior,” Sotomar said scathingly.

“Yes, we do have possession of the Winchester,” he said, grinning slightly at the others.

“She belongs to the Valle. You had no right to keep her to yourself.”

Sotomar’s eyes narrowed, “Yes.”

He shut her phone, “He’s near. He knows she returned to Council City today.”

Chevalier growled and blurred from the room, followed by the other Elders. Emily looked at Mark, her eyes wide, and she tore off her oxygen and scrambled to get out of bed, ignoring how her body ached with every movement.

“It’s ok,” Mark said, sitting down beside her. “He can’t get in here.”

Emily leaned back hesitantly, and Mark replaced her oxygen and called for Silas and Kralen to join him.

“Yes, Sir,” Silas said, coming in. “We were just given orders to search the area.”

“Let the others handle that, you two are with me in here,” Mark said, and smiled at Emily. “I’d like to see him get in here with the three of us watching.”

Mark tried to stand, but Emily took his hand and looked into the bathroom.

“Do you want us to search your room?” Mark asked.

Emily nodded, but kept a close eye on Silas.

Mark nodded to Silas and Kralen, and they searched her room, the bathroom, closets and adjacent rooms.

“It’s clear,” Kralen reported.

“Good, thanks, you two take the hallway,” Mark said, and watched as they both stood at their posts. He turned back to Emily, “If you need to talk… I’m here.”

Mark returned to his post inside of Emily’s room, and she laid back in bed and watched out the window. The sun was shining, and she could see the clear blue sky. Before long, she drifted off to sleep.

Just after searching the trees, Chevalier came back into the bedroom while the other eight Elders met in the conference room.

“Any sign?” Mark whispered.

“Nothing,” Chevalier whispered back.

“She’s still terrified. We searched her room… again… and I added Silas and Kralen to her door,” Mark explained.

Chevalier nodded and looked over when Emily jerked in her sleep. He reached over and touched her arm to calm her, but froze as a rapid replay of her stay with Exavior flashed through his mind. The heku watched as his eyes moved quickly and his grip tightening on her arm.

A low hiss escaped Chevalier’s lips. His eyes were far away as he watched what happened in the Alaskan mansion.

“Elder, you’re hurting her,” Mark said, touching his shoulder.

Chevalier released his grip on her arm and disappeared from the room with speed that could only come from an ‘old one’. A loud crash sounded from somewhere in the palace followed by guards yelling to clear the area. Mark glanced at Silas, and he shut the bedroom door to block out the feral roar and crashes as the Elder released his anger.

Quinn, Zohn, and Kyle appeared beside Mark, and he glanced at them.

“What happened?” Zohn whispered.

“He saw what happened in the mansion,” Mark told them.

Quinn heard glass shatter from a few floors below them, “That bad, was it?”

“I wish I could see,” Kyle said, glancing at Emily sleep.

“I’m not sure I want to know,” Mark told them.

“Clear the palace and let him be,” Zohn said as another crash sounded.

Mark’s lips moved as he called general quarters for all palace staff, and Chevalier’s angry roars became the only sound in the building. The enemy Elders joined them in Emily’s room, afraid that Chevalier’s anger could turn to them if he saw them.

Zohn jumped and grabbed Emily’s cell phone when it rang early the next morning, “Zohn here.”

His eyes narrowed, “No you may not talk to her.”

Sotomar was watching Emily. She’d woken up and was staring at Zohn fearfully.

“If you want to apologize to her so badly, why don’t you come do it face-to-face,” Zohn whispered.

Emily jumped when a crash sounded from the palace. She looked at William questioningly.

“Chevalier saw what happened in the mansion,” William explained in whispers.

Emily frowned and slid out of bed, standing unsteadily as she leaned on the wall. She reached up slowly and pulled off her oxygen.

“No, Child, leave him be,” Sotomar said, and touched her arm.

“I dare you,” Zohn hissed, and shut the phone.

Emily pulled her arm away from Sotomar and took a tentative step away from the wall. Her knees didn’t hold her, and she fell back onto the bed, and then reached down to un-strap the braces on her legs.

“Em, listen to me. He needs to be left alone,” Quinn said, and pulled her hand off of the brace.

“Damnit,” Zohn growled when Emily’s cell phone rang again. The phone was ripped out of his hand as Chevalier blurred into the room.

“Meet me in the trees west of Council City, alone…” Chevalier hissed into the phone and hung up.

Emily reached out and touched his hand. He turned to look at her, and his eyes were pitch-black and full of rage. He pulled his hand away from hers and disappeared from the room.

Emily reached stiffly into the drawer by her bed and took out her 9mm, then motioned for Mark to pick her up.

“I’m not taking you there,” Mark said softly.

She frowned and motioned for Sotomar.

“No, Child,” he said, and shook his head.

Emily turned to William and he shook his head.

“Yes,” Emily whispered, and then began to cough uncontrollably.

Dr. Cook arrived suddenly and listened to her back with a stethoscope after she stopped coughing, “You’re getting pneumonia. It’s not uncommon after a lung injury.”

Emily motioned for the doctor to pick her up. He glanced back at Quinn and then stood up, “Sorry, you need to stay in bed and put your oxygen back on.”

Emily glared at him as he dug an antibiotic out of his bag and handed her the small pill. She took it and threw it at him, hitting him in the chest.

“Pneumonia in a damaged lung can be serious. Take this and it may not get worse,” he said, and tried to hand her another pill, but she just glared at him.

“Take it or we use a shot,” Zohn told her, and grinned slightly when she turned her glare to him. “You already hate me. I’ll do it.”

Emily took the pill with some water, still glaring angrily at Zohn and pointed at the door. She motioned for everyone to get out.

The heku obliged and left her room, but Mark stayed behind and turned to her when the others disappeared.

“Do you want me to stay?” Mark asked her.

Emily nodded and laid back in bed. Mark propped her arms back up on the pillows and slid the oxygen cannula onto her face. She looked out the window toward the west trees.

“He’ll be ok, it’s Exavior I’d be worried about,” Mark said, following her gaze. “I bet he’s too afraid of the Elder to even show up.”

“Is… he…” Emily tried to talk, but her voice was still hoarse and cracked.

Mark looked over at her, “Is he what?”

Emily shrugged and looked out the window.

“He’s not mad at you,” Mark told her.

Emily watched out the window until the sun fell and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Mark heard Chevalier come back into the palace a few hours later and moved to the door to hear the conversation.

“That Sonofabitch didn’t show,” Chevalier growled.

“I didn’t think he would,” Sotomar said. “He’s good when he’s in charge, but if he’s not running the show, he’s a coward.”

“He may not even be near here,” William suggested.

“He’s out there,” Chevalier said angrily.

“Can you tell us?” Sotomar asked.

“Yes, I suppose I can, at least to let you know why she’s leaving as soon as she’s well,” Chevalier said, his voice softening some.

“Do you really think she will leave?” William asked.

“I would if I were her,” Chevalier said, and the Elders moved to the council chambers where Mark was no longer able to hear.

Mark watched Emily sleep for a few hours before Chevalier came into her room. Her breathing had become labored and made a raspy noise.

“Has he called again?” Chevalier whispered.

“No,” Mark whispered back. “She thinks you’re mad at her.”

“Why would I be mad at her?”

“I don’t know what you saw, so I can’t answer that. She tried to get to you when you went after him though.”

“I heard,” Chevalier sighed and walked closer to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Dr. Cook said she’s getting pneumonia,” Mark explained.

Chevalier took a step forward. He wanted to sit down and take her in his arms, but wasn’t sure how well she would handle that after what she’d been through with Exavior.

“The doctor said it’s normal after a lung injury,” Mark whispered.

“What he did to her,” Chevalier hissed, his hands balling into fists. “I’m going to do to him.”

“I want to pull the Cavalry into the palace,” Mark suggested. “I want double the guards until we find him.”

Chevalier nodded, and his hands relaxed, “Go, I’ll wait with her.”

Mark nodded and blurred from the room.

Chevalier pulled up one of the cushioned chairs and sat next to the bed, watching Emily sleep. He knew she was having a bad dream. Her eyes darted back and forth under her eyelids and her hands grasped at the blankets.

“Let him go,” Emily whispered lightly in her sleep.

Chevalier took her hand and her dream filled his mind.

Emily was hanging from the shackles, high on the wall as Exavior tightened the rack with Chevalier in it.

Chevalier’s skin was gray and wrinkled. His feral eyes watched her hungrily as the pain from the torture infuriated him.

“Let him go,” Emily screamed, and fought against the restraints.

“Only if you’ll love me,” Exavior said, and turned the crank again. A sickening grinding sounded as Chevalier’s shoulders popped out of joint.

“Please, leave him alone! Put me in there,” Emily yelled.

Chevalier growled in pain, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Exavior turned and got an iron poker from the fire, the end orange with the heat. He pressed it against Chevalier’s chest, and the Elder screamed in agony.

Exavior grinned and slowly released the tension on the rack. Chevalier continued to watch Emily as Exavior released his arms and legs from the restraints. Chevalier sprung to his feet and crouched before her, running his tongue along his cracked teeth.

Chevalier opened his eyes and looked at her, then put his hand on her shoulder, “Shhhh.”

Emily jerked once and then settled down in the bed. She pulled the covers up high on her shoulders and Chevalier whispered for a servant to stoke the fires. Soon, the room was stiflingly hot, and Chevalier pulled one of the blankets off of her when she broke out in a sweat. The raspiness of her breathing got worse, and she coughed often in her sleep.

Chevalier pulled the blinds in the room when the sun came up, and then called for the doctor. Dr. Cook came into the room and immediately sat on the bed beside Emily. He ran a thermometer across her forehead and hissed slightly. Chevalier watched quietly as the doctor listened to her breathing and began to dig through his bag. He readied a syringe and glanced up at the Elder.

“Her fever is too high,” Dr. Cook whispered. “I’m going to give her a stronger anti-biotic, then I’ll need you to take her into a cool bath. See if you can get her temperature down.”

Chevalier nodded and then frowned when Emily didn’t respond as the doctor injected the medicine into her thigh. Dr. Cook disappeared from the room, and Chevalier ran a tepid bath, and then slipped Emily’s braces and nightgown off on the bed before picking her up carefully, and laying her down in the water. The heat from her body began to warm up the water so he added cool water and continued to hold her.

Chevalier looked over her carefully. She was covered in dark bruises, and her ankles, knees, wrists, and shoulders were swollen and inflamed. The darkest bruise, just below her breastbone, slightly resembled a hand, and he had to fight to control his temper. He ran cool water over her neck where the ring of puncture wounds was red and swollen.

Once she cooled down, he lifted her out of the water and returned her to the bed where he gently pulled on her nightgown and tucked her back in. He returned the oxygen to her face and then sat beside her and held her hand.

Dr. Cook returned the next morning and listened to her lungs again. He gave her another antibiotic injection and left the room after nodding to the Elder.

Emily reached up in her sleep and removed the oxygen, groaning slightly as she bent her arm.

“Keep it on,” Chevalier whispered and put it back.

“No, Exavior,” she whispered, and reached for it again. Chevalier took her hands and held them as she fell back into a deep sleep.

He kissed her hand softly and whispered, “Keep telling him no, Em.”

Allen brought Alexis in before bed. They each kissed Emily softly and then he took her back out, afraid she might wake her. Her breathing slowed down and the raspy noise lessened, and by the following morning, was completely gone.

Emily sighed and pulled her oxygen off as she opened her eyes.

Chevalier chuckled and put it back on her, “Keep it on.”

Emily looked over at him and whispered, “Is he dead?”

“Not yet, but I’ll get him,” Chevalier told her, and kissed her hand.

“I’m sorry I went to the doctor alone,” she whispered, watching him closely.

“This wasn’t your fault,” he told her. “None of this was your fault.”

“You saw it?”

“Yes”

“All of it?” she whispered.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes.”

“I wish you wouldn’t have.”

“It just gives me more of a reason to kill him slowly.”

“He’s like Sybil.”

Chevalier smiled, “Yes, he is.”

“Those starving heku,” she whispered. “Where are they?”

“Sotomar released them,” Chevalier told her. “We suspect they didn’t deserve to be there.”

“They were…” Emily started to say, but her body tensed and she started to panic.

“I know,” Chevalier said, and touched her face softly.

Emily sat up slowly, grasping her stomach as she sat up. She coughed and then swung her legs out of bed when the coughing stopped.

“Where are you going?” Chevalier asked.

“Nowhere,” she whispered, and slowly pulled herself to her feet. She tossed the oxygen cannula onto the bed and took a cautious step forward. When her legs held, she took another step and braced herself on the bedpost.

She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. When she emerged, she was in jeans and a t-shirt and her hair was brushed, but hanging down against her waist. She used the walls to support herself as she walked toward the closet, then went inside and came back out with a turtle neck over her t-shirt and a sweater over that.

“Are you cold?” Chevalier asked curiously.

“No,” Emily whispered, and sat down at the table. “Can I get coffee?”

Silas appeared a few minutes later with a pot of hot coffee and a cup. He set it down on the table and poured Emily a cup.

“Would you like anything else?” Silas asked.

Emily was watching him with wide eyes. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe and knew that at any moment he would backhand her. She jerked away from him and covered her face when he reached for the creamer. He yanked his hand back and looked over at the Elder.

Chevalier whispered for him to leave, and Silas disappeared from the room and shut the door, frowning.

Emily sunk her face into her hands and bent her knees, slowly pulling her legs up against her chest. She took some deep breaths, calming the fear inside of her, and then wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned her forehead against her knees. She began to rock slowly in the chair.

Chevalier watched her from across the room and after a few minutes, she slowly uncurled out of her protective ball and reached out timidly for the coffee. She cupped it gently in her hands and sipped it slowly, watching the fire.

“He’s going to come after me,” Emily whispered softly. Chevalier watched to make sure she had really spoken. She was facing the fire and her voice was far away and hesitant.

“Yes, he will,” Chevalier told her. “He can’t get in here.”

“He’ll keep trying.”

“I am planning on it… and then I’ll get him.” His voice held a certain air of revenge and Emily turned to look at him.

“Can I leave this room?”

Chevalier frowned, “Of course you can. You can go wherever you want.”

Emily stood slowly. She pulled the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands and crossed her arms over her chest, then walked toward the door, still not completely trusting the strength in her legs. Chevalier ordered Silas to move to the shadows just before she opened the door. She leaned out of the room and peered down to the fifth-floor foyer.

Kralen smiled at Emily when she looked at him, and he took a few steps back. She walked out of the room and used the railings along the stairs to walk down to the second floor. She turned suddenly when the Encala and Valle Elders stepped out of one of the conference rooms.

“It’s good to see you out,” Sotomar said, and reached for her hand.

Emily gasped and moved away from his hand, looking at it, horrified.

Sotomar drew his hand back slowly and glanced at William.

“Are you feeling better?” William asked, taking a step away from her.

Emily backed away from Sotomar, closely watching his hands, and then turned and walked quickly down the hallway, disappearing into the game room.

“I didn’t…” Sotomar started to tell Chevalier.

“I know,” Chevalier said, and smiled slightly. “She’s just jumpy.”

“Where did she go?” Elder Ryan asked.

“Game room,” Chevalier told him. “She likes to watch movies in there. Silas?”

Silas appeared behind him, “Yes, Elder?”

“You and Kralen watch the game room door. If you hear her coming out, move back and let her just see Kralen,” Chevalier ordered.

“Yes, Sir,” Silas said, and blurred to the game room door, followed by Kralen.

“Mark?” Chevalier called.

“Yes, Elder?” Mark asked, walking up to them.

“See if Emily will let you stay with her. I don’t want her out of your sight.”

Mark nodded and blurred into the game room.

Chevalier turned to the other Elders, “It’s time for you to go back to your factions. Let’s get a game plan first.”

“Yes, it is time,” Sotomar agreed, and followed the others into the small conference room. They all sat around the table and silently marveled at the strange alliance the factions formed all because of one mortal.

“We, of course, will keep double guards anywhere Emily is. He’s going to try to get her,” Chevalier said.

“We are going to encourage him to return. We will stress the tension between the factions, and will do what we can to assure him his return will be safe,” Sotomar said.

“I believe he will return to the Council,” Valle Elder Ryan said. “We feel that eventually he will need to realign himself with us.”

“What then?” Quinn asked.

“Then we will destroy him,” Sotomar said sadly. “He’s a liability and we don’t need a loose cannon in our midst.”

“Be prepared for him to come to you,” Elder Ryan said to William.

William frowned, “Why would he come to the Encala?”

“To find someone that will accept him. The Equites are obviously not going to, and if he gets word that we are less than pleased with his behavior, he may come and offer his services to you,” Sotomar explained.

William nodded, “We will kill him if we see him. He’s not welcome with the Encala either.”

The Encala and Valle Elders cocked their heads to the side when they heard Mark yell, “Die, Emily!”

“So it’s settled, he needs to die… if I get him though, it will be slow and painful,” Chevalier said.

Mark yelled, “You can’t kill me! I’m too strong.”

“He should pay for his crimes,” Quinn said, nodding.

“I want your blood!” Mark roared.

“Should we do something?” Sotomar asked, frowning at the unmoving Equites Elders.

Chevalier chuckled, “They’re playing a game.”

“If Emily could talk, she would be screaming at him too,” Zohn said, grinning slightly.

“Disturbing,” Ryan said, shaking his head.

“What are we going to do about Emily then?” Elder Reese asked.

“You mean about her leaving?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes”

“What can we do? If I were her, I would leave too,” Chevalier told them.

“We can’t just let the Winchester disappear,” Sotomar said. “It’s too dangerous for her out there.”

“All we can do is try to keep her here, but I won’t force her,” Chevalier said. “She’s been confined, tortured, punished, and restrained too much, and I won’t do it to her.”

Sotomar nodded, “So now we just wait… and hope she finds it safe enough to stay here.”

“If Exavior is dead, it may help,” Quinn suggested.

“True,” Sotomar said, and stood up. “Let us know, either way.”

Chevalier nodded and watched as the enemy Elders left, and soon, the sound of their helicopters taking off sounded through the palace.

“I never thought I would see the day when the factions aligned for a common cause, nor that that cause would be a mortal,” Quinn said.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “But will it last?”

Emily reached for her phone when it rang and checked the number. She didn’t recognize it, so she answered in a whisper, “Yes?”

“My love,” Exavior said, pleased.

Emily couldn’t breathe. Even the sound of his voice sent terror through her, and she froze.

“I’m glad you are well enough to play games with the bodyguard,” he said, amused. “Though it’s not quite fair. He should let you win at the vampire game.”

Emily dropped the phone on the floor and stood up, looking fearfully around the game room.

Mark stood up and crouched, “What?”

“He sees us,” Emily whispered, backing up against the wall.

“Kralen, Silas,” Mark called, and turned when they entered the room. “Search this room.”

The three heku searched the room as Emily pulled herself into a protective ball in the corner and watched them, her knees pulled tightly to her chest as she slowly began to rock.

“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked, blurring into the room.

“Emily said Exavior can see us,” Mark growled, and began to pull pictures off of the stone walls. The third picture he destroyed had a wire coming out of the back of it. He hissed and pulled a tiny camera out of the frame, “Sonofabitch! He has the palace under surveillance.”

“Take Emily to Powan. I want this entire palace searched,” Chevalier growled, and put his hand out. “Em, I need your phone.”

In a blur, Emily found herself in the helicopter with bags sitting at her side. Mark, Zohn, and Kralen jumped in beside her and soon they were in the air.

Emily watched out the window and frowned, “I thought Powan was west of here.”

“It is,” Mark said. “We’re not going to Powan.”

“But Chev said…”

“I know, but I also realize he knew there was a possibility that that conversation was overheard, so we’re going to the Hall Coven in Virginia,” Mark explained.

“Why Hall Coven?” Emily whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“It’s my home coven,” Mark told her.

By the time they reached Virginia, Emily was tired and her body was sore from all of the moving. She started coughing again, and her color began to fade as the helicopter landed in the middle of a small park.

Mark was the first out of the helicopter, and he met up with the Coven Leader and quickly explained the situation. Emily looked out over the quaint coven. It was small, but homey, with a park in the center among the houses. She stood up slowly and fell back against the chair when her legs gave out, and she began to cough violently.

“Let’s go,” Kralen said, and picked her up. Zohn grabbed her bags and they jumped out of the helicopter.

“Welcome,” a cheery heku said, smiling at the Council City visitors.

“She needs to lie down,” Kralen told him, and the Lord of Hall Coven looked at Emily, concerned.

“Come this way,” he told them, and they all followed him to a large house that sat off in a small grove of trees.

Emily leaned her head against Kralen’s shoulder. She was too tired to keep her eyes open any longer, and the gentle swaying of his walk was lulling her to sleep. She opened her eyes briefly when she felt the soft bed beneath her, and then shut them again as Kralen pulled off her shoes and covered her in a blanket. She could hear the heku talking softly in the hallway as she drifted off to sleep.

“This is Lord Bradford,” Mark said to the others. “He’s offered you each a room in the main house, but I would prefer to stay with Emily, although I doubt Exavior is going to track us here.”

Zohn nodded, “Thank you for taking us on short notice.”

Lord Bradford smiled, “Anything for the Council. It’s an honor to provide for the Winchester.”

***

“That’s six,” Silas said, handing Chevalier a tiny camera. “It was in the Council’s conference room.”

“How the hell did he get these in here?” Chevalier growled.

“Sam, would be my guess,” Quinn said. “It shows how weak this Council has become to allow this… the changes are good.”

“Sir,” one of the Cavalry said, coming in. “I called Powan and the helicopter didn’t arrive.”

Chevalier grinned, “Good.”

“Where are they?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know, but that means neither does Exavior.”

“Dad?” Allen asked, walking in.

Chevalier turned to his son. Although only 11, he was almost as tall as some of the heku guards and was intellectually an adult.

“I’ve been thinking about the cameras. They have to have some kind of connection to Exavior on the outside. My guess would be through the Internet,” Allen said. “One computer would have to be inside of the palace or at least close enough for a wireless connection. If we can find it, we can disable the cameras and maybe find where he is viewing them from.”

Chevalier looked at his son, shocked, “If we find the computer, can you track him down?”

“I think so,” Allen told him. “If we can get the remote computer’s IP address, we should be able to track it to a city and maybe even an address.”

“Get with Silas, tell them what to look for,” Chevalier said, and watched his son move quickly from the room. He wasn’t as fast as the heku, but was much faster than any mortal.

***

Emily sat up, coughing violently. She leaned back against the stack of pillows when the coughing stopped and looked over at Mark. He handed her a pill, and she took it with a cold glass of water.

“Do you need anything?” Mark asked her.

Emily shook her head and whispered, “How long are my joints going to hurt?”

“It all depends. I’ve seen the weakness last a few months.”

Emily frowned, “How do you know?”

“The Crusades, mainly,” Mark said, and smiled slightly.

“How long will this last?” Emily whispered, motioning to her stomach. The bruise was still deep black and hurt to touch.

Mark sighed, “I’ve never seen that before, so I don’t know.”

“It hurt.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Emily shook her head.

“I talked to the Elder today. He thinks we may be able to come back tomorrow,” Mark told her.

Emily nodded, “Good.”

He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes, “Emily… did… he…”

“No,” Emily whispered.

“What did you do all day there?”

“Walked around mostly. I kept looking for a way out.”

“Did he talk about turning you?” Mark asked.

“No, never,” Emily whispered. “I honestly thought he would though.”

Kralen knocked and then walked in with a hot pizza in his hand, “As requested.”

Emily smiled and whispered, “Thanks, pizza sounds so good.”

She immediately grabbed a piece and started to eat while Mark and Kralen cringed.

“That smells awful,” Mark said.

“I bet it tastes awful,” Kralen commented.

“Eat a piece, I dare you,” Emily whispered, and took another bite.

Mark chuckled, “No way.”

“I pass too, sorry,” Kralen said, and sat down against the wall.

Emily finished eating and then laid back in bed. She watched out the window until she fell asleep. Mark and Kralen watched her while she slept and spoke quietly about new ways to strengthen the guards in Council City.

***

“The house is empty,” Silas said, irritated. “His scent is there, but fading.”

Chevalier sighed, “At least we know his cameras are gone. Emily should be back in about two hours.”

“Where did they go?” Quinn asked.

“Hall Coven,” Chevalier said. “Lord Bradford was more than happy to let them stay. We should repay them.”

Quinn nodded, “Agreed.”

Chevalier sat down in his chair in the council chambers, “What would you think about calling Powan in to help guard the palace for a while?”

“They are more disciplined than ours,” Quinn said, and sat down also. “I’ve been debating for a while using Powan as a training center for palace guards. We send them there for a few months and let General Skinner train them.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Dustin, the Chief Liaison Officer, told them, and sat down.

“Why don’t you and Zohn go talk to General Skinner about it?” Chevalier asked.

Dustin nodded, “We’ll head out as soon as Equites 2 arrives.”

Kyle came in through the trial room door and the Elders looked up at him, “It’s done.”

“Did you have to kill many innocents?” Quinn asked him.

“No,” Kyle said, sitting down at his chair. “Once they found out I was only after the Lord of the Coven, they all stayed away from me. From what I saw, they wanted a new Lord anyway.”

“We discovered that Exavior had the palace under surveillance. Twelve cameras all linked to a computer hidden in the kitchen,” Quinn explained.

“Here in the palace? That’s… that’s… how?” Kyle asked angrily.

“We suspect Sam,” Dustin said. “Allen found the computer, and we tracked the connection to a home in the city. Exavior’s been there, but left before we arrived.”

“Where’s Emily?”

“Coming back from Hall Coven.”

Kyle sighed, “How is she?”

“When she left she had pneumonia and only lets certain heku with her,” Quinn said softly. “Silas, for instance… can’t get near her, neither could Sotomar.”

“Is it just the black hair?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier grinned, “I have black hair.”

“Yes, but she knows you better than the others.”

“I wonder if that’s it then, heku that resemble Exavior?” Chevalier asked, glancing at Kyle.

“That’s just a guess though,” Kyle said.

The Elders explained what they had in mind for guards and talked about options in case Emily decided to fulfill the ultimatum and disappear. A couple of hours later, they stood up when Equites 2 asked for permission to land.

“Silas?” Chevalier called out.

“Yes, Elder?” Silas said, appearing in the hallway when the Elders emerged from the council chambers.

“I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to move you to front door guard,” Chevalier said.

“I understand, Sir. I’ve seen the way she looks at me,” Silas said with an apologetic grin.

The Elders and Kyle reached the fifth-floor foyer as Mark carried Emily into the room, held her while Kralen got her wheelchair out, and then sat her down in it gently. Mark grabbed a few pillows and propped her arms up on them as she winced and then did the same with her legs.

“Thank you,” Chevalier said, walking into the room.

Mark nodded and stood at his post by her door while Kralen waited outside in the hallway with another member of the Cavalry.

Emily turned the electric wheelchair around to face them.

“Allen came up with an idea to track down Exavior using the cameras and a computer we found,” Chevalier explained, sitting on the edge of the bed. “He was able to find an IP Address and we found where he’s been staying, but he wasn’t there.”

Emily smiled slightly and spoke, her voice was just above a whisper, “So I’m in him somewhere.”

Chevalier smiled, “Yes, he didn’t get that from me, bloody computers… I hate them.”

“Where are the kids?” Emily whispered.

“Anna has them. She came to take them while we searched for cameras.”

Emily wheeled over and looked out the window, “I want to go out riding.”

“Do you think you’re strong enough?” Chevalier asked.

Emily shrugged. The hills outside of town were inviting and the day had turned out sunny.

“I could tandem ride with her. We could take the entire Cavalry out,” Mark suggested from the door.

Emily looked at Chevalier and nodded.

“Very well, just be careful,” he said. He didn’t want Emily out of the palace, but knew she was going crazy sitting in bed all day.

“Mount up,” Mark called out, and there was a rush of movement through the palace.

Emily pulled on another sweater, wincing at the movement in her arms, and then turned to Mark when he came to pick her up.

“It’s not very cold out there,” Kyle said, noticing the layers she was wearing.

Emily shrugged and held onto Mark as he carried her out the door.

“Is there a reason she has five shirts on?” Kyle asked, turning to Chevalier.

“I suspect,” Chevalier said. “That she’s covering up.”

“Oh, I bet you’re right,” Kyle said, and turned to Zohn. “Want me to go to Powan with you?”

Zohn nodded, “Yes, let’s go.”

Emily sat on top of the racing stallion and took the reins in her hands. Her arms were stiff and sore, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to handle him on her own. Mark deftly slipped behind her and took the reins. He checked to make sure the Cavalry was ready, and headed the stallion toward the city gates.

Emily shut her eyes and felt the warm sun on her face. The cool air felt good to breathe, and it was relaxing to finally be outside. The slow rhythmic motion of the horse walking seemed natural and soothing. She glanced around her, and there were members of the Cavalry in every direction. She was surprised to see that seven of the Cavalry with her were from Thukil. Their green uniforms stood out against the stark white shirts of the Council City Cavalry.

As they walked onto the hills to the west of town, four of the Cavalry members took off at a full gallop, racing for the trees. Emily smiled and watched them, wondering what Keith would say about vampires on his best racing horses.

Mark looked down when he felt Emily tense between his arms. She was looking off to the side with wide eyes and she wrapped her arms around herself. Mark followed her gaze and saw Silas sitting a few yards away, watching the others. He whispered softly, and Silas nodded and backed his horse up out of her sight.

Emily shut her eyes, trying to relax. She knew Silas was a friend, but the sight of him sent her into a panic and she couldn’t explain why. She opened her eyes slowly and watched the sleek movement of the horses as they ran across the field and she again started to relax. She felt some comfort from the warmth of Mark behind her, and she leaned her head back against his chest as she watched the Cavalry race.

She sat up when over half of the mounted Cavalry suddenly kicked their horses into a gallop and headed north toward the tree line. She felt Mark tense behind her and looked over, but didn’t see anything.

“What happened?” Emily whispered, watching the Cavalry disappear into the trees.

“Someone called your name,” Mark whispered.

Emily’s hand tightened on his arm, “Is it…”

“Yes,” Mark hissed, and glanced to make sure he still had some of the Cavalry with him.

“Go,” Emily whispered, terrified.

“No, wait for them to return,” Mark growled. “If he shows himself… then I will deal with him.”

“Please… go,” she whispered, quieter.

“Kralen,” Mark called. “Take her, I want in there.”

Emily felt strong arms on her waist as the heku lifted her over to his horse.

“Take her back to the palace with the rest of the Cavalry,” Mark said, and kicked hard. His stallion jumped and immediately tore across the field toward the trees.

Kralen clicked his tongue and ran his mare back towards the city, surrounded by six members of the Cavalry. He called for the Elder as he approached the palace and Chevalier and Quinn were waiting when they arrived.

“He called her from the trees,” Kralen said, helping Emily slide down to the ground. “Mark and the rest of the Cavalry went after him.”

“Take her in,” Chevalier said angrily. “I’m going.”

Quinn watched as Chevalier blurred toward the city gates.

“Your dinner is ready,” Quinn said, taking Emily’s arm to steady her. Kralen slid off his horse along with the other six members of the Cavalry. Two of them took the horses, while the rest escorted the Elder and Emily into the palace. She was moving slowly, but it felt good to walk, so she opted to take Quinn’s arm for support instead of being carried.

Emily sat down at the table beside Allen and smiled at him, proud that he’d tracked Exavior down using an IP address and technology. Anna brought in Alexis, who hugged Emily, and then sat down to eat.

Chevalier and the rest of the Cavalry came in just as they were finishing eating.

“Couldn’t find him,” Chevalier growled. “He’s a coward and won’t face me.”

Emily sighed when her phone rang and answered it with the heku all watching. She didn’t speak, but put it to her ear.

“Meus decorus uxor,” Exavior whispered. “Adeo mihi.”

Emily frowned.

“Come to me, my beautiful wife,” Exavior chuckled.

“No,” Emily whispered.

“I have a new torture room all ready for Chevalier… if you don’t come to me, he will,” Exavior told her, amused.

Emily froze, and Chevalier tore the phone from her hand.

“I’m willing, come get me,” Chevalier hissed, but Exavior hung up.

Emily couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. The image of Chevalier in the clutches of Exavior terrified her and her dreams began to run through her head.

Chevalier knelt down beside her and took her hand, “No, Em, no. He can’t hurt me.”

Emily nodded and whispered, “He can.”

“Listen to me. He’s a coward. He’s just trying to scare you into going to him,” Chevalier said softly. “Promise me you’ll stay here… promise me.”

Emily nodded and sat back in her chair.

“Damnit, Em…” Chevalier growled.

She looked at him and frowned.

“I know that look… he can hurt you a hell of a lot worse than he can hurt me… and I want him to get me,” Chevalier explained.

Emily whispered, “I can ash him now.”

Chevalier grinned menacingly, “I don’t want you to. I want him.”

Chapter 16 - Ultimatum

“First rule, no one touches the Elder’s wife,” Mark said, walking in front of the ten new Cavalry recruits. “If you want to be banished, that’s the first way. Never stand behind your horse. If your horse acts up… let Emily take care of it. If your horse is fighting, don’t let Emily take reins.”

Emily rolled her eyes.

Mark grinned slightly, “She has a nasty habit of taking kicks for a heku. She is a Commander in this Cavalry and will be treated as such.”

Emily blushed slightly. She was made a Commander a few weeks before, and tried to talk the tailor into behaving, but her uniform was exactly the same as the Thukil uniform except with a white shirt and diamond cutouts on the jeans instead of hearts. In the four weeks since she’d last heard from Exavior, she was almost fully healed and insisted the new training start today.

“Once you are assigned a horse, it becomes your soul responsibility,” Mark said. “Any questions?”

The heku all shook their heads. Emily was pleased to see that they all looked excited to be in the Cavalry, and were anxious to get started. These ten recruits were the first to come to the palace from Powan. Everyone was hopeful for the change in procedure. She slipped off of her stallion and grabbed a bridle before taking the first new recruit in to find him a horse. She had assigned Keith’s racing horses to the top officers in the original Cavalry, except for his fastest, which she kept for herself.

Emily came back out and mounted her stallion to wait for the recruits to finish. She glanced around at the thirteen members of the Cavalry around her, all mounted and on high alert. She suspected Exavior left the area long ago, but the Elders insisted she keep the Cavalry around. She smiled at Silas when he winked at her, and then turned back to the recruits.

***

“Sir,” Derrick said, walking into the council chambers. “There’s a wandering heku to see the Council.”

Quinn frowned, “A factionless heku came into the city?”

“Yes, Sir, the guards escorted him in,” Derrick explained.

“Very well, let him in,” Zohn told him.

The heku came in and Chevalier and Kyle both gasped, eyes wide. He walked into the trial area and stood before them.

“Alec?” Chevalier asked, not quite sure it was him.

Alec nodded, “Yes.”

“Damnit,” Kyle growled.

“What?” Quinn asked him.

“This is Emily’s uncle,” Chevalier sighed. “Another break in the ultimatum.”

“It was by my request,” Alec said, smiling. Alec looked almost 30 years younger than his age, and was taller, with broad, muscular shoulders and hulking arms.

“Before we break the news to Emily,” Chevalier said, glaring at him. “Why did you come?”

“I came with a message from Lord Exavior,” Alec said, not seeming intimidated or fearful of the enemy Council.

“Of course you did… what is it?”

“Now that I have joined Exavior, we feel it is time for Emily to return to her family,” Alec told them.

“We are her family,” Kyle growled.

“No, I am her family… her true family, and Exavior is her husband. She should return to us, and we both feel that you are keeping her from leaving,” Alec explained.

“He is not her husband,” Chevalier growled. “That marriage will be annulled as soon as Emily feels comfortable enough to leave the city.”

Quinn quickly dialed a number on the speakerphone.

“Valle Council,” a man’s voice said.

“Sotomar?” Quinn asked.

“I’m here,” Sotomar said.

“We have a situation, how fast can you get to Council City?”

“I can be there in an hour. What’s the problem?”

“There’s a new Valle here we need to deal with, and it will affect Emily.”

“Very well, one hour,” Sotomar said, and hung up.

“I see no reason to bring the Valle into this,” Alec said.

“You’re Valle and, once again, a Valle has broken the terms of Emily’s peace treaty,” Zohn told him.

“I am not a Valle. I consider myself factionless.”

“You were made by a Valle, and are still very young, therefore, you are Valle,” Zohn told him.

“I refuse to be an enemy to my niece. Emi means a lot to me, and I promised her father that I would watch over her,” Alec explained.

“Is that why you did it, then? So you can watch over her?” Chevalier asked.

“No, it’s not. Jess is gone, Pat has moved away… Exavior’s offer seemed logical,” Alec said.

“Even though Emily expressly prohibited him from doing it?”

“It wasn’t her decision to make. It’s my life.”

“Where is he?” Kyle asked.

Alec turned to him, “Lord Exavior has forbid me from telling you his location.”

“I can get it out of him,” the Chief Interrogator said.

“If it was anyone but Emily’s uncle,” Quinn told him. “Let’s just figure this out before we risk driving a wedge further between the heku and Emily.”

“She and I need to speak alone,” Alec said. “She’s still my niece and I love her. I want what’s best for her, but she has to understand that this was my decision to make, not hers.”

“We understand that,” Zohn said. “However, she may not see it that way.”

“While we wait for Sotomar, may I speak to her?”

“Derrick?” Zohn called and looked over at him when he walked in. “Please call Lady Emily into the council chambers.”

Derrick nodded and went out to the stables. He walked up to Emily’s stallion, “Lady Emily?”

“Let me guess…” Emily looked down at him. “What did I do now?”

Derrick grinned, “Why do you always assume you are in trouble?”

Emily slipped off the stallion, “Because I usually am.”

Silas took the reins on the stallion and Emily followed Derrick into the palace, and he opened the door to the trial area for her. She stepped inside and saw the Council talking to a heku. They all turned to look at her as the heku turned slowly to face her.

Emily smiled at the strange heku and then she froze and her eyes studied his face. The blood drained from her face and she couldn’t find the strength to move.

“Alec…” she whispered.

“Hello, Emi,” Alec said, smiling.

Emily just stared at him, her eyes wide, “Alec…”

Alec walked over and wrapped his arms around her, “I’ve missed you.”

Emily took a step away from him and frowned, “I’m going to kill him.”

“Emi, this was my choice,” Alec told her.

“I’m going to kill him!” Emily yelled. She turned and ran out of the council chambers. Alec blurred after her, and the Council appeared out in the hallway beside them.

“Listen to me, Emi, I was dying… Jess is gone, Pat is grown. I had no one,” Alec said. He’d taken her hand and stopped her from running down the stairs.

“Where is he?” Emily asked, gritting her teeth.

“I need to talk to you. I need to make you understand,” Alec said.

“Listen to him, Em. You can’t just go off to find Exavior,” Chevalier said. “Just listen to him.”

Emily violently pulled her hand out of Alec’s grip and glared at him, “How could you do this?”

“Talk to me, alone,” Alec said, glancing back at the Equites Council.

“Go to the Council’s conference room,” Quinn suggested.

“I’m tempted to ash you just for being stupid,” Emily growled.

Alec smiled, “Except you love me too, Emi.”

Emily stormed off to the Council’s conference room, followed by Alec.

“Should one of us go?” Kyle asked.

“No, leave them alone,” Chevalier said. “Maybe stay outside of the door though, in case she decides to run.”

Kyle nodded and followed Emily and Alec.

“And… Kyle?”

Kyle turned to Chevalier.

He sighed, “Listen in.”

Emily sat down with her eyes full of tears, “How could you do this?”

Alec shut the door and sat down, “I’ve been planning on this since you were a little girl. Now I can watch over Pat forever.

“You let Exavior talk you into this… do you know what he’s really like? Do you know what he’s capable of?”

“Yes, and he’s my maker now, I owe him everything,” Alec told her.

Emily just shook her head and looked at the picture hanging on the wall.

“I decided to be completely honest with you, and start over from the beginning. When you were two, Allen brought you out to the ranch for the first time. Exavior saw you in a store and immediately knew from your scent who you were. He spent the next year getting to know Jess and I,” Alec said.

“He’s known about me since I was two?” Emily frowned.

“Yes… it was only about a year later that I found out what Exavior was, and he explained how special you and your Mom were. Every time you came to visit us, we allowed Exavior to come, but I always suspected that he kept an eye on the Montana ranch too,” Alec explained.

“You ran into him once, when you were five, and he immediately got attached to you. I brought him into the house when your Dad went out, and you colored with him and told him you’d marry him someday.”

“That’s sick,” Emily growled.

“It wasn’t an attraction for him, he looked at you like a daughter,” Alec said. “He came to me once. He wanted to kill Keith, and I talked him out of it. He told us how Keith treated you, but we already knew. Then your Dad had his stroke and all of the pressure fell to you. Exavior tried to intervene again, but Ulrich wouldn’t let him.”

“Ulrich was in on this?”

“Ulrich knew Exavior was aware of you and your Mom, but Ulrich made Exavior… and Exavior didn’t dare cross him. He searched frantically for you when you disappeared, and came to tell me that another of his kind was on the ranch. He waited and watched, and the day you came back from Colorado and left again with Chevalier, he was devastated.”

Emily leaned her head down into her hands and listened.

“I know what he did a couple of months ago. He feels really bad about it and wants to apologize, it’s killing him…”

“So he decided to make it up to me by turning you?” Emily asked softly.

“That was my decision,” Alec said. “I asked him to turn me.”

“How did you even find him?” Emily asked.

“He came to me. He’s been staying at the ranch for a few weeks… moping around the ranch, more like. I wish you could see how agonizing it is for him, the memory of what he did to you.”

“He’s a monster, Alec, please… stay here, join the Equites,” Emily asked him suddenly.

Alec smiled, “Exavior is and will always be my maker and my friend. I wish you would just talk to him.”

“I can’t believe you’re so devoted to him. He tortured me for hours. I’m still in pain from what he did to me, and you’ve completely forgiven him.”

“No, I haven’t, but I know how sorry he is and he wouldn’t do it again.”

“Yes, he would,” Emily told him.

“I want you to come back to your family,” Alec said.

“My family is here.”

“No, I’m your family, your Uncle, and he’s your husband. You belong with us.”

Emily shook her head, “No, he’s done too much and I’m not going to forgive him for that.”

Alec sighed, “Think about it, about returning to your true family.”

“Mark,” Emily called out.

A few seconds later, both Mark and Kyle came into the conference room.

Emily was shaking with rage and tears poured out of her eyes, “Put him in prison until I decide what to do.”

“Emily, no,” Alec said softly.

“Yes, I’m not going to have you going back to Exavior,” Emily said as Mark put his hands on Alec’s shoulders.

Emily ran out of the conference room.

“Em,” Kyle called after her, and blurred into the garage as she got to her Jeep. He watched as she threw the doors and the top off to the side and crawled in.

“Get back,” Emily said when Kyle appeared beside the Jeep.

“Let me go with you, Exavior could be out there.”

Emily answered him by flooring the pedal and spinning out of the garage. She made it to the Durango just as a silver helicopter flew low over the trees. She crawled into the passenger’s seat and shut the door, locking it.

Sotomar was escorted into the council chambers and stood by the heku that was standing before them.

“What did a Valle do now?” he asked, irritated.

“Exavior turned Emily’s uncle,” Chevalier growled.

Sotomar frowned, “He swore he wouldn’t.”

“He did,” Alec said, looking over at the Valle Elder. “Don’t worry. I don’t consider myself a Valle.”

“You’re Emily’s uncle?” Sotomar asked him.

“Yes”

“Was it voluntary?”

“Yes”

Sotomar sighed and turned back to the Equites, “Is she gone, then?”

Kyle shrugged, “She’s not here. I don’t know if she’s coming back or not.”

“She asked that we put him in prison,” Zohn said. “She wanted to make sure he doesn’t return to Exavior.”

“He’s Valle. I’ll take him,” Sotomar told them.

“I’m not Valle,” Alec said. “You have no right to keep me.”

“Shut up,” Sotomar demanded. “You were made by one of my Council, and that makes you a Valle.”

“As I have no say in it, then so be it,” Alec said.

Chevalier was struck again by how much Alec looked like Allen.

“Exavior has known about Emily since she was two,” Kyle said to both his Council and to Sotomar.

Sotomar frowned, “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Alec told him. “He ran into her at my house when she was two and immediately knew who she and her Mom were.”

“We have searched for the Winchester line for hundreds of years, and he knew where they were?” Sotomar growled.

“Yes, I would call him when Allen was bringing Emily to the ranch, and he would come to town,” Alec explained.

“We knew Ulrich knew, but he was too powerful for us to do anything about it, but Exavior was on my Council.”

Alec nodded, “Yes.”

“Where is Emily, now?”

“I don’t know. She always runs when she needs to think.”

Sotomar nodded, “Where is Exavior?”

“I won’t betray him,” Alec told the Elder.

“Is he mine?” Sotomar asked the Council.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, as long as you don’t let him go.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Sotomar said, and called for the Valle guards by the door. They came and ushered Alec to the helicopter, “Has she gone then?”

“We don’t know,” Quinn told him. “Alec is correct, when she needs to think, she takes off.”

“She hasn’t since her time with Exavior though, she’s been too afraid to be alone,” Zohn said.

“Anger won out over fear,” Chevalier said. “If I had to guess, she’s at the Durango thinking.”

“The Durango?” Sotomar asked. “She still has that old broken down vehicle?”

“It’s her safe place,” Chevalier said, grinning slightly. “We’ve left it because she needs somewhere to go.”

“Let me know if I can help,” Sotomar said, and left the Equites palace.

“Do we go to the Durango then?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier thought for a moment, “No, leave her be.”

Kyle spent the next half hour telling the Council everything he heard in the conference room. Chevalier felt himself becoming angrier and Zohn decided to change the subject.

“While we wait, should we deal with the Michaels Coven?” Zohn asked.

“Go for it,” Quinn said, and leaned back in his chair.

“Reports came that the Michael’s guards have staged a mutiny and have overthrown the Lord…” Zohn looked through the paperwork, “Lord Taylor. He’s being confined in the castle prison.”

“What was their reasoning?” Quinn asked.

“Lord Taylor is a large supporter of this Council, and apparently his guard leaders felt that the Council needs replaced. When Lord Taylor tried to re-shape his military to bring discipline back to the ranks, they put him in prison and the General, General Bowman, is now in charge and has even talked about petitioning to the Valle,” Zohn told them.

“How large are they?” Chevalier asked.

Zohn thumbed through a few more pages, “There’re a total of 398 of them, including Lord Taylor.”

“Sounds like a clear-cut solution… send in Kyle to put Lord Taylor back in power,” Dustin suggested.

“I think we should let Emily take care of it,” Kyle said, and the Council looked at him to see if he was joking.

“Why would we do that?” Chevalier asked.

Kyle smiled, “Think about it… she and I go to the coven and set them straight… she did wonders for Island Coven.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “He has a point.”

“We wouldn’t hesitate if she were a heku commander in our guards,” Kyle said.

Zohn sighed, “She’s too emotional to do this job.”

“So she takes her anger out on a discipline problem or she stays and takes it out on us,” Quinn said, deep in thought. “I think I like this idea.”

“We have four mortals waiting to be turned,” the Chief Interrogator said.

“So we send Emily with our Cavalry and let them take care of the guards,” Zohn said. “Gets her mind off of Alec and Exavior, and we get to turn our mortals.”

“Wait until Quinn, Kyle, and I get back… we’ll talk to her together about it,” Chevalier suggested.

“If she comes back,” Kyle reminded them.

Chevalier sighed, “She will, she’s starting to panic and I think being alone just hit her. Kyle… go.”

Kyle nodded and called for Mark, then blurred from the room.

Emily was curled into a ball on the floor of the Durango. As she considered what to do about Exavior and Alec, the woods began to get dark and suddenly, it felt like hundreds of eyes were watching her. She knew she needed to leave, to get back to the safety of the palace, but opening the door to the Durango meant being out in the open, with the trees and anyone hiding within them.

She heard the wind blowing through the trees and it sounded like someone calling her name. She couldn’t move. The freezing Durango was her only protection against the eyes in the woods. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she felt someone watching her. The sound of a cracking branch made her body stiffen. He was out there, and he was coming.

Emily screamed when the door was ripped off of the Durango. She braced herself for the pain of someone hitting her, someone dragging her from the car, but it didn’t come.

“Em… Emily, it’s us,” Kyle said, and softly put his hand on her arm.

Emily looked up and then jumped into his arms.

“It’s ok,” Kyle whispered, and wrapped his arms around her.

Emily looked over and saw Mark nearby, scanning the woods carefully. She finally pulled out of Kyle’s arms and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Let’s go,” Kyle said, and got into the driver’s side of the Jeep. Emily crawled into the back seat and Mark looked around one more time before getting into the passenger’s seat.

Kyle started up the Jeep and headed back down the twisted path to the road. He hit the brakes when a robed figure appeared out of the trees and stood in their path.

“I just want to talk to her,” Exavior said, pulling the hood of his robe down so they could see him.

Before Emily could protest, Kyle was out of the Jeep and disappeared into the trees after Exavior.

“No!” Emily called out, but Mark was already in the driver’s seat and was tearing through the forest at dangerous speeds.

“Mark, we can’t leave him alone,” Emily said, watching behind her.

“When you get back to the palace, I’ll go too,” he said, growling.

At the gates to Council City, Mark put the Jeep into park and blurred back toward the trees, followed by four of the Cavalry that were mounted. Emily watched them go and then moved into the driver’s seat. She finally relaxed when the walls of the garage were around her, and she ran into the palace.

“Chev!” she called out as she entered the doors.

Chevalier, Zohn, and Quinn appeared.

“Kyle went after Exavior,” Emily said frantically.

“Where?” Chevalier hissed.

“He was on the path to the Durango. Mark’s gone after him now to… Chev, Exavior will kill them,” she said, panicked.

Chevalier disappeared, and Quinn put a hand on Emily’s shoulder.

“Exavior can’t kill them. He’s not strong enough,” Quinn said.

Emily nodded, “Yes he is, don’t underestimate him.”

“Rest assured, we don’t,” Zohn said. “However, Kyle has proven before that he can easily beat Exavior in a fight.”

Emily looked back toward the door, “I don’t want Kyle alone with him.”

“I would imagine that Mark is already there also,” Quinn told her. “If Kyle even caught up with him. Kyle is stronger, and a better fighter, but Exavior is faster, and normally just runs away.”

Emily nodded slowly and wrapped her arms around herself again.

“Come, let’s get you warm,” Quinn said, and he led her up to her room, followed by Zohn, Kralen, and another guard from the Cavalry.

They walked into her bedroom, and she took a steaming mug of hot chocolate from the table and cupped it in her hands. The fires were lit, and she sat on the rug in front of them to warm up while she waited for Chevalier, Kyle, and Mark to return.

The three came in a couple of hours later, laughing about something. Emily stood up from the rug and ran into Chevalier’s arms.

Chevalier wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, “He took off… again.”

“Just once I want to get my hands on him… to think how close I was to killing him once,” Kyle said, irritated.

“If he keeps hanging around the city, we’ll get him,” Mark said, grinning.

Emily turned around, furious, “You can’t kill him! Going running off into the woods alone after him is just going to get one of you killed.”

Kyle was shocked. He’d never heard that kind of anger from Emily, “Em, we can handle him.”

“No you can’t! He’s evil… and malicious, and all you are doing is playing his game, and one of these days, he may win,” she yelled angrily.

Chevalier motioned for them all to leave when Mark and Kyle started to argue with her. She turned back into his arms when they left and buried her face in his chest as his arms tightened around her.

Emily looked up at him, “Promise me you’ll never run off after him alone.”

Chevalier sighed and kissed her softly, “I can’t promise that.”

She pulled out of his arms, “Promise me.”

“Em…”

“I said promise me.”

“I won’t promise you that… I wish you would trust me. I can handle him.”

“You all think that. Put your egos aside for once and realize that he can’t die… he’s going to torment us forever unless you stop playing his games,” Emily said, and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Chevalier walked out into the hallway with the others, “How does he rank being un-killable?”

Kyle shrugged, “Any one of us could take him. He’s not all that tough around another heku.”

“She has a misconception about us because she rarely sees us angry,” Quinn said. “I suspect that in her mind, we are weak.”

Zohn growled, “If she thinks I’m weak then she has another thing coming.”

“Actually, you, she may not think of that way,” Quinn said, smiling slightly. “That may be why she doesn’t like you.”

“She was there when I fought him and won. How can she not see that?” Kyle asked, frustrated.

“Because you didn’t kill him… you let him go,” Chevalier told him. “Had the tables been turned, she knows Exavior wouldn’t have let you go.”

“So for that, I’m weak?” Kyle asked, and rolled his eyes.

“He somehow planted a supremacy in her eyes, and I’d like nothing more than to obliterate that image,” Chevalier said. He glanced back toward the door when the jets in the tub turned on.

“As badly as I want to go back out after him, Elders, we have to get going,” Kyle reminded him.

Chevalier nodded, “I haven’t had a chance to tell her I’m going. Give me 20 minutes.”

Kyle nodded, and Chevalier went back into the bedroom. He knocked lightly on the bathroom door.

“One sec,” Emily said, covering herself with a towel. “Come in.”

Chevalier opened the door and walked into the steam filled room. He leaned back against the counter, “Kyle, Quinn, and I are going to be gone for a few days.”

Emily frowned, “All of you?”

“You’re protected here, and if you need anything, Zohn is staying behind.”

“Let me go with you,” Emily said, and grabbed for another towel.

“No, I can’t let you… you’ll be fine here. Mark, Silas, and Kralen are staying too and, Em, Zohn doesn’t hate you.”

“He does too. He just hides it around you,” Emily told him, still frowning.

Chevalier smiled, “Four days and we’ll be back. Just hang around here. When we return, we may have a mission for you.”

Emily glanced up at him curiously, “A mission for me?”

“Yes, one perfectly suited for you.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll have to wait until we get back,” Chevalier said, and knelt down by the tub. “Stay away from the Durango while I’m gone, ok?”

“Are you three going after Exavior?”

“No”

Emily nodded, “Then ok… besides… Kyle ripped the door off.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Sorry, he thought you were hurt.”

“Have it towed away. Exavior’s never going to let me be alone again.”

“We’ll get him.”

“You are going after Exavior, aren’t you?” Emily asked suspiciously.

“Not today,” Chevalier said, and then kissed her lightly.

“Promise me.”

“I promise, we’re not going after him today,” he said, and stood up.

“You have to leave right now?”

Chevalier nodded, “We’ll be back in four days.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

***

Emily glanced over at her clock when she heard a knock on the door.

“Who is that?” she asked Mark, who was standing guard inside her door.

“Zohn has asked to see you,” Mark told her, and shrugged.

“It’s 3am.”

“Yes, it is,” Mark said, sounding irritated that someone woke her up.

Emily crawled out of bed and threw on a robe before heading to the door, “This damn well better be good.”

“Sorry, Em, he wants you in uniform,” Mark said, cringing at the look she gave him.

“Well, freak,” she yelled, and grabbed her uniform before disappearing into the bathroom. She came out a short time later in her uniform, and dug through her drawer for the .45, which she slipped into her hip holster. She grabbed a rubber band and followed Mark out as she braided her hair.

Mark knocked on Zohn’s office door and opened it when Zohn told him to enter.

“Both of you sit,” Zohn said, and Emily sat down as she wound the rubber band around the bottom of the long braid.

“It’s 3am, Zohn,” Emily said, irritated.

“I’m sorry for the late hour, but I have a mission for you and the Cavalry,” Zohn told her.

“Is this the one Chev told me was coming?”

“Yes”

“He also mentioned I would go when he got back.”

“I’ve overridden that, and I’m sending you out immediately,” Zohn said, and looked up at her. “I need you to rehabilitate the guard unit of the Michaels Coven, and reinstate Lord Taylor back to power.”

“Where is Lord Taylor?” Mark asked.

“He’s imprisoned by his guards. General Bowman has taken control of the coven and is threatening to remove them from the Equites,” Zohn explained. “We want Emily to do what she did with the Island Coven guards and put the coven back in line.”

“No,” Emily said, frowning.

Zohn was taken back, “Excuse me?”

“No, that was awful… it’s not my place to keep your guards from misbehaving and I won’t do it.”

“You have no choice,” Zohn said sternly. He noticed how Mark grimaced when he said that and how Emily’s eyes narrowed.

“No,” Emily said again. “I’m not going to go around and ash all of the coven guards so they behave.”

“You will do as you’re told,” Zohn said, and turned to Mark. “The Cavalry will go to assist, but let her do most of it. She has the ability to put them in order without too much force.”

“No,” Emily said, and stood up.

“Sit down!” Zohn yelled.

“Sir,” Mark whispered, too softly for Emily to hear. “She doesn’t take harsh commands well.”

“Sit down, now,” Zohn said, ignoring Mark’s remark.

“I’m not going,” Emily told him, and crossed her arms.

Zohn stood up, “Sit down!”

Emily’s eyes grew wide and she sat suddenly.

“You will do as you’re told and you will leave immediately for Michaels Coven with the Cavalry,” Zohn growled. “You will rehabilitate the guards and then return to the palace without complaining.”

Emily sat back in the chair as Zohn looked around oddly.

“Oh, you’re here,” Zohn said. “I have a mission for you.”

Mark looked at Emily, shocked.

“One moment though, please,” Emily said sweetly. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

Mark wasn’t sure what to do, so he sat back, afraid to intervene.

“Sure,” Zohn said. “I’ll go over some things with Mark while we wait.”

Emily stood up and left slowly, but as soon as his door was shut, she took off running for the garage. She ran past the Jeep and slid into Chevalier’s McLaren, needing something fast.

“Was that Chevalier’s car?” Zohn asked, frowning.

Mark sighed, “She wiped your memory. You’ve already told her about the mission, and she said no.”

“What!?” Zohn growled. He blurred into the garage and quickly sped out of the city in his Jaguar XJ220.

Mark sat back and waited for Zohn’s fury. He knew that the Jaguar couldn’t catch up with the McLaren if Emily pegged it. He couldn’t call Chevalier or Kyle. They would have their phones off during their mission, so he was going to have to handle this on his own, and he wasn’t quite sure how.

Emily had Chevalier’s McLaren steady at 236 mph and was praying no police were around as she sped west. She kept a close eye out for Zohn’s Red Jaguar, but Chevalier once bragged that his car could outrun the sleek XJ220.

Emily opened her phone and speed dialed Chevalier. When she got no answer, she dialed the Valle Council.

“Ryan here,” she heard over the phone.

“I need to talk to Sotomar,” Emily said frantically.

“He’s not here, Emily. What’s wrong?”

“Gah,” Emily yelled, and then disconnected. She quickly dialed the Encala Council and waited what seemed like an eternity for them to answer.

“Encala Council,” a voice said.

“I need to talk to William,” Emily said, the panic in her voice evident.

“What’s wrong, Emily?” William asked, concerned.

“I need somewhere to go. I stole Chevalier’s McLaren, and Zohn’s chasing me in his Jag, and I don’t know where to go.” She hated to ramble, but her mind was blurring and she knew Exavior was out there, somewhere, too.

“You can outrun him if you keep it above 220 mph,” a strange voice said, impressed.

“Can I come, please?” Emily asked fearfully. “Chevalier, Quinn, and Kyle are gone and Zohn’s trying to send me on some stupid mission… I don’t know where to go.”

“Of course you can,” William said. “Are you heading west from Council City?”

“Yes, I’m on I-94 now, about two hours outside of the city.”

“What color is the McLaren?”

“Black, I’m worried about cops though.”

“Keep it pegged… Look for three CCX’s, two black and one red. They will be Encala, and they will guide you in,” William said.

Emily sighed, “I don’t know what a CCX is.”

She heard some chuckles before William spoke, “They’re sports cars, just look for two black and one red car. They should meet up with you in about an hour.”

“Thank you, William,” Emily said, finally relaxing.

“Do you not have a fast car, Dear?” Elder Reese asked.

“No, I have a Jeep and a truck. I don’t like these cars… it’s like driving a tin can.”

“The McLaren is not a tin can, Child,” she heard a strange voice say.

“Does this really matter?” Emily asked, irritated.

“We will buy you a car when you get here,” William said. “You need a means of getting away without stealing.”

Emily sighed, “We’ll talk when I get there.”

She shut her phone and watched around for the red Jaguar. She weaved in and out of traffic, trying not to panic as she drew closer to Encala City. An hour later, she saw three cars appear behind her, two black and one red. The windows were tinted too dark to see inside, but they matched what William had told her. They boxed around the McLaren and slowed, taking her down to just under 100 mph.

Within a few hours, they guided her off of the Interstate and onto a private road lined with tall sycamore trees. They moved single file with Emily in the middle. As they approached the front gates, the guards talked a moment to the front car and then waved them all through.

Emily breathed again when she saw the Encala palace come nearer. She knew that Zohn wouldn’t dare try to come into the enemy city. The cars disappeared into the garage, but Emily stopped the McLaren outside the front entryway and stepped out. Guards came out and lined the front walk as William emerged.

“So glad you made it,” William said, and Emily smiled when she walked up. He was surprised to see her in the guard’s uniform and ranked as a Commander, but couldn’t help but glance at the diamond cutouts that showed her soft skin or the way the shirt left a band of her muscular abdomen showing.

“Thank you, I didn’t know where to go,” Emily told him.

“You are always welcome here… would you like someone to return the Elder’s car?”

Emily thought for a moment and then nodded, “Yes, that way he can’t arrest me for stealing it.”

William chuckled, “I doubt the Elder would have you arrested.”

“He already has, for stealing his Hummer,” Emily said, grinning slightly.

“Interesting, come inside then, we’ll have it returned to Council City,” William said, and took her arm to lead her into the palace. “If you don’t mind, the Council would like to say hello.”

Emily nodded and followed him into the trial area. William went back up to his seat and waited while the Chief Enforcer, Chief Interrogator, and Chief Investigator returned to their seats.

“Now that we’re all here…”

“First off, thank you for helping me,” Emily said, and the three members of the Council in the CCX’s all smiled and nodded.

“First, Dear, may we ask why you were running from an Equites Elder?” William asked.

Emily shrugged, “I don’t see why not. He ordered me to help rehabilitate some out of control coven.”

“You said no to an Elder?” one of the council members asked, shocked.

“Yes, I did… I don’t want to rehabilitate a coven,” Emily explained calmly.

William grinned, “You have to realize the position she holds on their Council. They don’t hold her to the heku rules.”

“I see,” the council member said. “Yet you’re a Commander in their Cavalry?”

“I only train them on the horses,” Emily said.

“It’s just… different… for us to see a member of the guard staff say no to a member of the Council… we realize you aren’t held to the heku rules though,” William explained.

“Well, Zohn seems to think I am and ordered me… so I took off and I have no doubt he was chasing me,” Emily explained.

“Why is it you refuse to help?” Elder Aaron questioned.

Emily frowned, “That makes it sound bad.”

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant,” Aaron told her. “We are just curious why it is you ran.”

“I don’t want to shape them up like I did on Island Coven,” Emily said, looking at the ground. “I had to ash two of them and burn one… I don’t like doing that.”

“I think that sounds like a good enough reason to leave…” William told her.

“I’m sorry again to intrude. If it’s a bother, I can call Sotomar.”

“No!” Aaron said, and then calmed his voice. “It’s a pleasure to have you here. However, we will need to notify the Equites that you are here and safe.”

“Does it have to be Zohn?” Emily asked. “Can you just tell Mark?”

“Who is Mark?”

“Captain of the Cavalry… he’s one of my guards, and a friend.”

“Sorry, Dear, we will need to tell Zohn then,” Aaron said.

“He’ll tell you to send me home.”

William grinned, “We don’t follow the orders of another faction’s Elder.”

Emily smiled, “So I can stay until Chevalier gets back?”

“Of course, we have unfinished plans,” William reminded her. “Carson… take Lady Emily to her room so she can get settled.”

Emily headed out the door with the guard and turned when William spoke.

“When we are done here, I want to go buy you a car,” William told her.

Emily frowned, “They are too expensive. I have a Jeep and a truck already.”

“Money is not a problem. We want to buy you something faster. You like to run, we might as well make it easier,” Aaron said, smiling warmly.

Emily felt the panic rising, “I don’t… I don’t like to… leave.”

“He cannot hurt you here,” William said, suddenly serious. “Even if he knows you are with us, he cannot make it through the city.”

Emily sighed, and then nodded and followed Carson to her room. It was the room she had the last time, and by the time she got inside, there were already four guards posted outside of her door. She saw the closet was now full of clothes, mostly jeans and t-shirts, and she smiled as she went through them and picked out a set.

She sat down to read the book she started the last time she was with the Encala, and didn’t look up until she heard a knock on the door several hours later.

“Come in,” she called out, and sat her book down on the table.

William and Aaron came in, and she was surprised to see they were wearing jeans and polos, “We’re ready to go.”

Emily scooted to the edge of the bed, “How mad is Zohn?”

Aaron chuckled, “Extraordinarily so.”

Emily winced, “Great.”

“He’ll get over it. Shall we go car shopping? We have one in mind, and the dealer is waiting,” William told her.

Emily went to the closet and slipped the .45 out of her holster, and slid it into the back of her jeans and pulled on a jacket.

“Dear, you won’t need a gun,” Aaron said, amused.

Emily didn’t turn, “What if he finds us?”

William put a hand on her shoulder, “We can take care of him if he shows up.”

Emily turned suddenly, her eyes terrified, “No, you can’t kill him. No one understands. He’ll do anything to get me, even if he has to kill both of you to do it.”

“You give him too much credit. He cannot get by the two of us,” Aaron told her softly. “Please, leave the gun.”

Emily pulled the gun out of her jeans and put it back into the holster in the closet. She pulled off the jacket and slid on a turtle neck and sweater over her t-shirt.

“Are you cold?” Aaron asked, surprised.

“No,” Emily told him, and then turned around. “I’m ready. Are you sure we should do this?”

William smiled, “Definitely, let’s go.”

Emily followed them out of her room and they talked about cars as they walked down the stairs and into the parking garage. She smiled when she saw the shiny silver SUV.

“What is that?” Emily asked.

“It’s my Spyker D8,” William said, sliding into the driver’s seat. Aaron held the passenger door open for her and shut it once she got inside. He climbed into the back seat and they were soon heading into the large city outside of Encala City.

William turned into a dealership offering luxury cars and was immediately met by a short, squat man with a greased mustache and awful looking toupee.

“Mr. Jones,” he said, smiling when William stepped out of the SUV.

“Good to see you, Heninger,” William said, shaking his hand.

“What brings you in today?” the man asked, looking oddly at Emily as she stepped out of the car.

“I am interested in an Aero, please, for the Lady,” William said. Emily was looking around at the sleek sports cars and wasn’t paying much attention to what William was saying.

“Good choice, Sir. Come in and we’ll find what you are looking for,” Heninger said, and William took Emily’s hand to lead her inside.

Heninger led them into a large, plush conference room full of carpet samples and paint comparisons. He brought out a stack of forms and grabbed a pen.

“Will this be for the base model?” Heninger asked.

“No, load it up,” William said, and smiled at Emily when she looked up.

“Seriously, William, I don’t need this… I have my Rubicon and my Dodge Ram,” she said as Heninger winced.

“Yes you do,” William said, and turned back to Heninger.

“Fine then… loaded… exterior color?”

William turned to Emily.

“Oh… do you have anything other than red, black, and silver?” she asked. The palace garage was one big blur of red, black, and silver cars.

“There’s purple,” Heninger said, slightly irritated.

“Perfect,” Emily said, smiling at him.

“You want a purple sports car?” William asked, amused.

“Not necessarily, but that will ensure my car stands out, now won’t it?” Emily said, laughing.

“Purple for the Lady,” Aaron said, shaking his head and grinning.

“Very well,” Heninger wrote it down. “Interior color?”

“Gray is fine,” Emily told him.

“I’m assuming you will need customized height?”

“Why would I need that?”

“For anyone riding in the car that may be above… say… 6 feet tall,” Heninger explained.

Emily got a mischievous grin, “So… is Chevalier’s car customized?”

“All of them are,” William told her.

“Then no, leave it as it is,” Emily said, and grinned when William and Aaron laughed.

“Full tint?” Heninger asked.

Aaron nodded, “Yes.”

“Regular account then?” Heninger asked William.

“Yes”

“Regular delivery location?”

“How long will that be?” William asked.

“For a purple model, it will be four days,” Heninger told him, seemingly disgusted that he was forced to order a purple sports car.

“That will be fine, thank you,” William said, and stood up. Emily and Aaron stood up after him, and they all walked out and again climbed into the SUV.

“You do realize that no heku is going to comfortably fit in that car,” Aaron said, still chuckling.

“I’m hoping so,” Emily said.

William pulled into a small fast-food place and looked at Emily, “You must be hungry.”

“Yes, actually, I am,” she said, and ordered a cheeseburger and Coke.

“We weren’t expecting you, but will have food in the palace by the time we get back,” William explained.

Emily nodded and started to eat as he pulled out onto the freeway. She grabbed her cell phone when it rang.

“It’s Exavior,” Emily told them, unsure what to do.

“It’s ok, just don’t tell him where you are,” Aaron said, falling serious.

“What do you want?” Emily asked him.

“Alec did not return. Did you dispose of him?” Exavior asked angrily.

“Did I dispose of my uncle that you turned against my wishes? No, I didn’t… I don’t really know where he went,” Emily told him, irritated.

“Why did you run to the Encala? Did the Equites hurt you?”

Emily’s heart missed a beat and she whispered, “How do you know I’m with the Encala?”

William’s eyes narrowed and he looked around at the cars, searching for any sign of him.

“I know everything about you,” Exavior said. “Next time boyfriend comes running after me, I’ll kill him.”

Emily was finding it hard to breathe, “Leave them alone, Exavior.”

“If you stay with the Encala, I’ll have to kill them too, you know that,” Exavior told her.

Aaron took the phone from her, “Bring it on.”

Exavior laughed and disconnected the line.

Emily put her food down, no longer hungry, “I can’t stay with you.”

“Stop listening to him,” William growled. “So he knows you’re here? He can’t get into the city and even if he manages to… we can take him. He’s not as strong as you seem to think he is.”

“No, you’re underestimating him, if he gets us, he’ll kill you two… let me off here,” Emily said, and unbuckled.

“I’m not dropping you off on the Interstate,” William said, shocked.

“Give us a little credit. He’s not going to get us,” Aaron said. “I honestly wish he would attack while you are here… I would love nothing more than to torture him.”

Emily re-buckled her seat belt and watched out the window as they drove back to the palace. She couldn’t help but notice how Aaron and William constantly surveyed the cars around them and relaxed some when they drove off of the Interstate and up the private road to the palace.

“What the hell?” William growled, stopping his car at hundreds of people standing outside of the palace gates.

“Stay here,” Aaron said to Emily as he and William stepped out of the SUV and headed up to the gates to see what was going on.

Emily looked closely at the people gathered and noticed they were mortals and had V.E.S. insignia on their shirts and coats. She got out of the car and headed up to where William and Aaron had gone.

“Here they are,” one of the guards said, motioning to William and Aaron.

“What’s the problem?” William asked angrily.

“We got reports that you have a mortal woman held hostage here, and we demand her release,” the leader yelled, and slammed his fist into his hand.

“We do not…” William stopped when he heard Emily.

“You mean me?” Emily asked, stepping up to the guards.

The leader of the V.E.S. group looked at her, focusing on her teeth. He was tall and thin with long brown hair and a brown goatee that was scraggly and unkempt, “Are you Emily?”

“Yes and I can assure you, I’m not a prisoner,” Emily said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Why are you with these… things?” he asked scathingly.

“I’m on the lam and they are my friends,” Emily explained. “Go away. There’s no reason for you to bother these nice people.”

“She’s been brainwashed,” the leader said to a woman behind him.

“Oh for hell’s sake, I have not been brainwashed,” Emily said, rolling her eyes.

“Then you’re too stupid to see that these vile creatures care about nothing but bloodshed and violence,” he told her.

Emily walked up to him, and before he could react, she punched him in the nose. One of the Encala guards blurred up and gently pulled her away from the V.E.S. leader.

“You have no idea,” Emily yelled, pulling against the guard. “I’ve had more compassion from these vampires than I ever got from my own kind.”

The leader held his bleeding nose, “I hope they kill you then… we’ll leave you with them.”

William and Aaron stood by the guards as the V.E.S. loaded back into their vans and took off.

Aaron sighed, “You really don’t follow orders, do you?”

“No,” Emily said, cradling her hand.

“Let me see,” William asked, taking her hand in his.

“I don’t think it’s broken this time,” Emily said. “I should know… it’s broken on a regular basis.”

“You hold your thumb,” a guard said, and Emily turned to look at him.

“I do what?”

“You held your thumb. You’ll break your hand every time doing that.”

“Seriously?” Emily asked.

The guard nodded.

“Come back to the palace. We have a training scheduled tomorrow to teach you how to fight,” William said, and led her back to the SUV.

“You have quite the temper, don’t you?” Aaron asked, returning to the back seat.

Emily nodded, “Some.”

“And temper control?”

“Yeah… not so much,” she said, and smiled slightly.

William grinned, “He wasn’t expecting a punch. That was quite amusing to watch.”

Emily smiled slightly, “Chevalier always yells when I do that… tells me to let the heku handle things.”

“Well he’s right. We would have defused the situation without violence, but your way was more entertaining,” William said, laughing.

***

Emily woke up early the next morning to the smell of coffee and pancakes. She crawled out of bed and sat at the table to eat, wondering what the guard training would entail, and excited to finally learn how to hit without breaking her hand. Her hand was only sprained and was wrapped in an ace bandage, but felt a lot better than it had the night before. She dug through the closet to see what she could wear today and was surprised to see a black sports bra and black sweat cut-offs, then remembered that Sam told them everything about her, and she started to get dressed.

When she heard a knock, she quickly slipped on the sweat cut-offs and called out for them to enter as she rolled the waist down. William came in and sat down next to her and she went back to eating.

“The guards are ready when you are. Lieutenant Andrew will be helping you,” William told her, and glanced briefly at the curve of her waist and the contours of her abdomen.

“Thanks, I really appreciate this,” she said, and cupped the coffee in her hands.

“There are some… that want to watch. I hope you don’t mind.”

Emily frowned, “Like who?”

“Some of the council members are interested to see how the Lieutenant will show you to fight a heku,” William said, grinning slightly.

“Fun, a spectator sport,” Emily said, putting the coffee down.

“How is your hand?”

Emily held up a finger when her phone rang, “Damn, it’s Mark.”

William smiled and nodded for her to answer it.

“Hi, Mark,” Emily said, trying to sound casual.

“I just wanted to see if you’re ok,” Mark whispered.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Zohn… he’s so mad at you, that he said you’re no longer welcome back in the palace,” Mark said quietly.

Emily frowned, “Can he do that?”

“Right now, yes, but Quinn and Chevalier aren’t going to back him, and that means he’ll be outvoted… he’s pretty mad,” Mark told her.

“Exavior knows I’m here,” Emily said.

“What? How?”

“I don’t know, but he called and threatened to kill the Encala if I don’t leave.”

Emily could hear the amusement in his voice, “I hope he tries.”

She frowned, “They’re being nice to me. Why would I want Exavior to attack them?”

William chuckled.

“I have to go… Chevalier will be back in 3 days. Stay low until then.”

Emily sat her phone down when Mark hung up.

“My, my, Zohn is angrier than I thought,” William said.

Emily sighed, “He and I don’t exactly see eye-to-eye.”

“What caused that?”

“He tried to interrogate me once…”

William gasped and started to speak, but Emily held her hand up.

“Not in the chamber... but started questioning me and then called me a liar,” Emily explained.

“Were you lying?”

“Yes… but still…” Emily said, and it made perfect sense to her, but William watched her questioningly.

“So he questioned you and called your bluff… what else?”

“Isn’t that enough?” Emily asked. “Since then he’s just been a dick.”

William chuckled, “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

Emily sighed, “Shall we go give them a show?”

“I can’t go, but your guards will take you to the training hall,” William said, and stood up. Emily followed him out and then let the guards lead her out to a large training facility. She felt overexposed as the thirty or so heku gathered watched her enter. She covered her bare midriff and walked over to the Lieutenant.

“Welcome, Emily, I’m Lieutenant Andrew,” he said. Emily looked up at him and her eyes grew wider. The Lieutenant was inches taller than any heku she’d seen, and his broad shoulders made him look massive.

“Th… Thanks…” Emily said, blushing. She took a step back so she didn’t seem so small. She barely came up to his sternum.

“The Elders said you are having some problems?”

Emily nodded, “I keep breaking my hand.”

Lieutenant Andrew chuckled, “Do you hit a lot?”

Emily shrugged, “Sort of.”

“Heku or human?”

“Both”

“Very well, what else?” he asked.

“Unless you know of a heku off-button, then I don’t know,” Emily told him.

“As there’s no off-button, let’s start with a punch,” he said, and glanced at her hand. She’d removed the ace bandages earlier, “Zack, come here.”

A rather short heku stepped forward. He was muscular, with no neck and broad shoulders, but stood only a foot above Emily, which, by heku standards, was short.

“Let’s see it then… hit him,” Lieutenant Andrew said.

Emily looked over at Zack, and he wasn’t even wincing. She glanced back at Andrew, “Excuse me?”

“Punch him in the nose.”

“I… I can’t hit him…” Emily said, blushing.

Andrew grinned, “You can’t hurt him… I can’t help unless I see it.”

Emily sighed and started to punch, but the Lieutenant stopped her.

“To start… keep your eyes open,” Andrew said, amused.

“Hrm, didn’t realize they were shut… ok… here goes,” Emily said, and took a swing at Zack. Andrew’s hand shot out and caught her fist before it connected with Zack’s nose.

“Pull your thumb out and do this,” Andrew said. He pulled her thumb out and moved her fingers back, exposing her palm, “Hit with your palm… an upward motion.”

Emily frowned, but nodded, “Ok.”

“Hit him,” Andrew told her.

Emily felt awkward with her hand that way, but lined up and hit Zack squarely in the nose. He kept grinning and didn’t move.

“Is that as hard as you can hit?” Andrew asked, frowning.

“She’s just a girl, give her a break… mortals are weak,” Zack said, and winked at her.

“I’m not weak,” Emily said, starting to sound angry.

“How tall are you anyway?”

Emily glared and hit him again, using the entire weight of her body and drawing from the anger. A loud crunch sounded and Zack fell to the floor, grasping his nose as blood poured out.

“Oh my God, are you ok?” Emily asked, kneeling down beside him. She pulled his hands away and watched as the black bruise under his eyes disappeared and his nose healed, “I’m so sorry.”

Zack grinned and stood up, “Now that was a punch.”

“Thanks, Zack,” Andrew said. “Let’s try on someone taller, Don, come here.”

Emily looked over as a tall heku came forward. She guessed he was almost the same height as Chevalier, which was taller than most gathered.

“It’s different if they’re taller,” Andrew explained. “You may have to bring them down to you first.”

Emily frowned, “How?”

“Same way you would a mortal, knee him in the groin,” Andrew said, smiling slightly.

“Can’t I just knock out his kneecap? I know how to do that.”

“No, that’ll make him fall backwards. You need him to bend over toward you.”

Emily glanced at Don and reached up to whisper in Andrew’s ear, “What if I can’t reach his groin?”

Andrew laughed and turned to Don as Emily blushed.

“C’mere Don,” Andrew said, and Don walked up so he was toe-to-toe with Emily. “See if you can get your knee up high enough.”

Emily brought her knee up, but was only barely able to hit him. She blushed deeper and stepped back.

“Use your hand then,” Andrew said.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “Do what?”

“He means… punch me in the nuts,” Don said, laughing.

Emily cringed, “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Do it fast, groin to nose should be in one fluid movement. Too much time, and the heku will have time to hit back,” Andrew said. “Let’s see.”

“I don’t know… it… seems…” Emily started to say, and was bushing profusely.

Andrew nodded, “Don’t think of him as Don… think of him as an attacker, someone after you.”

Emily nodded and looked at Don’s face. It was irritating how he didn’t seem intimidated by her at all. He acted like she couldn’t hurt him and she drew from that irritation and let it fly. Soon, Don was on the floor, groaning, clutching his groin in one hand and his broken nose in the other.

“Are you ok?” Emily asked, frowning.

Don nodded, no longer laughing, and got to his feet. Blood drenched the front of his shirt as he walked back to the watching heku.

Andrew grinned, “That was great! Keep hitting like that and you won’t break your hand.”

Emily nodded, “Seems easy enough.”

“There’s… something… else,” Andrew said, hesitating. “The Elders thought maybe we could help you out with some restraint escapes.”

“Restraint escapes?”

“Yes, like… well… how did Exavior carry you to the interrogation room?” Andrew asked softly.

Emily’s body tensed and she looked around at the heku.

“It’s ok. We’re all here to help.”

“He… he picked me up by my neck,” Emily whispered, and heard the angry murmurs through the crowd. The noise stopped when Lieutenant Andrew glared at them.

“Dragging you or did he actually pick you up?”

“Picked me up,” Emily said, watching the ground.

“May I?” Andrew asked, and put his hand out.

Emily sighed and nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his gentle hands against her neck.

“Can you reach my neck?” Andrew asked.

Emily opened her eyes and reached out. She wasn’t able to reach his neck when he had her at arm’s length. The feel of his hands around her neck started to make her panic and she envisioned Exavior picking her up and throwing her at the torture table. Her breathing became faster and the terror in her eyes made Andrew let go.

“Take a deep breath, it’s ok,” Andrew said softly.

Emily nodded and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Many heku have gone insane from his tortures. I think you must be one strong human to have survived,” Andrew told her. “I really want to show you some things though, ok?”

Emily nodded again, “I’m ok, go on.”

The room became deathly quiet as they watched Emily regain her composure. They’d heard of the tortures of the famous Exavior, and were surprised that she survived and was still able to function.

“Zack,” Andrew called.

“Sir?” Zack asked, stepping forward.

“Ok, let me show you on him.” Andrew picked Zack up by his neck, but was only able to get him a few inches off the floor.

Emily took a deep breath, calming the new panic as she watched him.

“The weakest point you will be able to reach is going to be his elbow,” Andrew said. “Bring your elbow up and then slam it down onto the crook of his arm. You want to try to get him to bend it, even if just a little. Your main goal is going to be to get at his neck.”

Emily watched as Zack demonstrated. He brought his elbows down hard on the crook of Andrew’s arms, and they bent slightly. Zack reached out and pinched Andrew’s airway between his thumb and finger, not putting enough pressure to close it.

“Then you claw out his airway. Even a heku will need a few minutes to heal from that,” Andrew said. “You and I will try it in slow motion, and then we’ll try it for real. You’re going to need the element of surprise or this won’t work.”

Emily took another deep breath and nodded as Andrew picked her up by her neck. Her feet dangled over a foot from the floor.

“Now don’t panic… do what Zack did,” Andrew said, watching her closely so he knew if she was starting to panic.

Emily positioned her arms, but couldn’t get them high enough to slam into his elbow. Andrew gently put her down.

“I’m sorry,” Emily said again.

Andrew smiled, “Don’t be, I didn’t realize how far down that put you… can you get a gut kick off?”

Emily shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Try it,” Andrew said, and picked her up again.

Emily grabbed his wrists for leverage and kicked out. Her foot lightly connected with Andrew’s stomach, and he smiled and put her down.

“That’s the trick then. A stomach kick will force their head forward… then you can either claw out the eyes or rip out the windpipe,” Andrew told her.

“Ok,” Emily said, still unsure.

“Jeffery, your turn,” Andrew said, and another tall heku stepped forward. He was shaved bald and had the Encala crest tattooed into the side of his head, and intricately woven vines were tattooed up his arms and neck.

Emily looked up at Jeffrey, “You want me to hurt him?”

Andrew nodded, “Yes, you can’t hurt him for long and we noticed he’s about Exavior’s size.”

“Come on, Tiny, gimme your best shot,” Jeffery said, smiling.

Emily hesitated and then walked up to him. She cringed as he gently picked her up by her neck.

“Do it, Emily, hard,” Andrew cheered her on.

Emily grabbed his wrists for support and kicked as hard as she could. She was surprised when he gasped and doubled over slightly, bringing his neck within her reach. She started to panic as his hand tightened on her neck, but she reached out quickly and dug her fingers around his windpipe and tore it out violently. Blood sprayed her, and Jeffery dropped her to the ground where she landed on her butt with a thud.

Andrew put a hand out to help her up, “That was perfect!”

“Are you ok?” Emily asked, and then took a step back as several heku tackled Jeffrey before he could get up.

Andrew placed himself between Jeffrey and Emily and crouched slightly, “Take him back to the barracks.”

“I’m… what happened?” Emily asked as they hauled him away.

Andrew grinned, “It’s in our nature to fight back when injured that badly. You had more than enough time to run though.”

Emily nodded, “Yeah, I did… will he be ok?”

Andrew laughed, “Yes, he may think twice about calling you Tiny again. Damn, let me look at your neck.”

Emily leaned her head back as Andrew touched her neck softly.

“Do you bruise easily?” Andrew asked, frowning.

Emily laughed a bit, “Yes, very.”

“Are you injured?”

“No, not at all,” Emily told him.

“Let’s take a break. I want to show you some more things tomorrow. I heard that Exavior also used your hair to pull you up?” Andrew asked.

Emily cringed, wondering how much the Elders had told him.

“It’s ok. They only told me the holds used against you,” Andrew whispered, noticing the look on her face.

“Yes,” Emily said. “Plus, the Equites like to bear hug me.”

Andrew raised his eyebrows, “Do the Equites restrain you often?”

“More than I think I deserve.”

Andrew chuckled, “We can show you how to get out of that, too. Come, let’s take you for lunch.”

Emily nodded and ran to keep up with his long legs as he strode to the palace, “I really appreciate this.”

“My pleasure, it’s not often we get to teach someone as famous as you to defend herself,” Andrew said.

Emily sighed, “Have I ashed you?”

Andrew leaned his head back and laughed, “Yes.”

“I’m sorry,” Emily told him.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

“Me ash someone?”

“Yes, it’s not something we see every day,” Andrew said, and opened the dining room door for her.

Emily looked in and saw the three Encala Elders sitting around the table talking. They looked up at her when she walked into the dining room.

“How is it going?” William asked, smiling.

Emily grinned, “I can’t wait until the next time the Equites try something stupid. I’ll show them some Encala lovin’.”

“Encala lovin’?” Andrew asked, and laughed as he left the dining room.

Emily grabbed half of the grilled cheese sandwich and sat back to eat. She’d been working so hard during training that she was starving.

“Hmm, not sure I like the look of the bruise on your neck,” William said, frowning.

“I bruise easily,” Emily told him, and then took another bite.

“Would you be willing to spend some time with our Chief Interrogator?” Aaron asked.

Emily coughed, almost choking on her sandwich, “Excuse me?”

William frowned at Aaron, “He didn’t mean it that way. He’s been our Interrogator for over 950 years, and he’s one of the best. We think if you were to work with him, you may be able to hide deception from Zohn.”

Emily grinned, “Really?”

“May not work, but if you’d like, we can try it.”

“I would, that would be great!” Emily said, smiling, and took another bite.

“Good, we’ll see what he can do with you.”

***

Emily looked up from the grass and then sat up to see if the ball connected with the heku she’d thrown it to. She cheered from the ground as he blurred into the end zone and scored for her team.

She got slowly to her feet. This was the third football game in three days. Add in the self-defense training, and every muscle in her body hurt. She also had dark bruises on her neck, wrists, and a perfect handprint bruise on her arm from training.

“Lady Emily?” a heku guard said from the sidelines.

“Time-out!” Emily yelled, and the heku moved toward the sidelines. She walked over to the guard, wiping her forehead with a towel. This game was a lot more violent than the game with the Cavalry and Emily wondered if they had held back because of her. Hardly any Encala made it into the end zone with the ball, and any attempt to do so resulted in removal of limbs, and blood saturated the field by the end zones.

“The Council needs to see you,” he said, and turned slightly so she could follow him.

“Leonard! You’re in,” Emily called to a heku, and then followed the guard into the palace. She dried the sweat off of her arms as she waited for the Council to give her permission to enter, then she stepped in when the door opened, and moved to them.

“Sorry to interrupt your game,” William said, smiling.

“It’s ok, I think they were cheating,” Emily told him, laughing.

“Chevalier called,” Aaron said.

Emily raised her eyebrows, “He’s back?”

“Yes, and he’s asked if we can send you home.”

“I thought Zohn wasn’t allowing me back.”

William grinned, “I would imagine that order has been vetoed.”

“Did he sound mad?” Emily asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Yes, which is why we wanted to talk to you. Would you like one of us to come with you?” William asked.

Emily sighed, “No, I think I better face the music alone, but I do appreciate the offer and everything you’ve done for me.”

“It has been a pleasure to have you here and do hope you’ll come again.”

Emily laughed slightly, “Once they get a look at my new purple car, my poker face, and some new moves, I think they’ll hesitate to let me come back.”

William grinned, “Encala lovin’?”

Emily nodded, “Encala lovin’.”

“We told them you would let them know when you left. We will send the same council members with you and ask that you not outrun them.”

Emily couldn’t help but grin, “I can outrun them?”

“You can... but we ask that you not.”

“When I meet up with the Equites cars?”

“Then you have my permission,” William said, smiling.

Emily walked up to the Council area and gave the Elders each a hug, “Thank you, again.”

The guards followed Emily up to her room where she changed into the clothes she came in, and tossed the dirty ones into the basket, then glanced around the room, surprised at how much she enjoyed her visit. She’d learned a lot from the Lieutenant and the Chief Interrogator, played football, been given a new car, and even went bowling with a group of guards.

Emily walked out of the room and saw Andrew with her guards.

“Heard you’re leaving,” Andrew said. “I actually think we might miss you, odd for a mortal.”

Emily smiled, “I’ll be back, when I’ve recovered.”

