Emily grabbed one last muffin before heading for the door. Things seemed quiet, so she wanted to go find Chevalier to see if he was still planning on taking her into town for a while. Since her return from Island Coven, things had been going smoothly. She was busy getting ready for yet another Cavalry training, and she was also planning for Alexis and Niccolo’s wedding. At Alexis’ request, they were having a mortal ceremony instead of an immortal bonding. Emily was excited to plan an old-fashioned wedding for her daughter that didn’t involve an exchange of blood.
Chevalier finally promised her a trip out when she insisted that she needed a new pair of boots, and she didn’t want the heku to get them for her.
She thought it was strange to see six guards outside of her room. She frowned slightly and looked over at Kralen. “Six?”
He nodded. “Elder’s orders.”
“Of course, it was. Why?”
“You’d need to take that up with him.”
“I think I will,” Emily said, and started down the stairs to the council chambers.
Derrick watched her walk up, and then he scanned the stairs. It was unusual that he checked around her, but she shrugged it off and walked up to him.
“Do you need to see the Council?” Derrick asked, finally smiling.
“Is Chev in there?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Where is he?”
“You’d need to ask the Council.”
“As always. Then yes, I do need to see them.”
Derrick whispered toward the door and then opened it. “You may go in.”
Emily turned and looked at the six guards behind her. “Seriously, this is the council chambers. I’m fine in here.”
Kralen thought for a moment and nodded to the other five guards. They hesitated and then bowed slightly and left. Emily decided not to complain that Kralen was still with her.
She noticed sourly that Kyle was also gone.
“Can we help you?” Zohn asked her.
She frowned slightly at the official tone of his voice, so she turned to Quinn. “Where’s Chev?”
“He and the Chief Enforcer have gone to Island Coven for a few hours.”
“The Elder and the Chief Enforcer, eh?” she asked sarcastically. She hated when they used their titles around her. She much preferred their names.
Quinn smiled. “Yes, he and Kyle should be back by dark.”
“Why do I have six guards?”
“That’s something you should discuss with Chevalier.”
“I’m discussing it with you. I need to go buy a new pair of Ropers, and I’m not taking six guards with me.”
“You agreed to guards.”
“I know what I agreed to. I think the agreement was for four guards, not six.”
“You simply agreed to guards,” Zohn reminded her. “That leaves us the option of adding more or taking some away if we feel it’s necessary.”
Quinn thought for a moment. “If you need new boots, we can send someone from the Cavalry to get them for you.”
“Boots don’t work like that. You have to try them on,” she told him.
“Then he will buy all of them, and you can pick.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on that is so important you added two guards and don’t want me to go shopping?”
He forced a smile. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Liar. Tell me what’s up.”
“When Chevalier returns, we will have him talk to you.”
“So, there is something wrong?”
The Chief of Staff’s jaw set. “The Elder has already answered you. You will need to speak to Elder Chevalier.”
Her eyes ran along the Council, and Richard, the Chief Interrogator, finally spoke, “Lady Emily, I am aware that you are currently considering taking off on your own to go shopping. I beg you to hold off and speak to the Elder before making decisions to leave unprotected.”
The Chief of Staff looked at her angrily. “Is that true?”
“No”
Quinn smiled. “You can’t get by us with that, Emily. Zohn and I were both Chief Interrogators, and Richard is very good at his job.”
“Well hell! I want a pair of boots, and suddenly, I feel like I’m on house arrest.”
“Not house arrest, no. However, we would prefer if you stay here until Chevalier returns.”
Emily screamed angrily and then spun and stormed out of the room, followed by Kralen, who had stayed silent during her visit. She got angrier when she heard the other five guards fall in behind her. When she got to the front doors, they didn’t open as usual, so she reached out for the handle to open it herself.
“Wait,” Kralen said, and opened the door. He eyed the area carefully and then gave her a care-free smile. “Go on out.”
“Are you sure I’m not going to stub my toe on the door jamb?” she snapped.
“Nope, I can’t guarantee that,” he said with another smile.
She walked out, still shaking her head, and immediately went toward the stables. She turned when she heard someone blur up to them.
“Sir,” one of the city guards said, bowing to Kralen. He stood straight, and Emily saw his mouth move, but she didn’t hear anything.
“I don’t know. Ask her,” Kralen told him. They all turned to Emily.
She waited for the guard to ask her something, and she realized that he assumed she’d heard his question to Kralen. “Ask me what?”
“What color, ma’am?” he said nervously.
“What color of what?”
“Boots, ma’am. I’m to pick up 100 pairs of boots in your size and bring them back here.”
“No,” she said, heading for the stables.
“Ma’am? The Council ordered me to.”
“Tell them I said no.”
“I can’t tell the Council no!”
She turned to him. “What exactly were your orders?”
“To establish your size and preferred color, and then to return with every pair of boots I can find with those specifications. They want 100 pairs but said 50 would suffice if I cannot locate more.”
“Fine, I wear a size 15 boot. I want green leather with beaded fringe, Ropers only, and the beads have to be sparkly orange.”
He frowned slightly, bowed, and left.
“Em, he’ll never find those, and you asked for boots that would be too big even for me,” Kralen told her.
“I know he won’t find them. They don’t exist,” she said, and headed back to the stables. She was relieved when four of the guards stayed outside to watch the entrances to the stables, leaving only two to follow her around.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Kralen asked her.
She looked at the other guard for a moment. “Can you leave us alone?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Just for a minute.”
“I can’t, ma’am.”
“What’s up?” Kralen asked curiously.
“Silas?” Emily called out.
It was only a few minutes before he arrived. “You called for me?”
Emily turned to the strange guard. “I have two guards, now go wait by the door.”
He glanced at Kralen and then bowed and returned to the door.
“What are you up to?” Silas asked her.
“Come here,” she whispered, and walked to the overseer’s room. The three stepped inside, and she shut the door. “Spill it.”
“What are we spilling, exactly?” Silas asked.
“She wants to know why the six guards,” Kralen explained.
“Oh, that. You’ll need to talk to…”
“No!” Emily yelled. “I’m not waiting to talk to the Elder. I want to know what’s going on. Everyone’s grouchy, I have extra guards, and I’m not allowed to go buy myself a pair of boots. I want to know what’s going on, now.”
“We can’t tell you.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t”
“I doubt that,” she said, huffing slightly.
“We aren’t going to risk getting punished by telling you something we’ve been instructed not to,” Kralen told her. “Elder Chevalier will be back soon, and I’m sure he’ll fill you in.”
“I won’t tell if you just give me a hint.”
“No”
“I’m starting to panic though.”
“Don’t panic,” Kralen said, smiling. “We’re here.”
“Is my life in danger or something?”
Silas chuckled. “Your life is always in danger.”
She rolled her eyes and went to her horse’s stall.
“We can’t go out riding,” Kralen said, taking a step back. He knew this was going to draw out her anger.
“Do what?” Emily asked him.