“Still sore?”

Emily nodded, “Some.”

“Next time you need to show us your ashing,” Andrew said, walking down into the garage with her.

“It’s not that spectacular,” Emily told him, “But we’ll see.”

“Purple?” Andrew asked, looking at the Aero. “The fastest street car in the world and you got it in purple?”

Emily started to laugh, “I want everyone in the palace to know this car is mine.”

“Oh, I think it says that loud and clear.”

Emily crawled into the car and noticed how well she fit. The dealer had been right. No tall person would fit in the car without modifications. She liked the smell of the new leather and the dust-free dashboard and booming sounds system.

“Come back,” Andrew said, and shut the door.

“I will,” Emily told him, and carefully pulled out of the garage. She waved when the city guards waved at her, and was soon out on the Interstate. The CCX’s surrounded her, and she picked up her cell phone and dialed Chevalier.

“Are you on your way back?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, I should be there in about 9 hours. I can’t go above 100 mph or I could get a ticket,” Emily said softly, unsure how mad he was about her visit to the Encala.

“What are you driving back?”

“They bought me a little car,” Emily told him.

“I see,” Chevalier said, obviously irritated. “Myself, Mark, and Kyle will meet you at the halfway point so you are never alone. Just look for the red cars. They said you’ll be escorted by three CCX’s?”

“Yes”

“Will see you there,” he said, and hung up.

Emily cringed at the anger in his voice, and put the phone down on the passenger seat. She cranked up the music and kicked back for the long drive. Each time she had to stop for gas, the people looked oddly at the four expensive cars and she let the heku fill the tank. The windows in her purple SSC were so dark that no one could see inside.

Emily slowed slightly when she saw the three Lamborghini Reventons waiting on the side of the road. The CCX’s backed off and the other three cars took their places around her. She was glad they couldn’t see into her car, and she couldn’t see into theirs.

With only 100 miles to the turnoff to Council City, and a straight road ahead on the Interstate, Emily decided to show the heku her new car. She popped it into 4th gear, and sped up as the Reventons matched her speed, so she pushed it to 5th gear and grinned as they followed suit. As she passed the mark, only 75 miles left to the turn-off, she pushed it into 6th gear and watched the needle travel past the 260 mph mark on the speedometer and keep going. The Reventons slowly began to fall behind.

Emily slowed and took the off-ramp onto the private road to Council City, and was no longer able to see the Reventons behind her. She took the curves as fast as she felt comfortable and stopped at the city guards.

“Get that thing out of here,” one of the guards said, admiring her car.

Emily rolled the window down, “Evening, John.”

“My God, Em. What did you get?” he asked, and walked around the expensive car.

“Just a little car, like it?”

“It’s… purple… who would buy this car in purple?” he asked, laughing.

“I would,” Emily answered, and spun out. The tires caught and she took off to the palace. She pulled into the garage and parked next to the empty spot by her Jeep. It had previously been for her Durango when it was fixed, but she finally resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to get it back.

Emily popped the door open and waited for the others to arrive. Not even five minutes later, the three red Reventons pulled into their spots and the three heku slowly walked over to her car.

“Having fun?” Mark asked, running his hand along the car.

“Maybe,” Emily replied, unsure of their moods.

“Bought you a little car?” Chevalier asked, walking around the Ultimate Aero.

“It’s a very little car, look at the front… I can’t even clear a cow pile with this thing.”

Kyle slid into the passenger seat and Emily started to laugh. His head was smashed against the roof, putting his neck at an odd angle and his knees were up against the dash.

“Couldn’t get the custom height, eh?” he asked, and got back out.

“Why should I? I fit fine.”

“Purple though? It’s… weird,” Mark said, popping the hood to look at the engine.

“It’s mine,” Emily said, smiling. “From what I can tell, it’s faster than yours.”

“Yes, it is,” Mark chuckled.

“Come on, Speedy,” Chevalier said. “We have a meeting.”

“We?” Emily asked, getting out.

“Yes, we.”

Emily sighed, “William said you sounded mad. How mad are you?”

“Pretty mad,” Chevalier said angrily. “That’s why we’re meeting with Zohn, he had no right.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Why? What did you do?”

Emily shrugged, “Nothing I guess.”

“Em? Can… we…” Kyle started, and Emily tossed him the keys. Before she and Chevalier got to the door, Kyle and Mark tore out of the garage in the purple Aero.

Emily held tightly to Chevalier’s arm as they walked up to Zohn’s office. Before Chevalier could knock, Emily stepped ahead of him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her back and then chuckled.

“You’re stalling,” Chevalier said, and knocked on the door, his face suddenly turning serious.

“Enter,” Zohn growled.

Emily took Chevalier’s arm again and they walked into Zohn’s office. He was watching them furiously as Quinn stood by his side. It was obvious that Quinn had been trying to calm Zohn down.

“Sit,” Zohn hissed.

Emily sat down and Chevalier stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

“Enjoy your time with the Encala?” Zohn asked angrily.

“Yes, actually, I did.”

“They bought you a car?”

“Yes”

Chevalier grinned, “A purple SSC Ultimate Aero.”

Quinn raised his eyebrows, “Nice.”

“What did you have to do to get it?” Zohn asked.

Emily looked at him, shocked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean… was the car payment for something?”

“Yes,” Emily said, watching him. “I had to blow the entire Council... but at least I got my car.”

Chevalier’s hands tightened on her shoulders.

“Did you give them any palace secrets?” Zohn asked, ignoring her previous comment.

“No”

“Then what?”

“What makes you think I had to do something to get the car?” Emily decided to try the trick the Encala’s Chief Interrogator taught her. She set her face like he told her, and watched Zohn closely, making sure not to avert her eyes from his.

“It just seems that they were repaying you for something.”

“Go ahead, ask…”

“No, we don’t interrogate members of the Council,” Chevalier growled.

“Go ahead… ask,” she said again.

“What did you do while you were there?” Zohn asked, moving to the front of his desk.

“Watched movies and read a lot. I didn’t leave my room the entire time,” Emily said, lying and testing her new trick.

Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “Sounds boring… anything else?”

“No,” Emily said, keeping her face and eyes under full control.

“How did you get the bruise on your neck?”

“None of your business. Like the bruises on my wrists, or the hand bruise on my arm… not even the bruise on my back is any of your concern.”

Zohn went back to his seat and sat down, unsure exactly where to go from here.

“Done?” Emily asked.

“Yes,” Zohn told her, irritated.

Emily smiled, “I’m free to go then?”

“No,” Chevalier said. “Now I want to know what right you had to pull Emily out of bed at 3am and tell her to leave immediately for a mission we hadn’t decided yet whether to send her on?”

Zohn growled, “I was left in charge of this faction in your absence, and I felt new developments in the Michaels Coven dictated immediate action.”

“Nothing was so immediate that you had the right to demand that my wife go on a mission that she felt uncomfortable going on, and without the say of the other two Elders,” Chevalier said angrily.

“I did too have that right, and she needs to learn how to respect authority and do as she’s told.”

Emily decided not to get involved. Chevalier was fighting for her side, and Zohn was losing.

“Do as she was told?” Quinn asked. “Since when do we make her obey heku laws?”

“We should! She lives in the palace, trains the Cavalry, she’s a member of our guard staff by title, and yet she gets away with anything she wants,” Zohn snapped.

Emily couldn’t take it anymore, “Whatever you say, Damon.”

Zohn pounded his fists onto his desk, “You had no right to use your mind wipe on me and then flee.”

“I did too! I’m not going to go babysit another coven, I refuse, and you were too stubborn headed to listen,” Emily yelled. She tried to stand, but Chevalier held her down with strong hands on her shoulders.

“What if it had been an emergency? What if it would have caused the Coven Lord his life had you not intervened that very night?” Zohn asked.

“Then you have the entire Council City Cavalry at your disposal. Guards that are trained to handle those situations, and are willing to go at the drop of a hat,” Emily reminded him.

“We just feel that you went behind our backs,” Quinn said calmly. “We left you here, knowing that you would handle the situation if Exavior came back, and yet you undermined a decision we made and tried to send her out on a mission.”

“One we discussed sending her on,” Zohn said.

“You know full well that the second you told Emily that she had no choice in the matter, that you had a fight on your hands,” Chevalier growled. “Why did you antagonize her?”

“I didn’t. I was merely giving an order and I think we need an additional order that she’s banned from wiping the memory of an Elder,” Zohn said to the others.

Emily grinned, “Try it.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Zohn told her. “I’m not under your spell and I will be respected or you can leave.”

Emily stood up, “Fine, the Encala will take me in.”

“Sit down, Em,” Chevalier said softly. “He can’t kick you out.”

Zohn stood up and moved to her as Quinn took his arm, “Damon was right… he went about it the wrong way, but he was correct. You need some discipline and you need to learn some control.”

“Are you going to show me?” Emily asked, grinning suddenly.

Chevalier glanced at Quinn, not sure what she was going to do.

“I may… someone not under your spell needs to,” Zohn told her.

“What if I won’t listen? Going to kick me out? Going to send me to my room without lunch?” Emily asked, folding her arms.

Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “Maybe… if you are asking if I would treat you like a child then, yes, I would.”

“You’re not man enough to do that,” Emily said, and Chevalier put a hand on her arm, nervous as to what she was up to.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Zohn told her.

“I don’t want this to turn into Emily vs. Zohn,” Quinn said. “This part is an Elder matter, and I think we should let Emily go.”

“Good idea,” Chevalier said, glaring at Zohn.

Emily smiled, “If that’s what you two want, then I’ll be in my room.”

Zohn glared as she walked out of his office. Mark and Kyle met her on the stairs.

“That car is awesome,” Kyle said, grinning. “Pegged her at 272 mph.”

“If it weren’t purple… I might steal it,” Mark chuckled.

“You’re just jealous because my car stands out in the garage,” Emily told them and grinned. She headed up the stairs followed by the two of them.

“Where’d the bruises come from?” Mark asked, frowning suddenly.

Emily turned with a grin, “I had so much fun.”

“You had fun and got bruises?” Kyle asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Seriously, look at me wrong and I bruise,” Emily said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I’m so sore though.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, got the new car, we played football every day, I had several self-defense classes, and then I had a way fun private one-on-one with their Chief Interrogator,” Emily said, laughing when she remembered how she got past Zohn’s radar.

Kyle frowned, “You were alone with their Chief Interrogator?”

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“Did he interrogate you?” Mark asked seriously.

Emily rolled her eyes, “Little credit, guys.”

“We just worry about you. You’re too trusting, and those Chief Interrogators have a way of getting information without you even knowing it,” Mark explained.

“I didn’t give him any deep dark secrets, but Zohn’s felt the effects of my visit and doesn’t even know it,” Emily said, grinning. She slipped off her sweater and turtle neck, leaving just the t-shirt beneath it.

“Damn, you’re covered in bruises,” Kyle said, matching the hand bruise on her upper arm to his hand.

“Did they restrain you?” Mark growled, taking her bruised wrists.

“Stop it!” Emily frowned and pulled her arms away from the heku. “They didn’t hurt me.”

Kyle lifted up the back of her shirt and hissed at the bruise and abrasions, “What the hell…”

“Stop it!” Emily yelled again, and pulled her shirt out of his hands. “What’s with the inspection?”

“How did it happen?” Kyle growled. Emily turned to look at him, and the rage in his eyes made her stand up and take a step back.

“Calm down,” Emily said, moving away from him. “They didn’t hurt me. I just bruise easily.”

“How?” Kyle yelled, and the tone in his voice made Emily jump.

“Mark…” Emily whispered. She looked at him when he didn’t respond and he was crouched slightly, glaring at her.

“Tell me… now,” Kyle growled.

“I told you, self-defense and football.”

“If I find out that the Encala hurt you,” Kyle hissed.

“Get out,” Emily said, pointing to the door. “Both of you get out, now.”

Emily watched as they both left her room angrily, and Mark slammed the door. She sat down and took a deep breath. Once she was sure they were gone, she slipped off her t-shirt and looked at her back in the mirror. She thought the bruise obviously resembled the football she landed on and could even see the pattern of the laces in the bruise. She stripped the rest of the way and stepped into a hot shower.

Emily jumped when she felt hands wrap around her, and she grinned when she felt soft lips on her shoulders. She spun in his hands and pressed her body against his, kissing him passionately as she moved her hand to the back of his neck.

***

Emily leaned over and put her head on Chevalier’s chest as he trailed his fingers lightly up her back.

“I was supposed to come take a look at some bruises,” Chevalier chuckled, and kissed the top of her head.

“Well, you were just being thorough,” Emily said, grinning slightly.

“I’m curious about something though.”

Emily looked up at him, “What?”

“You told Zohn you read and sat in your room. Why do you have a football shaped bruise on your back and… honestly… you would have gone stir crazy sitting in their palace for four days.”

Emily grinned, “I played football every day. We did self-defense training for two days. I bought the car, we bowled, and I had some alone time with their Interrogator.”

Chevalier frowned, and his hand stopped moving, “You were alone with their Chief Interrogator?”

“Yes,” Emily told him. “How do you think I was able to lie to Zohn?”

Chevalier chuckled, “Their Chief Interrogator taught you how to lie?”

“Yes, and apparently it worked.”

“You learned more self-defense?”

“Yes”

“I’m actually really glad that you enjoyed yourself,” Chevalier said, and ran his fingers up her back.

“I did, it was relaxing, and I didn’t have to worry about facing Zohn’s rage,” Emily told him, and started to kiss his chest lightly.

“If Zohn finds out that a Chief Interrogator taught you how to lie to him, he may actually go off the deep end.”

“Why does he hate me so badly?”

“He’s not used to being told no, nor is he used to someone running from him or defying him.”

“Must be a Chief Interrogator thing, I think Exavior said about the same thing.”

“Hmm,” Chevalier sighed.

“What?” Emily looked up at him.

“You haven’t talked about him since… well… it’s just surprising to hear you even say his name.”

“I’m more prepared, I think,” Emily said softly. “I still wish he would just disappear.”

“Has he called?”

“Just once, to let me know he was aware I was with the Encala.”

“Do you realize you’re the first being in the history of this species to ever freely interact with all three factions?” Chevalier chuckled.

“No one before?”

“Never”

“Hmm, seems odd.”

“Do I get to see what you learned?” Chevalier asked, pulling the hair away from her face.

“My new self-defense?”

“Yes”

Emily shrugged, “It seemed rather painful for the poor heku I had to practice on.”

“I’m sure we can find someone willing.”

“Zohn?” Emily asked, grinning.

“If I were you, I would stay clear of Zohn for a while.”

“Deal… if he leaves me alone, then I won’t bug him,” Emily said, and leaned her head back on his chest.

“Come in,” Chevalier called out.

“Chev!” Emily yelled, and pulled the covers over her head. Chevalier chuckled when she reached over and pulled the covers up to his neck.

Quinn came in, un-phased by their position, and sat in a chair by the bed, “They’ve agreed.”

Chevalier pulled the covers back to his waist and put a hand under his head, “Good, we’ll see what else I can manage and then call that a done deal.”

“Oh my God, Quinn, get out of here,” Emily said from under the covers.

Quinn raised his eyebrows, amused, “I’ll be done in a moment. They won’t agree to any talks or negotiations.”

“Damn, why not?” Chevalier said, irritated.

“Get out!” Emily yelled again.

Quinn chuckled, “Dear, it doesn’t bother me.”

“It does me,” she said timidly.

“They said because their minds are made up. Nothing we can say will prevent them from leaving the Equites,” Quinn told him.

“Ouch! Damnit, Em, stop biting me,” Chevalier said, wincing slightly.

“Make him leave,” Emily whispered.

“Still, they have to know we’re going to fight back… truce talks would be a lot less bloody,” Chevalier said, sighing.

“We know that… I honestly think they believe we can’t re-take the coven.”

“I’ll go ash the entire lot of them if you’ll just get out,” Emily said, irritated.

Quinn grinned, “Really?”

“Yes… go!”

“If I knew that’s all it would take…” Quinn said, and left the room.

Emily peeked out from under the blankets, “My God, Chev. How could you let him in here?”

Chevalier shrugged, “I wasn’t aware we were hiding it from anyone.”

“Still, damn, now they know what we were doing,” Emily said, and streaked into the bathroom.

Chevalier laughed, “I’m pretty sure they already knew.”

“How?” Emily called out.

“I came to look at your bruises two hours ago,” Chevalier reminded her, amused.

Emily came out wrapped in her bathrobe, her face deeply flushed.

“We’re married, I’m pretty sure they know… besides… you called yourself a sex kitten in front of all three factions,” Chevalier said, laughing.

Emily knelt down on the bed, “Did I just agree to do what I told Zohn I wouldn’t?”

“Yes, you did,” Chevalier said, and pulled her down to him so he could kiss her.

Emily sat back up, “When do I have to leave?”

“In the morning is fine.”

“Zohn’ll be happy for once.”

Chevalier chuckled, “No he won’t… you told him no... but told Quinn yes.”

“Damn, can’t win, can I?” Emily asked, frowning.

“Let’s get it over with…”

“What?”

“What I came up after… start with your neck bruise.”

“I can sum all of them up, except my back one… restraint escape techniques.”

Chevalier grinned, “I gotta see this.”

“It’s worse than what you all taught me, bloodier, more painful,” Emily said, frowning.

“That’s it… get dressed,” Chevalier said, and slipped out of the bed and started getting dressed.

“Seriously… it’s bloody. One heku was in so much pain he almost attacked me,” Emily told him, frowning as she remembered the look on his face.

Chevalier turned and growled, “What?”

“He didn’t get to me, the guards stopped him.” She dressed quickly in the sports bra and cut-offs and started to tie her hair up.

“What good is teaching you self-defense if it only makes the attacker angrier?” Chevalier asked.

“He couldn’t even move for almost 4 minutes, by that time I could be in a car and gone… or called for help…”

“I want to see these techniques. They may be too dangerous,” he said, irritated.

“No then, I’m not showing you.”

Chevalier growled, “Yes you are. The Encala are too stupid to understand that the moves could be too dangerous to you.”

“They aren’t stupid… they helped me, and now when Exavior finds me, I can at least fight back,” Emily told him, and crossed her arms.

“You need to show me,” Chevalier said angrily. “I can’t have you fighting off heku if it’s only going to make them madder.”

“No,” Emily frowned. “I trust the Encala.”

“Mark…” Chevalier hissed, his hands balled into fists.

“Sir?” Mark asked, his eyes growing wide at the standoff.

“Bring Emily to the training room. She has some things to show us,” Chevalier ordered.

“No,” Emily said, and glared at him.

Mark appeared at her back, and as he brought his arms around her, she hit the crooks of his arms hard with her elbows. The motion dropped his arms slightly as she spun and brought her right palm hard up against his nose, shattering it and sending splinters into his brain. He dropped suddenly, unmoving onto the floor. Emily was out the door as fast as she could run as Chevalier watched with wide eyes, too stunned to move.

Emily passed Kyle as she took the stairs, two at a time.

“What’s up?” Kyle asked, calling after her. He shrugged and blurred into the bedroom and glanced down at Mark, “What happened?”

“Em… well… damn,” Chevalier said, looking down as Mark finally began to move.

“Em did that?” Kyle asked, surprised.

“Get her… tell her I’m not mad, I’m now impressed,” Chevalier said, still watching Mark.

Kyle blurred to Emily’s scent and found her out in the stables, slipping a bridle on her racing horse.

“He wants to see you,” Kyle said, stepping into the stall.

“I’m not in the mood to fight,” Emily told him angrily.

“Actually, he’s no longer mad… he’s impressed.”

Emily turned and looked at him, surprised, “He is?”

“I’m interested to see what you did to Mark… he’s still not recovered,” Kyle told her.

“If you’re lying to me…”

“I’m not, come on,” Kyle said, and put his hand out.

Emily sighed and took it, and Kyle led her back to the bedroom. Emily walked in just as Mark was slowly sitting up. Chevalier was watching Mark get up and turned toward Kyle and Emily when they walked in.

“I’m sorry,” Chevalier told her. “I just got mad because the Encala seem to have taken your protection too seriously, and that’s our job.”

Emily nodded and knelt down by Mark, “I’m sorry. Are you ok?”

“It’s not easy for us to see you befriend the other factions,” Kyle added. “Actually… it’s infuriating.”

“They were helping me though,” Emily told them as she helped Mark stand up. “They are as worried about Exavior as you are, so they went over ways he restrained me and taught me how to get out.”

Mark shook his head when he stood up, “Sonofabitch, that caught me off guard.”

“I’m curious what exactly you did,” Kyle said, admiring how much pain Emily put Mark in.

Emily nodded, “Restrain me from behind.”

Kyle frowned, “You going to floor me?”

“No, I won’t actually hit you. Mark just surprised me, and I didn’t think to go easy,” Emily explained.

“Damn, the Encala did a good job then, if you can do that on instinct,” Chevalier said, grinning slightly.

Kyle walked up and went to put his arms around Emily from behind. In one fluid movement, she knocked his arms down with her elbows, spun and brought her palm up against Kyle’s nose. He jerked back and took a step away from her.

“Nice,” Kyle said, grinning.

“That fucking hurt,” Mark hissed.

“Mark!” Chevalier snapped.

Mark jerked and looked at Emily, “Sorry.”

“What else did they show you?” Kyle asked, still impressed.

“Stuff like that,” Emily said, still not sure she wanted to show them.

“Do we get to see it?” Mark asked. “Not that I’m offering.”

“I’d rather not,” Emily said. “I’m still sore from football and self-defense. I’ll already be too sore to even walk tomorrow.”

“That, and she may need to use them against us,” Chevalier said, grinning. “Don’t think I haven’t figured this out.”

“Most of them… I’d ash you first,” Emily told him. “You’d never grab me in those ways.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Like what?”

“Like pulling me by my hair.”

“Who the hell did that?” Mark yelled furiously.

“Exavior,” Emily said softly.

“I just want to get my hands on him for a few hours…” Mark hissed.

“Don’t we all, but I think we’d have to fight the Elder for torture rights,” Kyle chuckled.

Chevalier grinned maliciously, “Oh, he’s mine.”

“Will you all stop it?” Emily asked, frowning. “The thought of any of you going one-on-one with him makes my skin crawl.”

“Tell me what the ancient’s room was for a few years ago, and we’ll drop it,” Chevalier said, grinning.

Emily rolled her eyes, “You’re still harping on that?”

“We all really do want to know,” Kyle said, grinning slightly.

“I’m going to be in a nightgown in 3 minutes, stay if you want,” Emily said, and walked into the bathroom. She heard Chevalier usher Kyle and Mark out of the room.

“Em, getting called to a meeting,” Chevalier said as she came out into the room.

“Have fun, I’m going to bed.”

“I’ll get you up before the helicopter needs to leave for Michaels Coven,” he told her, and kissed her lightly before leaving.

***

Emily crawled into the helicopter early the next morning, and briefly wondered who she’d have to pay to get a uniform like the rest of the Cavalry. She checked again to make sure her .45 was on her hip and then buckled into the seat with the rest of the Cavalry.

Equites 2 took off and headed south toward the troubled Michaels Coven.

“Here’s what we know,” Mark said to them all. “General Bowman and the entire guard staff overthrew Lord Taylor and imprisoned him. Lord Taylor is one of the current Council’s largest supporters, but the 397 other members of his coven feel the Council needs replaced and have applied to join the Valle.”

“General Bowman has, several times, refused to talk to the Council for peaceful negotiations. That’s why we’re going in. We fully expect to immediately be attacked upon arrival, and will drop down from above the ground so they can’t swarm the helicopter.”

“Ummm…” Emily said, holding her hand up.

Mark grinned, “Got you covered. Emily’s here for after the initial assault and if things get out of hand. Our orders are clear, once Emily’s safely on the ground and the initial fight has stopped, we leave it all up to her. We’ll be there to make sure they don’t attack her, but the rehabilitation falls solely on her shoulders.”

“I can’t ash them, who’ll revive?” Emily asked.

“Kyle is arriving tomorrow… first we’re going to give them the impression that if they misbehave, they may permanently be banished,” Mark explained. “I’ll warn you all, Emily has some… illogical and highly dangerous methods. Let her do what she wants to do with no growls or hisses from us… that’s a direct order from the Elders.”

“For hell’s sake, Mark. I know I offered to feed anyone who could get their teeth in me, but get over it,” Emily sighed.

“You did what!?” Kralen growled.

“Don’t judge…” Emily said, glaring at him.

“As I said, leave her alone unless she gets attacked,” Mark said. “Polin, you’re going to drop down last with Emily. Be gentle, that’s a long fall for a mortal.”

“Yes, Sir,” said one of the newer members of the Cavalry.

“Em… if we’re in custody or losing when you arrive, ash them all and we’ll work on it from there,” Mark told them.

Emily nodded, “Easy enough.”

“If I give the evacuate order, whomever is standing closest to Emily needs to get her away. Head directly northwest and you’ll run into the Nodell Coven about 97 miles away.”

Emily started to panic the closer they got to Michaels Coven. It was situated in the Nevada desert and was in harsh contrast to the woodsy terrain around Council City. She felt the heat beating off the sand as they got closer and the sun rose higher into the sky.

“Five minutes, all ready?” Mark asked.

Emily checked for her gun again.

“Why do you carry a gun? I mean… what good is it going to do you?” a member of the Cavalry asked her.

Emily smiled, “Two things… First, it can give me a few seconds head start… and Second… the V.E.S. are mortals.”

“And third… she gets stress relief by shooting heku,” Mark added, laughing.

The Cavalry member chuckled and slipped off his seat belt. Polin came and sat beside Emily while the rest got ready.

“Just hang onto my back, ok?” Polin told her.

“Sure, no problem,” Emily said, and felt her stomach drop. The thought of jumping out of a helicopter before it landed made her start to feel sick.

“Go!” Mark yelled. Emily looked out the window as the Council City Cavalry jumped from the helicopter to the waiting army almost 20 feet below. She saw the immediate fight begin and tried to see if she could catch who was winning. The green capes of the Cavalry seemed gravely outnumbered by the number of heku on the ground.

“Let’s go,” Polin said when the rest landed. Emily froze and looked at him with wide eyes. He grinned and pulled her onto his back and then jumped before she had time to scream. He landed softly on the grass below, and she immediately let go and turned to the fight.

“What the hell is this?” Emily screamed, and as the heku turned toward her, they stopped fighting and backed off from the Cavalry. The Cavalry immediately fell back to stand behind her.

“You brought the Winchester?” General Bowman growled, stepping forward.

“Yes they did, you have a problem with that?” Emily asked. She tried to keep her voice tough when her insides were twisted and nervous.

“Just odd they’d bring a little girl to do a man’s job,” Bowman said, grinning.

“No, what’s odd is that these fine heku would follow a dick brain like you,” Emily said, crossing her arms.

Bowman’s eyes narrowed, “So that’s how the Council’s going to fix this? Turn us all to ash.”

“Nope,” Emily said, and then pointed at him. “Just you.”

Mark glanced around. The entire clearing had grown perfectly silent as Emily took charge. They watched her, unsure if the rumors about her abilities were true.

“The Council asked for peaceful negotiations, and because you’re an idiot, I have to come here and clean up the mess… Are we going to do it nicely or are you going to make me mad?” Emily asked.

General Bowman chuckled, “I know what the rumors are, Sweet Tits, but I think it’s a load of bullshit to scare the covens into compliance.”

Emily grinned, “You don’t think I can turn you to ash?”

“No, I don’t,” Bowman said, and took a step towards her. “Our Council is so weak that I can see through their ruse… course, now that you’re here, I see why the Elder keeps you around.”

“Mark?” Emily asked, still watching Bowman.

“Yes, Commander?”

“Can I ash… just him?” Emily asked.

“Yes you can,” Mark said, grinning.

“Bring it on, Sweetheart,” Bowman said. The Michaels Coven army stepped back and gasped as their General fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Even outside, the smell of burning flesh filled the area as he writhed on the ground in agony.

“Anyone else want to call me names?” Emily asked, holding the General in pain. When no one answered, she turned the General to ash before their eyes, and then put her hands on her hips, “This is what I want… and I want it right now… line up in perfect rows of 20… now!”

The army scrambled to comply, all avoiding the small pile of ash on the ground in front of Emily. When they were all in neat rows before her, she reached down and grabbed a handful of the General’s ashes. She turned around and tossed them high in the air and let the wind scatter them.

Mark cringed as the horrified army looked at Emily. He put his hand out when some of the Cavalry went to tell her that wasn’t proper behavior.

“That’s how I handle disobedience…” Emily said, glaring at them and brushing the ashes from her hand. “Kralen?”

“Yes, Commander?” he said, moving up to her side.

Emily pointed at one of the Michaels Captains, “Take him and bring me Lord Taylor.”

“Right way,” Kralen said, and he blurred away with the Captain.

Emily watched the motionless troops while she waited for Lord Taylor to arrive. She kept an eye out for any talking or any movement at all, and they seemed to know it.

“Back row, third from the left,” Silas said, and grinned when the heku looked at him.

Emily turned him immediately to ash and the Michaels heku stiffened more and their eyes grew.

“Silas?” Emily asked.

“Yes, Commander,” he answered, still laughing from how fast she’d turned the one heku to ash.

“Explain to me… if I ash all of these guys at once… you need… what? Thirteen heku to start cranking out a new coven?” Emily asked, proud of the way the Michaels army shifted nervously.

“Yes, Elder approval and 13 would do it,” Silas explained, amused.

“How fast?” Emily asked, and turned to him, actually curious this time.

“To replace all 300 of them? I’d say… 5 months, give or take.”

“Hmm, ok,” Emily said, and turned back to the army.

Everyone turned when Kralen came back supporting Lord Taylor, who was weak and limping beside him. The heku from Michaels blurred back into his spot in the front row before Emily.

Emily frowned and went over to Lord Taylor, “Are you ok?”

Lord Taylor nodded, still unable to even stand by himself.

“What did they do to you?” Emily whispered and touched his face softly.

Lord Taylor opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Kralen was now fully supporting him as his legs had given out. Emily reached out to the rags he wore and pulled them up on his side slightly, revealing numerous bite marks that were festered and swollen. She pulled the long sleeves up on his arms and saw the same bite marks there.

“Take him back to the house to rest,” Emily said softly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Kralen said, and lifted Lord Taylor before blurring away.

Emily was now furious. She turned toward the army, “Who did that?”

When no one answered, the entire army began to scream and clutch at their chests for almost a minute before Emily released them and they slowly returned to their perfectly straight rows.

“Who bit Lord Taylor?” Emily asked again, her voice now angry.

Emily watched at the nervous way they shifted and how their eyes darted uneasily to the heku in front of them.

“Tell me!” Emily yelled.

After a few seconds, the entire army again fell, writhing in pain as the burning intensified in their chests. Emily felt a strong hand against her back as she swayed slightly, but held them in the grips of agony while she thought of how to handle the situation. Just as her headache started, she released them and waited while they got to their feet. Mark’s supporting hand stayed on her back.

“Last chance… tell me…” Emily whispered, knowing that they could all still hear her.

“It was the ranking officers,” a timid voice said from toward the back.

“Get him,” Emily said, and two members of the Cavalry ran to him and brought him forward, forcing him to kneel before her. “Who was it?”

“The ranking officers, Ma’am,” he said, and looked down at the ground.

Emily looked up, “Which ones are ranking officers?”

“The first row,” Silas explained. “Normal formation puts them up front.”

“All 20 of you?” she asked, and one heku on the end shook his head vehemently. Emily rolled her eyes, “If you’re not a ranking officer… go start a new row in back.”

Nine of the heku quickly scrambled to the back of the rows and formed a new one, leaving eleven angry looking heku at the front of the ranks.

Emily walked up to the heku with the most stripes on his collar and stopped in front of him, “How high up are you?”

“General,” he said, snarling.

“You think the current Council is weak?” she asked him.

“Yes”

“Because they keep me around?”

“Partially”

“Then why else?”

“They have formed an alliance of sorts with the enemy,” he said snarling.

“I see… yet you allowed yourself to be beat up by a girl, interesting,” Emily said, and walked back to the Cavalry.

“How many prison cells are there?” Emily asked.

“Fifteen,” the heku on his knees told her.

“Put them in prison. I want to get these guys here under control first,” Emily said, and stood her ground while the Cavalry escorted the ranking officers into the prison.

“They are all in prison, Commander,” Kralen reported, and returned back to the Cavalry.

Emily turned to Mark, “Are there any records on these guys?”

“What were you looking for?”

“Years of service, problems, medals, that type of thing.”

“I’m sure there are in the main house.”

Emily turned back to the guards, “Ok… hand over all medals, rank insignia, everything except your panties, shoes, and socks.”

Mark chuckled, “What’re you doing?”

Emily shrugged, “No idea.”

They watched as everyone pulled the guard insignias off of their collars along with anything they had other than the things she’d mentioned, though most left on their green capes.

“Capes too, come on…” Emily told them. More grumbles came through the heku as they removed their capes. One thing she knew would set them apart from non-guard heku.

“Get them,” Emily said, and Silas moved forward and began to collect the items. When he returned, she faced the guards, “From now on… you’re no longer guards, you’re just plain ol’Michaels Coven members.”

“Can she do that?” Silas whispered to Mark.

Mark chuckled, “Nope.”

Emily crossed her arms, “If you want back as a guard, you’re going to have to earn it by proving to me you deserve it. If you don’t, then you can stay a plain old coven member and leave the guarding up to the real heku.”

Emily waited until the commotion died down, “I’m friends with Encala Elder William and Valle Elder Sotomar… if you want to join the Encala move to the left… if you want to join the Valle, move to the right.”

“Em…” Mark whispered, and then stepped back when she didn’t respond. His orders were to let her do whatever she wanted, even if he felt she was overstepping.

When no one moved, Emily smiled, “Good, then Equites it is. By staying Equites, you agree to obey anything you are told by any of us from Council City. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the heku said in unison.

“You,” Emily said to the heku that was still on his knees up front. “Report for house servant duty. I don’t want snitches in this army.”

The heku stood up, frowning, and silently walked off.

“Return to the barracks and wait for further orders. You will not speak to one another. If I hear of it, then I’ll ash you. You’ve put me in a bad mood,” Emily said, and turned to Mark. “Post six members of the Cavalry in the barracks to keep the peace. The rest can go hang out in the main house.”

Mark nodded, and six members of his Cavalry ran off to join the heku in the barracks. Emily followed the rest into the main house, and sat down on a soft couch in the library.

“Now what?” Mark asked.

“I have no idea. I told them I shouldn’t be doing this,” Emily said, and rubbed her temples.

“Silas?” Mark called.

“Yes, Sir,” Silas asked, coming into the room.

“Find a car. Go get some ibuprofen and some food,” Mark said, and sat down by Emily as Silas blurred away.

“I don’t want to be here,” Emily said softly.

“I know, but you’re doing great,” Mark said, and put a hand on her shoulder.

Emily looked up at him, “If this works, he’ll keep sending me on these bloody missions.”

“Probably,” Mark said. “It beats Kyle wiping them out.”

“I’ll just have to put my foot down, refuse to do any more. I hate it.”

“Let’s just see what we can find in the records, and after Silas gets back, you can turn in for the night.”

Emily nodded, “That sounds like a plan.”

For the next few hours, Mark and Emily poured through files on the guards, tossing ones with nothing in them into a pile, while discipline problems went into another, and medaled heku went into another.

“Sorry it took so long,” Silas said, coming in with a pizza. “There’s no kitchen in this place, so I bought a little fridge and sandwich stuff.”

Emily took a slice of pizza, “Thanks, sounds perfect.”

“What have we found?”

“That most of the guards are pretty complacent, no awards, no commendations, no disciplinary actions… it’ll make it easier to replace the officers. Only a few of them go above and beyond,” Mark explained.

Silas and Mark talked about possibilities for ranking officers as Emily finished eating and stood up to go to bed.

“No kitchens, do they have beds?” Emily asked.

Silas sighed, “Sorry, no, but there’s a couch in the library.”

Emily nodded, “That’ll do. I’ll see you in the morning.”

There were already four members of the Cavalry outside of the library door before she got there. She smiled at them and then went inside and locked the door. The couch wasn’t very comfortable, but was better than the floor, so she laid down and pulled her cape around her like a blanket. She watched out of the large picture window until she fell asleep.

Emily felt pressure on her chest and a sting on her neck. Her eyes flew open and a strange heku had her pinned to the couch and was feeding. One of his hands was pressed firmly against her mouth so she couldn’t scream. Emily turned him to ash and then rolled onto her knees on the floor, grasping her neck in her hand. She could feel the blood pour from the wounds.

“Sonofabitch,” Emily whispered, and leaned her forehead on the ground in front of her knees. The heku hadn’t woken her up at first and was able to feed longer than he should have before she noticed. She felt the blood oozing between her fingers and the dry powder of ashes covering her.

“Mark,” she whispered hoarsely, and immediately heard a commotion in the hallway. The library door flew open, and the room filled with members of the Cavalry.

“Get a towel,” Mark growled, and pulled her hand away from her neck to look.

“Damnit, who was it?” Kyle asked. Emily was surprised to hear his voice. He wasn’t supposed to arrive until the next morning.

“The window’s been pried open,” Kralen said, and slammed it shut.

A soft towel was pressed against her neck and she stayed on her knees with her head against the floor, trying not to faint.

“What medication did you give her?” Kyle asked angrily.

“Just ibuprofen,” Mark said. “I don’t even know if she took any.”

“I’m bringing him back,” Kyle hissed, and pulled the tiny dagger from his pocket. Mark picked Emily up in a cradle as Silas held the towel against her neck to stop the bleeding. Kyle glanced once at her pale complexion, and then brought the screaming heku back to life.

The second his form emerged, four members of the Cavalry restrained him and dropped him to his knees.

“Who the hell are you?” Kyle asked him angrily.

“Gentry,” the heku hissed.

Kyle wrinkled his nose, “How old are you?”

“I was turned three days ago,” Gentry said. His eyes fell on Emily, and he hissed softly.

Kyle backhanded him, and he landed hard against the wall, and was promptly pinned by Silas and Kralen.

“Why are you here?” Silas asked, his hand around Gentry’s neck.

“I came to deliver a message to the girl,” Gentry said, barely able to talk.

“Someone made you three days ago and then sent you to talk to Emily? What idiot would do that?” Kyle asked, irritated.

“Not an idiot… Lord Exavior is wise and kind. He knew I could deliver the message.”

“Did he give you permission to feed from her?”

“No… I couldn’t resist, she smells so…” Gentry said, and inhaled. He cried out when Kyle backhanded him again, breaking his jaw.

“So Exavior, in his infinite wisdom, sent a newly turned heku to deliver a message to the Winchester? Sounds like an idiot to me,” Mark said, stepping back a bit with Emily, pulling her scent a little further from the new heku.

“Have at it then… what’s the message?” Kyle asked.

Silas released his hand a bit, allowing the heku to speak, “He said it’s time for Emily to join him as Elder in a new faction. He told me he demands she come to him immediately. I’m to bring her back.”

“How does he know she is here?” Kyle asked him.

“He knows all, he’s wise and…” Silas tightened his hand so Gentry could no longer speak.

Kyle sighed, “How did he know she is here?”

“He watches the roads and air for her, then follows,” Gentry croaked, barely able to speak.

“Where is he waiting for you?” Mark asked.

Gentry grinned, “I’m not stupid. I won’t tell you that.”

“He’ll tell,” Silas said, and threw him out the door into Kralen’s hands. Silas and Kralen disappeared deeper into the house with him.

One of the members of the Cavalry reached down and picked up a small syringe from under the couch, and held it out for the Chief Enforcer. Kyle took it and smelled the end.

“He gave her something,” Kyle said.

Mark turned around to find somewhere to lay Emily down, but the couch had blood pooled on it and no other chairs were in the room. He headed out and found another couch in an empty office. Kyle pushed the boxes off of the couch and Mark put Emily down on it.

Kyle pushed Emily’s hair off her neck and pulled the towel off as he hissed slightly.

“That hurts,” Emily said, looking into the room.

Mark sighed, “It takes some time to learn to be gentle.”

“Why didn’t I wake up then?” she asked, confused.

“The ashing, it wore you out… you were deep asleep and didn’t even move when we checked on you,” Mark explained. “Then at some point, we think he gave you something.”

“I just want to sleep,” Emily whispered, and fought to keep her eyes open.

Kyle nodded, “Sleep, we’ll stay in here with you.”

Emily tried to open her eyes when she heard Silas come in and whisper to Kyle and Mark, but drifted off when Silas knelt down by the couch and Kyle rushed from the room. She was barely aware when she was carried into the helicopter, and it lifted off as Mark held her and she slept.

Mark jumped out of Equites 2 and headed for the Elders at the door. He handed Emily off to Chevalier, who wrinkled his nose at the harsh scent of medicine in her blood.

“Em?” Chevalier asked softly, but she didn’t stir. “Let’s meet in the room. I want a full report.”

Chevalier laid Emily down and slipped off her clothes as Quinn, Zohn, and Mark talked by the fire quietly. He covered her up and peeked under the bandages, hissing slightly at the rough way the heku fed.

He walked over and sat down, “What the hell happened?”

Mark sighed, “Do you want to start with our arrival or the attack?”

“I don’t give a damn about the coven, how did she get attacked?” Chevalier growled.

“She was sleeping in the library. We kept checking on her… but at some point, a heku got the window open and injected her with something before starting to feed,” Mark said, cringing slightly at the anger covering Chevalier’s features. “She finally woke up long enough to ash him and call for help.”

“Why are they always so rough with her?” Chevalier growled. “It’s bad enough to feed, but to do that damage.”

“He was turned three days ago,” Mark explained, and then recoiled when Chevalier yelled.

“What!?”

“Exavior turned this heku three days ago, and then sent him on a mission. He was supposed to deliver a message and an injection, and as far as I can tell, he meant to take her out the window,” Mark said. “His message was that Exavior is waiting for Emily to come join him as an Elder for a new faction.”

Zohn sighed, “He honestly thinks the other three factions are ever going to recognize a fourth?”

“I doubt it,” Mark said. “Gentry finally told Silas and Kralen where he was supposed to deliver Emily, and Kyle took off. I haven’t seen him since.”

“What idiot sends a new heku to Emily? He had to have known the new one wouldn’t be able to resist her,” Quinn whispered.

“He probably thought with the drugs it wouldn’t matter. I don’t know how he planned to handle it if Gentry drained her,” Zohn said, and then sat back when Chevalier hissed again.

“Have we tried to call Kyle?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, his phone is turned off,” Mark explained.

“You called for me?” Dr. Cook asked from behind them. He was watching Emily sleep.

“Em was given an injection,” Chevalier said, and handed the syringe to the doctor. “I want to make sure she’s going to be ok.”

Dr. Cook went over and began to give Emily a quick check-up. She didn’t move or wake up during the exam. Lastly, the doctor picked up her wrist and inhaled deeply, frowning. He covered her back up and walked over to the others.

“He overdosed her on it. I’m guessing a sedative,” Dr. Cook explained. “I don’t think it’ll hurt her, but she’s going to be out for a while and groggy after that. She’s lost too much blood too, bastard was going to drain her.”

“Where is he?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“In the prison at Michaels Coven,” Mark told him.

“Bring him here,” Chevalier said, and went over to sit on the bed. He took Emily’s hand and touched her cheek lightly.

Chapter 17 - Enforcers

Emily sat on top of the mare and watched out toward the trees. She kept expecting Kyle to appear. He’d been gone for almost two months, since he went after Exavior from Michaels Coven. Gentry gave no more information to help find him, and after numerous tortures, it was decided he knew nothing more than he already told them.

Emily now had four guards posted with her at all times, and one of them was to be a member of the Council. Dustin was there today, the Liaison Officer looked bored as he watched the Cavalry recruits try to maneuver around barrels and tackle a fellow guard at the end of a long obstacle course.

Chevalier had clung to her for weeks, never leaving her side. He knew she was secretly hoping to see Exavior, so she could exchange herself for Kyle, and he rarely trusted anyone other than himself to keep her from running. Her Aero was locked up so she couldn’t take it, and the fastest of the racing horses were kept in the corral.

“Em?” Mark asked.

Emily jumped slightly and looked over at him, “What was that?”

“We have a runner,” Mark said, and looked over at a horse running swiftly away from the palace.

Emily kicked her horse into a gallop and gripped her lasso in her right hand as she leaned forward slightly, egging the horse faster. The only time she was let away from the protection of her guards, was when it was time to catch a frightened horse. Then it was only she that could go or they risked scaring the horse worse.

She tossed the lasso over the horse’s head, and wound the other end around the saddle horn to stop him. She started back for the others, but saw something out of the corner of her eye, a lone figure up on the mountains to the east of town. She couldn’t tell anything other than whomever it was, was walking slowly toward the trees.

Emily thought quickly and knelt on her mare, then jumped across to the racing stallion that Silas inherited a few years back. She knew the stallion would be a lot faster than the mare, and she needed to outrun Dustin, Mark, and probably the entire Cavalry. Without taking the time to look behind her, she kicked Silas’ stallion hard and was tearing through town, the sound of hoof beats far behind her.

She saw the walking figure as soon as she got up on top of the hill and turned the stallion for it. She could hear Mark calling for her from the bottom of the hill and knew she had only limited time to catch up with whoever it was.

Emily saw four wolves approach the tall figure and she pushed the horse harder. She hadn’t realized the Powans were patrolling the trees, but there was no other reason for wolves to be calmly circling a person, be it heku or human. Emily was focused on the approaching figure when a swift impact from her side knocked her off of the horse and gently laid her down on the hard ground.

She looked up and sighed when she saw Chevalier was the one pinning her to the ground, and he was watching the wolves as they turned back into heku form and surrounded the one that Emily was headed for.

“What the hell was that?” Chevalier growled, looking down at her.

Emily was straining to see who the Powan guards were talking to, but she couldn’t make out a face.

Chevalier got to his feet and pulled her up to standing by her wrist. She turned away from him just as the other members of the Cavalry and Dustin rode up, all with scowls on their faces.

“That’s it, no more sending you after lost horses,” Mark yelled. “We’ll send Silas, he’s the best lassoer in the Cavalry.”

Emily ignored him as she watched the guards talk to what now appeared to be a man in black clothing with a long black cape.

“Is it Kyle?” Emily asked, trying to pull away from Chevalier.

“No, it’s not Kyle. Is that what you’re doing? Going after him again?” Chevalier asked angrily.

The four Powan guards walked back toward the Elder and stopped just to the side of him, “It’s just one of the Council City residents. He’s out here trying to find flat rocks for some kind of project.”

Chevalier nodded and headed back for the palace, dragging Emily by her arm.

“You’re hurting my arm,” Emily said softly.

“I don’t really care,” Chevalier growled. Emily looked back, and the Cavalry was following them, most of them still glaring at her.

“Elder, they need us back in the council chambers immediately,” Dustin said, his head cocked slightly to the side. “It’s an emergency.”

Chevalier picked Emily up quickly and put her on the horse in front of Mark. He glared at her and then blurred away with Dustin.

“I can ride my own damned horse,” Emily said, trying to slip off, but Mark held her on the stallion.

“No you can’t. Now behave and let’s get back into town,” Mark whispered angrily.

Emily ripped the reins from Mark’s hand, and kicked the stallion into a canter, heading back into the city. Mark held tightly to her so she couldn’t get off, and they rode silently back to the palace. They stopped by the stables and Mark slid off the stallion, dragging Emily with him.

She started to complain, but realized Mark was too mad to calmly discuss things. Three other members of the Cavalry followed along behind them as they took her to the council chambers. If they were in session, she was to either be with them, or one of them was to miss the session and follow her around. The emergency warranted all members of the Council, so she was forced to sit in on the session.

Derrick opened the door for her, and she stepped into the trial area, rubbing her arm where Chevalier had gripped her too tightly. She saw the gray capes of the Valle as she walked forward.

Sotomar turned and nodded at her and then faced the Equites Council.

“It’s been seven days,” Sotomar said. “No word, no reasons.”

“It’s too much of a coincidence,” Quinn said, and glanced over at Chevalier.

Emily walked up and sat down in Kyle’s chair, still too mad to talk to any of them.

“We don’t feel that it’s a coincidence, nor do we feel that the missing banished are a coincidence. The Chief Enforcers are the only ones that can revive them early,” Sotomar said.

Chevalier glared at him and then looked over at Emily when she sat up straighter and looked at Sotomar.

“Is your Chief Enforcer missing?” Emily asked.

“Yes,” Sotomar said.

Emily turned to Chevalier, “Are we missing the banished also?”

Chevalier sighed, “Some.”

“Damon?” Emily asked, frowning.

Chevalier turned away from her, but Zohn responded, “Yes.”

“So that’s how Exavior’s building his faction? By reviving the banished?” Emily asked, turning to Sotomar.

“That’s what we suspect.”

Emily turned to Chevalier, “I can stop this.”

“Don’t think that joining him will stop him,” Sotomar said. “That would only drive him to establish a new faction earlier.”

“Is the Encala Chief Enforcer missing?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“We don’t know. They haven’t said,” Sotomar told her.

Emily pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed William.

“She has the direct number to an Encala Elder?” Sotomar asked.

“Yes,” Chevalier sighed.

“William, it’s Emily,” she said, glancing at the Valle.

“I need to know if your Chief Enforcer is missing.”

There was a pause while the others waited.

“Well put him under lock and key. He’s the only one that’s not missing.”

Emily frowned and yelled into the phone, “Don’t give me that crap, William. I don’t need that from you, too.”

Emily slammed the phone shut, “He’s home.”

“The Valle gathered up all of the banished that are left, and have reburied them in an old ancient’s room under our protection,” Sotomar said.

The Council glanced at Emily and she blushed, still scowling.

“We’ll do the same. I’m sure we can spare the old ancient’s room here also,” Quinn said, grinning slightly.

Emily stood up, “Am I a prisoner here?”

“Sit down, Em,” Chevalier said sternly.

“Am I?”

“No”

“Then I’m going after them,” Emily said, and started down the stairs to the door.

Sotomar took her by the arm, “We cannot allow you to go.”

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Emily said. “They are captured because of me, and now they have Damon. I’m going and I’ll get them all back.”

“No,” Sotomar said softly.

Emily pulled her arm roughly away from him, “It’s my life and you have no say in it.”

“If you agree to join him, he will still keep the Chief Enforcers,” Sotomar told her. “What better way to start a new faction than by reviving those who hate the current ones?”

“Trust me, I can stop him. I can just ash all of them… he’s no longer immune,” Emily said.

“He was immune to you?” Sotomar asked, shocked.

“Yes,” Emily said, and started for the doors. She opened them and Mark blocked her way, “Move.”

“No,” Mark said, crossing his arms.

Emily grabbed her phone when it rang, “What?”

“My love, how are you?” Exavior asked calmly.

“How did you get this number?” Emily asked, her body tense.

“I know everything. When will you see that? Are you ready to join me?”

“Yes, but the factions won’t let me… why the hell are you reviving the banished? Are you that stupid?” Emily asked, dodging Mark’s hand when he tried to take her phone.

“You know very well why. To start my own, superior faction,” Exavior told her.

“Damon though? Why Damon?”

“I thought he would be one of my stronger supporters, come to find out, he has harsh issues with you and is now in my prison until I decide what to do with him.”

“I want to talk to Kyle.”

“The boyfriend is occupied,” Exavior said, amused.

“Tell me how to get away from the Equites, and I’ll exchange myself for Kyle and the Valle’s Chief Enforcer.”

“Quite the offer. I’ll think about it and, Dear, I’m sure you can get away if you really want to.”

“Yeah right, I’m watched like a hawk… hey!” Emily screamed when Sotomar took the phone.

“Exavior… what have you done?” Sotomar asked, his voice calm. He hissed when the phone disconnected and handed it back to Emily.

“I think we need her phone,” Zohn said.

Emily glared at him, “I wouldn’t push it. You don’t have anyone to revive you.”

“Everyone calm down,” Quinn said. “Emily, we really need you to trust us. All three factions are in agreement that you need to stay under our protection and not fall back into Exavior’s hands.”

“He has my best friend and I can get him home safely,” she reminded them.

“We know that, but leave it to us.”

“Like I have for two months?” Emily asked, and stormed out of the conference room. The Chief Interrogator followed her and her three guards up to her room where she slammed the door and locked it.

Emily sat down hard against the chair and bit at her knuckle as she watched the fire.

“Mom?” Allen asked, coming in from the hallway.

“Did you break that lock again?” Emily asked.

“Yes, that’s what Dad does,” Allen said, and sat down in the chair beside her.

“Where’s Alexis?”

“Studying, that’s all she does.”

“Sounds familiar,” Emily said, smiling.

Allen sighed, “I heard what happened in the council chambers. They are right, you can’t fix this problem.”

Emily looked over at him, “I don’t remember asking you. You’re the kid, why do I have to keep reminding you?”

“Because I overstep and I’m intellectually years above my true age,” Allen reminded her.

“I was being facetious,” Emily sighed.

Silas knocked on the door and came in, “We all up for a movie?”

“Sure,” Emily sighed, and then forced Allen to go along against his will. The guards waited outside of the game room and the Chief Interrogator got permission for two guards to replace him while they were watching a movie.

Silas put in a movie as Alexis joined them. Allen opted to sit to the side, and Emily went to make popcorn. She put it in the microwave and checked to make sure no one was watching as she slid the picture and the door spun, depositing her onto the bar’s floor. She grabbed a wooden plank she’d hidden in there, and jammed it into the door.

Emily grinned and poured some ancient bourbon into a glass and sat cross-legged on the bar and downed the shot. She shook her head against the burn in her throat and poured herself another, then glanced up at the clean window, and took another shot, immediately pouring herself another one.

She stood up, laughing at the way the world started to shift, and then piled the tables, three high. She took the shot glass and the bottle of bourbon, and climbed up slowly onto the first table and somehow managed to make it to the third one and onto the ledge with the windows. She looked out over the ancient’s room, and when she didn’t see anyone, she opened the window and glanced down. The floor was almost ten feet down from the window.

Emily sighed and jumped, making sure to save the bourbon when she landed, but slightly twisting her ankle in the process. She accidentally dropped the shot glass and it shattered on the floor. Emily froze and looked toward the door, but no one came running in.

As quietly as possible, Emily opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. Within a few minutes, she’d managed to get onto the roof and sat in the lower part of one of the turrets with her feet dangling over a hundred feet from the grass below. She watched out over the stables and took another drink directly from the bottle.

“Emily, let me in,” Chevalier yelled, pushing against the revolving door.

Silas sighed, “She was just making popcorn.”

“We aren’t blaming you. You had the kids,” Quinn said, and turned to the door. “Will you let me in, Emily?”

“Let’s go in through the ancient’s room,” Mark said, and headed for the door. The others followed him as he went down the stairs and around to the old wooden door. He pushed it open and walked inside, immediately spying the broken shot glass and the open window above.

“Damn,” Kralen said, and looked around. He picked up one piece of the shot glass and smelled it, “Bourbon.”

“So she’s free and drinking,” Chevalier said, sighing.

“Spread out, see if we can find her before she kills herself,” Quinn said, and everyone blurred in different directions.

Kralen appeared in the stables and peered in each stall. Chevalier went into the prison and checked some of her hiding spots. Quinn went into the servant’s area and checked all of the rooms. Zohn headed for the roof, following a hunch.

Zohn stopped and watched her back as she looked out over the palace grounds. He saw her take a long drink from a half-empty bottle of bourbon and debated calling for Chevalier, but decided to talk to her himself.

“Can I have a seat?” Zohn asked, grabbing her shoulders before she fell off of the roof when she jerked.

Emily looked over at him and scooted to the side. Zohn sat down beside her and hung his feet over, looking down to the grass below. Emily took another drink of bourbon, and then handed it over to Zohn.

He took it, grinned, and then took a long drink, “Wow, it’s been a while since I had a drink.”

“Damon’s back,” Emily said, and took the bottle from him to take another drink.

“Yes, he is,” Zohn said, and took the bottle again when she offered it. He brought the bottle to his lips and drank until it was almost gone. Emily watched, her eyes growing wide.

“Damn, Zohn,” Emily laughed. “Don’t drink it all. I don’t think I can climb back up there and get me another bottle.”

“Why are you up here?” Zohn asked, looking down at the corral.

“Would you believe I slipped my guards?” Emily asked, finishing the bottle of bourbon.

“Yes, I would, but why the roof?”

“Maybe I want to jump.”

“I doubt that.”

“Maybe I want to figure out how to fix all of this.”

“Now that… I would believe,” Zohn said.

“Why won’t they let me fix this… my way? I can do it,” Emily told him, her words slightly slurred.

“You’re so important to us, that we wouldn’t risk losing you.”

“That’s bullshit… it’s a cop out. Do they not think I can do it?”

“No, I don’t think anyone thinks that... but we also see the way your entire body tenses when we even say his name. It’s worrisome how you’ll react when you are face-to-face with him,” Zohn explained.

“I can’t let him keep my best friend. I know Kyle’s being tortured,” Emily said, tears filling her eyes.

“Yes, I’m sure he is... but he’s a heku, he will recover,” Zohn said. “You, however, cannot.”

“So turn me first and then I’ll go get them.”

Zohn looked at her and frowned, “You’ve never brought that up before.”

“It’s because I don’t want to turn, but I will if it will allow me to go and get Kyle back,” Emily explained.

“It’s not an option,” Zohn said. “We don’t know if you would survive being turned.”

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and go down to get us something to drink,” Emily suggested, looking back over the dark grounds of the palace.

She laughed when Zohn returned after only being gone a few seconds and he had a fresh bottle of vodka in his hand. He pulled the top off and took a drink before handing it over to Emily. She took a long drink and almost fell off the turret when she handed it back. Zohn’s arm shot out and braced her.

“Hey!” Emily yelled when strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her off of the ledge. She tried to pull away, but one hand went over her mouth while the other pinned her arms to her side and held her at her waist.

Emily fought against the arms, but fell silent when she saw Zohn blurring around two heku in a fight. There were growls and hisses as bodies flew around her, slamming into walls, sending rocks shattering.

“Wait it out, Sweetheart, then you and I get to go for a ride,” Damon whispered into her ear. She tried to turn them all to ash, but the alcohol clouded her mind and she couldn’t get the focus she needed.

Emily screamed, and tried to get her elbow into Damon’s stomach. Damon jumped back away from flying metal when Zohn threw Selest down onto the tail boom of Equites 1 and her body broke through the metal, shaking the entire roof. Zohn immediately turned his attention to the dark-skinned heku fighting alongside Selest as the former Elder’s body slowly healed.

Someone began pounding on the door to the roof, but it was wedged shut with a steel bar, braced against the roof’s floor.

“Been thinking about you for eight years,” Damon whispered. “I have some revenge to play out before I return you to your husband.”

Emily couldn’t stop watching the fight. Images blurred rapidly around the roof, slamming into the helicopters and the turrets. Blood splattered across the surface of the gravel roof.

“Handy catching you too drunk to ash,” Damon said, and ran his tongue up her neck. Emily cringed and squirmed in his arms. She knew if she could get turned around and get a hand at his neck, she could drop him and open the door, “Interesting about your age, too. I didn’t see that coming.”

Selest growled and joined back in the fight, jumping squarely onto Zohn’s back and pulling at his neck. He got his hands around her head, and flung her over his shoulder, slamming her into the roof’s ground as the sound of bones shattering echoed onto the lawn.

Damon wrestled Emily to the edge of the roof and looked over the low turret, “Damn… reinforcements are coming.”

Emily pushed back as hard as she could as he looked over the edge of the roof. The stone corner on the turret caught him squarely in the back, and he roared, gripping her tighter, “Stop fighting me, Bitch.”

Emily started to panic. The fight was slowing and she wasn’t sure how much longer Zohn could fight the two heku by himself. He was completely covered in blood, and she wasn’t sure if it was his or that of the enemy. Selest’s body flew across the roof and she landed squarely against the door to the helicopter, denting in the metal with a loud boom.

“Damon…” Chevalier growled, jumping over the stone wall and landing on the roof.

Emily watched as the roof flooded with Equites. Zohn fell back against the helicopter, panting and in pain as the Cavalry restrained Selest and the strange male heku.

Damon hissed and backed against the stone wall, holding Emily firmly between him and the Equites, “Don’t come any closer or the slut gets it.”

“When did you stoop to working for Exavior?” Chevalier asked furiously.

“When I was banished for trying to protect the strength of the Council,” Damon said, shifting his grip slightly on Emily’s mouth.

Quinn came up to stand by Chevalier. Emily rarely saw the amount of rage that crossed his features, “You can’t get away, Damon. Let her go.”

“No, I don’t think I can, but I can kill the Bitch… once and for all,” Damon hissed. “I’ve waited eight years to have my hands around her neck, remembering the sweet taste of her blood as I starved under the ground.”

“Damon, you swore you wouldn’t kill her. She belongs to Lord Exavior,” Selest yelled.

“Shut up!” Zohn growled, and punched her, shattering her jaw.

“Let her go. We can discuss this calmly,” Chevalier said, softening his voice.

Damon took his hand off of her mouth and wrapped it around her neck tightly, “I can snap it in an instant.”

“Where’s Kyle?” Emily asked frantically.

“I was going to bring a message from him, but he’s in too much pain to talk,” Damon said, pleased.

His hand tightened around her neck and suddenly, she wasn’t able to breathe.

“Damon, stop it,” Chevalier growled. “You don’t want to kill her… it’s me you want.”

“I can get you by killing her though. It’s too easy… that’s why you all need replaced,” Damon said, and grinned.

Darkness crossed Emily’s vision as she struggled against his hand, fighting to breathe. Mark scaled the wall behind Damon and stood behind him on the turret. He glanced once around the roof and then slammed into Damon, sending him and Emily into the ground. The Elders blurred forward and pulled the former Chief Enforcer off of Emily as Chevalier and Damon blurred into a fight. Emily struggled to her knees, the force of Damon and Mark falling on her knocked the breath out of her, and she was barely able to take in rapid, shallow breaths.

Quinn and Mark knelt down beside Emily and watched Chevalier and Damon fight. The two ‘old ones’, friends for thousands of years, were evenly matched and the violent snarls and crashes was all that could be heard on the rooftops.

“Help… him…” Emily managed to whisper.

“He needs to handle this on his own,” Quinn told her quietly.

“Zohn…” she whispered, and leaned her head down on the gravel floor.

“He’s ok, he’s healed now,” Mark said.

The fight stopped abruptly when Chevalier pinned Damon against the ground, his hands twisting his head dangerously to the side, less than an inch from snapping his neck and removing his head. He looked down at Damon, out of breath and healing from several cuts and broken bones. A hiss escaped Chevalier’s lips as Damon snarled at him.

“Just do it,” Damon growled. “Get it over with and kill me.”

“You haven’t been through enough pain… yet,” Chevalier hissed, and snapped Damon’s neck. Damon fell unconscious onto the gravel and Chevalier stood up as Mark picked Emily up, cradling her in his arms.

Four guards rushed forward and restrained Damon as he healed.

“I know Damon… and Selest,” Silas said, and turned to the male heku, “But who is this?”

“He was Elder Samuel… he was banished and replaced by Leonid,” Quinn said, watching the two former Elders struggle against the guards.

“Get them into cells, all three of them. We’ll deal with them later and maybe we can find Exavior,” Chevalier said, still furiously angry.

Mark headed inside, followed by the Elders, and took Emily into her room, laying her gently on the bed.

“How badly are you hurt?” Mark asked, looking at the bruises on her neck.

Emily grinned slightly, “If I weren’t completely smashed, I think I’d be in a lot of pain.”

Zohn chuckled, “They picked a bad night to attack me. I had a lot to drink, too.”

“You two were up on the roof drinking… together?” Quinn asked, shocked.

Emily held her thumb and pointer finger out, “Just a little bit.”

“A lot, actually,” Zohn said, grinning.

“I apparently can’t ash when I’m drunk,” she said, and started to laugh.

Chevalier sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Emily’s hands toward him. He looked at the scrapes along her forearms and then sat them down. Next, he lifted her shirt up slightly, revealing the cuts and bruises on her abdomen.

“Not now, Chev, everyone’s watching,” Emily said, blushing.

Chevalier grinned, “I’m looking for injuries, Em.”

“I’m… sorry,” Mark said softly. “I didn’t see how else to get him off of her.”

“You saved her again. I won’t question your methods,” Chevalier said, and batted Emily’s hands away when she started to unbutton his shirt.

“I just wish she didn’t get hurt in the process,” Mark said, obviously angry at himself.

“A few bruises and scrapes are minimal compared to what he had in mind… Em, stop,” Chevalier said when she unfastened his cape.

“What are we going to do with the three of them?” Zohn asked, and then grinned when he saw Emily start unbuttoning Chevalier’s shirt.

“We can always banish them again and bury them in the ancient’s room,” Quinn suggested. “With Exavior’s new method of populating his faction, I wonder if a new policy should turn the ancient’s room into a banishment room.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Zohn said. “We’re almost done moving all of the banished into there already.”

“I want some time with them first, especially Damon,” Chevalier said as Emily leaned up and started to kiss his neck, her hands trailing down to the button on his pants.

Mark chuckled, “Do you need a moment alone?”

“Em, how much did you drink?” Chevalier asked, amused as he moved her hands and gently pushed her back onto the bed.

“Lots,” she told him, and lightly ran her nails down his chest. “You’re sexy when you fight.”

“Good to know.”

“I bet we can get Exavior’s location from Selest, she’s the one that’ll talk the easiest,” Zohn suggested. His eyes grew wide when Emily leaned up and bit Chevalier on the neck as she wound her fingers through his hair.

“Em… seriously, if you don’t stop… you’re not going to be able to face anyone in the morning,” Chevalier told her.

“I agree, the weak link is Selest,” Quinn said, quickly trying to change the subject as he watched anything in the room other than Emily.

“I’ve been thinking of a way to lure Exavior out of hiding, using Emily as bait,” Zohn said, deep in thought.

Chevalier looked over at him and frowned, “No, that’d put her in too much danger.”

“She wants to help. This would be a lot less dangerous than when she eventually slips her guards and ends up alone with Exavior,” Zohn told him, and turned suddenly to look at the fire.

“I like danger,” Emily said, and started to unbutton Chevalier’s pants again. He turned to stop her and saw she’d managed to unbutton her own shirt.

“Scram,” Chevalier said, and leaned down to kiss her while the room quickly emptied out. The last heku through the door shut it behind him.

***

Emily groaned when the light from morning hit her eyes. She covered them with her hands.

“Hung over?” Chevalier chuckled.

“Sort of,” Emily said, and sat up. She saw the aspirin and orange juice on her table and took them, then buried her face in her hands.

Chevalier rubbed her back lightly, “Probably sore too? You got hit pretty hard.”

Emily moaned, “Did I molest you in front of everyone last night?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Damn,” Emily sighed.

“It just shocked them,” Chevalier said, laughing slightly. “You’re usually more private and reserved.”

“You should have let Damon kill me, then I wouldn’t have to see them.”

“Not a chance,” he said, grinning, and handed her a cup of coffee. “Now they can stop thinking that you’re purely innocent and that I seduce you.”

Emily cupped the coffee in her hands and sipped it slowly.

“Mark wants to come in,” Chevalier told her, and looked at the door.

Emily scrambled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

“Come in,” Chevalier called out, adjusting the blankets at his waist.

“Sorry to interrupt, Damon is asking to speak to you,” Mark said, standing by the door.

“Tell him I’m busy.”

Mark grinned slightly, “I think he already knows. We couldn’t help but hear.”

“Just don’t tell her that,” Chevalier told him, and glanced at the bathroom door. “I’ll be down in a twenty minutes.”

Mark nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Emily came out a few minutes later, fully dressed and looking at the scratches on her arms, “Gravel burns.”

“How bad?” Chevalier asked, taking her hands in his and looking at her forearms.

“Not too bad,” Emily said, and noticed he was back in official uniform. “Let me guess… going to play with Damon?”

Chevalier grinned, “Of course.”

“Can I go to the island?” Emily asked him.

“He can’t get out of prison,” Chevalier told her softly.

Emily sighed, “I’m not worried about Damon… I just… want to go.”

Chevalier grinned, “Because of last night?”

Emily shrugged and walked over to look out the window.

“We have children. I’m pretty sure they already knew,” he said, and wrapped his arms around her.

“Yes, well… I didn’t have to show them.”

Chevalier fought to keep from grinning by kissing the top of her head, “I need you here where the Council can watch over you.”

“I better stay sober then, no reason giving them all a show,” she said, cringing.

“Good idea. I’ll be back in a bit. Li is your council member today, and he’s out in the hallway with the guards.”

“What does he do, anyway?”

“He’s the Chief of Defense.”

“Joy,” Emily sighed and sat in the bay window as Chevalier laughed. He stepped out into the hallway and the guards looked over at him.

“She won’t be a problem today. She’s too embarrassed to step out of her room,” Chevalier told them, grinning slightly.

“Hmm, interesting,” Li said, and glanced down the hallway.

Chevalier walked down the stairs and into the council chambers. He took his seat beside Quinn and leaned back in his chair, “What’s been decided?”

“We want to start with Selest in the interrogation chamber,” Zohn said. “Richard’s already down there with her.”

“I would imagine that Exavior realizes she’s the weak link,” Chevalier said. “I’d get two out of three agreeing on his location before we send in the forces.”

“True,” Quinn said. “I’m assuming you would like a go at Damon?”

“Oh yes, I do,” Chevalier said, grinning maliciously.

“We got reports from Lord Taylor,” Zohn said. “He sent word that everything is now running smoothly. His new officers have taken care of any loose cannons, and they have pledged their support as a coven.”

Quinn nodded, “Good to hear. It’s too bad she won’t help again with that.”

Chevalier chuckled, “How much did she drink last night?”

“Quite a bit,” Zohn told him. “I wouldn’t expect someone her size to be able to survive after that much alcohol.”

“She is Irish, is she not?” Dustin asked.

“That she is,” Chevalier said. “I’ve only seen her drunk a few times though.”

The Council all turned suddenly when whispers blew across the palace, “He’s on her phone.”

The Elders blurred into the bedroom and saw Emily on her knees in front of the window. The phone was against her ear and she was pale, “Please…”

Emily looked up at Chevalier with terror in her eyes, and she whispered, “I understand.”

As Exavior spoke, the keen hearing of the heku picked up his words and the sound of screaming coming from behind him, “Do that and he will live.”

“Please, Exavior, don’t do this,” Emily said pleadingly.

“I’ll take nothing less than your compliance. Bring Damon and Samuel with you, and I’ll let your boyfriend out of excruciating pain,” he told her angrily.

“I can’t get away,” Emily told him, and Chevalier growled.

“You, of all people, can find a way to get free,” Exavior said. “Meet me where I told you.”

Emily dropped the phone when the line disconnected, but stayed on her knees and watched the phone.

“No,” Chevalier hissed.

“Did you hear Kyle?” Emily asked softly. She was finding it hard to speak.

“Yes, but I promise you, if Kyle could talk, he would tell you to stay here,” Chevalier told her.

“Where’s the rendezvous point?” Zohn asked.

Emily shook her head, “I can’t tell you.”

“Tell us,” Chevalier said softly, and gently pulled her to her feet.

“No”

“Damnit, Em! You are not going after him, and especially not with Samuel and Damon,” Chevalier hissed.

Emily looked into his eyes, “I can turn them all to ash, just let me go.”

“He would have thought of that,” Quinn said. “Exavior is smarter than to let you waltz into the middle of his new faction unprotected.”

Emily sighed and shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the Elders all glanced around, confused.

“How did we get in here?” Quinn asked, frowning.

Chevalier turned to Emily, “What did you wipe?”

“Nothing important. I just need to step into the prison for a sec,” Emily said calmly, and walked toward the door.

“Who’s in the prison you need to see?” Zohn asked her suspiciously.

“David,” Emily said. “I just need to ask him a question.”

Zohn watched her, “She’s not lying.”

“Yes, she is,” Mark said from the door. “I’m not letting you go.”

Emily glared at him, “Move, Mark.”

“If they had their memory, they wouldn’t let you go talk to Damon, Selest, or Samuel,” Mark told her, blocking the door.

“Wait… they are in our prison?” Chevalier growled angrily.

“Yes, you know that. It’ll come back,” Mark told him, and blocked Emily as she tried to duck under his arm.

“What are you up to?” Chevalier asked, looking at Emily, “And why do you have bruises on our neck again?”

“Don’t do this, Mark,” Emily said angrily. “Let me by.”

“When the Elders regain their memory and agree to let you speak to them, then I’ll let you go,” Mark said, standing his ground.

Richard, the Chief Interrogator, appeared behind Mark. His shirt covered in blood, “I’m done with Selest… I accidentally killed her though.”

Mark let him through, making sure Emily stayed in the bedroom.

Chevalier frowned, “Damnit, what are you talking about?”

Richard glanced at Mark and then nodded and turned back to Chevalier, “I’ll give my report as soon as your memory comes back.”

“Fine,” Emily said, crossing her arms.

Mark glanced around the room, “Am… I? Did you call me?”

Quinn looked at him, “How did I get in here?”

“Emily, what did you wipe?” Chevalier asked, looking around.

“Nothing important,” she said, and walked out of the bedroom. The confused guards fell in behind her, and she quickly went down into the prison.

“Damnit, how far back did she take us?” Chevalier growled.

“I was… in my office,” Zohn said, trying to remember what happened.

Kralen came into the room, looking angry, “Did you give permission for Emily to talk to Damon?”

Chevalier turned to the guard, “Damon!?”

Kralen growled, and whispered something to Silas before turning back to the Elders, “She wiped your memory, didn’t she?”

“How is Damon back?” Mark asked, confused.

Kralen sighed, “Exavior brought Damon, Selest, and Samuel back from banishment. They attacked Zohn and Emily on the roof last night. There was some type of phone call from Exavior and, as far as I can tell, Emily is trying to escape with Samuel and Damon.”

“Stop her,” Chevalier growled, and then looked up when Silas came in with Emily thrown over his shoulder, unmoving.

“Is she injured?” Mark asked, watching Silas lay her down on the bed.

“No, I knocked her ass out with a sedative as she was letting Damon out of his cell,” Silas told them, and held up the empty syringe.

“She let Damon out?” Chevalier asked.

“It’s ok, we got him back in his cell,” Silas said.

“Why would Emily ever let Damon free?” Zohn asked, confused.

Silas sat down, “No use trying to explain all of this. Your memory will be back soon.

The heku all sat silently in the bedroom, waiting for Mark and the Elders to remember the happenings of the last 24 hours. After almost two hours, their memories came flooding back to them.

“Ok, Richard, what did you get out of Selest?” Chevalier asked, looking over at their Chief Interrogator.

“She said that she’s not seen Exavior, but knows he’s the one that brought her out of banishment,” Richard explained. “Their orders were to bring Emily to an address in Philadelphia; however, when I asked Damon and Samuel about those orders, they lied and said the orders were true.”

Zohn frowned, “So Selest was told something different?”

Richard nodded, “I suspect she was expected to be caught and tortured, and they knew she would give up the information.”

“So she was fed a lie,” Chevalier said, sighing. “We need to get the information out of Damon and Samuel.”

“They’re next on my list, starting with Damon,” Richard said.

“I want in on that one,” Chevalier told him, and stood up. “How long will she be sedated?”

Silas shrugged, “Another few hours.”

“Damnit, she’s not leaving me a choice,” Chevalier said, and pulled the leather restraints from a hidden compartment in the closet. He and Mark restrained her to the bed and then stood back.

“There’s something else,” Richard said, frowning. “Selest kept saying something about Emily’s age.”

Chevalier shrugged, “What about her age?”

“She wouldn’t tell me until I let her go.”

“Damon said something to Emily about that last night,” Zohn told them. “He said… ‘Interesting about your age, too. I didn’t see that coming.’”

“I have no idea,” Chevalier said, and turned to watch Emily sleep.

“Write yourselves a note,” Mark said. “Keep it in your hand. If she wipes your memory, you’ll have to know why she’s there and not to let her out.”

Silas nodded and began writing.

“Let’s go,” Chevalier said, and headed down to the prison with Richard and Mark. They rounded the corner to Damon’s cell, and he looked up at the Equites.

“Your little whore came close to letting me out. I see you’re all slipping further,” Damon said, grinning.

“Yup, we are,” Chevalier said, and opened the door. “Come have a chat.”

Damon smiled, “I’m not afraid of your little interrogation room. I put most of that stuff in there.”

“Good, then we won’t have to listen to you whine,” Mark said, grinning.

“I’m surprised you didn’t bring the faction Bitch along,” Damon said, stepping into the interrogation room. “Or were you afraid she’d get herself stuck in the foot restraints… again?”

Richard glanced at Chevalier and he grinned, “Maybe.”

“Foot restraints sounds like a good place to start,” Mark said, and forced Damon into them with Richard’s help.

Mark sat on the rack and looked down at Damon, “Why don’t you just save yourself the pain and tell us where we can find Exavior.”

Damon grinned, “Like I would betray him. He saved me from the hell you created.”

Chevalier lit the fire, and the entire room came to life, “The hell we created?”

“Yes, putting your loyalty into a mortal instead of your own council member. I consider that a hell,” Damon said, relaxing on the ground.

Chevalier looked over when Allen came in the door, “May I watch?”

“Yes, just don’t tell your Mom,” Chevalier said, proud that his 11-year-old son was there.

“Oh, look, little mortal spawn,” Damon said to Allen. “How awful it must be to crave blood yet not be able to feed by yourself… pathetic if you ask me.”

Allen smiled broadly, “I haven’t had a problem feeding myself.”

Damon frowned, “Oh, your teeth came in… at least you’re not quite as mortal now. That was embarrassing.”

“Almost as embarrassing as when Mom caught you banging a hooker when all you really wanted was her,” Allen said, his eyes were suddenly furious.

Chevalier watched him, amazed. He’d never seen any anger from his son.

Damon glared at him, “That’s not true.”

“Not true? You watched her sleep in Paris, I saw you… I saw what you did afterwards. I may have been a child, but I was keenly aware of everything that was going on in that house,” Allen said.

Damon growled, “Shut up, you little brat.”

Allen stepped forward and roughly kicked Damon in the neck, and then stepped back to watch the blood pour from his mouth as he choked on it and fought to breathe.

“Don’t kill him before we can get information,” Mark chuckled.

“I wonder what that was like. Having the woman you lust after catch you with a cheap hooker,” Allen said, walking around Damon. “I figure that’s why you almost killed her, to wipe that image from her mind, because that let her see you for what you truly are.”

“You’re sorely mistaken, boy,” Damon growled as soon as he could speak again.

“I am? So watching her shower, watching her sleep, feeding from her inner thigh… not something you do to someone that disgusts you,” Allen said, his voice calm and relaxed. “It’s something you do to become closer to an object you desire.”

“It was for control. She needed controlled,” Damon hissed.

Allen stepped on the top of Damon’s foot, pressing it to the ground as his ankle bones shattered and he screamed in pain. As soon as Damon healed and started to get angry, Allen stepped on his other foot, grinding it into the floor with his boots.

Richard grinned, “Didn’t know you had it in you, Boy.”

Allen smiled, “Mom’s temper… Dad’s control.”

Mark chuckled, “At least that’s not in reverse.”

“Tell me,” Allen said when Damon had calmed down. “What is the name of this new faction?”

“Why would I tell you?” Damon growled.

“My Mom’s to be an Elder. It would be nice to know.”

“Nescio quid dicas,” Damon said, grinning.

“Oh, I do think you know what I mean,” Allen said, leaning back against the stone wall.

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide and he grinned. He wasn’t aware that his son spoke Latin.

Allen reached over and pulled an iron poker from the fire. He put the red-hot tip a few inches above Damon’s neck, “Maybe I want to etch it into your neck, you know, a formal branding for being so loyal.”

“You don’t have the nerve,” Damon said, but looked nervously at the glowing orange tip.

“Fine then… if you won’t tell me the name of the new faction, then I’ll make up a name for it. I’ll burn ‘Proditor’ into your flesh,” Allen said, and burned a deep ‘P’ into Damon’s neck as he screamed in agony. “Now you’re officially labeled as a traitor.”

The heku watched the young boy, amazed at how calmly he tortured the heku and how much like his father he spoke and acted.

Allen sighed, “You’re lucky, I need to go try to comfort my sister. Pity, I was just getting started.”

Allen touched the hot poker to Damon’s upper thigh for a moment and then handed the iron stick to Mark before leaving as Damon’s screams filled the prison.

Mark grinned, “That was fun.”

“Enough for the child’s play. I want him in the shackles,” Chevalier said, taking the Spanish flayer down off of the wall.

“Do whatever you want. I won’t tell you,” Damon said, no longer sounding pompous and haughty.

Mark and Richard hung him from the shackles, facing the wall, and tore his shirt from his back, exposing the flesh beneath it.

Chevalier let his arm fly and the flesh on Damon’s back peeled away as he screamed and his knees gave out, hanging him by his wrists.

“Where can we find Exavior?” Richard asked, leaning against the wall by Damon.

“I won’t… tell… you,” he choked, and then screamed when the metal teeth scraped into his back again.

Mark reached over into a bucket behind the guillotine and grabbed a handful of salt. The next time Chevalier cut Damon’s back with the flayer, Mark threw pinches of salt, slowing down the healing and causing additional pain.

“You have no right… to do… this,” Damon moaned.

“I do too, if not for needing information… then for the harassment of my wife,” Chevalier said, amused.

“I can’t tell you…” Damon panted. “I don’t know where he is.”

Richard watched him and shrugged, “He’s lying.”

***

Emily sighed softly, and started to stir as the sedative wore off. Silas and Kralen watched her closely, the reminders firmly in their hands. Her eyes opened and she pulled at the restraints slightly and then looked up at her wrists.

“Damnit,” Emily growled. She looked over at Silas, “Let me out of these.”

“Sorry, Elder’s orders,” Silas said.

Emily frowned, “Well don’t stand there and watch me, it’s humiliating.”

“Ok, we’ll wait outside your door,” Silas said, and he and Kralen moved outside of her door.

Emily grinned. One of the tricks the Encala had shown her was how to get out of those exact kinds of restraints. Grimacing, she popped her thumb out of joint and easily slipped her hand out of the restraint. From there, she unfastened her other hand and then her feet. She tiptoed quietly over to the large wardrobe and sat down inside after grabbing her phone.

“Encala Council,” someone answered.

“William?” Emily whispered, soft enough she couldn’t hear her own voice.

“Emily, what’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

“Exavior offered to let Kyle and the Valle’s Chief Enforcer go if I bring Damon and Samuel back with me,” Emily explained.

“And the Equites won’t let you go…” William said.

“I can ash all of them and get Kyle back.”

“It’s too dangerous,” William said. “They now have our Chief Enforcer.”

“What? When?” Emily asked, frowning.

“He has been missing since last night, and we suspect Exavior has him.”

“Are you missing any banished?” Emily whispered.

“No, we were able to move them inside… so by Damon and Samuel, do you mean the former members of the Equites Council?”

“Yes, Exavior sent them to get me.”

“Have they been interrogated?”

“Chevalier’s down there right now.”

“So why are you whispering?”

“I tried to run.”

“They cannot let you go, Emily. It’s too dangerous. So can I surmise that you slipped your restraints?”

“Yes, thanks,” Emily whispered, amused.

“Well, there are other ways to keep you in the palace without restraints,” William said, irritated.

“I can kill him, William. I can get the banished and the Chief Enforcers back… they were… torturing… Kyle.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“I want you to come get me and let me go after him. I know where he is,” Emily said. “He told me.”

“You know?” William asked, shocked. “Where is he?”

“I’m not telling you,” Emily whispered, frowning. “Just come get me.”

“I’m sorry, Child. On this matter, we agree with the Equites. You need to let us handle Exavior.”

Emily angrily slammed her phone shut and sat back in the wardrobe to think. She decided that the first thing she needed to do was tell the Elders that all three Chief Enforcers were now in Exavior’s hands. She sighed and climbed out of the wardrobe and stepped up behind Silas and Kralen, they were deep in conversation and didn’t hear her approach.

Kralen, Silas, and the two guards dropped to their knees, groaning with pain and clutching at their chests. She concentrated, calming herself so they didn’t fall to ash. As soon as they fell unconscious, she ran out of the room, her bare feet padding silently down the marble stairs.

She looked around the main foyer and didn’t see any guards. Emily realized that she’d given herself the opportunity to escape from the palace, and ran into the garage, then slid into the purple Aero and pulled the backup key from her pocket. She turned it, and nothing happened, the engine didn’t turn over and no lights came on.

“Damnit,” she cursed, and got out of the car. She popped the hood to check the battery, but it was missing. She went to the Jeep and checked under the hood, its battery was also missing.

“Nothing in here runs,” Quinn said from behind her. Emily pushed the hood down without even turning around.

“Exavior has the Encala’s Chief Enforcer,” Emily told him, and started walking out to the stables. She could hear Quinn walking behind her.

“Where is he, Emily?” Quinn asked as she stopped at the corral and leaned against the fence, watching the horses inside.

“William wouldn’t come get me,” Emily said. “He told me to stay here.”

“All three factions agree that you need to stay away from Exavior.”

“I’m not weak.”

“No one thinks you are.”

“I can do it, they know I can. Exavior can’t have more than 1800 and I’ve ashed that many at once.”

“Again, no one doubts that you can.”

Emily sighed, “Don’t tie me back up.”

Quinn grinned, “Why would I? Apparently it doesn’t work.”

Emily heard footsteps behind her and already knew who it was. She kept watching the horses eating lazily in the corral.

“Come on, it’s about time I get on a horse,” Quinn said, and took Emily’s hand, leading her into the stables.

Silas and Kralen mounted up and met them outside the stables when Emily brought her horse out. She hoisted herself up on the stallion bareback and reached down for Quinn, “Come on, Elder.”

Quinn looked up at her, “Are you going to push me off and take off?”

“Like I could,” Emily said, and Quinn slipped onto the stallion behind her. She kicked the horse into a walk, and the three horses made their way slowly out of the city.

As they neared the top curve on the hill before the trees, Emily looked back toward the road and saw Chevalier’s McLaren, Zohn’s Jaguar, and four Suburban’s speeding down the road.

“No!” Emily screamed.

“It’s best this way,” Silas said softly.

Emily looked over at him with angry tears in her eyes, “You did this on purpose…”

“Damon caved. He told us where Exavior is,” Kralen explained.

Quinn grabbed onto Emily when she kicked the horse hard and it jumped into a fast gallop, heading for the trees. Silas rode up alongside her and took the reins, pulling the horse back.

“Stop it!” Emily yelled. “I can catch them.”

“No, you’re staying here,” Quinn said from behind her. “Trust us.”

Emily slipped out from under his arms and ran as fast as she could for the trees. She heard movement behind her and arms wrapped around her. She hit her elbows against Kralen’s arms and spun suddenly, smashing her palm into his nose and dropping him to the forest floor. She turned and ran deeper into the trees.

Silas caught her easily and grabbed her by the wrist, slinging her around, “Stop.”

Emily kneed him in the groin, but he dodged her hand and spun away from her before she could hit him. He started to drag her back toward the palace, but she faked a trip and when he turned around, she balled up her fist and hit him just under the chin, collapsing his windpipe. He fell to the ground, fighting to breathe.

She pulled her hand out of his grasp and ran for the road. It was too late to catch the convoy, but she ran to get away. She knew they would restrain her if they caught her and that they would be angry at the assaults.

Emily stopped suddenly when a line of Encala Army appeared ahead of her, their red capes flowing in the strong breeze. She turned to the left and saw a line of Valle Army closing in on her. Spinning, she came face-to-face with the Equites Cavalry, and she started to panic as she turned and looked around for a way out.

“Emily, calm down,” Lieutenant Andrew said, putting his hands out. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“Get back,” Emily growled. “You know I can ash all of you.”

“No one doubts that,” Silas said from behind her, and she spun quickly to face him. “Kralen and I aren’t mad either.”

“Stop moving!” Emily screamed, and the three lines of guards stopped moving when they saw the terrified look cross her face.

“The Elders sent us, from all three factions, to ensure you stay away from the impending war,” Lieutenant Andrew said.

“I should be there and you know it!” Emily screamed at him, and spun when she saw the Valle line moving toward her. They stopped when she glared at them.

“Where’s Mark?” Emily asked scathingly.

“He’s with Chevalier,” Silas said.

“Now what? You tie me to the bed? Put me in a prison cell?” Emily asked, breathing rapidly as she felt the guards inching in on her.

“Nothing like that, we won’t restrain you,” Silas said. “We’ll just watch you carefully.”

“First person that touches me gets ashed,” Emily warned. “Now back up and let me on my horse.”

“Tandem only,” Quinn said, and Emily glared at him as he repeated. “Tandem only.”

Emily growled and hoisted herself onto her horse. She kicked hard and the stallion lurched forward into a gallop, and then jumped the heku as they crouched to avoid getting kicked. She pulled ahead of them on Keith’s fastest horse.

As she broke out of the trees, well ahead of the blurring heku, she pulled her horse to a sudden stop and he responded by rearing back angrily. She held on and then glared at the entire Thukil Cavalry when the horse settled. They were mounted and quickly formed a circle around her.

“Let me through,” she yelled.

“Sorry, Commander, Elder’s orders,” Darren said sternly.

Emily backed her horse up, watching Darren closely.

“Don’t do it,” Darren said, and his horse shifted nervously.

Emily was beyond seeing reason. She felt trapped and terrified. The horse leaned his ears back as it sensed her tension and panic and his tail began to swish anxiously.

“He’s going to buck,” Darren said calmly. “You’re scaring him.”

Emily kicked the stallion and he took off, quickly hitting maximum speed as she ran straight toward the center of the Cavalry. The footed guards watched nervously as she sped toward the others. At the last second, the two Thukil guards pulled their horses to the side and the others took off after her.