“Don’t make this difficult for us, please,” Silas said. “I’m asking you nicely just to wait until the Elder gets back.”
She put her hands on her hips. “What’s going on!? Why can’t I go riding?”
“We’re to keep you in the city walls for now.”
“So, you can go riding if you want?”
“Well, yes. We’re still patrolling.”
Emily slammed the stall door shut, causing her horse to whinny angrily. “Fine!”
“That’s it? Fine?” Silas asked suspiciously. “You’re going to stay in the city?”
She walked out of the stables, mumbling to herself. “How bad can agreeing to guards be, Emily? Not bad, not bad.”
Silas smiled and watched as Kralen caught up with her, followed by the other five guards.
***
“How bad was it?” Zohn asked when Chevalier and Kyle returned to their seats.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed,” Chevalier said angrily. “He’s going out of his way this time, and I’m going to put a stop to it.”
“Was anyone injured?”
Kyle finally answered, “We had two heku burned in the fire, but they are recovering.”
“How did he get onto the island?”
“We haven’t figured that out yet. Someone had to have smuggled him in, so Chevalier’s put a halt to the ferry, and no one’s to enter or leave Island Coven until he’s found.”
“Someone needs to explain to Emily what’s going on,” Quinn said after a few tense minutes. “She’s confused why she has six guards, and she can’t figure out why she can’t go into town.”
“As soon as I calm down, I’ll tell her,” Chevalier hissed.
“Do you think that he’s still on the island?” the Chief Investigator asked.
“No, I don’t. He’s not dumb enough to stick around.”
“Would you like me to go see what I can find?”
Chevalier thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, please do.”
“Might I see the note?”
Chevalier unfolded a paper he had in his pocket and handed it over to the Investigator.
It’s been 600 years, Chevalier. That time was spent waiting and planning your demise. I see you have a sweet little wife now too. What a fine morsel she is. I bet she tastes as pleasurable as she looks. I’d like to see her turn a heku to ash, actually. That must be quite a turn on for you. You always did like power. Let me know how you like being starved and tormented, thinking about how your decision to banish me cost Emily her life.
The Investigator read it several times and then handed it back to him. “Is there any doubt about who wrote it?”
“No, I know who wrote it,” Chevalier told him. “Gaius was banished after trying to kill me several times. He tried burning my coven to the ground, and he tried sabotaging the Council. His banishment was over last year, so I’ve been waiting to hear from him.”
“What started all of this?” Quinn asked him.
Chevalier sighed. “Gaius and I were both turned right about the same time, and we were both forced into it. We formed almost a brotherhood and stayed close for centuries. He started to veer off of the wishes of the heku though and began to follow the path of the Ancients. He hated mortals and took out his aggressions on unsuspecting villages in the South of France.”
“I thought you also hated mortals at that time.”
“I did at first, but by this time, I wasn’t as bad. I agreed with the other Old Ones that the Ancients were taking their dislike of the new species a little too far.”
“Were you Chief Enforcer by then?”
“Yes, I was, and it was up to me to stop him. He was banished for 400 years for his crimes. When he surfaced, he immediately began an elaborate plan to destroy me.”
“Talk about holding a long-standing grudge.”
“Oh, it went deeper than a grudge. Everything I owned, he sought to destroy. It became a weekly report on things he’d done to try to get to me. His ultimate goal is to have me banished.”
“He’s going to be hard-pressed to find a Chief Enforcer to do that,” Kyle said.
“He’s convinced that burning me at the stake would have the same outcome as banishment.”
“That’s insane,” the Chief of Staff said, shocked.
“That’s what concerns me, that he’s insane. I worry about him getting to Emily.”
“She wouldn’t turn you to ash for him, even under torture.”
“I know, but if he knows how close I am to her, he can hurt me worse by getting to her.”
“Do we have a description?” Zohn asked.
“We have an artist on the way to make sketches. As soon as we have it, we’ll send it out to all covens. I’ll let the Encala and Valle know too because Gaius is now an unfactioned and a liability as long as he’s after Emily,” Chevalier said, still angry.
“Well, if you want to keep her safe, you better tell her why we’ve upped her security,” Quinn suggested.
Chevalier nodded and stood up.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Kyle asked him.
“No, this is going to cause a fight,” Chevalier said, heading out the back exit to the council chambers.
Kyle watched him leave. “That’s why I should be there.”
“They haven’t fought physically in ages though,” Zohn said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“We’ve always known that Emily makes the Elder more vulnerable to attacks. No one would dare attack Chevalier, but they can get to him through her,” the Chief of Finance said.
Zohn nodded. “I know.”
“She now has all three factions watching out for her,” Quinn reminded them. “Once they hear that her life may be in danger, we’ll find Gaius.”
“I agree that the Encala will protect her, but the Valle have yet to make their stance known,” the Chief of Defense reminded him. “The last we heard, the Valle wanted her dead.”
Chevalier nodded to the six guards outside of his bedroom and then walked inside. Emily was sitting in front of the T.V., flipping through channels.
She looked up when he walked in. “Hi.”
“Hello,” he said, watching her.
She turned off the T.V. and bit her lip slightly. “Are you here to tell me what’s going on?”
He nodded.
“Then sit down. I’m starting to panic.”
Chevalier sat beside her and took her hand, kissing it lightly. “I’m sorry that it panicked you. I had to go to Island Coven in a hurry, and I didn’t have time to explain.”
“Did something happen?”
“Yes, someone burned some of the houses and tried to burn down the castle.”
She gasped. “What?”
“I’ll explain. Two days ago, I got a threatening letter from an old… let’s just call him an old acquaintance. He’s tried to kill me before, and he’s been banished for it twice. He came out of banishment last year, and it looks like he’s after me again.”
“How dangerous is he?” Emily asked.
“Very”
“Then he could try to kill you.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m stronger than he is, and honestly, he’s not very sane. What I’m worried about is that in the letter, he threatened you.”
Emily smiled. “I can handle myself against a heku.”
“He may not be sane, but he’s smart, Em. He knows about you, and he’s done his homework. He knows about your abilities.”
“So, what happens now?”
He squeezed her hand tightly and smiled. “Now, you get to find out exactly how protective a heku can get.”
“Oh Lord.”
“I won’t let him hurt you.”
“I’m sure he can’t get to me. I have six guards on me now.”
“I need you to promise me you’ll stay on the palace grounds, too. I don’t even want you out in the city.”
“Palace grounds? Does that include the stables?”
“Yes”
“And the pool?”
“Yes”
“Fine”
“So, you’ll do as I ask? This once?”
Emily frowned. “You act like I ignore everything you say.”
One eyebrow rose. “Don’t you?”
She slapped him on the arm. “No, I’d rather not tangle with this psychopathic heku anyway.”
“Six guards can handle almost anything he can throw at us.”
“Should I go back to the island?”
“No, we still have to find out how he got in.”
Emily looked around the bedroom. “It’ll get really boring unless you catch him soon.”
“We’re doing all we can. We’re even going to alert the other factions.”
“Oh, joy. I love getting watched over by every heku on the planet.”
He kissed her lightly. “I will do everything in my power to ensure he won’t hurt you.”
“I know, and I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Just until we find him. He can’t avoid me for long unless he learns to back off.”
***
Emily was lying out on the grass in front of the palace, staring up at the clouds while they drifted past. She was trying to pick out images from the clouds. It’d been only a week since she learned that a heku was after Chevalier, and she was bored beyond her imagination.
She wasn’t allowed to go riding, she couldn’t go into town, and the six guards following her were always on high alert. She wasn’t sure what threat Chevalier gave them, but they were staunchly obeying all of the rules and staying alert and ready at all times.
Emily had faithfully stuck with her promise to Chevalier, but she’d regretted it often. She heard that the Cavalry had gone out bowling and to a movie the night before, but she wasn’t allowed to go with them. Silas brought her back a pizza, but she was still irritated that she couldn’t go. She didn’t understand how she wouldn’t be safe in public with that many of the Equites elite.
She looked up when she saw movement. Her eyes followed over to where Silas and Kralen were walking up to her.
“Did you bring me something fun to do?” she asked them.
Silas sat down on the grass. “Nope.”
“I’m so bored.”
Kralen kicked her foot lightly. “Stop pouting. There’s plenty to do around here.”
“Like what?”
He sat down beside her. “You could go see if Hasim’s horse has colic.”
“You just think it’s funny when I stick my arm up a horse’s butt,” Emily said.
“It is quite amusing.”
“Well, next time, you get to do it.”
Kralen smiled broadly. “That’s not my job.”
“What’s not your job?” Mark asked, walking up to them.
“Sticking my arm up horse’s butts,” Kralen said, and fought back a smile.
“That’s what you are all doing out here? Talking about treating colicky horses?”
“No, we’re trying to entertain the mortal.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “I was doing a fairly good job of that myself.”
Out of nowhere, Kralen’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm. She started to pull away when she saw Mark crouch, and then Silas reached out and took her other arm. Seconds later, a loud explosion sounded from the front gates of Council City.
Before Emily could even figure out what the noise was, she felt herself being blurred through the trees. She looked up and saw that she was in Mark’s arms, and they were surrounded by the heku that were with her on the grass. No one was speaking, but they all blurred deeper into the woods while keeping an eye out around them.
Out in the middle of a small clearing, Emily saw Kralen reach down and open a hatch in the ground that had been covered by thick moss. Mark quickly jumped into the hole and then ran down a set of long metal steps.
Emily was watching around her. She figured that when they stopped, she could get answers. Right now, they all seemed too tense and on alert, and she didn’t want to bother them. At the bottom of the stairs, she looked up and saw the hatch close above them, shrouding them in darkness. She could tell there were heku with her still as Mark walked down a corridor and into a darkened room.
Emily was put onto her feet and guided over to a soft couch. She sat down, shivering at the cold, damp, cave-like room. She looked over when she saw a light. Kralen was kneeling beside a fireplace, lightly blowing on some kindling as it lit.
“Do I get to know what’s up?” Emily asked finally.
Mark turned away from where he’d been talking privately to Silas and the other guards in the corner. He walked over and sat down. “We aren’t really sure. There was an explosion at the front gates to the city, which killed three of the gate guards. Chevalier suspected that Gaius was behind it and told us to get you away.”
“He killed three of our guards?”
“Someone did, yes.”
“Maybe it’s time I take care of this Gaius.”
“We’d rather you left this one up to us,” Silas told her. “He has a grudge against Chevalier, and Chevalier wants to stop him, once and for all.”
“Why didn’t Chev just kill him the last time?”
“We aren’t sure. I do know they were close friends though before the bad blood started.”
“Is Gaius an Ancient?”
“No, he’s an Old One.”
“Oh, but he’s not as strong as my Old one?” Emily asked.
Mark couldn’t help but grin. “Your Old One?”
She just watched him until Silas spoke, “No, he’s not as strong as Chevalier. He’s just cunning and elusive.”
“So how long do we have to stay down here?”
“Until we’re told otherwise. The Council will call for us when they know it’s safe for you to return.”
“What if Gaius gets to one of the kids?”
“The Elder doesn’t think Gaius knows about the kids,” Silas explained. “However, if we leave with you and he sees the kids, he’ll put two and two together and figure it out. Right now, he’s just keeping them out of the spotlight.”
Emily laid back on the soft couch and propped her feet up on the armrest. “Fine, so we stay here. It can’t be any more boring than the palace.”
They all looked over when they heard the hatch open. Emily started to tense but noticed that the heku didn’t seem concerned. She understood why when Derrick came into the room and moved over to talk to Mark.
Mark nodded and then looked at Emily. “It was Gaius, but they didn’t catch him. Until further notice, you have me, Derrick, Kralen, and Silas as your guards, along with two rotating members of the Cavalry.”
“Derrick? Who’s going to kill heku for the Council?” Emily asked indifferently.
“I’m sure they’ll find someone.” Mark thought it was funny how Emily made fun of a Council most were terrified of.
Emily thought for a moment while the others visited. “I think this is bigger than I thought.”
“What do you mean?” Kralen asked.
“I mean, I thought this Gaius would be caught by now and that Chevalier was just being overprotective. If he put you four on me, then he’s really worried.”
“He’s very worried,” Mark said. “It’s bad enough when something happens to you, but when it happens to you because of one of us, it’s a thousand times worse.”
“It’s not Chev’s fault.”
“That’s not the way he sees it.”
Derrick walked over to stoke the fire. “The Elder said that we might be able to take you out of the city for a while if things calm down.”
“Did he say that before or after Gaius killed three gate guards?”
“Before, actually.”
“Well then, that doesn’t really help.”
“Sorry”
“What is this place, anyway?” Emily asked, looking around. She was in a stone room that looked like it had been carved out of massive rocks far beneath the forest.
“It’s the evacuation room,” Mark told her.
“For who?”
He shrugged. “Anyone we need to hide.”
“It wasn’t built just for me?” Emily asked.
“No,” he said, hiding a grin.
“When’s the last heku that hid down here?”
“I don’t think it’s ever been used, actually.”
She shook her head, frustrated.
“What?”
“I hate being the wimpy mortal that has to be hidden away from the big, mean, pyromaniacal heku.”
“I’d think you’d be used to it by now,” Kralen said. When she looked at him, he grinned at her.
Emily threw a couch cushion at him, but he easily caught it and tossed it onto the couch at her side.
***
Silas sat down beside her at the table in the bedroom and grimaced at her breakfast choice of French toast. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Emily nodded and dipped a piece of French toast into the steaming syrup.
“Nasty”
“Like you’d eat it without the syrup,” she said, digging in for another bite.
“So true.”
“We’ve been discussing your outing to the dentist’s office,” he told her, trying not to watch her eat. The very thought was making him sick.
“And what was decided?”