Quinn sighed as he saw the 76 horses racing down the hills toward the road. They formed a V with Emily at the lead, but the others were catching up with her quickly. One of the front guards had a lasso in his hand and was expertly twirling it in the air, ready to catch Emily’s stallion. As the Captain neared her, he got up on one knee and steadied himself. When his horse caught up to her, he launched himself into the air and knocked Emily off of her horse just as the other guard lassoed the stallion and took control.

The Cavalry swiftly ran around the two on the ground, and Darren pinned her as she screamed at him, “Don’t do this!”

Darren stood up angrily and pulled her to her feet by her arm, “Now… calm down.”

Another member of the Thukil Cavalry grabbed her other arm, and they walked her back toward the castle as she limped and fought against them.

They neared the palace and the other guards were all waiting there for her with Quinn in the front, and Encala’s Elder Aaron to his side. The Thukils let Emily go when she was surrounded by guards, and she limped forward toward the door.

Quinn stepped in front of her, “How badly are you injured.”

Emily reached up and slapped him across the face and then stepped around him and headed inside. Blood began to soak through the back of her shirt as she headed up the stairs slowly. Allen met her on the stairs and glared at the guards behind her as he helped her up to her room.

“William’s here, we’re heading out,” Aaron said to Quinn.

“Thanks for your help,” Quinn told him, and turned to the guards. “Did she turn anyone to ash?”

“No, Sir,” Silas told him.

“Here’s how it’ll work. The Thukil Cavalry will patrol the perimeter of the palace. She’s been known to jump out of windows, so make sure you can see every inch of the walls,” Quinn said. “Powan will patrol inside with the Council City Guards, but only the Cavalry will be allowed to guard inside of her room.”

“You have your orders in regards to anyone non-Equites around the palace,” Quinn reminded them. “Once the Valle and Encala head out, only Equites are allowed in the city, and only authorized guards are to be anywhere near the palace.”

“Do you all have your notes?” Silas asked, and everyone nodded. “Keep them in your hands. We don’t know how many minds she can wipe at once, and don’t want to take chances.”

“Silas and I will be in her room,” Kralen said. “The Elder had her phone disconnected, and everyone needs to be ready for a fight. If you start to get lax, just remember how many heku she just got away from out in the trees.”

***

“Must you be in here?” Allen asked Silas and Kralen as they stood at the door.

“Sorry, Elder’s orders,” Silas told him.

“I can watch her,” Allen told them. “She needs some privacy.”

“No,” Kralen said sternly.

“She hasn’t gotten out of bed in three days,” Allen reminded them. “She won’t eat. She won’t let anyone look at her ankle or the cuts from that damned guard throwing her to the ground. She won’t even talk… get out and let me take care of her.”

“No,” Silas said again, and crossed his arms.

A servant came and delivered dinner into the bedroom. He blurred from the room, ignoring Allen’s defensive posture by his Mom.

Emily listened to it all. She felt numb, not knowing if Chevalier was safe, if he’d found Kyle, or if he’d killed Exavior. She felt trapped in the palace, unable to move freely or go anywhere without being watched. She watched out the window while Allen took care of Alexis and tucked her into bed, then sat down in a chair by the fire, worried about her.

Quinn blurred into the room, and Allen looked over as they started a conversation too quietly and quickly for Emily to hear. She glanced over at them and watched as Quinn told something interesting to Kralen and Silas.

Allen stood up and faced them, “Are you going to tell her?”

Quinn turned around, “It’s nothing that concerns her.”

“I disagree,” Allen said, crossing his arms in a manner that Emily often used.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed, “You could hear that?”

“Yes”

“Hallway… now,” Quinn hissed.

“After I tell Mom what’s going on,” Allen said, and walked over to her.

Emily scrambled out of bed and ran for the door when Silas pulled Allen from the room. She slammed into Kralen, knocking him back a few inches. His hands shot out and caught her before she fell to the ground. She pulled her arms out of his grasp and tried to step around him, but he blocked her way. She gasped when Kralen fell to ashes and spun to face Alexis. The 6-year-old was upset and watching her Mom tearfully.

Emily picked her up quickly and headed out into the hallway, following Quinn, Silas, and Allen down the stairs as she gripped Alexis tightly in her arms. She caught up with them and took Allen’s arm, stopping them all from walking.

Allen took Alexis, and Emily put herself between them and the heku, glaring at them.

“We just wanted to talk to him,” Quinn said softly. “We weren’t going to hurt him.”

“Where’s Kralen?” Silas asked, looking up the stairs.

Alexis sweet little voice sounded, timidly, “I ashed him.”

Silas’ eyes grew wide, “Lexi, you turned him to ash?”

Alexis nodded.

“We just want to talk to him,” Quinn said again. “We’ll take care of Kralen in a bit, sounds like an accident.”

“Mom, the fight is over,” Allen said quickly. “Exavior got away, but they got the Chief Enforcer’s back.”

“Allen…” Quinn growled.

“Kyle’s hurt pretty badly, as are the other two, so they’re taking them to Island Coven for recovery… Dad’s going back there,” Allen told Emily as he kept an eye on Quinn.

Emily’s eyes grew wide and she ran up the stairs, followed by Allen, Quinn, and Silas.

“You can’t go to Island Coven,” Quinn told her as she started to pack.

Emily turned and looked at him.

“The Chief Enforcer’s are really badly hurt. Zohn and Chevalier feel it’d be better if you stay here,” Silas told her.

Emily picked up a chair and flung it at Quinn. He caught it and sat it down, “We’ll give you a little privacy for a few moments.”

Silas shut the door behind him after leaving.

“Can you find the battery and put it back in my car without getting caught?” Emily wrote in a notebook and showed it to Allen.

“Into the Aero? Yes. I saw where they put it,” Allen replied.

“I can’t, they’ll catch me and you have free reign of the building.”

“Won’t take but about 5 minutes, and then I want to go with you.”

Emily nodded and checked to see if the key was still in her jeans. She took them into the bathroom to get dressed as Allen left the room.

“Where are you going?” Quinn asked.

“She’s mad at me now too, happy?” Allen growled, and headed down the stairs. He replaced the battery in the Aero and came back up the stairs, then stormed into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Emily looked up at him as she slipped the .45 into the back of her jeans, “So?”

“Done, how are you going to get out of here?”

“Is anyone in the garage?”

“No, they thought taking the batteries was enough,” Allen said.

“I can knock Quinn and Silas out. Anyone else in the way?”

“Yes, Powans down there.”

Emily sighed, “Damn, it takes too long to knock them unconscious.”

“Wipe their minds? It’ll take them a few seconds to see the notes in their hands that remind them to keep an eye on you.”

Emily nodded, “It’s worth a try. Once we’re in the car, Thukil can’t catch up to us.”

“What about Alexis?”

“When we leave, you run to your teacher, understood?” Emily asked her.

Alexis nodded.

“Ready?” Allen asked.

Emily nodded and concentrated on the door. As soon as Quinn and Silas fell to their knees, groaning in pain, Allen opened the door so she could release them at the right time. When they went unconscious, she and Allen headed quickly down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” a Powan guard asked, and then turned around. “Why am I in the palace?”

Emily and Allen kept running. She erased the memory of each guard she came too, and they emerged into the garage as she heard someone yell to catch them. They slid into the sleek Aero and locked the doors. Allen didn’t fit in the seat, and his knees hit painfully against the dashboard when Emily floored it in reverse, slammed the car into 1st gear, and peeled out of the garage.

The Thukil Cavalry watched helplessly as she sped through the city and was soon out on the highway, the car pegged at 270mph. Once they were a safe distance from Council City, she slowed down to the speed limit to avoid getting pulled over.

Emily took a deep breath, “Why did they not want to tell me?”

Allen grinned, “Can’t you guess?”

“Oh… right…” Emily said, smiling slightly. “We should be at the ferry by morning.”

Allen’s cell phone rang, and he looked at it, “It’s Dad.”

“Don’t answer. I can’t handle him right now,” Emily said.

“What are you going to do if the guards won’t let you on the island?” Allen asked.

“Then I’ll tell them it’s the island or Exavior,” Emily said. Allen looked at her to see if she was serious, and noticed that she was.

“Why don’t you stop and eat? We’re far away from the city.”

“Not now, when we get gas I’ll eat.”

They drove for hours, stopping only for gas when the Aero was almost empty. Allen filled the tank while Emily went inside for the restroom and a cup of coffee. She came back out after paying and ignored the people looking at her car when she climbed inside.

“That’s not food,” Allen sighed.

“We’ll be there soon. I just need to stay awake,” Emily said, and belted herself in. She ran her fingers slowly over the soft gray leather on the steering wheel and remembered racing Chevalier in it. She smiled slightly and then on turned the car.

“Mom,” Allen said, looking behind them.

Emily turned in her seat and saw four identical silver Bugatti Veyrons behind her.

“Damnit,” Emily said, and gunned it, spinning out and quickly returning to the Interstate. She was in sixth gear at top speed, but the Veyrons kept pace.

“I don’t know if you can outrun those,” Allen said, glancing back at them. “They aren’t ranked a lot lower in speed than this car.”

“Did you see who’s driving?”

“No, but the cars looked like Valle to me. There’s a V on their hubcaps,” Allen told her.

“I can’t let them box me in,” Emily said. “They’ve done that before.”

“If you keep it floored, they can’t pass you, not in this car... but just remember you can’t out maneuver them, their reflexes are better.”

Allen’s phone rang, “Let me handle this… Hello, Dad.”

Emily kept a close eye on the silver cars behind her. They didn’t seem to want to try to box her in, but kept behind her closely.

“I know... but back off the Valle before Mom tries to out maneuver them and gets hurt,” Allen said, grinning slightly when Emily glanced at him.

“What do you mean?” Allen asked, frowning.

“Four of them… silver Veyrons.”

Allen glanced back at the cars, “Mom, those aren’t Equites, Valle, or Encala.”

Emily glanced back, “Damn… damn… maybe they aren’t heku at all.”

“Yeah, Mom, because lots of people can afford four of the world’s most expensive cars,” Allen said, and went back to his phone.

“Hold on, I’m going to try to lose them,” Emily said.

“Dad said, no. He said to wait for someone else to catch up to us… he thinks it’s Exavior,” Allen told her, and then explained to Chevalier where they were.

“Oh? Then maybe I need to stop and deal with it.”

“Mom, I’m begging you, just keep going… Dad’s called a coven near here, and they are waiting about 100 miles ahead for us,” Allen said. “They are going to escort us into the coven.”

“No… I’m going to Island Coven,” Emily said. “I have enough gas to make it without stopping, and that’s what I plan to do.”

“Dad says…” Allen started, but Emily took his cell phone, rolled down the window, and tossed it out. “Never mind.”

Twenty minutes later, Emily and Allen passed six black Ferrari Enzos. They pulled into traffic behind the Veyrons, but quickly fell behind and within an hour, couldn’t be seen. Jonesport was approaching, and Emily slowed down to take the corners and soon spied the ferry. It was docked and waiting for her, and was full of heku from all factions. She hit the brakes to the Aero just as she hit the pier, and skidded to a stop on the ferry.

Emily turned in her seat and saw the four Veyrons slow slightly, and then speed off to the north. She turned and relaxed in her seat, not really wanting to talk to any of the Equites, then cringed when Mark stepped up to her door.

“You can’t hide. Open it,” Mark growled.

As soon as she opened her door, Mark pulled her out of the car by her arm and slammed her against the side of it, holding her against the Aero by her arms, “What the hell were you thinking?”

Emily pulled her arm free and slapped him. He raised his hand to hit her, but lowered it slowly, “Get back in the car before you get hurt.”

She went to crawl back into the Aero, but saw a member of her Cavalry push Allen violently against the ferry’s cabin and start yelling at him. She ran up and stepped between them, putting her arms out to protect Allen.

“Back off,” Emily growled.

“It’s ok, Mom. I can handle him,” Allen said angrily.

“He overstepped and he knows it,” the guard yelled at him.

“Allen, get in the car,” Emily said, and walked with him. Once they were both back in the Aero, they locked the doors and waited the long ride to Island Coven.

When the ferry docked, Emily gently pulled the car onto the pier and then drove slowly through the city toward the castle. She stopped out front and looked up at the double doors, sighing.

“You ready for this? He’s livid,” Allen asked her.

“He’s not nearly as pissed off at me, as I am at him,” Emily said, her voice suddenly angry. She opened the door as the guards from the ferry fanned out around the castle grounds. She slammed the purple door shut and headed inside, ignoring the door guards.

Chevalier, Sotomar, and William were waiting for her inside the castle, all looking angry. Emily walked quickly up to Chevalier and slapped him hard across the face. She started to slap him again, but he caught her wrist.

“Enough,” he growled.

“Where is he?” Emily asked angrily.

Chevalier grabbed Emily’s arm and dragged her toward his office, then threw her inside and slammed the door behind him, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Where is he?” Emily asked again, rubbing her arm.

“What the hell were you thinking taking off from the palace?”

“Where is he?”

“Then you turned Kralen to ash? How dare you do that… he was there to protect you.”

“I didn’t ash him. Where is Kyle?”

Chevalier looked shocked for a moment before the fury returned, “Those measures were put into place to keep you safe, but you seem to care about as much about your safety as Exavior does.”

Emily glared at him and crossed her arms.

“Why must you undermine everything I do to protect you?”

Emily turned and tried to leave, but the door was too heavy to push.

“I’m not letting you out until I find out what’s going through that brain of yours,” Chevalier snapped.

“What’s going on…” Emily said softly. She was surprised to suddenly find herself calm, “Is that every faction has now violated the ultimatum, and as soon as I check on Kyle, I’m enforcing it.”

Chevalier’s anger turned to concern, “What?”

“It’s over,” Emily whispered, and looked down at her hands.

“Em…”

“Let me out,” she whispered, and turned to the door.

Chevalier didn’t know what else to do, so he opened the door and stepped out with her.

“Where is he?”

“He’s in my room,” Chevalier said, too shocked to say more. William and Sotomar watched him curiously as Emily headed up the stairs.

“I thought we weren’t going to allow her to see him,” Sotomar said, irritated.

“She’s leaving,” Chevalier told them. “After she sees Kyle, she’s disappearing.”

“What?” William asked, frowning. “She can’t leave. Exavior’s still out there.”

Emily opened Chevalier’s door slowly and peered into the dark room. The fire was lit, but was the only light in the room and it cast deathly shadows onto Kyle. His eyes were closed, and Emily was almost at the bed before she could even see him breathing. She sat down beside him and took his cold hand in hers.

“Kyle?” Emily whispered, and softly touched his face.

When he didn’t respond, she pushed the blankets aside and frowned as she gently touched the deep gashes along his torso and the inflamed burns and bites across his body. Emily covered him back up and rubbed his hand gently.

“I’m going to miss you,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t do it any more… all of this was because of me, and I didn’t have the strength to get away, to bring Damon and Samuel to Exavior so they would let you go.”

Emily let go of his hand and went over to his clothing. She dug around in his pocket for a cell phone and dialed Exavior.

“What?” he growled.

“You win,” Emily said softly.

“Emily? My love? What do you mean that I’ve won?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re coming to me?” Exavior asked, sounding excited.

“No, I’m leaving the heku and disappearing.”

“I’ll look for you and I will find you.”

“Then I’ll ash you and disappear again. This world isn’t for me. I’ve spent 13 years with the heku, and in your eyes, I’m still a young child. Someone who needs trained and disciplined,” Emily said. “No more. I’m going to go out on my own, raise my children the best I can with what I have to offer and hopefully… someday… they will forgive me.”

“Don’t do this. Come to me, I will treat you like the adult that you are,” Exavior said, starting to panic.

“You tortured my best friend to get to me. Why would I come to you?”

“Love…”

Emily shut the phone and put it back in Kyle’s pocket. She leaned over the bed and kissed his forehead softly before leaving the room. Chevalier, Sotomar, and William met her outside in the hallway.

“Em, talk to us,” Chevalier said softly.

“I’ve told Exavior I’m leaving. He should leave you all alone now,” Emily said, and headed down the stairs.

Allen met her at the bottom of the stairs, and she wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s up to you. You can stay here, or come with me, but you can’t move between us anymore,” Emily told him, her voice cracking at the end.

“Don’t do this, please. I can’t choose between you,” Allen asked, holding her tightly.

“You have to choose. If you come with me, you won’t see your Dad until after I die… if you stay here then…” Emily’s voice gave out and the tears started.

“I can’t leave you unprotected. I’ll come with you,” Allen said, and looked up at his Dad. Chevalier watched them, in too much shock to speak.

Emily nodded, “I’ve seen Kyle… I’m ready to go.”

“Emily, don’t do this,” Chevalier said, and took her hand.

Emily pulled her hand away from him, “I’ve seen clearly for the first time in 13 years, I’ve seen what my presence has done to the heku. I’m sure it’ll take a few years before things get back to normal, but then, it’ll be like I was never here.”

“That’s not what we want,” William said. “You brought the factions together. You brought life to the Encala… no one has done that.”

“My best friend was tortured because of an infatuation with me,” Emily said softly. “Trust me, this is better for all of us. In my world, I’m a responsible adult, capable of taking care of myself and my family.”

“We aren’t treating you like a child,” Sotomar said. “We’re treating you like a valued friend, an important part of our lives that we don’t want to see hurt.”

“Your world isn’t ready for me,” Emily said, and headed for the door.

“Don’t do this to protect us,” Chevalier said, starting to panic. “If we made a mistake, then let us fix it... but don’t leave to protect the heku.”

Emily slid into the Aero and Allen got into the passenger’s side. He was too numb to talk, too afraid he would never be a part of this world again. The world he was a part of, and belonged to, but he also knew he couldn’t leave his mother and his sister unprotected.

“Stop her,” Sotomar said, frowning.

Chevalier knelt down by the driver’s seat, “Just give me a few weeks to make things right.”

“No more time, no more tortures… and honestly, I’m pretty tired of being confined in a bedroom,” Emily said, and grinned slightly. “Tell Kyle that I came to see him.”

“He wanted to see you, to make sure you were ok,” Chevalier said, lying to keep her. “Stay at least until he can make sure you’re ok.”

Emily started the car and shut the door, and then pulled away from the castle as the entire heku army watched. She pulled onto the ferry and the Captain checked with the pier guards, and then slowly backed the ferry up, heading for land, 4 hours away.

Emily leaned her head against the steering wheel and started to cry. She was leaving her husband behind, never again to see him or the species she loved so much. She had to protect them. Exavior would be killed soon, but then there would be another. She was also taking two blood drinking children into the world of the mortals, and she had no idea how she would feed them. She knew they would be better off left with the heku, but she couldn’t bear to never see her children again.

“Mom,” Allen said, touching her back softly.

Emily looked up at him with red, swollen eyes.

“Dad wants to talk to you,” he said, and looked out her window.

Emily turned and saw Chevalier standing on the ferry, a few yards from the car. She opened the door and stepped out hesitantly, and then leaned back against the Aero.

“We have three more hours to figure this out,” Chevalier said softly.

“My mind is made up.”

“No it’s not. I saw the decision happen suddenly in my office. If you came to the castle with the decision made, then I wouldn’t be here... but you don’t want to leave.”

“You did it again… you confined me to the palace, breaking records with the number of guards,” Emily reminded him.

“Those weren’t just for you. We left the palace unprotected, Thukil and Powan were there to watch over the entire palace.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t need bodyguards, had I not agreed to them with Zohn…”

“I know... but we emptied the guards out of Council City. It’s never been more dangerous for you,” Chevalier explained.

“So stop tricking me and going behind my back. I thought I was a member of the Council.”

“You are…”

“Then treat me like one. Did you hide the attack from any of the others?”

“No, but…”

“Did you lock any others up in the palace?”

Chevalier sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“For now, but next time you’ll do the same.”

“It’s in my nature to protect you.”

Emily sighed, “It’s in my nature to fight back… so we’re at an impasse.”

“No, damnit, I’m not ready for you to leave,” Chevalier said angrily. “With a mortal, I only have limited time with you, and I don’t want it cut short, not even if only by 50 or 60 years.”

“I don’t want to turn.”

“I haven’t asked you to. In my opinion, you’re too young anyway.”

“See, that’s your problem… I’m an adult,” she said, irritated.

“I know that.”

“Do you? Or am I some little doll that you have to protect from the neighborhood dog, one to dress up and parade around?”

“You can’t really believe that,” Chevalier said, frowning. “You’re twisting my words. I didn’t say you were a child. I said you were too young to turn. If I had my way, no one under 70 would be turned.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. That doesn’t change the fact that Kyle was tortured because of me.”

“No, he was tortured because Exavior is power hungry. He’s been planning this for years, even if you weren’t here he would have tried this eventually,” Chevalier explained. “When the Valle replaced Elder Jeaniel, Exavior thought he was a sure bet for her seat. This entire thing started when he found out he wasn’t her replacement.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Are you putting me on?”

Chevalier smiled slightly, “No, this isn’t all your doing. I figure he’s planned this for a few years and has only recently decided you need to be an Elder in his new faction.”

“So let me,” Emily said.

“What? Why?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“Nothing can bring a new faction down faster than a troublesome Elder.”

“Nothing can bring down a mortal faster than being a troublesome Elder that Exavior wants to re-train.”

“True,” Emily said, sighing.

“Give me two months?”

“To do what?”

“I don’t know, that just seems to work,” Chevalier told her.

“The ultimatum was just smashed to pieces by all three factions… four if you want to go there.”

“We’ll make it up to you. Meet with the Elders and we’ll come up with something,” Chevalier suggested.

Emily glanced over at Allen. He was sitting in the car, pretending not to listen, but she knew he heard it all.

“No more leaving for wars behind my back?”

“No”

“No more minions guarding me?”

“No,” Chevalier said.

“Fine, but that includes anyone attacking Allen because he helped me,” Emily said.

“I need to talk to him about that, but I won’t hurt him.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “No.”

Chevalier sighed, “He overstepped…”

“He did what I told him to do… and I’m his mother.”

“He needs rules… you may not be a heku, but he sure as hell is and there are rules to follow.”

“He’s my 11-year-old son,” Emily reminded him.

Chevalier glanced into the car, “This once…”

Allen grinned and pulled a book out of his bag.

Emily went back and sat down in the Aero, but left the door open. Chevalier came over and handed her a bag.

“What’s this?” she asked, looking inside.

“Lunch, heard you aren’t eating again. Do you know how frustrating that is?”

Emily glanced at Allen when she thought she heard a whisper. She saw his lips moving, but didn’t hear anything.

“What are you whispering?” Emily asked, irritated.

“Let me see your ankle,” Chevalier said, putting out his hand.

Emily frowned at Allen, “Tattle tale.”

Chevalier grinned, “Your back is next… come on.”

Emily smiled, “I’m expressing my independence… no.”

“No?” Chevalier asked, wide eyed. He briefly wondered if he would ever get used to being told no, after thousands of years of his every word being followed immediately and without question.

“No…” Emily said again, and grabbed her book from under her seat.

“Interesting,” Chevalier said, amused.

Emily didn’t look up until the ferry signaled they were almost to land. The ferry driver hadn’t turned around when Chevalier asked because there was a message that Quinn was waiting for them at the docks.

Emily got out of the Aero and followed Allen and Chevalier to the end of the ferry and watched for Quinn’s silver Zonda.

“Well, well, well,” Chevalier said, crossing his arms.

“What?” Emily asked.

“4 Veyrons,” Allen told her.

Emily smiled, “I got this one…”

Chevalier glanced at her and she smiled, “There… empty ugly sports cars.”

Chevalier chuckled, “You’re calling $1.7 million cars ugly?”

“Yes, I am,” Emily said, and stepped off the ferry, walking toward the cars. She opened the first car and looked down at the pile of ash in each seat, “Do you want these?”

“Yes, I do,” Chevalier said. He gathered up the ashes from the first car and moved to the second.

“No!” Allen yelled, and Chevalier heard a loud splash.

He turned around just as the top of one of the Bugatti Veyrons disappeared below the surface of the water.

“You… did you just push that over?” he asked, shocked.

“Yes, I did,” Emily said, and started to push the second one.

“We could give those away,” Chevalier said, too surprised to stop her as she pushed the second one over the pier.

“I want one,” Allen said, staring at the top of the second car as it disappeared.

“I’m proving a point,” Emily said, and pushed the third one over the pier. The Captain of the ferry watched with wide eyes.

Emily walked over to the fourth car and tried to push it, but it wouldn’t move. She looked up and saw Allen standing in front of it.

“You can’t have a car, you’re 11.”

“Please…” Allen said, his eyes pleading.

“Give him the car, Em,” Chevalier chuckled.

“He’s not old enough to drive.”

“Mom… come on…”

Emily sighed, “Fine.”

Allen grinned and got inside. He pulled it onto the ferry as Chevalier and Emily followed. Chevalier waved to the Captain, and he slowly pulled away from the docks. Emily checked the water and saw no signs of the million dollar sports cars.

The ride back was uneventful, and Sotomar and William were waiting on the pier, excited to see the purple car come into view on the ferry. Emily pulled off the ferry and turned around when she saw the Veyron following her, and Chevalier stepped out onto the pier.

“No,” Emily said sternly. “Chev… take that car.”

“It’s only a mile,” he said, glancing at the car.

“He’s 11,” Emily said, crossing her arms.

“Were you attacked?” Sotomar asked, surprised at the Veyron.

“We were going to be, but Em saw them first,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Drive that back,” Emily said, and sped off toward the castle.

“Sorry, Allen, I don’t need a fight,” Chevalier said, opening the driver’s door. Allen moved to the passenger seat, and Chevalier drove back to the palace. Sotomar and William met them there and Mark was just coming out of the front doors.

“Glad you decided to stay,” Mark said, smiling.

“I didn’t agree to stay. I’ve agreed to negotiations,” Emily told him, still not happy with his recent behavior. She headed inside, limping slightly on her left ankle.

Mark fell back after her glare and stood at his post silently.

“Come, Child, let’s talk in here,” Sotomar said, opening the door to the conference room.

“Call me Child again and I’ll ash you,” Emily snapped, and then headed inside as Sotomar looked at William with wide eyes.

Chevalier came in and grinned, “She won’t turn you to ash, come on.”

Emily sat at the end of the table, arms crossed, and obviously ready for a fight. The three Elders were joined by Zohn before sitting down at the table. A servant came in with a pot of hot coffee and a mug, and sat them down in front of Emily. She poured herself a cup and then glared when Chevalier took it away.

“You need food, not caffeine,” he said.

Emily stood up and started for the door.

Sotomar pushed the coffee back towards her, “Sit, please.”

She picked up the coffee, “Stop treating me like your disobedient daughter.”

“If you bothered to take care of the human needs to keep yourself alive, I wouldn’t need to,” he said, and then grew quiet when he realized how that sounded.

“Would you two stop it?” Sotomar asked, frustrated. “It’s hard to negotiate when you’re having a domestic spat.”

Emily leaned back in her chair and brought her knees up to her chest, then sipped her coffee slowly, waiting for them to talk.

“What was decided on the ferry?” William asked.

“She agreed to come talk to us, that’s it,” Chevalier explained.

“So you are still planning on fulfilling the punishment in the ultimatum?” Sotomar asked.

“Yes, I am,” Emily said angrily.

Sotomar sighed, “What exactly happened to break the ultimatum?”

“I was blocked from leaving Council City by an army from all three factions.”

“The Valle wouldn’t do that,” Sotomar said.

“Actually, they did. Ryan approved it,” Chevalier told him.

“It was merely to keep you safe. We knew you would try to join us in the war against Exavior’s army,” William explained.

“I don’t believe cause was part of the ultimatum,” Emily said.

“Still, we cannot let you go into a war that we are unsure of the outcome.”

“I was blocked from leaving, chased, slammed off my horse, confined to a bedroom, and then babysat for the last few days… all clearly breaking the ultimatum.”

“So what now?” Sotomar asked. “Why did you return instead of disappearing?”

“I say we let her go,” Zohn said calmly.

“Fine,” Emily said, and stood up.

“Zohn…” Chevalier growled.

“She’s nothing but trouble and I, personally, am ready to be done with her,” Zohn said.

“He’s just feeling bold because Damon’s back. He doesn’t have the balls to act alone,” Emily said, and opened the conference room door, stepping out.

“Stop,” William shouted, following her out.

“Let her go. Our lives will be much easier without the brat hanging around,” Zohn said, amused.

Emily spun, “Brat?”

“Yes, brat” he said, and everyone in the castle’s foyer turned to look at them curiously.

“Suck it, Zohn,” Emily said, still walking for the front doors.

“Shut up, Zohn,” Chevalier growled.

“Emily, wait,” William called out, and left the castle after her.

Zohn ran out after them, “You’d love that… then big mean husband could come save you.”

Emily turned on him and walked toward him, “I don’t need Chev to save me, you sack of shit.”

William turned quickly and wrapped his arms around Emily’s waist, “Just a second.”

Sotomar grabbed Zohn by the arm as he advanced on Emily, “Stop.”

Emily glared at Zohn, and he screamed as a burning smell filled the area. Sotomar let him go and he fell to the grass, writhing in pain.

“Emily!” William yelled, surprised, and let her go.

Emily released Zohn from the pain, and he got to his hands and knees while the pain subsided. She ran to him and kicked, her foot catching his jaw and breaking it in half. Sotomar lunged for Zohn when Chevalier moved to grab Emily, just as Zohn took her foot and pulled her feet out from under her, dropping her to the ground.

Sotomar pulled Zohn to his feet quickly and took one arm while William took the other. He pulled against them, “Bitch, if it’s a fight you want, bring it on.”

Emily fought against Chevalier’s arms around her waist, “I’m not afraid of you.”

Mark appeared when he heard the yelling and froze, not sure who he was supposed to help.

Zohn stopped fighting and calmed down. The Elders let go of him, and he straightened his shirt. Emily glared at him and did the same when Chevalier let her go.

“Damn, you don’t want treated like a child, yet you act like one,” Zohn said.

Emily screamed and ran at him. Chevalier’s hands missed her as Allen plowed into him, knocking him backwards a few steps. Zohn reached out, surprised, and caught her around the neck. William and Sotomar grabbed a hold of his arms, but he kept his grip on her.

Emily brought her knee up, connecting with Zohn’s groin. When he doubled over slightly, she reached out and quickly dug her fingers into his neck, pulling his trachea out of it as blood splattered across the area. She pulled hard and snapped it in half, completely cutting off his airway. Mark wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back, too surprised to do much more than dodge her attacks towards him.

“Everybody calm down!” Sotomar yelled with enough force that everyone in the courtyard froze.

Emily stopped fighting Mark and watched Zohn slowly heal. Chevalier had Allen by the arm and was angrily pulling him into the castle. Sotomar and William helped Zohn to his feet when he’d healed enough to walk, and led him back into the castle, followed by Mark, who was still carrying Emily.

Mark sat Emily down in a chair and held her shoulders, “Just stay put.”

Zohn was leaned over slightly, talking to Sotomar and William in whispers.

“You and I,” Chevalier growled at Allen, “Are about to come to an understanding.”

Allen was glaring at his Dad, “Stop restraining Mom and we won’t have a problem.”

A helicopter arrived from Council City and landed on the front lawn. Quinn, Silas, Valle Elder Ryan, and Encala Elder Aaron stepped out and came inside. They all stopped and watched, wide eyed as Zohn, Emily, and Allen were all restrained. Zohn and Emily were both covered in blood.

“What happened?” Quinn asked, frowning.

Chevalier pushed Allen toward Silas, “Take him upstairs and don’t let him out of your sight.”

“Yes, Sir,” Silas said, pulling Allen up the stairs.

“Was there an attack?” Aaron asked, frowning at the blood covered foyer.

“Yes,” Zohn said calmly. “Emily decided to attack me.”

“Bullshit!” Emily growled. “He started it.”

Mark readjusted his hands and continued to hold her in the chair.

“So whose blood is all over?” Ryan asked, stepping over a pool of it.

“Mine,” Zohn said, grinning slightly. “Seems Emily’s learned some new tricks.”

Quinn walked over and knelt down beside Emily, “Calm down, ok?”

Emily glared at him.

Quinn grinned slightly, “Just… calm down, please.”

“That was… fairly impressive,” William said, and his eyebrows rose.

Sotomar glared at him.

“Well, it was,” William said, and turned back to Zohn.

“Elders and Emily, back to the conference room,” Quinn said. “Mark, why don’t you join us?”

Mark nodded and let go of Emily so she could go into the conference room. She sat back down in the end chair and poured herself more coffee before bringing her knees up to her chest. Mark sat down in the chair beside her, and she got the impression he was babysitting again.

Zohn sat at the far end from Emily and the other Elders came back in and sat down, shutting the door behind them.

“Zohn, please try to refrain from speaking,” Quinn said, grinning slightly. “These negotiations will go smoother if we can avoid bloodshed.”

“Very well,” Zohn said, sitting back in his chair.

“Make it fast. I want to get out of here before dark,” Emily said, sipping at her coffee.

“Where are you going?” Aaron asked, smiling.

“Fulfilling my part of the ultimatum… it’s been broken, badly, and it’s time to go,” Emily said, avoiding his eyes when his smile disappeared.

“You’re going to leave? Just like that?” Ryan asked, frowning.

“Yes, I am.”

“We’re here for some negotiations, to see if we can get her to stay,” Quinn said. “However, it has been noted that one Elder doesn’t wish for her to stay… we should take a vote.”

“Stay,” Sotomar said. “I will speak for Elder Vizia also.”

“Stay,” Aaron and Ryan said in unison.

“I would prefer if she stay,” William said, smiling at her. “I will speak for Elder Reese as well.”

“Stay,” Chevalier said softly.

“You know my vote,” Zohn said, looking at the painting on the wall.

“Vote all you want. I haven’t agreed to stay,” Emily reminded them.

“So name it, what will it take to get you to stay?” Sotomar asked.

Emily sighed, “You already knew and didn’t do it, why should I make more demands?”

“Where war is concerned, I’m afraid we are all a little blind to some things as we focus entirely on protecting the things that matter,” Sotomar said.

“My… confinement aside, what’s it going to take to get you all to realize how much better off the heku would be without me?” Emily asked, frustrated that they weren’t seeing what was going on.

“How do you figure our species would be better off without you?” Quinn asked.

“Oh come on… Exavior ring a bell? He’s just tortured and almost killed my friend to get to me.”

“I told you,” Chevalier said. “That wasn’t because of you. It was because his pride was hurt when he wasn’t made an Elder.”

“He speaks the truth,” Sotomar said. “Though I wonder how he knows.”

Chevalier grinned slightly.

“How long has Exavior been the Valle’s Chief Interrogator?” Emily asked.

Ryan thought for a moment, “Just over 2,500 years.”

“And it’s just a coincidence that he chooses now to rebel? Just happens to have decided that I should be an Elder in this new faction of his, all by coincidence?”

“No, we know that his attraction to you was the final determination, but we suspect he’s had plans to do this for centuries,” Sotomar told her.

Emily pressed her palms against her eyes, “You’re all too stubborn to see what’s right in front of your eyes. Your peaceful existence 14 years ago when heku followed orders, rules were kept, the three factions were the same as they had been for thousands of years… you can have that again.”

“I don’t remember it being all that peaceful 14 years ago,” Ryan said. “I was Coven Leader of a medium sized coven in Nevada that was completely obliterated by the Equites in the middle of the night.”

“We are more civilized now than we ever have been,” Quinn said. “You’ve shown us that we can work together.”

Emily sighed and looked up, “You’ll have to trust me then, your lives will be better without me in them.”

“Are you in pain?” Sotomar asked, frowning.

“No”

“She’s lying,” Zohn said. “You can tell by her eyes that she has a headache.”

“Bite me,” Emily yelled, glaring at him.

Chevalier growled at Zohn, and he sat back in his chair.

“Hmmm,” Sotomar said, and blurred behind Emily. He put his hands out and felt along her shoulders.

“Hey! That hurts,” Emily said, and tried to pull away. Sotomar held onto her and began to work on a problem spot on her shoulder.

“I noticed you carry your stress in your shoulders, that’s why you have headaches,” Sotomar said.

“Oh my God…” Emily whispered, and leaned her head forward.

Sotomar grinned, “Being a trained masseuse comes in handy.”

“Yes, we all heard about the last massage you gave her,” Chevalier said, glaring at him.

“That was different,” Sotomar said as his hands expertly worked on her neck and shoulders. “You know, if I had a decent table, I could really help her headache, and maybe her ankle.”

“He is quite good,” Ryan told them.

“Talks might go smoother if she felt better, more relaxed,” Quinn whispered, too softly for Emily to hear.

“He felt her up,” Chevalier reminded him.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Sotomar said. “That was a momentary lapse in judgment, when she was on my table, with no clothes on… I just… apologize.”

Chevalier sighed, “She does get moody when she’s stressed.”

“I could stay with them,” Mark said. “To watch his hands.”

Sotomar glared at him, “I know how to behave.”

“Fine,” Chevalier whispered, “But Mark and Silas will be there.”

Sotomar nodded, “Come, Dear.”

Emily looked up, “Where are we going?”

“I want to work on your back,” Sotomar said, and put his hand out.

“I can get a masseuse at the hotel,” Emily told him. “I still want to finish this so I can leave.”

“I don’t trust anyone else to do it,” Sotomar told her, and pulled her up to standing. “It won’t take but an hour. You have a room here, do you not?”

Emily nodded, “I do, but…”

“Good, take your clothes off and get under the sheet,” Sotomar said, ignoring the low hiss that came from Chevalier.

Emily frowned, “No.”

“I’ll be there with Silas. He won’t try anything,” Mark said.

“One hour?” Emily asked Sotomar.

“One”

“Naked?”

“Fully, get under the sheet. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Why do I have the feeling I’m going to regret this?” Emily asked, heading out of the conference room.

“One toe out of line…” Chevalier growled.

“With two of your guards watching? Not a chance,” Sotomar said. “Think about it… I’ll put her to sleep, that’ll buy us some time.”

Chevalier watched nervously as Sotomar left the room.

“It’ll work out better. She’ll relax and won’t have a headache,” Quinn said. “We have a few hours to come up with a plan to keep her.”

“Let her go… she’ll come running back,” Zohn said, nodding.

“Do you even know her?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“Come in,” Emily called out. She blushed when Silas, Mark, and Sotomar came in. She was lying in the middle of her bed, completely naked, and covered only with a thin sheet.

“Perfect,” Sotomar said. “Now just relax”

Emily blushed and put her forehead down on the pillow.

Sotomar pulled the sheet down to just below her waist, and looked up nervously when Mark cleared his throat. Silas and Mark each took a spot on the sides of the bed, watching him closely.

“What happened?” Sotomar asked when he saw the deep bruises and cuts on her back.

“I was body slammed off my horse,” Emily said, her words muffled against the pillow.

“Hmm,” Sotomar sighed, and then began to work on her neck as Mark and Silas scrutinized his every move.

Emily sighed and began to relax as he worked the knotted muscles in her neck and shoulders. By the time he worked down onto her back, she was almost asleep, but acutely aware of how his hands trailed down her back to the curve of her waist. He worked around the bruises and focused on the knots.

Sotomar pulled the sheets up from the foot of her bed and folded them up to her thighs, and began massaging the back of her legs as Silas leaned forward to watch him closer.

“Light the fires and get me an ace bandage,” Sotomar whispered, too softly for mortal ears. Within a few seconds, a servant came in, glanced nervously at Emily, and then stoked the fire until it was roaring and warming the room quickly. Another came and put several ace bandages on the bed beside the Elder.

By the time Sotomar got to Emily’s feet, her breathing was slow and rhythmic, she was deep asleep. He wrapped her swollen ankle in an ace bandage without her even knowing, and then pulled the sheets down over her legs. He backed up to the door and left quietly, followed by Mark and Silas. Sotomar headed down to the conference room while Silas and Mark stayed outside of Emily’s bedroom.

“She’s asleep,” Sotomar said, coming into the quiet room. “Did you know her back is badly bruised and cut up?”

“I knew she was injured in the fall, but I haven’t seen it,” Chevalier said.

“I also wrapped her ankle, it’s swollen,” Sotomar said, and sat down. “What did you decide?”

“We haven’t decided on anything. We don’t know what she wants in return for staying,” Quinn said.

“We’re hoping she’s relaxed and calm, and will talk to us when she wakes up,” Ryan told him.

“Damn, I want to see her back,” Chevalier sighed, and disappeared from the room. He appeared by the bedroom door and opened it, careful not to make a noise. The room was so hot that it was almost hard to breathe, but his eyes immediately focused on Emily sleeping on the bed.

The sheets were pulled low across her hips, exposing her delicate figure and the soft curve from her waist to her hips. He sat gently on the bed and ran his fingers lightly over the dark bruises left from falling off of the horse. He pulled her hair back slightly so he could see her soft shoulders and the little dip at the nape of her neck.

Her hands clasped softly and she jerked in her sleep, but settled back down. Chevalier knew it was intrusive, but he reached out and gently laid his hand on her back.

“Just let them go, you can keep me,” Emily begged as Exavior held a baby in his arms.

“Why should I? The three other factions think you disappeared as warned. They’ll never know that you are in my care,” Exavior said, and handed a glass over to Alexis as he cradled the baby in his other arm.

“They will find out, but if you let the kids go, I’ll agree to stay.”

Exavior grinned, “Now that I’ll have to consider... but will you stay as my wife?”

Emily watched as Exavior put the baby down at the table and moved to her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her roughly, pulling her body against his.

“Sir?” Allen said officially.

Exavior broke the kiss and looked up.

“We’re ready, shall we head out?” Allen asked. He was dressed in a classic guard uniform with a royal blue cape.

“Yes, report as soon as it’s done,” Exavior told him.

“Where are you going?” Emily asked. She tried to pull away from Exavior, but he held her tightly.

“He’s a guard now. They are raiding Powan tonight.”

“No,” Emily said, frowning. She looked over at Exavior, “Please, don’t send him to fight.”

“There’s only one thing that will keep him here for the raid,” Exavior said, grinning as he ran his fingers up Emily’s back.

Chevalier pulled his hand away from her and watched her sleep for a few minutes. She settled back down into slow, deep breathing. He stood up slowly and walked out of the room, silently shutting the door behind him.

“No one… goes in there,” Chevalier said as Emily’s half covered body came to mind.

“Yes, Sir,” Mark and Silas both said.

“Where’s Allen?” Chevalier asked Silas.

“In his room, reading,” Silas answered.

Chevalier walked up to his room and saw Allen reading by the fire. Allen looked up when his Dad came in and set his book down.

Chevalier sighed, “I know you’re protective of your mother…”

“Yes, I am,” Allen said.

“However, you are never to interfere when I am there, is that understood?”

“I understand, but I don’t agree,” Allen told him. “If you overstep, I may be the only there that will stop you.”

Chevalier pulled Allen up with a hand around his neck, “Do you need a reminder of where you fit into this family? Do not cross me.”

Allen glared at his Dad and whispered, “Then keep your hands off of her when you’re mad.”

Chevalier slammed Allen against the wall, “You’re my son and I demand respect. Do not talk to me like that.”

Allen nodded, hesitantly, and Chevalier put him down.

“Stay in here until talks are done with your Mom,” Chevalier growled, and left the room. He joined the other Elders in the castle’s conference room.

“What now?” Sotomar asked.

“We wait, and hope when she wakes up that she remembers her dream,” Chevalier said, and pulled a roster book from the shelf.

“Do we get to know what the Princess dreams about?” Zohn asked.

“What’s up with you lately?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“Lately… I’ve just been reminded of the point Damon made,” Zohn said, and held his hand up when Quinn started to protest. “He went about it the wrong way... but he had a point.”

“What point might that be?” Sotomar asked.

“That she needs discipline and rules, like everyone else in the palace.”

Sotomar frowned, “She’s not like others in the palace… or in the faction for that matter.”

“No, she’s spoiled and gets away with anything,” Zohn said. “If a heku acted like she does, they would immediately be imprisoned or banished.”

“She can’t be held to the same standards of a heku,” William said. “She’s young, very young, and a mortal that was thrown into this world suddenly. She can’t be expected to behave as if she had a choice in the matter… like a heku.”

“You make it sound like I forced her,” Chevalier said, irritated.

“Not you... but years and years of feeding attacks forced you to bring her to us for protection,” William explained.

“Don’t let him fool you. He didn’t bring her into our world to protect her,” Zohn said, grinning.

“Excuse me?” Chevalier hissed.

“You fell in love with someone you were sent to evaluate as a possible Winchester.”

“I think we need to change the subject,” Sotomar said, frowning. “It doesn’t matter why she is here, no matter what Zohn said, we need to keep her, at all costs.”

“The second she disappears from our protection, she’s going to walk right into Exavior’s,” Chevalier told them.

“Is that where the Veyron came from? Exavior was waiting on the pier?” William asked.

“Veyrons… plural,” Chevalier said. “We saw them on the pier, and Emily ashed the occupants before they had a chance to explain.”

“You have their ashes?” Sotomar asked.

“Yes, as soon as we get a Chief Enforcer, we’ll talk to them.”

“Where are the other cars?” William asked curiously.

Chevalier grinned, “Em pushed them into the ocean.”

“She… she pushed a $1.7 million car into the ocean?”

“Three of them.”

William shook his head, “What a shame.”

“Allen saved the fourth. She just won’t let him drive it though.”

“Why not? He’s almost as tall as a full heku, and obviously intellectually advanced,” Sotomar said.

“I know, but she still sees him as an 11-year-old,” Chevalier told them.

“I’ve been thinking, we should send him to Powan for guard training,” Zohn said. “He’s expressed an interest many times.”

Chevalier shook his head, “Emily will never allow that.”

“See, you let her set down the law.”

“He’s her son, and I’m not taking mother privileges from her. She has a fear that Allen will be sent to a war and right now, we don’t need to exacerbate any fears of what happens if she stays with us,” Chevalier said.

“Agreed,” Quinn said. “If he keeps showing an interest, we will mentor him with the Cavalry.”

“That… she may go for,” Chevalier said, nodding slightly.

“Damn, that didn’t last long,” Sotomar said when they heard Emily run across the floor. They heard the door open into Kyle’s room.

“I’m going to check on them,” Quinn said, and blurred from the room. He appeared outside of Emily’s door, but saw the door to Chevalier’s room was open, and Emily was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a sheet.

“She just ran out of her room and into here,” Silas whispered to Quinn.

Emily reached out and touched Kyle’s face softly, “Kyle?”

Kyle didn’t move, even when Emily took his hand.

Emily jumped for the cell phone when it rang.

“Kyle’s phone,” she whispered.

“Who is this?” Exavior asked angrily.

She frowned, “It’s Emily… keep the attitude down.”

“My dear wife, I was hoping to find you with the boyfriend.”

“Stop calling him that… and what do you want?” Emily asked.

“To warn you, my love.”

“About what?”

“You turned eight of my guards to ash. That is unacceptable behavior and will be dealt with harshly,” Exavior said calmly.

“I’d like to see you try,” Emily whispered angrily, and turned away from Mark when he reached for the phone.

“I will try, and I will succeed… you must learn what your place is, and you will control your abilities around my subjects.”

“Oh, that was very controlled,” Emily said, smiling.

“Tsk tsk, my love, you will learn soon enough. Discipline is what you need,” Exavior told her.

“Funny, that’s what Zohn said.”

“For once, he is correct. Come to me now and I will lessen your sentence to a small punishment.”

“May I try something?” Emily asked sweetly.

There was a pause, “Like what?”

Emily shut her eyes and kept the phone to her ear. Mark, Silas, and Quinn watched her, curious as to what she was trying to do.

“Are you there?” Exavior asked.

There was only silence and the heku could see the concentration in Emily’s face.

“Emily! I know what you’re trying to do…”

She frowned slightly and squeezed her eyes together.

“Stop it! I order you to stop!” Exavior screamed at her. “You are earning the harshest punishment, once I get my hands on you, you’ll pray for death.”

Emily fell to her knees as blood began to trickle from her nose and she dropped the phone. She leaned over, one hand clutching the sheet and the other supported her on the floor.

“Chevalier,” Quinn called out, and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.

Mark grabbed the phone and listened, but the line had disconnected. The other Elders met Quinn as he carried Emily to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and she squeezed her eyes shut and wiped away the blood in her ear.

Chevalier spun and looked around, “Who did she turn to ash?”

Quinn stepped back, “I don’t think anyone.”

“Why is she ill then?” Sotomar asked.

“I think she was trying to turn them to ash over the phone,” Mark said, and handed a warm rag to Chevalier.

“What?” Sotomar yelled. “Can she do that?”

“Not that I’ve seen,” Chevalier said, and sat down. “Em… look at me.”

Emily looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and whispered, “He threatened me.”

“Who did?”

“Exavior,” Emily whispered, and pressed her palms into her eyes.

“Exavior called on Kyle’s phone,” Quinn explained. “He threatened her for turning the eight in the Veyrons to ash… she… she asked if she could try something, and then Exavior became furious. I think he knew what she was attempting.”

“I earned the harshest punishment,” Emily whispered, and rolled over onto her side, away from the others.

“Lock down the island,” Chevalier said, and within seconds, an alarm sounded in the city and the castle came to life with the buzzing of guards as they moved to their posts.

Chapter 18 - Last Chance

Emily opened her eyes slowly and looked around the familiar bedroom. She saw the door was open, and Silas and Mark were standing outside of it. She swung her legs off of the bed, confused about what happened over the last few days, then remembered pieces of events, but nothing made much sense.

Emily put on a robe and limped over to the heavy drapes hanging over the small balcony. She stepped out and inhaled the salty air, smiling at the memories it brought back. She looked around the island. Things seemed particularly silent and Encala guards patrolled the castle grounds in groups of three.

The smell of coffee and pancakes brought her back from a daze, and she went back inside and sat at the table to eat.

“Good morning,” Mark said from the doorway.

Emily sat back in the chair with her coffee, “What day is it?”

“Friday,” Mark told her, and glanced at Silas.

Emily sighed, “I’ve been here for four days?”

“Yes, the island is on lockdown right now and no one’s leaving,” Silas told her.

“Why? What happened?” Emily asked, sitting up.

Silas glanced at Mark, “The Elder is on the way, he can tell you.”

“Is Kyle awake?”

“Yes, he woke up last night,” Mark said.

Emily put her cup down and walked out of her room and in to Chevalier’s, where Kyle was sitting up on the bed.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Kyle said, grinning at her.

Emily ran to him and threw her arms around him, “You’re ok.”

Kyle hugged her tightly, “I’m ok. I wish you wouldn’t worry about me.”

Emily pulled away from him and began to unbutton his shirt.

“Em…” he said, but she shushed him.

Emily slipped his shirt off and inspected his chest and arms, “Are you healed?”

“Yes,” Kyle said, and pulled his shirt back on. “Don’t do that when Chevalier gets here.”

“What did he do to you?” Emily asked, looking into his eyes.

Kyle glanced at Chevalier as he walked into the room, “It’s not as bad as you think, I’m sure.”

Emily frowned, “Stop protecting me. What did he do?”

“I spent most of the time in a cell, bored,” Kyle said, and smiled.

“You’re lying to me,” Emily said, frowning.

“What about you? When did you start trying to ash heku over the phone?”

“I haven’t,” she said, confused.

“Em, let him rest,” Chevalier said from the doorway.

“Get dressed too. There are lots of Valle and Encala running around,” Kyle said, amused.

Emily looked down and blushed at the silky pink nightgown and robe, and then looked back at Kyle, “Rest, then I want to hear everything.”

Chevalier and Emily went back into her room, and she sat down and poured steaming syrup over the pancakes. He smiled, happy to see her eating again, and sat down in the chair beside her.

“Why is the island on lock down? Is that an attempt to keep me here?” Emily asked, and took a bite.

“No, it’s because of Exavior,” Chevalier said. “He’s… well… beyond furious at you.”

Emily frowned, “What did I do now?”

“Do you remember him calling Kyle and you answered?”

“No, when was that?”

“Four nights ago,” Chevalier said. “The night you tried to turn heku to ash over the phone.”

Emily sighed, “I’ve wanted to try that.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Well you did, and it didn’t work... but he’s livid.”

“Peachy,” she sighed. She wondered what the chances were that Exavior would suddenly decide to just leave her alone.

“He’s called several times to talk to you, and each time, threatens to find you… he knows you’re here now,” Chevalier said.

“That doesn’t take rocket science though,” Emily said, still eating her pancakes.

“We want you to stay until the problem with Exavior is resolved.”

“No, I said I’m leaving and I am… lockdown or no.”

“He has the docks covered,” Chevalier said.

“That’s what helicopters are for,” Emily said. “I can’t take the kids in the Aero anyway. I’ll need the Jeep.”

Chevalier sighed, “Please stay until we get Exavior. It’s too risky, and if he gets a hold of you and the kids… I can only imagine what he would do with them.”

Emily’s body tensed slightly and Chevalier knew he’d hit a nerve. She put her fork down and sat back with the coffee.

“Your plan to return to the moral world isn’t going to work as long as Exavior is looking for you,” he told her.

Emily sighed and disappeared into the bathroom. She came out a few minutes later in a new bikini that Margaret made for her. She headed out the door, tying her hair up as she went.

Silas and Mark glanced at her and then at each other before following her as they looked at the walls. Chevalier followed them down, but headed to his office instead of the pool. He grinned and shook his head as the guards inside the palace glanced quickly at her and then looked away at anything they could find.

When she disappeared into the pool, Mark and Silas stayed outside and Chevalier went into his office. Sotomar and William were still on Island Coven, but the other Elders had already returned to their respective palaces. Valle and Encala guards were patrolling the island and the Equites guards were inside the castle.

Emily crawled into the warm water and went under briefly before emerging and rolling onto her back. She shut her eyes and floated on the water, listening to the sound of the filters. She had to concentrate on the feel of the water as images from her torture by Exavior flashed in her mind.

“Enter,” Chevalier said, shutting the financial book for the island.

Sotomar and William came in and sat down, “The guards say she’s swimming?”

“Yes,” Chevalier said. “If she’s here, that’s where she goes to think.”

“That’s hopeful,” Sotomar said.

“I had to take a low blow,” he explained. “I hate using her nightmares against her.”

“It’s for the best.”

Chevalier nodded, “Any word from the front lines?”

“Just that the forces on the docks are growing, and apparently all three main cities are surrounded by once factionless heku,” William told him.

Chevalier tapped his fingers on the desk, “If he manages to round up every factionless heku, his group is going to be formidable.”

“We were talking… about a way to get Exavior,” Sotomar said, and looked at William.

“Using Emily as bait,” William said.

Chevalier rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s too dangerous.”

“Not if we combine forces and have them ready. He won’t be able to get her by us,” Sotomar said.

“We also think it may prove to her that we trust her and need her,” William said.

“Let’s talk to her before I change my mind,” Chevalier growled, and followed the other Elders out of his office.

“If she says no…” Sotomar started to say.

“She won’t,” Chevalier sighed. “She wants to do this.”

Sotomar opened the door to the pool room and froze for a split second before diving into the water, followed by Chevalier and William. Mark and Silas heard the commotion and ran into the pool room, also diving in. They joined in the fight as one heku held Emily under the water while the other four fought with the Elders and guards.

Mark and Silas focused on the one heku holding Emily under the surface, and blood flooded across the water as they quickly pulled him apart. Mark grabbed Emily’s limp body and hauled her out of the water. He listened for a breath, and when Emily didn’t breathe on her own, he began blowing air into her lungs.

Chevalier had the head of one of the heku and tore violently, ripping his head from his body as another jumped on his back and began to get a grip on his neck. Chevalier pulled the heku over his head and ripped his arm off before also removing his head. He crouched in the water and turned around. The other Elders were covered in blood and panting as they checked for more attackers. The pool water was colored pink with blood and body parts skimmed across the bottom.

Their eyes fell on Mark and Silas as they worked to bring Emily back. Water poured out of her lungs when Silas pressed on her chest, and then Mark plugged her nose and breathed air into them.

“Jesit!” Sotomar called out, and walked out of the water, watching Emily.

“Yes, Elder,” the Valle guard said.

“Get ten heku in here. I want the parts gathered up and figure out who they were,” he growled, and the heku nodded and blurred away.

Chevalier knelt down beside Emily and watched Mark and Silas work to get her breathing. William and Sotomar walked up and stood a few feet away, watching.

After a few minutes, Emily gasped and began to cough as the last of the water came out of her lungs. Mark rolled her onto her side and she struggled to breathe through the violent coughing. Once she was able to catch her breath, she laid back onto the cement, panting.

The room suddenly filled with Valle as they waded through the pool and pulled out heku parts, then tossed them onto the cement for examination.

Chevalier picked Emily up off of the cement and cradled her as he watched the heku try to figure out who the attackers were.

“I’m ok,” Emily whispered. Her throat was burning from the water.

“Who were they?” Chevalier asked.

“I didn’t see them,” she said hoarsely, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Sir,” one of the heku said, coming up to Sotomar.

“Who were they?” he hissed at the guard.

“We don’t have names yet, but there were 2 Valle, 2 Equites, and 1 Encala,” he reported.

“I want names,” Chevalier growled, and carried Emily out of the room.

“What happened?” Kyle asked, following Chevalier into the room.

“Emily was attacked in the pool. They tried to drown her,” Mark said, still shaking.

“What? Who?” Kyle asked angrily.

“We’re trying to find out,” Silas said.

“Which means Exavior has people on the island,” William said, glancing out the window.

Emily sat up, her breathing finally slowing, “I have to get out of here.”

“They’re everywhere,” Sotomar said. “I have an idea how to secure the castle… if Chevalier will allow me.”

“Do it,” Chevalier growled.

“Thank you,” Emily whispered to Mark and Silas.

Chevalier’s face softened and he looked at them, “Yes, thank you… how did you know how to do that?”

Mark grinned slightly, “CPR is required Cavalry training… we guard a mortal.”

Kyle smiled, “He’s good… I never thought about that.”

“I say we step up the plan,” William said. “Exavior needs stopped… now.”

“What plan?” Emily whispered.

Chevalier looked up at the ceiling and then back to her, “We want to use you as bait to get to Exavior.”

“What?” Kyle hissed.

“It’s the fastest way to get him.”

“What’s the plan?” Emily asked, and then started coughing again.

“We’re working on details,” Chevalier explained, patting her back. “We wanted to know if you’re up for it before we do anything solid.”

“Let’s do it,” Emily whispered, and looked at the others.

“We need to talk where we won’t be overheard,” Chevalier said. “The best room for that is the interrogation room.”

“Let me change,” Emily whispered, and disappeared into the bathroom.

“You’re seriously taking her into an interrogation room?” Kyle asked, surprised.

“If there were anywhere else, I would go there, but it’s built to be silent,” Chevalier explained.

Sotomar came back in, “There are no longer any heku in the castle, aside from who is in this room, the boy, and Zohn, who is still in the conference room. The guards are grouped in 4’s with either a Council City Cavalry member or one of my Imperial Guards at the lead. The groups were arranged so all 3 below the leader are strangers.”

Chevalier nodded, “Ok, but who is guarding my prisoners?”

“I’ve had them turned to ash for now.”

“That should do.”

“Where is she?” Sotomar asked, looking around.

“Changing, we’re headed into the interrogation room to discuss things. It’s soundproof,” Chevalier said, grinning slightly.

“Unless the first door is left open, in which case just enough of the screams escape,” Kyle chuckled.

Emily came back out in a black cotton summer dress. Her hair was down and fell softly against her back, “Ok, let’s go.”

Chevalier led them all down to the interrogation chamber and turned to let them in. He was surprised to see that Allen had joined them, “Were you invited?”

“No, but I’m coming,” he said, and tried to step past his Dad.

“No”

“This concerns danger to Mom. I’m going to hear what it is,” Allen said, and folded his arms at his chest.

Chevalier stepped in front of him, “What makes you think you get a say in this?”

“Chev…” Emily said softly from behind him.

“Because at times, between you, myself, and Mom… I’m the adult,” Allen said calmly.

Sotomar chuckled, but Chevalier’s eyes darkened, “Watch what you say, Boy, and wait upstairs where you belong.”

“No, I’m coming in,” Allen said.

“Chev, no!” Emily yelled when Chevalier hauled Allen up the stairs with an arm around his neck.

Emily started after them, but Kyle held her back, “Let him handle the boy, he was out of line.”

“He’s 11,” Emily said angrily, and tried to pull away from Kyle.

“Only in years,” Kyle said. “If he doesn’t start respecting those above him, he’s never going to make it in the heku world.”

“Doesn’t matter, he’s coming with me when I leave,” Emily said, and when she went back into the interrogation room, Kyle let go of her arm.

Chevalier came down a few minutes later, “Ok, let’s get started.”

“If you ever grab Allen by the neck again, I’ll burn you,” Emily said, glaring at him.

Chevalier stifled a grin and sat on the rack, “Any ideas?”

“Why do you have a saddle horse in here?” Emily asked, and sat on it.

“Please… Dear… that’s not a saddle horse,” William said, and pulled her off of the wooden device.

“I think it would be best to launch our plan in Council City,” Sotomar suggested. “That way we have the Thukil Cavalry at our disposal. It’s well known to all of us that Emily uses the horse to get away and think, so there’s nothing odd about seeing her out and the Thukils would need to be there to match her horse.”

“Agreed,” Chevalier said. “There are also the trees, which will give good hiding spots.”

“I suggest our first course of action is to never speak of the plan after this meeting. Just say it will go into affect the moment we reach Council City,” William said.

“Can you act?” Sotomar asked Emily, and she hid something behind her back.

“Yes”

Kyle sighed and took the Spanish crusher from her hands, “Stop it.”

“Simple then?” Sotomar asked. “A fight… she runs… guards chase… she gets away… Exavior catches her and finds himself surrounded?”

“Yeah, that’ll be hard to pretend,” Emily said, irritated.

“We need to prearrange a spot for her to end up. Somewhere that we can have guards hide for days, so no one will know they are there,” Chevalier said.

“The Durango?” Emily suggested.

“That’d work. Exavior knows you go there often,” Kyle told them.

“Course, not since you ripped the door off,” Emily reminded him.

Mark slipped his cape off and pulled it over Emily’s shoulders when she shivered. The room was damp and cold.

“So maybe the Durango won’t work, where else is a good landmark?” William asked.

“Just name it, I can get bucked anywhere,” Emily told them.

“You can make a horse buck on command?” Silas asked.

Emily shrugged, “Not exactly, but I do have a snake’s rattle out in the stable. One shake and it’ll buck.”

“You could get hurt doing that,” Kyle said.

“Not too bad,” Emily assured him.

“So where then?” Chevalier asked.

“The guard’s party area,” Mark suggested. “Can you get there?”

“Yes,” Emily said, tapping the cat’o nine tails against her leg.

“So we station them all around it. Em can get bucked off in the clearing,” Chevalier said. “Can you act injured?”

Emily grinned slightly, “I think I have that covered.”

“Have the Valle take the north line, the Encala can take southwest, and the Equites will take the southeast, forming a triangle. Then we’ll post Powan and Thukil in a circle around that,” Chevalier said.

“Sounds good,” Sotomar said. “How long do we want to leave them there before this happens?”

“I say at least four days,” William said. “The problem will be leaving without being seen.”

“If we go in the light of day, it’ll be easier,” Mark said.

“In small groups, say, two or three,” Sotomar suggested.

“Why won’t you tell me what this does?” Emily asked, turning the top crank on a metal device as the four leaves began to spread.

William’s eyes grew wide, and he took it from her, “You… it’s… no.”

“Then it’s set,” Chevalier said, chuckling. “We all in agreement? A lot of this needs to be impromptu. If it’s too staged, it could give us away.”

“We’ll reinforce with eight of our…” Sotomar’s voice trailed off as Emily began to look around the room.

In her boredom, she looked up and her eyes focused in on the shackles hanging on the wall. She saw images of the starving heku grabbing at her legs, and she instinctively pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked, still watching the shackles. Her mind replayed the feel of Exavior’s rough hands and his eyes as he watched her hanging, unable to get free.

“I’ve never had such an exquisite creature in my control before. It’s quite stimulating.”

Emily exhaled slowly, her eyes fixed on the bloody shackles. She felt the rack sitting beside her, the feel of her arms and legs being pulled painfully apart from her body, how Exavior ran his hands along her body and pressed his teeth into the flesh of her neck.

“I see that something also needs to happen between us for this to continue. How exactly am I going to prove to you that I am better for you than that Equites?”

Emily buried her face between her arms, leaning her forehead on her knees in as small of a ball as she could get. She rocked slowly, trying to wipe the images from her mind and erase the memory of the pain.

“Equuelius… escalera… banc de torture… schlimme liesel… streckbank… la veglia…” Emily whispered into her arms, words that Exavior repeatedly used as he chatted with her during her time of intense pain on the rack. “Errare humanum est, ego te absolvo, meus uxor.”

“Em?” Kyle asked softly, and knelt down beside her.

The room had grown quiet as she chanted foreign words for the rack torture that Chevalier was sitting on, and rocked back and forth on the blood stained dirt floor.

“Errare humanum est, ego te absolvo, meus uxor,” Emily whispered frantically, repeating a phrase that Exavior said to her often while she was in pain.

Kyle glanced up at Chevalier and then back to Emily. He reached out and softly touched her arm, “Emily…”

Emily screamed and jerked away from him, immediately returning to her tiny ball.

“Leave us,” Chevalier whispered.

The heku all blurred from the room, but Chevalier held his hand out when Kyle tried to leave, “Stay.”

Kyle nodded and took the cat’o nine tails from beside her and hung it back up.

“Emily,” Chevalier said, crouching down beside her. “Look at me.”

Emily shook her head, “They’re starving.”

“They aren’t here,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

Emily looked up at him and he hated the way she looked at him, terrified, a look that was normally uncharacteristic for her. He reached under her slowly and stood up, cradling her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her face against his neck.

“Errare humanum est, ego te absolvo, meus uxor,” she whispered.

Kyle opened the door for them, and Chevalier stepped out of the interrogation room and then headed up the stairs.

“Valle 1 is here,” Sotomar whispered. “Everyone’s on board.”

Chevalier nodded and followed Sotomar and Kyle up to the helicopter. He easily jumped on board and belted himself in, still holding Emily.

“Equites’ Council City… go…” Sotomar yelled.

The helicopter took off, followed by four other helicopters, and headed out over the water.

“Errare humanum est, ego te absolvo, meus uxor,” Emily whispered again. “He kept saying it.”

Allen sighed, “To err is human, but I have forgiven you, my wife.”

Chevalier glared at him, and Allen sat back against his chair and looked out the window.

“Get rid of that room,” Emily whispered.

Chevalier grinned slightly at Sotomar and then whispered to Emily, “I can’t get rid of it.”

“It all hurts.”

“I know, but I can’t get rid of it.”

“Swear you’ll never put me in there,” Emily muttered.

“I swear,” Chevalier said, and kissed the top of her head.

The helicopters split up just before reaching Council City. The helicopter with the Elders landed softly on the roof while the others disappeared from sight. Emily was asleep in Chevalier’s arms, and even the loud bang of the doors opening didn’t wake her.

Zohn jumped out first and turned to the others, “Put her in bed. Make sure she stays there while we meet.”

Chevalier nodded, “Mark, Silas, do it.”

Mark took Emily from Chevalier, and she stirred slightly and leaned her head against his neck. Silas and Mark headed down the stairs first.

William sighed, “She’s becoming a problem.”

“It won’t be much longer,” Chevalier said. “Just keep up the pretense for a few more days and once we know for sure if she’s pregnant, then we can decide.”

“Just remember, if she is, it comes to the Valle,” Sotomar said, grinning.

“I don’t care, now that Alexis was promised to us,” William said, walking inside.

Sotomar chuckled, “I prefer an infant, easier to train.”

Allen glared at his Dad and disappeared down the stairs. The Elders walked down toward the council chambers, no longer speaking.

***

The three Equites Elders, along with Sotomar and William, sat alone in the council chambers, discussing the upcoming trial. Zohn and Richard, the Equites Chief Interrogator, had discovered more of Exavior’s heku within their midst, and was able to find more attacks planned on not only Emily, but the children.

“Sir,” Derrick said, entering the chambers. “We’re bringing them up now.”

Chevalier nodded, “Very well, we’re ready.”

Derrick looked over, still shocked to see the three factions working together, and then left the room.

Eight heku were pushed into the council chambers by members of the palace guards and forced to their knees in front of the Elders. There were three Equites, four Valle, and one Encala present, their capes showing who belonged to which faction.

Sotomar sighed, “I don’t have to tell you how disappointed I am that the greater number of you belong to my faction.”

“We didn’t do anything,” one of the Valle said. “It’s a setup. The Equites are trying to get rid of us.”

“Shut up,” Sotomar growled.

“There’s no use even lying to us,” Zohn explained. “This trial is a mere formality. I’ve seen enough to convict you.”

“Let’s begin then,” Quinn said, standing up. “You eight are charged with high treason, and attempted murder of a member of the Equites Council, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty,” they all said nervously.

“Fine, if you won’t admit to it, then we can proceed,” Quinn said, and sat down.

“Let’s start with the attempted drowning of a member of the Equites Council,” Zohn said. “Scotty, Bingham, Meiken, Christopher, and Gene were killed in the act. Were you aware of the plan to kill the Winchester?”

“There were talks… made jokingly, about putting her in her place,” the Encala said.

“Jokes about killing a member of the Council? That’s still treason,” Zohn said, irritated.

“Why do you care? We all know you hate her,” one of the Equites said.

Zohn nodded, “I’ve not hidden my dislike. However, I won’t stand for treason.”

“We didn’t know they were actually going to do it,” the Encala told them. “We thought they were just joking.”

“Yet failed to report it to any of the Councils?” William asked. “What is the Encala policy about that?”

The Encala sighed, “Report it to your Captain immediately.”

“Did you?”

“No, Sir.”

“Why don’t we skip this and just ask them, outright,” Sotomar said angrily. “Have any of you joined Exavior’s group?”

“No,” they all said emphatically.

“We wouldn’t do that! We’re loyal to our factions,” one of the Equites said.

“They’re all lying,” Zohn said calmly.

“You know what?” one of the Valle said. “I did join Exavior, and had I gotten my hands on the Winchester, she would be his right now.”

Sotomar’s eyes narrowed, “Did these others join him also?”

“Yes,” the Valle said. “I’m proud to say I joined Elder Exavior and his superior faction.”

Sotomar growled.

“What are his plans?” Chevalier asked. “Other than Emily… that is.”

“We were trying to take the children, especially the eldest,” the Valle said. “We will succeed, I assure you.”

“You eight won’t,” Chevalier growled. “I suspect you’ll pray for death by the time we’re done.”

“It’s worth it to see the rise of a powerful faction. The three we have are weak and pathetic,” the Valle scowled.

“Derrick… take him to the prison,” Quinn hissed, and the room fell silent while the one heku was pulled from the council chambers.

“Seven left with some explaining to do,” William said, glaring at them.

“We’re not with him,” the Encala said. “I’m loyal only to the Encala.”

“I’m not sure what’s more alarming,” Quinn said. “The fact that you were willing to hand a Winchester over to a rogue faction, or the fact that you were willing to kill her.”

One of the Equites looked at Chevalier, “I wouldn’t kill her or kidnap her. I would give my life to protect her.”

“Damn I hate to see Equites guards lie to the Council,” Zohn growled. “I’m more irritated at that than the attempted murder.”

“Sir,” Derrick said, stepping in. “There’s been an attempted escape… do you want to deal with this now or later?”

Chevalier sighed, “Now, this is getting old.”

The Council chambers filled with the smell of Winchester blood as Emily and Allen were brought in, both with their hands cuffed behind them. Emily glared at the Council, and Allen jerked away from the guard that was guiding him. They were both forced to their knees at the side of the guards.

“How did she try to escape now?” Quinn asked angrily.

“Out the ancient’s room. She and Allen crawled through the bar window and attempted to take Equites 2,” Derrick said scathingly.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “You can fly?”

Allen nodded, “You’d be amazed at what I can do.”

“Take him to the prison. I’ll interrogate him later,” Zohn hissed.

A guard came and forced Allen out of the room and all eyes turned to Emily.

“What to do with you…” Quinn said, sighing.

“How about you start… by kissing my ass,” Emily said angrily.

“Before we punish you, do you know yet if you are with child?” Sotomar asked, sounding hopeful.

“Oh… I know,” Emily said, grinning.

“And?” William asked, irritated.

“And… it’ll be a cold day in hell before I tell you anything,” Emily yelled.

“Restrain her to the bed. See how she feels after a day with no food,” Quinn ordered, and the guards drug her away.

Chevalier watched, pleased, while the seven treasonous guards watched with wide eyes as the Council sentenced Emily and Allen.

“Back to you…” Chevalier said to the guards. “I trust Zohn, if he says they are lying, then let’s sentence them.”

“Wait! Please…” one of the Valle said. “We are innocent.”

“No you’re not! Now shut up,” Sotomar growled.

“I suggest that we immediately banish all but one,” William said. “Then we’ll send one of them back to Exavior with a message… he’s not getting her.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Quinn said, raising his eyebrows.

“I concur, let’s do it,” Chevalier said.

“Wait,” the Valle guard said again. “I’ll go… I know where to find him.”

“Traitor!” the Encala screamed at him.

“I will deliver the message,” the Valle said.

“Fine, send the spineless one back to Exavior,” Sotomar said. “I want nothing to do with him anymore.”

“Tell your Master that the three factions will never honor the presence of a fourth, and that he’s never going to see Emily or the children again,” Quinn hissed. Derrick came in and escorted the Valle out.

“Now… how to banish these seven when our Chief Enforcers are back on Island Coven,” Zohn asked.

“Will she?” Sotomar asked Chevalier.

Chevalier shrugged, “Depends on her mood.”

Quinn stood up and disappeared from the council chambers, and the room fell silent while they waited.

“If she understands the situation…” William said, and then stopped talking when all seven fell to ash instantly.

“That’d be a yes,” Chevalier chuckled.

“It’s quite amazing. She doesn’t even have to be anywhere near them,” Sotomar said, impressed.

“Derrick?” Zohn asked.

“Yes, Sir,” Derrick said, coming in and looking at the ashes.

“Ancient’s room, please,” Zohn said.

“What’s up with Emily and the ancient’s room?” Sotomar asked, turning to Chevalier. “Seems you all keep asking her about it, and she blushes at the very mention of it.”

Chevalier chuckled, “She was being poisoned, and started having panicked hallucinations, and the worst was about the ancient’s room. She even turned all three of us to ash when we took her in there.”

William gasped, “She turned the three Equites Elders to ash?”

“Yes… and won’t even give us a hint about what she thought the room was for,” Quinn said. “Quite frustrating, it was such a big deal for months… and years later, we still don’t know.”

“Is she that stubborn?” Sotomar asked.

“More so,” Zohn said, and watched as guards came and collected the ashes.

“You two were even involved, unbeknownst to you,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“Me? How?” William asked.

“In her hallucinations, you confirmed the ancient’s room to be… whatever it is… she thought it was,” Chevalier explained.

“Let’s go ask her. She’s restrained upstairs,” Zohn said, standing up.

“Good luck,” Chevalier told him, and headed up to the bedroom.

Emily looked over from the TV when the heku walked in. Zohn was leading them and was grinning mischievously.

“What?” Emily asked suspiciously.

Chevalier checked the restrains and noticed they weren’t tight at all. She’d be able to slip them instantly.

“We have a question for you,” Zohn said, positioning himself on the bed so he could see her closely.

“Ok”

“What did you think the ancient’s room was for?” Zohn asked, focusing on her eyes.

Emily grinned, “You seriously still wondering that?”

“Yes,” Zohn said.

Emily’s grinned dropped and her eyes narrowed, “You’re interrogating me on it?”

“Yes”

“I’m not telling.”

“Was it a torture room?”

Emily pulled from her Encala training and watched him, not moving.

“Feeding?”

She just stared at him.

“Damnit,” Zohn said, frowning. “You’re frustrating.”

Emily grinned, “Amazing what you can learn after a few hours with a Chief Interrogator.”

William chuckled.

“Just tell us,” Quinn said. “We won’t laugh.”

“No”

“Does anyone know? Anyone at all?” Sotomar asked.

“No,” she told him.

“She is stubborn,” William said, amused.

“Go away, I’m watching a movie,” Emily said, and turned back to the TV.

“I thought she was being punished? Lying in bed watching TV isn’t punishment,” Zohn said, looking over at the movie.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You can leave now.”

Zohn walked over and turned off the TV.

“Hey,” Emily yelled.

“No food or TV,” Zohn said. “This isn’t a game… you will learn obedience.”

Emily glared at him.

Chevalier went over to Emily’s table when her cell phone rang. He grinned and opened it when he saw the caller ID.

“What do you want, Exavior?”

“Hand the phone to my wife,” Exavior said angrily.

“Your wife? No… she’s… well… tied up at the moment,” Chevalier told him.

“Do it… now!”

“No”

“I will not allow you to torture my wife! Consider yourself warned,” Exavior said, and disconnected the line.

Chevalier chuckled and set the phone down, “He warned us about torturing his wife.”

Emily rolled her eyes.

“Keeping it in the family, is he?” Sotomar said, and left Emily’s room, irritated.

Chevalier stayed as the rest of them left.

“Hey… turn my TV back on,” Emily said.

“Discipline, that’s what you need,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“Burning… that’s what you need,” Emily told him. “Turn on my TV.”

Chevalier chuckled and flipped the TV back on before leaving. He went down quickly into the prison and stopped at Allen’s cell.

Allen looked up at him and glared, “Go away.”

“Strange, that’s what your Mom just told me,” Chevalier said, grinning. He knew Allen was in on the plan, but figured a few days in prison might be good for him, as long as Emily didn’t find out.

“Just let us go,” Allen said angrily. The fierceness in his voice shocked Chevalier, and he had to remind himself that it was all an act.

“See how you like starvation, Son,” Chevalier growled, and disappeared up the stairs.

***

Emily opened her eyes slowly and pulled the covers up over her shoulder, then jerked when she realized she wasn’t restrained anymore, and quickly slipped her hands back into the soft leather wrist cuffs. She was anxious to get today over with. She was to slip out today and hopefully, by the end of the day, Exavior would no longer be a problem.

She stayed in bed and watched the fire. The signal for her escape was when a servant came to put one of the fires out, and as soon as he left, she would have a small escape window. She sighed, hungry from not being able to eat the night before. Food was left under her bed, but her nerves were too strung to even try to eat.

She waited, listening to the sounds of the palace, but it seemed eerily quiet. She wondered if the Elders were also feeling nervous and maybe the servants and guards picked that up and were on their best behavior.

“M’Lady, I need to put out a fire, per the Elders,” a nervous heku said, coming into the room and glancing at her.

“Whatever,” Emily sighed, but her insides jumped and she glanced out the window. The day was bright and sunny. She couldn’t see any clouds in the sky. The servant left a few minutes later and shut the door behind him. Emily caught sight of Silas and Kralen outside of her door just before the door latched.

Emily shut her eyes and took a deep breath before slipping her hands out of the restraints and untying her legs. She quickly pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, but left her shoes off. She needed to be able to hold onto the rope with her toes.

As planned, today was laundry day, and the hamper was full of sheets. She began tying them together quickly, leaving knots along the way, similar to the sheet she used to escape the castle on Island Coven. Once she had enough, she tied one end to the bed and pushed it against the window.

Emily scooted out onto the edge, the one she used to climb over to the drainpipes with, and gripped it with her toes while she got a good grip on the sheet rope. She checked behind her. There were usually two or three groups of guards she could see from her window, but today they were absent.

She hoisted herself onto the sheet and fell a few feet before she was able to wrap the sheet around her feet and get a tight hold. She caught her breath and rubbed her hands from the sheet burn, and then started down as quickly as she could, keeping a watch over her shoulder. She knew the Elders were waiting for her to escape. She’d heard them talking in the hallway about how she may try to leave by wiping memories or ashing along the way. She knew her method would catch them off guard, and that was part of the fun.

Emily’s feet hit the ground and she peeked around the corner of the palace. There were guards a hundred yards away, but they were looking out toward the trees. Crouching slightly, Emily ran to the stables and grabbed the snake rattle before taking a bridle into her stallion’s stall. She knew he was faster than anything the Thukils had, and she needed to be able to outrun them if they chased her. She slipped the bridle on and hoisted herself up bareback onto the dark brown stallion.

Creeping out slowly, Emily emerged from the stables and saw the heku guards heading for her, yelling. She kicked the stallion and he jumped into a gallop out of the city. She heard hoof beats behind her, but they were slowly fading by the time she passed the gates. The gate guards yelled and jumped toward her, but missed, and she was soon heading full-speed toward the trees.

Emily’s heart was racing when she hit the tree line, only a short distance to go before she came into the clearing the guards used for parties. She gripped the snake’s rattle in her hand and emerged into the clearing, but slipped her hand out of her pocket when she saw the line of heku blocking her from going further. She pulled the horse to back-up and scanned them. They wore dark purple capes and none looked familiar.

The stallion reared back, but Emily stayed on, no longer sure she wanted to fake a fall or an injury with them all surrounding her. She turned and saw them move towards her from all sides, and she started to panic.

“This is the girl you desire?” a heku asked, stepping forward. He had a malicious smile and gray hair that Emily had only seen before on ancients.

“Yes,” Exavior said, moving into the clearing. “She is my wife.”

“She smells…” another heku said, inhaling. He also had gray hair and worn eyes, “Extraordinary. Not bad to look at either.”

“Yes, I know,” Exavior said, smiling. “She doesn’t age either, another plus.”

Emily stopped her horse. The panic was backing off, and she remembered she needed to get off the horse somehow. The horse already had his ears cocked back angrily, and she knew if any of the heku came at her, it would buck.

“I’m leaving, Exavior, and that includes you,” Emily said scathingly.

“I’m not going to let you disappear,” Exavior replied, moving forward slightly. The two ancients headed around her, and she started to feel them close in on her.

Emily bumped her pocket slightly, and knew the horse heard the rattle as soon as he whinnied loudly and bucked hard, throwing Emily forward. She slammed into the ground as the skittish horse backed away.

Emily gasped, not having to fake because the fall knocked the wind out of her. She had enough control to realize she needed to be injured and she fell against the ground, groaning. Exavior blurred to her and knelt down.

“What’s wrong, my love?” he asked as she tried to push him away.

“I hope we didn’t break your mortal. It would be a shame to lose such a succulent girl,” one of the ancients said.

“She’s ok. She’s tougher than she looks,” Exavior said, picking her up. She cried out and winced with the movement.

“Look at me, Child,” the taller Ancient said. Emily looked up at him and he began to talk to her quickly. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from his, and his words flowed through her, relaxing her and calming her nerves. As he spoke, all she wanted to do was pull closer to him, to lay her hands against his strong face, and have his soft breath blow across her skin.

Exavior grinned and handed her over to the Ancient, who continued to speak softly to her and concentrate on her eyes as he spoke.

Exavior growled and spun as the trees came alive and an army advanced on them in the clearing. He crouched slightly at the same time as the other ancient did, and hissed at the incoming heku. Hundreds advanced on foot while the Thukil Cavalry brought up a circle behind them. The red, gray, and green capes were intermingled as they focused on Exavior and the Ancient, and moved into the clearing. Exavior’s army circled their leader and crouched, facing the onslaught of angry heku.

“It’s over,” Sotomar said, stepping out from the army. “Save the bloodshed and surrender.”

“Put her down!” Chevalier growled at his maker. The Ancient didn’t break his gaze on Emily’s, and continued to speak in flowing Latin.

“Not happy to see your old Master, Chevalier?” Exavior asked, grinning.

Chevalier glared at him, “How dare you let him close to her! You know what he’s doing.”

“I do,” Exavior said. “I’m very much aware of it.”

“If you will not surrender,” William said angrily. “Then we’ll end it now.”

The tri-faction army advanced on Exavior’s heku and a battle erupted around them. Chevalier fought to get to Emily, to stop the Ancient, but he was blocked by heku that would move only when killed. Blood began to saturate the field and parts of heku were thrown around in jumbled piles.

Emily gazed into the Ancient’s eyes. She brought her hand up and gently placed it on the side of his face as she studied his kind expression and felt contentment in his arms. The sounds of battle around her were far away compared to his soft voice that enveloped her in safety and compassion.

She wanted to talk to the Ancient, to tell him how much she cared about him. She reached up and brushed her lips against his, stopping the soft chant of Latin, and his arms tightened around her. He responded and pressed his lips forcefully against hers. Emily wound her fingers through his hair, ignoring the screams coming from around them.

When the Ancient began to kiss toward her neck, Emily leaned her head back to give him clear access to a vein. As his teeth sunk into the soft flesh of her neck, she gasped softly and relaxed in his arms. He pulled away from her, inhaling, and then pressed his lips to hers again.

“No!” Emily screamed when she was torn away from the Ancient. She struggled against the strong arms holding her and tried to return to him. He disappeared in a swarm of heku as she was blurred away and the trees flew past her.

“Stop fighting me,” Sotomar growled as he gripped her tighter.

Emily screamed angrily as he continued to carry her away from the Ancient.

Sotomar ignored her screams and appeared in the Council City prison. He let her go once she was in a tiny cell, and quickly shut the door. Emily slammed into the bars, reaching for Sotomar as she screamed. The guards looked at her with wide eyes. She growled, and screamed, clawing against the bars, no longer reasoning or understanding.

“Do not let her out,” Sotomar ordered the guards, and headed up the stairs as an inhuman shriek echoed through the prison. He quickly made his way back out to the battle just as the last of Exavior’s followers were falling at the hands of the factioned army. Exavior and the Ancients were sitting in the center, surrounded by guards as the other Elders stood around them.

“Get the wounded back to Council City, leave the dead here,” Sotomar shouted, and guards from all factions began to follow his orders.

Chevalier’s entire body was tense. He was panting from the fighting and his hands were balled into tight fists as he watched his maker.

“Ephraim, how dare you…” Chevalier growled angrily.

“You will thank me later, my dear Boy,” the Ancient said, grinning.

Chevalier turned to Sotomar, “How far did he get?”

Sotomar sighed, “He completed, I think. It’s too early to tell.”

Ephraim grinned, “You do remember that, don’t you? You were my prized possession, to have turned the great Equitis… leader, warrior… pity how you hated me for it.”

Kyle looked down at the Ancient. Chevalier would never talk about the one who turned him, and he wasn’t sure what the Ancient had done to Emily.

“Pity I didn’t kill you for it,” Chevalier said. “Now though, I will have my chance.”

“You owe me!” Ephraim growled. “Look at the life I gave you! You owe me and I demand the respect you never showed me.”

William grabbed Chevalier’s arm when he tried to advance on the Ancient, “Stop, we need him if we are to find out how to reverse what he did.”

Chevalier’s eyes darkened, “Put him in the prison.”

Silas, Mark, Kralen, and two of Thukil’s Lieutenants stepped forward and pulled the Ancient from the circle, forcing him toward the palace.

“This Ancient,” Sotomar said, and turned to the other, “I don’t know…”

“There has to be a reason that Exavior wanted you,” William said, circling him.

“What you did to us was disgraceful. You owe your very existence to us, yet you threw us into the ground to suffer for eternity,” the Ancient yelled. “You should be bowing down before me.”

Chevalier turned to Exavior, who sat in silence, and watched the interaction with his ancients, “You’re being very quiet.”

“What is your talent?” Zohn asked the Ancient, coming up from behind them. He was covered in blood and just recently recovered from the fight.

The Ancient glared at Zohn, “Omnipotence… bow to me.”

“I don’t think I will,” Zohn said, and turned to Exavior. “We have a special place for you.”

Exavior smiled, “Where you put me won’t matter. Emily will come to me.”

“In your dreams,” Quinn grinned. “Take him to the prison. We’ll put him away later.”

Angry Valle guards swarmed forward and pulled Exavior to his feet as they shoved him toward the city. They seemed angrier than the rest because it was their faction member, a member of their Council that had started the war and betrayed them by building an army against them.

“What to do with you,” Zohn said, staring down at the Ancient.

“I’d like to know his talent,” Sotomar said, glaring at him. “Something to do with Emily, we know that. Otherwise, Exavior wouldn’t have revived him.”

The Ancient grinned, “That pretty little mortal? Delectable child, I see why minions go to war for her.”

“We didn’t go to war for the mortal,” Sotomar said, crossing his arms. “We went to war to stop the outrageous formation of a fourth faction.”

“Sure you did. You’re all smitten with her,” the Ancient said. “Does she pleasure all of you, then? What else would bring the factions together?”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Chevalier hissed. “She is my wife, and this war was not over her. It was to stop Exavior.”

“I can read it in their faces. They are all infatuated with her. Better watch or they will take her from you.”

“Emily goes with and does whatever she…” Chevalier’s voice trailed off and his heart sunk.

The Ancient smiled, “Yes, it’s too late for her now.”

“Get him into the prison,” William growled.

Chevalier turned to Sotomar while the Encala guards hauled the Ancient way, “Is she…”

“Feral? Yes,” Sotomar said softly. “We’ll figure something out… there must be a way to get her back.”

“He’s your maker?” William asked. The gathered Equites turn to Chevalier. No one had ever had the nerve to ask him about his maker. The Elder’s hatred for him was well known.

“Yes,” Chevalier hissed, and started back for the palace.

“Why does he do it? Turn a mortal wild?” William asked as he followed.

“It’s easier to turn a mortal if their humanity is gone… I would never have turned, but once I lost myself, it was easy for him,” Chevalier said, his voice hostile.

“He was going to try to turn her again?” Kyle asked angrily.

“That is my guess,” Sotomar said. “We still don’t know if she would even survive, but I suspect that Exavior doesn’t care if she died.”

“Has anyone… ever… recovered?” Mark asked, catching up with them.

“No, he turns them,” Chevalier told them.

“There was an ancient… one that was an original Elder in the Encala,” William said, deep in thought. “His name was Sterling, at least, when I heard about him. He was able to turn a mortal into a heku without even a bite.”

Chevalier stopped and turned to William, “I’ve heard of him… he used to be able to turn a mortal in minutes, by himself.”