“The Elder is going to post city guards outside of the clinic and send four Cavalry with you. He wants one to stay with the car, and one inside has to be a ranking member.”
“You?”
“Maybe, it hasn’t been decided yet.”
“Well, it’s not for another week and a half anyway.”
Emily finished her breakfast and ordered sausage and bacon before heading in for a shower. Silas watched her disappear into the bathroom and shook his head.
Several minutes later, Kralen came in with a domed plate. “Who is eating all this stuff?”
“Em’s hungry,” Silas told him, taking the plate.
“I’ve never seen her eat this much.”
“Boredom, I guess.”
“Where is Emily?” Chevalier growled, appearing in the room.
Silas stood suddenly, and he and Kralen bowed to him.
“Elder, she’s just in the bathroom,” Kralen said stiffly.
Chevalier glanced toward the bathroom and lowered his voice. “There’s been another message from Gaius.”
The guards moved closer.
“This time he mentioned killing Emily after torture. He knows information he shouldn’t.”
“We can search the room for bugs,” Kralen said, his hands balling into fists.
“Not while Emily’s around. Do it when she’s not looking, and watch what you say and do. I don’t need her stressing because of this.”
“Anything else in the message?”
“Just more threats that he’s going to get Emily to get to me,” Chevalier said angrily.
“Did my sausage come?” Emily asked, coming out in a fluffy pink robe.
“It and bacon, as ordered,” Silas said, pulling the dome off.
Chevalier chuckled when she sat down, dipped the sausage in syrup, and then looked up at them.
“What’s going on?” she asked, grabbing for the orange juice.
“Hungry?”
“Bored,” she said, eating a piece of bacon.
“Good. At least you’re eating,” Chevalier said, kissing the back of her head.
“I eat.”
“Most of the time, yes.”
“Any new word from Gaius?”
“Nope”
She shrugged and finished the bacon on her plate while the heku watched. When done, she sat back in the chair. “Maybe he’s dead or zombies ate him or something.”
“Zombies?” Silas asked her.
“I was just making sure you listen to me. Can I finally take the horses out now?”
“I’d rather you not,” Chevalier replied.
“We haven’t heard from him in weeks.”
“He could still be out there.”
“I guess I’ll stay in. I don’t want to risk being kidnapped to the underground bunker again.”
He smiled. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Two days.”
“I’m sorry. I told you that.”
“It just seemed excessive.”
“It was safer for you there.”
“It was cold and miserable.”
He stifled a smile. “I’m sorry again.”
Emily turned back to the orange juice when Chevalier’s phone rang.
“Chevalier here,” he answered abruptly.
There was a long pause, and Emily noticed that Kralen and Silas were both tensing.
“What’s going on?” Emily whispered.
“Shhh,” Silas told her.
She watched Chevalier and could tell he was getting angrier. “Find out and do it now. I want a report in 30 minutes.”
When he slammed his phone shut, Emily stood up. “What happened?”
Chevalier blurred from the room, so Emily turned to Kralen.
He sighed. “Someone burned down Chevalier’s Colorado mansion.”
“What!?”
“It started part of the national forest on fire. It’s a complete loss.”
“I loved that place.”
“I’m sure he’ll rebuild,” Silas told her, trying to reassure her.
“Was it Gaius?”
“Probably. The Elder has a team heading out to make sure.”
Emily looked out the window, deep in thought.
“No,” Kralen said after a few minutes.
“What?” she asked him.
“You can’t go after Gaius.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Yes, you were. I can read you like a book.”
***
“Things look good, Emily,” the dentist said, smiling at her. He sat down and went over her chart. “No cavities. You have perfect teeth.”
Emily nodded, wringing her hands. She was always afraid to come to the dentist, fearing that he may have to give her a shot. She was also starting to wonder if her heku blood would heal a cavity anyway, and that maybe dentists were no longer necessary.
“Any questions?”
“No”
“Okay then. I’ll see you in six months.”
Emily nodded and returned to the lobby, where Cavalry Commander Moore 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.
She was just sitting down when she heard her name called from the door to the dentist’s office.
Emily looked back at the young woman in pink scrubs when she spoke, “The dentist forgot something. Can you come back in for a second?”
“Stay here. I’ll hurry,” Emily said, and ran back to the office. She was surprised when the guards stayed with the Jeep, but they had already canvassed the dentist’s office when she first walked in.
The hygienist was waiting beside the back room in the office. Emily hadn’t been in there before. The door was marked ‘supplies.’
“What did I miss?” Emily asked as she walked in. She froze suddenly when she saw a strange man sitting up against a table. Emily turned when the door shut and locked behind her, and she saw two large men beside the door.
“Before you even try to turn me to ash, my dear Emily, I beseech you to try and turn one of them to ash first,” the man at the table said. Emily studied him for a moment. He wasn’t as tall as Chevalier, but his muscles bulged in a tight black t-shirt.
Emily looked at the two men by the door. They both looked like bodybuilders, but they weren’t nearly as tall as a heku, so she figured they were mortals.
“Did you try?” the heku asked her.
Emily concentrated on the closest man, and he just smiled at her.
“They are both mortals,” the heku said. He smiled at Emily when she turned to look at him. “They have strict orders. If I turn to ash, then you will be shot immediately.”
Her skin crawled when she heard the cock of two shotguns from the men behind her. “Gaius, I presume?”
“You presume correctly.” He stood up and slowly walked around her. “I see why Chevalier bonded with you. You are exceptionally beautiful.”
“What do you want?”
“I wanted to see for myself what Chevalier owns.”
“He doesn’t own me.”
“Yes, he does.” Gaius blurred to her and lifted her chin gently with his hand, and then he bent down to run his nose along her neck. Emily tried to push him away, but he didn’t move. He stood finally and looked down on her. “Do you taste as exquisite as you smell, my dear?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she snapped at him.
“I heard that our precious Elder doesn’t like when someone touches his wife.” Emily’s eyes grew wide when Gaius slipped his tight t-shirt off, revealing his chiseled torso. She turned and started for the door, but Gaius caught her wrist. “Leaving isn’t part of the deal, Emily. Can I call you Em?”
“No,” she said, trying to get her wrist away from his grasp. His black jeans were perched low, and she cringed when she saw that the top button was undone.
“So, did I hear correctly? Does Chevalier have a problem with anyone touching you?” Gaius asked, and gently kissed her hand.
“Yes, so I suggest you back the hell off.”
He just smiled at her and then placed her hand on his chest. “Would he mind then, if you touch me?”
She tried to pull her hand away again, but he had a tight grip on her wrist and placed his hand over hers as he trailed her hand lightly across his chest.
“I haven’t felt the touch of a woman in hundreds of years,” Gaius said softly. “You have a very soft touch, Lady Emily.”
“Let go.”
Gaius’s eyes shut as he began to run her hand along his washboard abs. Emily tried to bend her fingers enough to jab her fingernails into his skin, but he held her hand flat with his. She started to panic more when he looked at her with a primal gaze and started to move her hand down toward the loose button on his jeans, just above where the obvious sign of his arousal was increasing.
“Last warning,” she hissed at him.
Gaius met her eyes and slipped her hand into the waistband of his jeans. While he continued to force her hand lower, she brought her knee up hard and hit him directly in his groin. Gaius managed to slam her into the door before he moved back to recover. Emily smashed into the door, feeling her head bang against the hardwood. The two mortals grabbed her and kept her away from the convalescing heku.
When he stood straight, Gaius was furious. He blurred to Emily and backhanded her, again slamming her head into the door. “I don’t suggest you fuck with me.”
The men let her go, and she slumped to the floor, already unable to see out of her left eye.
Gaius squatted down to look at her. “Tell Chevalier that I get what I want, and he’s next.”
With that, Gaius and his two mortals disappeared. Emily stood slowly, bracing herself on the wall, and opened the door. Her legs felt like jelly, and her head was pounding. She felt on the verge of passing out, but she tried to focus on getting to the Cavalry in the parking lot.
Emily noticed that the dentist’s office was closed up. The lights were off, and she couldn’t see anyone around. Again fighting the darkening of her vision, she found the front door and stepped out of the building.
The heku looked up from where they were listening to music in her Jeep, and they blurred toward her when she sunk to her knees.
***
“Come on, Em. Open your eyes,” Chevalier said, touching her face lightly. He could hear Mark yelling out in the hallway. He was trying to find out what happened, but the heku weren’t sure.
“No answer in the dentist’s office,” Kyle said, shutting his phone. “Their voicemail says that their office closes at 4 pm.”
“It’s almost 5 pm. What were they doing for half an hour?”
“Mark’s trying to figure that out. They are saying that the dentist called Emily back into the office for a moment and that she told them to stay in the Jeep and she’d be right out. They got busy and didn’t realize that so long had passed until she stumbled out of the office and collapsed.”
Chevalier’s rage became obvious, “They let her go inside alone?”
“That’s what they’re saying.”
“Make sure Mark doesn’t kill them. I want to talk to them.”
Kyle smiled crookedly. “He’s not in his right mind at the moment.”
“Then separate them.”
Kyle spoke toward the door, and the sound of Mark’s yelling faded as Silas and Kralen held him while prison guards took the four Cavalry down the stairs.
“Come on, Emily,” Chevalier said again. “I need you to open your eyes.”
Dr. Edwards rushed into the room. “What happened?”
“We don’t know,” Kyle said, giving the doctor his seat. “She saw the dentist and then collapsed when she came out.”
“And the bruise on her eye?” he asked, digging through his bag.
“We don’t know where that came from either.”
Dr. Edwards looked her over for a few minutes and then hung his stethoscope around his neck. “She has a concussion.”
“Can you tell from what?” Chevalier asked him, getting even angrier.
“She has two lumps on the back of her head. It looks like she hit her head a couple of times. If I had to guess, she was hit, and it threw her head back into a wall.”
“It had to be a mortal,” Kyle said, watching her. “She wouldn’t let a heku do it.”
“Em?” Chevalier whispered, and gently kissed the bruise on her eye.
She sighed softly, and her hand tightened in his.
“You’re safe,” Chevalier assured her. “Open your eyes.”
Her eyes finally fluttered open, and she moaned slightly.
Kyle turned off the lights and shut the thick curtains to block out the light from the full moon.
“Will you take these?” Dr. Edwards asked her, holding out two pills.
She nodded and took them without complaining, then laid back on the bed and watched Chevalier. She could tell he was furious, and she wasn’t sure if he was mad at her.
“What happened?” Kyle asked, sitting down beside the doctor.
Emily swallowed hard, and her heart began to race. “I was called back into the office.”
“Right, and Moore told us that you ordered them to stay in the Jeep.”
She nodded. “It was just going to be a second. I figured I forgot to sign something or maybe left something behind.”
“Then what?” Chevalier asked, obviously seething.
“The hygienist showed me into the supply room, and he was there.”
“The dentist?”
“Gaius”
Chevalier’s lip curled slightly into a snarl. “What?”
She watched him as tears started to form in her eyes. “He had two buff mortals, and they had guns. He said if I turned him to ash, they were going to shoot me.”
“You’re sure it was Gaius?” He hadn’t imagined his old enemy would have been the one to assault Emily. He figured Gaius would kill her if he got to her.
“He said it was, and I know he was a heku.”
“He hit you?”
She nodded.
“What did he want?” Kyle asked when Chevalier became too angry to speak.
“He wants me to tell Chevalier that he always gets what he wants, and he wants Chevalier.”
“That’s the entire story?”
She nodded again.
“That’s not all,” Quinn said from the doorway.
Emily gasped and looked over at him.
“What are you leaving out?” Kyle asked her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from Quinn. She often forgot he was the Chief Interrogator for the Equites for over a thousand years and had retained some of the ability to tell when someone was lying.
Chevalier studied her, and his eyes narrowed. “What did he do?”
“Just don’t,” Emily whispered, and tried to slip her hand out of Chevalier’s.
“I need to know.”
“You don’t need to know. Just find him.”
Chevalier grasped her hand even tighter and shut his eyes. Emily knew what he was trying to do, so she tried to pull her hand out of his, to no avail.
When he opened his eyes, he was no angrier than he had been before. “Damn.”
“What did he do?” Kyle asked.
“I can’t see it. I need to be able to control that.”
Emily smiled, relieved, and pulled her hand out of his.
“Just tell us,” Chevalier said. “I need to know what lengths he’s going to.”
She studied him before replying, “Great lengths. Just get him and let this drop.”
“He let you go though, Em,” Kyle told her. “That’s not like Gaius at all.”
“I think it was more of a warning.”
“What can I do to get you to tell me?” Chevalier asked her, starting to get irritated.
“Let her rest,” Dr. Edwards suggested. “She has a concussion and needs some peace and quiet.”
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, but he finally nodded. Emily laid back on the bed when she felt her headache back off from the medication Dr. Edwards had given her.
“I’ll be back to check on you in a couple of hours,” Dr. Edwards told her, and then left quickly.
Kyle was outwardly frustrated with Emily’s lack of information, so he stood up and blurred from the room, slamming the door after him.
Emily watched him go and then looked over at Chevalier.
“Now that we’re alone, will you tell me?” Chevalier asked her.
“Please, no.”
He kissed her softly. “I hate when you keep things from me. This is important.”
“It’s not going to help or hurt anything.”
“Rest then,” he whispered, and moved to sit in the chair by the fire. He was unable to leave her side. The thought of Gaius having her alone in a room enraged him, and he wasn’t going to risk losing her to a maniac with a grudge.
It was almost an hour later when Emily began to jerk in her sleep. Chevalier watched her go from a peaceful sleep to a restless one, so he moved to sit on the bed beside her.
“Don’t,” she whispered, clutching the blankets.
“Shhhh,” Chevalier whispered softly, and touched her arm through the sheet.
Even in her sleep, she jerked away from him, and he pulled his hand back quickly and watched her.