“If that’s him… then the plan was to weaken Emily and then try to turn her without the ritual,” William suggested. “Without the ritual, there’s a chance her abilities might not interfere.”

“Find out if that’s him,” Chevalier told Kyle and Mark, and they blurred into the palace.

“I don’t think you should see her,” Sotomar whispered.

Chevalier stopped outside of the palace, “I have to see if I can get through to her.”

“He fed,” Sotomar said.

Chevalier growled, and stormed into the palace, heading directly for the prison cells. The guards looked at him nervously, unsure if they should have allowed a Valle to put Emily in prison.

Chevalier rounded the corner and looked into her cell. She was crouched in the corner and looked at him with angry, uncomprehending eyes. The flowing green in her eyes had turned black and she hissed up at him.

Chevalier crouched down to her level, “Em…”

Kyle walked over and stood beside the Elder. His heart ached as he saw the wild look on her face and the predatory posture of her small body.

“Emily?” Chevalier said softly. He jerked back away from her when she slammed into the bars, grabbing for his neck and screaming inhumanly.

“Damn,” Kyle said, stepping away as she tried to claw his legs.

“Open the cell door,” Chevalier whispered.

“Belay that,” Kyle said, holding his hand up to the guard. “You can’t let her out.”

“She’ll be more comfortable on the bed in restraints.”

“She can get out of those.”

“I can’t leave her here.”

“We have to, for now,” Kyle said. “Let Richard and I take Ephraim into the interrogation room. We’ll see if he can tell us how to reverse it.”

Chevalier nodded and ordered a food tray brought down. He watched Emily carefully, ready for her to attack again. She hunkered down in the corner, glaring at him.

“Dad?” Allen asked, sitting down on the floor beside him. “I brought her a sandwich. From what Silas said, I didn’t think she would eat anything else.”

“Ok,” he said, and pushed the tray through the cells.

“Do you remember?” Allen asked, watching Emily tear the sandwich apart, not eating any of it.

“No”

“You didn’t want to turn?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Allen frowned, “Does she know me?”

Chevalier sighed, “I don’t think so.”

“Turning her would calm her?”

“If she lived, yes.”

“Mom?” Allen called out, and Emily looked up at him. She lunged for him and almost got her hand around his throat before Chevalier pulled him out of the way.

***

“Do you want to be there when we seal him in?” Quinn asked softly as he watched Chevalier sit outside of Emily’s cell where he had been for the last eight days.

“Yes, I do… Kyle?” Chevalier said, standing slowly. Emily growled and watched him closely.

“Yes, Elder?” Kyle asked, looking at Emily with wide eyes. Over the last week, her features had changed. Her hair was knotted and tangled, and her face was sinister and hateful.

“Stay with her while we seal Exavior in,” Chevalier said, and glanced once at Emily before following Quinn.

“May I go?” Allen asked, walking down the stairs.

Chevalier nodded and led his son into the maximum-security prison where a new room was bricked in beside Adam, the heku Emily once encountered. Exavior was finally looking terrified as the others gathered around. He hung from electrified shackles and looked around nervously.

“Don’t do this… I don’t deserve this…” Exavior said, terrified.

“Exavior…” Zohn said, watching him. “It is the decision of the three Councils that you are to be confined here for eternity. Never to again walk with the mortals or the immortals, never to feed, and never to exist other than in the pain the electricity brings.”

“Don’t…” Exavior whispered. “Emily wouldn’t want this.”

“Do not talk about her!” Chevalier yelled. “What you did made it so we don’t know what she wants.”

“The… Ancients… they made me do it,” Exavior said frantically.

“Liar,” Allen said calmly. “If they have to turn my Mom, just because of your obsession, then I will find a way to kill you… slowly.”

Exavior’s eyes grew wide, “I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Do it,” Chevalier said, and slammed a brick down onto the cement. “I want this wall 2 feet thick with Tungsten carbide bars.”

“Yes, Sir, that is how we made it, per your specifications,” a servant said, and began to brick Exavior into the cell.

Allen watched with the Elders and some of the Council as Exavior was forever entombed in the Council City prison. As they watched, he begged for his life and began to shake with fear.

“Where is Sotomar?” Chevalier asked.

“He went back to the Valle,” Quinn said. “William returned to his faction, also.”

Chevalier nodded and headed back to the prison. He heard an eerie cry and blurred to Emily’s cell.

“I just tried to feed her,” Kyle said, holding his bloody arm as it healed.

“What are you getting from Ephraim?”

“Nothing yet, I think his resolve is fading though… I gave Mark and Kralen a chance to have at him,” Kyle said.

“Emily, damnit,” Chevalier growled, and she looked up at him. “Pull out of this. You’re a Winchester. We can’t even control you, but this Ancient was able to do it… why?”

“We may have to turn her,” Kyle whispered. “Or let Sterling do what he was revived for and see if she survives.”

“That’s not what she wants.”

“I know, but she wouldn’t want to stay like this either.”

“She’s going to starve,” Chevalier sighed.

“Have you tried to give her blood?” Kyle asked, cringing.

Chevalier looked at him, “Why would I?”

Kyle shrugged, “She won’t eat the food she normally likes.”

“It wouldn’t matter, even if she drinks it she can’t survive on it.”

“Can’t she?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Kyle turned toward the door, “Glass of blood.”

“I’ll give it to her,” Zohn said, bringing the glass. “She can’t hate me any more than she already does.”

Zohn crouched down and slid the glass through the bars. Emily reached out for it, inching slowly as she moved along the floor, watching the heku as she went. Her hand grasped the glass and pulled it back into the corner. She dipped her fingers into the warm blood and ran her tongue along them, then gagged and threw the glass at the bars, shattering it and sending blood and shards of glass along the prison hallway.

“Answers that, was just an idea,” Kyle said, coming back into view of the cell. They were all able to duck away in time not to get hit.

Kralen and Silas appeared beside them.

“He’s unconscious and still hasn’t told us,” Silas said, looking at Emily sadly.

“She’s going to starve. She can’t keep this up,” Kyle said softly.

“Damnit!” Chevalier yelled. “Get the Council, let’s turn her.”

“Dad, no!” Allen screamed. “She doesn’t want that, give her more time.”

Silas took Allen’s arm when Chevalier headed up the stairs, calling for the turning ritual by the Council.

“Stop him,” Allen said to Kyle.

Kyle shook his head, “She can’t live like this.”

“She doesn’t want to turn,” Allen yelled angrily.

“Silas, Kralen… kill the Ancient,” Kyle said, and started up the stairs to slip on his blue robe. “Mark, bring her.”

Mark nodded and headed into Emily’s cell. He dodged several of her attacks and then finally got her restrained and pulled her up the stairs as she screamed.

Silas pushed Allen off to another guard, and told him to keep the child away from the ritual while Silas and Kralen headed in to finish off the Ancient.

The blue robbed figures stood solemnly around the round ritual room with the delicately carved ancient runes behind them on the wall. It was normally an occasion to celebrate. This time they were sad and downtrodden as Emily fought against the metal restrains on the floor. Chevalier took the part of the heku in black as Quinn performed the ceremony.

“Mortal, do you know where you are?” Quinn asked.

Emily’s back arched as she screamed furiously and pulled against the restraints. Blood began to pour from cuts on her wrists from the metal.

Quinn paused to compose himself. He’d never had to do the ritual without a consenting adult, “Do you know what is about to happen?”

He paused again as they watched her struggle to get free.

“Do you do so willingly and without coercion?”

“She does,” Chevalier whispered.

Quinn nodded, “Proceed.”

Chevalier dropped to the ground and held Emily as still as he could while the other twelve members of the Council knelt down beside her. What was normally an instinctual need to feed was now dreaded and felt unnatural and evil. The Council members hesitated before lowering their teeth toward her flesh.

“Oh my God!” Emily screamed, and began to fight against the restraints.

“Stop!” Quinn yelled as he and Chevalier pushed back their hoods.

Emily’s eyes were wide and she watched the blue robed heku, terrified as she pulled harder against the restraints. A fresh stream of blood pooled around her wrists and ankles.

“Don’t do this! Don’t do this!” she screamed, over and over.

The Council members all lowered their hoods as Quinn started to unfasten the metal restraints. Emily was too afraid to help, and just fought against them, trying to get away from a ceremony she’d already been a part of, and one she was deathly afraid of.

Once Quinn unfastened the last restraint, Emily scrambled to the door and screamed as she pulled at it, unable to make the heavy door move.

“Em, calm down,” Chevalier said softly, and touched her arm. He immediately turned to ash, along with Quinn.

“Mark, help me!” Emily screamed, pounding on the stone door. Kyle moved to the back of the room where she couldn’t see him well, in case she turned the rest of the Council to ash. Within seconds, the other eleven members of the Equites Council, Kyle included, fell to ash as a small trickle of blood fell down her nose.

“Mark!” she screamed again, and pushed past him when he opened the door, shocked.

“Emily, wait,” he called after her, and then cringed when he saw the piles of ash, the entire Equites Council.

“Silas! Kralen!” Mark called, and ran after Emily. They met him in the hallway.

“What happened?” Kralen asked. “Is it over?”

“Did you kill the Ancient?” Mark asked, glancing again to the front doors.

“Yeah, a few minutes ago,” Silas said.

“It brought Emily back, right in the middle of the ceremony… she turned the entire Council to ash,” Mark said, and started out the door. “Call Sotomar, get a Chief Enforcer.”

Silas nodded and grabbed a cell phone while Kralen headed out with Mark to find Emily.

“Valle Council,” a gruff voice said.

“This is Silas, from the Equites… we’ve had a bit of an accident,” Silas said, grinning slightly.

“What’s the problem?” Sotomar asked.

“We decided to turn Emily…”

“I’m so sorry. We wondered how long before it had to be done,” Sotomar said.

“Yeah, well, we killed the Ancient in the middle of the ceremony… and Emily woke up.”

“She’s aware, that’s great!” Valle Elder Ryan said.

“Erm… yes, except they were in the middle of the ceremony.”

There was a long pause before Sotomar spoke, “What happened?”

“She… sort of… turned the entire Council to ash,” Silas said, wincing.

“That’s… that is a problem,” Sotomar said, sounding amused.

“Can you help? Please?” Silas asked. “Even if it’s just Kyle.”

“The Chief Enforcer is on his way,” Sotomar chuckled. “How is Emily?”

“I don’t really know, she ran off. She has an aversion to turning.”

“I’ve heard that,” Sotomar said, and it irritated Silas that he was finding this so amusing.

“I’m going to go help. She took off on horseback and hers is the fastest horse,” Silas said, shutting the phone. “Allen!”

Allen came running down the stairs, “Did you turn her?”

“She became aware during the ceremony and took off. Get on your horse, see if you can find her,” Silas said. “She may trust you more than us.”

Allen nodded, and within a few minutes, was on his horse, racing through the city.

Chapter 19 - Negotiations

“I’m not in the mood to play with you, Boy,” Kyle said angrily to a crouching heku. He was standing in a dark street corner, questioning a young heku about some recent bodies found in the area.

“I swear, I didn’t do it,” the heku said, terrified. Kyle’s eyes were furious as he crouched, ready to attack.

“You have no idea how badly I want to tear you apart,” Kyle growled. “I’m asking, one more time, who helped you?”

“I didn’t do it! No one helped, it wasn’t me,” the heku said, shaking as he looked up at the menacing form of the Equites’ Chief Enforcer.

Kyle stood up straight when he heard a motorcycle pass by the alley slowly. As soon as it was gone, he crouched again, “I need blood… you, Boy, are going to give it to me.”

The scared heku tried to bolt past Kyle, but found himself in the grips of the angry Enforcer as Kyle slowly and painfully tore the young heku apart for his crimes. Kyle grinned maliciously and looked down at the small corner of the alley, covered in blood and carnage. He stood up suddenly and looked behind him when the motorcycle returned and stopped behind him.

Sitting on top of a black Night Rod Special was a figure dressed in black leather, with a sleek black helmet, and knee-high leather high-heeled boots. Kyle took a step forward, afraid to hope that he’d found her after she took off three weeks before on horseback.

“Em?” he asked softly.

Emily pulled off the black helmet and her hair fell down against her back, “Don’t come any closer.”

“Please… listen to me…” Kyle said, watching her closely.

“I want to get my kids,” Emily told him. “So you’re going to help me do that.”

“I’ll help you. I swear, but you need to listen to me first,” Kyle said.

“Where’s your car?”

“I ran.”

“Get on,” Emily said, and pulled her hair up as she slipped on her helmet. Kyle hesitated, wondering if she’d let him drive, and then decided to do whatever she wanted and climbed on the back.

“Ready,” he said, and cringed slightly when she peeled out and took off down the dark street.

“How did you find me?” Kyle yelled.

“Accident, just happened to see you in the alley,” Emily told him.

“Why are you out in the middle of the night?”

“Just out for a ride.”

“It’s 3:30am.”

“I’m aware of that,” Emily said, and merged onto the Interstate.

“Emily!” Kyle yelled when she burned the gate guards to get through into Council City without stopping. She didn’t respond as she headed toward the palace dangerously fast. She pulled up in front of the palace’s front doors, and the guards ran out to meet them as she stopped the engine and swung her leg over to sit sideways in the seat.

“Bring’em out,” Emily said, pulling off her helmet.

Kyle stepped off the Harley Davidson and blurred inside. The guards watched her, afraid that if she got away they might be punished.

“Back up,” Emily said when they slowly moved towards her. They both froze and returned to the door, not willing to get turned to ash.

Allen was the first out of the palace, and he ran and hugged Emily, pulling her off the motorcycle. She hugged him tightly before he set her down on the ground.

“Get Alexis and bring the Jeep around,” Emily told him. Allen nodded and disappeared inside, so she swung her leg over the motorcycle and started to pull her hair up so she could slip on the helmet.

She went to grab her helmet from behind her, but her hand touched another and she looked up. Chevalier was beside her and picked up her helmet, tucking it under his arm, “Leaving?”

Emily glared at him, “Step away from me.”

Chevalier nodded and stepped back by the other Elders, Mark and Silas had also joined them. She sat back and watched for the Jeep.

“Em, we weren’t trying to trick you into turning,” Chevalier said from by the palace doors.

“Sure as hell looked that way,” Emily said, still angry.

“If you will come and talk to us, we can explain.”

“Come back in there? I don’t think so. I’m just here to get the kids.”

“I know you don’t want to turn. I’ve never even tried… there was a valid reason.”

“I bet.”

“You know I want nothing more than for you to disappear, but listen to him. We had a reason,” Zohn told her

“This isn’t just about the ritual,” Emily reminded them. “I told you I was leaving anyway.”

“I thought we were in negotiations,” Chevalier said.

“We were until you tried to turn me. That pretty much ended those negotiations.”

“Do you remember the battle? Against Exavior and his forces?” Quinn asked quickly.

“No, I don’t,” Emily said, still irritated.

“That’s because you were under an Ancient’s control. The only way we knew to break you out of it, was to turn you,” Quinn explained.

“How handy,” Emily said, and tapped her gloved fingers on the bike’s handles.

“Mom?” Allen said, coming out of the palace.

“I told you to get the Jeep.”

“We decided to stay here.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You decided?”

“Yes”

“Now may not be the time,” Chevalier told his son.

“We think it’s about time you stay with Dad, where you belong, and stop running off,” Allen said, crossing his arms. “You know you’d be miserable away from heku, yet you threaten to do it to get your way and it’s getting old.”

“Allen!” Kyle hissed.

Emily glared at him, “You’re 11.”

“Yet more mature than you are,” Allen said smugly.

Emily swung her leg over the Harley, “You’re 11, and have no idea what you’re talking about… you might be under some misguided impression that I’m afraid of you…”

“No, you’re not afraid of me,” Allen said. “You’re afraid of nothing, but being alone.”

Silas hauled Allen inside when Emily advanced on him, but she followed them in and Silas turned around with Allen behind him.

“I won’t let you talk to me like that,” Emily yelled. “You’re my son and I expect a certain level of respect.”

“I have complete respect for you,” Allen told her. “However, I feel it’s best for you if you stay here.”

“We all do,” Chevalier said from behind her.

Emily turned to him, “You tried to turn me, that makes you no better than Exavior.”

Chevalier’s eyes flared, “Don’t compare me to him.”

“You know I would rather die than turn… so does Exavior.”

Quinn and Zohn each grabbed an arm when Chevalier started forward, “Watch it.”

Mark stepped closer to Emily, “Both of you need to calm down.”

“As you see, at times, I’m the only adult in the family,” Allen said matter-of-factly.

“Shut up, Allen,” both Chevalier and Emily yelled, in unison.

“You’re not helping,” Silas hissed at Allen.

“The problem here, is that both know they were wrong, but you’ll never get either of them to admit it,” Allen said, ignoring Silas’ glare. “Mom wants to stay, but doing so would make her appear weak. Dad needs to buck up and say how much he actually needs her, but that might make him appear weak. It’s all a matter of hard-headed pride.”

“You may be right, but I’m warning you… one more word and I’ll haul you out of here,” Silas growled.

“Let’s just go into the conference room and calmly talk about this where the servants and guards aren’t watching,” Quinn suggested.

“Why do you think I want to talk? What part of I’m leaving… are you not understanding?” Emily asked, frustrated.

“Because turning you shouldn’t be factored into this… we had no option that we saw, other than to save your life by making you a heku,” Zohn said, and then stepped back when Emily glared at him.

“He’s right… before that you were willing to negotiate some terms for your return,” Quinn said.

“Why do you want me back here so badly?” Emily asked. “Zohn hates me. I’m a loose bull in a perfectly aligned glass house. What could you possibly want me here for?”

“Because I love you,” Chevalier said, watching her, and Emily’s heart sank.

“Because we all do,” Kyle said. “You’ve become a part of our lives that we don’t want to give up quite yet.”

“You aligned the factions,” Quinn said. “What did the Ancient say? We’ve all become smitten with you.”

“You offer us some protection,” Zohn added.

“Shut up, Zohn,” Chevalier growled.

Emily was still looking into Chevalier’s eyes, shocked he had uttered those three precious words in front of heku.

“Negotiations… we call in all of the Elders and we talk,” Quinn said.

“You have a habit of keeping me against my will,” Emily said, taking a step back toward the door. “How can I guarantee my safety?”

“We’ve never been able to keep you for long,” Mark said, grinning.

“We hold negotiations in the Valle Palace,” Emily suggested. “Neutral territory.”

“Agreed,” Quinn said. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Let’s go to the new Equites 1. The arrangements will be made when we get there,” Chevalier said.

“I’ll take the Harley,” Emily told them, and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Zohn sighed. “As much as I’m sure we’d all prefer you stay in black leather… it’s too dangerous to ride at night and you can’t take guards with you.”

Emily spun and glared at Zohn as Chevalier growled low.

“Who said I was taking guards?” Emily asked, tying her hair up.

“Just come with us, please?” Chevalier said softly.

“No, I need my own way out,” Emily said. “I have to be to work on Monday, negotiations or not.”

“You got a job?” Chevalier asked, surprised.

“Yeah, that’s what mortals do.”

“Where?”

“If you are all so dead set on me not taking the Harley, then I’ll take the Jeep, that way Allen can ride with me,” Emily told them, and headed toward the garage.

“I get to go?”Allen asked.

“No, you don’t.” Chevalier told him.

Emily turned to Allen, “Get in the Jeep.”

Chevalier grinned, “Fine, but he’s my son and I think he needs a guard.”

Silas turned away, grinning.

“You,” Emily said, turning to a first-floor guard.

The guard glanced nervously at Chevalier and then back to Emily, “Yes, Ma’am?”

“What’s your name?”

“Ashtin, Ma’am.”

“Get in the Jeep,” Emily said, and headed for the garage with Allen.

Chevalier shrugged, “At least it’s someone.”

“Sir?” Ashtin asked.

“Go… one thing happens to her though, and it’ll be your head,” Chevalier said, and stormed up the stairs.

Emily pulled off the top and doors of the Jeep, setting them off to the side. She crawled in while Allen got into the passenger seat, and the nervous guard got into the back.

***

“They said they are only a few minutes out,” Sotomar said to those gathered around the conference room. “Let’s meet them out front.”

Emily didn’t know the exact location of the Valle, so the Elders had sent out a few cars to guide her in. The Elders from all three factions stepped outside into the warm afternoon and watched as the three Ferrari’s followed the dark green Jeep. They pulled up outside of the large garage across from the palace and the guards met Emily at the Jeep and walked her toward the palace.

“Damn,” Elder Ryan said. “Does she wear leather often?”

Sotomar growled at him and turned back to Emily. She pulled off the leather jacket and slung it over her shoulder, leaving only a lacy white camisole that showed a hint of bare midriff as she walked. She didn’t look happy though, and the Equites guard was walking far behind her.

“Welcome,” Sotomar said, smiling.

“Is there a problem?” Quinn asked, glaring at his guard.

“Yes, Genius over here tried to pick a fight while I was getting gas,” Emily said angrily. With her 4” heels, she was closer to the height of the heku, but still dwarfed by them. The Elders glanced away from her nervously, afraid if they looked too long at her in the tight leather pants, that Chevalier would notice.

“Over what?” Chevalier asked, irritated.

“There was a mortal…” the guard started, but Emily cut him off.

“Getting hit on by some dumbass is no reason to threaten to tear his hand off,” Emily yelled.

“He… he touched… you,” the guard said, defending himself.

“Where?” Quinn asked, curious.

The guard sighed, “He took her arm and then patted her butt.”

Emily glared at him, “When you get back… you’re fired.” She took Allen’s hand and walked into the Valle’s palace.

“When you get back, report to Mark for a promotion,” Chevalier whispered, and followed them in.

Sotomar growled at a few guards when they turned to watch Emily walk past them. They suddenly faced forward, and Sotomar gave Chevalier an apologetic glance.

“Em, would you like to change, maybe?” Chevalier asked hopefully. He admired the way her high-heeled boots and tight leather pants accentuated her figure, but couldn’t help but notice how many heku were watching her walk by.

Emily shrugged, “I was just out for a ride. I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

“Dear, there is an entire wardrobe for you, if you need to change… please, do so,” Elder Ryan said.

“Fine,” Emily said, and bent over to unzip her boots. She stood up quickly and turned around when she heard gasps from behind her, “What?”

Chevalier’s eyes were wide, “Did… what… in…”

Quinn grinned, “Did you get a tattoo?”

“You got a tattoo?” Allen asked, surprised.

Emily grinned, “I did.”

“I see,” Quinn said, amused.

Emily shrugged and unbuttoned the top button on her leather pants, and turned around, pulling them down enough so they could see the tattoo on her lower back, where it was mostly hidden by her low-rider pants. The Equites crest was tattooed in black, and was surrounded by intricately drawn green vines and red roses that formed an elongated V that stretched out toward her hips. She re-buttoned her pants and followed a servant up the stairs.

“Didn’t see that coming,” William chuckled.

“Motorcycles, tight black leather, high heels, and tattoos,” Zohn said, raising his eyebrows. “She never ceases to amaze me.”

Chevalier grinned, “I like it.”

“Of course you do,” Allen said, rolling his eyes. “Before you all start to drool, let’s go into the conference room, shall we?”

“Yes… good idea…” Ryan said, and glanced once more as Emily disappeared from the stairs on the fourth floor.

The nine Elders and Allen sat down around the large table in the conference room and waited.

“So, what happened with the mortal?” Chevalier asked Allen.

Allen shrugged, “Mom draws attention, what can I say?”

Quinn grinned, “We do apologize.”

“No reason, she’s to blame this time… not sure what she expects in that outfit,” Allen said, sitting back. “So some biker approached her and got handsy. He didn’t have time to do much more because Ashtin threatened to remove his hands.”

“I knew I liked Ashtin,” Chevalier said, thinking.

“He’s lucky it wasn’t Mark or Silas. They wouldn’t have threatened,” Zohn said, frowning. “She really needs to cover up or we’ll have more than just Exavior following her around.”

“She was completely covered, even had her jacket on,” Allen explained.

“Pants that tight should not be considered covering anything.”

Allen grinned at Zohn, “She just made you nervous because you liked it, too.”

“Allen…” Quinn warned.

Allen sat back quietly and waited.

“Has she agreed to stay then? Pending negotiations?” William asked, changing the subject.

“No, she’s not,” Quinn said. “She has to work on Monday, so we can’t drag them out. She said negotiations or not she’s going.”

“She got a job?” Ryan asked.

“She’s the secretary for Bruce Isaac,” Allen said, still sitting calmly.

“Wait!” Chevalier said, turning to him. “What?”

“Bruce Isaac, CEO of the V.E.S.,” Allen said.

“I know who Bruce Isaac is… why is she working for him?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“She said to keep an eye on what’s going on, to protect us kids… course… we all know that’s a façade so she can protect all heku,” Allen said, smiling.

Chevalier pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, “I’m getting a headache.”

“Heku don’t get headaches,” Quinn reminded him.

“Yeah… well… I’m married to one big headache.”

“Good to know,” Emily said from behind him. She came into the room in a floor-length shimmery silver slip dress with spaghetti straps, “Any clothing other than heku Barbie?”

“Sorry, Exavior worked with the tailor,” Sotomar said, grinning slightly.

Emily sat down, “Let’s get on with this then.”

“Bruce Isaac, Em? Seriously?” Kyle asked.

“Tattle tale,” Emily said, frowning at Allen.

“I didn’t know it was a secret,” Allen told her.

“Anyway, that has nothing to do with these negotiations.”

“I think it probably does,” Sotomar said. “Do you know how dangerous it is to work for them?”

“Yes, I do know, and no, it has nothing to do with negotiations.”

“What is it you want, for you to stay?” Quinn asked quickly.

“First off, Allen explained to me what happened after the attack by Exavior, and why the Equites attempted to turn me,” Emily said, leaning her elbows on the table. “So… for now… that is no longer a consideration. However, next time, remember I would rather die than turn.”

“Why is that, exactly?” Encala Elder Aaron asked.

Emily glanced at him, “None of your business.”

“It just seems odd that a species you obviously care a lot about, yet don’t want to become…”

Emily just looked at him, not saying a word.

“Moving forward,” William said, taking the pressure off of Aaron. “What is it you want?”

“You’re the ones with the photographic memory, remind us all what I said,” Emily said, sitting back in the chair.

“To quote…” William said. “That means no more kidnapping, spying, torturing, killing, following, dressing me up like a doll, deceit… nothing.”

Emily smiled, “Yup, that’s about it… most of which occurred over the last few months, and I am willing to not include anything done by Exavior.”

“So punish us and stay,” William suggested.

Emily frowned slightly, “Punish you?”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “That’s not a bad idea.”

Emily glanced at Allen and he shrugged.

“How am I supposed to punish the Elders?” Emily asked.

They all thought in silence for a few minutes as Emily watched them, somewhat amused.

“No guards,” Reese suggested.

Emily frowned, “That’s not much of a punishment... but it’s a start, what else?”

“You could ash the entire Council…” Zohn said, irritated. “Oh wait, you already did that.”

Emily chuckled, “Yes, I did.”

“You sort of did punish us already,” Sotomar said. “We’ve been sick with worry since we found your horse tied to the side of the Interstate.”

Emily sighed, “Joking aside, all I want is to be ensured that I won’t be restrained any more. I want the freedom to come and go as I please… if there’s a war, and I want to join, then let me… if I want to slip my guards and go riding alone, then let me.”

“Deal,” Chevalier told her.

“Wait,” Zohn said. “I disagree… you’re saying if we go to war against the Valle, that Emily is allowed to participate?”

“What? Why us?” Sotomar asked, frowning.

“Just an example,” Zohn told him. “V.E.S. uprising then… you’re fine to let her fight alongside us?”

“Maybe, at that time, we can talk openly about it and she would see reasons behind staying at the palace.”

“We’re talking about Emily, right?” Zohn sighed. “Seeing reason?”

“Hey!” Emily yelled. “Are you insinuating that I can’t see reason?”

“Yes”

Emily glared at him and Zohn disappeared, leaving ash scattered under the table.

“Emily!” Chevalier yelled, leaning over to look.

“Well… guess she showed him,” William chuckled.

“I’ll get the Enforcer,” Sotomar said.

“No,” Emily told him. “He’s fine where he is for now… what’s his problem, anyway?”

“Not sure exactly,” Quinn said. “We’ll talk to him about it later, course, this isn’t going to help.”

“Let’s try this… if I were submissive and obedient, what would you have me do?” Emily asked, serious.

“That’s a trap if I’ve ever seen one,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Guards… we all feel it’s important that you have guards,” Elder Ryan said.

“No more running,” Quinn added.

“Or disappearing for weeks at a time,” Sotomar said, smiling slightly.

“Eating… drinking… sleeping... would be nice,” Chevalier said.

Reese smiled, “Contact with all Councils would be required, so we can insure your welfare.”

Quinn jumped in, “No swimming alone… or riding alone.”

“No job,” Valle Elder Vizia added.

“No interrupting the Council in session,” Quinn said.

“She can interrupt our Council,” Sotomar told her.

William nodded, “Ours too.”

“Then no interrupting the Equites Council,” Quinn clarified.

Emily sighed, “Damn, is that all?”

Chevalier grinned, “You asked.”

“Two weeks under your rules, followed by two weeks under mine… and we’ll see,” Emily suggested.

The Elders looked around and then Quinn turned back to Emily, “If we agree, you’ll stay.”

“For four weeks, guaranteed.”

“You’ll quit your job?” Chevalier asked.

“I’ll take a 2 week leave… then if I need to work, I’ll still have it.”

“I don’t like you at the V.E.S.”

“I worked hard to make it to the CEO’s secretary. I’m not giving up that kind of knowledge or power for a 2 week trial.”

“Very well… Equites agree.”

“Valle agree,” Sotomar said.

William nodded, “Sure, we’ll agree.”

“Starting now,” Allen said, and they all looked at him. “Kyle found her running amok at 3 o’clock in the morning, which means she hasn’t slept… and as far as I can tell, she hasn’t eaten either.”

Emily glared at him, “You’re pushing it.”

“No time like the present, Em,” Chevalier said, smiling.

Emily sighed and stood up, “As you wish.”

“You’re really going to bed?” Chevalier asked skeptically.

“Sure… alone,” Emily said, and disappeared from the room.

Kyle grinned, “Denied.”

“She cuts me off weekly,” Chevalier chuckled, and stood up. “I’m ready to feed.”

“I’ll go,” Quinn said, standing up.

“As will I,” Sotomar said.

Allen looked up, “Can I?”

“Sure,” Chevalier said, and they all headed out.

Emily went through the closets, but found only skimpy silk nightgowns. She frowned and stepped out into the hallway.

“Ma’am?” one of her door guards asked.

“Do you have a t-shirt on?”

“Excuse me?”

“T-shirt… are you wearing one?” Emily asked, somewhat irritated.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Can I have it, please?” she asked, and held her hand out.

The guard frowned slightly and slipped off his gray shirt and the t-shirt underneath, and then handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said, and disappeared back into the room. She put it on and climbed into bed.

A servant had already pulled the heavy shades so even though it was afternoon, the room was almost completely dark. Before leaving, Sotomar assigned four guards to her and she was already dreading the arrangement that she would follow all orders for two weeks, but was looking forward to her two weeks of complete freedom.

Emily was thinking about the next four weeks when she fell asleep, and her dreams were mostly about wandering lost in the Valle Palace.

***

The guards looked over when the Elders came through the hallway. They were talking and laughing, having just fed.

“Any problems?” Sotomar asked.

“No, Sir,” the guard said. “She fell asleep about twenty minutes after she laid down.”

“After she took my shirt,” one of the guards said, looking at the floor.

“Your shirt?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“Yes, sir, she wanted my t-shirt.”

Sotomar nodded, “Exavior had the nightgowns made.”

“Did she eat well?” Chevalier asked, changing the subject.

“Damnit,” the guard said, cringing. “I knew we forgot something.”

Chevalier shook his head and went to open the door, but a hand blocked him.

“Sorry, she specifically requested that all heku stay out,” the guard said, and stood back up.

Sotomar raised an eyebrow, “Interesting.”

Kyle sighed, “That means she’s not in there.”

“What?” William growled. “She promised.”

“Yeah, not her strong suit,” Chevalier said, and burst through the door. The room was swelteringly hot and the fires were roaring. Emily was lying on top of the covers on her back. The t-shirt was hiked up slightly, exposing her soft thighs.

Chevalier spun in the door and pushed the others out. They had already seen her and quickly advanced into the hallway.

“Ok, so I was wrong,” Kyle chuckled. “Sorry, usually she’s skipped out.”

“So now she’s just being private,” Sotomar said, embarrassed.

Chevalier grinned and backed into the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

“Lucky bastard… let’s go down stairs,” William said, and headed toward the main floor.

Chevalier stood by the door, watching her sleep. He wondered how she slept in such hot conditions, but she seemed to prefer it. He shut his eyes and inhaled her scent, enhanced by the heat from the fires, then sat down in one of the plush chairs by the front door and watched her for a few hours before meeting up with the others down the stairs.

“I’m heading back,” Quinn said. “There’s been a fight between our infamous newly married couple.”

“Can’t the Cavalry handle them… again?” Kyle asked.

Quinn shrugged, “Fourth time this week. I think we need to intervene.”

“I am leaving too, for obvious reasons,” Zohn said angrily.

Kyle grinned, “Do you need me?”

“No, stay here. If she gets mad at Chevalier, she’ll need you,” Quinn said, and grinned slightly.

Chevalier walked the Equites Elders up the stairs and sent Ashtin with them. Equites 1 took off, followed by the Encala helicopter carrying their three Elders.

“Guess it’s just us,” Chevalier said to Kyle. “Never thought I’d be welcome in the Valle Palace.”

“It makes me nervous,” Kyle whispered.

“Just keep your guard up,” Chevalier said, and walked back inside.

“Did you know she wanted a motorcycle?”

“No, didn’t know she wanted a tattoo either.”

“Odd, isn’t it? She leaves the heku forever, but gets the Equites Crest tattooed across her lower back?”

Chevalier grinned, “I like it.”

Kyle chuckled, “Of course you do.”

“Think she’ll stick with leather for a while?”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath… I still wish I knew what she was doing out at 3am though. I don’t buy her story.”

“Me either, but I hate to push the issue.”

“The Council is in session. Elder Sotomar wanted you to know,” one of Emily’s guards said.

Chevalier nodded, “Fine… where is an empty room?”

A servant appeared and showed Chevalier and Kyle into a private conference room with a small table and three wooden chairs. They sat silently, each in their own thoughts as the night began and slipped slowly into morning with no word from Emily.

Mid-morning, they heard her get up and walk around. Her footsteps were distinctive because heku rarely went without shoes, and she hardly ever wore them. Her steps were also lighter and slightly irregular. They heard her door guards order breakfast and then the shower ran in the bathroom.

“We heading back today?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah, might as well,” Chevalier said, standing up.

“We going to let her drive?”

Chevalier chuckled, “I’m not going to start that fight.”

“Yeah, but she’s obeying us this week, remember?”

“It’ll be an adventure,” Chevalier said, grinning. “Let’s go.”

Chevalier and Kyle made their way up the stairs to her door, where the door guard handed Chevalier jeans and a t-shirt the tailor made for her, and then knocked.

“Come in,” Emily called out.

Chevalier and Kyle came in and shut the door behind them.

“I know… heku Barbie,” Emily said, cringing at the flowing pink dress she was wearing.

“We come bearing gifts,” Chevalier told her, grinning, and tossed the jeans and t-shirt to her.

“Oh… thank you!” Emily yelled, and disappeared into the bathroom.

“Is she trying to cook the place?” Kyle asked, stepping away from the fires.

“She likes it warm.”

Emily came back out in low-rider jeans and a gray t-shirt with an intricately designed “V” in the center, “Ha-ha, very funny.”

Chevalier smirked, “We expected no less.”

“Are we leaving?”

“Yes, after breakfast,” Chevalier said as Kyle went to the door and came back carrying a tray. He sat it down on a small table and Emily pulled off the top and smelled.

“Nice, smells good,” she said, and picked up a piece of bacon.

“I’d like to give the Jeep a try, may I drive?” Kyle asked.

Emily shook her head, “Nice try… no.”

Kyle shrugged and smiled at Chevalier.

Emily sighed and turned to them, “I need to talk to Alec.”

“I figured,” Chevalier said, and called for Sotomar.

“Glad you’re feeling better,” the Valle Elder said, walking up to them.

“Where is Alec?” Emily asked him.

He sighed, “He’s on house arrest, down in the city. He keeps trying to run to Exavior.”

“Can she see him?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, I’ll take you there,” Sotomar said, and led them out of the Valle Palace. They walked down into the city and stopped in front of a small house that had guards posted at the doors.

“I need to go in alone,” Emily said, and walked up to the door and knocked softly. She walked in when she heard Alec tell her to enter.

Alec was sitting in a rocking chair, watching the fire. He looked over at her and his eyes were sad, “Hello, Emi.”

Emily walked over at sat down in the chair beside him, “I’m not sure what to say.”

“Sotomar told me that Exavior has been imprisoned for eternity.”

Emily nodded and watched the fire.

“I pledged my life to him.”

“I wish you would trust me, he’s evil. He’s right where he belongs.”

Alec looked at her angrily, “He’s my maker and my friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So I go from being in this new life with my friend, excited for my future and to try out my new abilities… to sitting here, alone, unsure where to go or what to do.”

“Come live with me,” Emily suggested and took his hand.

He roughly pulled his hand out of hers, “When I leave, I’ll go back to the city Exavior created. He still has followers there.”

“They aren’t going to let you go if you keep saying that.”

“I’m not going to the Equites, where my maker is trapped.”

“Alec…”

“Stop, Emi, you don’t know as much as you think you do about the heku. You won’t even become one.”

“It doesn’t matter. I know exactly what’s going on. I’ve lived with them for 14 years.”

“And are still blind to them. You can’t understand them like I do, until you become one.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t want to leave you here, alone.”

“You already did.”

“Please, Alec, come with me.”

“You obviously don’t need me around. You don’t do this to family that you care about. I hope you enjoy the next few hundred years with your Equites.”

“Don’t say that, Alec, and you know I won’t be around for another hundred years… I won’t turn,” Emily reminded him.

Alec looked at her and shook his head, “You don’t even know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“You aren’t aging, Emi. How can you not notice that?”

Emily looked over at him, “What do you mean? I’m almost 40.”

“You look 20, you had to have noticed… Exavior did.”

“Come back with me.”

Alec shook his head, “No, I’m not going to come and watch you with your heku while I know in my heart that the one you belong with is suffering below you.”

“I love Chevalier. You aren’t around to see it, but the Equites are very good to me. They are like my family.”

“I’m glad you have a replacement for us, then,” Alec said, his voice full of pain.

Emily’s eyes filled with tears, “I didn’t replace you with them. I want you to come and join me, be with your family.”

“Go, Emi, go back to the Equites and leave me alone.”

Emily stood up, numb, and walked over to the door. She glanced back at her uncle before opening the door and stepping out. The heku looked at her and knew she didn’t want to talk. They walked back to the palace and Emily crawled into the back of the Jeep, and lay down in the backseat.

She felt an empty hole in her heart where her mortal family belonged. Maybe Alec was right, and she’d abandoned her own family for the heku. She knew, deep down, that she hadn’t had a choice when she moved to Island Coven. She also felt pangs of guilt as she realized that Alec abandoning her for Exavior wasn’t only his fault.

“I guess we’re going,” Chevalier said, and sat in the driver’s seat.

“If we can do anything…” Sotomar started.

Kyle nodded at him and got into the passenger’s seat, “We’ll let you know.”

Chevalier backed the Jeep out of the Valle’s garage and was soon on the Interstate headed back to Council City. Kyle kept an eye on Emily. She cried for a while, and then lie motionless, staring at the back of the seat. She refused food and they drove through the night, arriving at Council City just after dawn.

“Em, we’re here,” Chevalier said, and pulled the Jeep into the garage. He stopped the engine and looked back at her.

“I know,” she whispered.

Kyle glanced at her and then went into the palace.

Chevalier watched as she stayed in the backseat, unmoving. She watched the pattern on the seat, her mind and body numb. Alec was the last of her family. The only reminder she had of her family before the heku, and he hated her, hated that she’d been a part of putting Exavior away. She didn’t move as Chevalier picked her up and cradled her as he walked into the palace.

“What’s wrong?” Allen asked when they walked into the palace.

“We’re not really sure,” Chevalier said, heading up the stairs. “She talked to Alec alone and hasn’t said much since.”

“Is he coming to live with us?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Did you say he couldn’t?”

“No, I did not. I would be fine with Alec joining us in Council City.”

“Maybe I should go talk to him,” Allen said, and followed them into the bedroom. Chevalier laid Emily down on the bed and walked back out to the hallway, shutting the door behind Allen.

“If I thought, for one moment, that you could change his mind, then I would let you. Sotomar told me that Alec is still pledging his allegiance to Exavior and won’t change his opinions,” Chevalier explained.

“How can Alec do that? After what Exavior did to Mom?”

Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure. There’s a strong attachment to your maker, though. He may still be too new to pull himself away from those loyalties.”

“You were loyal to your maker?” Allen asked curiously.

“No, I wasn’t,” Chevalier said, and sat down in a chair by Emily’s door. “Mine was different, I didn’t choose to turn, so I didn’t feel I owed him anything.”

“Reporting for duty, Sir,” one of the Cavalry said when four came up to her door.

Chevalier nodded and stood up, “Leave her alone for now, deal or no deal, she needs to be alone.”

“Do we disregard all of Elder Zohn’s orders then?” he asked.

“No, just leave her alone in her room for now, the rest stands,” Chevalier said, and went down into the council chambers.

Chapter 20 - Four Weeks

“Em?” Chevalier asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. He could tell she’d been crying again, and he put his hand on her arm softly.

Emily looked over at him.

“It’s been three days… you need to eat.”

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath and then opened them slowly and nodded, “Ok, I agreed to obey.”

“I’m not enforcing that right now. I’d just like you to eat,” Chevalier said, and ordered her some fried potatoes and sausage for breakfast.

Emily shrugged, “I agreed and I’ll follow through.”

Chevalier pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head against his chest and shut her eyes, focusing on the sound of the beating of his heart. She looked over when her breakfast was delivered and crawled out of his lap.

“I have meetings all day today,” Chevalier told her.

Emily nodded and sat down to eat.

He watched her take a few bites and then headed down to the council chambers. He sat down and turned to the others, “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

“How is she?” Quinn asked.

“She’s eating, that’s a start… she’s also said she plans on holding to the two week agreement.”

“Derrick?” Zohn called out, and when the door guard entered, he continued. “Bring in our first appointment.”

“Yes, Sir, the first appointment is…” Derrick hesitated and checked a note in his hand again, “Elder Vaughn.”

“Who?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“I’m not sure I like where this is going,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.

“Bring him in,” Zohn sighed.

Derrick nodded and left the council chambers. The door opened and the former Encala Elder, Vaughn, walked in wearing a dark purple cape. He had four guards with him and stood proudly before the Equites Council.

“Well… this is interesting,” Zohn said. “What exactly are you an Elder of?”

“Just because you imprisoned our founder, Elder Exavior, doesn’t mean that his faction has fallen into rubble,” Vaughn said. “I’m here to ask for the return of Damon and Samuel.”

“Not Exavior?”

“Not yet. We understand that will take more time and preparations.”

“All in favor of releasing Damon and Samuel, please raise your hands,” Quinn said, and watched Vaughn, already knowing the answer.

Vaughn’s eyes flared, “I’ll not be taken lightly. This is a valid request and I insist you let them go.”

“Call for Emily,” Quinn said to Derrick.

“Why? I’m not petitioning for her yet, either,” Vaughn said.

“Yet? Were you going to?” Zohn asked, confused.

“Yes, she’s an Elder also, and soon we’ll come for her too.”

“Emily’s an Elder?” Chevalier asked, somewhat amused.

“Yes”

“Does she know that?” Quinn asked.

“She should, it’s how it should be… the wife of an Elder is an Elder also.”

Chevalier sighed, “Not going to drop that are you?”

Emily peeked into the trial area and then walked in when Derrick pushed her softly. The door shut behind her, and she looked up at the Council. The heku on the trial floor didn’t even turn to look at her. She walked up slowly, unsure what she’d done to get in trouble this time.

“Elder…” Vaughn said when she walked up beside him.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, and she walked around Vaughn, keeping an eye on him, and ran up the stairs to the Council.

Vaughn smiled at her.

“You called?” Emily asked, her eyes on the former Encala Elder.

“Yes, Dear, we need a peacekeeper, tempers were flaring,” Quinn said, and motioned for the council member beside Chevalier to stand so she could sit. Emily sat down, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do.

“Did you call me Elder?” Emily asked him.

“Yes, you are an Elder, along with myself, and Exavior,” Vaughn explained.

“Of what, exactly?”

“The Ferus.”

“What’s a Ferus?”

Chevalier grinned, “It means Fierce.”

“We’ve come to retrieve Damon and Samuel,” Vaughn told her. “I assume you will help us, as it’s your faction, too.”

Emily grinned and looked at Zohn, “You’re messing with me.”

Zohn looked over at her, his eyebrows raised, “I most certainly am not.”

“I think he’s serious,” Chevalier told her.

Emily glanced over at Vaughn, “So I’m an Elder of the Ferus Faction, and you want my help to return Damon and Samuel?”

“Yes,” Vaughn said.

Emily nodded, “Sure, I’ll help Damon and Samuel.”

“Good girl,” Vaughn said, smiling.

The Council turned to her and she pulled a tissue from under the desk, and wiped the small trickle of blood from her nose.

“Em…” Chevalier sighed.

“What? I helped free them.”

Vaughn frowned, “I don’t understand.”

“She turned them to ash,” Kyle chuckled.

Vaughn’s eyes grew fierce, “You’ll pay for that.”

“You can’t punish an Elder,” Emily said calmly, and leaned back in the chair, putting her bare feet up against the desk.

“I demand you bring them back and return them to us,” Vaughn said to Kyle.

Kyle shrugged, “I’ll bring them back, we weren’t done with them... but I’m not returning them to you.”

Emily leaned up and looked at Quinn, “Can I head into town if I take some guards?”

Quinn glanced at Zohn and Chevalier and then nodded, “Yes, you may.”

Emily stood up and looked at Vaughn, “As Elder, I give the Equites permission to put you in prison.”

“What?” he yelled.

“Just saying…” Emily mumbled as she left the council chambers.

Vaughn was furious, “She cannot do that! I demand you release Damon and Samuel.”

“No,” Zohn said bluntly. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this... but I agree with Emily, I say we incarcerate him for impersonating an Elder.”

“That might be an Encala call, though,” Quinn said.

Chevalier shrugged, “Get them on the phone.”

The Council all cringed slightly when they heard the Jeep leave the garage. Zohn whispered into the air and found that she had four guards with her.

“Encala Council,” William said, sounding unsure.

“William, it’s Zohn… we want to know if we may incarcerate Vaughn for impersonating an Elder.”

“Vaughn? Our Vaughn?” he asked, shocked.

“Yes, he’s saying he’s an Elder for the Ferus Faction, along with Emily and Exavior.”

William sighed, “Yes, take him.”

“You have no right to imprison me! That would leave the Ferus without an active Elder. Tradition dictates you must let me go.”

“Hold on,” Chevalier said, and conferenced in the Valle.

“Ryan here,” the Valle Elder said.

“Speakerphone please.”

“Done, what’s up?” Sotomar asked.

“We have the Encala also…”

“Ok”

“Former Encala Elder Vaughn is here. When we tried to imprison him, he claimed that as sole active Elder for the Ferus Faction, tradition says we have to let him go,” Chevalier explained. “So to make it official… we wonder if either of you are going to back his claim that there even is a Ferus Faction.”

Sotomar chuckled, “We don’t recognize it.”

“Neither do we,” William said. “I say lock him up.”

“This is outrageous! Until Exavior’s release, or when Emily joins us as Elder, I am the only Elder left, and therefore, should be granted diplomatic immunity.”

“Sorry Vaughn, the Ferus is not a recognize faction, so its leadership doesn’t fall under heku tradition laws,” Zohn said. “Derrick, have him and his friends locked up.”

“How many more of the banished are going to come forward?” Sotomar sighed.

“We just wait and see I guess… Encala out.”

The phone line suddenly went dead.

“I really thought that by taking Exavior out of the picture, this fourth faction would disappear,” Quinn said, frowning.

“We’re going to have to find out where there city is and destroy them,” Chevalier said. “Easy as that.”

“Send Emily over as their Elder,” Zohn suggested.

“No,” Quinn and Chevalier said together.

“Derrick, next?” Zohn said, amused.

Derrick brought in a struggling heku. He was in torn clothing and hissed at the Council when he dropped to his knees.

“What have we here?” Quinn asked, looking down at him.

“Winston, a former Equites from the Danish Sørensen Coven, went missing fifty six years ago and recently turned up in New York City. He’s decided to become an incubus, but can’t quite get it down and keeps attacking women, who assault him, and twice now he’s been left in a gutter to heal after an attack,” Derrick said. He grinned slightly and then left the room.

Quinn sighed and leaned his head back on his chair, staring at the ceiling.

“That sounds like a job for Kyle,” Chevalier said, irritated.

“He hasn’t fed without consent… he keeps getting beaten up before he can,” Kyle chuckled. “I think we need to put him out of his misery.”

“Please, let me go, I’ll be good,” he begged, looking up at the Council nervously.

“You… you try to feed and can’t? They’re mortal women!” Zohn growled. “How stupid do you have to be?”

“Let’s send him to the Ferus Faction,” Quinn said, grinning to the ceiling.

***

Six hours later, they heard the Jeep return and noticed how long it’d been. The Council had endured trial after trial, and all were exhausted and irritated from what they’d seen come through for the day.

The door opened and Emily stepped in with a stack of papers in one hand, and a large Starbucks coffee in the other, “Derrick said I could come in.”

“You may, we’re taking a break,” Zohn said, leaning his head into his hands.

Emily grinned and walked up to the Council stand, “Was it that bad?”

“If I could drain myself, I would,” Quinn said, re-counting the tiles in the ceiling for the 2,312th time that day.

“This’ll make you laugh…” Emily said, and set her things down on the desk. “When Exavior and I got married, he changed his last name to Winchester, to match mine.”

Chevalier chuckled, “He didn’t.”

“Yup, he did,” Emily said, and leaned back against the wall.

Quinn finally looked down from the ceiling, “Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s an idiot?” Emily suggested.

“How did you find that out?” Chevalier asked, looking over at her.

“I filed for divorce,” Emily said, motioning for the papers. “It’s going to take 12 months though.”

“Why so long?”

“I had to file for abandonment, because he’s not here to sign.”

“Nice, another year and you’re single,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“Oh good, I heard Vaughn is free,” Emily said, and bumped his chair with her hip. Chevalier grabbed her in an instant and threw her over his knee.

“Just for that I should put you in the cell with him,” he grinned.

Emily tried to get up, “He always said I needed a real heku.”

“Don’t make me spank you.”

Emily glared at him, “Don’t make me burn you.”

Chevalier laughed and set her back up.

“Why are you all sitting here bored? You aren’t even holding a trial,” Emily asked, straightening her shirt.

Chevalier shrugged, “We are in session during certain hours in case we’re needed.”

Emily sat on the desk and grabbed her phone when it rang, “Hello?”

She grinned, “Hi, Bruce.”

Chevalier’s eyebrows rose.

“Yes, I had to, my sister died.”

Kyle shook his head, grinning.

“The vampires did?”

Dustin started to speak, but was hushed by Zohn.

Emily rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t aware that the vampires were after me.”

Chevalier reached over and ran his finger lightly up her back. She shivered and slapped him on the arm.

“Yes, I always have my vampire fighting kit with me.”

Emily blushed and turned away, whispering into the phone, “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t date the boss.”

“Yes, I know… watch for the teeth. Listen, I have to run, my dinner is burning,” Emily said, and hung up the phone. She blushed again when she saw they were all watching her, “What?”

“Don’t date the boss?” Chevalier asked.

“Watch for the teeth?” Quinn asked.

“Don’t judge!” Emily said, and grinned.

“What’s in a vampire fighting kit?” Kyle asked, turning toward her.

Emily sighed, “Let’s see… holy water, garlic, a wooden stake, silver, and alcohol.”

“Alcohol? Why alcohol?” Zohn asked, confused.

“Yeah, that’d be my fault. When Greg’s buddies were interrogating me on ways to kill a vampire, I told them that alcohol weakens them,” she explained, and grinned slightly.

“Nice, Em,” Kyle said, and laughed.

“Speaking of alcohol,” Emily said, and jumped off the desk. “Let’s go get drinks.”

Chevalier grinned, “Trying to get the entire Council to fight?”

“Use some control, come on,” Emily said, and headed for the door. “We don’t even have to leave the palace.”

“I’m in,” Zohn said, standing up.

“You are?” Quinn asked, shocked.

“Sure, why not?”

“May we?” Kyle asked.

“Sure,” Chevalier said, and followed Zohn and Emily out of the room.

“This I gotta see,” Kyle said, and ran out.

“I don’t drink,” Dustin said, sounding insulted.

The Chief Interrogator stood up, “I’m in, too.”

Emily fell into the bar and got to her feet. She walked over and started wiping shot glasses clean with her shirt, and was surprised when Zohn, Chevalier, Kyle, the Chief Interrogator, and the Chief Investigator followed her in.

She grinned, “What’s your poison?”

“Let’s open that 1787 Chateau Lafitte,” Kyle said, sitting at the bar.

Chevalier glanced at the clean window and sat down, “I’ll go for that.”

Emily went through the bottles and found it. She pulled and tugged at the cork and then put it on the bar to find a corkscrew. She looked up when the Chief Investigator pulled it out easily with his fingers.

“Damnit, Em, what was the ancient’s room for?” Kyle asked, sighing.

Emily poured him a drink, “Not a chance.”

***

“You’re two weeks is up,” Chevalier said, and kissed Emily’s shoulder softly.

Emily sighed and rolled over in bed, “That it is.”

“Now what tortures are you going to put us through for the next two weeks?” he asked, running his fingers lightly up her back.

“It won’t be too bad. First things first, I’m going back to the island for a few days.”

“Sounds harmless.”

“Without guards.”

“Oh, right, well… ok.”

Emily grinned, “I hope the pool’s been cleaned out.”

“It has.”

“Good, I need some swim time,” she said, and crawled out of bed.

“Hey, get back here,” he hissed, and reached for her.

“I want to get on the road,” she told him, and flashed him quickly before disappearing into the bathroom.

She came out a short time later in jeans and a short halter top.

“Taking Allen and Alexis?” Chevalier asked, leaning back on the bed.

“Not this time, I won’t be long… at least I hope not.”

“Hm,” Chevalier sighed. “Sounds like you have plans.”

Emily grinned, “I do.”

“Mark has some things to do there, can he hitch a ride?”

Emily put on her cowboy boots and looked up at him, “No.”

Chevalier grinned, “Kyle?”

Emily leaned over him on the bed and kissed him softly, “No.”

“Silas”

“No,” she said, and dug her purse out of the wardrobe.

“Kralen”

“No.” she turned and headed for the door.

“Jaron?” Chevalier asked, following her.

“No,” Emily chuckled and headed down the stairs.

“Wayne”

“No”

“Jared”

“No”

“Brandon”

“No,” she said, and climbed into her Jeep.

“Dave?”

“No,” she repeated, laughing, and started the Jeep. “Good-bye, Chev.”

“Take Dan.”

“No”

“Me… take me.”

“No”

“It’s my coven.”

“No... but I love you,” she said, and drove out of the garage.

Emily drove all day and through the night, reaching the ferry just after dawn. She kicked back in the Jeep to take a nap during the ferry ride, and didn’t wake up until she heard the tug boats beside them. She stretched and sat the seat back up and pulled on her sunglasses. The pier guards waved her through, and she grinned and drove up to the castle.

“Good morning, Lady Emily,” Storm said, meeting her at the front doors.

“Hiya, Storm, hope this isn’t a bad time.”

“Never, Ma’am. Will the Elder be joining you?”

“I guess that depends on if I get molested or fed off of on this trip.”

Storm cringed, “Let’s hope not.”

“I’m going to grab some breakfast and go to bed actually. I drove all night.”

“I’ll have Gordon bring something up. The Elder informed us you were on the way.”

“Thanks, Storm,” Emily said, and yawned as she headed up the stairs.

With the quietness of the island, and being tired from driving all night, Emily slept through the afternoon and night, not waking up until early the next morning when her alarm went off. She crawled out of bed and stumbled into the shower, trying to wake up. When she came out, there was already coffee and muffins waiting for her. She ate quickly and ran down the stairs.

“Were you leaving?” one of the door guards asked nervously.

“Just for a bit. I’ll be back,” Emily said, crawling into the Jeep.

“Shall I go?”

“No, I’m good,” she replied, and smiled. The guards watched as she pulled away and headed back down toward the pier. Within five hours, she was walking into a familiar medical complex and her skin crawled. She waited in the lobby until the young nurse called her in, weighed her, and got a blood pressure.

Emily waited patiently and then smiled when Dr. Edwards came in.

“Emily! It’s so good to see you,” Dr. Edwards said, smiling.

“You too, I appreciate you seeing me.”

“Try not to disappear this time, shall we?”

Emily grinned, “I’ll try.”

“So… what is the problem?”

Emily sighed, “It’s a weird one. I’ll warn you.”

“Just tell me, Dear. I’ve seen enough weird things coming out of that island that I’m sure I can handle it.”

“Ok, here goes… I don’t think I’m aging.”

Dr. Edwards looked over his glasses at her, “What do you mean?”

“It’s something someone said to me. He said that I don’t age and thinking back… I’m not sure I have at all over the last 15 years or so.”

Dr. Edwards glanced at her, “You are 38, correct?”

Emily nodded.

“Well there’s an easy way to find out.”

“There is?”

“Yes, we did a complete MRI scan of you when you were pregnant with your first baby… we’ll do another and compare, as long as money is not a problem.”

“No, it’s not, will that tell us for sure?”

“It should. I’ll send it to a friend of mine. He’s a forensic anthropologist, and we’ll see what age he says you are,” Dr. Edwards said.

“You really are open minded,” Emily said, smiling. “Thank you.”

“Let’s get the scan, and I should know within the week.”

Emily nodded, “Thank you, please though… don’t tell Chevalier.”

“I won’t. I’ll talk to you directly.”

Emily tried to relax in the tube as she remembered the heku from the experimentation room, how he’d been in that small tube for months, never moving, waiting patiently for someone to rescue him. She held perfectly still despite the feeling that the tube was closing in on her. She wondered what she would do if Alec was right. What if she was no longer aging? She was the first of her kind. The first anyone knew of that was over 50% heku, but the margin was so small, she couldn’t see how it could cause such a drastic effect.

“We’re done,” Dr. Edwards said as she slid out of the MRI tube. “I’ll call in a week.”

Emily nodded and went into the dressing room to get dressed. She drove back toward the ferry and waited on it, silently debating what she would do if it were true. How she would tell the Council and how she could survive as a mortal, trapped in the immortal world for centuries. She was frail, breakable, and killable. She wondered how she would manage in a world that seemed bent on hurting her.

The tug boats again brought her out of her thoughts, and she pulled off the ferry, ignoring the salutes from the pier guards and the deep growls from their dogs. She ran up the stairs in the castle and quickly changed into her jogging clothes. Within minutes, she was out on the sand, running across the beach in her bare feet, feeling the warm sand squishing between her toes as she ran. She passed the guards numerous times as they patrolled along the outside of the cement wall.

Emily stopped on the other side of the island from the pier and watched the sun setting over the ocean, and then shut her eyes, listening to the waves as they crashed against the rocks. Once it was too dark to see, she ran back toward the opening in the cement fence and stopped when she saw the pier. The ferry had arrived and was full of people with flashlights. She heard yelling and angry voices. As she walked closer, she was finally able to hear.

“We’ll get a warrant,” a man on the ferry yelled.

“Turn around, you have no rights here,” a familiar voice said. “We’re tired of the V.E.S. bugging us.”

Emily sighed and ran up, pushing through the gathered guards to the front, “What’s going on?”

The guards backed off. They’d seen her take care of the V.E.S. before, and knew she could handle it.

The leader’s eyes ran down to the exposed skin on her tone stomach and grinned, “You’re human?”

“Yes,” Emily said, and crossed her arms. “I live here.”

“Do you need help?”

“No”

“We can protect you from the vampires.”

“There’s no such thing as a vampire,” Emily said. “What exactly are you hoping to gain here?”

“We’re here to search the premises. To look for signs that this island is full of vampires.”

Emily laughed slightly, “So… you are anti-vampire?”

“Yes”

“And you think this island is full of them?”

“Yes, we do.”

“There are… what? 50 of you?” Emily asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“54, actually,” he said, glancing at the pier guards.

“So… you’re going to bring 54 vampire haters onto an island that you think is full of vampires?”

“Yes”

“How is that smart?”

The leader frowned, “Excuse me?”

“It just seems to me that that leaves you gravely outnumbered… no pun intended,” Emily said, and turned. She whispered very quietly behind her, too low for the others to hear, and then turned back around.

“No more games, let us on this island, immediately,” the man said, stepping forward.

Emily stood her ground, now only a few feet from him, “Or what?”

“Or we invade.”

“All 54 of you? I’m terrified.”

“There are more.”

“Ma’am?” one of the pier guards said from behind her.

Emily turned around and took her 9mm from him, “Thanks.”

“You going to shoot me?” the leader asked, grinning as she turned around to face him.

“It’s my understanding that the state of Maine has a ‘Make my day’ law,” she said, and checked to make sure she had bullets.

“Yeah… so?”

“Soo… Deadly force justified to terminate criminal trespass and another crime within a home.”

He frowned and took a small step back, “Criminal trespass, yes... but no other crime has been committed.”

“Then you all shouldn’t have threatened to kill me,” Emily said, and leveled the gun at him.

“We didn’t…”

“I heard you,” one of the pier guards said from behind her.

“We… no, I won’t stand for this,” the leader said, glancing nervously at the man behind him.

“I also heard you threaten to kill her,” another pier guard said.

“This is my island, and I’m getting tired of being harassed by the V.E.S.,” Emily said, and took aim, shut one eye, and squeezed the trigger. Blood flew up from the leader’s kneecap as she shot a hollow-point bullet through it. He screamed and fell to the ground, grasping his knee.

“You Bitch!” the other man screamed, and knelt down to help the leader.

Emily motioned for the ferry’s Captain to take them back, and they were soon sailing away from the island. Her hand was shaking as she watched them leave. Her insides were tied into knots as she saw them disappear into the dark night. She was tired of the V.E.S. and hoped they finally got the message to leave the island alone.

She felt a strong hand on her shoulder, “You ok, Ma’am?”

Emily turned and saw one of the pier guards and she nodded. She glanced again at where the ferry disappeared and then headed back toward the castle.

***

“Emily, the Council would like to see you,” Derrick said as Emily walked up from the garage.

Emily sighed, “Am I in trouble?”

Derrick chuckled, “They don’t tell me.”

Emily nodded and walked in. The Council looked up from papers they were studying, “What’d I do now?”

“Guilty conscience?” Zohn asked.

“Yes”

Chevalier shook his head, “Did you shoot someone, Em?”

Emily cringed, “Yes.”

Kyle chuckled, “You owe me, Dustin.”

Dustin handed Kyle a $100 bill and shook his head.

Emily frowned, “You bet on me?”

“I couldn’t see you injuring anyone,” Dustin said. “I find myself corrected.”

She sighed, “Ok… so…”

“We know the story,” Chevalier said. “I just wanted to confirm.”

“What…” Emily started, but her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and answered it, “Hi, hold on.”

Chevalier watched her curiously.

“I’ll be back,” she said, and ran out of the room.

“I can’t believe she shot someone,” Quinn said, frowning. “Have they filed a complaint?”

“Dr. Edwards? Sorry, I wanted to get alone,” Emily said, sitting on the bar.

“I don’t know if this is good news or not,” Dr. Edwards said. “I’ve ran this by my friend’s entire forensic anthropology department to confirm.”

“I’m not aging, am I?” she whispered.

“Long bones, like those in the arm and leg, have an end cap called an epiphysis. After the age of 20, those end caps fuse completely with the bone… yours aren’t fused,” he said, and paused before continuing. “There’s another epiphysis on the collar bone that fuses just after the age of 30… again, yours aren’t fused.”

“How old am I?” Emily asked. She suddenly felt it hard to breathe.

“As you get older, over 30, you have pitting on the ribs that is used to determine age… you don’t have any pitting.”

“How old am I?”

“Somewhere between 18 and 20,” Dr. Edwards said. “I ran your MRI by them from when you were pregnant with your oldest, there’s been no change, no aging since that time.”

“I’m mortal,” Emily whispered.

“I’m not sure you are, entirely.”

“I can die.”

“Yes, I think you can.”

“I can get injuries, I can have children…”

“Yes, however, you may never die of old age, you may never get arthritis, or cataracts, or wrinkles. Have you ever noticed that you don’t have any scars? From what I’ve seen, your back should be covered in scars, and it’s not…”

“I have them on my neck.”

“Yes, but those were there from when you were a child, while you were still growing.”

Emily sat on the bar, staring at the damages to the wall, unable to speak.

Dr. Edwards sighed, “I don’t know how to help you. I can’t talk to any colleagues about this, and I have no reference, no one to run ideas by.”

“I’m only 49% mortal,” Emily whispered.

“If I can do anything, call me,” Dr. Edwards said softly.

Emily hung up the phone and looked around the room. She couldn’t think, her mind was running past ideas, and thoughts, and fears too quickly and she grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels before leaving.

“Drinking and shooting, how very western of you,” Zohn said when she came back in.

Chevalier frowned, “Em?”

Emily walked in slowly, her eyes were confused and she was starting to panic.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, frowning.

Emily sat down on the dirt floor of the trial area and pulled the lid off of the whiskey. She took a long drink while the Council watched her.

“Em, what’s wrong?” Chevalier asked, kneeling down beside her.

“I’m not aging,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Damon and Alec… told me… that Exavior realized I don’t age.”

Chevalier sighed, “Don’t believe what Damon tells you.”

“I saw Dr. Edwards… he did an MRI.”

Kyle and Quinn walked slowly down to the trial area to kneel beside her.

“And?” Chevalier asked.

“My body is somewhere between 18 and 20 years old.”

“Is he sure?” Kyle asked, touching her shoulder lightly.

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“I’m not entirely shocked,” Quinn said, and sat down beside her. “You’re more heku than human.”

“I can get injured, I can be killed, I can have children... but I don’t age,” Emily said, mainly to herself.

“This isn’t all bad,” Chevalier said.

Emily looked up at him, confused, “Yes it is…”

“How? You don’t age… that means you won’t die.”

“I’m mortal enough I can be killed, I can be injured.”

“Not if you’re protected,” Quinn told her.

“All of the pain… all the tortures and punishments… they could happen to me for hundreds of years.”

“They don’t have to, Em,” Chevalier said. “The factions were fighting over you, that’s over, Exavior is gone, Vaughn’s in prison… there’s no reason you have to live your entire existence in pain.”

“The new faction though.”

“Is a farce. We’ll destroy them, and they will no longer be a threat,” Quinn told her.

Emily sighed and stood up. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey and left the council chambers without another word.

“Well, didn’t see that coming,” Zohn said, amused.

Chevalier glared at him.

“That child has no idea where she belongs in this world, and it’s just become a thousand times worse,” Quinn told him, irritated as he took his seat.

“This may cause the factions to want her again… it may not be enough to have a friend,” Kyle said, sitting down at his chair. “What if this breaks the alliance we’ve formed?”

“So we keep it from them,” Zohn suggested.

Chevalier returned to his seat, “If they find out, which eventually someone’s going to notice, it’ll cause a deeper rift… we have to let them know.”

“I agree with Kyle though, it may cause them to begin fighting for her again,” Dustin said.

“We may want to wait and see what Emily wants,” Chevalier said. “It’s her life we’re talking about, and it just got a lot longer.”

The Council heard Mark call for the entire Cavalry to mount up and they summoned him to the council chambers.

“Yes?” Mark asked from the trial area.

“Is there a problem?” Quinn asked.

“No, Sir, Emily has called a training,” Mark said. “I know it’s weird, but I see no reason not to.”

Chevalier nodded, “I think it’s a good idea.”

Mark shrugged, “I think she’s been drinking though. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“She has been,” Kyle said, grinning slightly. “She’s had a bad day so far.”

Mark turned, “She’s yelling for me.”

The Council watched as Mark blurred from the room.

“Is she about to assault our Cavalry?” Zohn asked, concerned.

“I have no idea how mad she is,” Chevalier told him. “Want me to call her in here and ask?”

“No… no… I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Zohn said, and opened up the docket book. “Derrick, bring them in.”

Emily sat on her stallion out on the hills west of town while the Cavalry lined up in perfectly straight rows ahead of her. Mark rode his mare up to her side and faced the guards. The once quaint group of 7, was now an ominous force of 36 mounted guards.

“I’ve been thinking about some of the things I’ve seen this Cavalry do, or try to do lately, and one of the biggies is run your horse at full speed through trees,” Emily said. Mark glanced at her and nodded.

“I’ve seen that,” Mark said.

“I want to see what we have to work with. Those of you on the racing horses are going to have more of a problem. The faster the horse, the more they will try to lead you through the trees to save themselves,” she explained. “If you want the horse to go left, but he feels the safer way is right, he may not want to go.”

“This is a good idea. We’re completely surrounded by trees here, and more than I’d like, we’ve had to chase someone through them,” Mark said.

“He means me,” Emily said, grinning slightly. “Keep your heads low, keep control of your horse, and don’t get distracted.”

“The scent is going to be the hard part, though,” Mark told her. “On horse, we have to contend with the animal’s scent overpowering the others.”

“Fine then… let’s play a game...” Emily said, and smiled at him as she pulled a paintball gun out of the saddlebag on her horse. “Give me a 5-minute head start… and don’t let me shoot you.”

The Cavalry glanced at each other, grinning. Emily kicked the stallion, and he lurched into a fast gallop as she disappeared into the trees.

Mark grinned when she left, and turned back to the Cavalry, “New level of the game… get her gun, and you get 5 points. Get her on your horse, restrained, you get 10.”

Emily wove in an out, carving an odd path through the trees as she rode deeper and deeper into the woods with her paintball gun readied. She slid off the horse and tied him to a tree, and then ran toward where two trees were intertwined, giving her a good spot to hide. She heard the woods come alive around her as the sound of hoof beats filled the trees. She grinned and crouched down, waiting, her gun propped up on a branch.

Silas and Kralen were first on her trail, having worked as her personal guards long enough, they easily picked up her scent, even with all of the smells from the forest. They split up when each thought they found a newer trail and maneuvered their horses deeper into the woods.

Emily saw him approaching, one of the newest Cavalry members from Powan. He was by her stallion, scanning the area carefully when he felt the sting on his chest and looked down to see a splatter of green paint across his shirt. He grinned at Emily, and went back out to meet up with Mark, surprised to see four others with him, all with similar green paint splotches on them.

“Damn,” Mark said, laughing. “I thought this game would be too easy.”

Emily somehow managed to get high up into the tree using the twisted branches, and aimed at Jaron. She grinned just as he cursed and looked at his shoulder, a deep red paint was oozing down his white shirt.

Jaron sighed as he came out of the trees and saw Mark shaking his head at him, “Who’s left?”

“Silas and Kralen,” Mark said. “Everyone else is out.”

Emily watched from her perch on the trees. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she glanced behind her. She had the feeling she was being watched. She grinned and used the scope on the gun, but didn’t see anyone, then heard the sound of a horse walking and spun around and her eyes grew wide as her stallion set off walking toward the west.

“Damnit,” Emily whispered, and climbed carefully out of the tree. She ran after her stallion and cried out when her feet left the ground and her gun was taken from her.

“Gotcha,” Silas said, throwing her over the horse.

“That’s not the game!” Emily yelled, laughing.

“Ooooh Mark added some.” Kralen grinned and kicked his horse into a gallop, heading for the Cavalry.

“Let me up,” Emily said, struggling to get up, but Silas held her down.

“No way, you’re worth 10 points,” Silas said, amused. He clicked his tongue and headed after Kralen. Emily was laughing too hard to fight back, and she figured Silas wasn’t going to let her up anyway.

“Nice, Silas,” Mark said, and Emily looked up as the entire Cavalry watched. She saw Kralen had her stallion tied to his horse.

“They cheated!” Emily yelled, and slid off of Silas’ horse.

“How’d you get her?” Mark asked, laughing.

“They let my horse go,” Emily said, brushing herself off.

“Good job you two… the rest of you though,” Mark said, sighing. “That was pretty bad.”

Emily slipped back onto her stallion, “Pretty bad?”

“Yes, we’re born predators. Not being able to find you doesn’t look good on us,” Mark said, looking at his Cavalry. He jumped when he felt a sting on his back and turned back to Emily, “You shot me?”

Emily grinned, “You think you can find me?”

“Yes, I do,” Mark said, grinning.

“5-minute head start,” Emily said, and kicked the stallion into a gallop.

“Good luck, Captain,” Silas said, patting him on the shoulder.

Emily hit the trees at a full gallop, determined to make Mark work hard to get her. She headed for the opposite end of the woods where she remembered a large log, hollowed out by time, which she thought she might fit in. Her stallion stopped suddenly and reared back. She was able to hold on, and it wasn’t until he lowered that she saw the five strange heku, all wearing purple capes.

“Are you kidding me?” Emily asked, rolling her eyes.

“Hello, Baby Girl. It’s time you took your place as our Elder,” one of the heku said. He stepped forward and smiled.

“Are you seriously trying to kidnap me?”

“Not kidnap, rescue.”

“I see… and there are only 5 of you?”

“Only 5? How’s a tiny mortal like you going to fight off 5 heku?”

Emily smiled, “I’m not going with you. This is seriously getting old.”

“You don’t have much of a choice,” another heku said, his rank insignia was for a Captain.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Emily asked him, sighing.

“Get down off the animal and let’s go,” the Captain said, touching the stallion’s soft nose.

“No”

“No? You can’t tell me no.”

“See, I have a dilemma” Emily said, watching him.

“What’s that?”

“Well, I can ash you… or I can do what I’m told and let my Cavalry have at you.”

The Captain grinned, “I don’t see any heku around… you’re out here alone, as usual.”

“How fast are you?” Emily asked, grinning.

“Faster than you, Sweetheart,” he told her.

“If you can catch me… I’ll go with you,” Emily said, and kicked her horse. He lurched and she tore off away from the Ferus, running straight toward the waiting Cavalry.

“She’s coming back?” Mark asked, looking toward the trees.

Kralen’s eyes narrowed, “I hear others.”

Mark kicked his horse and soon the Cavalry was running toward the trees. She emerged ahead of them, and they started to slow down as she neared them.

“Brought you a treat,” Emily yelled toward them, and turned just as the five Ferus heku came out of the trees. They turned course and disappeared back into the trees, followed by the Council City Cavalry.

Mark, Silas, and Kralen, on Keith’s fastest horses, caught up quickly with the heku, followed shortly by the rest of the Cavalry. They surrounded the five in purple capes and Mark slid off his horse. Emily got off of her stallion and also walked into the circle.

“What have we here?” Mark asked.

The Captain glanced nervously at Emily.

“Idiots thought they could kidnap me,” Emily said. “So I made a decision to not ash them and do as I’m told… I left them for you.”

Silas grinned, “Nice.”

“What’s the point of kidnapping her?” Mark asked. “Ransom? Release of prisoners?”

“We want our Elder returned to the Council,” the Captain said.

“Your Elder?” Kralen asked.

“Yeah, geniuses think I’m one of their Elders,” Emily said, walking around them slowly.

“Ok, Elder Emily, what do you want done with them?” Mark asked, watching the enemy Captain closely.

Emily shrugged, “Heku’s choice… I don’t really care.”

“Kill the four… leave the Captain,” Mark said, taking the Captain by the arm.

“You can’t do this! We need our Elder,” the Captain yelled. The other four Ferus crouched as the Cavalry got off of their horses and closed in on them. Emily moved out of the way quickly, and got back on her stallion.

She headed for the palace, not really wanting to watch the four heku torn to pieces. The sound of snarls and growls from behind her made her skin crawl. She started to feel like there were eyes on her, so she kicked her horse into a gallop and tore toward the palace.

Emily sighed when she saw the Elders out in front of the palace, looking over the unfinished section of the new stable annex.

Chevalier frowned, “I thought you were with the Cavalry.”

Emily grinned slightly, “They’re busy.”

“Doing?” Quinn asked, irritated.

“They’re tearing apart four Ferus that had the dumb idea to kidnap me in front of 36 members of the Cavalry.”

“Em…” Chevalier growled.

“What? I did what you asked, I let the heku have them,” she said, and slipped off the stallion. She led him into the stables, followed by the Elders.

“Four of them then?” Zohn asked her.

“Five, Mark wanted to keep the Captain for some reason,” she said, and pulled the saddle off the thoroughbred.

Silas and Kralen were first back into the stables. They were laughing about something, but stopped suddenly when they saw the Elders. Their white shirts were splattered with blood and they had drops on their faces and hands.

“Care to explain?” Quinn asked.

Silas slid off his horse, “We were training, when Emily was approached by five heku from Exavior’s… coven… I guess it’s called, the Ferus.”

Kralen took his horse into the stall as Silas was questioned by the Elders.

“What did they want?” Chevalier asked.

“They wanted their Elder,” Silas said, shrugging.

“You had the opportunity to ash them?” Quinn asked Emily.

Emily nodded and locked the stall door, “Yes... but I did what I’m supposed to, and let you all have them.”

“That’s surprising,” Zohn said, and Emily glared at him.

Mark rounded the corner with a tight grip on the heku Captain. His purple cape was smeared with the blood of his four companions and he was snarling at the Elders. The rest of the Cavalry came up and started putting their horses away as Mark shoved the Ferus Captain onto his knees.

“What’s irritating,” Chevalier said, looking down on him, “Is that just when Emily brings peace between the factions… another rogue coven appears and takes over where the violence ended.”

“Yes, but they’re not smart enough to do it correctly,” Emily said, sitting down on a bale of hay.

“We’re not a rogue coven, we’re the Ferus faction,” the Captain growled, his hands tightening into fists.

“Hello?” Emily asked, answering her cell phone.

“Oh, hi Bruce, yeah, I’m ok.”

Emily sighed, “Seriously? Right now?”

Chevalier glanced over at her.

“Yeah… I’ll go.”

Kyle cringed and looked at the Elder.

“No, no, you can’t go alone with that many vampires.”

Mark shrugged and hauled the Captain into the palace.

“Sure, I’ll be there in an hour,” Emily said, and hung up. She turned to Chevalier, “I need to be gone for about a week.”

“You’re going vampire hunting?” Chevalier asked, amused.

“Apparently… will you see whoever has a coven just east of Great Falls? Tell them not to break my cover,” Emily said, and headed inside.

“That’d be us,” Zohn said. “I’ll talk to them.”

Chevalier followed her inside, “A week?”

“That’s what Bruce said,” Emily told him, and headed into the bedroom.

“Why even go? I thought you were going to quit that job.”

“I want to keep an eye on them. I won’t do this often,” she said, and disappeared into the bathroom to change.

“Just seems reckless to keep the job. What if they find out you’re Madison?”

“They won’t, everyone from that compound either quit or was sent to Louisiana.”

“What exactly do you do when you’re out on a vampire hunt?”

Emily came back out in her leather pants, high heeled leather boots, and a pale pink tank top, “Well…”

“Leather?” Chevalier asked, suddenly worried.

Emily ignored his question, “We go talk to them, make sure they don’t have any mortals. Then we try to gain access within their walls.”

“Why leather?”

Emily grinned, “I’m taking the Harley, and leather’s safer if I wreck it.”

Chevalier growled slightly.

“Oh stop it, you need to trust me.”

“I do trust you. I don’t trust anyone else and that’s… rather… tight.”

Emily stopped in front of the vanity mirror and started to braid her hair. He noticed that when she raised her arms, a strip of skin showed between her low-rider leather pants and the light halter top.

“What’s wrong with jeans and a t-shirt and taking the Jeep?” Chevalier asked, frustrated.

“Seriously, Chev, rein it in,” Emily said, and grabbed her leather jacket from the closet.

“Why a week?”

Emily sighed and turned to him, “Because we have to plan first. We’re meeting at my apartment, but aren’t leaving until Wednesday.”

“You have an apartment?”

“Of course, did you think I lived in the park while I was gone?”

“Where is it?”

“No,” Emily said, and crawled into his lap, facing him. “I’m not going to have you post guards at my apartment.”

Chevalier kissed her softly and then looked into her eyes, “I don’t want you to go. It’s dangerous for you to hang around the V.E.S.”

“It lets me keep track of them, keeps them away from those I care about.”

“You’re protecting the heku again,” Chevalier said.

Emily grinned, “Ever consider it’s my job on this planet to protect you?”

“Not a chance,” he said, and brushed a stray hair away from her face.

“Don’t fight it… you’re being protected by a mortal,” she said, and kissed the tip of his nose.

“How humiliating.”

Emily slapped him on the arm, “Be nice.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her again and then looked into her eyes, “Hurry back.”

Emily nodded and crawled off of his lap, “I will.”

Chevalier followed her down and glared at one of the guards whose eyes lingered too long on her as she walked by.

“She’s seriously going on a vampire hunt?” Zohn asked skeptically.

“Seems so… call the Mario Coven, tell them we can turn their mortal,” Chevalier said, and headed to his office.

“Em,” Kyle called out as she came into the garage.

Emily turned around and smiled, “I’ll be back in a week.”

Kyle raised his eyebrows, “Wearing that?”

“Yes, give Chev a message for me?” she asked as a mischievous smile crossed her face.

“Depends, I don’t know if I like the look on your face.”

“Remind him he’s being protected by a mortal.”

Kyle laughed, “Nope, not relaying that.”

Emily started up the Harley and quickly pulled out of the garage. Kyle watched her go and headed into the council chambers.

“She said anything about the aging?” Kyle asked, sitting at his chair.

“Not yet,” Chevalier said, looking at a file. “I thought we were going to turn someone, but had to wait for the medical clearance.”

“They couldn’t pass,” Quinn said, pulling out a file. “We all heading over to Clark Coven?”

Chevalier grinned, “Are we that mean?”

“Do I want to know?” Zohn asked, sitting down.

“It’s just outside of Great Falls,” Kyle said, laughing.

“That’d really tick her off, I’m in,” Zohn chuckled.

“I have an idea,” Kyle said. “If you want Em to be too mad to talk to you for a week? Let’s go.”

“I think I’ll stay here,” Quinn said. “I’ll take care of the other mortal ceremony while the rest of you push the ultimatum.”

Chevalier grinned, “I’m so in.”

Chapter 21 - Clark Coven

“We’ll be ready in the morning,” Bruce said, looking around the cramped living room. There were eight members of the V.E.S. going into Montana to try to rescue a mortal the vampires were said to have captured.

Emily nodded, “Sure, 6am.”

Bruce sat down by her on the couch and put his hand on her knee, “Any questions then?”

“I know you already told us, but how big is this group?” a man asked, he was tall and slender with a long gray beard and a thin gray comb over.

“He said, like, 7 of them,” a young boy told him. Emily was skeptical whether he was even the required 18 years of age, but he and his girlfriend were very new age and came to every meeting, determined to rid the world of vampires.

“Meet here at 6am then,” Bruce said, and saw everyone to the door. The apartment was tiny. The living room was only half the size of Emily’s closet at the palace, and the bedroom barely had room for her twin-sized bed. She went into the kitchen, which consisted of a hot plate, sink, and half a fridge that doubled as a place to stack the clean dishes.

Bruce’s arms wrapped around her as she cleaned the cups from the meeting.

“I appreciate you helping with this,” he said, and kissed the back of her neck softly.

“Bruce…” she sighed, and he pulled away from her.

“I know, I know,” he said, grinning as he leaned against the wall. “You’ll change your mind, I’m sure of it.”

“I told you, I have a boyfriend.”

“When do I get to meet him?”

“Never, he doesn’t agree with the vampire thing,” she said, and dried her hands. “Now go home. We have to get up early.”

“Or I could just stay over,” he said, smiling.

“Or you could just go home,” Emily replied, and pushed him toward the door, shaking her head

After Bruce was gone, she called Allen on his cell phone and said goodnight to him and his sister, then shut the phone and changed into a t-shirt she kept in the apartment. She fell asleep quickly, tired from the late meetings.

Emily glanced over at the clock when she heard someone knock on the door, it was only 5am. She crawled out of bed and went to the door, “Who is it?”

“It’s Bruce.”

She sighed and let him in, “I haven’t gotten ready yet.”

“I brought breakfast,” he said, holding up a bag of donuts and warm coffee. He was already in jeans and black leather chaps with a tight white t-shirt and black leather jacket. Emily stepped aside and let him enter. She watched him set the items on the table and smiled slightly at the vast differences between him and Chevalier. Bruce was middle-aged and slightly balding with a tummy that pushed out above his jeans and made them look uncomfortably tight.

“Great, let me shower and I’ll come eat,” she told him, and stumbled into the bedroom. She shut the door and headed in to the bathroom, scooting around the toilet to reach into the rust stained shower. She locked the door before stripping and climbing into the hot water.

“Hmm,” Bruce sighed, watching her when she came out. She’d changed into black, leather low-rider pants and a fitted black leather vest. His eyes ran down from the hint of cleavage to her exposed abdomen and grinned. The side of the vest was decorated with thin gold chains and it rattled a bit when she walked.

“Still loving the tattoo… E for exterminators, I love it,” Bruce said, grinning.

“Boyfriend… remember…” Emily said, and grabbed a donut and a cup of coffee. The coffee was too strong and the donut was stale, but she managed to choke it down.

“He lets you dress like that?” Bruce asked, winking at her.

“Yes,” Emily said, “Or… I do what I want, more like.” She got up to get the door when someone knocked. The other six members of the V.E.S. came together, and they all headed for the donuts on the table. All of them were also wearing mostly black leather except the new age couple, and they had tie-dyed t-shirts and torn jeans.

Emily opened a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a 9mm. She checked the clip and then slid it into the back of her pants, then sat down to pull on her leather boots, “We all ready to go?”

“We should be there by tomorrow night. If it’s too late, we’ll get hotel rooms, if not we’ll just get it over with,” Bruce said.

They all headed out into the parking lot, and Emily looked along the long row of motorcycles. Hers was one of four Harleys. The other three were homemade motorcycles in varying shapes and sizes. She slid onto the Night Rod Special and pulled her hair up to slip on the helmet.

“Why don’t you ride with me?” Bruce asked, patting the seat behind him.

“I don’t ride bitch,” Emily told him, and pulled on the sleek black helmet.

Bruce chuckled and started up his engine, followed by everyone else. The new age couple were riding tandem and stayed in the back while the others pulled out and headed west toward Montana.

They made good time and arrived outside of Clark Coven when it was still light enough to see. They stopped a few yards back from the entrance to the house and pulled off their helmets.

“Emily and I will go in first. You 5 come in behind us,” Bruce said.

Emily swung her leg off the motorcycle and looked at the building. It was a single house, old Victorian style, but well-kept and homey. She hadn’t seen a coven this small before, and there were no guards, iron fences, or cement walls. The front gate had an elaborately decorated ‘E’ with ‘Clark’ written underneath it.

As Emily and Bruce walked up toward the gate, a dark skinned heku came out. He was close to 7 feet tall with broad, muscular shoulders and long curly hair. He crossed his massive arms and looked down at them.

“What now?” he asked, sizing up Emily and Bruce.

“We’re from the V.E.S.,” Bruce said. “We heard you have a mortal here and we demand you let us in.”

Emily gasped when she saw Zohn, Chevalier, Kyle, and Richard, the Chief Interrogator come out of the house. They had blood soaked shirts, long sharp fangs, and Kyle had blood dripping down his chin. She glared at Chevalier when she noticed he had on a black cape, similar to those worn on Halloween by 5-year-old vampires.

“What have we here?” Bruce asked angrily.

“Just fed, no more mortals in there,” Kyle said, winking at Emily.

She didn’t know what to say. She was torn between glaring at them and laughing. Zohn grinned at her, and one of his fake fangs was slightly crooked in his mouth.

“You… you just killed a mortal?” Bruce asked, shocked.

“Not on purpose,” Chevalier said. “He was just so yummy.”

“She’s next,” Kyle said, pointing at Emily.

She shook her head and pulled the 9mm out from the back of her pants, leveling it at Kyle, “Bring it on, vamp.”

“She does look tasty,” Richard said, running his tongue along the fake teeth in his mouth.

“Back up, Em,” Bruce said, putting a protective arm in front of her.

“No, I think I can handle these vampires. They look like wimps,” she told him.

“Wimps? We look like wimps?” Zohn asked, grinning at Emily.

“Yes… wimps…” she said, and moved the gun over to point at Zohn’s groin. His face fell suddenly and then he grinned.

“Let’s destroy them now,” one of the men behind Emily said, and she turned briefly as he pulled a wooden stake out of a bag.

“That one’s kinda cute,” Emily said, motioning to Chevalier. “I get to kill him.”

Chevalier grinned at her, and she noticed he had a fake rubber arm in his hand, “Bring it on, Tiny.”

Bruce took a step back when half of the Council City Cavalry came walking out of the Clark house, covered in blood. They looked menacing and ominous in their uniforms, with blood soaked shirts, and blood dripping down their arms. Mark glared at Bruce furiously.

“Fall back,” she heard from behind her, but she stood her ground.

“Em… come on, they outnumber us,” Bruce said. He went to put a hand on her arm to pull her away, but drew it back quickly when the tallest of the vampires growled at him.

“No, I think I can take them.”

Bruce’s eyes grew wide, “Seriously, come on.”

Emily grinned at Zohn, “Let’s take the little one with us.”

Zohn glanced around, “Are you referring to me?”

“Emily, I order you to come back, immediately,” Bruce said sternly.