“Let me go,” she whispered softer, and then frowned.
“Em?” Chevalier said, touching her arm. The second his skin made contact with hers, her entire meeting with Gaius ran through his mind.
When Chevalier stood, his features were dark and menacing. He appeared instantly out in the hallway, and he turned black, angry eyes to Kralen. “Do not take your eyes off of her.”
“Yes, sir,” Kralen said, bowing slightly. He wasn’t going to break protocol when the Elder was this angry.
“Get Silas and stand in her room. I don’t want her out of your sight.”
“Yes, sir.” Before Kralen even had a chance to call for Silas, Chevalier disappeared from before him. He knew that Chevalier’s rage fueled him and that no one should cross his path.
Silas blurred up the stairs and stepped into the bedroom, where Kralen was watching Emily sleep. “You called for me?”
Kralen lowered his voice, “We’re to stay in here with her and not to let her out of our sight.”
Silas nodded and stood on the other side of the door. “I heard that Moore’s group pretty much let Gaius get to her.”
Kralen nodded. “Yes, and whatever he did had to be pretty bad. The Elder is furious.”
“Mark’s not all that happy either. He’s relieved all four from duty, and I think the only reason they’re alive is because Elder Chevalier wants to speak to them.”
“Speak?” Kralen said, his eyebrows raised. “I think he wants more than speaking.”
Mark suddenly blurred into the room, wide-eyed. “I’m… I’m in here, too.”
Silas nodded and moved over so Mark could stand beside the door.
“There are to be three guards outside of the doors and us three in. We don’t take our eyes off of her.”
“Yes, sir,” Kralen and Silas said together.
“If she leaves the palace again, we’re to go with her with three other guards. He doesn’t want to risk that happening again.”
“Understood,” Kralen whispered.
“My guards,” Mark seethed. “It was my guards who let her walk alone into that building. He could have killed her.”
Kralen nodded, too angry to speak.
Emily sat up suddenly and clutched the blankets to her chest. She looked over at the heku by the door, and Mark forced a reassuring smile.
“Where’s Chev?” Emily asked them.
“He’s… we don’t really know,” Mark said.
“He’s gone after Gaius?”
“Probably”
She nodded.
“He knows,” Kralen told her.
She frowned. “He knows what?”
“What you wouldn’t tell him.”
Emily sunk her head into her hands, “Damnit.”
“What’d he do?” Mark asked. “I want to know exactly what my guards allowed.”
“I think one heku knowing is enough.” Emily slowly got out of bed and tested her strength before heading for the bathroom. She went to shut the door and saw all three heku in the bathroom with her. “Ummm…”
“We’re not to take our eyes off of you,” Kralen told her with an understanding smile.
“Get out! This is the bathroom,” Emily yelled, pointing at the door.
“We are following the orders of a very angry Elder,” Mark explained. “We’re not to let you out of our sight.”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
Mark shrugged.
“Oh, this is not happening. Chevalier didn’t mean in the bathroom.”
“He made no exceptions for in here.”
“Quinn!” Emily screamed.
It was only a few seconds later when Quinn strolled calmly into the bathroom. “Is there a problem?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“Okay”
“Without an audience!”
Quinn glanced at the three guards before looking at Emily. “Chevalier was very precise when he told them not to take their eyes off of you.”
“No! Get them out of here.”
“I can’t override his order.”
“You and Zohn can. Isn’t that the heku way? Two Elders outvote one Elder?”
“If Zohn were here, then yes.”
“Quinn!”
“I’m sorry. No one wishes to cross Chevalier right now.”
“He didn’t mean in the bathroom though!”
“Maybe if they turn away? That way, they’ll be close but not watching.”
“Get them out of here.”
“I cannot do that. It won’t bother them, so simply forget that they are here.”
Emily started to shift slightly. She really needed to go to the bathroom. “If they don’t leave immediately, I’ll ash all of you so I can go to the bathroom alone!”
“No, you won’t,” Quinn said, and headed for the door. “Just go and get it over with.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed at the guards. They’d turned away from her but were still standing in the bathroom. “I’m going to strip. Let’s see how Chevalier likes you being in here for that.”
Mark’s eyes grew wide, and he looked nervously at Kralen, who was seconds from bolting out the door. “He’ll kill us either way.”
“Em, please. Just go. I haven’t gone to the bathroom in a thousand years, but I happen to remember you don’t have to get naked,” Kralen said, trying to reason with her.
“Get out!” Emily yelled.
Mark sighed, “What if we stand by the bedroom door, but you leave the door to the bathroom open? We can’t see the toilet from the door.”
Emily growled slightly and then gave up. “Fine.”
***
“Do you need anything?” Silas asked as he stood in the bathroom while Emily shifted uncomfortably by the toilet.
“Just get out. Please! It’s been a week,” she managed to croak.
“We can’t,” Kralen told her. “This doesn’t bother us.”
She started to argue, but it was getting harder to hold it. Silas walked over to look out the window in the bathroom. He saw Emily sweating, so he opened the window to let in some of the fresh night air.
When she finally gave up, she decided to pee quickly and get it over with.
Silas finally turned back from the window when she was done. “Looks like Kyle and Chevalier are back.”
“Good, he can tell you to go away,” Emily mumbled.
Kralen smiled. “If he does, we will.”
“Chev,” Emily whispered, though she knew he was listening for her already.
Chevalier blurred into the bathroom and crouched, looking around.
“Just us, sir,” Kralen said, fighting the urge to meet his stance.
He stood up and looked down at Emily. “What’s wrong?”
“Get them out of here.”
Chevalier nodded at them, and they disappeared from the bathroom, but he heard them take up positions outside of the bedroom door.
“Come on,” Chevalier said, and he started for the door.
“Get out first. I still have to go.”
Chevalier hesitated and then left the bathroom. He didn’t shut the door all the way in case something happened.
Emily came out a few minutes later. “Retract the order.”
“I can’t. I won’t risk Gaius getting to you again.”
“I need privacy in the bathroom.”
“He’s being cunning. I can’t risk it.” Chevalier softly guided her to sit down on the bed, and he slid her shirt up over her head.
“I’m not in the mood,” she grumbled at him.
Chevalier smiled and then pushed her down gently and tugged her jeans off. “I’m just going to give you a massage.”
“You don’t know how to ‘just’ give a massage.”
“I can behave,” he said, faking hurt feelings.
“Your hands wander, and I’m not in the mood,” she said as he slipped off her socks.
“Trust me.”
“I don’t trust you,” she said, and then sighed when he rolled her onto her stomach. She felt him kneel astride her hips and began rubbing her back tenderly.
“That does feel good,” she said sleepily.
“I told you it would.”
Since her time with Gaius, she’d been jumpy at any touch other than Chevalier’s. Her guards were taking extra precautions not to touch her under any circumstances. Chevalier worked on the muscles in her back and smiled when she relaxed into sleep. He bent down and kissed her shoulder softly, and then ran his nose along her neck before crawling off of her and covering her with a blanket.