Emily grinned and whispered, too low for the V.E.S. to hear, “I’ll get you for this.”

She turned and ran back to her bike, then watched the heku as she drove off with the others.

“Interesting outfit,” Zohn said, turning to Chevalier.

“Explains the sudden interest in motorcycles and leather,” Kyle said, and headed back into the house.

“That was fun,” Chevalier chuckled. “Hope her revenge isn’t too bad.”

The V.E.S. drove through the night, and then stayed at a hotel before heading back out the next morning. They made it back to Emily’s apartment just in time for the sun to set. She made some coffee and they sat down to discuss what happened in Great Falls.

As she sat down on the couch, Bruce looked at her, concerned, “I’m worried about what happened, Emily.”

“I am too. We were too late to save the mortal,” Emily said, sipping her coffee.

“I’m talking about you standing up to 20 vampires by yourself, calling them names, pointing your gun at them,” Bruce said, and sighed.

“I’m not afraid of them.”

“That’s what scares me, Baby. You have no sense of self-preservation,” Bryce said, and squeezed her knee lightly. “You can’t kill the vampires all yourself, no matter how badly you want to.”

“Oh, I want to, and I will get them, that I promise,” Emily said, ignoring the way they all looked at her like she was delusional and overconfident.

“They like, threatened to eat you,” the nature loving girl said. “You stood there while they watched your neck and you didn’t… like… back down… whoa.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “I’m not afraid of them. That doesn’t make me reckless and suicidal. It means I’m confident that I can handle them. They’re like bullies… stand up to them and they will back down.”

“It makes me worry about you, Em. Maybe you need to lay off the hunting for a while,” Bruce said. His hand moved slightly up her thigh.

“Lay off vampire hunting?” Emily asked. The V.E.S. was always fighting to recruit hunters, so she was surprised they would let her go over this.

“You can’t let your anger get you. You have to stay calm and focused,” Bruce told her.

“Show no fear.”

“No… show fear… be afraid of the undead.”

Emily tried not to laugh, “You’re firing me?”

“Not as my secretary… and no, not as a hunter, but I think you need a break.”

“We’re going to head out, Bruce,” the older man said.

“Ok, we’ll see you Monday at work.”

The rest stood up and took their leave, giving lame excuses to get away from what they thought was about to be a fight.

Once Emily and Bruce were alone, he turned back to her, “I love how dedicated you are to the cause, but I can’t let you die because of that loyalty.”

“I’m not going to die, Bruce. Damn, you act like I offered to feed them… they didn’t attack me, wanna know why? They’re wimps, bullies who can’t handle being challenged,” Emily said, getting irritated.

Bruce was on her in an instant. His lips pressed hard against hers as his hand wrapped around to the back of her neck.

Emily pulled back and slapped him, “Go away.”

“Listen to me. I care too much about you to let you go fight vampires when you obviously aren’t afraid of them.” He started to move closer to her on the couch.

“Bruce, I said go away.”

“Emily…” he said, and kissed her again, pushing her back on the couch.

Emily pushed against him, “Get off of me… now.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend… I know that. You’re guarded and unsure,” he said, and kissed her neck. “You need someone to love you.”

“Damnit, get off of me,” Emily growled. His body weight was crushing her, and she couldn’t get her arms free to hit him. Her face wasn’t near enough to his neck to bite him, and she was straining to find some kind of weak point to strike. She squirmed to get out from under him as she felt him at her neck.

“You’re so tough. You need someone who can take care of you, to keep you safe,” he said finally, and looked up at her, smiling, before he kissed her again.

Emily finally managed to get a hand free and slammed her palm up into Bruce’s nose. He screamed, his eyes watering as he rolled onto the floor and blood poured out of his nose. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the keys to the Harley, leaving the helmet behind as she sped off away from the apartment.

She was so mad that she was in tears by the time she hit the Interstate, fuming at how yet another mortal attacked her, assuming she was weak and easy to prey off of. She was seething, speeding back to the heku who respected her and didn’t treat her like a sex object that could be taken at will. She found she hated mortals more and more, their disgusting glances, the way they looked at her body like it was for sale in a market.

When she pulled the Harley up to the front doors of the palace, she threw it down, screaming. The guards watched her, unsure what to do. She threw her keys at the palace and stormed in through the doors as the guards moved off to the side, shocked.

Emily headed up the stairs and spun suddenly when she heard the hisses from behind her. She saw the main-floor guards crouched toward her, their hands balled into fists.

“What the hell?” she asked, taking a step backwards up the stairs.

They started to advance on her and she screamed, “Mark!”

Emily heard growls from behind her, and she turned to see the second-floor guards also crouching. She heard Mark growl loudly as he slammed into one of the main floor guards, calling out for the Cavalry. The first two members of the Cavalry appeared in the door and started for the second-floor, but froze when they approached her and turned thirsty eyes towards her.

“Chev!” Emily screamed as she became trapped on the stairs between hissing heku. She heard the doors to the Council chamber fly open as the thirteen council members blurred down the stairs.

Emily was swept off of her feet, and she watched down the stairs as someone blurred her into her room. She looked up as Zohn set her down and turned toward the door, then she backed up to the window slowly as he turned around and crouched, his strong arms curved to his sides. His eyes were feral, inhuman, as he faced her and hissed.

“Zohn, no…” Emily whispered, starting to panic.

He gasped suddenly and stood up straight, “Emily, I’m so sorry.”

Emily sunk down against the wall and sat on the floor with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, “What’s going on?”

Zohn spun suddenly toward the door when he heard someone approach. He instantly appeared in the doorway, crouched toward the others, “Get back.”

“It’s ok,” Kyle said, putting his hands out. “We’re in control.”

“Get back,” Zohn said again.

“Zohn, we’re ok,” Chevalier said, and Zohn finally stood up.

“I… I almost attacked her,” Zohn whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Chevalier nodded, “It’s ok, I don’t think she knows… let me talk to her.”

Zohn nodded and stepped away from the door. Chevalier walked into the room, taking a second to make sure he was under control before shutting the door and walking towards her. She was rocking slowly, her head buried in her arms as they clutched her knees tightly against her chest.

He knelt down beside her and jerked his hand away when she screamed as he touched her.

“Em, it’s ok,” he said softly, and put his hand back on her arm.

She looked up at him, terrified, “What… why? They just… I couldn’t stop them.”

“You’re pregnant,” Chevalier said.

Emily shook her head, “No… no I’m not.”

“Come here,” Chevalier said, and pulled her into a strong embrace. He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly.

Emily’s shaking lessened in his arms and she whispered, “Mortals attacking me… heku attacking me… no where’s safe.”

“You’re safe here. We just didn’t know… it caught us off guard,” he said softly.

“I’m not pregnant,” Emily said again, resting her head on his chest.

“What do you mean, mortals attacking you?”

Emily shrugged, “Just my night to get assaulted I guess.”

Chevalier pulled away from her slightly and lifted her chin with his hand to talk to her, but frowned, “What’s on your neck?”

Emily moved away from him and looked into the mirror, “Sonofabitch! He gave me a hickey.”

“What’s a hickey?” Chevalier asked, bending down to see her neck.

“I shoulda hit him harder,” Emily growled.

“That’s it… what happened?” he asked, getting angry.

Emily leaned back against the wall as she started to tear up again, “Another case of being out strengthened by another mortal. I hate them, you know that? I’m seriously starting to hate them.”

Chevalier’s face darkened, “What happened?”

“It’s embarrassing, ok? Just drop it. I’m not going back to the V.E.S. I’m not going back to the apartment,” Emily said, mad enough she couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. “Just between you and I? The ultimatum is off… I can’t live in the mortal world. I can’t do it.”

“Em…” he said, his features softening. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s not your fault. Was it Bruce?”

Emily sighed and nodded, “Yes.”

“Do me a favor, stay in the room until I get back, ok?” he asked, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To burn off some anger. We’ll deal with the rest when I get back.”

Emily nodded, “I’ll stay here.”

Chevalier left her room and shut the door. The second he got into the hallway, the rage returned to his features, and he blurred down the stairs and into the council chambers. The Council all looked up at him.

Quinn stood up, “What’s wrong?”

Chevalier was so furious, his arms shook, “I’m going to kill Bruce Isaac.”

“What happened?” Kyle asked, standing.

“Stay out of my room until I get back,” he said, and disappeared from the room. Seconds later, the Council heard the McLaren leave the garage.

“We need to consider damage control,” Zohn said to the others.

“He’s more careful than that. I’m more worried about how we treat the main and second-floor guards,” Dustin said, irritated.

“What can we do?” Zohn asked. “I almost attacked her myself. We need to stress to Emily that when she’s pregnant, she can’t hide it. She has to let us know.”

“If she knew,” Kyle reminded him.

“How can she not know?”

Kyle shrugged, “I’ve never been pregnant now have I?”

“Well I would think she could just… tell.”

“This is a useless conversation until we know if she’s even aware of it,” Quinn said. “For now, let’s get back to the land dispute.”

Emily sat in her room for a couple of hours, watching out the window over Council City. She was hungry, but too afraid to ask for food, unsure why the heku were suddenly unable to control themselves around her. She was starting to feel sick and hadn’t eaten since they left Clark Coven, so she risked it and ordered shepherd’s pie.

Twenty minutes later, Emily heard a knock on the door and called out, “Leave it and go.”

“Em, it’s me,” Kyle said. “It’s ok, I’m acclimated.”

She walked over to the door and opened it, standing aside. When Kyle came in, she shut it behind him. He went over and put the tray down on the small table in her room and then turned and smiled.

“Thanks,” she said softly, and went over to eat.

“Is that a hickey?” Kyle asked, shocked.

“Apparently it is,” Emily whispered, and took a bite.

“Congratulations,” he said, and, sat down across from her.

“I really don’t think I’m pregnant,” she told him, and grabbed the cheese toast.

Kyle grinned, “You are.”

Emily sighed, “Well great…”

“You do know how that happens, right?” he asked, amused.

Emily glared up at him, “No, why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Hickeys… that’s what does it,” he chuckled.

Emily sat her fork down, “Bruce did that.”

“Damn,” Kyle growled. “Do mortal men have no control at all?”

“None… not one single shred of it.”

“You’re done with the V.E.S. then I take it?”

“He went after Bruce, didn’t he?”

“Yes”

She pushed her plate away, “Reinstate my guards.”

“You sure?”

“Yes”

Kyle nodded, “Ok.”

“I broke his nose.”

“Bruce’s?”

Emily laughed slightly, “Yeah.”

Kyle turned toward the door slightly, “Seems you and I are needed in the farmhouse.”

“Am I going to get eaten on the way?” she asked, standing up.

“No, the way’s clear,” he said, smiling apologetically. “Let’s go.”

They were in the tunnels to the farmhouse in a few minutes, and Kyle blurred her through them. They were too dark to see with the human eye. He made sure the guard in the farmhouse stayed far away from Emily while she opened the door.

“Oh, hello officers,” Emily said, stepping out onto the porch.

Kyle glanced nervously at the guard.

“Emily Winchester?” one of them asked.

“Yes”

The officer grabbed her roughly and pushed her against the house, “You’re under arrest for assault.”

“Hey!” Kyle yelled, going to the door.

“Stay back, Son,” another officer said as the first put handcuffs on Emily.

“It’s ok, Kyle, stay back,” Emily said, cringing when the officer shut the handcuffs too tightly.

The guard put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder, “We’ll get her. Don’t cause troubles.”

As the patrol car took off with Emily in the back, Kyle turned toward the guard, “What the hell did you call Emily to the farmhouse for?”

The guard backed up, “The officers asked for her.”

“No good can come of that!” Kyle yelled. “Get to the council chambers… now.”

Kyle stormed into the council chambers and slammed the door behind him. The guard walked up and stood in front of the Council as Kyle took his place.

“Is there a problem?” Quinn asked, looking down at the guard.

“Emily was just arrested for assault,” Kyle hissed.

Zohn frowned, “Wait… two things come to mind. The first, is who she assaulted… and the second, is how the police got her.”

“She assaulted Bruce Isaac after he attacked her. Mike here called us to the farmhouse, and the police were waiting.”

“You called Emily when the police were looking for her?” Quinn asked, shocked.

“Yes, Sir,” the guard said. “I thought it was inappropriate to question them on what they wanted with the Lady.”

“We can’t teach common sense,” Zohn sighed. “It seems to me that to protect a member of the Council from the mortal police would come naturally.”

Kyle slammed his fists down, “Had you at least told me the police were asking for her, I would have been able to intervene.”

“I’m sorry,” the guard said. “I will remember that in the future.”

The Council cringed when they heard the McLaren drive into the garage several hours later.

“I’m not telling him,” Zohn said.

Quinn sighed, “Neither am I.”

“I know exactly who should tell him,” Kyle said, and looked up when Chevalier came in, obviously feeling better.

“Tell me what?” he asked, glancing at the guard in the trial area before taking his seat.

“Did you kill him?” Zohn asked.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I did… the second he got back to his house. What is it no one wants to tell me?”

Quinn looked down at the guard, “Tell him.”

The guard glanced up at the Elder and sighed, “Lady Emily’s been arrested for assault.”

“I wondered what that Sonofabitch was doing at the police department,” Chevalier growled. “Did she turn herself in then?”

“Keep talking, Son,” Zohn said to the guard, and Chevalier turned his attention back to him.

“I was on duty in the farmhouse… the police came looking for her, so I called into the palace for her and the Chief Enforcer,” the guard said, watching the ground.

“Did you tell Kyle that the police were looking for her?” Chevalier asked, his eyes narrowing.

“No, Sir. I didn’t think it was my place to interfere.”

“So you led my pregnant wife into the hands of the police?” he hissed.

“I didn’t know they wanted to arrest her. They said they wanted to talk.”

“Kyle, get Emily out of jail… you and I, Boy, need to have a one-on-one.”

Kyle hurdled the desk and blurred down to his Ferrari. He drove to the police station and parked next to a line of patrol cars. The police watched, shocked, as the massive man got out of the expensive car and walked into the station.

“Can I help you?” the woman at the front desk asked.

“I’m here to bail out Emily Winchester,” Kyle said, pulling his wallet from his pocket.

The woman thumbed through a notebook and then nodded, “Sure, but she’s in interrogation right now.”

“Interrogation? For what?” Kyle asked.

“Sir, that’s none of your concern. Wait in the waiting room and I’ll let you know when she comes out.”

Kyle sighed, “I’ll get the lawyer. Stop the interrogation until he gets here.”

While the receptionist called into the interrogation room to stop the questioning, Kyle called the Equites lawyers and had them en route within minutes.

“Come on, Winchester,” the gruff deputy yelled. “Your lawyer is here and the detectives want to talk to you.”

Emily stood up and slipped her hands through the bars so the deputy could put cuffs on her before opening the cell door. She followed him to an interrogation room and sat down, glancing at the one-way mirror.

A younger man came in wearing a black Armani suit with perfectly trimmed nails and soft hands, “Nice to meet you, Ms. Winchester. I’m Sean, and I represent your husband’s company.”

Emily nodded, “Nice to meet you, too.”

Two detectives came in and sat down across from Sean and Emily.

“I’m Detective Tooney and this is my partner Detective Crowther. We have a few questions for you about the assault on Bruce Isaac.”

“Ok,” Emily said, glancing at Sean.

“He claimed you punched him after he fired you from the V.E.S.,” Detective Crowther said.

“No, I punched him after he wouldn’t stop kissing me and pinned me to the couch,” Emily told them.

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

“After I hit him I left, haven’t seen him since.”

“Do you know anyone who might want to hurt him?” Detective Tooney asked.

Emily glanced at Sean and he nodded, “No names, but as CEO of the V.E.S., he’s pretty much made a lot of enemies.”

“Any that might exsanguinate him after severely beating him?”

“I don’t know what exsanguinate means,” Emily said, again glancing at Sean.

“We found Mr. Isaac a few hours ago, completely drained of blood. Every major bone in his body was shattered, and it looked like he was alive during most of that,” Detective Tooney said, and pushed a picture over to Emily.

Emily looked at the picture and got sick to her stomach. The sheer brutality of what happened to him was too vivid in the color photograph, the 8x10 proving to Emily what her husband was capable of. She pushed the picture away and shut her eyes.

“No, I don’t know anyone who could do that,” she told them.

“Can you name anyone of the V.E.S. who might want Mr. Isaac dead?”

“I think that’s enough,” Sean said. “She’s told you why she assaulted Mr. Isaac, and as she was in jail at the time of his death, that’s all she’s going to be saying about the matter.”

Detective Tooney handed her a business card, “If you hear anything, please give me a call.”

Emily nodded and took the card.

“We’ll get your things and you can go,” Detective Crowther said, and opened the handcuffs on her wrists.

After changing, Emily met Kyle in the waiting room and they walked out to his car in silence. He glanced at her before starting the Ferrari and heading back for Council City.

“Are you ok?” he asked, after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

Emily nodded. Kyle glanced at her, and then pulled the Ferrari into a warehouse district. The parking lot was empty and he turned off the car and looked over at her.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Kyle said, watching her carefully.

She looked down at her hands, “Do you know what he did to Bruce?”

“Not exactly, no.”

“They showed me a picture,” she told him, and looked out over the empty warehouse.

“He was pretty mad.”

“That’s not mad, Kyle, that’s… more.”

“I’ve told you hundreds of times, he’s very protective of you, and the heku nature is violent. It all adds up to some serious damage to whomever it is we’re mad at.”

“Did he drain Keith?” Emily asked, looking over at Kyle.

“I didn’t ask. I was with you when Keith actually died.”

“But that’s his MO, right? Beat the hell out of them and then drain them?”

“Probably,” Kyle said, sighing. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.

“When was Chev the maddest at me?” Emily asked, and looked out the window.

“That’s easy, when you spent time in New Mexico with Exavior.”

“When you all locked me in my room.”

“Yes”

“Was that because he was…”

“No, Em, he’s never been that mad at you.”

“Go to 811 Grover Street.”

Kyle nodded and pulled the Ferrari back into traffic and returned to the city. He pulled into the small apartment complex at the address she’d given him, and stopped the car when they saw hundreds of people outside of the complex. Her apartment door was open and people were streaming in and out.

“Whose place is that?” Kyle asked. He was glad the windows in his Ferrari were too dark for anyone to see in.

“Mine,” Emily said, frowning. “I wonder what’s going on.”

Emily got out and headed up to the group of people. Kyle watched from the car, they were obviously V.E.S.

“Harold, what’s going on?” Emily asked, walking up to the closest V.E.S. member.

“She’s here!” Harold yelled, and all eyes turned to her. The tall man had a rolling figure and no neck. His bad toupee and splotchy beard helped detract from how his bulging stomach threatened to snap the buttons on his grease stained shirt.

Emily stopped and took a step back, “What’s going on?”

The man grabbed her arm as the crowd surrounded her, “We know who you are… Madison, or Emily, or whatever you want to call yourself today.”

Kyle instantly appeared by her side and towered over the smaller mortals, “Let her go.”

The crowd backed up, shocked at the vampire standing before them. Emily moved closer to him and watched the V.E.S. as they glared at her.

“That’s it then… you infiltrated us from the vampires? You’re a vampire loving whore!” Harold snarled.

“Watch it, Boy,” Kyle growled, and took Emily’s arm, gently leading her back to the car.

“You better stay hidden, Bitch! We have V.E.S. everywhere, and your picture will be in everyone’s memory,” Harold yelled. “We’ll get you and when we do, you’ll pay for what happened to Bruce.”

“Where’s Cody and Larry?” another man asked, glaring at her.

“Get in the car,” Kyle said, and Emily obeyed. She knew she couldn’t take on over 100 V.E.S. and wasn’t sure Kyle could either.

Kyle turned to Harold, “Threaten her again… and you’ll have to deal with me.”

Emily watched, in shock, as Kyle faced the crowd. His features were dark and menacing, and she could tell by his posture that he was furious. She suddenly feared for the crowd of people. He backed up and slipped into the car. Kyle punched the car into gear, almost hitting a sizeable portion of the gathered V.E.S., and spun out backwards, flipped the car around, and tore out of the parking lot at a dangerous speed.

Emily looked at him and could tell he was too angry to speak. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, leaving finger impressions in the expensive leather. He was glaring ahead, angrily taking corners and flying through red lights as he made his way onto the Interstate. His rage permeated the car and grew darker as they neared Council City. The gate guards barely had time to react as he sped into the city.

Silas and Kralen were on duty at the front door when Kyle screeched to a halt, skidding to within inches of them. When Kyle got out of the Ferrari, they both backed up out of his way, afraid to even get close to him. Emily finally got out of the car after Kyle disappeared inside. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking.

“Don’t go in,” Silas said when Emily started for the door. She turned and looked at him.

“Mark…” Kralen whispered, watching the door.

Mark appeared from the direction of the barracks after a few moments, “Welcome back, Em.”

Emily heard the faint hint of whispers as she watched the door, afraid it would fly open and Kyle would come out. She took a step away from the door when a loud crash sounded from inside the palace.

Two more members of the Cavalry came and replaced Silas and Kralen at the door.

“Come on, let’s go,” Mark said, taking her arm gently.

Emily nodded, still shocked at how angry Kyle was. She’d never seen him that mad, even when he fought Exavior. She followed the three heku down into the city and to a building just outside of the main guard barracks.

“Wait inside for us,” Mark said, and Emily headed into the empty building. It was one massive room, with numerous distinct sections, each individually decorated and sectioned off from the others with short carpeted walls. It was cold and dark in the building, and she turned toward the door, wondering how long they would be outside.

Emily shivered and walked further into the room. The building was eerily quiet, and things were left in a hurry. A book was half-open on one of the beds, a chess game was set out, the game never finished. She wondered if Mark cleared out the building before their arrival. She turned when the door opened and saw Mark, Silas, and Kralen stand in the door.

“Just acclimating, give us a second,” Silas said, smiling slightly.

Emily nodded and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep warm, “Who lives here?”

“This is Cavalry housing,” Mark explained, stepping a little closer to her.

“Where is everyone?”

“In the palace… they’re… helping there for a bit.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked, turning back to them.

Silas shut the door behind them, blocking out the only light in the building.

Mark sighed, “They’re helping with Kyle.”

Emily frowned, “What is he doing?”

“I’m good,” Silas said, and walked the rest of the way up to her. “He’s just really angry. They’re helping calm him down.”

“I should go talk to him.”

Mark moved up to her, “No, we should stay here for now. Are you cold?”

Emily nodded, “A little.”

Two of the sectioned off areas were bigger than the rest and set off slightly away from the others. Their beds were bigger, and the furniture seemed a little nicer.

“Here, crawl into my bed,” Silas said, pulling the covers down. Emily shivered and slid into the bed, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders.

“Sorry, there’s no heat out here,” Kralen explained, going to the other larger section and sitting down in a chair.

“Why do you two get bigger rooms?” Emily asked, looking around at what Silas had in his area.

“We’re Commanders, the rest of the Cavalry are Lieutenants,” Silas answered, and sat down in a recliner by the bed. Mark leaned against the wall.

“So,” Emily started. She then hesitated and stopped talking.

“What?” Mark asked.

Emily sighed, “Am I out here because Kyle’s mad at me?”

Mark frowned, “Not at all. He’s mad at the V.E.S, but he lost control, which… in Kyle’s case, is dangerous for anyone around him.”

“What happened?” Kralen asked, leaning forward a bit.

“After Kyle bailed me out of jail…”

“Wait, you were in jail?” Mark asked, shocked.

Emily nodded, “Again.”

“What for?”

“Assaulting Bruce Isaac,” Emily said, grinning slightly.

“What’d he do?”

Emily blushed and ignored Mark’s question, “When I got out of jail, I wanted to go clean out my little apartment, the one I was staying in while I was away for a few weeks.”

“Nice deflect,” Mark chuckled. “Keep going.”

“When we got there, there were over a hundred V.E.S. coming in and out of my apartment. I got out of the car to see what was going on and… well… they were mad, very mad. They know about Madison, and Harold grabbed my arm.”

Mark hissed slightly, “So Kyle intervened?”

“Yes, and they threatened me.”

“What did they say, exactly?” Kralen asked. Emily knew that the Cavalry took her safety personally, and saw that the three heku were all getting tense.

“They just said that all of the V.E.S. know me now, and if they catch me, I’ll pay for what happened to Bruce,” she said, and leaned back against the headboard.

“Per Elder’s orders, we’re reinstated as your guards,” Silas told her. “I’d like to see the V.E.S. come even close to you.”

“What did Isaac do to make you hit him?” Mark asked.

“Mark… did you see her neck?” Silas asked, raising his eyebrows.

Emily covered the round bruise and blushed.

“Yes, but it’s just a bruise,” Mark said.

“Looks like a hickey to me,” Kralen chuckled.

“A what?”

Emily grinned slightly, “How do heku not know what a hickey is?”

Silas laughed, “Em, if we’re that close to your neck, we’re not in the mood to suck.”

Emily blushed deeper and glanced away from them when she heard Kralen chuckle.

“Tell me,” Mark said, irritated. She didn’t look, but suspected Silas was filling Mark in on the round bruise. She felt her face burning when she heard Mark growl slightly.

“Is that where the Elder went then? To take care of Isaac?” Mark asked after a few minutes.

Emily sighed, “Yes, and I got to see pictures, it was…”

“Pictures? Yeah, I’m banking he didn’t think you’d see what he did,” Kralen said.

Mark looked around the room, “Come on, let’s go.”

Emily slowly stood up, “It’s ok to go back in the palace?”

“No, we’re going out for pizza,” Kralen said. “I’ll go get my truck.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Emily said as Kralen disappeared. “The V.E.S. is looking for me.”

“All the more reason to go out,” Silas said. “So you aren’t afraid to leave… remember… if you fall of your horse?”

“Walk home?” Emily asked, grinning apologetically.

Silas took her arm gently, “Let’s go.”

Emily sighed and followed them out, then grinned when she saw the dark blue Ford F450 idling in front of the barracks. It was jacked up with oversized tires and KC light along the top and fog lights lining the front grill.

“Now that’s a truck!” Emily said with eyes wide. She wondered where Kralen kept this truck. The palace garage was full of sports cars.

Mark opened the door and lifted Emily into the truck, “I could have gotten in,” she reminded him.

“I know,” he chuckled, and climbed into the back with Silas. Emily’s feet didn’t reach the floor, but she grinned and buckled herself in.

“Sports cars are for men who can’t handle a truck,” Kralen said, grinning, and pulled out of Council City.

“I knew I liked you, Kralen,” Emily said, laughing.

“Hey now…” Silas warned. “You two are gravely outnumbered by sports car fanatics.”

Emily was surprised how safe she felt with the three heku, even with hundreds of V.E.S. looking for her. She wrinkled her nose when Kralen pulled up to the Italian restaurant that she met Exavior and William in.

“I’m not sure I’m welcome in here,” Emily said, turning to Kralen.

“Why’s that?”

“This is where William, Exavior, and I got into a fight.”

Kralen chuckled, “You’ll be fine. We aren’t going to drink.”

Emily jumped out of the truck, shocked at how far down the ground was. She staggered slightly, but Silas put a hand on her back to steady her. They went into the restaurant and were sat at a booth. Mark let her slide in before sitting next to her. She scanned the other people, looking for anyone who might recognize her.

“Stop looking for V.E.S., that’s what we’re for,” Silas said, grinning.

The waitress came over and handed them menus, “What can I get you all to drink?”

“Sprite, please,” Emily said, and glanced at the others.

“Just bring 4 of those,” Mark told her, and winked at Emily.

“Are you feeling sick?” Silas asked.

“No, I actually like Sprite,” Emily told him, and took the drink from the waitress.

“What can I get for you?” she asked, watching Silas and smiling.

Silas grinned, “The Lady’s ordering.”

“We’ll have a large pizza, load it up with everything but anchovies,” Emily told her, and handed her the menu. The waitress glanced again at Silas and walked away.

“She likes you,” Emily said, watching her. “Want me to set you up?”

“No,” Silas chuckled. “I don’t date mortals.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What’s wrong with mortals?”

“I’m not going there,” Silas told her, grinning.

“Wimp,” Emily said, and took a drink of Sprite. She looked around the restaurant when the three heku stopped moving and locked eyes. She was sure they were whispering, though their lips were perfectly still, and she couldn’t hear anything.

The waitress brought their pizza and Emily grabbed a slice. The heku were holding still and looking at one another.

“I’m going to panic if you don’t tell me what you’re doing,” Emily said, taking a bite.

Mark turned toward her and whispered, “V.E.S. talk is all. We’re listening, so far there are only two of them and they haven’t recognized you.”

Emily sighed, “Perfect, they’re like gnats, swarming everywhere.”

Mark grinned, “Kralen wanted to provoke them, but I vetoed that idea.”

Emily glared at Kralen, “Behave.”

Kralen shrugged and smiled, “Need some fun.”

“I’ll give you some fun… go back to my apartment and get my favorite pair of jeans,” she said, and took another bite.

Silas raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Can we?” Kralen asked Mark.

Mark shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me, we’ll go after dinner.”

“I was kidding,” Emily said, shaking her head.

“So your favorite jeans aren’t there?” Silas asked.

“Well, they are, yes, but you can’t go running into 100 V.E.S. over a pair of jeans.”

“Sure we can!”

“You’re agreeing to this?” Emily asked Mark.

Mark grinned, “It’s not like the V.E.S. can catch us.”

“So you’re going, too?”

“Sure, why not.”

“That smells disgusting,” Kralen told her, eyeing the pizza.

“It’s not,” Emily said, grabbing another slice. “Try some, I dare you.”

“Oh no, I heard about Kyle and the spaghetti.”

“Mark, try it, it’ll go with the Sprite.”

Mark grinned, “No way, that Sprite was awful.”

“If you can keep it down, I’ll let you have my horse for a month,” Emily told him, and then took a bite.

“A month?” Mark asked. No one was allowed to touch her horse. It was the largest and fastest, and she liked to be able to outrun them.

“Sure, a month.”

“What if I can’t?”

“I need another pedicure,” Emily told him.

“How much?”

Silas laughed, “You aren’t seriously going to do this.”

“How much do I have to eat?” Mark asked.

“I may want in on this,” Kralen said.

Emily laughed, “I could use a neck and shoulder massage.”

“Oh yes, the Elder would love that.”

“He likes a good bet,” Emily said. “Besides… if you keep it down, then you get my horse for a month after Mark.”

“Silas wants in,” Kralen said.

“I do not! You are both asking to lose this bet,” Silas told him.

“I could use a manicure,” Emily told him.

“I don’t need your horse though, mine’s plenty fast.”

“So name it.”

“I want a proclamation to the Council.”

“Saying what… exactly?”

“How magnificent I am,” he said, grinning.

“And how humble?”

“Sure”

“Deal… you’ll never keep that down,” Emily said. She grabbed a slice of pizza, and cut three equal pieces, each a large bite, “That’s how much for the bet.”

She sat back as they each took the small piece of pizza and smelled it.

Mark grimaced, “Not sure this is worth your horse.”

Mark and Kralen gasped when Silas popped the pizza into his mouth, chewed quickly, and swallowed it with a disgusted face. He sat perfectly still with his eyes shut as he fought to keep it down. After a few seconds, he grinned.

“Impressive,” Kralen said. “Must not be that bad.”

Emily’s eyes were wide, “Oh my God, you kept it down.”

Silas nodded, “I’ll write the proclamation for you.”

Kralen glanced down at the pizza, and then up to Mark, “Ready, Captain?”

“On three… two… one,” Mark said, and simultaneously, they both ate the pizza and began to chew.

“Bathroom’s that way,” Silas said, pointing to the men’s room.

Kralen was the first to run, not bothering to slow down to human speed. The only thing Emily saw was him disappear from his chair and the men’s room door slamming shut. She turned to Mark and saw the concentration on his face as he chewed slowly.

“Good, eh?” she asked, grinning.

Emily moved back with wide eyes when she saw Mark begin to gag. He covered his mouth and blurred into the men’s room.

Silas grinned, “Pansies.”

An hour later, Kralen pulled up outside the apartment complex. There were now only twenty V.E.S. outside of the building, and the door to her apartment was shut, but the lights inside were on.

“Ok, where are they?” Silas asked.

“This is stupid,” Emily told him. “I can buy more jeans.”

“This’ll be fun, like a game of keep away.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “When the Council yells at you, I fully plan on telling them I objected.”

“Sure… where are they?”

“In the bedroom, top drawer,” Emily said, shaking her head as she handed him the key to the front door.

Silas grinned at Kralen, “Ready?”

“Let’s go,” Kralen said, and jumped out of the truck. Silas met him and they walked up to the front of the apartment.

“Damnit, why aren’t they blurring?” Emily asked.

“No fun in that,” Mark chuckled.

Emily watched as the V.E.S. eyed the two heku strangely. Silas and Kralen walked past them and opened up the door, disappearing inside. The V.E.S. outside of the building began to get nervous and moved closer to the door.

“Should we go help?” Emily whispered.

“No… you need to stay here.”

“Then you go help, they could be in trouble.”

“They aren’t.”

A few minutes later, Kralen and Silas came out with her jeans, grinning and laughing among themselves.

“Halt!” Harold yelled, pointing a gun at Kralen.

Emily reached for the door handle, but Mark grabbed her hand, “He’s ok.”

Kralen turned toward him, “What?”

“Who are you?” Harold asked.

Kralen squared his shoulders and turned back to the short, fat man, “I’m your worst nightmare.”

“Oh God,” Mark sighed, and rolled his eyes.

Silas grinned and walked back to the truck. He got inside and handed Emily all the clothes from the dresser except for the jeans that Kralen held.

Harold took a timid step back. His hand was shaking so badly, that he couldn’t keep the gun on Kralen as the hulking heku took a step towards him.

“You have something to say to me, Son?” Kralen asked, glaring at the cowering mortal.

“It’s… you… tell Emily to stay way,” Harold said, almost tripping over a sprinkler head.

“Why don’t you come with me and tell her yourself?” Kralen grinned broadly, making sure his teeth showed.

“What is he doing?” Emily asked, starting to panic.

“Toying with them,” Silas replied.

Harold backed up against the brick wall, his eyes wide, “She’s… in… we’re going to… get… her.”

Kralen reached out and pulled the toupee off of Harold’s head, and laid it over the gun, “Bring it on.”

“Kralen…” Mark whispered, laughing.

Kralen turned and walked back to the truck as the V.E.S. backed away from him. He crawled into the truck, still laughing, and within the hour, the four had hit the store and were turning off of the Interstate onto the private lane.

“So… let’s keep that little side trip to ourselves,” Mark said.

Kralen grinned, “Sure thing, Captain.”

“I’m not telling anyone,” Emily said, still shocked they confronted the V.E.S. over a pair of jeans.

“Deal,” Silas said, and got out when Kralen parked in front of the Cavalry’s housing.

Emily hopped out of the truck and headed inside with the bag.

“Let’s get it over with,” Mark said, taking the bag from her. He pulled out a bottle of fingernail polish and opened it, smelling it briefly and wrinkling his nose.

Emily grinned and sat down on a recliner, slipping her shoes off. Mark sat down at the foot of the recliner and started messily painting her toenails while she laughed. Kralen stood at the head of the chair and started massaging Emily’s neck.

“I can’t believe how bad that pizza was,” Mark said, concentrating.

“Remind me never to try that bet again,” Kralen said, nervously massaging her shoulders. He was afraid the Elder would see and kill him before he had a chance to explain.

Silas sat back with a pen and paper, “Let’s see here… a proclamation to the Council.”

Emily sighed, “This is nice.”

“I just hope we don’t get caught,” Kralen said.

“You already did,” Chevalier said from the doorway.

Kralen jerked his hands away from Emily’s neck and stepped away, “Sir.”

Kyle and Chevalier walked in and looked down at Mark.

“Lose a bet?” Kyle asked.

“Hey,” Emily said. “Kralen, you’re slacking.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Might as well finish.”

Kralen grinned and began to massage her neck again.

Kyle watched Mark struggle to keep the fingernail polish on her nails, but his hand seemed to have more on it than her toes.

“What was the bet?” Kyle asked.

“One bite of pizza,” Mark said, and cringed as a drop of red fingernail polish landed on his perfectly polished shoe. “Damnit.”

Chevalier turned to Silas, “You’re smart enough not to take the bet, I take it?”

“Oh, no, I’m not that smart... but I won,” he said, writing something down on the paper.

“What did you win?”

Silas grinned, “You’ll see.”

“Here and we came to rescue you from the boring barracks,” Kyle said, watching Kralen closely.

Emily grinned, “It’s been sheer torture.”

“For your guards,” Chevalier chuckled, and leaned on the wall beside them.

Emily looked up when Mark was done and her eyes grew wide, “What happened?”

Mark glanced at her toes, “It’s not that bad.”

“No… the bloody foot look is in,” Kyle chuckled.

“It’s not that bad,” Mark said again.

Emily smiled, “It’s ok, it washes off skin and after a shower, it’ll look great.”

“Come on, Killer,” Chevalier said, putting his hand out.

“Stop calling me that,” she told him, and took his hand to stand up. She walked on her heels toward the door, followed by Chevalier and Kyle.

“Tell the Cavalry thanks, they can come back now,” Kyle said as they left the long metal barracks.

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said as he picked fingernail polish off of his hand.

Emily followed behind them as they walked up to the palace. No one spoke. The heku weren’t sure how Emily felt about what happened that day, and she wasn’t sure how much she wanted to talk about the violence that was shown earlier. Kyle’s temper scared her a bit. He had always been her rock solid friend, level headed and calm. She’d glimpsed his temper once before, but it was nothing like what she had seen today.

The three walked silently up the stairs. Emily noticed there were already four members of the Cavalry posted outside of her door. She walked in and turned when Kyle came in with her, and shut the door behind him.

“I wanted… to apologize,” Kyle said, wringing his hands. “I shouldn’t have let my temper go.”

Emily watched him, marveling at how his face was so calm and caring, when just hours before, the very sight of him made her want to run.

Kyle sighed, “Don’t look at me like that, Em. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“I told you I have a temper. I’m sorry though, normally I can keep it under control around you.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

Kyle started to say something, but turned and left instead. A few seconds later, Chevalier came in and sat down on the edge of the bed. Emily sat down in the chair by the fire and watched him.

“Kyle told me about the picture,” he said, watching her.

Emily nodded, “I figured.”

“I wish you wouldn’t have seen that.”

“I’m trying… to embrace the heku, now that the mortal world is over for me,” Emily explained. “It’s just going to take some time.”

Chevalier couldn’t tell her how relieved he was that she was finally seeing the mortal world as a place not safe for her. He wished they could replay when she ran into the palace, looking for protection from mortals. If he could redo it, the heku wouldn’t have attacked and would have immediately given her the protection she sought.

“I don’t want to apologize,” Chevalier said. “Because I’m not sorry for what I did.”

Emily just nodded.

“I won’t let anyone get away with hurting you or thinking they can hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Tell me what you’re thinking, please.”

“I’m thinking that…” she thought for a second. “That there’s no other place I feel as safe as I do here, and that it’s not my place to judge how that safety is achieved.”

Chevalier was shocked, “That surprises me.”

Emily shrugged, “I’m not saying that I want you to drain anyone who looks at me wrong, or that I wasn’t afraid of Kyle when he got back into the car, but it’s something I guess I can live with and someday, may understand.”

“Come sit by me then. I want to talk,” Chevalier said.

Emily grinned slightly, “Depends, am I in trouble?”

Chevalier chuckled, “No.”

Emily got up and sat down on his lap facing him, “What then?”

“I want to talk about the baby.”

“If I’m going to be 20 forever, we need to find a better birth control method,” she said, frowning.

“Yes, that too… we almost lost you when you had Alexis.”

“I know.”

“I want us to do it right this time, with mortal doctors, and hospitals, and appointments.”

“I agree. I’ll call Dr. Hayden in the morning.”

Chevalier frowned, “You really agree?”

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder, “Let’s make a pact… I’ll go to the doctor, and try to behave… if you won’t treat me like I’m about to die.”

Chevalier chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, “Deal.”

Emily sighed, “The V.E.S. aren’t going to let this go.”

“I know,” he said, and brushed the hair away from her neck.

“I told Kyle I agreed to guards.”

“That’s all it’ll take. Four guards can handle almost any amount the V.E.S. can throw at us.”

“Ok, and I have an idea about how to safely acclimate the palace staff to me, so we don’t have to use the masks,” Emily said, wincing slightly.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “How?”

“Well… if someone were to smell like me, but couldn’t be killed by draining…” Emily grinned slightly.

“No,” Chevalier said sternly. “It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s brilliant. It lets the palace staff acclimate without the risk of hurting me.”

“No, it’s hard enough to stop feeding when a heku’s been drained, without feeding from you… no one’s… well… fed, while you’re pregnant either. If it tastes as good as it smells...”

“Then it’s settled… we’ll do it,” Emily said, climbing off his lap. “The sooner the better.”

“Wait! I didn’t say yes,” Chevalier said.

“But you know I’ll do it anyway,” Emily said, putting her hands on her hips.

“No”

“Mark, Kyle,” Emily called out.

“No”

Both came in at the same time, smiling, “You called?”

“No,” Chevalier growled.

“Ever wanted to feed off of a pregnant Winchester?” Emily asked, grinning.

Kyle and Mark both took a step back, eyes wide.

“No,” Chevalier said again.

“It’s a good idea… if you won’t do it, then I’ll just wait till you leave.”

“No!”

“What’s going on?” Kyle asked, not really sure he wanted to know.

“I’m going to make someone immune to ashing, and then, while they smell like me… they get to acclimate the entire palace staff without risking me,” Emily told them. It seemed like the logical decision to her.

“No way, I’m not doing that,” Mark said.

“No,” Kyle and Chevalier said together.

Emily sighed, “Oh come on. Kyle and Mark have already done it, seemed easy.”

“No,” all three said.

“Fine,” Emily said. “I’ll acclimate the Encala then. I’m sure William would help.”

“It’s not going to work,” Chevalier said. “Go to the Encala… go to the Ferus for all I care… we’re not doing that here.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Yes.”

“No”

“The masks are creepy, and they aren’t entirely safe… acclimating the entire palace staff is the only way to be sure that I’m protected everywhere I go.”

“No,” Kyle said, frowning.

Chevalier sighed, “I hate that it actually sounds like a good idea.”

Mark gasped, “No, it’s not a good idea.”

“Damnit,” Kyle growled. “Chevalier it shouldn’t be you. You’re the strongest and most able to stop whoever is feeding.”

“You three are insane! We can’t do this,” Mark said.

“True, it should be Mark,” Chevalier said, deep in thought.

“What? Me? No!”

“I need to be able to walk freely around the palace without making sure everyone’s wearing a mask, plus, those are scary and remind me of the Valle,” Emily said. “So let’s do it.”

“We should call in more than just us too, Mark’s a strong heku,” Kyle said, sizing him up.

“I’m pretty sure I said no,” Mark said, growling.

“We’d need to do it before the scent and taste get any stronger,” Chevalier said.

“Silas, Kralen, Quinn, and Zohn, come please,” Kyle said into the air.

“I’m not doing this,” Mark said, heading for the door. The four other heku came in and smiled at him.

“So, what’s up?” Quinn asked.

Emily smiled, “We’re going to drain Mark.”

Zohn froze, “Excuse me?”

“Then he’ll feed off of me…”

“No!” all four of them yelled.

Emily sighed, “Just listen…”

“We pretty much do what Exavior did to make himself immune. That will make Mark smell like Emily, and he is going to acclimate the entire palace staff,” Chevalier said. “It’s not the safest idea, but once he has her scent, it’ll make it easier to acclimate the staff without risking them attacking her.”

“No,” Mark said sternly.

“Why Mark? Chevalier should do it,” Quinn said.

“We want Chevalier around to help us get Mark off of her… and you four also,” Kyle said. “No one’s ever tasted Emily’s blood while she’s pregnant, and we don’t know how hard it’s going to be to stop him.”

“Am I talking in my head? I said no,” Mark reminded them.

“I’ll do it,” Zohn said. “Mark’s stronger than I am anyway, and he can help control the staff so I don’t get attacked.”

“No,” Emily said, frowning. “Silas then.”

Silas’s eyes grew wide, “Me? No.”

Emily walked over and took Mark’s hand in hers, and touched his face softly, “You’re the only one I trust to do this.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Not if it’s you. I need someone that cares enough about me that there’s a part of them that wants to stop,” Emily whispered, looking into his eyes.

Mark felt his resolve fading, “Damnit… damnit… damnit… where?”

“The bathtub, I don’t want a mess,” Emily said. “They’ll drain you there and I’ll be nearby.”

Mark growled and headed into the bathroom, rolling up his sleeve.

“You scare me when you do that, you know that?” Chevalier chuckled, and headed into the bathroom.

“What?” Emily asked, following him.

“You know good and well what you just did to Mark. It’s irritating how well that works,” Kyle said, following them in.

Mark laid down in the tub so his blood would cleanly go down the drain, and glared at the others, “I don’t like this.”

“Listen to me, Mark… wrist only,” Emily said. “When you’re ready, I’ll hand my wrist over, leave my neck alone.”

Mark nodded, “Ok.”

“Everyone ready?” Chevalier asked, checking to see where everyone was placed. “When it’s over, Silas, Kralen, and Zohn need to get Mark out of the palace. Kyle and Quinn can help if it gets that bad.”

“For the record, I think this is a bad idea,” Mark said, still scowling.

Emily grinned, “We know.”

“Silas, drain him,” Quinn said, crouching toward Mark.

“Wait? Me? It’s against policy for me to drain a superior,” Silas said.

Chevalier growled, “Silas…”

“Fine,” Silas said, and knelt down. Emily watched as the blood drained out of Mark. His face became pale and he shut his eyes, breathing slowly. When the blood stopped draining from Mark’s wrist, Silas stood up and the heku all crouched defensively.

“Mark… wrist…” Emily said, and moved forward slightly, her hand extended. With extreme power, Mark blurred out of the tub and pinned Emily to the ground, his teeth at her neck. She shut her eyes as her body relaxed and the room was perfectly quiet until she heard Chevalier yell.

“Enough, Mark,” Chevalier growled.

The room became a blur. Mark growled, and fought against the heku. Emily looked up as she saw him tear Silas’ arm off and slam it into Kralen’s skull, shattering it. Chevalier got his hands round Mark’s shoulders as Mark ripped Quinn’s trachea from his throat, and started to break Zohn’s neck. The sound of crushing bones sounded through the bathroom, and Emily scooted quickly into the corner as Zohn’s head was wrenched painfully to the side and he fell to the ground.

“Guards!” Chevalier growled, fighting to hold onto Mark as he hissed and growled, clawing to get to Emily. The bathroom filled with the Cavalry and the fight continued. Emily couldn’t breathe, too afraid as Mark managed to fight off heku after heku, all the while watching her and snarling. Chevalier finally managed to break Mark’s neck, but he was healing quickly and it took ten of the Cavalry to haul him out of the palace.

Chevalier leaned over, his hands on his knees, panting. The others were slowly healing and crawling to their feet. Emily pulled a towel off the rack and pushed it against her neck, then laid down on the cold tile floor to catch her breath.

“Either we have the best Captain of the Guard… or the rest of us are weak,” Kyle said, grinning slightly.

“I told him my wrist,” Emily said angrily.

“I’ve never seen one heku fight off 12 others,” Chevalier said, slightly impressed.

“Did it work though?” Zohn asked.

“I’ll go see,” Kyle said, and disappeared from the room.

When Emily looked up, the rest of them were healed and standing against the walls, trying to calm themselves.

Kyle came back, “Oh it worked alright. He was almost attacked by one of the guards in the barracks.”

“Seriously?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“Yes, the guard even went for his neck, but the Cavalry stopped him.”

“Now we just need to give him about a week to acclimate the staff. Can you stay in your room for that long?” Zohn asked.

Emily finally got to her feet, “A week? Yeah, I guess.”

“If he’s done sooner we’ll let you know.”

“Make sure the guards don’t get mad at him,” Emily said.

He chuckled slightly, “Mad? No… jealous maybe.”

“Jealous?”

Quinn laughed slightly, “Dear, you have no idea.”

“Lucky bastard,” Zohn chuckled, and stopped when Chevalier glared at him.

“Can we not?” Chevalier asked, and walked with Emily back into the bedroom.

“I should go talk to him,” Emily said, and started for the door.

“No!” Kyle yelled, and then smiled slightly. “You can’t be around Mark for a bit.”

“Why not?”

“He… um… it’ll take him a while before he can keep control around you.”

“You didn’t have a hard time.”

“You weren’t pregnant,” Kyle said. “It’s 1,000 times worse.”

Zohn shut his eyes and inhaled, “I wonder if it tastes as good as it smells.”

Emily gasped, “Ok… everyone out.”

Chevalier chuckled as the others hesitated and left.

Emily smiled at him when they were alone, “Now, no more masks.”

“Let me see your neck?” Chevalier asked, pushing her hair away from it.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“You’re lucky, most wouldn’t have the control to do it gently.”

Emily pulled away from him, “That’s why I wanted it to be Mark if you couldn’t.”

Chevalier sat down and pulled her onto his lap, “That wasn’t a nice thing you did to Mark though.”

“What’d I do?”

“Used your… feminine wiles… to get your way.”

“I did not.”

Chevalier laughed, “Yes, you did.”

“You’re imagining things,” Emily told him, and leaned her head against his neck.

He kissed the top of her head and then sighed, “Do you want to talk about the aging thing?”

Emily looked up at him, “Did you know?”

“No, we aren’t used to people aging, so I don’t think any of us noticed.”

“Exavior did.”

“He didn’t see you every day like we did. It might have been more noticeable to him.”

Emily sighed, “It’s just going to take time to sink in I think.”

“Some might see that as a good thing… being 20 years old for eternity.”

“Yeah, well, they may not have spent a good part of the last fifteen years being kidnapped, tortured, injured, and assaulted.”

Chevalier chuckled, “That’s true.”

Emily crawled out of his lap when someone knocked on the door. Chevalier looked and then stepped aside when Allen came in with a tray.

“I was heading up anyway and brought…” Allen froze in place. His eyes shut as he inhaled. When he opened them, they fell onto Emily and he crouched, dropping the tray with a loud crash.

“Allen, no!” Emily screamed as Chevalier pinned him to the wall. After a brief struggle, Chevalier dragged him out of the room and slammed the door behind them.

Emily knelt down by the spilled tray and started to pick it up, hoping Chevalier wasn’t going to injure Allen.

Chevalier could hear the guards laughing about something when he burst through the doors. Allen was well over 6 feet tall, though a lot shorter than his Dad. He wasn’t as strong, but he was fighting and hissing to get back to his Mom.

“Him first,” Chevalier said, holding a restraining arm around Allen.

Mark turned and took a slight step back as Allen turned his eyes towards the Captain, and a low growl erupted from him. Suddenly, Allen began to claw at Chevalier, trying to get to Mark.

“Down, Boy,” Mark chuckled, and went to the other end of the room.

“Don’t blame him. I’d feed from you myself if you’d stop fighting,” one of the City Generals said, laughing.

“Ha-ha, not my idea,” Mark said.

Allen finally calmed down and stood up, out of breath, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, Son,” Chevalier said. “We’ll acclimate you and it won’t happen again.”

“Mom’ll ground me for sure,” Allen sighed. “Now I’ll be mucking stalls for a week.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Just take a step closer.”

“What happened?” Allen asked, taking a timid step closer to Mark, his Dad’s arms still restraining him.

“Your Mom’s going to have a baby, you just don’t remember the scent,” Chevalier said.

“What did you do to Mom?” Alexis yelled, running into the room.

Allen turned to Alexis, “I didn’t do anything.”

“She’s upset,” Alexis said, and the look on her face was so much like Emily’s angry face, that Chevalier smiled slightly.

“Why blame me?”

“Because you’re a moron, and I heard you hiss at her from up the stairs.”

“Alex, leave him alone,” Chevalier said. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“Go away, Alexis, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” Allen said, turning back to Mark.

“Just because you’re older and bigger doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you…”

“Get lost, Alexis, I’m not telling you again.”

“You two calm down,” Chevalier said, just before Allen turned to ash. “Damnit, Alex.”

“Come on, Lexi,” Silas said, trying not to grin. “Let’s go back inside.”

Alexis stuck her tongue out at the ashes, and then went with Silas.

“Yet you keep bringing them into this world,” Zohn said, walking into the room with Kyle.

“Very funny,” Chevalier said. “Besides, this one was an accident.”

“Have any been planned?” Kyle asked, pulling the dagger from his pocket.

“Not really, come to think of it… wait… we talked about another when she got pregnant after Allen,” Chevalier said. “So technically, Alex was planned.”

“Technically,” Zohn chuckled.

“Gah, can’t you stop her?” Allen asked after recovering from the revival.

“Sorry, she’s just having little sister issues,” Chevalier explained.

“Mom’s having another?”

“Yes”

“If it’s a girl, I’m joining the Valle,” Allen said, and turned back to Mark, irritated.

“Don’t worry about it, odds are this baby won’t make it either,” Zohn said, leaning back against the wall.

“Zohn…” Chevalier growled.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Kyle said angrily.

“Well think about it… she’s been pregnant, what… four times, and has only 2 children,” Zohn said. “The odds aren’t in her favor.”

“Six times,” Kyle said, and then shut up when Chevalier glared at him.

“My point exactly,” Zohn said.

“Let’s count up how many of those were caused by outside influences,” Chevalier said, irritated. “Keith, the Ancient, the heku in the barn, and stress from leaving us… that means if we keep outside influences away, she should be ok.”

“Well Keith is gone… as is the Ancient, but there will always be a heku in the barn, and stress is part of her everyday life,” Zohn said.

“This time is different,” Chevalier said, taking another step toward Mark. “She’s agreed to see a doctor regularly, and follow his instructions. The Valle and Encala won’t be attacking, and she’s agreed to guards, which would alleviate the heku in the barn issue.”

“Agreed to guards? For now… we’ve heard that before.”

“I got it, Dad,” Allen said, walking the rest of the way up to Mark. “How did you get Mom’s smell?”

Mark looked at Chevalier, “We’ll explain later, let’s go feed.”

“Can I drive?” Allen asked, grinning.

Chevalier grinned, “If you don’t tell your Mom.”

Chapter 22 - Dr. Hayden

“Things look good, Emily,” Dr. Hayden said, smiling at her. He sat down and went over her chart. “We’ll see you once a month until your third trimester, and then it will be once a week.”

Emily nodded, wringing her hands. She was always nervous in a doctor’s office.

“Any questions?”

“Just… well… can I still ride horses?”

“Do you ride often?” he asked, looking at her over his glasses.

“Yes, a lot,” Emily told him.

“Then, yes. Don’t pick up anything new, but if you’re already doing it, it’s fine,” he said.

“Can I get a note for my husband?” Emily asked, grinning slightly.

Dr. Hayden laughed, “Sure, I’ll write Kyle a note.”

“Well… actually… I’m not with Kyle anymore. I’m with the other guy, Chevalier.”

Dr. Hayden frowned, “Your brother?”

Emily grinned, “He’s not my brother.”

“Well, good… do you fight with the new husband a lot?”

“Yeah, kinda, I have a bit of a temper.”

He scribbled a note on a prescription pad and handed it to her, “Our goal this time is no stress… I’m still positive that’s what the miscarriage was last time, so keep it down.”

“How’s the blood pressure?”

“Good so far, but I know your history, so we’ll watch it. How’s morning sickness?”

“Nothing yet, any chance I’ll skip it?”

Dr. Hayden smiled, “Not really. This is probably none of my business... but those three men you came in with… they look like bodyguards.”

Emily grinned slightly, “They are.”

“Hm, interesting, ok… I’ll see you in a month.”

Emily nodded and returned to the lobby where Silas and two other members of the Cavalry were waiting. The fourth was waiting in the Jeep, making sure no one did anything to the car while they were away. She made the follow-up appointment and then followed the guards out to the Jeep.

“Do I get to drive?” the Cavalry member in the driver’s seat asked.

“I don’t drive like a grandma!” Emily said, crawling into the passenger’s seat.

He grinned and drove off toward the palace.

“Tacos!” Emily yelled, and pointed at a taco place. The guard pulled in and she ate while he drove to Council City.

“Here you go, Em,” Silas said, handing her a piece of paper.

“What is this?” she asked, taking a bite of the taco.

“The proclamation.”

“Gah, I’d forgotten,” she said, and finished her taco. “Best get it over with I guess.”

Silas, Emily, and two guards got out at the front door while the driver put the Jeep away. They walked her up to the Council doors.

“Yes, Lady Emily?” Derrick asked.

“I need to see the Council.”

“Go on in, they were just finishing up.”

Emily nodded and turned, “You coming in?”

Silas grinned, “We’ll wait for you out here.”

She sighed and walked in, blushing when everyone looked up at her.

“You ok, Em?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, I have a proclamation for the Council.”

Zohn raised his eyebrows, “This should be interesting.”

Emily pulled the paper out of her pants pocket and blushed again.

“Go ahead,” Quinn said.

“Dear honorable Council,” Emily said, cringing. She looked up briefly at the confused looks on their faces, and continued, “Silas… is my hero. He’s the bravest and toughest out of the entire Council City population.”

“She lost a bet,” Chevalier chuckled, and when she looked up, he grinned. “Do go on.”

Emily sighed and felt her blush deepening, “Had it not been for Silas, I’m sure I wouldn’t be alive. I’m comforted by his very presence on this planet and strive to become just like him. He’s fearless and heroic, handsome and valiant, and I think all Equites should attempt to be more like him, though those are some big shoes to fill.”

Emily folded up the paper and put it away, “That’s all.”

“That was nice,” Quinn chuckled. “Tell Silas we thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Emily heard laughter coming from the hallway, “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

“Em…” Chevalier said when she turned to leave.

“Yeah?” she asked, turning around.

“How was the doctor?”

Emily glanced at the Council, “Is this seriously going to turn into a report to the Council?”

Chevalier chuckled, “No, I guess not.”

“Good… and just for future reference, I dumped Kyle. I’m with you now.”

Chevalier raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Yeah, didn’t feel like being married to the wrong guy anymore.”

Kyle chuckled, “It’ll be a lot less confusing.”

Emily smiled slightly and walked out, “Done.”

“That was awesome,” one of the Cavalry laughed.

Silas was still grinning, “I’ll bet you any day.”

“How did you do that?” Emily asked, heading up the stairs.

“Don’t you remember when the Encala took you back 7 years and you thought you were still in Montana? I faked mortaldom and ate a bite of grilled cheese… it’s nasty, but I can keep it down,” Silas said.

Emily gasped, “You cheated then!”

“That wasn’t cheating, that was… Em?”

Emily stopped on the fifth-floor and the color drained out of her face.

“Emily,” Silas asked, touching her shoulder.

She took off for the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. The guards shrugged and took up post outside of her door after calling for the Elder.

Chevalier headed up the stairs and heard Silas call for Sprite and crackers. He winced and went into the room, but didn’t see her, so he knocked on the bathroom door, “Em.”

“Go away,” she said softly.

He chuckled and opened the door, “You should know by now that never works.”

“Then go away and be original,” she said, not looking up from her place on the cool tile.

“Not going to happen, here’s your Sprite,” he said, sitting down on the floor beside her.

“I’ll ash you if you don’t get out of here.”

“No you won’t, try some Sprite.”

***

Emily crawled out of bed and stumbled toward the table, then sat down and grabbed the glass of cold Sprite. She hadn’t been able to get out of the bedroom in almost a month, and now it was the day to go to the doctor again. No more food was to be delivered to her bedroom because the smell of anything made her sick.

“Em?” Chevalier asked, coming into the room.

Emily looked up at him, “I’ll be ready in a bit.”

“I want to come with you today.”

“Why?” she asked, setting down the Sprite and going through the closet.

“You’re sicker this time. I just wanted to see what he has to say.”

“He’ll say that I have morning sickness.”

“Still, I want to go.”

Emily shrugged and dressed as quickly as she could. She grabbed the glass of Sprite and headed for the garage. The four members of the Cavalry fell in behind her.

“Two of you wait here, I’m going,” he told them, and two moved back to the door while the others followed them.

“You drive,” Emily said, and crawled into the passenger seat and laid it back. Chevalier buckled into the driver’s seat and set out for town. He made the guards stay in the Jeep while they went in to meet with Dr. Hayden.

Dr. Hayden came in, reading her chart, “How are you feeling?”

Emily was laying down on the examination table, “Peachy.”

Dr. Hayden looked up when he heard the sarcasm in her voice, “That bad, eh?”

“She’s sicker this time,” Chevalier told him.

“Shut up, Chev,” Emily growled.

“Moodier, too,” he said, and grinned at the doctor.

Dr. Hayden chuckled and sat down on a rolling chair, “You’re losing weight, are you able to eat anything?”

“No, the toilet gods won’t let me eat,” Emily told him, irritated.

“How’s everything else going?”

“What else is there besides sleep and bathroom living?”

“Ok, let’s see how things are,” Dr. Hayden said, grinning. He took her blood pressure and felt around her abdomen and then sat back down and wrote in the file.

“Tell him to leave me alone in the bathroom,” Emily said, pointing to Chevalier.

Dr. Hayden looked over at the huge heku and smiled, “He’s trying to help, I’m sure. I don’t like your color. I want to get some blood and check for iron.”

“You’re taking blood?” Chevalier asked, fidgeting slightly.

“No, he’s not,” Emily said, sitting up.

“Yes, I am,” Dr. Hayden told her, and grabbed a tray from the table.

“I’ll wait out in the lobby,” Chevalier said, quickly walking out.

“Wimp!” Emily yelled after him.

Dr. Hayden took a fast finger poke test and then put a Band-Aid on her finger before calling Chevalier back in and heading off to run a test.

“Wimp?” Chevalier chuckled, sitting down.

“Yes,” Emily told him, still lying on the table.

Dr. Hayden returned a few minutes later and sat down, “Explains that… you’re anemic and have a low blood supply.”

“He feeds off me in my sleep,” Emily grumbled.

Dr. Hayden grinned, “I’m sure he does… so take these iron pills, we wouldn’t want him to starve.”

Chevalier took the prescription from the doctor, “Will these help her mood?”

Emily sat up and glared at him, “Excuse me?”

“Nope, sorry,” Dr. Hayden told him. “We’ll see you in a month, please try to eat… lots of red meat.”

Emily slid off the table and headed for the Jeep. She pulled away when Chevalier tried to take her hand, and became irritated when he chuckled. He got into the driver’s side and she leaned back in the passenger seat.

“I can’t believe you told him I feed off of you in your sleep,” Chevalier said, pulling out into traffic.

“She did?” one of the Cavalry asked, shocked.

“Yes, she did.”

Emily ignored them and shut her eyes. They stopped and got her prescription filled, and then finally pulled into the garage an hour later.

“I have to go to a meeting,” Chevalier said, helping her out of the Jeep.

“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbled and headed inside.

Chevalier grinned at her guards as he blurred away. The Cavalry walked up to the bedroom and took their posts outside of her door.

Emily immediately took one of the iron pills with some Sprite, and went into Alexis’ room. When she found it empty, she left her room and went upstairs to the makeshift school, it was also empty. She sighed and checked Allen’s room, but no one was there either.

“Where are the kids?” Emily asked one of the Cavalry. She watched as his lips moved and then shrugged.

“No one’s seen them,” he told her.

Emily grabbed her phone when it rang, “Hello?”

Her eyes became furious and the guards all turned to look at her. They strained to hear, but the phone was turned down too low.

“Touch one hair on their head and I’ll kill you… I swear,” Emily scowled, and the Cavalry crouched slightly.

There was a long pause and then Emily screamed, “That’s it… you’re dead!”

Emily slammed the phone shut and ran for the stairs, but Silas caught her with an arm around her waist, “Tell us.”

She squirmed to get out of his arms and yelled, “No, I’ll handle it.”

“Who has the kids?” he asked angrily.

“Let me go or I’ll ash you, Silas!” Emily screamed, catching the attention of the Council. Suddenly, the fifth-floor foyer was filled with guards and the Council.

“What’s wrong?” Chevalier asked, shocked that Silas was restraining her.

“Let me go, now. I can ash the entire palace.”

“Someone has the kids,” Silas said, letting her go. She started to push past the heku, but Chevalier took her arm.

“Who has them?”

“The Ferus do. They threatened to start torturing Allen if I don’t come,” Emily said, and pulled against Chevalier’s hand.

“Where are they?” Kyle asked, his hands balled into fists.

Emily turned and looked up at Chevalier, “Let me go. They have the kids.”

“No, for once you need to leave this up to us… where are they?” he asked, holding her tightly.

“I’m supposed to meet them in Salt Lake City, from there they will take me to the kids,” Emily said. “I have to go, they are going to torture Allen.”

Kyle disappeared down the stairs, followed by Zohn, Quinn, and Dustin.

“Let me go, I have…” she paused, and he let her go when she turned pale and ran for the bedroom door. He left orders for Silas to make sure she didn’t leave the palace, and went out to meet with the guards and Cavalry gathered with Kyle.

Chevalier stepped up to them, “Kralen, see if you can trace the last phone call to Em’s cell… the rest of you, start attack preparations immediately.”

“Who are we leaving with Emily?” Mark asked as the rest blurred away.

Chevalier sighed, “I wanted to call in Thukil and Powan to help us in the fight… call Sotomar.”

“The Valle, Sir?” Mark asked, concerned.

“It’s going to take a lot to keep her, and our forces will be out.”

Mark nodded, “Yes, Sir, I’ll call them.”

Two hours later, a Valle helicopter landed and the Valle’s Chief Enforcer and Chief Interrogator arrived in the council chambers, escorted by members of the Cavalry.

“Thank you for coming,” Quinn said. He sat alone in the council chambers, “Did Sotomar explain the situation?”

“Yes,” the Chief Enforcer said. “We have masks with us and he’s equipping the palace for her arrival.”

Quinn sighed, “She’s not going willingly, and doesn’t like the Elder we are sending with her.”

“We understand that,” the Chief Interrogator said. “We have enough experience… with… keeping her, that we know she’s not easy to confine.”

“I’ll be staying in a nearby coven, just in case,” the Chief Enforcer said, and grinned slightly.

“That may not be an issue. She’s pretty weak right now from morning sickness. I’m not sure she could ash many.”

“She is ill?” the Chief Interrogator asked.

“If you have questions, Zohn knows the situation… Chevalier is heading in to talk to her. She doesn’t know yet that we’re sending her away.”

The two Valle followed Quinn up to the bedroom and stood outside, ignoring the close scrutiny of the Cavalry at her door. They both slipped on their menthol lined masks when they first caught the slightest hint of her scent.

“Don’t do this!” Emily yelled, obviously frustrated and panicky. The others heard it clearly through the door.

“Em, you can’t even get out of the bathroom for more than an hour, you’re tired, and it’s obvious you don’t feel well,” Chevalier said. “We’re clearing the palace out of anyone that can guard you and moving the street guards inside… you need to stay with the Valle.”

“No! They said if I don’t come to them and fill the Elder roll, they will torture Allen… I have to go.”

“Listen to me… we’ll get there first. Kralen found the source of the cell phone used to call you. They are outside of a city only two hours north of Salt Lake City, we’ll find them.”

“Let me go, you don’t understand…”

“I fully understand, and that’s why you need to stay here.” Quinn was surprised at how soft and caring Chevalier’s voice was. He didn’t seem mad or angry with her fight.

“Fine, the Valle will be easier to get away from anyway,” Emily said, and the Cavalry cringed at the determination in her voice.

“That’s not going to work, we’re sending Zohn and…”

“What!?” Emily screamed. “I don’t want Zohn anywhere near me.”

“I’m going with the forces and Quinn is staying here with the palace. Zohn’s the only one that can go.”

“The Valle and Zohn can’t stop me from leaving. You might as well take me with you,” Emily said calmly. Quinn could picture her, how her jaw was set and her arms were crossed at her chest.

“You’re not being confined because we don’t think you can do it.” Chevalier explained. “You’re being taken to where you can suffer through morning sickness in peace, with guards who can stay with you and protect you, ones who aren’t worried about the kids or what’s happening in Utah.”

“Damnit,” Emily yelled, and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Chevalier stepped out and grinned slightly, “That went well.”

Zohn arrived, ready to go, “How many times did she cuss when she found out I’m going?”

Chevalier turned to him, “Please, please, don’t antagonize her. We need to try to keep her blood pressure down and keep her safe. The more you upset her, the harder it’s going to make it for the Valle to keep her in the palace.”

“I’ll be good,” Zohn said. “I plan on staying out of her sight unless… she tries to run.”

Chevalier knew that’s not what he meant. He knew he would stay out of the way unless the Valle did something stupid.

“She’s out. I’ll meet you at the helicopter,” Chevalier said, and turned into the room.

Emily stumbled out, pale and shaky, “I’m going with you.”

Chevalier grabbed her bag, pulled out the 9mm, and then picked her up.

“You left my gun…” Emily complained.

“You don’t need a gun,” he said, heading out of the room.

“Put me down.”

“No”

“Chev, I’m not going.”

“Yes, you are.”

Emily glared at him, “Don’t make me ash you.”

He kissed her on the forehead lightly, “You won’t.”

“I need to go,” Emily yelled, and tried to squirm out of this grasp.

“No”

“Stop!” Emily screamed when he handed her up into the Valle’s helicopter. She fought against Zohn and the Chief Interrogator to get out of the Blackhawk, but they managed to buckle her in as the Chief Enforcer crawled into the Captain’s seat and they were soon lifting off. Chevalier could see her screaming at Zohn as they took off for the Valle’s main city.

He looked over as two more massive helicopters flew toward them. Powan and Thukil were arriving. Suddenly, the roof was full of Equites heku wearing all black as they piled into the large helicopters. Chevalier was the last to climb in, and he sat by the pilot as they lifted off for Trenton, Utah.

***

“Sir, she’s climbing out the window,” one of the Valle Imperial Guards said.

Sotomar grinned slightly at Zohn, “We should make it mandatory that each faction has to hold her for a month… keeps our guards on their toes.”

“I’d happily send her over,” Zohn told him as they both went outside.

Sotomar and Zohn looked up as Emily scaled down the side of the enemy palace. There were rain gutters down the side of the building that she used to edge herself away from the sixth-floor room they had put her in.

“Sort of disturbing, having the Winchester crawling down the side of a building,” Valle Elder Ryan said, joining them.

“Go get her and jump down,” Sotomar said to an Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guard quickly climbed up the drainage pipe and soon had a firm grip on her.

“Hey! Put me down,” Emily said, and then screamed when he jumped, landing softly on the grass in front of the Elders. She had a death grip on his neck when he landed and choked him a bit before she let go. She spun unexpectedly, and slapped the Imperial Guard.

He glanced at Sotomar before bowing and blurring back inside. Emily turned to the Elders and crossed her arms.

“We can’t let you scale down the side of the building,” Sotomar said, amused.

Emily glared at him, “Am I a prisoner here then?”

“You already know you’re not a prisoner here,” he said, and took her arm gently to lead her inside.

“Good, then I’m leaving.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Zohn said. “Go two hours without throwing up, and I’ll drive you to Utah.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t trust you.”

“You should, I would like nothing more than to see you take your place in the Ferus as an Elder.”

She glared at him and walked back inside.

***

The four helicopters landed in a remote field outside of the small Northern Utah town of Trenton. General Skinner and Captain Darren met Chevalier off to the side of the forming troops.

“Send in the wolves, keep low and try to blend,” Chevalier said. General Skinner nodded and moved off with his troops. Within seconds, there were almost a hundred wolves running over the Rocky Mountains toward the suspected Ferus compound.

“I want a report before we advance, wait until Skinner gets back,” Chevalier said. “Ready them into teams of 50. We’ll come at them from all directions. No one claiming to be a Ferus is to leave that compound alive.”

“Yes, Sir,” Darren said, heading off to meet up with his Cavalry.

“Want me to check on Em?” Kyle asked, walking up to the Elder.

“Talk to Zohn, don’t call her,” Chevalier said, looking over the majestic snowcapped mountains.

Kyle returned a few minutes later, grinning, and Chevalier glanced at him, “So, how are they holding up?”

“No one’s been ashed, yet,” Kyle chuckled. “She tried to climb down the side of the Valle Palace, but they got her. I guess Zohn told her if she can go two hours without being sick, he’ll drive her down here.”

Chevalier frowned, “That wasn’t smart.”

“Well, no, but when they didn’t hear her get sick… they… erm… helped,” Kyle said, and started to laugh.

“I don’t want to know, just tell me if Zohn brings her down.”

“Here’s Powan,” Kyle said. Chevalier turned and saw six wolves running toward them. As they neared, their illusion cleared and one of the Lieutenant’s came forward.

“There is a compound about 10 miles east of here in a valley. It’s surrounded by cement walls that are 8 feet tall, not lined with anything. The guards are armed with guns, not sure what’s up with that,” the Lieutenant reported. “Looks to be about a hundred heku. General Skinner thinks it’s probably not their main city. It’s too small.”

“Tell General Skinner to take the west wall. We’ll send Thukil to the north and City will handle the south and east,” Chevalier said, and turned to Kyle. “Take the south group. Kill everyone, I don’t care if they are fighting back or not. Leave anyone ranking for me to interrogate.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kyle said.

“Tell them to keep an eye out for Alexis’ scent. It’s Winchester, just not as strong as Emily. She’ll be the easiest to find and will let us know if the kids are here. We’ll wait until first light to attack.”

Kyle and the Lieutenant headed off while Chevalier gathered the troops he was leading.

***

“It’s amazing to me how she slips out so easily,” Sotomar said as he and Zohn went to the garage.

“It’s annoying is what it is, how that mortal can elude us… with her scent, we should be able to track her without even trying,” Zohn said, stepping into the garage.

“She’s in the H2,” a guard told them, and stepped back.

“Well at least we know how she slipped out just now. That’s an easy fix and it’s already been remedied.”

Zohn nodded and looked into the H2 when they arrived. Emily was curled up across the front seats. He sighed and opened the door, “Come on, Emily.”

Emily shook her head. She was pale and shaky.

“Child, you cannot leave,” Sotomar told her softly.

“I can’t move… don’t make me move,” she whispered, and fought to keep from getting sick. The entire world was swaying slowly and she had a grip on the seat belt.

“I don’t want to leave you in the vehicle. You’ll be more comfortable in the bed.”

“No,” she whispered. “Just kill me. If you drain me, I won’t tell anyone.”

Zohn’s body tensed and he glanced at Sotomar before relaxing, the enemy Elder was grinning.

“Tempting, Child, but let me take you to bed,” the Valle Elder said. He picked her up amid protests and she grabbed a hold of his arm as he carried her to bed.

***

The Equites arrived in the dark of night and took up position around the small compound. They guessed it could house no more than 200 heku, which was no match for the gathered forces. The four groups waited through the night, listening to everything that went on and keeping their senses out for any sign of the children.

The sound of a wolf howling broke the silence just after dawn. The fog rolled in earlier that morning and visibility dropped, which was better for the Equites forces. Moments after the piercing call of the wolf, the Equites descended into the small compound, easily scaling the 8-foot tall walls.

The first scream echoed through the canyon as Chevalier dropped down from the cement wall and turned toward the sounds of battle. Ferus after Ferus fell, and blood streamed down the cold rock walkways through the coven. There were no signs of any leaders or military, but the purple emblem was emblazoned across every surface.

Chevalier moved slowly behind his troops. He chose to use his senses and let those below him fight. They checked behind every door as they worked their way to the main building in the center. The four groups of Equites met up as they surrounded the building and all of them were aware of the smell of a Winchester.

Chevalier was the first to enter. He pushed open the double doors and came face-to-face with terrified Ferus guards. Their purple capes hung at their backs as they slowly stepped away from the enraged Elder. Equites forces flooded into the building from all directions, and the Elder had the first two guards dead before his group all made it inside.

“Sir!” Kyle yelled, and Chevalier appeared at his side. They walked down a stone staircase into a makeshift prison. There were only two cells, and Allen was in one. He looked up at them, his eyes furious. He was wearing the black pants, white shirt, and purple cape of the Ferus guard, and his hands were shackled to the wall.

Chevalier tore the door off the hinges and quickly released Allen from his bindings, “Where’s Alexis?”

“I don’t know, they separated us,” Allen said, tearing the cape from his neck. He pulled the rank insignia off of his collar and showed it to his Dad, “Commander.”

Chevalier shook his head and took the insignia, “Help us find Alex.”

The three blurred back up the stairs when General Skinner called for them. They appeared in a large bedroom decorated in pinks and maroons, Emily’s favorite colors. There was a large painting of her over the fireplace. In the painting, she was wearing a long billowy dress and her hair was done up in soft curls that framed a diamond encrusted tiara. The bed was surrounded by soft netting and the closet was full of dresses.

“This is supposed to be Mom’s coven, when she becomes Elder,” Allen explained. “Until then, I am supposed to run it.”

Chevalier and Allen walked down the hallway, opening doors until they found one that smelled strongly of the Winchester. The bedroom was warm and comfortable, decorated in all shades of purple. The bed was recently slept in, and the window was slightly ajar. Chevalier picked up the pillow and inhaled deeply.

“Not very recent, I’d say a day,” Chevalier said, and looked around. There was a magazine lying open on the desk and a half-done puzzle on the table beside it.

General Skinner came in, “Sir, one of the guards said they’ve taken the girl to Henderson, Nevada.”

“He just told you that?” Chevalier asked, turning to face the General.

Skinner grinned slightly, “It took a little convincing, not sure he’s the bravest heku I’ve ever met.”

“See if you can find someone else to confirm that,” Chevalier said, and turned back to the room.

“I fought to stay with her,” Allen said, looking at the floor.

Chevalier whispered for everyone to leave, and he put a hand on Allen’s shoulder, “You couldn’t fight them all.”

“You could have,” Allen said, looking up at his Dad. “I just couldn’t fight them off. I told Alexis not to turn them to ash. I’m not sure she could have gotten all of them.”

“That’s good, I hope she listens to you,” Chevalier said. “We’ll find her.”

“We were out in the stables. Alexis wanted to see if she’d left a book out there and then… we decided to go riding,” Allen said, and sighed. “I know we weren’t supposed to, but Mom is sick and the Cavalry was busy.”

“We’ll talk about that later, for now, let’s just find your sister.”

***

“Emily, I brought you some Sprite,” the Chief Interrogator said from outside the bathroom door.

“Go away,” Emily whispered, knowing he could still hear her.

“I’ve been asked to check on you,” he said, and tapped the door to break the lock. He opened the door slowly and saw her lying on the cold floor. Her eyes were shut and she had no color, “Are you ok?”

“I’ll give you $500,000 to kill me,” she said softly.

He grinned, “I don’t need $500 grand.”

Emily sighed, “Please go away.”

“Fine,” he said, and set the Sprite down on the floor next to her. He shut the door and returned to the council chambers.

“That explains where Bruce Isaac went,” Sotomar said, nodding his head. He turned when the Chief Interrogator came in, “How is she?”

“She’s breathing, though she doesn’t look well and she’s lying on the bathroom floor.”

Sotomar frowned, “Did you pick her up and put her in bed?”

“No, Sir, she told me to go away.”

Zohn grinned, “That’s normal, leave her there.”

Sotomar turned back to Zohn, “Does she get assaulted by mortals often?”

“Yes, quite often. As a Council, we suspect that mortals are attracted to the Winchester scent also, though they may not realize why… then when you have her looks, it isn’t safe for her.”

“Interesting, I think your theory may be correct, though, there’s no real way to find out.”

“You should go out with her some time, into a mortal store… you would be amazed at how many mortal men will go out of their way to get near her. I can’t see that being just the looks.”

Sotomar grinned slightly, “Has to be part of it.”

“Well, yes,” Zohn said. “Especially in some of the outfits I’ve seen her in.”

The Elders looked over from their chairs in the small conference room when the door opened. Emily backed in and shut the door softly and then put her ear to it.

“Lost, Dear?” Sotomar asked.

Emily sighed and looked back at the Elders, “Hi… no mask?”

“I have acclimated. Have a seat, we can order you some lunch.”

Emily touched her stomach and sat down, “No, no food.”

“How long does the illness last?” Sotomar asked, unsure if that was rude.

“About a month… have you heard from Chev?”

Zohn shook his head, “Nothing yet.”

There was a knock on the door and Sotomar smiled, “Crackers and Sprite.”

Emily nodded and turned to take them, but her eyes grew wide when she saw the heku. He didn’t have a mask on and was crouched. She backed toward the wall when he hissed, and Sotomar was on him in an instant. They blurred out into the hallway and Zohn shut the door.

Zohn grinned slightly, and when there was another knock, he opened the door and turned with a glass of cold Sprite and a plate full of crackers.

Emily took a cracker and glanced back at the door, “I guess Sotomar is yelling at him.”

Zohn raised his eyebrows, “No, he is dead. I’m sure the Elder will return after he speaks to whoever was over that heku.”

“He died?”

“Yes, that was a blatant disregard of a direct order.”

Emily took a small bite and pulled her knees up, “You wish I would obey heku laws, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” Zohn said, not holding anything back.

“What would you do if I didn’t follow them when I was supposed to?”

“You want to talk punishments?”

“No, I want to know if you would just kill me, like you would a disobedient heku.”

Zohn smiled, “Believe it or not, I don’t kill everyone who disobeys an order.”

“So let me have it, what would be my punishment?”

“Who is punishing you?” Sotomar asked, returning to the conference room.

“Apparently I am,” Zohn told him. “She wants to know what I would do if she were bound by heku laws and broke a direct order.”

“Interesting… let’s hear it then.”

“That poses a problem though. What I would do to a heku would kill a mortal.”

“So have at it, don’t hold back… I am told to guard a door, and I leave, mid-shift… let me have it.”

Zohn glanced at Sotomar briefly before speaking, “Well, for a heku that would be easy…”

“You’re hesitating, just answer.”

“Is Chevalier around?”

“There is no Chevalier, or Kyle, or Quinn, or Mark…”

Zohn grinned slightly, “I think that would call for a lashing.”

Sotomar raised an eyebrow, “At the very least.”

“Fine Sotomar, what’s my punishment were I a Valle?” Emily asked, and finished the cracker.

“I would agree with the lashing, but then you would be left there for a few days.”

“Days?”

Sotomar nodded, “Yes.”

“Hmm, I see,” Emily said, and picked up the cold glass of Sprite. “You all did give me a lashing already… and left me.”

Sotomar cringed, “Things were different.”

“Now I’m curious,” Emily said, and hit the speaker on the phone in front of her. She thought for a moment and then dialed.

“Who are we calling?” Zohn asked, ready to turn the phone off.

“Encala Council,” a gruff voice said.

“Is William there?”

“I am… who is this?” William asked.

“It’s Emily.”

“Ahh, Emily, I see you are with the Valle.”

“Yeah and I have a question for you.”

“Ok,” William said. “Why is this making me nervous?”

“Oh, it should,” Sotomar chuckled.

“Hush Soto… ok so…”

“Soto?” Zohn asked.

“Will you two be quiet?” Emily paused when she heard laughter over the phone, “William… who is the meanest on your Council?”

“Frederick,” Zohn and Sotomar said together.

“I concur,” William said, still sounding unsure.

“Is Frederick there?” Emily asked.

“I am,” a strange voice said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Chief Enforcer.”

“May I ask you a question?”

“You may.”

“Hypothetical question… I’m a member of the Encala guard staff…”

“When?” he asked.

Emily frowned, “I don’t know… now I guess.”

“Ok, do go on.”

“I’m held by the same laws as every other member of your guard staff... but I’m mortal. I’m given a direct order by Aaron to…”

“Why me?” Aaron asked.

“I’m given a direct order by Aaron to guard a door… halfway through my shift, I skip out and take off,” Emily said, ignoring Aaron’s complaint. “What’s my punishment?”

“Chevalier would never allow…”

“There is no Chevalier. I’m an Encala, never even met any of the Equites.”

“Are you married to an Encala Elder?”

“No… I’m free game… what’s my punishment?”

“What’s behind the door?”

Emily shrugged, “Umm… A book with a list of every Equites coven in America.”

“Death then.”

Emily gasped, “You’d kill me for that?”

“Yes, I would.”

Sotomar chuckled.

“What if nothing was behind the door, but I was still told to guard it?”

“Well,” the Chief Enforcer said. “For that minor infraction, I would dislocate your shoulders.”

“Erm… Freddy?”

“It’s Frederick,” he said, amused.

“Yeah… remind me never to join the Encala’s guard staff.”

“That or do as you’re told.”

Emily glared at Zohn and Sotomar when they laughed.

“Child, why are you with the Valle, and why are you talking punishments?” William asked.

Emily sighed, “I’m being held against my will, while Chevalier leads a group of heku to get my children back from Exavior’s pseudo-faction.”

“Good thing that’s not classified,” Zohn said, irritated.

“Against your will?” Elder Aaron asked.

“Yes, I’d much rather be out fighting with them. They have my kids.”

“I thought you were with child.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So it seems it was in their best interest to confine you to quarters so as not to escape and join the battle uninvited,” Encala Elder Reese said.

“You’re all alike aren’t you?”

“Yes, we are,” Zohn said, smiling.

“Why don’t the Encala come rescue me from my forced confinement then?”

“Emily…” Sotomar said, but William cut him off.

“And give you the opportunity to leave while we fought? No.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll get away from these two factions, a third won’t help,” Emily told them, grabbing another cracker.

“Do you require assistance?” William asked.

“No, I can get out alone.”

“I was asking Zohn and Sotomar.”

“No, we’re fine, as of yet she hasn’t made it out of the palace,” Sotomar said.

Emily dropped the cracker and ran out of the room suddenly.

***

“Equites 1 to Thukil,” the pilot called over the radio.

“Thukil here.”

“There’s a landing area just north of the cinder block plant.”

“Roger that, I see it.”

The four helicopters landed, and the desert fell silent as the black clad heku jumped out of the helicopters and lined up according to groups. Chevalier, Kyle, Thukil Captain Darren, and Powan’s General Skinner met in front of them.

“Want us to head out again and survey?” Skinner asked.

“Yes, report back as soon as you can. I’d like to attack before dark,” Chevalier told him, and then watched as the wolf pack disappeared into the Mojave Desert.

Allen walked up beside his Dad, “I want to go in.”

Kyle glanced at him and back to Chevalier.

“Don’t tell your Mom,” Chevalier said after a few moments, and then turned back toward where Powan disappeared.

“How did you get Mom to stay away?”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Zohn has her at the Valle Palace.”

“Do you fully trust them?”

“No, that’s why Zohn is there.”

“How long can the alliance last?” Allen asked, following his Dad’s gaze.

“I don’t know, there’s never been one before.”

Allen turned to Chevalier, “Can it last?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Does Mom know?”

“No, I think she thinks this is permanent. Course, when it was made, she thought she was going to die of old age eventually.”

Allen frowned slightly, “Does that mean I won’t age either?”

Chevalier shrugged, “We aren’t sure.”

“Is it true that you seduced Mom to get her to join your coven?”

“What? Who told you that?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“Brock said it. He’s the Chief Interrogator for the Ferus.”

“Well it’s not true… plus, your mother never joined Island Coven.”

“There’s no Ferus either, so no Chief Interrogator,” Kyle said, taking over when he saw Chevalier getting angry.

“They said you killed her abusive ex-husband, whisked her away to Wyoming, and seduced her until she fell in love with you, and then you took her to Maine.”

“Shut up, Allen,” Kyle said, and took his arm, leading him away. He saw Chevalier getting angrier and felt it best if Allen left the questions for another time.

“Is it true then?” Allen asked Kyle when they stopped on the other side of the helicopter.

“No, it’s not true,” Kyle said. “It was complicated and trust me, wasn’t love at first sight… plus, no one seduced anyone and they went to Colorado.”

“Mom’s just so much younger than Dad, even if you take his age at turning… seems to me that he might have taken advantage of her youth,” Allen said matter-of-factly.

“Stop talking about your parents like that,” Kyle told him. “It’s not right.”

“Well, it would explain a lot about their current relationship.”

“Drop it. It’s a sensitive subject with both of them.”

“Fine,” Allen said. “Though I doubt Dad is sensitive about it, at his age, he knew very well what he was doing.”

“Shut up,” Kyle said, and hauled him back over to Chevalier.

“It’s too late to attack now. We’ll need to wait until morning.”

***

“Don’t touch me,” Emily said. She was still on the cold tile floor, lying beside the toilet with her eyes closed.

“The Elders are just worried, Child,” the Valle doctor said. “They want me to take a look at you.”

“You’ve seen me, now go away.”

“You’ve been here for 4 days and have had nothing but a single cracker to eat. That’s not healthy, and there may be something wrong.”

Emily sat up slowly and glared at him, “There is something wrong. I got knocked up by someone who’s not even my species. Now go away and stop calling me child.”

“If you would just move to the bed and let me look at you,” he said, and ran his arm under her knees to pick her up.

“Don’t make me call the Encala to come and get me,” Emily growled, and moved out of his arms. She laid back on the tile when she felt the world start to spin.

The Valle doctor went back out into the bedroom, “She won’t let me look, but I can take my mask off around her. That means either the pregnancy is in trouble, or her blood volume is extremely low.”

“Damn,” Zohn said. “I can’t call Kyle or Chevalier, and I don’t know her doctor’s phone number.”

“My first instinct is to take her to an emergency room,” the doctor said.

“Let’s do it. I’ll change into civilian clothing,” Sotomar said, and disappeared.

“I will go as well,” Zohn said, and also disappeared.

The doctor looked into the bathroom and debated whether he should tell her. He finally decided that he didn’t feel like being turned to ash, and left the notifications up to the Elders.

“Right, now shall we go?” Sotomar asked.

Zohn sighed, “It’s not that easy… she’s afraid of hospitals, and doctors, and needles.”

Sotomar looked at her, “She is?”

“Yes, very… she already hates me, so I’ll do it… just revive me soon is all I ask,” Zohn said, and went into the bathroom.

“Don’t,” Emily whispered when Zohn picked her up.