He was watching her sleep when he heard Mark call for him from the hallway. Chevalier left silently but kept the door open behind him.
“What?” he asked, slightly irritated that they’d called him away from watching Emily sleep.
Mark lowered his voice, so not to wake Emily, “Gaius has sent another note.”
Chevalier took the note from Mark and slid his finger under the flap to open it.
Six guards? That won’t help her. You could triple them, and I’ll still find a way. Her touch felt amazing against my body. I wonder what the rest of her feels like.
He crumpled the paper in his hand and then concentrated on calming himself. He didn’t want Emily knowing that Gaius was still threatening her. Gaius’s latest threats all had sexual innuendos, and Chevalier knew exactly how Gaius was going to get back at him for the banishments.
“Sir?” Mark asked, waiting to see if their orders changed.
“Not a word to her that we got another note,” Chevalier told them.
“Yes, sir,” they all said in unison.
Chevalier finally calmed enough to walk in and sit down beside the bed. As he watched her, he became angrier at the thought of Gaius touching her. He had a past riddled with enemies, but he never imagined one would get so close to harming Emily.
Gaius was a nemesis without feeling or remorse. Chevalier fought to keep from thinking about Emily in his hands. He needed to stay calm and stay by her side. He hoped Gaius would try to take her while Chevalier was around. Chevalier wanted nothing more than to get his hands around Gaius’s neck.
***
Emily held her purse against her shoulder and watched the Council deliberate. Chevalier was obviously angry, so Zohn and Quinn were talking about her request for time out of the city.
“I’ll be with the entire Cavalry,” Emily reminded them.
“No,” Chevalier said sternly.
“I can’t stay in here, Chev! I need to get out. It’s been months.”
“It’s too dangerous. We haven’t heard from Gaius in weeks.”
“So maybe he’s dead.”
“He’s not dead. He’s waiting for something, and it could be his chance to get you out of the safety of Council City.”
“He can’t do anything with the entire Cavalry watching me.”
“Don’t underestimate him.”
“I’m not. However, I know your guards, and they won’t let anything happen to me.”
“Four of them did.”
“And you killed them. Mark will be there this time.”
“I didn’t kill them.”
“Yes, you did. I need to get out of this place for a while.”
“No”
Zohn finally turned around. “We have to agree with Emily. We don’t feel that she can be harmed with the entire Cavalry watching her.”
“I don’t care what the Elder vote is,” Chevalier told him. “I said no.”
“Chev, I can’t stay in here,” Emily said pleadingly. “I’m suffocating.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“No, it’s not!”
“Let’s discuss this calmly,” Quinn said. “Zohn and I feel that the Cavalry is more than enough heku to protect her from Gaius.”
“No,” Chevalier said, glaring at him.
“If you push her too far, she’ll run,” Zohn whispered, low enough that Emily couldn’t hear.
“We’ve learned that from her,” Quinn reminded him.
“What if I go too?” Kyle asked them.
“She’s not to go out of the city walls without me,” Chevalier growled at them.
“You can’t go right now. Things are tense, and you have to be here. I can take her out,” Kyle said. “You know I won’t let anyone hurt her.”
“Gaius is an Old One. You couldn’t stop him.”
“Not alone, no. Tell me one Old One who could take on the entire Cavalry.”
“No!”
“Chevalier,” Emily hissed. He looked over at her, shocked at her glare. “I’m no longer asking. I am getting out of this bloody palace, and I’m going to spend time on my horse and watch the Cavalry train. I will be surrounded by heku that are all so terrified of you right now, I won’t even get so much as a mosquito bite.”
“No”
“I didn’t ask,” Emily snapped at him. “Kyle is more than welcome to come also.”
“I won’t be defied!”
“I’ve been doing as you’ve asked, but I need a break. Again, I’m not asking. I’m informing you that I’m going out.”
With that, she turned and stormed out of the room. Kyle glanced at Chevalier and then decided to go with them. He disappeared, so Chevalier turned to the others. “Do not interfere where Emily is concerned.”
“If you push her too hard, she’ll run,” Zohn told him. “The last thing you want is for her to run off and be alone. At least this way, she’s with the Cavalry.”
Emily felt elated as she climbed up onto her stallion. She hadn’t been able to go riding in so long that she was overly anxious to get him out onto the hills and run him.
“Ready?” Kyle asked, riding up to her.
She nodded and started at a slow walk to the city gates. She tried not to roll her eyes when she saw the entire Cavalry riding on every side of her. She thought it was a bit overprotective but was just glad to be out of the confines of the palace.
Once on the hills, Emily slipped off her jacket and felt the sun on her shoulders. She relaxed and watched the Cavalry do horse-to-horse tackles. Mark only allowed two pair of Cavalry out at a time, and the rest were to be surrounding Emily and keeping their eyes out for anything out of the ordinary.
Emily was enjoying her time out and thought it was funny when the heku tackled and got hung up in the stirrups. Mark gave the five-minute warning and then glanced over toward the road.
She followed his gaze and saw two large men walking toward them.
“What faction?” Emily asked. She could see the men walking, but she couldn’t make out any features yet.
“Mortals, actually,” Mark said, turning his horse toward them.
“That’s weird,” Silas mentioned.
“Buff guys?” Emily whispered.
Mark looked at her. “How did you know?”
“Gaius had bodybuilder guys with him.”
Before her sentence was finished, Silas and Kralen kicked their horses into a gallop, heading directly for the approaching men. The men were in long black trench coats, with overly tight gray t-shirts and torn jeans. Emily felt the heku around her close in, although she didn’t see Gaius anywhere around.
Emily briefly wondered why only two heku went, then realized that even bodybuilders couldn’t take on a heku single-handedly.
They all watched while Kralen and Silas talked to the men, and Emily wasn’t at all surprised when the heku got off of their horses and restrained the men before hauling them back to the others.
Mark watched angrily as they approached. It was obvious he wanted a report.
“Have you seen these men, Emily?” Kralen asked. The man he was holding was trying everything he could to get loose, but the heku had a firm grip on him.
She nodded. “They were with Gaius. Those two had the guns and held me while he roughed me up a bit.”
“So, you thought it’d be fun to watch that sonofabitch try to sexually assault her?” Kralen asked, craning the man’s neck back painfully.
“Kralen!” Emily gasped. She wasn’t aware that Chevalier had shared that information with anyone.
“No! No, we didn’t know he was going to do that,” the man said, inches from death.
“Damnit, Kralen!” Emily quickly turned away when Kralen sunk his teeth into the man’s neck. She was pretty sure he wasn’t going to stop until the man was dead.
Kyle glanced at Emily but let Kralen drain him and drop him to the green grass. “Let’s take the other to meet the Elder.”
Silas nodded and started walking the last man toward the city. Kralen smiled apologetically at Emily when she glared at him. He headed back to get his horse, grabbing Silas’ horse on the way.
“Was that entirely necessary?” Emily asked Kyle when they started for the palace.