“We’re going for a ride,” Zohn told her, and they started down to the garage. Sotomar led them over to a Porsche 911 and got into the driver’s seat.

Zohn thought for a moment and then sat in the passenger’s seat with Emily on his lap. She glared at him and he froze, and then frowned, “You can’t ash me can you?”

Emily sighed, “Where are we going?”

“Were you trying to turn him to ash?” Sotomar asked, shocked.

“Maybe,” she whispered, and tried to pull at his hands, but he wouldn’t let go. Zohn frowned, worried about her lack of strength and how she didn’t have the ability to even burn him.

Emily was too tired to fight him for long, and she finally leaned back and watched the strange city fly by. It wasn’t until Sotomar pulled into the Emergency Room that she knew where they were going.

“No,” Emily said, her eyes wide.

“No use trying to fight us,” Zohn said, crawling out of the Porsche. He headed into the E.R. while Emily fought to get out of his grasp.

“May I help you?” an older woman asked, unconcerned.

“Yes, this young woman is pregnant and she’s not feeling well,” Sotomar said. “I have a doctor on staff that thinks there might be a problem.”

Zohn turned to look at whoever just walked in, and saw six heku come in, all wearing jeans and t-shirt and trying to blend in. Their size alone set them far apart from everyone else in the waiting room.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Emily growled.

“How far along are you?” the nurse asked.

“None of your business.”

“She’s about 2 ½ months along,” Zohn said, amused.

“Fine, insurance card please.”

“This will be a cash transaction. Money isn’t an issue,” Sotomar said, and glanced back at Zohn.

“Can you walk?” the nurse asked her.

“Yes, I can walk right out of here,” Emily whispered, glaring at Zohn.

“She has a fear of anything medical,” Zohn explained, trying not to grin.

“Ok, wait for her name to be called,” the nurse said, and shut the little glass window that divided them.

“Put me down,” Emily said, and pushed at Zohn again. He set her onto her feet, but kept a hand near her back. She sat down in the nearest chair, away from the others, and watched the fish tank. Dozens of bright orange fish swam in the coral filled tank and it was soothing for her to watch.

“Emily Winchester,” a man said from the doorway. Emily stood up and the world shifted. Strong arms lifted her up and she looked over into the face of a strange heku. He carried her as he followed the nurse, even though Emily was pushing at his arms to let go.

“Lay her here,” the man said, and grabbed a blood pressure cuff.

The Valle guard laid her down on the bed and she tried to sit up, but the nurse held her down. He took her arm and quickly took a blood pressure as she shut her eyes against the spinning room.

“Good evening, I’m Dr. Vasili,” an older man said when he came in. “What seems to be the problem?”

Sotomar and Zohn watched the doctor while the heku guard stood over Emily.

***

General Skinner and his troops returned to where the others waited.

“What did you find?” Chevalier asked.

“It’s a lot bigger. The cement walls are topped with electrified barbed wire and there are six guards at the front door. Easy enough to take out, but if it’s as protected inside those walls, there may be problems,” Skinner told them.

“So we all get to cram through the front gates?” Kyle asked.

“Let’s cut power, and then go over the cement walls,” Chevalier said. “One disadvantage of a new compound is that it won’t have the backup generators yet.”

Skinner nodded, “We can do that.”

“Let’s go at first light. I don’t want to give them the advantage of the dark.”

The heku waited through the night. Things were tense, and everyone was excited for the upcoming raid. Allen kept close to Chevalier, to learn how he did things, and how to run a battle, the kind of things not found in books.

As soon as the sun peeked out over the Nevada desert, a wave of black filled the sand as the Equites made their way to the second Ferus encampment. Powan was the first to arrive, and had the power cut before the others got to the front gates. Thukil quickly killed the first set of guards, as the Council City Cavalry swarmed into the compound, killing anyone they came across.

Allen fought alongside Chevalier, watching his back and finishing off anyone he left barely alive. The young boy knew that his Dad was leaving him the final kill, and also knew he could never tell Emily about it. His adrenaline was pumping and he was furiously killing the heku. He found it surprisingly exhilarating and was able to keep up as Chevalier moved through the city.

As planned, they stormed into the main building, pulling all inside into the largest room. Equites non-Cavalry stayed with them, while the others continued to search the rooms. Kyle and Chevalier moved side-by-side, opening each door they came to. If it was occupied, they would toss the heku out to a waiting guard, if it was empty, they moved on.

Chevalier threw open a door and gasped.

“Daddy!” Alexis yelled, and ran into Chevalier’s arms. He held her tightly and went back down the stairs.

Kyle ordered the rest to keep searching and to gather each heku found into the room with the others. Chevalier finally let Alexis down in the long hallway and sat down on a chair to look her over. He saw no injuries and she looked well taken care of. He cringed at the deep purple Victorian era dress and tiara, but she didn’t seem as uncomfortable in it as Emily would have been.

“Did they hurt you?” Chevalier asked, checking her neck and wrists.

“No, they were very nice to me,” Alexis said, and smiled at Allen.

Chevalier studied her face and the nodded, “Ok, let me take care of these and then we’ll go. Silas, Kralen?”

The two Commanders appeared at his side, “Take these two back to the helicopters and wait for us.”

“Dad, no, I want to stay,” Allen said.

“Not for this, go with them,” Chevalier said, and watched as his kids were escorted from the large building. He smiled when he saw that Allen was furious about leaving.

“We’re done, Elder,” Captain Darren said, and they both headed into the large banquet room where the Ferus heku were being held.

“How many? Chevalier asked, stepping in front of them.

“154, Sir,” Skinner told him.

“Do we recognize any?”

“Yes, there are 13 known banished in here from the Equites, 3 from the Encala, and 4 from the Valle. I’m sure there are more though that we just don’t know.”

“Kyle… get to work on the previously banished Equites. We’ll take the Encala and Valle back theirs to do with as they will.”

“And the others?”

Chevalier scanned them, “Kill them.”

Kyle began the long and exhausting process of banishing 13 of those gathered, and putting each into a small leather bag for re-burial in the ancient’s room in the palace. The others started to kill the unknown heku. Chevalier joined in and personally was able to kill eight of them before there were no more. He looked around the blood covered room and grinned. The feeling of excitement filled the makeshift banquet hall.

Kyle finished his task two hours later, and returned to the Elder after resting a bit, “I’m done.”

Chevalier glanced around the building and turned, heading toward the door, “Burn it.”

By the time the heku got back to the helicopters, a dark plume of smoke rose from out of the Mojave Desert. The helicopters rose into the afternoon sun and headed back for Council City.

“Call and tell them we’re on the way back. They can meet us in Council City,” Chevalier told Kyle. He would have made the call himself, but Alexis was asleep in his arms.

Kyle opened his cell phone and dialed, “Elder, we’re done… Chevalier would like you to meet us back in…”

Chevalier glanced over and frowned at the worried look on Kyle’s face.

“What happened?” Kyle asked, staring down at the floor of Equites 1.

“Yes, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” he said, and shut his phone. He turned to Chevalier, “Emily’s been admitted to the hospital in the city just outside of the Valle’s main city.”

“What’s wrong?” Chevalier whispered, trying not to wake Alexis.

“I don’t know. That was one of the Valle guards. Zohn couldn’t take his phone into the hospital, so he was waiting outside for our call and didn’t know much.”

Kyle disappeared up by the pilot and came back out a few minutes later, “He’s going to route us to the Valle and then return to Council City.”

Chevalier nodded, “Silas and Kralen can take the kids back. You and I will stay with the Valle.”

Kyle nodded.

“No, Dad, let me go,” Allen said.

“I need you to go back and stay with the guards and Alex. You will not step a foot out of the palace until I return, or I give them permission to put you in prison,” Chevalier said sternly.

Allen glared at his Dad and sat back in the chair.

***

“Em?” Chevalier said softly, and touched her cheek.

Emily opened her eyes slowly and then shut them again, too tired to keep them open for long.

“What happened?” he asked Zohn and Sotomar. “Her blood smells different.”

“She’s had a few transfusions,” Zohn told him.

“She couldn’t eat anything, even crackers came back up and she started to get weaker and weaker,” Sotomar explained. “Zohn and I decided to call in a doctor, and he told us to bring her here.”

“The rest we’ll leave for the doctor,” Zohn said, and turned when the doctor came in. He smiled at them and went for Chevalier with his hand out.

“I’m glad you finally got back into the country,” the doctor said, shaking Chevalier’s hand. “I’m Dr. Vasili, and I’ve been taking care of Emily for the last two days.”

“What exactly is wrong?” Chevalier asked.

“A few things,” he began. “First and most important, is that the morning sickness made it so she couldn’t eat, which dropped her blood sugar dangerously low and lowered her blood volume. That caused severe anemia.”

“She’s on iron pills for that,” Chevalier said.

“Those only help. She needs to eat to make it all work together. We have her on some medication that should help her eat better and keep things down.”

“Why is she so tired?”

“That… is because we had to sedate her to keep the I.V. in for the blood transfusion. We are going to let her return home, and I’ve been in touch with Dr. Hayden, so he knows what’s going on.”

Chevalier nodded, “When can we go then?”

“We can check her out now. I’ll send some Zofran pills with you. She needs to take one every 4 hours to help her stomach calm down enough to eat. Try to push red meat, and lots of it.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “She’s never been a good eater.”

“See what you can do. The baby’s fine, but it may not be if we can’t get her blood volume regulated. That should help her mood. She wasn’t very happy to be here, and let everyone know it.”

Kyle couldn’t help but glance down at her neck and wrists, but found no other cause for the low blood.

Chevalier chuckled, “I’ll bet.”

“I’ll send in the nurse. Dr. Hayden wants to see her the day after she gets back,” Dr. Vasili told them, and then took her chart and walked out.

The nurse came in to remove Emily’s I.V. and the heku all stepped out of the room quickly. She grinned, thinking they couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and proceeded to remove the I.V. and wrap Emily’s arm up. She then dug through Emily’s bag and pulled out a blue summer dress, and then changed her into it before going back out to talk to Chevalier.

“She’s ready. I gave her some medicine and she should be waking up now,” the nurse said. “I’ll go get a wheelchair.”

“Can I just carry her? It’s easier,” Chevalier asked.

The nurse thought, “I guess you can, if you can carry her without dropping her. She’ll still be pretty groggy.”

“I’m pretty sure I won’t drop her,” he said, grinning, and walked into her room. Emily was looking around the room in a daze, so he just picked her up and started for the door.

Emily pushed against him, “Exavior has the kids.” Her words were slow and slurred.

“We got them back,” Chevalier told her, heading down the hallway with the other heku following.

“Exavior… put me down right now,” she mumbled, and pulled at Chevalier’s hands.

“Yeah, Exavior, put her down,” Zohn said, amused. “Don’t drop her either.”

Chevalier shook his head and climbed into the waiting Suburban. She crawled out of his lap and laid down on the seat beside him, “I just need a nap first.”

Sotomar started the Suburban, and they were soon on their way to the Valle Palace.

“So what did you find?” Zohn asked.

“The first place we went to was just a Ferus coven, one Allen said was made for Emily to lead while she is Elder,” Chevalier explained. “Allen was in prison, dressed in guard uniform with a Commander insignia, guess he was going to help her run the place.”

“Emily as head of a coven? That I’d pay to see,” Zohn chuckled.

“The second was their main city, not much interesting there, but we did find Alexis. Burned the place to the ground when we left, I hope that does away with the 4th faction.”

“How’d they even get your kids?”

“Allen said they were out riding alone…” Chevalier said, frowning. “I need to deal with that when we get back.”

Chapter 23 - Rumors

“You called for me?” Allen asked when he stepped into Chevalier’s office. The boy glanced at his Dad, and then to Quinn and Mark before sitting down, “Am I in trouble?”

Mark chuckled, “Runs in the family, that’s what your Mom always asks.”

“Well, in her case it’s usually true.”

“Allen, we’re worried about the kidnapping last month,” Chevalier said, leaning on the desk. “We expect you to help protect your Mom and Sister.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Allen said.

“It’s disconcerting that you felt it safe to take Alexis outside of the city by yourself.”

“I told you, I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”

“We also wonder if you have too much time on your hands,” Quinn said. “Your studying phase is over, and we realize that you have nothing to do.”

Allen shrugged, “I find stuff.”

“That’s the problem,” Chevalier said. “So we want you to join the Cavalry. Not as a Lieutenant, but as a regular guard.”

“Really?” Allen asked, smiling.

“Yes, but we won’t give you special treatment because you’re my son. You will be expected to do whatever the others are doing and to keep up.”

Allen cringed, “You realize I’m not as fast or as strong as a full heku.”

“We do realize that,” Mark said. “However, it’s not very often we need full speed or strength to take down a problem heku, and you won’t be alone on the streets. We’ll pair you up with a mentor.”

“Mom said ok to this?” Allen asked suspiciously.

Chevalier sighed, “She’s not well enough to deal with this right now. When she’s stronger, we’ll tell her.”

Allen crossed his arms, “And what’s being done about that?”

“You worry about Cavalry training. We have your mother taken care of.”

“So as a member of the Cavalry, I will also be one of Mom’s guards?”

“No, that’s the one thing we consider you to have a conflict of interest with. You will solely cover the streets of Council City,” Mark told him.

“And if we go to war?”

“We’ll decide when it comes to that.”

Allen nodded, “Ok, I’ll do it.”

“Mark will get you started today, fit for uniforms, and set up with training,” Chevalier told him. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on you for a while. We aren’t sure how well the city guards will handle your presence.”

“Will I be staying in the palace?”

“No, you’ll be staying with the Cavalry,” Mark said. “There’s already a place for you. It’ll be safer than being in the barracks. Let’s go.”

Allen smiled and then left the office with Mark, who shut the door behind them.

“What are you going to tell Emily?” Quinn asked, sitting down across from Chevalier.

“She doesn’t see him a lot anyway, he’s always studying… I hope that it doesn’t come up for a while. Mark knows that Allen’s to see his mom at least once a day to lessen the suspicion.”

“Are you going in to see the doctor with her today?”

“Yes, which reminds me, we need to get going,” Chevalier said, and they both walked up to the bedroom together. Chevalier released two of the guards until their return, and went into the room with Quinn.

Emily was sitting up in bed, leaned back against the headboard reading. Both fires were going and the room was hot enough it made it hard to breathe, yet she had a blanket thrown over her legs.

“Is it time to go?” she asked, setting her book down. Quinn couldn’t help but stare. She was pale and shaking, and seemed thinner and more frail. Her eyes were dull and she obviously didn’t feel well.

“Yes, I’d like to go with today.”

Emily nodded and got up. She put on a sweater and then took Chevalier’s hand. He drove the Humvee to the doctor’s office and told the two members of the Cavalry to wait in the car. Emily had complained during the last visit that they stood out too much, and it made people look at her. Right now, everyone was doing what they could to lessen any stress or anxiety in her life.

“Go right in,” the receptionist told Emily when she checked in. They weighted her as she glared at Chevalier’s back to make sure he didn’t turn around, and then she was seated in a small office. She sat down on the bed and swung her legs while the nurse took her blood pressure and then they waited for the doctor.

Dr. Hayden came in and smiled, “Good to see you. How are you feeling?” he asked, and sat down on the rolling chair.

“About the same,” Emily said, watching as he wrote in her chart.

“You’re at 12 weeks today, so you’re out of the first trimester, and things should be easy going from here,” Dr. Hayden said. “Your blood pressure’s too low, I don’t really like that.”

“Too low?” Chevalier asked. “I thought we were keeping things calm to keep it down.”

“There’s down… and there’s low enough she could pass out,” Dr. Hayden explained. “Not sure why it’s down, but we’ll keep an eye on it. You’ve also lost 4 pounds in the last month, are you eating?”

“When I can, yes,” Emily told him.

“Is the Zofran not helping?”

“It does... but not all the time.”

“She really is trying to eat,” Chevalier said. He wanted the doctor to understand that she was attempting to do as he asked, “She’s craving red meat, but can only eat a few bites or she gets sick.”

Dr. Hayden looked at Emily and tapped his finger against the side of his head, “I wish I could figure out why your body is fighting this baby so badly.”

Emily shrugged slightly.

Dr. Hayden grinned, “You sure it’s a human baby?”

“Not entirely,” Emily said with a slight grin.

Chevalier shifted nervously.

“I may want you to check in with a specialist, see if we can find out why it is your body is so unhappy with this baby,” Dr. Hayden said. “You mentioned morning sickness with your other two was only a month long?”

“Yes, but I won’t see anyone else,” Emily said, and Chevalier looked up just as she set her jaw.

“A specialist may be able to tell us why you’re so sick,” Dr. Hayden said. “I can’t figure it out. Your blood work is good, other than we can’t get the iron up. Your blood pressure is too low and you shouldn’t be losing weight. You’re also too pale, which makes me think you may not be making enough blood.”

“No”

“I’m willing to give it two more weeks, but if you haven’t put on weight and don’t look any better, you’ll have to go to a specialist.”

“No”

“Have you been staying in bed?”

“Yes, never far from the bathroom.”

“Then get out, go out horseback riding today. Get some fresh air and some sun,” Dr. Hayden told her, and then turned to Chevalier. “Go out with her. She probably shouldn’t handle one on her own.”

Chevalier nodded, “Easy enough.”

“Two weeks then,” he said, and smiled before leaving.

They pulled into the palace garage just at shift change for the Cavalry. Chevalier saw Kralen and Silas getting their horses ready for the later shift.

Emily looked out, “I can handle my own horse.”

“I know, but why don’t you tandem with someone,” he suggested, getting out of the Humvee.

“I’m heading out. I can take you,” Jaron said as he crawled out of the backseat with the other member of the Cavalry.

“I’m ok on my own,” Emily said, and headed toward the stables, followed by the two guards and Chevalier.

“Still, Dr. Hayden said…” Chevalier started.

“Dr. Hayden is being overcautious. I agreed to get out and get some air, but I ride my own,” she told him, and grabbed a bridle before disappearing into the stall with her stallion.

Chevalier gave orders to those mounting up, and then walked into the stall, “I have a meeting. I’ll try to come out when you get back.”

She was just slipping the bridle on the tall horse and leaned up against his neck, trying to catch her breath. Chevalier took the reins and led the horse out of the stables and tied him to the post.

“Do you want a saddle?” Chevalier asked, watching her come out of the stall. She was still out of breath and shaking.

“No,” she said, and ran her hand along the shiny coat of the stallion.

“Just for me, ride with Jaron,” Chevalier said, and motioned for the member of the Cavalry to come over.

“No,” she said again, and glanced at the ten gathered members of the Cavalry. She put her hands on the horse’s back and looked up, wondering how she was going to hoist herself up there. She jumped slightly when someone appeared on the horse.

“I haven’t been out in a while. I’ll go with you,” Kyle said, and reached down for her.

“I can handle my own horse,” Emily told him. She didn’t like when others rode her stallion.

“I know, but I can’t handle it on my own, come on,” he said, amused, and she glared at him just as Chevalier lifted her up and slid her onto the stallion’s back in front of Kyle.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she grumbled as Kyle took the reins and kicked the stallion into a canter, followed by the ten guards.

“Maybe we do, keep us out of trouble,” Kyle chuckled. Before long, they were up on the hills outside of the city and the ten guards started racing across the field.

Emily pulled her sweater off, leaving just a light camisole and leaned her head back against Kyle’s chest and shut her eyes, letting the sun soak into her skin and warm her. He clicked his tongue and led the horse toward the trees, past the racing guards as they laughed and joked about who was the fastest. He kept a slow pace and let the horse mosey around the field, picking at flowers and grass along the way.

Once he reached the trees, he pulled the horse to the side to skirt the outside of them. Kyle leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Are you ok?”

Emily nodded, “Just tired all the time.”

“You would tell me if someone was doing something to you, right?”

“Probably”

“Probably?”

“Yes, probably.”

Kyle sighed, “Chevalier said the doctor can’t figure out why you have such a low blood supply, and we’ve all noticed your scent isn’t very strong.”

“Are you trying to find out if someone’s feeding?”

“Is anyone?”

Emily smiled slightly, “No.”

“If someone told you that Chevalier was in danger unless you cooperated… something like Damon did, would you tell me?”

Emily sat up and turned toward him, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Kyle smiled, “Relax, I’m not hiding anything. I’m just checking to see if everything’s ok.”

She hesitated, and then leaned her head back on his chest again, “No one’s feeding off of me.”

“You realize we don’t need a dark abandoned crypt to talk.”

“I know.”

“Ok, so let’s talk,” he said, bringing the stallion to a stop.

“About what?”

“Everything, the baby, your aging, the Ferus, Exavior…”

Emily raised her eyebrows, “Quite the topic list.”

“The baby then…”

“What’s to say… oops? I can’t seem to keep from getting pregnant, end of story.”

“Your aging.”

“Or lack thereof? Did you know?”

“No, I thought you were just aging well.”

“Are you surprised?”

Kyle shrugged, “I don’t think any of us were.”

“At least no one will try to turn me now. I’ll live forever on my own,” she said, watching the guards race across the field.

“What’s made you so afraid of turning?”

Emily frowned, “What makes you think I’m afraid of turning?”

“Because you are, terrified of it.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Like what?” Kyle asked.

“Like none of your business.”

“Fair enough. What about the Ferus?”

“It’s none of their business either.”

Kyle chuckled, “Stop being difficult.”

“I thought the Ferus were gone.”

“They probably are, but no guarantees. Are you afraid of them?”

“What’s up with the psychoanalytical crap?”

“It’s not psychoanalytical crap. I’m trying to find out what’s going on with you.”

“So did Chevalier give you topics when he called you out to go riding with me, or was he more vague?”

Kyle grinned, “He was pretty vague.”

“Let’s see… what’s up with me? I’m sick all the time, I’m tired constantly, I don’t really want to have another baby, my kids were kidnapped by a rogue faction, Exavior’s chained up in the basement along with my oh, so favorite heku, Damon. Everyone looks at me like I’m about to fall over dead, and suddenly I feel like I’m getting interrogated about suspicions that I’m letting someone feed off of me.”

“Feel better?”

“No”

“Is someone?”

“What?”

“Feeding off of you,” Kyle said, suddenly serious.

Emily sighed, “I told you no. What makes you think I’d let someone do that?”

“You let Damon.”

Emily glared forward, “Silas!”

Silas turned toward them, and kicked his horse into a gallop until he was at her side, “Yes?”

“Em…” Kyle started, but she slipped off the stallion and motioned for Silas to bring her up onto his horse.

Silas glanced toward Kyle and then picked Emily up and put her on the horse in front of him.

“Take me back,” Emily told him, and crossed her arms, frustrated.

“Em, don’t do this. I was just asking,” Kyle said.

Emily kicked Silas’ horse and he jumped into a gallop, so Silas led him back toward the stables. The other heku followed, figuring the fun ride was over. Emily slid off of the horse and sat down in the stables while the Cavalry put their horses away.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Kyle said, coming out after finishing with her horse.

Emily stood up and looked up, “Look… no bites on my neck.”

This drew the attention of the Cavalry, and they slowly moved around her.

“Wrists… no bites,” Emily said, and slowly turned so they could all see her wrists. “Where else do you bite?”

“I believe you,” Kyle said, frustrated.

“Where?” Emily asked, stepping toward Jaron.

“Umm… upper arm?” Jaron stammered, not sure if he was supposed to say.

Emily slipped off her shirt, leaving on just her bra, and showed them all her arms, “No bites… where else?”

“We believe you,” Kyle said. “Put your shirt back on.”

“Where?” Emily yelled at one of the newer members of the Cavalry.

He glanced at Kyle nervously, and then back to Emily, “Umm…”

“Do you feed?” Emily asked him, taking a step closer.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, trying to avoid looking at her.

“Then where’s another spot?”

“Erm... thigh?”

Kyle glared at him and he took a step back. Emily quickly unbutton her jeans and slipped them off, now standing in just her bra and panties in the stables, “There… see any bites?”

The guard was looking up at the loft, “No.”

“Where else?” Emily asked, turning so Silas.

“I think that’s about it,” he said, watching out the window. “Please get dressed, the Elder will kill us all.”

She spun toward Kralen, who was watching her, amused, “Where else?”

Kralen shrugged, “Seriously, I think we’ve covered them all.”

“Emily, that’s enough,” Kyle said. “I get the picture… no one’s feeding off of you.”

“What the hell…” Zohn gasped, walking into the stables. The Cavalry stood tall at attention, but averted their eyes away from the Elder’s wife.

“You wanna check me for bites?” Emily asked, glaring at him as she crossed her arms.

Zohn’s eyes grew wide, “No, I don’t.”

“Fine then,” Emily said, and quickly slipped on her jeans. She pulled her shirt on just as she left for the palace.

“Don’t you all have something to do?” Zohn growled, and the Cavalry blurred from the stables.

“She has quite the temper today,” Kyle said, turning to Zohn.

“What was that about?”

“I just asked if she would tell me if someone was feeding off of her, and she got mad and decided to show us all,” Kyle said, shrugging.

“What was her answer to your question?”

“She said probably.”

“Probably?”

“Yes”

Zohn glanced toward the palace, “Do you think someone is?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t exactly check either.”

“I wouldn’t mind checking,” Zohn said, grinning.

Kyle gasped, “Don’t let Cheval…”

“I won’t… course… I’m not the one whose hot wife just stripped in front of the guards.”

“If you’ll excuse me… Sir,” Kyle said, and turned to leave, obviously irritated with the Elder.

Emily walked up the stairs slowly. The ride wore her out and all she wanted was to get to the bedroom and lay down. She was freezing from the stables, and still angry at the questions Kyle asked her. When she got to the fifth-floor landing, her guards fell in around her door as she stepped inside and shut it.

She pulled off her shoes and socks and then slipped off her jeans, laying them across a chair by the fire. She sat on the bed and then slowly leaned back, the warmth from the fires soothing her to sleep.

Chevalier stood by the bed, watching her sleep. She had a light sweat covering her skin and was dreaming something that caused her to grip one of the blankets tightly. He had the chance to look her over. He wanted to check for himself to make sure no one was feeding from her, though he couldn’t imagine her letting anyone. The doctor’s comment about her low blood supply just made him concerned, and then her reaction to Kyle’s questions furthered his worry that she was holding something from them.

He scanned her soft skin, the smooth curves of her neck and shoulders, and the tiny dimple where the veins in her wrist met. He ran his fingers lightly along the inside of her upper arm, grinning when she squirmed slightly in her sleep. He sat down softly on the bed beside her and brushed his fingertips along her inner thigh, smiling when she looked up at him.

“Nice nap?” he asked, taking her hand.

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“Did you strip in front of the guards?”

“Yes”

“I went to check on a training schedule, and most of them wouldn’t even look at me,” Chevalier said, amused. “Might I ask why you stripped?”

“Kyle insinuated that I was letting someone feed off of me.”

“And asked to see?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just decided to show him.”

He ran his fingertips along her exposed stomach and grinned when she got goose bumps, “Why don’t you try to refrain from stripping in front of the guards? They all thought I was going to kill them.”

“Then tell them to stop asking me if I’m getting bitten.”

“Kyle’s just worried. In our species, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone is low on blood.”

“What are you going to do with Damon?”

Chevalier sighed, “We’ll banish him again.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“He’s been cooperating and providing enough information that it’s been useful to keep him alive, for now.”

Emily studied his face, “Are you thinking about keeping him alive?”

“No, not after what he did… he’s apologized for it, but that doesn’t change how wrong it was.”

“It must be hard, he was your friend.”

“Yes, he was.”

“Do you forgive him?”

“No, I don’t forgive easily,” Chevalier told her. “What do you want to eat tonight? It’s getting late.”

“Did your maker, make Damon?”

“No… food, Em.”

“Medium rare steak,” she said, and leaned up on her elbow. “Does Zohn want him let out?”

“I haven’t asked, it’s not an option,” he said, and reached over for her pills. He handed her one with a glass of water and watched as she took it.

“Does grouchy brown haired guy on the end want Damon out?”

Chevalier chuckled, “No, Braxter doesn’t want him out… Em, no one does, he’s not getting out.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“You are allowed down in the prison, but make it fast. We may banish him again soon.”

“Not in the prison, alone, in a conference room… I don’t want to go to the prison.”

Chevalier frowned, “Why would you want that?”

“I have some things I want to know.”

“I guess that’s ok, I can go in with you…”

“Alone”

“There’s no way to protect you if one of us can’t be in there.”

Emily rolled onto her back and put her arm under her head, “I don’t think he’ll attack me.”

“We don’t know that… Enter.”

Emily sat up and covered herself with a blanket as the servant put a tray on the table, bowed, and then left, shutting the door behind him. She watched him leave, and then went to the table and sat down. She lifted the dome from the tray and sat it down beside the tray.

“Other than Kyle’s interrogation, how was the ride?”

“Fine,” she said, and cut into the steak, then took a small bite. “If I’m going to be alive forever, I can’t keep getting pregnant.”

“But it’s so much fun trying,” he said, grinning.

Emily threw a roll at him and took another bite of steak, “Then you have the baby.”

“Those little pills don’t work then?”

“I’m not sure, why don’t you ask Alexis and the baby when it comes.”

Chevalier chuckled, “I see… well… what else is there?”

“Abstinence, I’m cutting you off.”

“Like you have the willpower to cut me off.”

Emily glanced up from the steak, “Wanna bet?”

“Sure, you seem to like bets. I’m betting I have more self-control than you do.”

“You have the self-control of a two-year-old, bet’s on.”

“What do I get when I win?” Chevalier asked, sure of himself.

“You won’t win… what do I get?” Emily sat the fork down and glanced at the bathroom.

Chevalier sighed, “Running?”

Emily nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.

He gave her a few minutes, and then went in and sat down on the floor beside her, “Have you kept anything down today?”

“Orange juice,” she whispered from the floor.

“Damnit,” he hissed, watching her lie on the floor.

“I want a pool,” she said softly.

Chevalier grinned, “If I lose the bet, you want a pool?”

Emily nodded, her eyes still shut.

“Fine… if I win, I want to know what the ancient’s room was for.”

“Deal,” she whispered, readjusting to a cooler spot on the tile.

“You agree to that? You must really think you’re going to win.”

“I am.”

***

Emily waited until her stomach settled down, and then slowly pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. She’d been confined to the bathroom for the last two weeks, but finally felt like she might make it down the stairs. She ran a brush through her hair quickly and then stepped out into the hallway.

“What’ll it take for you all to stay here?” she asked the four members of the Cavalry.

“What’re you up to?” Silas asked, crossing his arms.

“Tell me, what it’ll take… I need an hour alone.”

“Not going to happen.”

Emily leaned back against the wall, “Silas, you know I’m going to get time alone… you can either let me, or you can wait until I just do it anyway.”

“No,” Silas said, glancing at the other three. “Orders were that you stay guarded.”

“I need to be alone.”

“No”

Emily went back into her room and slammed the door. She looked around the room carefully and then back to the door, thinking. She grinned when she had the plan formulated, and took a drink of Sprite, just to calm the last of the flutters from her stomach.

Taking a deep breath, Emily ran from the room, past the heku. They fell in behind her and she ducked around a corner and concentrated quickly. She heard them stop running just as they got to the corner.

“What was that?” Silas asked.

“I don’t know… best get back to the door before someone finds us away,” another guard said.

“Do you think she’s up to something?”

“No, I think we were headed to do something and forgot.”

“That makes no sense,” Silas said, and they went back to her door.

Emily leaned back against the wall until the world quit spinning, and then walked down the back servant’s stairs to the hallway with the prison. She pushed the brick and then walked down.

“Ma’am?” the prison guard asked, frowning. “You’re not supposed to be down here.”

“I am too. You need to double check your orders and don’t push me, or I’ll tell Chevalier you’re behind on your policies,” Emily said, and walked past them. She grinned slightly when they fell back to the door.

Emily walked through the cells. She jumped a few times when starving heku slammed into the bars, reaching out toward her, begging her and hissing about her scent. She finally saw him and sat down across from his cell.

“What do you want?” Damon asked, watching her from the bed.

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“The last few months… why did you have to push it to that level?”

“You needed discipline… I only knew the surface, if I had the knowledge I do now… it would have been 1,000 times worse,” he said angrily.

“What is it you know now, that you didn’t know then?”

“What a whore you are.”

Emily frowned, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“When are you going to tell the Elder about Allen?”

“What about Allen?”

Damon grinned, “Exavior told all of us. We know, and if you don’t tell Chevalier, I will.”

“About what?”

“About how Allen isn’t his.”

Emily sighed, “Who else would be his Dad?”

“Exavior is, and you know it. Keith was right. You have always been a little slut,” Damon told her, scowling.

“You can’t honestly believe that.”

“I do, and you can’t fool the Equites for long. It’s been 15 years, and they will find the truth soon.”

“What truth might that be?”

“That you can’t keep your legs together,” Damon told her. “I don’t blame Chevalier. If I had you in my bed, I wouldn’t let you go either.”

“If I’m so adulterous, why did Exavior fight so hard to get me?”

“He knew that with punishment, you would learn to be loyal.”

“So Exavior and my infidelity aside, why did you do it, Damon? After Paris… we were slowly recuperating, but then you had to overstep.”

“I couldn’t stand it anymore. Couldn’t stand to see the Equites stoop to listening to a mortal. Course… now I’m sure they’re aware you aren’t a mortal, now are you?”

“I’m not sure what I am,” Emily said, and sighed. “Do you hate me that bad?”

“Yes”

“Tell me why.”

“What’s not to hate?”

Emily nodded and stood up.

“Don’t go!” Damon growled.

Emily turned toward him, “Why not?”

“Don’t you want to know more?”

“No, I’ve found what I wanted with you,” she said, and walked over to the back wall of the prison.

She stood outside of the entrance to maximum-security and sighed, realizing Adam was in there, but so was Exavior, and she had some questions for him that only he could answer. She checked behind her, and then opened the door to the dark hallway with the tiny holes along the top. Since her first visit, she discovered a small button that opened the door, which allowed her to go in alone. She got the crate and moved it to the end peep-hole, the one that looked newly bricked in, then shut her eyes and calmed her nerves before standing up on the crate and looking in.

Exavior immediately looked up and met her eyes. She could tell he was in pain. The electrified shackles were buzzing, and the veins in his neck and arms stood out as the muscles strained.

“Can you hear me?” she asked.

Exavior nodded and watched her eyes.

Emily frowned. She’d never seen the look on his face, pure anger, “Why did you do it? Why couldn’t we just be friends?”

He exhaled slowly and growled.

“I don’t understand how you went from the guy at the wedding, to the guy that put me in a torture room, and then built a new faction aligned against me.”

“I… love you…” he said, strained.

“You don’t torture the person you love, even if you can’t have them.”

“You were… mine.”

“I never was, Exavior. I’ve never felt like that about you.”

“Alec… gave you to me,” he said, glaring at her.

“He… when?”

“Three… years old…”

“He had no right to do that. You should have known that.”

“Why can’t you… love me?”

“You chose to overstep. You chose to be in here as opposed to being my friend, my valued friend.”

“Let me go.”

“I miss the friendship.”

Exavior grimaced, “Let me go…”

“I can’t trust you.”

“Allen…”

“What about him?” Emily asked, trying to ignore the hisses coming from the other cells.

“Mine,” he groaned.

“No he’s not, you know that.”

“Should… be.”

“You just can’t stop it can you? You can’t let it go. If I got Chevalier to take you out of here, the first thing you’d do, is profess your love to me and try to kidnap me.”

“You are mine.”

“Alec is an idiot. He had no right to give away his 3-year-old niece.”

“Mine,” he said, and she felt his eyes lock on hers and felt the familiar pull of his mind trying to take control of hers.

She shook her head, “It’s too late for you then, isn’t it?”

“Em…”

Emily’s eyes filled with tears, “I trusted you, and loved you like a brother.”

“You will… be mine.”

Emily leaned her head on the brick wall as the tears fell. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but at least wanted him to try to return as her friend. She wanted him to admit he’d done wrong and to try to prove he was worthy to be set free.

She screamed when strong arms pulled her roughly from the crate. The Chief Interrogator growled and grabbed her wrist, pulling her from the maximum-security room. She didn’t fight against him. She was done with Exavior and knew she couldn’t get away.

“You don’t have to do that, that hurts,” Emily said as he dragged her up the stairs.

“You have no business being in there,” he growled angrily.

“You’re hurting my arm,” she said again. He slammed open the council chamber’s door and threw her inside. She landed on her knees and turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Quinn yelled.

Emily turned to him and stood up slowly as the Chief Interrogator took his seat. She glanced at the empty seats where Kyle and Chevalier normally sat, and suddenly felt alone.

“Richard, is there some reason you threw her in here?” Zohn asked, irritated.

“She needs to come before the Council for being in the maximum-security prison block,” Richard said, glaring at her. “It’s against the policy for anyone but guards and selected Council to be down there.”

“I am a member of this Council,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“Not one authorized to be in there.”

“I thought I was granted the same rights as a full member of the Council.”

“Only myself, the Chief Enforcer, and the Elders have access to that prison section. No other council member is granted that. They have no need to be in there.”

Emily rubbed her wrist where he’d held her, “I’ve been in there before and never had to face the Council.”

“What were you doing in there?” Quinn asked softly.

“I went to talk to Exavior, and before your guards tattle-tale, I talked to Damon too.”

“Why would you do that?” Zohn asked, frowning.

“Exavior was my friend,” she said, and it made her angry how the tears started to flow, no matter how hard she tried to control them. She turned and headed for the door.

“We aren’t done here,” Richard told her.

Emily turned to him, “I’m done here.”

“Richard…” Quinn growled, and Emily shut the door before she could hear what Quinn was going to say. She walked up the stairs and couldn’t even look at Silas as she passed him. She could only imagine how angry he was.

“Allen?” Emily called out, and watched the door, waiting for him to come in.

Silas opened the door, “He’s out playing baseball.”

“Where is Chevalier?”

“Last I heard, he and Kyle were going out to a coven to see why they quit responding to Elder’s summons.”

“How do you know that and I don’t?” she asked, frustrated.

“Because we couldn’t find you to tell you.”

“How long will they be gone?”

“A week, at most.”

“I’m alone…” she said, and turned toward the fire.

“We’re here.”

“Please, just go.”

Silas nodded and shut the door.

***

“Emily, it’s a boy,” Dr. Hayden said, and handed the newborn baby to her. She held him in her arms and smiled at his black hair and dark eyes.

“He’s beautiful, Em,” Exavior told her, and kissed her forehead.

Emily frowned, “Where’s Chevalier?”

“Why would he come? He knows this baby is mine,” Exavior said, and touched the baby’s cheek lightly.

“No, no it’s his.”

“It’s not either, stop pretending.”

Dr. Hayden came over and smiled, “He needs to eat.”

Emily nodded and looked down at the baby. He was watching the vein in her neck and opened his mouth, revealing the sharp canines.

Emily screamed and sat up in bed, looking around the room while she caught her breath.

“Come closer to me, my love,” Exavior said, and pulled her closer.

She fought against his hands as he pulled her closer.

“Emily, Em, it’s me, Silas,” he said, pulling his hands away.

Emily sat up in bed and looked over at him.

“It was just a dream.”

She scrambled out of bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Silas returned to the hallway.

“Is she ok?” Kralen asked, leaning against the wall.

“Yes, it was just a bad dream.”

“Damn, she’s had nightmares constantly since the Elder left.”

“He should be back tomorrow, it’s been 6 days,” Silas said, and glanced at the door before returning to his post.

“I’ve never seen her this upset when he’s away.”

“He’s not going to be happy when he finds out she’s not sleeping,” Silas said.

“Odd isn’t it?”

“What?”

“When we’re hungry… we eat… if we’re tired, we rest… she doesn’t take care of her basic needs.”

“She hasn’t for as long as Kyle’s known her. I heard him talking about it.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Kralen said, looking back down the hallway.

“She never does,” Silas chuckled.

Silas glanced back at the door when they heard the bathroom door open.

Kralen sighed, “She’s crying.”

“She has been for days,” Silas said.

“Has Quinn talked to her?”

“She won’t talk to him, or Zohn either.”

“Did the prison guards tell you what Damon said to her?” Kralen whispered, glancing at the door.

Silas nodded, “Yes, they did.”

One of the newer guards grinned, “Think it’s true?”

Silas slapped him upside the back of the head, “No, it’s not true.”

He cringed, “How do you know? The guard said she didn’t deny it.”

“Drop it,” Kralen growled. “We don’t talk about Emily like that.”

“Yes, Sir,” he said, and turned back to his post.

“Talk about me like what?” Emily asked, coming out of the room.

“Nothing, Em,” Silas said, glaring at the other member of the Cavalry.

Emily turned to the strange heku, “What was said?”

“The Commander said no.”

“I’m a Commander, too, and I want to know.”

“Mark,” Silas called.

“Tell me, now, that’s an order,” Emily yelled, and crossed her arms.

“Quinn… Zohn…” Silas called when Mark didn’t come.

The heku glanced nervously at Silas and then back to Emily, “We were talking about what Damon said to you in the prison, and mentioned the guards said you didn’t deny it.”

“That’s what the guards are talking about?”

“Yes, Ma’am, I guess so.”

Emily nodded and wrapped her arms around herself.

“What’s going on?” Quinn asked when he and Zohn came up to the fifth-floor.

“Sir, please stop Commander Emily’s questioning of the guard,” Silas said.

“What did you ask?” Zohn asked her.

Emily was watching the floor, “Cancel my guards… next guard I see around me gets ashed.”

“What? Why?” Quinn asked, turning to Silas.

“Just… leave me alone,” Emily said. She went back into her room and shut the door, locking it behind her.

“Had to tell her didn’t you?” Silas yelled at the guard. “Couldn’t pause… buy some time until an Elder got here?”

“What exactly was said?” Quinn asked angrily.

The guard relayed, word-for-word, what was said, and Quinn pushed him toward the stairs, “Get to my office… now.”

Zohn followed Quinn and the guard down, after telling the Cavalry to back off to the third-floor and stay there until further notice.

Emily appeared a few minutes later with a bag over her shoulder. The Cavalry backed off from the stairs when she came down and passed them, heading for the garage.

Zohn and Quinn both looked up when they heard the Harley take off from the garage.

“Damnit, there she goes,” Quinn sighed, and turned back to the garage. “What to do with you.”

“You heard Commander Silas tell you not to tell her,” Zohn said.

“Yes, but she’s a Commander too,” the guard explained.

Zohn sighed, “Are you too stupid to realize, that at that point, you should maybe wait for a higher rank to come decide? You knew Silas called for Mark, and then for us. You could have waited.”

“What if it is true though? What if Allen isn’t the Elder’s son and she cheats on him?” the guard asked.

“Mark!” Quinn yelled.

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said, coming into the Elder’s Office.

“Take this piece of shit out of here and kill him,” Quinn said, his eyes furious.

Mark nodded and pulled him out of Quinn’s office. Zohn and Quinn worked to find a suitable replacement for him and talks turned to another full group addition to the Cavalry.

“Now to find her,” Quinn said, thinking.

“She’ll be back once she’s thought things through,” Zohn said, leaning back against the desk.

“Not with this kind of personal violation. Do you not know her at all?”

“No, some of us didn’t have a deep talk with her in Alaska.”

“Well, she doesn’t know how to deal with personal violations. Therefore, running is her only option. Now she’s out there and the V.E.S. is looking for her.”

“I forgot about the V.E.S.,” Zohn sighed.

“Come!” Quinn yelled when someone knocked at his office door. They both looked over as Kyle and Chevalier came in.

“It’s done,” Kyle said, and grinned. “With a flare.”

Chevalier sat down, “Was quite the little fight to clear them out, but they’re gone.”

“Speaking of gone…” Quinn said, and glanced at Zohn.

Kyle sighed, “She didn’t.”

“Oh yeah, she’s gone,” Zohn said. “Took off about an hour ago on the Harley.”

“Let me guess… no guards…” Chevalier sighed.

“No guards.”

“No idea where…”

“Nope”

“Do we even know why?” Chevalier asked.

“Yeah… we do…” Quinn said. “To start with, she had a talk with Exavior and Damon this morning, slipped her guards long enough to have a nice little chat.”

“How can she slip 4 guards?” Kyle growled.

Chevalier shrugged, “She’s Emily, that’s how… what did they say?”

“We aren’t sure what Exavior said, but according to Damon…” Zohn glanced at Quinn. “We shouldn’t have killed him. He could have told the Elder what Damon said.”

“Who did you kill?” Kyle asked.

“Silas!” Zohn called out, and a few seconds later there was a knock.

“Come in,” Quinn said.

Silas entered and winced when he saw Chevalier, “Yes, Elder?”

“We weren’t there, please explain to Chevalier why Emily took off and threatened to ash any guard who got near her.”

Silas glanced at Chevalier. It was obvious he didn’t want to say anything, but didn’t have a choice, “It was Kendall. He brought up what Damon said to Emily, and then proceeded to ask if it were true, because she didn’t deny it.”

“What exactly did Damon say to her?” Chevalier asked.

Silas shifted nervously, “Called her a whore, said Allen is actually Exavior’s and that she’s slept around for 15 years.”

Chevalier sighed, “That’s stupid.”

“I know that! But Kendall asked us if it were true, and Emily came out and asked what we were talking about. I ordered him not to tell... but she pulled rank and ordered him to tell.”

“Of course she did,” Kyle said. “Why did I have a feeling ranking her would backfire on us.”

“Well I called for Mark, but was out of the city doing some training and couldn’t come, so then I called for the Elders, but Kendall didn’t wait for them. He told her that the guard staff is suspicious about Allen’s paternity, because Emily didn’t tell Damon he was wrong,” Silas said.

“Damnit,” Chevalier growled, and opened his cell phone, dialing quickly.

“Hi,” Emily said after a brief pause.

“Where are you?”

“East-ish.”

“East-ish? Come back, please.”

“No way. Not after what the guards think of me, I’m heading to the island.”

“We can clear that up and get rid of Damon in the process,” Chevalier told her.

“I have a box of masks and menthol, and I’m going to the island.”

Chevalier sighed, “That makes me nervous. You can’t get there on one tank of gas, so at some point, you’ll have to stop.”

“The V.E.S. aren’t going to see me when I just get gas. I’ll do it quickly.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Island Coven, that’s where I’ll be if you need me.”

“Kendall’s an idiot. The guards don’t think you cheat on me,” Chevalier said, frowning.

“I’ll tell Storm hi from you,” she said, and shut her phone.

“At least she’s going to Island Coven and not disappearing into the middle of nowhere,” Chevalier said to those gathered in Quinn’s office.

“If she’s going to be visiting Exavior, I wonder if we should banish him for a couple thousand years,” Quinn said, deep in thought.

“Let’s at least take care of Damon and Samuel,” Kyle said. “Especially if Damon’s going to cause that kind of trouble.”

“Let’s convene the Council and make a decision,” Chevalier said. “Kyle, why don’t you head to Island Coven and see if you can get her to come back.”

“That’s a long shot.”

“I know, but try. Where’s Kendall?” Chevalier asked, standing up.

“We told Mark to kill him, but last I saw, he was still down in the interrogation room,” Zohn said. “You heading down?”

“Oh, yeah I am,” Chevalier said, and left the office.

“I guess I’m heading to Island Coven,” Kyle chuckled. “I’ll drive it.”

“I hope you can get her back,” Zohn said. “It’s trouble having her alone.”

Kyle grinned, “Gotta get her back so we can find out what the ancient’s room was for.”

“She’s never going to tell,” Quinn said, laughing.

“Oh she and the Elder have a bet, if she loses… she has to tell.”

“What kind of bet?”

“A bet on who caves first… she cut him off and he doesn’t think she can do it,” Kyle said, grinning. “If he caves, then she gets a pool.”

“Where are we going to put a pool?” Quinn asked, shaking his head.

“She’ll cave first, that’s our bet… then we get to know about the ancient’s room.”

“My bet is that he’ll cave first,” Quinn chuckled. “We better be looking for a spot for a pool.”

“Little credit, he has thousands of years of patience,” Kyle reminded them, and headed for the door.

“He’ll cave,” Zohn said, and turned to Quinn. “We could put in an out-building and put the pool in there.”

Kyle laughed and went out to his Lamborghini and was soon headed for Island Coven.

Chevalier spent the next several hours in the interrogation chamber with the guard and Mark, going over how stupid of a decision he made.

“I hate to get rid of one of the Cavalry. We have a new training starting next week, and needed the help,” Mark said, watching Chevalier torture the guard.

“We need elite guards who can think, though,” Chevalier said. “That was honestly the dumbest thing he could have done… am I a weak Elder there, Boy?”

“No… no, Sir,” the guard said, gritting his teeth.

“Am I easy to walk on? Too pathetic to be afraid of?”

“No… please… don’t kill me.”

“Do I put off a vibe that you can be an idiot around my wife?”

The guard answered with a scream.

“Speaking of your wife,” Mark said, and grinned slightly. “I heard a rumor that she stripped in front of some of the Cavalry.”

Chevalier chuckled, “That she did.”

“Do I need to punish anyone for that?”

“Nope, she did it on her own.”

Mark frowned, “Might I ask why?”

“She was offering to let them check for feed marks.”

Mark leaned back against the rack and thought, “Why would she do that?”

“Kyle was questioning her about the low blood supply the doctor keeps talking about, and she got mad and decided to prove to them that she’s not being fed off of.”

“Well, the ones present are pretty sure you’re coming after them for it.”

“Why would I?” Chevalier asked. “Not like they asked her to… granted, I would like to rip their eyes out.”

“Well, they aren’t talking about it anymore. I put a stop to that.”

Chevalier looked up at him, “What were they saying?”

Mark sighed, “More talking about… well… admiring, I guess… they were…”

“That’s enough… I get the picture.”

“Can you ask her not to do that again? It’s hard enough to keep them from watching her as it is.”

“If I do that, she’ll do it again just to prove a point,” Chevalier said. “Drop it and she probably won’t.”

“You’re taking it well.”

“It’s taken some control… when anyone looks at her…”

Mark nodded, “I know.”

“Then again, she’s taken to wearing some leather lately, how can I blame them?”

“Heard she got a tattoo…”

Chevalier frowned, “They actually looked at her when she stripped?”

“I think it was more looking in shock before turning away.”

“Hmm, hope so.” The Elder turned back to the guard, “Did you see her tattoo?”

“Yes, Sir,” he groaned.

***

Emily started getting tired toward early evening, and decided to find a hotel for the night. She left the Interstate and headed for a posh inn off of the coast of Lake Erie. She checked around her before removing her helmet, and then shook her head as the red Lamborghini Reventon pulled into a parking spot behind her. She watched as Kyle got out and walked up to her, smiling.

“You following me?” she asked, getting off the bike.

“Nope, was coming to the island and saw you pull in here.”

“Yeah right,” she said, and tucked the helmet under her arm as she went in to get a room.

“Are you feeling ok?” he asked, following her inside.

“No, I’m not… a room please, for one.”

“For two,” Kyle said to the clerk and smiled.

Emily sighed, “For 2.”

“We’ll take the penthouse.”

“Alright, let’s see,” the clerk said, and started typing into a computer. “The penthouse is full, but I have the honeymoon suit. It’s the next largest room.”

“We’ll take it,” Kyle said, pulling out his wallet.

“No we won’t. We’ll take 2 separate rooms,” Emily said.

“Which will it be?” the clerk asked, confused.

“Honeymoon suit,” Kyle told him, and turned to Emily. “I’ll behave.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she said, and sat down on a large leather couch by the lobby’s waterfall. She leaned her elbow on the arm rest and put her head in her hand, hoping they would hurry. She ignored the conversation Kyle was having with the clerk, and focused on the waterfall, trying to calm her headache.

“Am I going to have to carry you?” Kyle asked, looking down at Emily.

“No,” she said, and stood up slowly, then followed him to the elevators. The doors opened to a beautiful honeymoon suite with a Jacuzzi in the floor, and a round bed surrounded in mirrors.

“Nice,” Kyle chuckled, looking around the room.

“It’s… well… hokey,” she said, and tossed her bag onto the bed.

“Do you want to eat something?”

Emily shrugged and picked up the menu. She dialed and waited for room service to answer, “Hi, can I get the Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, corn, and cherry cheesecake?”

Kyle started the water in the floor Jacuzzi while Emily finished ordering and then laid down.

“Are you going to take a bath?” Emily asked, sitting up.

“No, you are.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you’re obviously not feeling well and you like baths.”

“What exactly are you going to do?”

“Sit quietly and not look, like a good little heku,” he said, grinning. She shut her eyes and leaned back on the bed, waiting for dinner to arrive.

“I don’t trust you,” she said finally, and headed for the door. Kyle blurred in front of her and opened the door carefully before stepping aside so the bellhop could bring in the cart. He tipped the server and then shut and locked the door.

“Whew, so glad you did that. I could have gotten attacked with a napkin,” she said, and pulled the dome off the tray. She sat down at the wooden heart table and started to eat slowly.

“The V.E.S. are everywhere,” he said, and spun the other chair, sitting in it backwards to watch her.

She ate a few bites and started to turn pale before running for the bathroom. Kyle watched her go and then went and turned the water off in the Jacuzzi, and dumped in a bottle of bubbles that was sitting beside it.

“When you’re done, come take a bath. I won’t look,” he said, looking around the room.

A few minutes later, Emily came back out, still pale and shaky, “Ok, go away.”

Kyle smiled and disappeared into the bathroom to wait. He grabbed his cell phone to call the Council.

“Equites Council,” Zohn said, sounding bored.

“It’s Kyle.”

“Still on the way to the island?” Chevalier asked.

“Actually, we stopped for the night. I caught up with Emily and she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Good idea, that makes me feel better that you’re together.”

“So far, no problems. She couldn’t eat though, but she did try.”

“Did she take her pills?”

“I actually didn’t ask, she’s not in a good mood,” Kyle said, slightly amused.

Chevalier chuckled, “Let us know when you get to the island.”

“Will do,” he said, and looked around the small bathroom. There was a double shower and the soaps were all red hearts that smelled like old perfume.

Kyle waited patiently for an hour before he started to get nervous, “Are you going to sleep in there?”

“Hello,” Kyle said, answering his cell phone.

“Where are you, exactly?” Quinn asked hurriedly.

“We’re outside of Erie, Pennsylvania. What’s up?”

“We just got a call from the Valle. They have a coven near there that tried to turn a mortal, and the mortal died.”

“Damnit!” Kyle yelled, and opened the bathroom door. He saw the scarlet colored water and Emily lying unconscious against the side of the Jacuzzi. He dropped the phone and jumped into the Jacuzzi, picking her up as she started to slip under the water. He quickly laid her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket, then pulled her eyelids back and the whites of her eyes were blood red. She had a trickle of blood coming from her nose and ears.

Kyle grabbed the phone and dialed the Council back, “It’s happened again. She’s unconscious and has bloody eyes, nosebleed, and blood coming out of her ears.”

“Kyle…” Chevalier growled.

“I’m ok… her scent is so faint lately it’s not too bad.”

“Get her to the palace. You’re closer here than to the island. We’ll call the Valle back and tell them what happened.”

“Send someone after her motorcycle. We’ll be out of here in a few minutes.”

“Get here quickly and put her to bed.”

Kyle shut the phone and looked around the room briefly. He threw her clothes into the bag and debated dressing her, but decided it would be best to wrap her in the blankets and get out of the area as soon as possible. He blurred, so no one could see them, and laid the seat back once Emily was in the car. He buckled her in and then got into the driver’s seat and was soon on the Interstate topped out at 215 mph.

They got to the palace just before dawn, and within minutes, Emily was in her bed, unaware she was back in the palace.

“She’s not dressed,” Chevalier growled, turning to Kyle.

“She was in the bath! I kept her covered,” he explained, irritated.

“Get out.”

Kyle nodded and left Chevalier and Emily alone in their room. He was surprised to see four members of the Cavalry outside of her door.

“You’re either very brave, or very stupid,” Kyle said to Silas.

“Elder’s orders, we have to be here,” Silas told him.

“It’s your ash…” Kyle said, disappearing down the stairs. He headed for his office, but stopped when he saw four members of the guard escorting a single Valle into the palace, “What’s going on?”

“Says he has a message for Chevalier. He won’t give the message to anyone else,” the Lieutenant said.

“Just tell me. Chevalier is busy.”

“No, Sir. Elder Sotomar said Chevalier only,” the Valle said, looking around nervously.

“Fine, take him up to the bedroom, and then get him out of the palace,” Kyle growled, and disappeared into his office.

The guards nodded and headed up to the bedroom after the first floor guards forced masks onto each of them. The Valle’s gray cape stood out among the green that came to meet up with them.

“What’s going on?” Silas asked the guards as he eyed the Valle.

“Chief Enforcer’s orders… the Valle has a message for the Elder,” the guard said after saluting the Commander.

Silas glanced again at the Valle, and then informed Chevalier he had a visitor. After a few minutes, the door opened and the Elder stepped out.

“Ok, I’m here. What’s the big message?” he asked the Valle.

The Valle looked around briefly and then turned back to Chevalier, “It’s private.”

Chevalier sighed and opened the bedroom door, “Get in here.”

The Valle guard stepped into the bedroom and looked over at the sleeping mortal for a few seconds before Chevalier cleared his throat.

“Oh, right,” the Valle said, and handed Chevalier a large envelope. “This is from Elder Sotomar. They were clearing out one of Exavior’s covens to move in another, and found a ledger that the Elder thought you needed to know about.”

“That’s the message?”

“Yes”

“Fine, then go,” he said, and waited until the Valle was gone before opening the envelope. He sat down by the fire where he could still see Emily sleeping, and began to read through it.

April 17

What a beautiful child. She’s only 3 years old and she’s small for her age, but Alec already told me about that. She has beautiful green eyes that I hope don’t change when we turn her. We have 5 days to do this. Ulrich was furious with the idea, and forbid me from doing it, so I’ve called in the Chief Enforcer to help. She’s small enough that two of us should be all that’s needed. We will prepare tonight, and tomorrow we’ll attempt to turn the first Winchester into a heku.

April 18

Didn’t go well, she was very upset by the ceremony. I’ll admit the room is cold and damp, but we ended up having to sedate her. The screaming was horrible, she’s a strong-willed child. She didn’t calm down even after we fed from her, which normally leaves mortals relaxed. During the ceremony, she fought against me and I left harsh bruises on her arm from holding her down. We knew it wasn’t working when she refused to feed from my wrist. We’ll try again in a few hours.

We still weren’t able to perform the ceremony. We tried again, but she fought so badly when we each bit her, that I think the Chief Enforcer ended up doing more damage than was needed. Once she was to the point of needing to feed from me, I felt a twinge of burn and had to stop the ceremony for her to calm down.

The third try today and it’s still not working. I’m not sure how to make the child relax enough to feed from my wrist. It’s hard to concentrate on the ancient magic when she’s screaming, terrified. It’s awful to see her beautiful green eyes turn red from crying, and her soft red hair matted with blood. We will sedate her through the night and see if it goes better tomorrow. We’ve had to give her four shots today and she’s also starting to fight over those.

April 19

Another shot was needed last night around 2am. She was screaming in her room, I think it started with a nightmare as her tiny body shook with fear. She was fine after the injection, not sure how many of those we can give. She’s a bit pale, so we slipped B12 into ice cream and she ate it.

Damn, we should be done, it shouldn’t take two days to turn a child, though I’ve never heard of it done so maybe that is normal. She simply refuses to feed from me, which I don’t understand. When we turn a mortal, they begin to crave the blood, yet she fights against it. We’ve completely restrained her with soft restraints because she fights us so hard it makes it hard to concentrate and we’re afraid she’ll hurt herself.

Second try today and we force fed her the blood. I’m not sure how much she ingested, though, because the runes didn’t glow as they should have. Could it be impossible to turn a Winchester, or is it just the stubbornness of this one child? We discussed this and we’re going to try something different after her lunch.

The child refused to eat, but we wanted to try once more today. She’s gotten to where she screams when she sees me. I do hope she gets over that as she’s been promised to me by Alec when she’s older. This last try for today failed also, and it’s getting discouraging. She has so many bites on her body they are starting to swell and turn red. I held her on my lap, that helped a little with the terrified screams, but she’s strong for a child and I bruised her arms more.

April 20

The runes didn’t glow again. I think she may not be getting enough of my blood to finish the ceremony, though we’re forcing as much as we can down her throat. She bit me today too, which was actually quite adorable. I wish she would stop fighting us so badly. She kicks and screams whenever she sees us, she knows what we’re about to do. She injured herself trying to get out of the heavy stone door, she got cuts on her wrist as she slammed them against the door, yelling for help. We have yet another idea and will try again when she calms down. We decided to not try again today.

April 21

Damn, this child needs to learn obedience. She screamed for Allen most of the ceremony, pleading for him to come, but he’s far away in Montana. Alec warned us she was a strong-willed child, but this is getting to be too much and I’m getting angry with her. She’s only 3 and should be taught to respect her Elders. As the first attempt didn’t work again today, we are going to try punishment to make her do as she’s told.

We had a hard time punishing the tiny girl, she didn’t fit in a lot of the devices, but we finally found one and she submitted and did as she was asked during the ritual today. That is, until I tried to send the stake through her heart, then she began to scream and fight again and the runes lost their glow before we could get her calmed again.

Two more tries and still no luck. This was our last shot, and if she were my child, I would severely beat her for her stubborn-headedness. She kicked and bit at us, making it hard to concentrate. We gave her two injections of the sedative and she still was able to keep us too distracted. I will teach her obedience when she is my wife. If Alec gets the child again, we may try when she’s older.

Chevalier glanced over at Emily, who was still deep asleep. He fought to control his temper. Not only was it forbidden to turn a child, but it was forbidden to force it onto anyone. The ceremony was extremely traumatic for the mortal, but as it was only done once, they soon forgot its violence. Exavior put Emily through it ten times in four days as a toddler. It explained a lot about why she was so afraid of the ritual, though he doubted that she even remembered the torturous four days.

Chevalier called for the other two Elders, and when they came in, he motioned them to sit in the chairs beside him. He handed them the ledger and waited for them to read it.

“My God, what were they thinking?” Quinn asked, shocked.

Zohn stared at the ledger, re-reading it over and over, “This is insane.”

“Does she remember?” Quinn asked.

Chevalier shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“It’s no wonder she is dead set on not being turned,” he said, and watched her sleep.

Zohn glanced at Emily and then back to the fire, “Could this be why the ritual can’t be performed around her? I mean… some psychological trauma that pits her against it?”

Chevalier shrugged, “There’s no telling what all that torment did.”

“Are you going to tell her?” Quinn asked.

“I haven’t decided. I may ask Sotomar, he’s also an ‘old one’ and may have heard of something similar.”

“Ten times,” Quinn said, watching the fire.

“Will you try to undo the damage? She’s not aging, so she could be with heku for a long time and it’s not good if she’s afraid of one of our rituals,” Zohn said.

“I honestly don’t…”

“Chev?” Emily asked softly from the bed. Zohn and Quinn blurred from the room, and Chevalier moved to the edge of the bed and sat down.

“I’m here, Em.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re back in the palace.”

Emily sighed, “Why?”

“You got sick in the hotel, so Kyle brought you back here.”

“No guards?”

Chevalier shook his head and brushed the hair off of her face, “No, no guards.”

“I wanted to go to the island.”

“I know, but I would prefer you stay here with me and by your doctor.”

Emily nodded and took his hand, “You’re looking at me strangely.”

He smiled, “Am I?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No”

She pulled the covers tight around her, “Why am I not dressed?”

Chevalier grinned, “Kyle pulled you out of the tub, unconscious.”

Emily gasped, “He saw me naked?”

“Yes, and he saved you from drowning.”

“Oh my God! He seriously saw me naked?” Her eyes were wide.

“He saved you from drowning,” Chevalier told her, frowning. “I don’t care if he saw you naked in the meantime.”

“I do!” Emily yelled, and got up. She swayed slightly and wrapped the sheet around her, disappearing into the bathroom. She came out a few minutes later in a long nightgown and called for some breakfast.

“How’s the headache?”

“If I tell you, are you going to call the doctor?”

Chevalier chuckled, “I just did.”

Emily glared at him, “No headache.”

“Yes you do, now don’t make me call Kyle in here to make sure you behave.”

“What?” Emily yelled. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would… Enter,” Chevalier said.

“You called for me?” the doctor asked, coming into the warm room followed by a servant with a stack of pancakes.

“I have a headache,” Emily said, obviously not happy about him being there.

“How bad?” the doctor asked, and watched her carefully while she poured the syrup on the pancakes.

“Not bad, grouchy insists you be here,” she said, and took a small bite.

Chevalier grinned, “I’m not grouchy, you are.”

She glared at him and took another bite.

“Well,” the doctor said uncomfortably. “I’ll leave you some pain medications to take with your Zofran.”

“Ok,” she said, still eating. She looked up when he didn’t leave, so he quickly handed Chevalier the pills and blurred from the room.

“You really should be nicer to him. He just wants you out of pain.”

Emily took another bite and then turned to Chevalier, “What happens to you if you take them?”

“Nothing”

“You sure?”

“Yes”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nothing,” he said, amused.

Emily got up from the table and walked to him, holding her hand out for the pills.

“You’re not going to eat more?” he asked, handing them over.

“I’m not feeling sick, so I’m not going to push the issue and I just want to take a nap,” she explained, and took the pills with some orange juice.

“Fair enough. I will be in the council chambers all day, shall I send Silas up?”

“Why? So I can cheat on you and prove their suspicions?”

Chevalier sighed, “Em, they don’t think that… just the one of them and he’s gone.”

“They all do. Damon was right before when he said that everyone believes I shouldn’t be in the palace.”

“That’s not fair to put all heku into that category. They know why you’re here.”

“Go to your meeting,” she said, and laid down, pulling the covers up over her shoulders.

Chevalier was glad she was looking away. He couldn’t help but smile at how grouchy she was. He kissed her head lightly and then blurred into the council chambers and sat down between Zohn and Quinn.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at the four Valle in the trial area.

“There’s a coup d’état in the Valle,” Quinn explained.

Chevalier frowned, “Did they succeed?”

“Yes, Sir,” the Valle said. “The four of us are from a group of the palace guards that were able to escape. We came to you for help in returning our Council.”

“Tell us exactly what’s going on,” Zohn asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“It started with the turning of a mortal in the Welch Coven, in northern Pennsylvania…”

“Wait, the one where the mortal died?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, that one. The coven knew that the Winchester had been close and insisted that the Valle Council seek her out to punish her for the loss,” he explained. “The Elders refused to punish the Winchester so…”

“Please, her name is Emily, not the Winchester,” Chevalier said, trying to alleviate one of her pet peeves.

“Sorry, Sir. He refused to punish Emily. Elder Sotomar said it was an accident that she was traveling through the area, and the Council refused to punish her for the loss. A few hours later, thousands of heku stormed the palace and threw the Elders into jail, killing Elder Vizia and Chief Interrogator Buach in the process.”

“Damn,” Zohn growled. “The rest are still in prison?”

“Yes, and the new Council plans to begin banishing them for being weak.”

“Weak because they refused to punish Emily?”

“That, and because they have formed an alliance with the Encala and the Equites. A lot of covens feel that is showing great vulnerability and that a new Council is needed.”

“How many of the supporters are left from the Valle Palace?” Quinn asked.

“The four of us, and about twelve others. They are all gathered outside of your city, waiting for our return so we can go talk to the Encala.”

“Derrick,” Quinn called out.

“Yes, Sir,” the door guard said, stepping in.

“Show these four and the 12 Valle with them to the farmhouse. See that they are taken care of,” Quinn said. “We will talk to the Encala and see what we can do about returning the Council to its position.”

“Yes, Sir,” Derrick said, motioning for the Valle to follow him. The four followed the guard out the door, and it shut behind them.

“I was waiting for this,” Zohn said. “The factions have never been aligned. It was bound to cause some tension and the easiest way to call foul is to blame weakness.”

“If we can’t restore the former council, we will return to being at war with the Valle,” Quinn said, turning to Chevalier.

“I’ll go talk to the Encala and take Kyle with me,” Chevalier said. “We need to join forces and see if we can figure out how to do it without endangering the alliance.”

“Do you think it’s wise for both of you to leave Emily?” Zohn asked, frowning. Kyle glanced at him, shocked that he cared about it.

Chevalier grinned, “Emily would rather ash Kyle right now than see him. It’ll be safer if he’s with me.”

“What? Why?” Kyle asked, shocked.

“You saw her naked,” he chuckled.

“She was drowning!”

“I know that… she knows that... but… just come with me,” Chevalier said, and stood.

“What are we supposed to do with her?” Zohn asked.

“Stay out of her way, keep the guards away from her, and when she wakes up, tell her we’ll be back tomorrow,” he said, and walked out, followed by Kyle.

Chapter 24 - Coup

“What brings the Equites to the Council today?” William asked, smiling slightly.

“The Valle Council has been overthrown by several of their covens,” Chevalier explained. “They came to the Equites seeking help in reinstating the Council, and were on their way here when we thought it best if we came instead.”

“Why a coup?” Elder Aaron asked.

“Emily was on her way…”

“This has to do with Emily?”

Chevalier sighed, “Yes.”

“Go on then,” William said.

“She was on her way from Council City to the island when she stopped for the night, apparently, too close to a Valle coven that was trying to turn a mortal.”

“And he died?”

“Yes, the coven demanded that Emily be punished, but the Council refused, said it was an accident. They’ve been overthrown, their Chief Interrogator and Elder Vizia were killed, and the rest are imprisoned, awaiting banishment.”

“While it’s disturbing,” William said. “I don’t see as though we as Encala need to get involved.”

“We’re afraid if the current Council remains, they will not abide by the alliance and will again be at war with both of our factions… and, of course… they will first come after Emily to punish her for the death,” Kyle explained. “We don’t want to get involved either, but we also don’t want to risk a war with the Valle.”

“We’ll need to discuss it as a Council, to see if it involves us enough to intervene with the Equites,” William said. “We understand that protecting Emily is essential, but starting a war with the Valle may not be in the Encala’s best interest.”

Chevalier nodded, “All we can ask is that you consider it. Please let the Equites Council know your decision.”

William nodded and Chevalier and Kyle left, headed back for the McLaren that was parked outside of the city. The ride to Council City was quiet, each contemplating both sides of the coup. One side would bring the Valle back as Equites enemies, and one that could reinstate the trusted Council, yet endanger the relations between covens.

When they pulled into the garage, things in the city seemed quiet and it was just after midnight. They called for the Council and found them already meeting in the council chambers. Chevalier and Kyle joined them and sat down as the others waited.

“Have they called?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, William called a few hours ago… the Encala have decided to take a wait and see approach,” Zohn explained.

“I figured they would,” Chevalier said. “They sounded unsure about helping the Valle regain their council.”

“As are we,” Zohn said.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I think I agree,” Chevalier said. “Yes the alliance is nice, and things are peaceful, but this could backfire. The way I see it, we need to prepare to defend ourselves against attacks from the new Valle.”

“Then we need to be prepared to answer to the former Council if they are ever reinstated and wonder why we didn’t help,” Quinn said. “That could be a problem.”

“I fear that Emily will try to free them,” the Chief Interrogator said. “Once she gets word this was caused by her, she will go to them.”

Kyle nodded, “Yes, she will. We may need to make it a priority to keep it from her.”

“That means keeping her away from Damon,” Chevalier said. “I’m sure he knows by now, and would love nothing more than to send her into that rat’s nest.”

“About Damon…” Quinn said, grinning slightly. “He’s been turned to ash.”

Kyle grinned, “Did she say why?”

“No, she didn’t say anything,” Zohn told them. “According to the guards, she walked down without saying a word and then left a few seconds later. They didn’t even know he was ash until cell checks.”

“I say leave him,” Chevalier suggested. “Banish him for 1,000 years and put him in the ancient’s room.”

“Is it just me, or is she moodier this time?” Quinn asked.

“It’s not just you. She’s sicker, and moodier,” Kyle said.

“How is she?” Chevalier asked, glancing toward the door when he heard Emily get up in her room and start to walk around.

“She’s fine. She woke up after about 24 hours and attempted to eat, and then just did things around the palace,” Quinn said. “We, of course, let her go without guards.”

“Derrick, ask Emily in, please,” Chevalier said as she walked down the stairs. She came in to the council chambers a few minutes later in only a bikini and sarong. She had a towel in one hand and sunglasses holding her hair back.

“What did I do now?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Nothing, why do you always assume that?” Quinn asked, glancing nervously at his hands.

“Because it’s normally true.”

Chevalier ran his eyes over her and then grinned, “Yes, that’s normally true. We want to talk to you about guards.”

“I don’t need guards,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“The Ferus have regrouped,” Kyle lied, keeping Chevalier from having to. “We feel it would be best if you had someone with you.”

Emily glanced at Kyle and blushed, then looked at anyone on the Council other than him, “No.”

“What about just 1 guard… one that never stopped you from doing anything, just a shadow, if you will,” Quinn suggested.

“No,” she said, and turned to leave.

“Em…” Chevalier said, and she turned back to them. He couldn’t help but notice the smallest bulge on her abdomen, somewhat accentuated by the sarong tied low on her hips. The Council all shifted nervously. The bikini and sarong were just low enough the Equites crest tattoo peeked out over her lower back.

“What?”

“Please, we promise the guards won’t interfere, they will quietly follow you and…”

“Talk about me? Spread rumors that I’m a two-bit whore sleeping with everyone on the Council?” she asked, irritated.

“That was one guard,” Zohn said.

“It was not. He mentioned the guards… plural… were talking about it. I’m better off by myself. If I see the Ferus, I’ll deal with them myself.”

“You’ve been too weak to do any damage,” the Chief Interrogator said.

Chevalier winced slightly when he saw the anger cross into her face.

“Too weak? Want me to prove I can still ash you?” Emily asked, taking a step forward.

“No… no, I just mean that you’ve been sick,” he said nervously.

“No guards, period,” she said, and left the council chambers.

Chevalier grinned and stood up.

“Elder!” Kyle whispered. “The ancient’s room.”

He sighed and sat back down.

“So much for thousands of years of patience,” Quinn chuckled, and thumbed through papers on his desk.

“Where did you want the pool?” Zohn asked.

***

“Who’re you?” Emily asked, watching the two guards posted outside of the stables. She fidgeted nervously, pulling down her t-shirt as they turned towards her.

“City guards, we’ve been assigned to the stables,” the tallest one said.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Are we expecting an attack on the horses?”

The guard grinned, “I don’t know, Ma’am. We’re just following orders.”

Emily shook her head and quickly bridled her stallion. She was still feeling weak, though she wouldn’t admit it, and had to use a make-shift stair out of hay to get onto his back. She cantered through the city and slowed the thoroughbred into a walk as she rode out toward the derelict Durango. She wanted to see if anything was left of it, something to get her out of the city, and away from the guards posted at every room.

She stopped, eyes wide, when she saw the Durango and the guard posted outside of it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked him angrily.

“This is my new post. The guards are now scattered throughout the woods,” he explained.

“Who’s orders?”

“The Council’s, Ma’am.”

“Which member of the Council?”

“That I don’t know. My General gave me this location.”

Emily growled, and kicked her stallion into a fast gallop, quickly heading for the hills west of the city. She knew that the Council was aware that was her favorite spot to run the horses, and she was sure they would also post guards there. She wanted to see if the guards were just at her favorite spots, or if they were all over the area.

She saw the dark figures before even getting all the way onto the hills. She bypassed them and ran the stallion straight into the woods. Within just a few yards into the trees, Emily saw another guard, standing out in the middle of a small clearing. She ignored him and turned back for the palace.

The brief ride wore her out, which irritated her more, and it took a little longer to return the stallion to his stall. She walked over when she saw the Elders out by the new stable addition and one of the Cavalry took her horse for her.

“What the hell’s up with the guards at the stable and out around the trees?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“We told you,” Zohn said, stifling a grin. “The Ferus are building numbers.”

“And… what? They’re after our horses?”

“No, but we’re protecting all areas of the city.”

“Em, we have an appointment in an hour,” Chevalier reminded her.

She spun toward him, her eyes fierce, “No, I have an appointment.”

“I’m not allowed to go?”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Em…”

Emily just screamed and stormed off into the palace.

“Her temper’s actually kind of endearing,” Quinn said, watching her leave.

“Oh, hell, don’t let her hear you say that,” Chevalier chuckled. “She’s fierce and menacing, remember that if she asks.”

“Back to the question at hand. I say we let Emily do it,” Zohn said, watching the new addition.

“That trailer is what? 8 horses?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, it’s for 8 horses,” Chevalier said, thinking. “It’d give her something to do, but I’d rather not send her out alone to buy them.”

“Make that a stipulation. Either we send Kralen and Silas to find horses, or we let her go with them,” Quinn suggested.

“I may not word it quite like that… damn, I hate that motorcycle,” Chevalier said, turning to watch Emily leave the city on the Harley.

“You’re not sending guards behind her?” Zohn asked, shocked.

Chevalier grinned, “I sent them out an hour ago. They’re stationed at the medical building.”

Quinn chuckled and turned back to the stables. They again began discussing changes to the Cavalry.

“Duty calls,” Zohn sighed when they were summoned to the council chambers an hour later.

The three Elders returned and took their seats, surprised to see four Valle standing before them, surrounded by city guards.

Chevalier leaned forward, “Ok, we’re here.”

“We’re representatives of the Valle Council, and have come to request that the Winchester be turned over to us for punishment,” one of the Valle said. He was in traditional guard uniform and bore the emblem of the Valle’s Imperial Guard.

“No,” Zohn said, sitting back in his chair.

“She maliciously killed a mortal that we were turning. It was a violent and painful death, and we seek restitution.”

“It wasn’t maliciously done. It’s a proximity affect, and uncontrollable,” Quinn explained.

“That doesn’t matter. She needs to pay for his death.”

“No,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.

“You give us no choice than to attack and take her ourselves.”

“Bring it,” the Chief Investigator said, grinning.

“You can’t protect her forever. Winchester or not, she’ll pay for the death,” he said, and the Valle turned and left the palace angrily.

“Saw that coming,” Chevalier said, leaning back. “Damn how do we get guards around her?”

“We don’t,” Kyle said. “If we push guards on her, she’ll slip them… if we don’t, then she’ll do as normal and stay around the palace, occasionally going out for a ride. She’s still too sick to leave for long.”

“A blessing in disguise,” Quinn said, smiling slightly.

“Start the Cavalry training. That ensures that she’s well guarded for 8 hours a day,” Zohn said, glancing at the clock when he heard the Harley pull back into the garage.

“We’ll send her for horses and then start immediately. Let Mark know to start picking guards,” Chevalier said.

“Derrick, send Emily in,” Quinn called out.

Emily came in with her helmet tucked under her arm, “What now?”

Zohn chuckled, “At least it wasn’t ‘What did I do now?’”

Emily glared at him.

“We need you to arrange for the purchase of 8 new horses,” Quinn said, and saw her face light up. “Our only request is that you take Mark, Silas, and Kralen with you to help with them.”

“Seriously?” she asked, still smiling.

“Yes, we’re training a new batch of Cavalry and they will need horses. The addition to the stables is complete,” Chevalier said, glad to see a smile.

“There’s a horse show in Great Falls next week, we’ll go!” she said, and ran out of the room.

“Did she hear the part about the guards?” Zohn asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think she cared,” Kyle told him.

Chevalier stood up and headed for the back door.

“Elder?” the Chief Interrogator asked.

Chevalier turned around.

“We’d all like to know what the ancient’s room was.”

Chevalier grinned, “As would I. I’m just going to talk.”

When Chevalier headed up the stairs, Zohn sighed. “Do we have those blueprints for the pool house?”

Chevalier walked into the bedroom and looked around, “Em?”

“Go away,” he heard her whisper from the bathroom.

He opened the bathroom door and sighed. She was lying on the bathroom floor. Her eyes were closed and she was pale and shaky.

“What did the doctor say?” he asked, sitting down beside her.

“That you’re a pain in the ass.”

Chevalier grinned, “I bet he did... but what did he say about you?”

“That you’re a pain in my ass, too.”

He chuckled, “You’re cute when you’re mad.”

Emily kicked at him, but he caught her foot, slipped off her shoe, and started to rub her foot.

“Now stop making rude comments and tell me what he said… please,” he said, still smiling.

“It’s the same thing, not eating enough, low iron, low blood, low blood sugar, high blood pressure…”

“Wait… it’s high now?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Well last I heard, it was low.”

“I was supposed to go to the store, but I didn’t feel like it.” She shut her eyes, too tired to keep them open.

“For what? I’ll have someone go get it,” he said, becoming concerned about her color and lack of energy.

“Vinegar potato chips and suckers.”

“Hmm… what’s a sucker?”

Emily opened her eyes and looked at him, “I’ll go to the store later. I don’t need some leech coming back with a new vacuum.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Leech?”

“Yeah, slimy blood sucking bugs.”

“I know what a leech is, they’re worms, not bugs.”

“Is Kyle around?” Emily asked, adjusting to a new, cool spot on the floor.

“Yes, why?”

“Damn, that means if I ash you, he’ll just revive you.”

“Tell me what a sucker is and I’ll send someone out,” he said, amused.

“It’s candy on a stick. Now go away.”

“Come on, grouchy,” he said, and stood up, then reached down and picked her up in a cradle.

“Seriously… buggin’,” she mumbled, but leaned her head against his neck.

He kissed her on the top of the head before laying her on the bed, then unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off.

“Am I getting a pool?” she asked, watching him.

“No, I’m just getting you comfortable,” he told her, and then started to stoke the fire.

“Good, because I’d hate to have to kick your ass in front of the palace. It’d make you appear weak, and then the whole balance of power would be blown to bits.”

“Yes, getting beat up by a mortal would do that,” he said, and stayed facing the fire so she didn’t see him grinning.

“Might as well build me a pool,” she said a little softer. The room was getting warmer, and now that she was on the bed, she started to fall asleep quickly.

“I’m not giving up that easily,” he said, and stood up, turning toward her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slowing down as she started to sleep. His eyes ran down from the slow rise of her chest to the tight contours of her abdomen, except where the small bump was starting, then down to her soft thighs. He could easily see losing the bet and decided to go back to the council chambers before he had to tell the others they weren’t going to find out about the ancient’s room.

“Do we put in a pool then?” Zohn asked when Chevalier took his seat.

“Little credit,” Chevalier said, grinning. “You forget, thousands of years of control.”

“We’ve had the blueprints drawn up,” Quinn chuckled. “You’ll never win.”

“Damn, I know,” Chevalier said, and turned to the files in front of him. “What are we dealing with now?”

“There was a Ferus attack on a coven in Nevada, the Glorwin Coven,” Zohn said, filling him in. “Four were killed and three are missing, including the Coven Lord.”

“I thought we wiped them out,” Chevalier growled. “Any leads on the location of the Ferus?”

“All we know is somewhere around the four corners, which doesn’t help a lot,” Quinn said, looking at a map.

“I say we send in Emily as an Elder, and she can feed us the information we need to exterminate the entire pseudo-faction,” the Chief of Defense suggested. He leaned back in his chair when all three Elders glared at him.

“I’ll go when Emily leaves for the horse fair,” Chevalier said. “I’ll take Chris with me, he can track them.”

“We can’t wait the few days until the fair, I’ll go today,” Quinn said. “As soon as I find them, we’ll need to be ready to send in the troops.”

***

“Damn, her scent is stronger,” Mark said, taking a deep breath of fresh air when Emily walked away.

“I think her blood supply is growing,” Chevalier whispered. “Her scent gets stronger by the hour, can you handle it?”

Mark nodded, “Yeah, I’m good… I just can’t stay away from her for too long and let it grow much.”

“Man… to have tasted that,” Silas said, grinning. He patted Mark on the back and climbed into the back of the truck’s cab.

Kralen finished hooking up the horse trailer and went over to the others, “I think that’s it.”

“Where’s Em?” Mark asked, looking around.

“She went back in after those candy things she’s been eating,” Kralen said, and crawled into the truck beside Silas.

“Suckers,” Chevalier said, walking over to the open door. “Don’t tease her about them, she’s really not in a very good mood lately.”

“Who’s not in a good mood lately?” Emily asked, crawling into the driver’s side of the truck.

“Silas, he’s grouchy,” Chevalier said, grinning as he walked over to the driver’s door.

“Don’t be grouchy with me, I’ll ash you and dump you in a ditch,” she said, pulling a new sucker out of the package.

“Be nice to them, they’re afraid of you,” Chevalier told her, and kissed her softly before she could start on the new sucker.

“There’s still room for you,” Emily told him.

“I have things to do here.”

“Still not going to tell me where Quinn’s been all week?”

“Nope, have fun at the horse show.”

“If we get there in time,” Marks said, buckling in.

“I don’t drive slow!” Emily said, and started out of the city.

Chevalier headed back inside as hundreds of heku in all black came out of hiding and lined up ahead of him.

“Nothing new, they haven’t called since yesterday,” Zohn said.

“The Encala are sending how many?” Chevalier asked.

“They are sending 130 to meet us in Cortez, Colorado,” Zohn said, pulling on a black shirt.

“Have they heard anything from Aaron?”

“Not since he disappeared four days ago. He has to be with Quinn, that’s too much of a coincidence. We still haven’t heard from the Valle. I’m starting to wonder if you’re right and they’ve joined up with the Ferus.”

“I want phone calls every 2 hours with locations. If you disappear, I don’t want to start over,” Chevalier said.

“Kyle’s phone has GPS turned on, Allen has a laptop set up to track us,” Zohn said, and glanced over his shoulder. “He’s mad we aren’t taking him.”

“I’ll deal with Allen, just find those Elders and get back.”

Zohn nodded and turned when six AW101 transport helicopters landed on the south lawn of the palace. The troops followed the two Elders out and filed into the helicopters.

***

“Would you at least try to blend in,” Emily whispered as the three heku walked through the horse fair. They were dressed correctly, but their hulking size and constantly scanning eyes made them stand out in the crowd.

“There’s another heku around here, and we’re trying to find him,” Mark whispered in reply.

Emily sighed and then smiled, “Adrian! We’re over here.”

An older, tall, thin man came over to her with a stack of papers, “Ahh, Emily, thought I’d lost you in the crowd.”

“Not sure you can lose us.”

“True! I have the four horses standing outside so you can see them. Why don’t you come take a look and leave your… erm…” he glanced at the strange heku, “Posse here for bidding.”

“Sure, Mark, I’ll be right back,” Emily said, and followed the man out of the large arena.

Mark shook his head and followed her, while Silas and Kralen moved back into the shadows to follow her in secret.

“The gelding is only 4 years old and gentle as they come, the mares are each 3 years old and broken, though one has a bit of an attitude,” he explained, heading out to the parking lot.

“Do you only raise Hanovarians?”

“Mostly, I have a few Belgians, but, obviously, wouldn’t be needed for what you’re looking for. What else have you found so far?”

“I’ve picked up two Pintos and a Quarter horse,” she said, walking up to the four Hanovarians. “You’ve seen my friends, big guys, I need horses for them.”

“Yeah, they are some big fellas. These Hanovarians would be perfect for them.”

Emily spent some time going over each horse before turning back to Adrian, “We’ll take them, they’re beautiful.”

“Yes they are. Shall we put them in your trailer?”

“Sure,” she said, and took the reins of two of them. They headed toward her trailer, and she looked over when Adrian pulled up closer to her as he led the other two.

“Now listen to me, and listen carefully,” he whispered, checking over his shoulder. “Get these horses and get out of town, do you hear me?”

Emily stopped and looked at him, “Do what?”

Adrian glanced around again, “The V.E.S. has been alerted you’re here. There are already fifteen or so here at the fair, and they’re looking for you and your friends.”

Emily’s eyes grew wide, and she looked around the cars, “Who are you?”

“That don’t matter,” he said, and froze when Mark, Silas, and Kralen appeared beside Emily. “You heard me though. Take these and go before there’s trouble. They’ve already taken off with one man they suspect is a vampire, and they’re pretty anxious to get their hands on these three and you. Though I’m not sure why.”

Emily started back for their truck and trailer with the two horses, she wasn’t sure if she should trust this man, but was happy with the 7 horses they had and was feeling tired enough she didn’t mind leaving early. She wasn’t worried about the V.E.S, not with the three heku with her.

Once the horses were loaded, Emily turned back to Adrian and he was gone. Silas took her arm and led her back to the passenger side of the truck.

“Get in,” he whispered, glancing around.

“You don’t seriously believe that old man?” Emily asked, getting into the truck.

“Yes… we saw the V.E.S. and it’ll be best if we just go,” Mark said, starting up the truck and looking around the lot.

Emily grabbed a sucker out of the glove box and sat back while Mark drove out of the lot. She waited until they were out on the Interstate to lean back against the door and shut her eyes. She was sound asleep when she heard the engine rev.

“What’s going on?” she asked, and looked out the window.

“Valle,” Silas growled.

Emily glanced behind them and saw four sleek Ferrari’s behind them, “I’ll just call Sotomar.”

“There can’t be more than eight of them,” Kralen hissed, glancing to the side when one of the Ferrari’s broke off from the others and pulled ahead of them.

Emily was on her cell phone, frowning, “Sotomar’s not answering.”

“I can’t off-road this truck with the trailer,” Mark said. “They’re boxing us in.”

“They can’t be the Valle. Sotomar wouldn’t attack us,” Emily said, watching as the Ferrari’s surrounded them and began to slow down.

“Stay in the truck. If you get the chance to leave, do it… leave the three of us behind,” Mark told her, his fists white against the steering wheel.

“No, I’ll ash them if they are hostile.”

“I’m betting you can’t. Just stay in the truck,” Kralen said, hopping out of the moving truck. Emily gasped and turned when Silas did the same. Mark slammed the truck into park and jumped out. Emily watched from the truck as the eight heku stepped out of the Ferraris, all wearing the signature gray cape of the Valle.

“Do you want to explain this?” Mark asked angrily, his hands balled into tight fists.

“We’re here to take the Winchester to the Valle Council for questioning,” the closest Valle said. Emily recognized the Imperial Guard insignia on his collar.

“You’ll have to get through us,” Kralen hissed.

“We fully planned on that.”

Emily focused on the closest Valle, and her eyes grew wide. Not only did he not turn to ash, but he didn’t seem to even feel a burn. She knew she felt weak and tired, but she still thought she would be able to at least burn the enemy. One of the Valle looked directly at her just before the Equites attacked, suddenly blurring into a fighting frenzy.

She couldn’t tell what was going on. She heard yells and growls, but couldn’t catch what was going on. She dug through the glove box and pulled out a Colt .45, then checked to make sure it was loaded, and tried again to get a hold of Sotomar. When she saw Kralen fall unconscious to the ground, she scrambled out of the truck and again concentrated to ash the Valle.

She growled when nothing happened. From what she could tell, there were four bloody piles of what used to be Valle, though one of them was healing. She went over to the healing heku and filled him full of bullets, hoping to slow his healing down.

Emily headed over to Kralen’s unmoving body and knelt down, “Kralen?”

The force of the hit knocked the wind out of her, and she flew backwards onto the rocky ground. She saw lights before her eyes when her head banged against the rock and found herself pinned by a red headed heku with a gray cape. He was grinning down at her.

Emily glared at him, “Sotomar won’t stand for this.”

“Sotomar has no say in it, Sweetheart,” the Valle said, and kissed her roughly. He pulled away from her and inhaled, running his nose along her neck.

“Let me go,” she yelled.

A loud crash sounded and the Valle looked up to see what was going on. Emily suddenly came face-to-face with the carotid artery in his neck. Without giving it a second thought, she sunk her small mortal teeth into his neck. He screamed and rolled off of her as blood shot from the neck wound, soaking her shirt and hair. She scrambled to her feet and quickly grabbed his trachea, ripping it from his throat.

The loud crash they heard was the sound of a Valle being thrown against the side of the horse trailer. He fell, unmoving, onto the ground beside it. She walked over, staggering slightly toward the fight, acutely aware that the Valle behind her was healing quickly. The fight slowed enough that she could see that they were now fighting one-on-one.

The Valle on the ground by the trailer was starting to heal and was about to make it to his feet. Emily opened up the back of the truck and grabbed a set of jumper cables. She attached them quickly to the battery in the closest Ferrari, and clamped the other end to the Valle. He froze, eyes wide, and began to jerk as the electricity flowed through him, pinning his body to the ground.

Kralen was starting to stir slightly, and she went over and finally managed to get him to his feet. He was covered in vicious looking bites and one leg was mangled, healing incorrectly. She helped him to the truck, and he was able to crawl inside.

Emily turned just as Mark and Silas finished off the last Valle. They were both wounded and bloody, but standing, though Mark was staggering slightly. While they checked the bodies, Emily put handfuls of dirt into the throttle bodies of the Ferraris, a trick Keith taught her in case she needed to disable one of her attacker’s cars.

She went over and helped Mark back toward the truck. He was obviously in pain, and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He crawled into the backseat while Kralen laid on the floor. Silas pulled himself into the passenger seat, and Emily started up the truck and headed back onto the road. She heard bones crushing as she ran over one of the recovering Valle.

Once they were out on the Interstate, Emily kept a close eye on the road and grabbed her cell phone. She glanced quickly at Silas. He was bent over, breathing rapidly as his back healed. His arms were covered in heku bites that already looked infected and swollen.

“How’s the horse show?” Chevalier asked lightly.

“We’ve been attacked by the Valle, and I can’t get Sotomar on the phone,” Emily said quickly.

“What!? Where are you?”

“We’re still in Montana, just passing into North Dakota,” Emily said. “They’re all, hurt, but alive. We left most of them in pieces back off of the road.”

“We’re sending help in case more are coming.”

“Call the Valle Council. Sotomar won’t stand for this.”

“Em… the Valle Council was taken over by hostile covens… Sotomar is no longer in power.”

Emily’s heart sank, “When did that happen?”

“We’ll talk when you get here. Just stay on the road, and call if you see anything suspicious.”

“When?” she asked angrily.

Chevalier sighed, “About 3 weeks ago.”

Emily growled and hung up the cell phone. Four hours later, she saw the Equites cars pull up behind her. She kept the Dodge Ram at a steady speed and let the sports cars box around her. Hours after meeting up with them, they pulled up in front of the palace. Members of the Cavalry came and took Mark, Kralen, and Silas, while Emily got the new horses taken care of. She avoided going into the palace and focused on the horses, making sure they were taken care of.

“Mom?” Allen asked from behind her.

Emily turned away from brushing one of the horses, “Heya, kiddo.”

“Are you ok?” he asked, and handed her a sucker.

“Did your Dad send you to figure that out?”

Allen grinned, “Yes, Mark said you were thrown and pinned by a Valle.”

“Yes, I was,” she said, and popped the candy into her mouth.

“So… were you hurt?”

Emily laid the brush down and shut the stall door, “Tell your Dad it’s none of his damn business.”

“I can smell it from here. I’ll tell him that I smelled blood, but didn’t know where it’s coming from,” he said, and started for the door.

“No, you’ll do as I say and tell him it’s none of his business,” she said, and moved into another stall and began brushing the horse.

“You have blood all over your shirt,” Allen said, leaning back against the stable wall. “It’s not yours though, what happened?”

Emily wiped the sweat from her forehead, “I bit one of them on the neck, and then I tore out his trachea… tends to come with a lot of blood.”

Allen grinned, “You go, Mom.”

“Yeah, well, he shouldn’t have kissed me,” she said, and went out to get food for the new Pinto.

“I better go back in,” he said suddenly, and disappeared. Emily started to call him back, but saw Chevalier blur into the stables. She turned back to the horse.

“They’re going to be ok,” he said, watching her in the stall.

She turned and took the sucker out of her mouth, “When were you going to tell me?”

“We’re trying to keep things from getting stressful for you.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” she said, and turned back to the horse.

“I don’t know when we were going to tell you. We didn’t think it was going to get this out of hand.”

“Do they have Quinn?”

“Yes”

“There you go again, keeping things from me.”

“You’ve been so sick. We didn’t want to make it worse.”

“No, you didn’t want me trying to get them back,” she said, slamming the stall door. The horse inside reared back slightly and then sniffed her.

Chevalier nodded, “That too.”

“I want to know what’s going on! Am I member of this Council or not?”

“You are.”

“Then spill it.”

“Fine… Zohn and Kyle led an attack to go and get them, but we’ve lost contact and Kyle’s GPS is showing he’s somewhere in Africa.”

“GPS? Anyone with a computer can set those locations to anywhere they want. Who else is missing?”

“Aaron and whatever team the Encala sent with Kyle and Zohn.”

Emily moved quickly to Chevalier. He caught her wrist just before she slapped him. She just glared at him and pulled her wrist out of his hand.

“We had reasons,” he explained.

“You should have told me.”

“How could we? You’ve been walking around here pale as a ghost, losing weight, too sick to leave the room most days, and your blood pressure was high.”

“He’s my friend and I can get him back.”

“I’m going to get them. I need you to stay here,” he explained.

“And do what, exactly? Hope you return?”

“I need you to fill in as leader of the Council.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Do what?”

“I’m the last Elder left, and as such, I am putting you in charge of council decisions. I need you to promise me you’ll stay in the palace, no matter what happens. Heku need direction and can’t be left without a leader,” he said.

“Leave Mark in charge.”

“Mark’s coming with me.”

“Silas then.”

“So is he.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t care… Kralen.”

“Kralen’s going to be down for a while, he was injured pretty badly.”

“You do realize you’re going to be taken too, and then I’m going to have to come save your asses. Wouldn’t it be easier to just let me do that now?”

“Burn me,” Chevalier said, watching her. “Just a little.”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms.

“You can’t do it… with no ability to ash, there’s not a lot you can do against an army of heku.”

“Damnit, don’t go! You can’t leave me here.”

“I have to,” he said, and took a step toward her, but she turned and walked into the palace.

“We’re ready to head out,” Mark said, coming in to the stables. “Did she agree?”

“No, but let’s go. She couldn’t even burn me, and she knows that’s her only defense. It should keep her here.”

Emily went up to her room and watched out the window when a large group of Equites headed out to find the lost Elders. She watched from the bay window as the grounds emptied out and night fell on her first day as leader of the faction.

When she got too tired to stay awake, she laid down on the bed, fully dressed, and was able to fall asleep. A knock on the door woke her up at 3am.

“What?” she called out, only partially awake.

A member of the Cavalry came in, “Ma’am, there’s a situation that needs resolved in the council chambers.”

“Then resolve it,” she said, and rolled onto her side.

“It requires an Elder.”

Emily sighed and sat up, “Ok, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The guard left and she grumbled as she slipped on a robe and tied her hair back, then called out for coffee, and went down to the council chambers. She walked in and saw most of the Council, only Kyle and the Elders were missing, so she sat down in Chevalier’s chair, and took the coffee from the servant that brought it.

“What’s so important that we had to do this at 3am?” she asked, irritated.

“Derrick, bring them in,” the Chief of Defense called out.

Emily sipped her coffee and dug a few suckers out of her pocket while the guards brought in four heku and made them kneel in front of the Council. They were dressed in the white guard shirts and green capes, indicative of palace guards.

“What’d you do?” she asked, yawning into her hand.

Derrick stood up straight and faced Emily, “These four were caught sending e-mails to the Valle, with locations and troop numbers for the Equites going out to bring back the Elders.”

Emily almost choked on her coffee, “They were?”

“No! It was just a friendly e-mail between us guards, it didn’t go to the Valle,” one of the guards said frantically.

“Where’s the computer?”

Derrick shrugged, “We left it in the barracks.”

Emily sighed, “Get it for me.”

Within a few minutes, one of the Cavalry returned with a laptop. Emily took it, plugged it in, and sat back with it as her fingers flew over the keyboard. She stopped occasionally, just to sip her coffee. The heku all watched her, unsure what she was doing or how long it would take.

After almost an hour, Emily sighed and read out loud

They left at 4pm, one Elder and 78 members of the guards. Will be meeting up with Encala forces in Reno, NV. Left Winchester in charge, need further instructions.

“Sounds to me like you have some explaining to do,” Emily said, looking at the four heku on the ground.

“That wasn’t us! We wouldn’t do that,” he said, his eyes wide.

Await further instructions. For now, keep an eye on the Winchester and let us know if more forces are heading out.

“That reply isn’t for you?” Emily asked.

“No, no we wouldn’t turn in the Equites to the Valle. We’re loyal.”

“We’ll see. I sent them a response… seems we have Thukil headed over to Idaho for some reason,” Emily said, and opened a sucker.

Dustin grinned, “This should be interesting.”

“You are writing to the Valle?” the Chief Interrogator asked.

“Yes, under their e-mail address,” she told him.

The Chief Interrogator laughed, “Nice.”

“Oh, here we go… Damn, they must know of our staging location. Will divert all into Wyoming.”

“Staging location?” Dustin asked.

“I picked a state at random… Wyoming, huh? I wonder if that’s where Zohn and Quinn are. You… dumb nuts,” Emily said, looking at the smallest of those on their knees. “What’s your name?”

“Jackson, Ma’am,” he said, then glanced at Derrick.

Emily’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she responded to the e-mail, “There we go.”

“What do we do with them?” Derrick asked her.

Emily gasped, “No! They have Chev.”

“Damnit,” Dustin growled.

“Derrick, when’s the last time you used the interrogation chamber?” Emily asked, still reading through deleted e-mails.

Derrick grinned, “It’s been a while.”

“Pick one… put the others in cells until I decide what to do with them.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and grabbed one of them by the neck, hauling him from the room. Four members of the palace guard came in and took the other three away.

Emily hit the speakerphone and dialed.

“Encala Council,” an angry voice said.

“Is William there?” Emily asked.

“Lady Emily? No, he’s not, he went with Chevalier.”

“Are any of the Elders there?”

“I’m here,” Reese said.

“I just intercepted an e-mail. They have Chevalier, and I’m guessing William, too.”

“Damnit,” Reese growled. “We’ll have to go get them.”

“No, I have an idea,” Emily said. “Can you get me 50 of your best guards?”

“I can’t allow you to go get them,” Reese said.

“I’d like to see you stop me. You can either send 50, or I’ll go without them.”

Reese sighed, “It’ll take them 3 hours to get there.”

“Do it,” Emily said, and hung up.

“We aren’t supposed to let you go after them,” Dustin said, standing up.

Emily glared at him, “Right now, I outrank you and I’d like to see you try.”

“You can’t turn anyone to ash,” the Chief of Defense said.

“Wanna bet? Now I’m pissed. That changes everything,” Emily said, and stood up. “Get me 50 from Powan and 50 from Thukil, now.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Dustin said, dialing quickly.

Emily turned to the Records Keeper, “Get me a maternity guard uniform and make damned sure it looks like everyone else’s.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and disappeared.

“Cavalry, meet me in front of the palace,” Emily said, and walked out of the council chambers.

“He’s going to kill us,” the Chief of Finances said, sighing.

“Do we have a choice? She’s right, she does outrank us,” Dustin said, and then turned back to the phone.

Emily went into her room and shut the door. She was shaking too badly and needed to calm down and clear her thoughts. She grabbed a sucker when she started to feel sick again and glanced around the room.

“Mom?” Allen asked, coming into the room.

Emily looked over at him.

“I want to go with you.”

“I need you to stay with Alexis… if your Dad and I…”

Allen nodded, “Ok… what are you going to do?”

“I don’t really know,” Emily said, sighing.

“Can you turn a heku to ash?”

“Not right now, but I have an idea.”

“You’re feeling sick though, I can tell by your color.”

“I have to go, Allen. They have Elders from all three factions.”

“Dad would want you to stay.”

Emily smiled slightly, “Yes, he would.”

Allen walked quickly and wrapped his arms around her. She held him tightly and teared up. She couldn’t remember the last time her son hugged her.

“Hurry back,” he said, pulling away from her.

Emily just nodded and watched him leave. She glanced out the window and saw the Cavalry lined up on horseback in front of the palace, waiting for her. She took a deep breath, grabbed another sucker, and headed out of the room. The tailor caught her before she left the fifth-floor, and handed her a new uniform. She dressed quickly, wincing slightly at the maternity cut and how it made her look more pregnant than she really was. She was covered though, and official, so she went down to the Cavalry.

“Good morning, Commander,” Jaron said when she appeared.

Emily sighed, “I’ve called in Thukil, Powan, and some Encala. I’m leading a little attack of my own.”

“You are?” Jaron asked, shocked.

“Yes, it’s a little different, so I’ll explain when the others get here.”

The Cavalry glanced nervously at one another. One of them came out of the stables with Emily’s horse and helped her up onto it. She worried about how weak she was still feeling, how her entire body just wanted to sleep, but she was all that was left to go and get the leaders.

Within an hour, Powan arrived and lined up behind the Council City Cavalry.

“Where’s General Skinner?” Emily asked, looking at them.

“He was with Elder Quinn, Commander,” one of the Lieutenants told her.

Emily nodded, “Ok, you’re the highest ranking?”

“Yes, Commander.”

They all looked over when Thukil arrived, 50 members of their Cavalry lined up behind Powan, and Captain Darren came over to her.

“Commander?” he asked, surprised.

“Just… stick with me on this,” she said to him.

Darren nodded, “Ok, as you outrank me here, I don’t have a choice.”

She smiled slightly, knowing he didn’t like the idea that she was about to lead an army.

The Encala arrived by helicopter a couple of hours later. They looked out of place and unsure as they took up formation behind Thukil.

“Ok,” Emily said from horseback. “I’ll get this out in the open… I’ve never led an army, I have no idea what I’m doing, and that could work to our advantage. I don’t know military traditions and strategies, so anything I come up with will be foreign to the Valle.”

She blushed slightly when she saw all of them intently watching her.

“It’s going to be simple, your job… your only job… is to get the heku out of the Valle’s Palace, and into the helicopters. They will land when you attack,” she told them.

Darren turned to her, “What about Valle forces?”

Emily sighed, “I’ll be taking care of those, as many as I can. Obviously, if you run across them, kill them. I don’t want to question anyone. I don’t want to torture anyone. I just want them dead, and I want our heku free.”

“What of the original Valle Council?” one of the Encala asked.

“Just let them free. They’ll go where they belong.”

“Emily,” Darren said, and put his hand on hers. “There are thousands of Valle in that palace right now, they’re expecting you to attack.”

Emily nodded, “I know, but I have to get them back.”

“Rumor has it you can’t turn a heku to ash anymore.”

“I couldn’t before, that’s true, but now I’m mad and that’s what I need to do it… anger.”

Darren nodded and turned back to his troops, “I want the highest ranking from the Encala, Thukil, Powan, and Council City to come here.”

Emily watched as four heku joined them at the front line.

“You will each lead a group, mix the groups up. I want someone from each faction and/or coven in each group,” Darren told them.

Emily started to panic. She wasn’t sure if she could lead 200 heku into the Valle and come out alive. She was afraid she was leading them to their deaths. She quickly slid off of her horse and disappeared into the palace while the Thukil Captain formed the groups, then she went into the council chambers and they all looked at her.

“Richard?” she asked, turning to the Chief Interrogator.

“Yes?”

“I’m putting you in charge until either myself or an Elder gets back.”

He nodded. His eyes were warm and caring and she saw in his face the same fears that she had, the fears that they wouldn’t return.

“Lady Emily?” the Chief of Defense said softly.

Emily looked over at him.

“Please reconsider, let the Thukil Captain lead this raid.”

“I can’t let them go without me. I’m the only one that has a chance of getting them all back.”

“But the baby…”

Emily looked down. Over the last month, the baby had grown a lot and she was now obviously pregnant and already starting to get off balance.

“I have to go,” she whispered and left.

Emily walked out and saw the groups were formed and all were standing at attention, watching her.

“I’m taking my Harley,” Emily said. “I’m going in first to give myself over for punishment…”

She paused when she heard a murmur through the crowd.

“I’m not really, but I have to get into the palace. You’ll follow. I need about a 15-minute head start, and then storm the palace, get our leaders out. Take the buses and come in from a distance.”

“Ma’am?” she heard from behind her. Emily turned to see the Valle that the Equites were housing.

“You want to go?”

“Yes, we can get word to a few groups of Imperial Guards that are in the area, waiting for a break to take the Council back.”

“Do that, get in touch with Darren for a rendezvous point.”

The Valle nodded and all of them joined Darren’s group. Emily took a deep breath and disappeared into the garage to get the motorcycle. Just as she slipped her helmet on, she heard the helicopters landing outside of the palace and buses parking beside them.

Emily didn’t look back. She took off from the palace garage and headed out of Council City. The sun was rising over the horizon at her back as she made her way to the Valle. She stopped outside of the main city at a convenience store and grabbed several energy drinks, hoping they would wake her body up long enough to do what needed done.

It was dark when she arrived. She wiped the memory of the front gate guards to the Valle’s main city, and pulled the Harley up to the front of the palace. The guards there watched her curiously until she took off her helmet, and then they lunged at her and pulled her from the motorcycle.

The Valle guards forcibly hauled her into the palace and into the Valle’s council chambers. She’d been there many times before, but this time was different. She didn’t know any of the Council, and they were watching her angrily.

“You have come to turn yourself in, I see,” one of them said.

“Yes, you can stop kidnapping council members from the other factions now,” she told them. She concentrated on the situation. She knew the Encala and Equites council members were in the palace also, and she drew from the anger and fear she was feeling and let it build.

“On your knees, mortal,” one of the guards said, and pushed her down onto her knees.

“We weren’t aware you are with child,” one of the temporary council members said.

“Yeah, well… I am,” she said, irritated.

“That changes nothing. You will still be tried and punished for the death of our mortal.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“We expect no trouble from you. If you try to turn any of us to ash, we’ll remove your head before you can do it,” he warned.

Emily saw a heku appear at her side with a sword in his hand, he was grinning down at her.

***

Waves of heku in black blurred through the city silently, and quickly made their way to the palace. Darren held up his hand as he approached the front door. There were no guards, just piles of ash. He gave the signal for the first group to enter the palace, while the second group headed toward the back entrance. The first group reported finding no heku in the building, and quickly headed for the prison, led by the Valle’s true Imperial Guards.

The offensive groups quickly spread through the Valle’s palace, finding no one and hearing nothing. The silence of the building and the city behind them was eerie. They quickly killed the electricity to all of the prison cells and spread out, looking for any of the missing faction members.

“Down the stairs, there’s more down there,” one of the Imperial Guards said when they found the upper prison section to hold nothing but regular prisoners.

The deathly silence of the palace was broken as the Blackhawk helicopters landed to take away the injured and leaders as the forces swarmed deeper into the Valle Palace’s prison block. One of the Encala cut the power to the restraints, and the black clad forces descended into the dark and began releasing the faction’s Leaders.

“Get them to the helicopters!” Darren yelled, angrily following the orders Emily gave them. The Faction Leaders were in too much pain, and healing too slowly for them to override what she told the army to do, so they were required to follow the orders they were given.

The Imperial Guards stayed with the Valle Council while they healed. Sotomar was the first to sit up on his own. He looked around at the members of the other factions as they were helped out of the palace by the guards.

“What happened?” Sotomar asked weakly.

“Lady Emily, she… led the army to get to you,” an Imperial Guard explained, looking around.

Sotomar frowned and glanced over as Chevalier was let down from high shackles, “She’s here?”

“Yes, she came in first. I haven’t seen her, but it looks like the city and the palace have been turned to ash.”

Sotomar struggled to his feet and leaned against the wall, “Change the orders for the Valle… find her.”

The Valle Lieutenant called out for his forces to find Emily.

“Who is giving orders?” Zohn asked, steadying himself against the wall.

“Lady Emily is the highest ranking. She’s leading this,” one of the Cavalry said.

Zohn sighed and glanced at Chevalier, who was being led out of the palace, “What were the orders?”

“We were to get the kidnapped out to the helicopters and leave,” he explained.

“Where is she?” Zohn asked, looking around.

“She came in first,” he explained. “We were to come 15 minutes later and get everyone out. We haven’t seen her. There’s nothing but ash throughout the entire city.”

“Belay those orders,” Zohn said, wincing as he healed. “Stop everything. Take the wounded to the lawn, load the dead onto the helicopters, and find her.”

“Right away, Elder,” the member of the Cavalry said, calling out the new orders.

Jaron helped Zohn up the stairs. He was clutching his chest and fighting to breathe as they came up to the main floor of the Valle Palace.

Sotomar came up behind them, able to walk on his own with a slight limp, “If you find any of the invading covens, put them in cells for now, I’ll deal with them later.”

“There’s no one, Elder, they are all ash,” one of the Imperial Guards explained.

Chevalier came up to them, leaning against the wall, “Have they found her?”

“Not yet, we’re searching the palace,” the Imperial Guard said.

“One of the Lieutenant’s from Powan explained what happened,” Quinn said, slowly walking up to them. “They’re getting a count of the wounded and dead.”

A voice rang through the palace that Emily was in the council chambers. Chevalier, Sotomar, Quinn, and Zohn made their way to the council chambers, assisted by the Valle’s Imperial Guards. One of them met the Elders at the door.

“We didn’t touch her… I didn’t know how to help,” he said softly, and opened the door.

The Elders walked in and saw Emily on her side on the floor, surrounded by worried looking guards. She was unconscious, lying in a pool of blood as the heku guards watched helplessly. Chevalier knelt down beside her and moved her face toward his.

“Em?” he asked, and took her hand.

She didn’t respond, but the blood from her nose and ears stopped flowing. Chevalier lifted her eyelid and saw that her eyes were blood red.

“We need to get her to a hospital,” he said, and stood up with some difficulty. One of the Imperial Guards reached down and gently picked her up.

“Let’s go, we’ll take the Valle helicopter,” he said, and headed out the door, followed by the Elders.

“I’ll go,” Sotomar said. “Ryan can take care of the recovery.”

“I’m going too,” William said. He seemed to be the least injured out of all of them, and was able to help others as they healed.

Chevalier nodded, “We’ll leave Zohn here also.”

Quinn struggled some, but finally got into the helicopter, followed by Sotomar, William, and Chevalier. The Imperial Guard cradled Emily and buckled in as the pilot lifted off and headed for the hospital outside of Council City.

“I want a report,” Sotomar growled. “Everything that’s happened.”

One of the Imperial Guards began to go over everything from the takeover of the palace to Emily’s army. No one knew what happened when she arrived, but he was able to let them know what occurred when the army flooded into the palace.

“Numbers?” William asked.

“There were 1,917 heku in the palace. Most were from the attacking covens, and a few were traitors from the guard staff,” he explained, avoiding the angry glare of Sotomar. “The city had 1,517 people left. The rest fled into other covens to wait out the coup.”

“Damnit, she ashed 3,434?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, as far as we can tell. We’ve not found anyone alive.”

“Elder, we have permission to land at the hospital’s helipad. They are waiting for our arrival in 10 minutes,” the pilot called back.

Sotomar nodded, “Alliance numbers then?”

“Lady Emily only left those in the prison. We found 12 dead heku, 6 from the Valle, 4 from Equites and 2 Encala. There are over 354 injured, and we’re still ascertaining how many of those won’t make it.”

“There may be more then?” William asked.

“Yes, if any were not in the prison, then they were also turned to ash.”

“From what I saw,” Quinn said, “The only ones that were up above the prison were ones that were giving information or agreed to join.”

“The Ferus were out guarding the city,” Chevalier said. “They are growing too quickly.”

“The Ferus were there?” the Imperial Guard asked, shocked. “We didn’t know that.”

Chevalier nodded, “They joined forces.”

The Imperial Guard holding Emily turned away from her, breathing the air coming in from the front of the helicopter, “She’s bleeding again.”

Chevalier unbuckled and took her from the guard.

“Two minutes til we land,” the pilot called back. “They have personnel waiting for us, a Dr. Hayden.”

The helicopter landed and the pilot killed the engines. Dr. Hayden and four nurses wheeled a gurney up to the Blackhawk. Chevalier jumped out and laid Emily down on the gurney. She didn’t move as they threw a blanket on her and rushed her into the hospital.

“What happened?” Dr. Hayden asked, walking with them into the Emergency Room.

“We aren’t sure exactly, found her like this,” Chevalier said as worry crept into his voice.

“Stay out here,” the doctor said, and headed in to the room with the nurses. The heku all stood silently and waited for the doctor. They moved aside only when equipment was moved into the room.

Hours passed with no word. Chevalier, Sotomar, and William waited while the others returned to help in the Valle’s city. Different doctors were called into the room. They came and went, nodding at the waiting heku, but not giving any word.

Dr. Hayden and an older doctor came out finally, looking worn out and exhausted.

“Come, we’ll talk to you in my office,” the older doctor said, and motioned for Chevalier to follow them. They walked to a small, crowded office full of degrees on the wall, and books and medical journals lying around in piles.

“This is Dr. Greenfield. He’s Head of Neurology here at the hospital,” Dr. Hayden said. “We’ve been running scans to try to see what happened to Emily.”

“What did you find?” Chevalier asked, not liking the soft tone of their voices.

“We’re still trying to find out what happened, exactly,” Dr. Greenfield said. “All we can tell you right now is that her brain function is only about 13% of what it should be, her heart rate and breathing are shallow and slowing.”

“Meaning…”

“Meaning, she’s dying,” Dr. Hayden said, visibly upset. “We can’t find a cause. There’s a small bleed in her brain, but that wouldn’t cause her body functions to be slowing.”

Chevalier’s heart dropped, “She’s dying? Fix it.”

“We’re trying, but first we have to find what’s causing it. Right now she’s in a coma, and her brain function is on a steady decline.”

“She cannot die,” Chevalier growled.

“We’re doing all we can… you need to make a decision though… if she goes, do we keep her on life support until the baby is ready to be born?” Dr. Hayden asked, respectfully lowering his eyes.

Chevalier felt numb as he nodded slightly, agreeing with whatever the doctors said.

“Why don’t we let you see her,” Dr. Hayden said. “Right now we’re just watching to see if things stabilize.”

He nodded and followed the doctors out. The other heku already heard the report, and he didn’t say a word to them as he stepped into the room. The doctors checked a few things and then left him alone. Emily was on the bed, covered in wires with multiple I.V.’s in her arms, and a tube helping her breathe.

Chevalier sat down in a chair by the bed and took her cold hand in his, “Em?”

She didn’t respond. To him, it looked like she was simply sleeping. She looked peaceful and at rest. He glanced up at one of the monitors and saw her pulse drop another few beats per minute. Hours passed and he sat with her hand in his as he watched the monitors, willing her to keep breathing.

Chapter 25 - Coma

“Where does this go?” Kyle asked, wheeling a large machine into Chevalier and Emily’s room.

“It needs to go by the head of the bed,” the Dr. Cook said, pointing to where he wanted it.

“Tell me again why she’s not in the hospital?” Zohn asked, watching as equipment was moved into the bedroom.

Kyle stopped and looked at the Elder, “She’s breathing on her own, and her heart is beating, there’s nothing more they can do for her.”

“I thought they said her breathing and pulse were too slow though, isn’t it dangerous to bring her here?”

The faction doctor sighed, “We’re just making her comfortable… until she goes.”

Zohn frowned and whispered, “So she just lays there until she dies?”

“She’s been in a coma for 6 weeks. It’s not likely at this point that she’s going to wake up,” the doctor explained, checking Emily’s I.V. “Right now we just make sure she has what she needs.”

“She’s gotten bigger though, so the baby is ok?”

“Yes, the baby is fine. The only thing injured on Emily is her brain. Her body is working properly.”

Zohn glanced at her, “Does she hear us?”

The doctor shook his head, “No, there’s not enough of her brain functioning to hear or understand.”

Kyle touched her arm softly before leaving the room. He wanted to meet up with Chevalier and Quinn in the interrogation chamber. The screams started in the stairwell to the prison, and stopped just before he opened the chamber door. He stepped in and saw three heku in various stages of torture. One was dead, his body pushed to the side by the fire.

“Any information?” Kyle asked, walking up to the rack.

Quinn shook his head, “No, we have everything we need from them.”

Kyle glanced at Chevalier, but he didn’t speak. He was busy jabbing iron pins into the heku on the rack. His eyes were glazed over and his movements were slow and precise.

“The room’s all set up. The doctor’s just attaching some things and then will be in his room,” Kyle said to him.

Chevalier nodded.

Quinn cocked his head slightly to the side, “Duty calls.”

Kyle nodded and opened the door. He glanced back and saw that Chevalier hadn’t moved. Quinn motioned for Kyle to leave Chevalier, and the two walked up to the council chambers and took their seats.

Derrick stepped forward, “Valle Elder Sotomar and Encala Elder William wish to speak to the Council.”

Zohn nodded, “Let them in.”

The two Elders came in and bowed respectfully.

“We heard that Emily was able to return to the palace,” Sotomar said, smiling.

“Not a joyous occasion,” Quinn said. “We’ve brought her here to die.”

William frowned, “She’s no better?”

“No, she can’t recover from this… we will try to keep her alive until the baby comes.”

Sotomar was visibly upset, “Is there nothing anyone can do?”

“No”

“Turn her,” William said. “Before it’s too late.”

“She once told us she would rather die,” Kyle said. “However, with the limited brain function, it probably wouldn’t work anyway.”

“She… she saved the entire species from chaos,” Sotomar said softly. “We have to help her, we owe her that.”

“Don’t you think if we could help her that we would be?” Kyle yelled. Quinn put his hand out for the Chief Enforcer to calm down.

“We’ve done all we can,” Quinn said. “Now, we wait.”

“May we see her? Just for a moment?” William asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Quinn nodded and stood up, “I will take them.”

Kyle followed them up the stairs. He felt that if Chevalier weren’t with her that he should be. He kept feeling like at any moment she would wake up, scared and angry. He smiled slightly at how fast she would pull the I.V. out and could imagine her tossing the oxygen onto the floor.

He moved to the side of her bed and sat down, taking her hand, then pulled the blankets up slightly and called for servants to stoke the fire when he felt how cold her hand was. Sotomar and William stood back a ways and watched her.

“It looks like she’s simply sleeping,” Sotomar said.

William nodded.

Sotomar pulled a black pen from his robes and began writing on the headboard. Kyle briefly debated stopping him, but then Quinn and William did the same and soon her headboard was full of ancient runes, runes used only to represent the most respected heku. He’d only seen such runes once in his life. They were written on the coverings of the most honored and revered, and then required the agreement of all three factions. Only Elders knew how to do it correctly, and it took an Elder from all three factions to perform it, part of the reason why it was so rare.

Each Elder, to finish the ritual, kissed her hand softly, and then returned to the council chambers. Kyle elected to stay with her. He didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone, even though she wasn’t aware of anything around her.

***

“I don’t really care what the reason. Any contact with a Ferus or a suspected Ferus warrants immediate punishment,” Zohn said, glaring at the heku on the floor.

“Please, I didn’t know who it was,” he begged, dropping to his knees.

“Doesn’t matter,” Quinn said. “It’s your responsibility to find out who you are doing business with. Chevalier?”

Chevalier glanced up from the desk, “Kill him.”

“No!” the heku screamed as he was pulled away from the Council.

“Daddy?” Alexis asked from behind them. Chevalier turned around and she ran into his arms. He sat her down in his lap as she cried against his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, kissing her forehead.

“Allen said Mommy’s not going to wake up.”

The Council all turned away from them.

“We’ve told you that. She’s been sleeping for two months… too long for her to wake up.”

Alexis looked up at Chevalier with tear filled eyes, “Can’t you wake her up?”

“No, I can’t.”

“Allen said she fell asleep trying to save us.”

Chevalier took a deep breath before answering, “No, she fell asleep saving us, not trying, Alex.”

Alexis leaned her head on Chevalier’s shoulder and wrapped her small arms around him.

“Next?” Chevalier said angrily.

Derrick stepped in, “That’s it for the roster today.”

“Adjourn then,” Quinn said. “I need to feed.”

“I’ll go,” Kyle said. “Elder? Allen needs to go, come with us.”

“No,” he said, and stood up, still carrying Alexis. He walked out of the room and the door shut softly behind him.

“When’s the last time he fed?” Zohn asked.

“The night before he led the attack on the Valle city,” Kyle said, gathering some things from his desk.

“Damn,” Quinn hissed, looking at the door.

“Emily’s scent is getting stronger every day. It’s dangerous to have him around her with as thirsty as he is,” Zohn said.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Kyle suggested. “Maybe he’ll agree to go if I stay with her.”

“Try,” Quinn said, nodding.

Kyle walked out of the council chambers and found Chevalier in his usual spot on the side of Emily’s bed.

“Elder?” he said softly.

“I’m not leaving her to go feed,” Chevalier said, taking her hand.

“It’s not safe,” Kyle said, taking a few steps forward. “Her scent is growing stronger every day, you have to feed.”

“Then bring back some.”

“You know that’s not the same… why don’t you go with the Elders and I’ll stay with her.”

Chevalier glanced at her and gently brushed the hair off of her shoulder, “You won’t leave?”

“No, I swear,” Kyle said, relieved that Chevalier was finally going to go feed.

“Her scent is getting stronger.”

“I know. It’s hard even for those of us that haven’t been fasting for two months.”

“Anna is coming to change her bedding and bathe her,” Chevalier said, standing up. “She should be here in an hour.”

Kyle nodded, “I know, it’s ok… go.”

Chevalier hesitated and then left, shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later, Allen came in and sat down on the bed opposite Kyle.

“I thought you were going to go feed,” Kyle said, looking at him.

“I told Dad I’d stay. I’ll go out later.”

Kyle nodded and looked over at one of the monitors.

“He pulled me off the Cavalry,” Allen told him.

“I know,” Kyle said.

“I liked it, it kept me busy.”

“He just doesn’t want to risk any more of his family getting hurt,” Kyle explained. “He also never told Emily and didn’t want to go behind her back.”

“Do you think he’ll let me go back?”

“Someday… maybe.”

“She’s getting big,” Allen said, and gently laid a hand on her belly.

“Yeah, well, you all were big.”

Allen smiled, “Baby’s kicking.”

Kyle glanced at his hand, “You can feel it?”

“Sure, try it.”

Kyle hesitated and then put his hand beside Allen’s. Within just a few seconds, he felt the soft thump, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Mom used to let me feel when Alexis was kicking.”

Both Kyle and Allen looked up at Emily suddenly, when it sounded like she sighed. Kyle looked up at the monitors, but nothing changed, her heart rate was slow and steady and her breathing was shallow and weak.

“I’m hearing things,” Allen said, and stood up.

“I think we all are, just hoping she wakes up.”

“I better go find Alexis. She was hiding from her guards,” Allen said with a slight grin.

When Allen left the room, Kyle glanced once at the door and turned back to her.

“Emily?” he asked. He felt stupid. The doctors assured them she couldn’t hear them nor understand them, but he heard what Allen did, a brief change in her breathing.

“Em, can you hear me?” he whispered, and watched her closely. He sighed and reached over to grab the book she had been reading. He opened it to the bookmark and began to read. It kept the silence from the room away and gave him something productive to do.

The Elders returned three hours later and came in immediately to check on Emily. Kyle was in the middle of a sentence and looked up at them when they came in.

“Feeling better?” Kyle asked, noticing some color was back in Chevalier’s face.

“Some,” he said. “Did Anna come?”

“No, she decided to wait until you returned.”

The heku all turned when they heard a crash from below them. They blurred down the stairs when guards moved to Emily’s door. They appeared at the front entrance and saw members of the Cavalry at a standoff with heku in purple capes.

“What’s going on here?” Zohn growled.

“They came to take Emily,” Silas hissed. “Over my dead body.”

“We can arrange that,” one of the Ferus said.

“What, exactly, were you planning on doing with her?” Quinn asked.

“She’s to be buried in Ferus soil, as our Elder.”

Chevalier growled.

“Had it not been for the Ferus, she wouldn’t need a burial spot,” Mark said, and advanced on the Ferus, followed by Silas and Kralen. The heku blurred into a fight as the Elders stood back and watched, letting the guards do their job to protect those in the palace. It was only a few minutes later when the Ferus were restrained by members of the Cavalry.

“Bring them into the council chambers,” Zohn said, walking to the back entrance, followed by the other two Elders.

They took their seats among the empty council chairs and waited while the Cavalry shoved the Ferus down onto their knees before them.

***

“Everything looks good with the baby,” Dr. Hayden said, smiling at Chevalier. “She’s right on track at 7 months along.”

“I appreciate you coming out here. It’s hard to move her,” Chevalier told him, glancing around the farmhouse.

“No problem,” he said, gathering his things. “For her next appointment, we’ll go over signs of labor, because she won’t be able to tell you when the pain hits.”

He nodded, “Ok.”

Dr. Hayden began writing in a chart, “Let’s see… 3 months in a coma.”

Chevalier just watched him write. He still felt numb after all this time, and everyone started to believe it might be better for all involved if she were to pass peacefully in her sleep after the baby came.

“We’ll see you in one month, after that, it’ll be every week,” Dr. Hayden said, and shook Chevalier’s hand before leaving. Chevalier picked Emily up gently and carried her through the tunnels to the palace and laid her back in bed. He pulled the covers up over her and kissed her lightly before going down to the council chambers.

Chevalier frowned and opened the doors when he heard screaming. Things quieted a bit when he came in and sat down. The terrified looks of the heku in the trial area made him suspicious.

“What’s going on?” he asked, turning to Zohn.

“These fine heku were planning on killing Emily in her sleep,” Zohn said, turning back to the heku with a grin.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Why… would you do that?”

“Oh, that’s the best part,” Kyle said scathingly.

Mark turned and yelled to clear the palace of all personnel and lock it down. Chevalier waited while the palace cleared out, and he heard the loud bang as the metal bars slammed down to cover the doors and windows.

“Do tell,” Chevalier hissed, leaning forward slightly.

The heku closest to Chevalier looked up at him with wide eyes. He was breathing rapidly, starting to panic.

“I won’t ask again… why?” he growled, slamming his fists down on the table.

“E… Ex… Exavior said to,” he stammered out.

Chevalier frowned, “Exavior told you to kill her?”

The heku nodded.

“How did Exavior give you orders when he’s imprisoned?”

“He… he spoke through the walls. He told Samuel and she… I mean and he then told us…”

Emily stretched slightly and opened her eyes. Things were fuzzy, like waking up from a deep sleep. She sat up and felt the pull on her arm. Her eyes focused slowly, and she saw the I.V. and promptly pulled it out, wincing slightly at the sting, then tore the oxygen from her face and frowned, looking around the room.

Her muscles were sore and tight. She felt like her joints were swollen and it was hard to move. She flexed her hand, watching it move slowly, then got to her feet and steadied herself on the bedpost. Emily noticed the runes on the headboard and touched them lightly before turning to the bedroom. There was a lot of equipment in the room. It looked like medical equipment, and she couldn’t remember how it got there.

“Chev?” she tried to say, but couldn’t even muster a whisper. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and she wanted to get a drink, but couldn’t call out.

Testing her legs, she took a step away from the bed and found that with considerable effort, she could move. She struggled to get to the bathroom and leaned down, taking a long drink from the tap. The water felt good against her dry mouth. When she leaned up, she glanced in the mirror and her eyes grew wide. She turned sideways, surprised at how big she’d gotten at only 4 months along.

Her nightgown was wet from sweat and she peeled it off and went to the closet. None of her clothes fit her. They were all too small, so she finally went to Chevalier’s closet and pulled out a guard shirt, relieved that it fastened around her and came down to her knees.

Emily stiffly walked to the door, holding onto the wall to keep herself from falling over. Her muscles were too stiff to move freely, and the weight of the baby was off. It was more than she expected and she was curious to see why the palace seemed so quiet.

She expected to see guards in the hallway, but there were none, so she listened and could hear voices coming from the floor below. She sat down in a chair in the hallway, already out of breath and exhausted from getting dressed. Once she caught her breath, she slowly went down the stairs, holding the railing to keep from falling and to help her weak legs.

As expected, the screaming was coming from inside the council chambers. She debated going around back, but the stairs seemed daunting and her legs were already so sore they felt wobbly and unsteady. She was surprised that Derrick wasn’t at the door, but glancing around quickly, she saw that none of the guards were in sight and could see the thick iron bars across the windows.

Emily tried the door to the trial area, but it was locked, so she frowned and knocked lightly. She took a step back when Mark threw open the door, and then almost fell when her legs got tangled.

“Oh my God!” Mark yelled, and caught her before she hit the floor. Instantly, they were surrounded by members of the Cavalry as Mark picked her up in a cradle.

“Let the guards handle it,” Quinn said, looking back down at the heku on the floor. “I guess the only question is whether to kill you now… or torture you first.”

“Mark, put me down,” Emily whispered hoarsely. Her quiet voice carried into the council chambers, and they all looked up with wide eyes. Chevalier was in the hallway before the Council even made it to their feet.

“Em?” he asked, watching her in Mark’s arms.

“Tell him I can walk,” Emily whispered, trying to get down from Mark’s strong grip.

Chevalier took her from Mark and held her close to him, “My God, Em, you’re awake.”

Emily looked over at how the guards and council members were looking at her, in shock, and she started to blush, “Of course I’m awake.”

“Put them in jail. We’ll deal with them later,” Kyle said, and followed Chevalier up the stairs along with all of the Council.

“I’m hungry,” Emily said as Chevalier laid her down in bed. She sat up and blushed deeper when everyone came in and watched her, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Em… God, Emily, what’s the last thing you remember?” Chevalier asked, turning when Mark came in.

“I was going to ash the Valle. I was in front of their Council, and there was a guy there who was going to cut my head off,” she whispered. “So I’ll take it I ashed enough that I slept for a while?”

Chevalier nodded and smiled, “Yeah, a while.”

“What do you want to eat, Dear?” Zohn asked softly.

Emily frowned slightly at him and then shrugged, “I don’t care.”

“There’re no servants,” Mark said. “Pancakes and coffee! I can do that.”

Emily nodded, and he disappeared.

“Are you mad, then? That I went to the Valle?” Emily whispered, pulling a blanket up to cover herself better.

Chevalier took her head in his hands, kissed her softly, and then looked into her eyes, “No, I’m not mad.”

“Why is everyone staring at me then?” she whispered, her voice still hoarse.

“You’ve been in a coma for 3 months,” Chevalier explained, and took her hand.

“Three months?”

He nodded, “Yes, we were told you were dying.”

“Three months explains why I look like a house,” she said, and smiled slightly.

“We should take her to the hospital, just to make sure she’s ok,” Quinn suggested.

Emily frowned, “No, no hospitals.”

“He’s right. We need to take you,” Chevalier said.

“No”

“Were you listening? You were in a coma, low brain activity, low body functions… you were dying.”

“I don’t care. I’m not going to a hospital.”

Chevalier chuckled, “I won’t force you.”

“Did… did everyone get out?”

“Most, but no, not all.”

“How many died?”

“One order of pancakes and some hot coffee as ordered,” Mark said, bringing in a tray.

“How many?” Emily asked Chevalier again.

“Twelve guards… Elder Vizia and the Valle’s Chief Interrogator, Buach were killed in the initial takeover.”

Emily leaned back against the headboard, “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Oh no… you’re eating or we take you to the hospital,” Chevalier said, and took the tray from Mark.

“It does smell good,” she said, taking the tray from him.

“Clear out,” Chevalier said, still watching Emily. He heard the heku leave her room and shut the door behind them, “You have no idea how worried I was, being told that you were going to die.”

Emily started to eat, suddenly starving. The pancakes were perfect, and she finished up with the coffee, hoping some caffeine would knock out the headache.

“How are you feeling?”

She leaned back against the headboard with her coffee, “Let’s see, headache, my entire body is sore and stiff, and I’m bigger than my car.”

Chevalier smiled, “Not quite that big.”

“Was it really 3 months?”

“Yes, 3 long months.”

“Mommy!” Alexis yelled, and ran into the room and in to Emily’s arms. “You’re awake.”

Emily kissed her head softly, “Yeah I am.”

Allen smiled, “I knew you’d make it, you’re too stubborn to die.”

Emily hugged Allen and then sat back, again out of breath and exhausted, “Wow, tired already.”

“Take a nap, we’ll leave,” Allen said, and took Alexis from the room.

Emily crawled under the covers and laid down, “Someone wrote on the bed.”

“I know,” Chevalier said, and laid down beside her.

“Just a little nap.”

“Just not another 3 months.”

Emily nodded and quickly drifted off to sleep.

She stood in a vast field. The grass was up to her knees and she faced an army of heku in purple and red capes. She had the baby in her arms, and it was squirming and crying.

“The deal stands,” Keith said, his purple cape blowing behind him. “Give us the baby and you get the Elders back.”

“No,” Emily told him. She glanced back at the thousands of heku behind her and then back to the enemy, “Come get her. I dare you.”

“You can’t handle her… she’ll kill you,” Keith said, grinning.

Emily looked down at the baby and she was fighting to get to Emily’s arm. Her teeth were exposed as she tried to feed. Emily dropped the baby just when she sunk her teeth into Emily’s arm.

“See, hand her over,” Keith said, and suddenly he was standing right in front of her. She ducked as he tried to punch her.

“Em,” Chevalier whispered, and touched her arm softly.

She jerked awake and cried out slightly at the pain in her body.

“Just a dream.”

Emily looked over at him, trying to catch her breath.

“It’s not funny anymore, stop trying to save us.”

“I can’t control my dreams,” she whispered, flexing her hands.

“If you weren’t always trying to save the species when you are awake, it might leave your dreams,” he said, and took her hands, massaging them.

“I hurt everywhere,” she sighed.

“I bet… you didn’t move in 3 months… maybe we should call Sotomar over, see if he can help.”

“Unless he’s mad at me.”

“Why would he be?”

“I ashed his entire city.”

Chevalier chuckled, “I think he’s ok with it.”

“None of my clothes fit.”

“I wondered why you have my shirt on. We’ll have some made.”

“Are the Valle stable now?” she asked, sitting up slowly with some help.

“Yes, you pretty much took care of the problem covens.”

“And the Ferus?”

“Still being a pain,” Chevalier explained. “In fact, Exavior ordered you killed. That’s why the palace is in lockdown.”

Emily frowned, “How can he order me killed when he’s in prison?”

“He got word out.”

Emily sighed, “Fine… I’ll take care of him then.”

“Damnit, Em, no.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you ashing… ever… even one heku.”

“One or two never hurt anything.”

“None, period,” he said sternly.

“Fine, for now. We’ll discuss it when my headache is gone, then I can fight back,” she said, and tried to grab the covers, but her hands were too stiff.

“We really should take you in to the doctor.”

“No… when do I get my voice back all the way?”

“I don’t know. You won’t let us take you to the doctor… Enter,” Chevalier said, and turned to the door. Four servants came in carrying large trays.

“What is that?” Emily asked, her eyes wide.

Chevalier chuckled, “I think Quinn and Zohn ordered your breakfast.”

“Enough for an army?” Emily asked, watching as the servants picked up the domes and left with a bow. She winced as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, “Damn, nothing works.”

Chevalier appeared beside her and picked her up, “It’ll take time to get your body to cooperate.”

“It’ll be faster if you let me walk,” she said as he sat her down at the table.

He sat down beside her and grinned, “Sit back, enjoy it.”

Emily reached over, and after some concentration, was able to pick up a piece of bacon with both hands.

“Hmm, I’ll call Sotomar,” Chevalier said, and grabbed his phone.

“No,” she said, setting down the bacon. “Let me talk to him first.”

He dialed the Valle Council and put them on speakerphone and then held the phone out towards her.

“Yes, Chevalier?” Sotomar asked.

“How mad are you?” Emily whispered quietly.

“Who is this?” he asked, confused.

Emily looked at the phone oddly, then answered, “It’s Emily.”

“Oh my God, you’re awake!” Sotomar said, shocked.

“So how mad are you?”

“Mad? At what?” His voice was still surprised.

“I ashed your city.”

Sotomar chuckled, “You restored the true Council. I am not one to judge the way in which you did it.”

“I’m sorry about Vizia and Buach,” she said softly.

“Child, we don’t blame you.”

“Chevalier here,” he said, grabbing the phone. “We have one tiny problem that we wondered if you might be able to help with.

“What might that be?” Sotomar asked.

“Emily didn’t move for 3 months, she’s sore and stiff… she can barely function.”

“I’m not that bad,” Emily whispered, and heard Sotomar laugh.

“Yes, I have just the fix for that. Can you accommodate two of us for a few days?”

“Yes, by all means,” Chevalier said. “We’ll alert security that you are coming. The palace is on lockdown at the moment.”

“Wait,” Emily said before they disconnected. “How are you going to fix it?”

Sotomar chuckled, “We’ll discuss it when we arrive.”

Emily frowned when Chevalier hung up, “If he hurts me, I’ll ash him.”

“Stop,” Chevalier said sternly. “No more…”

“I can’t just stop,” she whispered and picked up some toast.

“Yes you can. There’s no reason for it anymore.”

“You’re going to try to put guards on me again, aren’t you?”

“I’m not going to try, I’ve already done it.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t want guards.”

“I didn’t ask what you wanted. Now eat and I’ll run you a bath.”

“Go away.”

“No,” he said, amused.

“I’m not your child.”

“Then don’t act like one, and do what’s best for you.”

“Go away!”

“No”

“Who’s guarding my door?”

Chevalier smiled slightly, “Silas and Jaron right now.”

“Silas!” Emily called out, her voice barely above a whisper.

Silas and Jaron both came in, “Yes?”

“Remove him from my room,” she said, and started eating.

“They can’t forcibly remove me,” Chevalier chuckled.

“You’re being a pest, now go.”

Chevalier stood up, “Fine… I have things to do in my office anyway.”

Emily mimicked his words and went back to eating.

“Good to see you didn’t wake up grouchy,” he said, laughing, and went to leave.

She watched him leave and heard Silas and Jaron laughing in the hallway as the door shut.

Chevalier smiled on the way to his office, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure why, but her grouchy attitude was charming to him. He still couldn’t believe she woke up, and seemed to only suffer some muscle weakness for the mass slaying of over 3400 heku and 3 months of sleep. He went into his office and shut the door, deeply engrossing himself in staffing restrictions.

A knock on his door a few hours later brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up, “Come.”

Sotomar and a strange heku in gray robes came in, “I’ll never get used to coming into the Equites palace calmly.”

Chevalier nodded, “I hear you… thank you for coming.”

Sotomar turned to the other heku, “This is Lex. He was a Physical Therapist when he turned a few years ago.”

“Physical Therapist? You think you can help her?”

Lex smiled, “I know I can.”

“Her scent though, to one so young.”

“We’ve been discussing it, and though it may take a while, it would be easier to acclimate him to her than to restrict him with a mask,” Sotomar said. “When he’s done, I will help take the soreness away.”

“There’s one… tiny… thing,” Chevalier said, and smiled slightly.

“Tiny?” Sotomar asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Emily’s a little… grouchy, with this pregnancy.”

“Define grouchy.”

“Snippy, short tempered,” Chevalier said. “She’s not hurt anyone, but threatens a lot… and makes pretty harsh remarks.”

“Worse than when she stayed with us?”

“Yes”

“That should be interesting. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Great, I’ll have Kralen help you acclimate,” Chevalier said, and walked out of his office with Sotomar and Lex. Kralen and Mark were on the ground floor talking when they walked up, “Kralen, will you help Sotomar and Lex acclimate to Emily?”

“Yes, Elder,” Kralen said. “When I did it I started down here and just slowly moved up.”

“How long did it take?” Lex asked.

“About twelve hours.”

“To acclimate to a mortal?”

Kralen grinned, “No, to acclimate to a Winchester.”

“I guess I just don’t understand, but will follow instructions.”

“We need to acclimate a new chef also, we’ll get him,” Mark said, and called for one of the servants.

“I’ll go stay with her… just in case,” Chevalier said, and headed up the stairs. He stopped when one of her guards held is hand out.

Silas grinned “We’re not supposed to let you in.”

Chevalier sighed, “Did she say why?”

Jaron nodded, “Yes, she said… erm…”

Silas glanced at Jaron, and then back to the Elder, “I’ll quote, Sir, ‘Tell him when I want him in here, I’ll summon him… until then he can turn around and kiss his own ass.’”

Chevalier chuckled, “Very well, I’ll tell her you tried to stop me.”

Silas sighed, “She’s in the bathroom.”

“Is she sick?”

“Yes”

“Damn,” he whispered, and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He looked around the room. The equipment was all turned off and the I.V. was hanging over the side of the bed. He could see her mostly untouched breakfast, and heard her move slightly in the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door.

“I’m begging you to go away,” she said weakly.

Chevalier tried the door and was surprised it was unlocked. He opened it and sat down on the cold tile beside where Emily was napping, “Couldn’t eat again?”

“I don’t like you,” she whispered, not even opening her eyes.

He grinned, “I know.”

“I’ll let you feed if you go away.”

“Nope, you’ve tried that before and it didn’t work then either. Besides, there’s a reason I’m here.”

“You mean other than babysitting me?”

“I’m not babysitting you… ok… so I kind of am. Sotomar and his… friend… are acclimating.”

Emily opened her eyes and looked over at him, “Friend?”

“Yes, a friend. He came to help you get your strength back.”

“What kind of friend?”

“A Physical Therapist.”

“Any needles?”

“I don’t know,” Chevalier said. He began to wonder if he should have asked.

“If he comes at me with needles, I won’t be happy.”

Chevalier watched Emily until she fell asleep on the tile and got up to check on the acclimation progress. He found Sotomar, Lex, and a servant, on the second-floor landing with Kralen.

“How’s it going?” Chevalier asked, bending slightly to look at Lex. He was an odd color and seemed to be holding his breath.

Sotomar grinned, “He’s no longer questioning the need to acclimate.”

“You’re going to have to breathe at some point, Boy,” Chevalier chuckled, standing up.

“My God,” Lex hissed.

“Oh, we know. Mark’s even tasted it,” Kralen said, grinning, but got quiet when Chevalier glared at him.

Sotomar’s eyes grew wide, “He tasted a pregnant Winchester’s blood?”

“It was an accident,” Chevalier explained, “But yes, he did… then fought off twelve of us to get back to her.”

“Are you ready to move up a few steps?” Kralen asked them.

Sotomar nodded and Lex just took the steps slowly. Over the next eight hours, they moved up the stairs until they were standing in the fifth- floor foyer. Lex was still straining, but Sotomar seemed to be adjusting smoothly and visited about how the Valle were recovering from their entire city being turned to ash.

Within two hours, they were outside of the bedroom door and Chevalier went in first with Silas and Kralen to make sure they stayed away from Emily. She was sitting up in bed reading when they came in. She sat her book down and watched them as they moved to the bed, blocking the way from her to the door.

“What’s going on?” she asked nervously.

“Last stage of acclimation,” Kralen said as he crouched slightly.

Emily sighed and tried to get out of bed, but turned when she heard a hiss behind her. Sotomar was standing by a strange heku with his arm on the heku’s shoulder. The strange heku was crouched slightly, his hands curved into claws as he watched her.

“It’s good to see you again, Dear,” Sotomar said, smiling. Emily frowned at him, wondering how he could be so calm when this heku was about to attack her.

Lex slowly relaxed and shut his eyes as he stood back up. Emily watched him carefully to make sure he didn’t get out of Sotomar’s grasp.

“Breathe, Em,” Chevalier chuckled, and she took a deep breath, her eyes still on Lex.

“You… weren’t exaggerating,” Lex whispered, his eyes still shut.

“Control, Boy, that’s what helps,” Sotomar said, and let go of him to walk over to Emily. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine… you can go,” Emily said, trying to get her leg off the bed so she could stand up.

Sotomar smiled and put his hand out, “If you’re doing so well, then grab my hand.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to hold your hand.”

“He didn’t say hold it, he said grab it,” Chevalier said, turning away to hide a grin.

“If you are too weak to grab my hand, then just admit it, and we will help you,” Sotomar told her.

“Bite me,” Emily growled.

“Hmm,” he said, and turned to Chevalier and whispered too low for her to hear. “Grouchy, you say?”

Chevalier nodded and smiled.

“Let me see,” Lex said, and took her hand. She tried to pull it away, but he held onto it, “Swelling, atrophy, and weakness, you’re sore too I would imagine.”

“I don’t like you,” Emily said, glaring at him.

“3 months?” Lex asked, turning to Chevalier.

“Yes, no movement at all.”

“Hmm, easy enough to fix, but can be painful.”

“Know what else can be painful?” Emily asked angrily.

“Em…” Chevalier started to say.

“My foot up your ass.”

“If you could manage that, I wouldn’t be here,” Lex said, and put her hand in her lap.

Chevalier smiled when she turned away from them.

“So when do we start?” he asked.

“I saw a stable. Are there horses?” Lex asked.

Emily turned slightly toward him.

“Yes,” Chevalier answered.

“Can she ride?”

“Yes, she can,” Emily said, irritated.

“Good, then I say we start there.”

“Perfect, on horseback I can outrun you,” she growled, and tried to stand up, but couldn’t get her legs to cooperate.

“Not if we’re on the same horse,” Lex said, and started for the door.

“Hey!” Emily yelled when Kralen picked her up. “Put me down.”

“Nope,” Kralen said, and followed Lex.

“Put me down or I’ll ash you.”

“No you won’t,” Kralen chuckled.

“Silas, you and Kralen go with them,” Chevalier said.

“I trust him with her,” Sotomar told him.

Chevalier grinned, “It’s to protect him, not her.”

“Gotcha, don’t let the mortal kill the Valle,” Silas said, and headed down the stairs.

“Shall we pay Exavior a visit?” Sotomar asked.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, we’ll take Kyle with us.”

The Elders walked down toward the prison and called for Kyle to meet them there. The three gathered inside of the maximum-security block, but only one could look in at a time.

“Exavior, why did you order the death of Emily?” Sotomar asked angrily.

“I no longer have to tell you what I do,” Exavior hissed, looking up from the wall he hung against.

“You knew of Emily’s existence long before the Council did, why did you keep her from us?”

Exavior grinned, “She was mine to do with as I wanted.”

“You tried to turn her ten times in four days… a child even, you could have killed her.”

“I would have gained her powers and you know it.”

“That is a theory, nothing more.”

“Get the servants down here, I want this cell open,” Chevalier hissed. The passageway filled with heku that began tearing down the brick wall.

“Going to banish me?” Exavior asked, staring into Sotomar’s eyes.

“I leave that to the Equites. I’m done with you.”

“Chevalier is just upset. He knows that if Emily was awake, she wouldn’t let this happen.”

“There you’re sorely mistaken. She is awake and cares nothing about what we do.”

Exavior frowned, “She is awake?”

“Yes, she is,” Sotomar said, and moved back to wait while the wall was torn down. Guards lined the passageway to make sure he didn’t escape when the binds were released.

“Emily!” Exavior screamed.

Silas, Kralen, and Lex all glanced back at the palace as they stopped their horses on the hills outside of Council City. They looked at each other briefly and turned back to Emily. She was sweating and breathing rapidly. The work on the horse was excruciating, and every movement caused pain. She thought it would be a carefree ride, but her muscles were no longer used to the sway of the horse and Lex guided the stallion slowly around as she leaned back against his chest.

“Just relax, let the horse do the work,” Lex told her, and kicked the horse back into a slow walk.

Silas glanced at Kralen. Neither of them was comfortable with the amount of pain she was feeling, or the closeness of the Valle.

“Go back,” Emily whispered, trying to take the reins, but he moved them out of her reach.

“This is going to be hard, but what you need is to work the muscles,” he told her.

“I agree, that’s enough for now,” Silas said.

“If we stop every time it hurts, she won’t get better,” Lex explained.

“Still, it’s getting dark.”

Lex glanced up at the sky, “Fine.”

“Let me take her,” Kralen said, pulling his mare up alongside them.

Emily leaned toward him and felt his strong hands against her waist as he pulled her onto the mare. She sat sideways with her upper body supported by his arm and her head against his shoulder. The position was more comfortable, and the gentle walk of the horse was no longer painful.

They neared the stables well after dark and members of the Cavalry came and took their horses. Kralen slid off of the mare, still carrying Emily, and headed inside. Sotomar, Chevalier, and Kyle were waiting in the bedroom for them to return. Kralen laid Emily down on the bed slowly as she groaned slightly in pain.

“Great first day,” Lex said, smiling.

“Does it have to be that painful?” Silas asked angrily.

“Yes, actually it does. It takes a lot to get the muscles to work properly again.”

“Which is why I’m here,” Sotomar said. “Now it’s my turn.”

“No,” Emily whispered from the bed.

“This won’t hurt, Child, it’ll help. I promise.”

“What do we need to do?” Chevalier asked.

“Prop up pillows so she can lie on her stomach comfortably, then she’ll need to be naked and under a sheet,” Sotomar said, and walked out with the other heku.

Chevalier reached over to touch her, but she winced and he pulled his hand away, “Em?”

“Please, don’t let them touch me.”

“We have to do this. Sotomar will help, let him give you a massage.”

“Don’t leave,” she whispered.

“I won’t, I promise,” he said, and pulled her up onto his lap. He arranged the pillows, careful to leave an opening in the pillows for the baby, and then helped her slip off her clothes. She was still too stiff to undo the buttons alone, but with his help, she was soon on her stomach under a sheet.

Chevalier dimmed the lights and opened the door, “Ok, I’ll stay with her.”

Silas and Kralen nodded and turned back to Kyle, who was telling them about Exavior’s 2,000 year banishment and his burial in the ancient’s room.

Chevalier watched closely as Sotomar warmed the oil and pulled the sheet down off of Emily’s back. Soon, his skilled hands were working at the atrophied muscles and her breathing turned slow and rhythmic as she fell asleep.

Chapter 26 - Breeding

“That baby sure has dropped,” Dr. Hayden said, helping Emily sit up.

“What does that mean?” Chevalier asked.

“Means it’ll be any day now,” he said, and sat down with her chart. “The Physical Therapist did a great job, are you still sore at all?”

Emily shrugged, “Sort of, not as bad though.”

“You’ve gained a total of 5lbs with this baby,” he told her, and frowned. “Are you still having morning sickness?”

“Morning? I wish it was just in the morning.”

“I’ll be glad when you have the baby and we can get your iron and blood volume back up.”

“And fix her mood,” Chevalier said, and grinned when she glared at him.

“Ok, any questions?” Dr. Hayden asked.

“She seems to always be tired.”

“Part of that is the low blood and iron, though it’s worse than that. There’s something else going on, and I haven’t been able to find out what. Right now, we just look to the recovery after the birth and see how things go.”

“So we have the I.V.s all worked out?” Chevalier asked.

“No, I.V.s,” Emily told him.

“Emily, we’ve talked about this. The doctor that delivered Alexis told me you needed 8 bags of blood… we have to have an I.V. in,” Dr. Hayden explained.

“No”

“I don’t know how big your other babies were, but this one is way too big for you. You could need blood. You could need a C-section…”

“No”

“The size of the baby alone…”

Emily pointed at Chevalier, “He’s a tank! I can’t help that.”

Dr. Hayden stifled a grin, “I’m not saying it’s your fault... but we’ll need an I.V.”

“No”

“Emily, we almost lost you last time,” Chevalier reminded her.

“No I.V.s or I have this baby on my own.”

Dr. Hayden’s eyes grew wide, “You wouldn’t…”

“Oh, I would.”

Chevalier nodded, “She would.”

Dr. Hayden sighed, “Ok, we’ll discuss it further when you come in to have the baby. I suspect it won’t be long, but if it’s not this week, I want to see you next week.”

“No”

“Why don’t you go get your blood test and I’ll talk to your husband for a moment,” the doctor suggested.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Good, then you can discuss cutting off his…”

“Em!” Chevalier yelled, shocked.

Dr. Hayden chuckled, “We’ll discuss it… now go.”

Emily jumped off the table and left, irritated.

The doctor shut the door behind her and smiled, “Wow, grouchy is an understatement.”

“She’s always moody during pregnancy, but this time it’s worse,” Chevalier told him.

“I would imagine she never feels good though,” Dr. Hayden said, and sat down on the edge of the examination table. “With the sore muscles after the coma, and not feeling well, I’m wondering if she may need some anti-depressants.”

“She won’t take them.”

“I’ll just come right out and ask this… you’re extremely well off, correct?”

“Yes”

“Do you then, have a chef?”

“Yes,” Chevalier told him.

“Then I suggest crushing them up in her food,” Dr. Hayden said. “There’s one that’s almost completely tasteless.”

“We can try, but she’s barely eating anything.”

“Would your chef have a problem doing that?”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “He does what he’s told.”

Dr. Hayden wrote the prescription and handed it to Chevalier, “See what you can do, maybe put it into ice cream.”

“About the I.V.,” Chevalier said. “In the past, we’ve had to actually restrain her hands to the hospital bed.”

“That’s not really feasible while she’s in labor. She needs to be able to try to move into more comfortable positions.”

“Then if you can get it in, I’ll make sure it stays.”

“Do you think you could restrain her long enough to get in an I.V.?”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I’ll bring her brother to help.”

“Ok, then, let’s plan on that and not bring it up again.”

“Bring what up again?” Emily asked. She came in with a sucker and sat down.

“Your weight, I’m not going to push the issue,” Dr. Hayden lied.

“No use, not like I’m starving on purpose.”

“We’ll see you in a week, if not sooner.”

Emily nodded and headed for the door to the office. Chevalier grinned at the doctor and put the paper into his pocket before following her. They drove back to the palace in silence. Emily sat with her feet up on the dashboard and candy suckers in her hand.

“Stop the car!” Emily yelled when the Humvee was by the stables. Chevalier hit the brakes, and she was out the door and moving toward the corral before he realized what was going on. He grinned and pulled the car into the garage.

“What the hell!?” Emily yelled, crawling through the gate.

“What’s wrong?” Silas asked, appearing beside the corral. He saw the horses and grinned, “Oh.”

The rest of the Cavalry moved to the corral when they heard her yell. Mark saw her and headed into the corral with her. She was trying to pull the stallion away by the reins, but he wasn’t budging.

“It’s too late, Em,” Mark said, taking her arm. “Just leave him.”

“Why do they keep putting them out here? What? The guards think they’re playing leap frog?” she yelled.

Mark turned to hide his laughter, and she finally got Chevalier’s stallion away from the mare and led him out of the corral and into the stable.

Mark whispered through his laughter, “Who put them out here?”

“I put the mare out here alone,” Silas said. “She was kicking at the stall door.”

“Erm… we put the stallion out here, he was agitated,” Jaron said, grinning slightly to two other members of the Cavalry that were standing by him.

“Silas, Kralen, take your team inside. Sotomar and William are here and I don’t want trouble,” Mark said, and pointed to the stables. “You three get in there.”

Emily shut the stallion’s stall and turned to the guards, “You three put him out with the mare?”

“Sit,” Mark said to them. “Yes, they did.”

“Fine, then we’re going to have a little lesson,” Emily said, and disappeared into the stall of a calm pinto stallion. She led him out and tied him up by the guards, “This is a male horse… I know he’s male, because he has a penis.”

Mark blurred out of the stable and stopped outside the front door, laughing. He was still grinning when he appeared in the council chambers after being summoned by Quinn.

“Yes?” he asked, stifling a grin.

“What’s so funny?” Chevalier asked.

“Emily is giving three of the Cavalry a lesson on sex,” Mark said, laughing slightly.

William’s eyes grew wide, “She is?”

Mark nodded and heard Silas and Kralen laughing behind him, “They put a stallion out with that mare that’s in heat.”

“Again…” Chevalier chuckled.

“From the looks on their faces, they would rather be banished than to face the lesson they are currently being taught,” Mark explained, and chuckled.

“I’d like to say it serves them right... but that’s brutal,” Zohn said, grinning. “To have a sex ed lesson with an Elder’s wife...”

“A pregnant Elder’s wife,” Quinn laughed. “Can you imagine?”

Emily led the stallion back into the stall and came out with a mare, “Ok, so… now that we know the anatomy of the male horse and how baby horses are made, we’ll go over the female.”

The three guards glanced at each other nervously, all still sitting on the bale of hay as Emily explained how horses breed. The attack came from behind them, the eight heku appearing from deep in the stables. Emily barely had time to scream before the Cavalry blurred into a fight with the purple clad heku. One appeared in front of Emily and backhanded her onto the straw in the stall. He pinned her to the ground and slammed his fist into her jaw when she tried to scream for help.

“The Ferus have attacked four times in the last week,” William explained. “We don’t know how they are infiltrating our city, but they seem to…”

Chevalier stood up suddenly, his body tense. The Council turned to him as he blurred from the room. Mark, Silas, and Kralen had heard it too, and followed him out, immediately joining in the fight. The stables filled suddenly with Cavalry and council members.

Once the heku on Emily was able to knock her unconscious for a few seconds, he picked her up and quickly headed around the fighting to the door. He backed up, watching to make sure no one was around him, and ran directly into Sotomar and William.

“Going somewhere, Son?” William asked angrily.

“Come here, Child,” Sotomar said, and took Emily from the Ferus. She leaned her head against his shoulder. She could taste blood in her mouth and her jaw was throbbing. William grabbed the heku and restrained him while the Equites took care of the rest of them.

When the fighting slowed down, Sotomar headed into the palace with Emily, calling for ice bags and ibuprofen. He laid her down on the bed and handed her an ice bag, which she put against her jaw.

“Ferus?” she asked.

“Yes, the Ferus,” he said, and turned when he heard Chevalier, William, and Mark come in the bedroom door. They were covered in blood and standing defensively.

“Why? I thought I’m an Elder. Shouldn’t they be nice to me?”

“To them you are an Elder who has been kidnapped, and they will do whatever it takes to get you back,” Chevalier explained. He sat down and lifted the ice bag and hissed.

“Was anyone hurt?”

“Just you, Dear,” William said. “We still have the one that assaulted you, so we can… discuss… matters with him.”

Emily sat up, “I’ll discuss it with him.”

“No,” Chevalier said, and gently pushed her back onto the bed. “No more ashing.”

Emily returned the ice pack to her cheek, “What made you think I was going to ash him?”

Sotomar chuckled, “I saw that one coming, too.”

Mark came up to the bed and handed her orange juice.

“Thanks, I hate the taste of blood,” Emily said, and took a drink.

William grinned, “Ahhh… what we would give…”

“Silas and Jaron are outside of your door,” Chevalier said, standing up. “We have some business in the council chambers.”

“Wait,” Emily said, and sat up. “I want to go.”

“You’re protected here,” Mark told her.

“I’m not afraid… I want to see what the little git has to say,” she told them, and sat up slowly. She took the ibuprofen off the table and downed them with the orange juice, then stood up slowly and started for the door.

“Did he hurt your back?” Sotomar asked, frowning.

“No, why?” Emily asked, and turned around to face him.

“You’re walking strangely.”

Emily started toward Sotomar, but Chevalier took her arm and led her toward the door, “He didn’t mean that.”

Sotomar turned slightly as Mark whispered an explanation about the baby dropping. The Valle Elder grinned and followed everyone down into the council chambers.

Chevalier stopped outside of the back entrance to the council chambers and turned to Emily, “No ashing, promise me.”

Emily sighed, “Ok, I promise… unless he…”

“No, none,” Quinn said sternly.

Emily grumbled as she walked in, “Don’t do this Emily… don’t do that Emily…”

Chevalier chuckled and walked in behind her. She took the seat beside Chevalier and looked out. The Cavalry was assembled, and one lone heku was knelt in the center of the trial area.

“What the hell was up with that?” Emily yelled, leaning forward so her elbows were on the desk.

Zohn smiled, fighting a laugh, “Please let us question him.”

Sotomar and William came into the trial area and stood behind the Ferus.

“Let’s start simple, how did you get into the city?” Quinn asked as the room fell silent.

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” the Ferus said.

“We have ways to make you talk.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

Emily frowned slightly, “Wait… I’m your Elder, am I not?”

The Ferus looked at her, “Yes, you are.”

“Fine then… answer his question, I order you.”

The Council all turned back to the Ferus to see if that would work.

The heku paused, unsure what to do, and then policy dictated he answer, “We come in through the tunnels at the farmhouse.”

“Those are guarded,” Quinn said.

“We have our ways,” the heku told him.

Emily sighed, “How?”

“Elder, we shouldn’t be telling these things,” the heku told her.

Emily leaned forward, “Tell me, now.”

The Ferus sighed, “The night guards, Phillip and Scott, they are Ferus.”

Zohn nodded to Mark, and he disappeared from the room.

“How do you get into the Valle and Encala cities?” Emily asked, leaning back. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Em?” Chevalier asked, touching her arm.

“Suckers,” she whispered, and within a few seconds, had a bag of candy on the table in front of her. Chevalier opened one and handed it to her.

“She asked you a question, Boy,” William said, smacking the Ferus on the back of the head.

He knelt silently and watched Emily as she popped the sucker into her mouth and began to relax. She opened her eyes after a few minutes.

“Answer me,” Emily said.

“All of the night guards in the Valle city are Ferus,” he said, downtrodden. “The gate guards for the Encala are Ferus, all shifts.”

“You’re kind of like cockroaches aren’t you? Reproduce like crazy and hard to get rid of.”

“If you take your place as our Elder, we can be strong,” he said, looking at Emily.

“Kyle?” Emily asked, leaning forward.

“Yes?”

“If Silas over there beat the crap out of Zohn, what would the punishment be?”

“What? Wait…” Silas said, but Zohn held his hand up for him to be quiet.

“Instant death,” Kyle said. “No question.”

“Sotomar, same question for the Valle.”

Sotomar nodded, “That would be death.”

“William?”

“I’m sure we’d interrogate and then kill,” William told her.

“So… what makes you think you should live after assaulting an Elder?” Emily asked the Ferus as he glanced around the room, starting to panic.

“I was trying to save you,” he told her softly.

“From…”

“The Equites.”

“How does assaulting the Elder save her from us?” Kyle asked.

“She needs to get away from you, to her rightful place as Elder, and we will do anything to achieve that.”

“That’s stupid,” Emily said, frowning.

“You are too young to know what’s good for you. You need to trust those of us that care about you and take your place on our Council.”

“Emily!” Quinn yelled when he saw her concentrating on the Ferus.

She looked at him, “I wasn’t going to completely turn him to ash.”

“Let us punish him,” Quinn told her.

“How is it that the Ferus are so easily infiltrating the guard staff of the three factions?” Emily asked, confused.

“There are four factions,” the heku hissed.

“Hey! Watch it, Moron, I’m your Elder,” Emily yelled, and the heku sat back on his feet. “Now answer me.”

“The Valle were easy, Elder Exavior already had supporters and followers.”

Sotomar was visibly upset at that information.

“And the Encala?”

“They were the hardest out of all 3 factions,” the Ferus explained. “They soon realized that we would become a superpower in the heku, and chose to join us with little coercion.”

It was obvious to the Equites Council that William was ready to tear the Ferus to shreds.

“The Equites then, they were easy?” Emily asked him.

“Yes, almost as easy as the Valle.”

“How so?” Quinn asked.

“Part of the Elder’s place with the Ferus was a discipline program. Through punishment and humiliation, she would learn to respect the heku and would become stronger and more able to lead us.”

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “Do what?”

“Punishment and humiliation? What exactly did you have planned?” Zohn asked, shocked.

“What did we have planned? The plan isn’t over… it’s still waiting for her,” he explained. He ignored the others and watched her eyes.

“Stop it!” Emily shouted, and stood up. “Stop trying to control my mind, it doesn’t work on me.”

William slammed his knee into the side of the Ferus’ face, crushing in his skull. He fell to the ground, slowly recovering as blood poured out of his mouth.

Emily turned to leave, pulling her hand out of Chevalier’s when he tried to take it. She slammed the door behind her, and headed up the stairs as four members of the Cavalry fell in behind her.

Quinn looked down as the heku healed, “I hesitate to banish or kill you. You have too much fun information for us.”

“Next I’d like some numbers… how many Ferus are there, for instance,” Zohn asked.

The Ferus healed and slowly got to his knees, “My Elder is no longer here to order me around, you’ll get nothing.”

“I don’t need Emily to get information,” Chevalier said as he stood up and hurdled the desk, landing in front of the Ferus.

“The Ferus won’t stand for this!” he yelled. Chevalier grabbed him by the neck and blurred toward the interrogation room.

“We’ll see what he can get out of the Ferus… I just hope he gets information before he kills him,” Zohn said.

Emily appeared in the trial area door as she pulled on her riding gloves, “Cavalry mount up. Kyle, wanna ride?”

“Sure,” he said, and appeared at her side.

“Ever been on a horse?” Emily asked William and Sotomar.

“No, but I’ll go,” William said, and followed some of the Cavalry out.

“I think I will wait here for word from Chevalier,” Sotomar told her.

When Emily got out to the stables, her stallion was already saddled and waiting for her by the post. She pulled her hair up into her black cowboy hat and turned.

“Silas?” she called out.

Silas came out and grinned. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her up onto the tall stallion. She took the reins and waited for the others. Once the others were ready, she led them out of the city and onto the hills, keeping a close eye on William.

“Not going to fall off, right?” Emily asked the Elder.

William grinned, “Don’t think so.”

She dug around in her pocket for another sucker and then watched as the Cavalry raced across the field.

“Why don’t you race?” William asked.

Emily looked over at him and smiled, “That a challenge?”

“Doesn’t seem fair, I’m not good on a horse.”

“Then race me… my horse against your feet.”

“Don’t do it,” Kralen told the enemy Elder. “She has the fastest horse.”

“It’s on… what do I get if I win?” William asked, climbing down off of his horse.

“I’ll wear a red cape for a week,” Emily said. “If I win, you have to wear a green cape for a week.”

“You’re on, Tiny,” William said, and grinned.

Silas shook his head. He couldn’t believe they’d made a bet.

“Count it down, Kralen,” Emily said. “First to hit the trees wins.”

“In 3… 2… 1!” Kralen yelled.

Emily kicked her stallion and he lurched into a smooth gallop. William quickly took the lead, but she soon caught up. She could hear the Cavalry cheering her on, and she leaned forward and grinned as she passed him. She kept her eye on the trees and felt the stallion push harder, his racing instincts kicking in. Just after she passed the first tree, she turned quickly, and saw William catch up to her.

“Damn, that’s a fast animal,” William laughed.

“Silas… your cape please,” Emily said, and he slipped it off and handed it to William.

“This is going to be fun to explain,” he said, and slipped the green cape over his red one.

Emily turned away from their playful bantering when the pain hit. She held steady to the reins and breathed through it, not wanting them to know.

“Are you ok, Em?” Silas asked.

“Yes,” she said, and turned back to them with a smile. She felt the pain back off and relaxed her grip on the reins.

William climbed back up onto his horse, “I’ll need a rematch.”

“Any time,” Emily said, and started back for the city.

“We’re done?” Silas asked.

“No, I’m just out of suckers… you can keep going.”

Emily rode back into town and was just nearing the stables when another pain hit. She breathed threw it and then slid off of the stallion and tied him to the hitching post, then went in the back doors, through the kitchen, and up the servant stairs to her room. She quickly realized that no one was aware she had no guards, and she sat on the edge of the bed, trying to decide what to do.

She fought to control the panic. She knew Chevalier would pick up on that instantly and she would no longer be alone. She scanned the room, looking for anything useful.

Emily gasped and turned around when the door opened. Allen came in and flipped on the lights, “Why are you in here in the dark?”

He stopped when he saw the terrified look on her face, “Allen, shut the door.”

He shut the door quietly and took a step in, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to get out of here,” Emily said, and stood up. “Don’t tell your Dad.”

Allen watched with wide eyes as Emily leaned over and groaned slightly, resting her hands on her knees. She took one last deep breath and stood up.

“Mom, I can take you to the hospital if you don’t want Dad.”

“No, I want to go to the farmhouse where no one will know.”

“I won’t take you there. You need to get help… I remember when Alexis was born,” Allen said, steadying her with his arm.

Emily concentrated on Allen and he looked at her, confused, “What just happened?”

“You said you were going to go get me some ice cream… remember?” Emily said, smiling. She watched as Allen left for the kitchen. When he was out of sight, she quickly went down into the game room and spun into the bar, using the top of a chair to wedge the door shut. She looked over at the windows and saw they were boarded up, per the Elder’s orders when they began to bury the banished in the ancient’s room.

Allen walked into the kitchen, still unsure of how he’d gotten into the bedroom.

“You look lost, kid,” Zohn said, patting him on the back.

“I… I just kind of… appeared in Mom’s room,” Allen told him. “It was weird, I was in the library, and then I was in her room.”

“So she wiped your memory,” Zohn explained, leaning back against the stove.

“From what though?” Allen asked, and put down the ice cream scoop and headed into the prison, followed by Zohn. Zohn opened the heavy interrogation room door and stepped in after Allen.

Chevalier looked up from the rack, “Joining in?”

“Mom erased my memory,” Allen said, frustrated.

“Do you remember why yet?”

“No, not yet,” Allen said, and sat down on one of the tables.

“Which means she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing,” Zohn said. “I’m sure her guards are there.”

“I didn’t see any guards at her door,” Allen told him.

Chevalier sighed, “Great… well have the guards put him into a cell, I’ve heard all I can from him.”

“He sung huh?” Zohn asked, looking down at the heku.

“Yes, very easily.”

“Dad!” Allen said, his eyes wide. “She’s in labor.”

“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier said, and blurred up the stairs and into her room.

Allen came in behind him, “She was trying to get me to hide her out in the farmhouse.”

“She hides in the bar. Let’s try there,” Chevalier said, and answered his phone when it rang. “Yes?”

He stopped on the stairs and sighed, “Yes, I know. I’m trying to find her now.”

Quinn and Zohn came up the stairs and stopped at Allen and Chevalier.

“Yes, we’ll get her there as soon as we can,” Chevalier said, and hung up. “She called Dr. Hayden and told him she decided not to have the baby.”

“Well, at least she’s being rational,” Zohn said, frowning.

“So now we hunt for her?” Quinn asked.

“She usually hides in the bar, let’s try there before we call for help,” Chevalier said, and ran into the game room.

“Elders,” one of the guards said, standing up at attention.

“Did you see Emily in here?” Chevalier asked him.

“No, Sir, but I’ve only been here for a few minutes.”

Allen walked over and tipped the painting, but the wall didn’t spin. He turned around, “She has it blocked from the inside.”

Chevalier sighed, “I’m not playing this game. Everyone push.”

The Elders, Allen, and the one guard all braced and pushed at once against the door. There was a loud crack when the chair broke and the door swung around. Chevalier walked over behind the bar and looked down at her. The irritation left him immediately when he saw the terror in her eyes.

He knelt down, “It’s time to go.”

“No, I can’t do this,” she said, tears running down her face.

“It’s not really an option anymore, Em… Dr. Hayden is waiting for us.”

“Touch me and I’ll ash you.”

“No you won’t… now… we need to get you to the hospital.”

“It’s not time,” Emily said. “It’s just false labor.”

Chevalier started to argue, but could tell she was hit with another contraction. He stood up and turned to the others.

“Get my Hummer and tell Kyle he’s driving,” Chevalier whispered. He turned back to Emily when Zohn left to get Kyle.

Emily was shaking her head, “I can’t do it.”

“I’ll be there,” he said, and picked her up.

“You don’t understand. I can’t do it, not this time,” she told him, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“We’ll be in a hospital this time. It’ll be ok,” he said, and kissed her forehead before putting her into the Humvee.

Chapter 27 - Ferus Elder

“It’s a boy,” Dr. Hayden announced, and handed the baby over to the nurse. Kyle kept a firm grip on Emily’s I.V. and watched them put the baby in the warmer. He looked over at Chevalier, frowning.

Chevalier was watching the baby with wide eyes. He turned and looked at Kyle.

“Let’s get some B positive going,” the doctor called out, and a nurse hooked a bag of blood into the I.V.

“Is she ok?” Chevalier asked, looking down at her. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing quickly.

“Yes, just replacing some of the blood loss,” he explained, and then lowered the sheet. “She’ll feel better when we get a few units into her.”

“So the bleeding stopped?”

“Yes, she should be ready to take the baby in a few minutes.”

“Is… is she going to try to nurse him?” Kyle asked with an odd look on his face.

“No reason why not,” the doctor said. “I’ll be back in a while to check on her, and then I want to talk to you gentlemen.”

“Is there a problem?” Chevalier asked.

“I’d say so,” Dr. Hayden whispered, glancing back at Emily. “If I don’t like your explanation of how she got bruises on her face, then I’ll have to call the police.”

Kyle nodded, “We can explain that.”

“You better,” he said, and left.

Emily opened her eyes and took the baby from the nurse and cradled him in her arms. She touched his soft black hair and let him grip onto her finger with his tiny hand. The nurse smiled and left them alone.

“Can I hold him for a sec, Em?” Chevalier asked.

Emily nodded and handed the baby over. Chevalier turned away from her and glanced at Kyle before bringing the baby’s wrist to his nose and inhaling. He looked over at Kyle and nodded slightly.

“What?” Emily asked, noticing how quiet they got.

“He’s full heku,” Chevalier said, and turned to face her. “There’s no mortal scent at all.”

Emily frowned, “That can’t be right.”

“I caught it too, as soon as he was born,” Kyle said, still gripping her I.V.

“Give him to me,” she said, and reached out for the baby.

Chevalier handed her the baby and glanced again at Kyle. He nodded and left as soon as Chevalier had a hold on her I.V.

Emily ran her hands along the baby’s soft hands and feet, “He can’t be full heku.”

“He is, it’s unmistakable.”

“Go away,” Emily whispered, watching the baby.

“I can’t leave.”

“I said, go away.”

Chevalier nodded and started out the door.

“Take the baby,” Emily said, and held him up. Chevalier cradled the baby gently and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He handed the baby to a nurse and met Kyle out in the Humvee.

“We going back?” Kyle asked, starting up the truck.

“Yes, she needs to be alone for a bit,” Chevalier told him. They drove silently to the palace and pulled into the garage. Both headed into the council chambers where the Council was already meeting. They sat at their chairs and watched the rest of the current trial. As soon as the trial ended, everyone turned toward Chevalier.

“So?” Quinn asked, excited.

“It’s a boy,” Chevalier said. “A full heku.”

Quinn frowned, “Full?”

“Yes”

“You’re certain?”

“We both caught the scent,” Kyle said. “There’s no human in that baby.”

“Interesting,” Zohn said. “How is Emily taking that?”

“Not well, again… she’s had a hard time when the kids show any sign of favoring the heku, but this one hit her unexpectedly I think.”

“Let’s get on with it then so the Elder can get back to the hospital,” Quinn said. “We need to figure out what to do with Samuel.”

“So we have just Vaughn and Samuel left of the Ferus, right?” Zohn asked.

“And the one that tried to kidnap Emily yesterday,” Kyle reminded him.

“He’s alive?”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, but I’m not done with him, we were interrupted.”

“Let’s bring Vaughn and Samuel back in here,” Quinn said to Derrick. He nodded and disappeared. A few minutes later, palace guards came in with the requested heku and made them kneel before the Council.

“I’m surprised the Council would convene without their pet around to protect them,” Vaughn said angrily

“We’re trying to decide what to do with you two,” Chevalier told them, ignoring the pet comment.

“By law you have to let me go,” Vaughn said, grinning. “I’m the only Elder of the Ferus, and therefore, must be released.”

“We’ve already told you, the laws don’t apply to the Ferus. They are not a sanctioned faction,” Zohn said, sighing.

“Then what must one do to become sanctioned?” Samuel asked calmly. The Council remembered him as one of the calmer Elders the Equites had seen, one reason he was only an Elder for a few months before being banished.

“You’d have to get approval from all three factions, and as of yet, you don’t even have one supporter,” Kyle explained.

“Still,” Vaughn said. “I’m the only one that can control those heku and should, therefore, be let go.”

“No,” Zohn said.

“Return them,” Quinn said, and watched as the guards hauled them back to the prison.

“I vote we return Samuel to the ground, and keep Vaughn around for a while,” Zohn said. “He’ll cave and we could get useful information.”

“I concur,” Quinn said, and turned to Chevalier.

“Do it,” Chevalier told Kyle.

Kyle nodded and disappeared down into the prison.

“I’m going back to the hospital,” Chevalier said.

“Are you taking blood?” Quinn asked.

Chevalier frowned slightly, “Hadn’t thought of that, guess I better.”

“You’re going to feed an infant blood… in the hospital?” Dustin asked, shocked.

“If he’s hungry, yes, I am,” Chevalier said, grinning, and left for the kitchen. He grabbed some blood and a cooler before heading out for the hospital.

Chevalier glanced quickly at the guards he had posted outside of the hospital and then walked in.

Dr. Hayden came up to him angrily, “She’s gone.”

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“She took off,” Dr. Hayden explained. “The nurse got her blood pressure around noon, and then went back in at 2 to check on her, and she was gone.”

“That doesn’t make any sense… did she take the baby?”

Dr. Hayden sighed, “No, I suspect Post-Partum Depression… it’s common after having a baby and depression can cause the mother to no longer want the baby.”

“I still don’t see how she would do that. Did anyone actually see her leave on her own?”

“Well, no.”

“Then she could have been taken?”

Dr. Hayden smiled, “I doubt it. Now’s as good a time as any to explain the bruises on that girl.”

Chevalier nodded, “Do you have a private office?”

“This way,” he said, and motioned for a conference room. Chevalier followed the doctor in and sat down.

“Start talking, I’m about to call the police,” Dr. Hayden said, crossing his arms.

“I can’t tell you a lot, but you know we’re… what did you call it? Well off.”

“Yes, go on.”

“You probably noticed that Emily has bodyguards.”

“Yes… one that was her husband a few years ago and now is her brother, while you used to be her brother and are now her husband.”

Chevalier cringed, “I’ve always been her husband, sorry about that. The other is because of my work. It puts her in danger and her guards ran into some trouble. They were outnumbered, and while they were fighting, Emily was assaulted. We didn’t call the police, but they have been taken care of.”

Dr. Hayden sighed, “I don’t like it when my patients show signs of abuse. Do you know that pregnant women are the number one victims of assault? Though it’s usually the husbands.”

“I assure you,” Chevalier said, “I also don’t like it when someone messes with my wife, and as I said, they have been dealt with.”

“When she returns, I’ll make a decision on how to handle this,” he said, obviously still angry.

Chevalier sighed, “Can I take the baby home then?”

“Sure, he’s doing great, not a really good eater though. If you find Emily, we need her back. She lost a lot of blood and we were still doing transfusions.”

Chevalier waited, deep in thought, while the staff got the baby ready and brought him out to Chevalier.

“We still need a name before we can release him,” the nurse said, gently rocking the baby.

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide, “Did… did Emily mention a name?”

“No, it’s up to you.”

“We can’t just call you later with a name?”

“No, I’ll need a name before you can leave.”

Two hours later, Chevalier pulled into the palace garage with the baby in a car seat behind him. He sighed and went around to pick him up before going inside. He’d already called for Anna to come to the palace immediately, and planned on using Allen to help with the baby until Emily could be found. He went inside and headed straight for the council chambers with the screaming baby in his arms.

Quinn smiled, “Oh, you brought him!”

Chevalier frowned, “Didn’t have a choice. Emily disappeared from the hospital.”

“She what?” Kyle asked, shocked.

“I just need to figure out if she took off or if she was taken,” he said, sitting down.

“May I?” Zohn asked, putting his hands out.

Chevalier shrugged and handed him over. The Council watched while Zohn smelled his tiny wrist, making the baby scream louder.

Kyle grinned, “Like mother, like son.”

“Hmm, he is full heku,” Zohn said, and passed the baby back to Chevalier.

“We told you that,” Kyle said, shaking his head.

“Yes, well,” Zohn said, and turned back to his roster.

“How do we ascertain if she left or if she’s been taken?” Quinn asked.

“She’s not answering her cell phone, so I’m not exactly sure,” Chevalier told them, and called for Allen to take the baby.

“What’s his name?” Dustin asked.

Chevalier chuckled, “I had to name him before they’d let me take him…”

“Oh, heavens,” Kyle said, cringing.

“I pulled a name out of Emily’s dreams… his name is Dain.”

Kyle nodded, “Not bad.”

“Apparently, if she hates it, we can legally have it changed.”

***

Emily slowly opened her eyes. It took a few minutes for her eyes to focus through the drug haze. She looked around the strange room, confused. When she went to sleep, she’d been in the hospital. Now she was in a large stateroom with dark cherry wood furniture and soft purple décor. She sighed when she saw the dark purple banner above one of the doors, bearing an intricately decorated ‘F’.

Emily sat up, clutching her stomach. She was still in a lot of pain from having the baby the day before, and she felt weak and tired. She was able to sit up on the edge of the bed and look around the room more. She was alone, but the fire was blazing and there was food on the table. She turned when there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” she said, watching the door.

“Elder?” a strange heku asked, coming in. “Did you require assistance?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Val, Ma’am, I’m the faction doctor. I’ve been looking over you this morning.”

“Yeah? And what did you find?”

“You’re still very weak…”

“I had a baby yesterday, moron.”

“Low on blood, I assume they were giving you transfusions.”

“Go away,” she said, and stood up slowly. She sat down again when the world slipped out from under her.

“Elder!” Val said, and rushed to her side. He put a hand on her leg, “Are you ok?”

“I’m an Elder, damnit, when I say go away… then do it,” she growled.

Val nodded, “Yes, Elder.”

She watched as he left the room and shut the door behind him. Emily looked again around the room and stood up, slower this time. She finally made it to the table and sat down by the food, then lifted the dome off the tray and saw a steak and potatoes. Sighing, she started to eat, knowing she needed her strength back. While eating, she went over how to use the Elder title to her advantage, and soon had a plan for getting back to the Equites.

Just as Emily finished eating, she heard another knock.

“What?” she yelled, and turned around.

“I came with your robes, Elder,” a heku woman said. She came in and hung up a few dozen purple robes and then bowed before leaving.

A few minutes later, Val returned, “Are you in pain?”

“What do you think?” she yelled at him. She was furious that she was kidnapped again and planned on making the Ferus regret taking her.

“Take these, it’ll help,” he said, and handed her two pills.

“What are these?”

“Tylenol 3s”

“Ok, go away.”

Emily watched as the doctor left, then hesitated before taking the two pills and went back to lay down in bed again. She found a comfortable spot and was able to fall asleep once the pain began to back off.

“Elder?” someone whispered, and woke Emily up.

Emily rolled onto her back and looked at him, “It’s 2:30 in the morning.”

“Sorry, Elder, one of our covens was attacked by the Encala,” the heku said.

“Then attack them back, let me sleep,” she said, and rolled over.

“There are only 12 of them. The Encala coven is too large.”

Emily sighed and looked back at him, “Then give me a phone and let me talk to the Encala.”

There was a long pause, “We can’t do that.”

“Of course not… are the 12 dead?”

“No, frightened though. The Encala warned them and said they would be back.”

“Tell the 12 of them to abandon ship and join a larger coven. I’m sleeping!”

“Yes, Elder,” he whispered, and left the room.

***

Emily was feeling better. It had been 4 weeks since the birth and she was almost back to normal. She was heavily guarded in the Ferus Palace, but was mostly able to go where she wanted and do what she wanted, as long as it didn’t involve going outside or using a phone. She was trying to gain the strength to ash all of them and get away.

“Please, Elder, help us,” the leader of the eight heku coven said.

Emily sighed, “I’m thinking.”

The Council watched her, sitting in the middle of the Council platform with an empty chair on each side of her. She was the only Elder, and therefore, the ruling person, though the Council kept her from getting away.

“Ok, so the Equites keep burning your houses,” she said, still trying to figure out what to do.

“Yes, we’ve moved four times and they keep finding us.”

“Six attacks by the Equites and four by the Encala this week. Last week there were eight by the Valle and one by each the Encala and the Equites. Seems to me like we need to show them how powerful we are,” Emily said, still thinking as she doodled on a notepad.

“How do we do that, exactly?”

“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do,” Emily said, hesitating. “There’s a weakling on the Encala Council… name’s Fred.”

“You mean Frederick?” the acting Chief Enforcer asked.

“Yes, Frederick… they talk him up like he’s all mean, but he’s just a pansy, trust me, I’ve met him,” Emily told him. “Ask around the Ferus that used to be Encala, and find Fred’s coven… we gather one coven and we go kidnap them all as a warning… and do it in the middle of the night.”

“Kidnap the entire coven?” the acting Chief Interrogator asked, shocked.

“Yes”

“That’s not how things are done, Dear.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Did I ask you?”

He sat back, “No, Elder.”

“Wait and watch until Fred goes back to his coven, and then attack… I want him, too.”

“Frederick is one of the most notoriously vicious heku,” the Chief Enforcer said.

“He’s a wimp… they build up stories to make you all afraid of him. He’s a powder puff.” Emily turned to the Council, and pointed to the white haired heku on the end, “What’s your name?”

“Winger, Ma’am.”

“You will lead the attack. Let me know when Frederick is in custody. I would imagine he runs his coven like a pre-school.”

“Yes, Elder,” he said, and turned back to the trial area. “Next.”

“Last for today is this,” the guard said, pushing a heku to his knees in front of Emily. She was surprised to see one of the members of her Cavalry knelt before her, and her eyes grew wide.

“Ok, what did he do?” she asked, trying not to meet the eyes of the Equites.

“The Equites have sent spies to find you. This one was near here, watching the palace.”

“Send him back with a warning that we’re stronger than they could ever imagine,” Emily said, and flipped through a book someone handed her full of coven listings.

“Yes, Elder,” the guard said, and drug the Equites away.

“That’s it for today,” the Chief Interrogator said.

Emily nodded, “Fine.”

***

“They did what?” Zohn asked, shocked.

William nodded, “You heard me correctly. This rogue band of Ferus attacked Frederick’s coven in the middle of the night and attempted to kidnap them all, including Frederick.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Are they insane?”

“The entire coven?” Quinn asked, frowning. “During the nighttime even?”

“Obviously, the Encala had no losses and Frederick is livid. He killed the Commander, and so we have no real information,” William said.

“Why exactly are you telling us this?” Zohn asked.

“It seemed to us, the Encala Council, that these attacks were planned by someone not skilled in combat or the ways of the heku,” Reese told them.

“There have been some weird things coming from the Ferus, things we’ve never seen before from a heku coven,” Quinn said, turning to Chevalier.

“I agree. When’s the last time you saw a group of heku hold up a convenience store to steal chips?” Aaron said, amused.

“It has to be,” Chevalier said, shaking his head. “How do we prove it?”

“She’s sending us signals. She knows no heku would knock over a store… we just need to figure out where she is,” Quinn said.

“Frederick killed all of them?” Zohn asked.

“Yes,” William told him. “He was furious that they used such little strategy or tactical advantages, and felt it better if they not live.”

“Have you gotten anything from her?” Aaron asked. “It’s no secret you can feel what she feels.”

Chevalier shrugged, “Nothing very interesting other than she’s having some fun.”

“Fun?” William asked, frowning.

“Yes, I suspect these heku attacks are entertaining her.”

“I’m afraid they will soon realize that her attacks are killing the Ferus only. Not one attack on any of the three factions has resulted insomuch as a broken nail,” Kyle said. “If they realize it, she may be in trouble.”

“Sir,” Derrick said, stepping in. “There’s a delegation of the Ferus here to address the Council.”

William grinned, “This should be interesting.”

Zohn sighed, “Show them in.”

The Encala and Equites watched the four robed figures come into the room. Their hoods covered their faces and their hands were clasped as they walked in.

“Why have you come here?” Chevalier asked.

“We come to seek the release of Vaughn,” the shortest said softly.

“Go back and tell your Elder Emily, that we’re not giving Vaughn back, and she can consider this a warning that she’s next. No more attacks on the factions will be tolerated,” Chevalier growled.

The Ferus were silent for a moment before the shortest heku stepped forward, “Release Vaughn now or the Council will take appropriate action.”

“No,” Zohn said. “Take the message back to your Council, that their one and only Elder is moments from becoming the number one target for all three factions. These attacks are unwarranted and will no longer be ignored.”

“If that is your last word.”

“It is,” Quinn said. The Ferus backed out of the room, and they heard the guards escorting them out.

Mark came in, grinning, “They really aren’t that smart.”

“What now?” Quinn asked, watching him.

“They came in a car and parked it at the gate,” Mark told them. “They said it was by council order that they park it close to the Equites gates… to show they aren’t afraid.”

“She’s going to get herself killed,” Kyle said. “That may seem funny, but their Council won’t put up with that for long.”

“If they decide to banish her…” William said, “For being a weak link.”

Quinn looked over when the phone rang. He frowned and hit the speakerphone button, “Equites Council.”

“Let Vaughn go,” Emily said angrily.

Quinn glanced at Chevalier, and he shrugged.

“No,” Zohn said. “Stop attacking the three factions.”

“We will not! Not until you release Vaughn and swear us in as an actual faction,” she said.

“That’s not going to happen,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.

“The sooner you realize we’re a true faction… then the sooner you’ll have peace, and the sooner you’ll once again be able to sleep at night, Ok?” she yelled, and hung up.

“Dissect that,” Chevalier said. “Everything she said.”

“’Let Vaughn go’… seems straightforward,” Kyle said. “I suspect that was to make the call.”

“Agreed,” Quinn said. “’We will not, not until you release Vaughn and swear us in as an actual faction’”

William shrugged, “That is straightforward also.”

“Try the last part… ‘The sooner you realize we’re a true faction… then the sooner you’ll have peace, and the sooner you’ll once again be able to sleep at night, Ok?’” Zohn said. “She knows we don’t sleep at night.”

“The sooner you realize we’re a true faction,” Aaron said, thinking.

“She keeps saying sooner?” Chevalier said, shrugging.

“We have a Sooner Coven,” William said. “In Oklahoma.”

“Named after a heku?” Dustin asked.

“No, Oklahoma is the Sooner State,” William explained.

“She ended the sentence with Ok,” Chevalier said. “Call Bennion Coven, tell them to check their state.”

“Right away,” Mark said, and disappeared from the room.

***

Emily looked over at the Council, “That’s the fourth try. It doesn’t sound like they want to let Vaughn go.”

“We have to get him back. You aren’t technically qualified to run a faction,” the Chief Interrogator said.

“Hey! I’m doing my best,” Emily said angrily. “If you don’t like how I do things, then I suggest you get out.”

“No, no, Elder, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then back off!”

“Yes, Elder.”

Emily stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. She went to her room and laid down on the bed. Her heart was aching for the baby she’d never been able to spend time with, and hearing Chevalier’s voice made it worse. She’d been looking for a way out for six weeks and hadn’t seen anything. They watched her carefully, though she hoped the phone call and message from the Equites threatening her might make them let up a bit.

She sat up when there was a knock on the door, “Come in.”

The Chief Interrogator entered and turned away from her. She’d obviously been crying, “Do you need anything?”

“I need out of this damned palace! I’m mortal, I need to see the sky and get some fresh air,” she said, and shut her eyes to keep from crying. “You do all realize I need sun to live?”

“Let me talk to Val,” he said, and left the room.

Emily leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling until another knock sounded, “Come in.”

Val and the Chief Interrogator came in and she glanced over at them.

“I’ve informed them that it is true, as a mortal you need the sun,” Val said. “The Council has agreed to let you take one trip out of the city to gather anything you might need, and then has agreed to let you out of the palace once a day to get some sun.”

Emily sighed, “It’s about time.”

“We’re sending four of the guards with you, and the Chief Enforcer, if you try to run...” the Chief Interrogator said.

“Why would I run?” Emily asked. “Where exactly would I go?”

“That is true… still… the guards will be necessary.”

“I’ll do anything just to get out of here,” she said. “Do I get clothes at least?”

“No, the purple robe will suffice.”

“Fine, let’s go,” she said, and started for the door, followed by the doctor and the Chief Interrogator.

Emily was shown into the garage where four cars were parked. The four guards crawled into the back of a black Suburban and Emily got into the passenger side, while the Chief Enforcer crawled into the driver’s side and started up the engine. They drove out of the city in silence while Emily watched the terrain. She rolled down the window and took a deep breath of the fresh country air.

“What store?” the Chief Enforcer asked.

“I don’t know this area. Somewhere that I can buy a swimsuit and some personal items,” she said, still watching out the window.

“We do not have a pool.”

Emily smiled, “I need sun, and I’d rather not lie out naked.”

“Oh, right,” he said, grinning slightly.

Emily turned away from the window when the beautiful hillside faded away into cement walkways and large stores. She sat back and let the Chief Enforcer find a store, then sighed before heading in, not looking forward to the odd looks. With her purple robes and five hulking bodyguards, she imagined she would cause quite a commotion. To help some, she pulled her hood up to shadow her face.

The people cleared out of their way, staring with wide eyes as they moved away from the six odd figures. She pulled a bikini off the shelf and handed it to the Chief Enforcer. He frowned slightly and took it, carrying it awkwardly through the store. After grabbing a few more items, she went to the car with the guards while the Chief Enforcer paid for the items.

Emily sat in the car and looked around her, waiting for him to get through the long lines. A sleek red sports car caught her eye, as there was a matching black one beside it. She couldn’t quite tell, but it looked like there might be a V on the tires. She glanced back at the guards and smiled. She was able to watch the two cars without them knowing, because her hood was still up.

Her heart almost stopped when she saw the four huge men come out of a store and head for the cars. She knew she had limited time. They were only a hundred feet from her, but she knew she couldn’t outrun the heku in the car. As the heku neared their cars, Emily sprang from the car and ran for them.

She heard a growl behind her as one of the Ferus guards grabbed her, catching the attention of the Valle.

“Sotomar!” Emily screamed before the Ferus heku put his hand over her mouth. The Valle glanced at one another and then headed over for where the Ferus were restraining her.

“There a problem?” the tallest one asked. Emily noticed the insignia on his collar and saw he was a General in his coven.

“No, just a problem child,” one of the Ferus said. Emily bit his finger, and he pulled it away quickly as blood filled her mouth.

“Take me to Sotomar,” Emily said, and he put his hand over her mouth again.

“Who is that?” the Valle asked, stepping closer.

“None of your business. Get back,” the Chief Enforcer said, blurring up.

Emily was frustrated with the standoff. She had recently tried to burn the Ferus, but hadn’t been able to work up the energy, or she would do that now.

“If the lady wants to talk to the Elder, we’ll take her,” the Valle said, and his three companions began to surround the Ferus.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” the Chief Enforcer said. “She’s just confused.”

The Valle beside Emily inhaled and hissed slightly. She looked at him with wide eyes as he turned to the others, “Smell that?”

The tallest Valle nodded, “You have a Winchester there.”

“No, it’s not…” the heku holding her said nervously.

“It’s kinda funny that the factions have been looking for the Winchester, and here you have a mortal yelling for our Elder.”

“She’s delusional.”

“Pull her hood down,” the Valle said, leaning back against a nearby car.

“No reason to… why don’t you move along. We aren’t hurting anything,” the Chief Enforcer said, and motioned for the heku to move back to the car with Emily.

Emily finally got a clear shot to the heku’s knee and kicked at it, displacing his kneecap as he screamed and fell to the ground.

She ran for the Valle, “I’m Emily, help me!”

The Chief Enforcer caught her and threw her up against a truck. She slunk down to the ground as the Valle attacked the Ferus and they blurred into a fight in the dark parking lot. Emily sat on the cold cement, leaning back against the truck, her head pounding. The fight didn’t last long, and she looked up as the Valle neared her, crouched slightly with tightly clenched fists.

The General knelt down, “Lady Emily?”

She nodded, but could feel the blood drip down the back of her neck, “Don’t come too close.”

“We smell it, it’s ok,” he said. “Can you stand up?”

Emily nodded again and he helped her to her feet. She glanced at the dead Ferus and let him lead her back to the sports cars. She cringed, but crawled in on one of their laps as they sped off toward their coven.

“This’ll be an interesting conversation with the Council,” the heku said, laughing. “All three factions are out looking for you.”

“I couldn’t get away from them,” she whispered.

The heku that she was sitting on began looking through her hair, “You have a few cuts, but they don’t look very bad.”

“We’ll see better inside,” the General said. Emily watched his face. She could tell he was very young when he turned, but his eyes held wisdom and compassion beneath the rugged exterior.

“Thank you,” Emily told them softly. “If you hadn’t noticed me, I think I might have been punished.”

“It’s our pleasure. I’m sure we’ll be rewarded for returning you,” he said, smiling.

Emily nodded and watched as the city turned back into country and farms, and the cars were soon pulling in to a compound surrounded by high cement walls. She got out of the car with help from a shocked guard, and then followed the General into the coven’s mansion.

“Charlie, what did you bring back?” a heku asked. He was obviously the Coven Leader, and had dark gray robes on that were embroidered with golden V’s.

The General smiled, “Believe it or not, we brought back the Winchester.”

The Coven Leader looked at Emily, “You are?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, they fought off the Ferus and freed me.”

“Come, let’s call the Council,” he said, and held out his hand. Emily nodded and walked up the stairs, and took his hand, “Are you bleeding, Child?”

“Yes,” she said, and froze.

“What happened?” the leader asked the General.

“One of them threw her up against a truck when the fight started,” the General explained.

“You better come too, explain why the Lady is injured,” the Coven Leader said. The General nodded and followed them up the stairs and into a conference room. They sat around a small table and the Coven Leader dialed on speakerphone.

“Council,” Sotomar growled, obviously angry.

“Elder, it’s Lord Darby from the Slade Coven… we have just freed the Winchester from the Ferus.”

There was a pause, “Is this a joke?”

“No, Sotomar, it’s true,” Emily said.

“She is injured slightly,” Lord Darby said.

“I’m ok, really,” Emily told him.

“How badly?” Elder Ryan asked.

“She was thrown up against a truck. She has some cuts on her back and head,” the General said.

“We’re sending a helicopter, you two come back here with her,” Sotomar ordered.

“Yes, Sir,” Lord Darby said, and turned off the phone.

“Would you like to lie down?” the General asked.

Emily nodded, “Yes, please.”

She followed Lord Darby to a small room, barely large enough for a bed. He smiled and shut the door behind her after putting a cell phone down on the bed. Emily sat down and called Chevalier.

“Who is this?” Chevalier growled.

“The Valle freed me,” Emily said, suddenly breaking into tears.

“Em! You’re free?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I couldn’t get away.”

“We’ll come get you, where are you?”

“Sotomar is sending a helicopter,” Emily told him.

“I’ll wait for you at the Valle Palace, are you ok?”

“Yes, mostly… I just need to lie down for a second.”

Emily heard Chevalier talking to someone and then he turned back to the phone, “Rest then, we’ll see you at the palace.”

Emily nodded and shut the phone. She curled up on the bed, surprised that it was over and she was going home. Before long, she drifted off to sleep and didn’t wake up until the sound of a helicopter landing shook the large house.

She sat up to clear her head before walking out into the hallway.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Shall we go?” the General asked. Emily nodded and followed him out to the helicopter. The noise had caught the attention of the entire coven, and heku were lined up watching the Council’s personal helicopter. The General helped her up into the helicopter, and she buckled in, pulling at the stiff purple robe to try to get comfortable for the ride.

Three hours later, the helicopter circled the Valle city and then landed on the palace roof. Before the pilot cut the engines, the Valle Council, Valle Imperial Guards, Chevalier, Kyle, and Mark appeared from the door and headed for the helicopter. The General opened the doors and jumped out, and then turned and offered his hand to Emily. She took his hand, and he helped her out of the helicopter.

Emily turned and ran into Chevalier’s arms. He held her tightly as he thanked Lord Darby and the General.

“Come inside where it’s warm, we have you some food,” Sotomar said, motioning inside.

Emily turned toward the door and took Chevalier’s arm, and they walked into the palace and down the stairs to a conference room. Sotomar moved aside and let Chevalier and Emily in before shutting the door softly, leaving them alone.

Chevalier sat down and pulled Emily toward him. He wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his neck as the tears started. After a few minutes, he moved away from her and looked her over.

“Where’s the blood coming from?” he asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

“Head and back I guess,” she said, and glanced around the room. “Is he here?”

Chevalier smiled, “Kyle, bring the baby.”

Emily turned when Kyle came in, but she was focused on the baby. She stopped and looked at him. His black hair was wild and sticking out all over his head. His eyes were shiny and black, and his sweet face looked like Allen when he was a baby. Her heart skipped a beat when he looked over at her while he sucked on his fingers.

“Do you want to hold him?” Kyle asked.

She didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he started to cry when she held him. Kyle came forward slowly, and she put her arms out and took the baby, quickly pulling him against her chest and resting her cheek against his head. When he didn’t cry, she brought him up to her face and kissed his soft cheeks as tears began to flow. Kyle bowed slightly and left the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Emily held him against her shoulder and turned toward Chevalier, “He’s not crying.”

Chevalier smiled, “That’s new… he’s actually quite fussy.”

“Have you taken him to a Pediatrician?”

“No,” he said, smiling slightly. “Em, he’s full heku and we can’t risk a doctor noticing.”

She frowned and rocked him slowly, “Then he drinks…”

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, in a bottle.”

Emily kissed him softly on the top of the head, “Does he sleep?”

“Not much. He mostly just cries… actually… I’ve had to call in Anna to help, and the palace is a bit on edge from the constant screaming,” he said, shrugging.

Emily frowned, “He doesn’t seem to be fussy.”

“Trust me, he’s a screamer and only shuts up to eat.”

“Be nice,” Emily said, holding the baby tighter.

“Do you want to know his name?”

Emily smiled slightly, “You named him?”

“Yes, I did,” Chevalier said proudly.

“Ok… I’m afraid, but give it to me.”

Chevalier frowned, “Don’t trust me?”

“Just tell me.”

“No, we just call him Screech.”

Emily frowned, “That’s awful.”

“Just wait.”

“What’s his name?”

“Dain”

“Where did you get that?”

“From your dreams,” he said, and smiled. “You use Dain and Megera as the future children in your dreams.”

Emily smiled, “Not too bad, I guess.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Not too bad?”

“You could have done worse.”

Chevalier turned serious, “Were they nice to you?”

“Yes, very”

“Did they hurt you in any way?”

“No”

“The punishment and humiliation they spoke of then…”

Emily shrugged, “I don’t know. I suspect they were waiting for Vaughn.”

They both turned when someone knocked on the door.

“Enter,” Chevalier said.

Kyle peeked in, “Is he alive?”

“Yes, Em has him.”

“Did she kill him?”

“Does he really cry that much?” Emily asked, rocking still.

“You have no idea,” Kyle said, and shut the door.

Emily turned back to Chevalier, “I want to go home.”

“Ok, let’s go,” he said, and opened the door.

“You Equites exaggerate. He hasn’t cried at all since just after you arrived,” Sotomar said, shaking his head.

“We were not. That child is a screamer,” Mark said, and headed up to Equites 1.

Emily handed the baby off to Chevalier and turned toward Lord Darby and the General, “Thank you, if I can every repay you, please let me know.”

Lord Darby smiled, “Our pleasure, Child.”

Emily moved quickly toward the General and hugged him, “Thank you.”

The General glanced at Chevalier and then hugged her and smiled, “Your welcome, Child. We haven’t had that good of a fight in a while. It was fun.”

Emily smiled and went back to take the crying baby from Chevalier. The baby stopped screaming instantly, and she headed up to the helicopter with him. Four hours later they arrived back in Council City.

“The Council would like to speak to you,” Silas said, helping Emily off of the helicopter.

She nodded and held the baby against her shoulder as she followed them down. Kyle and Chevalier went around to the back while Mark, Silas, and Emily waited at the trial room door until Derrick opened it.

Emily walked in and stepped up before the Council.

Quinn smiled, “It’s good to have you back, Dear.”

“Thank you,” she said, scanning the Council.

Zohn frowned, “What did you do to the baby?”

“I didn’t do anything to him.”

“Then why isn’t he screaming?” Dustin asked.

Emily glanced down at him, “I don’t know.”

“Well, isn’t that a pleasant surprise,” the Chief of Defense said, smiling.

“Did you bring me here to find out if I injured the baby?” Emily asked, starting to get irritated at how the heku were treating the baby.

“No, we need to know all you can remember about the Ferus,” Zohn told her.

Emily sighed, “Can I please sleep first. I’m tired, my head hurts, and I just want to relax.”

“Have you not been sleeping?” Quinn asked.

“It’s a little hard to sleep when you’re getting woken up at all hours to figure out who had the donor first, or who got the house in the divorce,” Emily said, sighing.

Chevalier grinned, “Welcome to our world.”

“Yeah… well… I need sleep or I get grouchy.”

“Understood, we’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Quinn said, and watched Emily walk out.

“Seriously, how did she get the baby to stop screaming?” Zohn asked Chevalier.

“She just held him.”

“We tried that!”

“I know... but apparently he wanted his Mom.”

Zohn sighed, “So he’s not completely heku.”

“Well think about it,” Kyle said. “He’s heku, so his senses are sharp… he was inside of a Winchester for 9 months.”

Quinn chuckled, “He has a point… he would have caught that scent the moment she got near him.”

“Alexis held him though, and he didn’t calm down,” Dustin said.

“Her scent is only about a quarter as strong as her Moms,” Chevalier reminded them. “Either way… it’s so quiet.”

The Council fell silent and listened to the calm stillness in the palace, something they’d not felt since the baby came back from the hospital.

***

Emily sighed and looked down at the baby sleeping on her chest. She looked over at the clock and smiled at the baby, “I slept until after noon.”

“Yes, you did,” Chevalier chuckled from by the fire.

Emily looked over at him, “I was tired.”

“This is the first time in 7 weeks that the palace isn’t on edge from a screaming baby.”

“He’s so sweet and calm,” Emily said, running her fingers along the baby’s back.

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

“I need a shower,” she said, and sat up, still holding the baby.

“Ok,” Chevalier said nervously. He took the baby and before Emily got into the shower, she could hear Dain screaming as Chevalier tried to calm him down. She grinned and went in for a hot shower.

Emily stepped out of the shower and frowned. The baby was screaming even louder, and she could hear more voices in the bedroom trying to calm him down. She shook her head, wrapped in a towel, and went out to get him. Chevalier handed him over, not even concerned she was in front of most of the Council in a towel. Dain immediately stopped crying, and she carried him back into the bathroom and shut the door.

“That’s it, ban her from ever putting him down,” Zohn said, sitting down in a chair.

Kyle ran in with a bottle and stopped, “Why’d he quit crying?”

“Em took him,” Chevalier said, and took the bottle.

“Ahh,” Kyle sighed, and leaned against the wall.

Emily came out a short time later in jeans and a t-shirt, cradling the baby against her shoulder. She saw the exhausted heku in the room and smiled.

“Seriously, you big, strong, predatory types can’t handle a baby?” she asked, and took the bottle.

“Ha-ha,” Chevalier said, and watched them.

Emily frowned, “I hate bottles.”

“We didn’t really have a choice.”

“I know,” she said, and cradled Dain to feed him. She gasped and pulled the bottle away from him. “What is in here?”

“Em, we told you he’s heku.”

“Still, damn, did you even try formula?”

“What’s formula?” Kyle asked.

Emily sighed, “No wonder he cries… you all feeding him blood.”

The heku watched as Emily grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Chevalier asked, frustrated.

“To buy baby formula,” she said, irritated, and walked out.

“Damn,” Chevalier whispered, and followed her out. “Em?”

“Yeah?” she asked, and turned to him.

“He likes it.”

Emily looked down at the baby and handed him to Chevalier, “Then you feed him.”

“Em…” he said, and watched her walk down the stairs and out of the palace.

Dain immediately began to scream and kick as Chevalier went back into the bedroom. He took the bottle and began to feed the baby, the room growing suddenly quiet.

“It may be a while before she can feed him,” he told the others.

“I can see that,” Kyle said, nodding.

“What’s she doing?” Zohn asked, looking out at the stables.

Chevalier walked over and looked out the window, “I hate when she does that.”

Kyle peeked around them, “She won’t let anyone else do it.”

“What’s she doing?” Quinn asked, still sitting down.

“Breaking in that 2-year-old horse,” Chevalier said, and sat down. “Course, it’s kind of anger management… she can take it out on us, or the horse.”

Dain finished his bottle and began to scream as he kicked his tiny legs.

Chevalier held Dain up so he could look into his eyes, “Do you seriously have to scream? She’s right outside.”

The baby’s lower lip began to quiver, and he screamed again as tears streamed down his face.

“Take him out there, maybe if he sees her he’ll be ok?” Kyle asked, wincing slightly as the high-pitched wail filled the palace.

“I’ll try it,” Chevalier said, and blurred down to the corral, followed by Kyle and Allen. Mark, Silas, and Kralen were already leaning against the fence, watching Emily try to break the paint.

“I want to learn though,” Mark said. “I like working with the horses.”

Emily shrugged, “Ok, come on in.”

Mark grinned and scaled the fence, and then walked up slowly to the stallion. Emily hung onto the bridle from the ground while Mark pet him and glanced at her.

“Up you go… then hold on,” she said, grinning. “Try not to bruise your ass.”

Mark grinned and hoisted himself up onto the paint. Emily let go and dove for the fence just as Mark came flying toward her. He landed on her and pinned her to the ground, then scrambled off of her and knelt down just as the others got to her.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked, touching the back of her head.

Emily rolled over, laughing, “That was so funny.”

“That was not funny,” Mark said, helping her to her feet. She was still laughing as she went over and took the reins and rubbed the soft nose of the horse.

Emily grinned at him, “Up you go.”

“No, not again,” Mark said, and headed back for the others.

“Coward”

He turned slowly and looked at her, “What?”

“Get on the damn horse,” she said, grinning.

“You can’t order me around, I’m a Captain.”

“And I’m an Elder… just get on the horse.”

“Not my Elder,” he said, and put one foot in the stirrup.

“Hold on this time,” she said, and got ready to run.

“I know he’s not crying out here, but I can’t watch this,” Chevalier said, turning away from them.

Kyle grinned, “I’ll keep him, it’s kind of amusing to watch.”

“Just call an ambulance if he kills her,” Chevalier said, then handed the baby to Kyle and disappeared inside.

“Ready… go,” Emily said, and let go of the reins as Mark moved into the saddle. She made it through the fence and turned as the horse bucked, but the heku managed to stay on. After a few seconds, the horse quit bucking and Mark took a deep breath.

“Ok, now softly kick him,” Emily said quietly.

Mark gently kicked the horse, and with one quick buck, the paint threw the heku over his head and he landed on the back of his neck and fell silent onto the ground.

Emily scrambled through the fence and ran to Mark, then knelt down, “Mark?”

Mark didn’t answer, so she tried to roll him over onto his back, but she couldn’t do it. Silas came in and rolled the Captain onto his back as Emily watched, unable to even breathe. Mark laid, unmoving on the ground and Emily touched his face softly, “Mark?”

Mark grinned and started laughing, “Now that was funny.”

Emily slapped him hard on the chest and stood up.

“Ouch,” he said, and stood up, still laughing.

“That was not funny.”

“Sure it was,” Mark said, and turned back to the horse. “One more time.”

“You’re on your own and I hope he kills you,” Emily said, joining Kyle beside the fence.

Kyle turned when he heard someone walk up behind them, “Em, take the baby.”

“Elder?” a soft voice said from behind her.

Emily took Dain and turned around to face a purple clad heku.

“Are you seriously kidding me?” she asked, irritated.

The Ferus looked at Kyle, “I just… have… a message for… the Elder.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “What is it?”

“It’s private,” he told her, and glanced at Kyle. Silas moved to stand on the other side of her.

“They’re deaf… start talking,” Emily said.

“The… Council said… if… if… you…”

“Spit it out!”

The heku sighed, “The Council said that if you bring Vaughn back with you, the punishment won’t be as bad.”

“Damnit, Em,” Kyle growled when the heku turned to ash.

“Tsk tsk, Kyle, you shouldn’t have ashed him,” Emily said, and headed into the stables with the baby.

“I’m not telling him,” Silas said, looking down at the pile of ash.

Kyle knelt down and began to scoop the ashes into a bag, “Fine, then I did it because I’m not telling him either.”

“Captain?” Silas asked, watching Mark in the corral. He was sitting on the paint, not moving.

“What do I do now?” he whispered.

“Kick him softly,” Kyle said, turning to watch.

“I did… and he didn’t move.”

“Kick him again?”

Emily came out on her stallion, with the baby still up against her shoulder, “Open the gate.”

Silas went over and opened the gate, and Emily led her stallion into the corral. She took the reins from Mark and led both horses out of the corral.

“He’s scared. He needs another horse to follow,” Emily said as Mark relaxed on the back of the stallion.

Chapter 28 - Another

Derrick walked into the council chambers, “He’s here.”

“Show him in,” Chevalier said.

A tall, blonde heku came into the room. He wore Equites green robes and bowed to the Council, “I came, as requested.”

“We got your report, on finding another Winchester,” Chevalier said. “We wanted to talk to you in person.”

“Yes, Sir,” the heku said.

“You said she is…” Zohn glanced through the report, “Approximately 5’6” tall, short black hair, and blue eyes?”

“Yes, Sir”

“What makes you think she’s a Winchester?” Chevalier asked.

“Her scent, Sir.”

“Derrick, call Emily in please,” Zohn said.

Emily came in a few minutes later with 3-month-old Dain against her shoulder, “What now?”

“Em, this heku thinks he’s found another Winchester. Will you stand close enough so he can catch your scent?” Chevalier asked.

“Sure, I love being sniffed,” she said, and moved closer to the heku.

He looked at her and frowned, “Close, but not the same.”

“Close?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, very similar, but there’s something different.”

“I’ll be on the roof getting some sun if someone else wants to sniff me,” she said, irritated, and left the council chambers.

Chevalier watched her go, “Hmm.”

“Elder… ancients room,” Quinn chuckled.

“I know, I know… so,” he turned back to the heku. “Where exactly did you see her?”

“In the city, out late at night. She was dressed in a long black dress with heavy black make-up.”

“The scent, however, wasn’t the same?”

“Not exactly, but very much alike.”

“Very well, let us know if you see her again,” Zohn said, and had Derrick usher him out.

“That’s the fourth sighting. Can it really be another Winchester in our city?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“I don’t see how. There’s no other line,” Kyle said.

“Maybe there’s an unknown descendant.”

“I guess there could be.”

“Let’s do as we considered, and post heku all over the city to watch for her. She seems to be elusive,” Quinn said.

“Sure, do it,” Zohn suggested.

Chevalier shrugged, “Fine by me. If she is a Winchester, there’s a good chance she’s as plagued by attacks as Emily was.”

“Was?” she said from behind them. “Never seemed to stop.”

The Council turned toward her, and then faced the front again when they saw she’d changed into a bikini and sarong.

“You have to admit it’s gotten better,” Chevalier said, admiring the way the bikini showed off her soft curves.

“Some… I need a break,” Emily said, and handed Dain over to Chevalier. Chevalier’s golden Equites Crest pin immediately went into the baby’s mouth. He watched her walk out of the council chambers, noticing how the sarong clung to her hips and accentuated the way she moved when she walked.

“Chevalier!” Zohn yelled. “Thousands of years of control.”

“I can look,” Chevalier said, grinning slightly.

“No you can’t. We want to know about that ancient’s room,” Kyle chuckled.

Chevalier sighed, “I’m in control, seriously.”

“Sure you are,” Zohn said, and turned back to the trial area.

Chevalier called for a bottle and cradled Dain as he fed him, “Wish Em could do this.”

“It’s ok, this isn’t a bad one coming,” Derrick said. “The Lord and Lady of Soph’s Coven would like to have their temporary status removed.”

“Very well, bring them in,” Zohn said, and looked through the file.

Emily put the towel down on the soft grass on the north lawn and laid down. The roof had helicopter maintenance workers on it, so she opted to go to the grass by the stables. She looked around and got onto her stomach, carefully slipping off her top, then pulled on her sunglasses and laid her head down, letting the sun do its work to warm her up.

She began to drifted off when she felt soft fingers run along her spine, she smiled, “Chev, no.”

Silas grinned from inside of the stables, “Looks like we’re getting a pool.”

“Maybe not, he may be toying with her,” Kralen said. “Course, she’s topless, so who knows.”

“You better keep your eyes off her,” Silas told him, brushing his horse. “If the Elder sees you.”

“Well I don’t stare, but one can’t help but admire.”

“Chev, I said no,” Emily said again, and Kralen grinned at Silas.

“It starts tomorrow,” Mark said as he led the three Elders in through the back of the stables. “We have...”

“Chevalier?” Silas asked, wide eyed.

Chevalier looked at him, “Yes?”

“Then who is Emily talking to?” Kralen asked, and disappeared from the stables.

The heku appeared on the grass and crouched. Emily was still lying on her stomach on the grass, but a strange heku was running his fingertips along her back, unaware he was being watched by her guards and the Elders.

“Step back, Son,” Zohn growled.

Emily glanced up and gasped. She rolled to sit up, bringing the towel with her to cover herself.

The heku turned to look at the others, “I… umm…”

His words were cut off with a swift kick to his jaw by Emily. She got to her knees and started hitting him with her fist. Each word brought a new hit, “Don’t… touch… me…”

Silas and Kralen moved forward and pulled her off of the strange heku. She got off one more kick to his ribs before they pulled her away. They led her inside while the Elders descended on the rogue Equites. Emily headed up the stairs followed by Silas and Kralen. Kralen motioned to her tattoo, and Silas smacked him on the arm and glared at him.

She disappeared into her room, slamming the door behind her, then changed quickly into jeans and a t-shirt and tied her hair back. She slipped leather bracers over her forearms and grabbed a leather tab before heading out.

Silas glanced at Kralen, who shrugged, and they both followed her down the stairs. She passed the Elders without saying a word, still angry over the actions of the heku. She could still feel his fingers on her skin, and the thought made her even more furious. She went into the stables, slammed open the storage room door, and went inside. The Elders came up behind Silas and Kralen, while two more members of the Cavalry joined them.

“What’s she doing?” Silas asked Chevalier.

Chevalier shrugged, “Not sure.”

“She has leather bracers on,” Kralen said, amused.

“Em?” Chevalier called out.

Emily came back out with a Quest Primal Compound Bow and a quiver of arrows over her shoulder, “What?”

“You have the strangest things in that room,” Silas said, glancing inside before Emily shut the door.

“Are you going hunting?” Chevalier chuckled.

“No, I’m going to take Keith’s favorite bow out and pretend to shoot vampires, wanna offer?” she asked angrily, and walked past them.

“That bow is almost as tall as she is,” Zohn whispered, too low for her to hear.

“What if we don’t want to be around her when she’s armed?” Silas asked, and then followed Emily.

Kralen grinned, “If she kills herself, I’m joining the Ferus.”

Chevalier chuckled and watched them all walk over toward the palace’s cemetery.

“It amazes me,” Quinn said. “How her scent does more to heku than just makes them want to feed. Historically, were the Winchesters also inundated by admirers?”

“I haven’t read anything about it, but I’ve been wondering that too,” Chevalier said. “It seems like they don’t just want to feed, some will risk banishment just to touch her.”

They turned when Kyle joined them, “She and I had a conversation once, where she mentioned that most of her attackers, before meeting Chevalier, would feed from her and then kiss her before leaving. I got the impression the kiss ticked her off worse than the bite.”

“We should run an experiment,” Zohn said. “Just to see.”

“What kind of experiment?” Chevalier asked.

“Well… we set up that conference room with the one-way-glass. We should be able to use it for something.”

“I don’t know if I like that idea.”

“Let’s use the new Cavalry recruits,” Kyle suggested. “They are from Powan, so they will be disciplined. Let’s just sit them in that room and have Emily go in for a minute or two and observe.”

Chevalier frowned, “I don’t know if I like us running experiments on my wife.”

“They aren’t dangerous experiments though, and it may help us in the long run.”

“Course, we’ll never know if it’s her scent or her looks,” Zohn said, ignoring the glare from Chevalier.

“That’s true,” Quinn agreed.

Kyle grinned, “What if we took out the looks and did the experiment?”

Chevalier shook his head, “No.”

Quinn sighed, “Before we subject anyone to an experiment, let’s decide what we can accomplish by this knowledge.”

“Nothing, so we aren’t doing it,” Chevalier said.

“It still might be interesting to know,” Kyle said.

“Why? So what if it’s her scent? We can’t fix that. If it’s her looks, we can’t fix that either.”

“Why don’t we ask her?” Zohn said. “She might be interested to know too.”

“Except she’s not going to believe it’s her looks,” Quinn said, and smiled slightly. “She still believes herself to be unattractive.”

“That’s true,” Kyle said, nodding.

Zohn frowned, “Are you kidding?”

“It’s taken me 15 years to get her to where she is, but her ex-husband still has a hold on some things,” Chevalier sighed. “That one, I’ve never gotten her to forget.”

“She is extremely confusing,” Zohn said. “Back to the experiment… I say we ask her and do it.”

“To accomplish what?”

“To calm our curiosity… I just wish we could run it on mortals too.”

“Why is Pem coming back limping?” Kyle asked, looking over at the member of the Cavalry coming toward them.

The heku blurred to him.

“Were you attacked?” Quinn asked hurriedly.

Pem sighed, “Remind me not to suggest a smaller bow when the Lady is shooting.”

Chevalier chuckled, “You should know better than that by now.”

“Yeah, well… big bow or not, she has really good aim,” he said, and limped past them.

“Elders,” Dustin said, coming up behind them. “Four members of our guard ran into the Winchester again last night.”

Zohn nodded, “Bring them in, we’ll talk to them.”

The Elders and Kyle went back into the council chambers and sat down. Four of the city guards were already standing in the trial area.

“Tell us what you saw,” Zohn told them.

The closest heku spoke, “It was late, almost midnight when we saw her. It’s just as we’ve heard, she’s about 5’6, maybe 5’7, short dark hair, though we couldn’t see her eyes. She was dressed in black and was just walking. We got close enough to catch her scent. It’s very similar to Lady Emily’s, but not exactly the same.”

“Did you try to contact her?”

“No, Sir. We weren’t sure if she would turn us to ash.”

Zohn sighed, “Mark?”

Mark appeared in the doorway.

“Mark, put out orders that anyone seeing the new Winchester is to contact her, ashing or no.”

“Yes, Sir,” Mark said, and disappeared.

“Anything else to add?” Quinn asked the guard.

“No, Sir.”

“Return to your post.”

The guards bowed and walked out.

“It’s not going to do us any good if we can’t talk to her,” Dustin said, irritated.

“All we know is that she walks at night. She can be seen anywhere in the city. She’s 5’6-ish, short dark hair, blue eyes, wears black most of the time, and smells similar to Emily,” Chevalier said, looking down at the paper. “That doesn’t give us a lot to go on.”

Kyle blurred away and came back with a book, “There has to be an answer in this book Emily got from the Valle.”

“Which book is that?” Dustin asked.

“It’s a Winchester family line book. I think the Valle tried harder than the other factions to find the Winchester line, because by blood, they were Valle.”

“Which made what Exavior did all the worse,” Quinn said, smiling slightly.

Kyle frowned, “Chevalier? Check out that entry on Emily.”

Chevalier took the book and glanced at it, then frowned, “What the hell?”

“What’s wrong?” Zohn asked.

“It has her children listed with me as the father… except the entry marked Baby3, and that has Damon listed.”

Quinn gasped, “Why would the Valle put that down? When she stole this book, she wasn’t even pregnant with Dain.”

“Derrick, ask her in,” Quinn said when they heard Emily walk up the steps.

Emily came in with Dain, who was sucking on the edge of her collar, “I’m sorry I shot your guard.”

Quinn smiled, “That’s not why we’ve called you here.”

“Why then?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Care to explain this?” Chevalier asked, and handed the book down.

Emily took the book and grinned, “I forgot about that.”

“So… what’s the story?” Kyle asked, amused.

Emily handed the book back to Chevalier, “I think I’ll keep that to myself. I like to keep the Council on their toes.”

“Wait, don’t leave,” Zohn said when Emily turned for the door.

Emily turned to face him, “What now?”

“We’d really like to know… it’s disturbing.”

Emily glared at him, “Are you all accusing me of sleeping with Damon?”

“No,” Chevalier said. “We’re just curious why they thought it.”

“Fine… it’s because I told him the baby was Damon’s.”

“What baby?”

“The one they accused me of being pregnant with.”

“Couldn’t they tell?” Quinn asked.

“No, they were too stupid to tell for themselves, and I got tired of getting smacked around for denying it, so I finally agreed.”

Chevalier growled slightly.

“Ok, so you agreed to being pregnant to appease them… why Damon?” Quinn asked.

Emily shrugged, “Why not? I was already lying.”

“They had to have noticed the essence ring though.”

“Yeah, he did, so I told him it wasn’t cheating because it was Chevalier’s idea.”

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide, “You told them that?”

“Yes,” Emily said angrily, and headed for the door. Just as she walked out, she turned and added, “Just in case you’re wondering, I also told the Valle that Damon had a little dick.”

“I’m going to pay for that,” Chevalier said when the door slammed behind her.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “Now that I think about it, that did sound like we were accusing her of sleeping with Damon.”

“Well what were we supposed to think?” Zohn asked.

“That it was a joke… that Emily lied to them…” Kyle started.

“Now she’ll run,” Zohn said. “Then she’ll get into trouble, and then we’ll have to go save her.”

The sound of Dain screaming filled the palace and the Council all cringed.

“I say we adjourn,” Zohn said, irritated, and the Council left the chambers, leaving only the Elders. Most of them headed outside of the palace, leaving for their individual covens.

“Dad?” Allen said, bringing in the screaming baby.

Chevalier held his hands out, “He won’t be quiet for me either.”

“Where’s your Mother?” Quinn asked.

“Taking a bath,” Allen told them, and then grinned and left the council chambers.

“Let me try,” Zohn said, reaching out for the infant.

Chevalier handed him over and watched as Zohn brought the baby up to look directly into his face.

“Stop crying,” Zohn said harshly.

Chevalier rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t work.”

Dain stopped crying for a few seconds, and then began to scream, kicking his legs angrily.

“Nice, you made it worse,” Quinn said, and took the baby. “I’ve seen Emily do this.”

Quinn started to gently rock, but Dain kept screaming.

“That cannot be because of her scent. Something’s wrong with that child,” Zohn said.

Chevalier took Dain from Quinn and blurred into the bathroom. Emily looked up when he came in.

“What did you do to him?” she asked, frowning.

“We didn’t do anything,” Chevalier said. Dain was watching his Mom and started to cry louder.

“Strip him,” Emily said, and leaned back in the water. Chevalier quickly stripped the baby and handed him to her. She laid him against her chest and he immediately quit crying. Emily shut her eyes and leaned her head back on the tub.

Chevalier watched them and focused in on Dain. He hadn’t noticed before, but the baby wiggled until his nose rested against Emily’s neck and then he shut his eyes and soon fell asleep. Chevalier wondered if her scent could become a problem when the baby got bigger. He decided to watch, and see if it was a coincidence or if the baby always sought out her neck when he needed to calm down.

***

“Where did you see her?” Quinn asked the guards.

“Over by the old cemetery,” the guard said. “Just as we’ve heard. I went up, and when I went to talk to her, she held her hand up and told me to stop.”

“She spoke?” Kyle asked, shocked.

“Sort of, more of a whisper.”

“Ok, and did you stop?”

“Yes, Sir. So she told us to tell our Council to leave her alone or you’ll pay,” the guard told them.

“She threatened us?” Zohn asked.

“Yes, Sir.”

“How would she even know about the Council?” Chevalier asked, frowning.

“I don’t know, Sir. After that she turned and walked off.”

“Did you catch a scent?”

“We all did, it’s similar to Lady Emily, but not exact.”

“Very well, you may go,” Quinn said. When the guards left, he turned to the others, “This is insane. This Winchester already knows about Councils and had the nerve to threaten us.”

“Capture her then. If she wants to threaten us, then I believe we have the right to see her face-to-face,” Chevalier suggested.

“I concur,” Zohn said, and turned to Quinn.

Quinn nodded and gave orders to Mark that any guard seeing the woman should bring her before the Council.

“Have you given more thought to our experiment?” Zohn asked Chevalier.

“I have, and as much as I don’t like it, I don’t see any harm in it, but we need Emily’s permission. I won’t trick her into it.”

“Derrick, ask Lady Emily in please,” Zohn said. They waited while the heku retrieved Emily from the Cavalry training.

She came in wiping dust off the back of her pants, “What’d I do now?”

“Where is Dain?” Chevalier asked, noticing the silence in the palace.

“Outside with Silas,” Emily said. “Did you call me in here to ask where the baby is?”

“No, we have an idea,” Kyle said. “Something you may find useful and may be curious about.”

“Ok… what?”

“We want to run an experiment to see if heku are more drawn to your scent than just to feed,” Quinn said.

Emily frowned, “Do what?”

“You might as well just tell her,” Zohn said. “We want to see if your scent is a turn on to heku.”

Emily blushed and her eyes grew wide, “Excuse me?”

“Zohn…” Chevalier hissed.

“Well, that is what this experiment is about,” Zohn told them, and sat back in his chair.

“What exactly are you proposing?” Emily asked, her blush deepening.

“We want to put you into a room with some more disciplined heku guards, and see if we see a change in their behavior when you come into the room,” Quinn explained.

“And if they are… erm… attracted to my scent, then what?”

“Then we know… it’s curious to us how heku will do anything to get near you, it’s not just to feed. The heku last week knew he would get killed, but had the sudden desire to touch you,” Zohn said.

Emily frowned, “I don’t know.”

“We want to make sure it’s not your looks that they are attracted to…” Zohn said, and shut up when Chevalier growled.

Emily frowned and wrapped her arms around herself and spun to leave.

“Em?” Chevalier sighed.

She turned back around.

“Are you bleeding?”

“Probably”

“You’re with 36 heku guards, and 7 new recruits. What could you possibly be injured doing?”

Emily turned around, irritated, and left after saying “None of your business.”

Chevalier grinned, “After so many thousands of years. I’ll never get used to being told no.”

“Well I don’t like being told no,” Zohn said. “You asked her a direct question, and she should have answered.”

Chevalier went out to where Emily was assigning horses to the new members of the Cavalry. He walked up to Silas, who had sleeping Dain in his arms.

“How’s it going?” Chevalier asked.

“Different,” Silas answered, smiling.

“How so?”

“These guards are from Powan. They aren’t falling for Emily’s charm, and she’s getting frustrated that they won’t break procedure.”

Chevalier grinned, “Nice.”

***

“Hey,” the guard said, approaching the Winchester slowly. It was just after 2am and she was out walking through a dark park. She turned to him and put her hand up for him to stop.

“Get back,” she whispered.

“You threatened my Council,” another guard said, taking a step forward. “We don’t take kindly to that.”

“You’ll burn if you don’t stop,” she whispered.

The first guard stopped, “We don’t want to hurt you. Just talk to us for a minute.”

She lowered her hand and the heku tried to see her face under the black hood of her cape.

“Are you a Winchester?” he asked.

“Tell your beloved Council that revenge is a dish, best served cold,” she whispered and took a step back.

“Meaning?” he asked.

“They deserve no explanation,” she hissed, and turned to walk away.

“Stop,” the third guard said, blurring to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, “You need to come with us.”

The three fell to their knees as their chests burned, and when the pain stopped, they looked up and she was gone.

“Great, let’s go tell the Captain,” the first guard said, and they all blurred back to the palace. Mark immediately led them in to the Council.

“What’s up?” Zohn asked, looking up.

“They encountered the Winchester,” Mark said. “Tell them.”

The first guard relayed what happened, word-for-word, ending with the burning pain.

Chevalier sighed, “Revenge? For what?”

Quinn shrugged, “I’m guessing the attacks on her.”

“Damn, to be that close,” Zohn growled. “This is getting to be too much. She’s been seen twenty four times in the last month, and we’re no closer to finding out who she is.”

“Keep trying, see if you can reason with her to come without violence,” Quinn said, and the guards all bowed and left.

Emily appeared in the trial area and walked forward.

“Why are you up so late?” Chevalier asked, concerned.

“Dain is hungry,” Emily said, and walked up to the council platform. She handed him over to Chevalier and looked around, “What’s up? You all look mad.”

“The Winchester slipped through our fingers again,” Chevalier told her, and ordered a bottle for the baby.

Emily smiled, “The little mortal got away from you again?”

“Yes, you find that amusing?” Zohn asked, irritated.

“Well you know what the Klingon’s say?”

“The what?”

Emily sighed, “Seriously, a little pop culture never hurt anyone.”

“Well, what do they say?” Kyle asked, confused.

“Google Klingon sayings.”

“What?”

“Pop culture…” she said, and walked out of the room and headed upstairs to bed.

“What the hell does that mean?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know,” Chevalier said.

“Oh well, we’ll try to catch the elusive Winchester tomorrow night,” Zohn said.

***

“Look, there she is,” Mark said, pointing off to the north of them.

Kralen squinted, “Yep, sure is.”

Kralen, Silas, and Mark blurred and surrounded her.

“Enough running,” Mark said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She spun out from under his hand and whispered, “Leave me alone.”

“No such luck, come with us,” Silas said, and took her arm.

She tried to get out from his grasp, but he held her tightly. Suddenly, she started to laugh.

Mark glanced at Kralen, and back to the Winchester.

“Damn, had to be you three,” Emily said, and dropped her hood, still laughing.

Silas gasped and let go of her arm, “But… what… Em?”

“You’ve been doing this for two months?” Mark asked, shocked.

“Yes… as I said, revenge is a dish best served cold.”

“Revenge for what?” Kralen asked, still surprised.

Emily shook her head, “I thought you all had perfect memory.”

“The Council’s going to love this,” Mark said, and threw Emily over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” Emily yelled, still laughing. She felt the wind fly past her as Mark blurred her back toward the palace.

“They brought the Winchester,” Derrick said hesitantly.

“Bring her in,” Zohn said, sitting up straight.

Mark came in with Emily thrown over his shoulder. The Council couldn’t see her face yet.

“Mark! Put her down,” Quinn said.

Mark shrugged and set Emily on her feet. The cloak covered her face, and she stumbled a bit on the platform shoes before moving closer to the Council.

Zohn looked down at her, “How dare you threaten us.”

Mark stepped forward, “Elder…”

“Be silent, Mark,” Zohn said angrily. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Sir,” Silas said, but was hushed by Chevalier.

“The scent is very close to Emily,” Kyle said. “Though… not exact.”

Emily started to laugh, no longer able to contain herself. She saw the confused looks on the faces of the Council and pulled her hood back, and then removed her wig, “You all need to study up on your Klingon.”

“Em!” Chevalier said, shocked.

“Was… you’ve done this?” Zohn asked.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold… an old Klingon proverb,” she said, grinning.

“Actually, in 1782 a Frenchman said it, La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid,” Quinn corrected.

Emily shrugged, “The meaning still stands.”

“What, exactly are you seeking revenge for?” Chevalier asked, still not sure what was going on.

Emily crossed her arms, “Clark Coven ring a bell?”

Kyle gasped, “You did all this to get back at us for that?”

“I did,” Emily said. “Don’t play pranks if you can’t mess with the big boys.”

They watched as she slipped her finger under the strap on her 6 inch platform shoes and pulled them off, and then removed her blue contacts.

“I… I can’t believe you did this,” Zohn said, eyes wide.

“She did vow to get us for that,” Richard, the Chief Interrogator, reminded them.

“Still, that was months ago,” Kyle said, shaking his head.

“Thus the saying,” Emily said, smiling.

“Ok, now we can discuss her punishment,” Chevalier said, turning his chair.

Emily’s eyes grew wide and she took a step back, “No.”

“We do need to prove to her that we’re the superior species,” Quinn said, smiling.

Emily held her finger up and took another step back, “No… we’re even now.”

Emily spun when Chevalier appeared behind her and spoke, “Our prank lasted only a few minutes… you’ve had us chasing ghosts for two months.”

She backed up from him, “It’s not my fault if my pranks are better.”

“Better?” Kyle asked when she ran into him as she backed up. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“Yes, better. It just means I’m smarter than you are,” she said, smiling broadly.

“Digging it deeper, are we?” Richard said from beside her.

“I personally don’t think it’s funny. She’s wasted countless of our hours,” Zohn said, irritated.

“Re vera, cara mea, mea nil refert,” Emily told him, and turned back to Chevalier when he took a step towards her.

“Well aren’t we full of surprises today,” Chevalier said, looking down at her. “When did you learn how to quote Gone with the Wind, in Latin?”

“One might be surprised at what you can Google,” Emily told him, and gasped when Chevalier threw her over his shoulder and started out of the palace, followed by Kyle, Richard, Mark, Silas, and Kralen.

“Put me down! We’re even,” Emily yelled, and fought to get out of his grasp as he walked into the stables.

“String it up,” Chevalier said, and Kyle chuckled and disappeared from Emily’s view.

“Wait… what are you doing?” she asked, trying to see. Her feet were tied together and suddenly she was hanging upside down from the rafters, while the heku moved back.

“Now… let’s see…” Chevalier said, and looked around.

Emily slipped off the long black dress so she was just in jeans and a t-shirt, “Let me down!”

The stables filled with the Cavalry, who all looked from Emily to the Council nervously, and then backed out and shut the doors after them.

“Some guards you are!” Emily yelled at them.

“Oh, I know,” Kyle said, and opened up a stall door.

“No!” Emily screamed, and tried to untie her feet.

Chevalier’s Arabian walked out and immediately began sniffing at her hair.

“Go away!” she yelled, and pushed against his nose.

“Whose species is superior?” Chevalier asked, leaning back against the wall.

“Mine!”

“She’ll change her mind,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“Ew ew ew,” she yelled after the stallion sneezed on her.

“I almost feel sorry for her, but not quite,” Kralen said.

“Species… Emily… whose is superior?” Kyle asked, smiling.

“Mine is,” she said, and pulled her hair out of the Arabian’s mouth.

“Going to be a long night, Em,” Mark said, sitting down on a bale of hay.

“No! No!” Emily screamed when the Arabian turned around and picked at the hay. She pushed against his rump to keep her face away from his hind end.

Mark blurred across the barn and Emily turned when he chuckled. He had a squirming mouse grasp between his fingers and her eyes grew wide.

“Mark, I’ll ash you… so help me…”

Chevalier grinned, “You don’t like mice?”

“Em, how can you be afraid of mice? You work in a barn,” Kyle chuckled.

“I’m not afraid of them,” she said, her eyes locked on the rodent.

Mark took one step closer to her and held the mouse out, “The superior species?”

“Mark, stay away from me!”

Mark stopped and looked around, confused, “What exactly’s going on here?”

“Emily!” Kyle gasped.

“Put the mouse down,” Emily said, watching Mark.

He looked down at the mouse and around at those gathered, “I’m… what’d she erase?”

Silas went over and took the mouse from Mark, and then took a step toward Emily, “Em…. Whose is the superior species?”

“No!” Emily yelled, putting her hands out. “Quinn!!”

“Yes?” Quinn asked, stepping in.

“Help me, please,” she said, still watching the mouse.

“Of course, Dear,” he said, and moved over beside her. “As soon as you tell us who the superior species is.”

“Quinn! Damnit, let me down,” Emily yelled, and then brushed the Arabian’s tail out of her face. “Go away!”

“I was told I could find…” William began, and his eyes grew wide, “Your Chief Enforcer in here.”

“William… William… I’ll join the Encala if you let me down,” Emily said, and screamed when Silas moved the squirming mouse towards her.

“Superior species, Em,” Kralen said, grinning.

“Come on in William, what did you need?” Chevalier asked, smiling.

William looked at Emily, and turned his head to see her right-side-up, “Do you require assistance?”

“Yes!” Emily yelled, and reached out for him.

“Interesting,” he said, and went over to Chevalier. “We’ve finished cleaning out the Ferus hold in Oklahoma, and would like to turn some of your previously banished criminals over to you.”

“Let me go or I’ll ash Zohn,” Emily said, and started to laugh.

Chevalier glanced at her, “Why would you do that?”

“Because then he’d make your life a living hell for having me around,” she said, and grinned.

Emily screamed as Silas put the mouse even closer to her. She started to panic and fight to get her feet untied, “Species… which one is it Em?”

“That’s it… I’ll get you back for this,” Emily said, looking over at Chevalier.

“I’m sure you will. Now say it and we can go inside.”

Emily glared at him, but started to laugh, “Fine! Yours is.”

“Ours? What might our species be?”

“What!? Let me go!”

“Say it,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Damnit… The Valle, they’re the superior ones,” she said, and started laughing again.

William raised an eyebrow, “I see this… what is this? Punishment… is warranted.”

“Just letting her know who’s in charge here,” Kyle said, and smiled over at Emily.

“Oh… you did not just say that!” she yelled.

“Say it,” Silas said again, and pushed the mouse so it was almost touching her stomach.

“No!” Emily screamed. “No! I’ll say it… get it away!”

Silas moved the mouse away from her, “I’m counting to 10.”

Emily mumbled and grinned, “There.”

“Louder,” Chevalier told her.

“Heku, ok? Now let me down.”

“What about the heku?” Kralen asked.

Emily screamed and then started to laugh, “Heku are the superior species… happy now?”

Chevalier chuckled, and let her down. She untied her feet and then slapped him on the chest and looked at him, “You’ll pay for that.”

“I surely hope so,” Chevalier said, and tried to kiss her, but she moved away from him.

“Not today leech. You’re on your own,” she said, and ran into the palace.

Kyle smiled at William, “Let’s go see about those prisoners.”

“I’m still confused why we tied her up,” Mark whispered. He was led away by Silas and Kralen as the rest of them headed into the council chambers.

“Done playing?” Zohn asked angrily.

“Yes, we are,” Quinn said, and sat down. “You really could lighten up.”

“That was irresponsible and destructive of her. We’ve wasted countless hours pursuing her façade.”

“You’re just mad because she won,” Chevalier said, and sat down.

“If this Council is going to show strength, we need to rule with an iron fist and not play games.”

“Show them in, Derrick,” Quinn said, grinning.

Emily sat down in the dining room for dinner while the Council was in session. She held the baby in one hand, while she ate with the other and watched Allen and Alexis talk over their drinks.

Finally, Allen looked over at her, “Did I hear you scream that the heku are superior?”

“Yes, but it was coerced,” she said, and took another bite.

“Coerced?”

“Yes, I was bullied into it.”

“By whom?” Allen asked.

“Your Dad and his posse.”

“Then I assume you’ll be getting him back?”

Emily grinned “Of course I will.”

“You’re asking for trouble,” Allen told her.

Emily frowned, “Alexis, I said you had to eat food tonight, too.”

“Mom, I don’t want any,” Alexis said, wrinkling her nose at her hamburger.

“It wasn’t a suggestion, eat it.”

“Dad said I don’t have to.”

“Your Dad’s not here, eat.”

Alexis cringed and took a small bite of the hamburger, and then looked up at Allen, who shrugged and began reading again.

“Why are you reading the Cavalry Manual?” Emily asked.

“I want to join the Cavalry, you know that,” Allen said.

Emily sighed, “When you’re older.”

Alexis grinned at Allen and went back to her hamburger. Emily finished eating and handed Dain off to Allen. He fussed some, but she left anyway, hurrying up the stairs. Within a few minutes, she was in the tub and was relaxing in the bubbly water.

“Where’s the book now?” Chevalier asked William.

“It’s being analyzed. We’ll submit copies to all factions when we’re done,” William said.

“Now what to do with you,” Zohn said, turning to the eight formerly banished Equites. “My first inclination is to re-banish you.”

“Let’s take it on a case by case business,” Quinn said.

The Council turned around when Emily came in. She smiled and sat down in a chair by Chevalier that Quinn had installed for her. She leaned forward slightly and looked at the eight banished Equites.

“Can we help you?” Zohn asked her, irritated.

Emily glanced at him, “No, I’m good.”

“Were you here to disrupt these proceedings?”

Emily frowned, “No.”

“I agree with Zohn,” Quinn said. “Let’s try them all separately, except for Colby, Matthew, Nick, and Freeman. Those are all to be banished as soon as Kyle returns.”

“Agreed,” Chevalier said.

“Or I could just banish them now,” Emily said, and blushed when they all looked at her.

“No,” Chevalier told her. “Kyle will be back in an hour.”

“Derrick, remove the four,” Zohn said, and they waited until the four were removed before going to the next.

“Step forward, Rusty,” Quinn said. An angry looking heku stepped forward. He was cocky and sure of himself, and bore tattoos from all three of the factions.

“Just banish me. I don’t want to be here with you,” Rusty said, glaring at the Elders.

“You only had 43 years left on your sentence,” Chevalier said. “You’re so willing to go back into the ground without even pleading for an early release?”

Rusty looked at Emily, “I heard that the factions are aligned for her. I don’t want to be anywhere near that mess.”

Kyle frowned, “Yet you join the alleged faction that she runs?”

“Elder Exavior promised us she would be put in her place and would respect the heku.”

“I completely respect the heku. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here,” Emily told him.

“No you don’t,” he said, glaring at her. “You stay with the heku so they can serve you.”

Emily put her hand on Chevalier’s leg when he started to get up.

“If that’s what you think, then I believe maybe you do belong in the ground,” Emily said softly, watching his eyes.

“You don’t even deny it?”

“Why should I? Seems to me you’ve already figured things out.”

Rusty grinned, “Yeah, I have.”

“If he so badly wants re-banished, then give him another 200 years,” Quinn said. Derrick nodded and led Rusty out.

Zohn looked over at Emily, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing, would you like me to leave?” she asked him.

“You’re playing at something being in here. You didn’t even complain when Quinn added to his original sentence.”

“I don’t strive to interrupt your job, believe it or not.”

“We’ll see… next?” Zohn said, and turned back to the trial area.

“Do you and I need to go a round?” Emily asked, glaring at him.

Zohn raised an eyebrow, “A round of what?”

“You name it and I’ll be there. I’m tired of you acting like all I do is get in the way.”

“Do you not?”

“Calm down,” Quinn said. “Both of you.”

“No, I don’t just get in the way. I believe I’ve saved your ass more than once.”

“I highly doubt that. I could have freed myself given time.”

“In whose dreams?” she said, standing up.

“Sit down, Child,” Zohn said, and turned back to the front

“Bite me,” she growled, and started forward, but Chevalier stood up and picked her up off the ground with an arm around her waist.

“May we continue?” Zohn asked her.

“I’ll be right back,” Chevalier said, and headed for the door.

“No! Maybe if I kick his ass he’ll stop treating me like that,” Emily yelled, pulling against Chevalier’s hands.

Chevalier grinned and shut the door behind him.

“What’s up with you?” Quinn asked angrily. “She was sitting there minding her own business and you just couldn’t let it go.”

Zohn turned to the other Elder, “She goes out of her way to interrupt the workings of this Council.”

“No, she does not,” Quinn said. “She rarely comes in here just to interrupt us for no good reason.”

“Oh come on… she lives to interrupt the workings of this entire palace.”

“Put them in prison. I’m done for the day,” Quinn said, and walked out of the council chambers, followed by Kyle.

Zohn slammed the book down, “Fine, put them in prison.”

Chevalier put Emily down and then sat down when she disappeared into the closet. She came out a short time later in a short summer dress and began to tie her hair up. He had to remind himself of the bet as she walked around the room. The short dress showed off her thighs, and the halter top clung to her delicate shoulders, moving with her as she worked. His thoughts returned to the moment when he noticed she was packing.

“Leaving?” he asked, and took Dain from Allen when he brought the baby in.

“Yes, putting as much distance between myself and Zohn as I can.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the island,” Emily said, and then turned to Allen. “Get Alexis and start packing.”

Allen nodded and walked out of the room as she finished packing.

“How long are you going to be gone?”

Emily shrugged, “I’m not sure. I’m going to take the Jeep so I can stay for a while.”

“Mom?” Allen said, and Emily turned toward him and Alexis.

“Are you packed?”

“We don’t really want to go,” Alexis said.

“What’s wrong with the island?”

Allen sighed, “I want to stay here with Dad, and Alexis doesn’t want to leave her teachers.”

“Fine,” Emily growled, and then returned to packing.

Chevalier motioned for the kids to leave and sent Dain with Allen. They shut the door behind them.

“Just stay,” Chevalier said, and kissed her shoulder lightly.

“Not with Zohn in the building. He’s heading right down the path that Damon did.”

“Zohn isn’t Damon.”

“You coulda fooled me.”

“If it’s the pool you want, I’d say in a few minutes you’ll have one here,” he said, and began to unbutton her summer dress.

Chapter 29 - Home

Emily sighed, “If you knocked me up, I swear I’ll have to ash you.”

Chevalier grinned, “Sorry, you looked sexy in that summer dress.”

She sat up and wrapped the sheet around her before going into the bathroom to change, then came out a few minutes later in the summer dress and grabbed the suitcase.

“If you’re driving, why don’t you at least take Kralen and Silas? We can helicopter them back when you get there,” Chevalier suggested, smiling at the thought of telling the Council they needed to build a pool.

“Sure, whatever,” she said, and headed out the door. “Allen, I need Dain.”

“Just stay, Mom,” Allen said when he handed the baby over.

“No, it’ll be better if Zohn and I are far away from each other,” she explained as she walked by the Council and glared at Zohn.

“Em, you can’t let him do that,” Chevalier said, watching Dain gnaw on her knuckle.

“He’s teething.”

“He’s a heku.”

Emily sighed, “Heku or not, he’s still teething.”

Silas and Kralen were waiting by the Jeep and crawled in when she buckled Dain into his car seat. Chevalier put a cooler behind her seat and whispered last minute orders to the guards.

“I didn’t mean you had to leave,” Zohn said, leaning against his car.

Emily got into the Jeep, “Let me know when you decide to retire.”

Zohn smiled as she drove out of the garage.

“Start building the pool,” Chevalier said, turning to walk back into the palace.

Kyle chuckled, “Damn, I wanted to know what that ancient’s room was for.”

“I knew we’d need those blueprints,” Quinn said, and followed Chevalier inside.

“Kyle, will you take Equites 2 to Island Coven? Make sure her arrival goes smoothly,” Chevalier said. “If we’re re-living the days when she hated the palace, then she’ll need a safe haven.”

“Sure,” Kyle said, and ran up the stairs. Within minutes, the helicopter took off.

Emily let Silas drive when it got dark, so she could sleep. She insisted they not stop at a hotel, but finally agreed to let him drive.

“We’re not in the palace, can we talk freely?” Silas asked her.

Emily leaned her seat back and rolled onto her side toward him, “Sure.”

“What’s up with you and Zohn?”

“I’m tired of how he treats me, like I’m always in the way and always out looking for trouble.”

“It’s more than that, you’ve never liked him.”

“True, he was one of Damon’s biggest supporters.”

“Rumor has it, he’s also the one that initiated his removal.”

Emily shrugged and rolled onto her back, “Doesn’t matter, he’s following in Damon’s footsteps.”

“What’s so special about Island Coven that you always want to go there when the palace gets to be too much?” Kralen asked.

Emily smiled, “Friends, I love it there. It’s quiet and peaceful, and no one acts like they have to be afraid around me.”

“Why don’t we talk to the Elders about Silas and I switching off so one of us is with you on the island?”

“No, thank you,” Emily said. “That’d piss Zohn off, losing a Commander in the Cavalry to babysit me.”

“Ever consider it’s not babysitting?”

“No, it’s exactly babysitting.”

“That’s not how we consider it,” Kralen said. “You just need to see it how we do. Ever seen the Declaration of Independence?”

“Yeah”

“It has guards because it’s a precious piece of American history, not because it needs babysat.”

“Oh come on. Zohn has guards posted with me because he’s convinced I’m always in trouble.”

Kralen grinned, “Ok, I’ll admit that, but the rest of the Council sees it as we do. You’re an important addition to the Equites, one that must be pampered and protected.”

“I’m Chevalier’s wife, and he’s big and mean, and everyone’s afraid I’ll get hurt, so they give me guards.”

“We just wish you could see it as we do. I would be offended if I were babysitting. I’m one of the Council City Commanders, the elite… I don’t… babysit,” Silas said.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that I can’t live with Zohn around.”

“Island Coven it is,” Kralen said, and looked around. “You sure you don’t want a hotel for the night.”

“Naw, I just want to get there.”

Silas grinned, “Truth or dare?”

Emily smiled, “Sure, but nothing about the ancient’s room.”

“Deal… I’ll start,” Silas said. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth”

“Have you ever slept with Kyle?”

Emily started to laugh, “Damn, you’re starting with the big ones… no, I don’t sleep around.”

“We know that, but I also know you met Kyle before you were officially with the Elder.”

“True… still, no.”

“Your turn.”

“Ok, Kralen, truth or dare?”

Kralen thought, “Truth.”

“Ever went to feed from a woman, and let it go further… only to have a coyote ugly experience the next day?”

Kralen grinned slightly, “What’s a coyote ugly experience?”

Emily leaned up onto her elbow, “You know… you sleep with her and she falls asleep on your arm. The next morning you realize just how ugly she is, and would rather chew off your own arm than to wake her up.”

Kralen chuckled, “Yes.”

Silas started to laugh, “Oh my God, that’s great!”

“My turn, Em, truth or dare?”

“What about Silas?” Emily asked.

“He’s boring… truth or dare?”

“Truth”

“How many men, human or heku, have you slept with?”

“Dare,” Emily said, and grinned.

“You can’t change… those’re the rules.”

Emily blushed, “Nothing leaves this Jeep, right?”

“Of course.”

“Two”

Kralen’s eyes grew wide, “Two, total?”

“Two… Silas, truth or dare?”

Silas grinned, “Truth.”

“Ever intercept someone’s donor and help yourself?”

“Sure”

“A lot?” she asked, shocked.

“That’s two questions, my turn.”

Emily thought, “Dare.”

“I dare you to flash the next car that drives by your side of the Jeep.”

Emily blushed, “Ok.”

“You’re going to do it?”

“Sure,” Emily said. She saw a truck heading her way and unbuckled.

Kralen grinned, “Here comes one.”

Emily laughed and knelt on the seat. When the driver of the truck looked over, she lifted her shirt for a few seconds and then lowered it and sat back down. The truck veered off the road and almost hit a telephone pole before stopping.

“Oh my God, he almost wrecked,” Emily said, blushing as she buckled back in.

“I can’t believe you did it,” Silas said, impressed.

“Truth or dare, Kralen.”

“Dare”

Emily grinned, “Feed off Silas’ wrist.”

“What? No,” Silas said, frowning.

Kralen shrugged, “Hand it over.”

“That’s just wrong,” Silas said, and put his wrist toward the back as he watched the road. Kralen hesitated and then bit Silas, drank for a couple of seconds, and then let go.

“Damn, Silas, you’re disgusting,” Kralen said, grimacing.

Silas grinned, “Good, I’d hate to think you enjoyed it.”

“Truth or dare, Silas.”

Silas paused, “You’re not going to ask Emily?”

“Nope, truth or dare.”

“Truth”

“Ever chosen to feed from a man instead of a woman when you had the option?”

Silas grinned, “Never… Em, truth or dare?”

Emily thought, “Truth.”

“If you were forced to leave the Equites, which faction would you go to?”

“What if I wouldn’t go to another faction?”

“Have to name one of them.”

“Hmm… Encala.”

Silas frowned, “Seriously?”

“Yes, definitely the Encala.”

“Why?”

“That’s two questions… Silas, truth or dare?”

“Dare”

“Call Chevalier and tell him the three of us are running off to France to start our own coven.”

Silas chuckled and grabbed his phone. He dialed and waited for Chevalier to answer.

“Elder, it’s Silas,” he said, and then paused. “No, no, everything’s ok. I just wanted you to know that the three of us are running off to France to start our own coven.”

Emily smiled while she watched Silas on the phone.

“Yes, Sir,” Silas chuckled. “I’ll let her know.”

“Let me know what?” Emily asked when he hung up.

“That playing truth or dare on a road trip can only lead to trouble.”

“How’d he know?”

Silas smiled at her, “He knows you. Truth or dare, Em?”

“Truth”

“Is there anything about your past that Chevalier doesn’t know about?”

“Yes,” she said, and smiled. “Kralen, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Kralen said.

“Have you ever deliberately defied one of Chevalier’s orders?”

Kralen grinned, “Every day.”

Emily gasped, “Seriously?”

“Yep,” Kralen said. “Truth or dare, Silas?”

“Truth”

“Same question… have you ever deliberately defied one of Chevalier’s orders?”

Silas thought, “Yes, but not every day… damn Kralen.”

“What? ‘Don’t look at my wife.’” Kralen said, doing his best Chevalier impression. “It’s pretty hard to ignore that ass.”

Emily’s eyes grew wide.

Silas yelled, “Kralen! My God.”

Emily blushed, “Let’s stop the game.”

“Spill it, Emily, what does he not know about you?” Kralen asked.

Emily shifted nervously, “I’m not going to tell you.”

“You two need to lighten up,” Kralen said, sitting back in the seat and smiling.

It was silent for a few minutes before Emily turned in her seat to face Kralen, “What’s wrong with my ass?”

Kralen raised an eyebrow, “Absolutely nothing.”

“But… then… hmm…” Emily mumbled, and then turned around and looked out the window.

Kralen smiled, “It’s not just your ass we admire.”

“We?” Emily gasped.

“Kralen!” Silas yelled. “That’s enough.”

Kralen chuckled.

“Did you hear about that experiment they want to run with the new guards from Powan, and the current guards from the city?” Emily asked after a few tense moments.

“Yes,” Silas said.

“So if by some odd coincidence I lost my scent… do you think Chevalier would leave me?”

Silas frowned, “No.”

“Not a chance,” Kralen told her.

“But you don’t know that,” she said.

“Yes we do. If it was only your scent, he would have fed from you and left you,” Kralen said, ignoring Silas glares in the rear-view mirror.

“Not necessarily, the scent continued to be there. He could be attracted to the scent, not to me.”

“So, let’s find out,” Kralen said.

“No,” Silas said. “We aren’t running experiments on the Elder.”

“How?” Emily asked.

“Mask your scent next time he’s here,” Kralen suggested.

“He’ll notice,” Silas said. “Then somehow he’ll find out about this conversation, and you and I will be banished.”

“I’m not going to tell,” Emily said.

“You don’t have to, all you have to do is think about it when he touches your arm.”

“That’s really annoying… where are you going?” Emily asked when Silas left the Interstate.

“To get fuel, and you need something to eat.”

“Why are you all so dead set that I eat all the time when I’m not hungry?”

Silas grinned, “Because you get grouchy when you’re hungry.”

“I do not!”

“Do me a favor, stay here,” Silas said before he and Kralen got out. Silas began pumping gas and Kralen went inside the convenience store. Emily got the baby out of his car seat and leaned back with him on her chest, she shut her eyes to wait for them to finish.

***

Emily rolled over in bed when she heard her phone ring. She glanced at the clock, it was only 12:30am. She sighed and grabbed it, “Hello?”

“Are you aging?” William asked.

“William? It’s 12:30.”

“Are you aging?” he asked again.

Emily sighed, “No.”

“When were you going to tell us?” Sotomar asked.

“I figured you knew. Seems everyone knew before I did.”

“Did the Equites know first?” William asked.

“No, Exavior did… I had some tests run to confirm it and then I told the Equites.”

Sotomar growled, “And when were the Equites going to tell the other factions?”

“I don’t know… honestly, I thought you probably figured it out.”

“This changes everything,” William told her.

“What do you mean?”

“What we mean is… the Equites kept vital information from us, and you’re no longer mortal. Therefore, no longer able to move into the mortal world. We are nullifying the alliance.”

“What!?” Emily said, shocked. “Don’t do that.”

“Consider yourself, once again, fair game,” Sotomar said, and the line disconnected.

“Silas!” Emily yelled, and scrambled out of bed.

“What’s wrong?” Silas asked, scanning the room.

“Lock down the island,” she said, and ran out of the room and down the stairs. She heard the alarm in the city sound as iron bars fell over the windows of the castle. She got to Kyle’s office and Silas opened the door for her. Both went in, and Emily put the phone on speaker.

“Council,” Zohn said, irritated.

“Zohn, is Chevalier there?”

“You’re interrupting a very important trial.”

“Is he?” Emily screamed.

“I’m here, Em,” Chevalier said.

“William and Sotomar called me. The alliance is off. They said I’m now fair game,” she told them, glancing at Silas.

“What? When?”

“Just now. I’ve locked down the island… they’re mad because we didn’t tell them I’m not aging, and said that because of that, they realize I can’t disappear into the mortal world.”

“Damnit, we knew they’d find out eventually.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Emily whispered.

“You’ve already locked the island down. We’ll send guards over, for now, stay there while we try to figure things out on this end,” Quinn told her.

“Is Silas with you?” Zohn asked.

“Yes, Elder,” Silas replied.

“Get three guards with you two and keep the baby close.”

“Right away, Sir.”

“They are my friends,” Emily said, mostly to herself.

“Let us talk to the other factions,” Chevalier said. “We’ll let you know what we find out.”

The phone disconnected and Emily looked up at Silas, “I suppose you’re going to tell me you knew it couldn’t last, and I shouldn’t have counted them as friends.”

Silas shrugged, “I think we all knew it couldn’t last, but I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t have made friends with them.”

“I did it again. I’m such an idiot.”

“Did what?”

“Made friends with a heku, ones I trusted, then had them turn on me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Silas told her. “You’re trusting and I, personally, think that’s part of your charm.”

“It’s part of what makes me gullible,” she said, and walked out of Kyle’s office. She ignored when three guards fell in behind her and went up the stairs to get Dain from Anna.

***

“She’s still dealing with it,” Chevalier explained. “It was hard for her and she hasn’t come to terms with it. We decided to tell you when she was ready.”

“It’s too late, Sotomar and I agree that the alliance has ended,” William said.

“Yet you and Sotomar are together without a war. Does that mean that the alliance with the Equites has ended, yet the Valle and Encala remain aligned?” Zohn asked.

“For now, yes, our main goal now is to remove Emily from your care.”

“You tried for almost 16 years. What makes you think we’ll give her up now?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“We know her better now, and feel she will come to us to try to change our minds. When she does, the Equites will no longer be in control,” Sotomar said, and hung up.

“She will be safer here,” Quinn said, sighing.

“I’m not sure she’ll leave the island,” Kyle said. “She’s pretty happy there.”

“This goes deeper than the factions after her,” Chevalier told them. “Now it comes down to heku she considered friends, turning on her.”

“Again,” Kyle reminded them.

“Another personal violation,” Quinn said. “The worst kind for her.”

“I’ll go talk to her, though I doubt that she’ll come back,” Chevalier said. “In fact, the last person she’s going to want to face right now is Zohn.”

“What? Why? This has nothing to do with our argument,” Zohn said, frowning.

“Doesn’t matter, she’ll think she’s going to get an ‘I told you so’ from you, and will avoid that.”

“Then maybe I should go.”

“No, stay here, Kyle and I will go,” Chevalier said, and stood up. He and Kyle left the room and minutes later Equites 2 took off for Island Coven.

When the Blackhawk landed on the roof of the castle, there were guards waiting. Chevalier hopped out and walked over to look down over the island. He could see that the iron bars he installed were blocking the pier, and that the ferry was stationary. Guards patrolled along the outer rim of the cement wall, and the castle was inaccessible except for by helicopter, and that would soon be locked down.

“Elder?” Kyle asked, and opened the door. Chevalier turned to him and descended into the lower levels of the castle.

“Where’s the Lady?” Kyle asked one of the main-floor guards.

“Swimming, Sir,” he said, and saluted.

Kyle and Chevalier went to the door to the pool and saw Silas and three of Island Coven guards waiting.

Chevalier sighed, “How is she?”

“She won’t talk about it. She said she wanted to swim alone, so I posted a guard along the outer wall of the room and let her be,” Silas told him.

Chevalier opened the door to the pool and stepped inside. He didn’t see Emily in the pool, so he headed over to the hot tub, which was also empty. He walked toward the dressing room and could hear her crying from inside. Dain was sleeping in a car seat by the door.

He knocked softly on the door, “Em?”

Emily scrambled to stand up, “Be right out… I got… chlorine in my eyes.”

Chevalier picked up the baby when he woke up and started to fuss. Emily came out a short time later, completely dressed and dry.

“I just have one question,” Emily said, watching Chevalier rock Dain.

“Ok”

“Is there any chance at all to realign the factions and live the rest of my life in peace?”

“No,” Chevalier said, refusing to lie.

Emily nodded and pulled close to him, leaning her head against his chest. Strong arms wrapped around her.

“We’ll protect you,” he told her, and kissed the top of her head.

“Forever?”

Chevalier smiled, “Yes, forever.”

Other books in The Heku Series

Book 1 : Heku

Book 2 : Valle

Book 3 : Encala

Book 4 : Equites

Book 6 : Ferus

Book 7 : Eternity of Vengeance

Table of Contents

Book 5 of the Heku Series

Chapter 1 - Belonging

Chapter 2 - Traitors

Chapter3 - Reconciling

Chapter 4 - Valle Trial

Chapter 5 - New Mexico

Chapter 6 - Exavior

Chapter 7 - Resolution

Chapter 8 - Paranoia

Chapter 9 - Owls

Chapter 10 - Mission

Chapter 11 - Island Coven

Chapter 12 - Guards

Chapter 13 - Encala Palace

Chapter 14 - Interrogation

Chapter 15 - Healing

Chapter 16 - Ultimatum

Chapter 17 - Enforcers

Chapter 18 - Last Chance

Chapter 19 - Negotiations

Chapter 20 - Four Weeks

Chapter 21 - Clark Coven

Chapter 22 - Dr. Hayden

Chapter 23 - Rumors

Chapter 24 - Coup

Chapter 25 - Coma

Chapter 26 - Breeding

Chapter 27 - Ferus Elder

Chapter 28 - Another

Chapter 29 - Home

Book 1 : Heku

Book 2 : Valle

Book 3 : Encala

Book 4 : Equites

Book 6 : Ferus