“I wouldn’t call it necessary.”
“Then why do it?”
“He was mad,” Mark said, shrugging. She hated how he acted like it was no big deal that Kralen had decided to take that man’s life.
When they arrived at the stables, Derrick was waiting for them, and Emily slid off of her horse. “I take it I’m needed in the council chambers.”
“This time, they are asking for the general and Chief Enforcer.”
Mark nodded and tied his horse to the hitching post. He, Kyle, and Derrick blurred inside to answer the summons.
When they stepped in, Silas and Kralen were before the Council, and the mortal man was on his knees, looking terrified. The Chief of Finance and Chief Investigator were holding Chevalier in his chair.
Mark bowed to the Elders, and Derrick stepped up beside him.
Quinn glanced once at the mortal and then looked at Mark. “We’re sure this is one of them?”
“Lady Emily confirmed it.”
“And the other one?”
“Drained,” Mark informed them.
Zohn nodded. “So, this man allowed the attempted assault, and then held the Lady so Gaius could repeatedly hit her?”
“Yes, Elder. He also held one of the guns they threatened the Lady with.”
“I see.” Zohn sat back and watched the man.
“Why did you come here?” the Chief Interrogator asked him.
His eyes darted along the intimidating Council. “I… to… we were…”
“Say it!” Chevalier roared.
“He… he told us… if we can bring the girl to him, he will make us a vampire,” the man finally admitted.
Quinn leaned forward and studied him. “So, you thought you and your friend could take on a group of vampires, by yourself?”
“G… Gaius said… he said she would be there alone.”
“But you saw the others?”
“Y… yes, but we didn’t know they would attack us.”
“How were you going to get Emily away from them?”
“To… to tell her… we were to tell her that Gaius won’t hurt her husband if she would talk to us for a moment in private,” he finally admitted.
Chevalier tried to stand again, but the Chief of Finance and Chief Investigator held steady.
“Search him,” the Chief Investigator ordered.
Kralen forced the man to his feet while Silas quickly patted him down, eventually producing a pair of handcuffs, a roll of duct tape, and a bottle full of tiny white pills.
“What are those?” Kyle asked him.
“Flunitrazepam,” Silas read from the bottle.
“Doctor?” Zohn called out.
Dr. Edwards came in and skirted around the prisoner before bowing to the Elders. “You called for me?”
“What is Flunitrazepam?” Kyle asked him.
He frowned slightly. “It’s better known as Rohypnol. It’s a very strong hypnotic, sedative, and muscle relaxant. It’s otherwise known as the date rape drug.”
“What, exactly, did you have planned for her?” Zohn asked angrily.
“Nothing! We were to bring her to Gaius,” the man said.
“You needed those items to do that?”
“Yes. He said… he said we were to cuff her hands behind her back, duct tape her mouth and eyes, and if she fought us, we were to give her those pills.”
Dr. Edwards looked visibly shaken. “Those pills can kill her.”
“We had to do what we were told.”
“Are there other mortals working for Gaius?” the Chief Interrogator asked him.
He nodded.
“How many?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“You’ve seen a lot of them though?”
He nodded again.
“Where is he?”
The man swallowed hard. “We don’t know. He calls us and meets us. We’ve never seen where he stays or where he comes from.”
“You found no cell phone on him?” Kyle asked Silas.
“No, Chief Enforcer.”
“Derrick, go search their vehicle and then make it disappear.”
Derrick smiled and then blurred from the room.
The mortal looked nervously at Chevalier, who was still watching him angrily and trying to stand up out of the firm grasp of the other heku.
Kyle smiled at the frightened mortal. “Does that vampire make you nervous?”
The man nodded.
“Want to know who that is?”
“No,” he squeaked.
“That’s Emily’s husband. He doesn’t take kindly to anyone messing with his wife,” Kyle said, glaring down at him. “If those two let him go, you will be in more pain than you could imagine, before he kills you.”
Chevalier hissed slightly as the man began to sweat.
“We’re civil here though,” Zohn said, amused. “So, we’ll vote and see if we let him go or not.”
“All in favor of letting Chevalier go, raise your hand,” Quinn said.
The man watched, horrified, as each member of the Council raised his hand, including the two that were restraining Chevalier. With only one hand, they were unable to contain him any longer, and Chevalier appeared instantly at the mortal. He grabbed the man using a handful of hair and dragged him out of the room without a word.
Derrick blurred in a few minutes later and put a cell phone, a bullwhip, and a set of leather wrist cuffs on the table before the Elders. “That’s the only thing of note in the car.”
“And the vehicle?” Zohn asked, picking up the cuffs.
“In the pond.”
Zohn nodded and grabbed the cell phone. He handed it to the Chief Investigator. “See what you can do with this.”
He nodded, took the phone, and then blurred to his office.
“Where is Emily?” Quinn asked finally.
Mark stepped forward. “She is with the Cavalry in the stables.”
“With at least six?”
“Actually, the entire Cavalry stayed with her.”
“Join them please, Kyle.”
Kyle nodded and disappeared to check on Emily.
***
Chevalier looked down at Emily angrily. “We’ve gone over this! You’re just hell-bent on letting Gaius get to you.”
“I’m not either! I went to the game room. That’s not a death wish.” Emily was glaring at him, livid.
“With two guards!? You are to have six with you, and one is to be ranking.”
“I didn’t even leave the palace! There’re no windows in the game room. How exactly is Gaius going to get me?”
“He will try. He’s gotten into Island Coven, Thukil, and Banks Covens all unnoticed.”
“It’s not my fault that four of the Cavalry got called away in an emergency before their replacements were notified. Silas was there! I was safe.”
“That’s not the point! You should have stayed in the bedroom and called for me.”
“Stop it, Chev! Just stop it. You’re smothering me. We played games in the game room. There were even four palace guards in there playing slots. I was safe, damnit, and I’m not going to let you treat it like it was bad.”
Chevalier took a deep breath. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous Gaius is. After what he’s already tried to do to you, I would think you would be more cautious.”
Emily just scowled at him.
He finally managed to calm down. His temper had raged since he found Emily in the game room with only two of the guards with her.
“You can’t imagine how this feels to me,” Chevalier said, his eyes now warm and caring. “If he gets to you, just to punish me, I’m not sure what I would do.”
“I’m still mad at you.”
“I know, but you have to try and see it how I do.”
“Silas told me that Gaius is an Old One.”
“Yes”
“How long have you known him?”
“He was turned only about 12 years after I was, and I was there.”
“Did your maker turn him?”
“Yes”
“Was it his choice?”
Chevalier shook his head. “My maker didn’t turn a lot of heku by choice.”
“You were friends with him?” Emily asked curiously.
“Yes, that’s how he knows how to get to me, and that’s how I know that I’ll destroy him.”
She sighed and finally relaxed her posture.
“So, we’re okay?” he asked.
“I’m still mad at you.”
“Don’t be. I just want you to be safe.”
Emily spun on her heels and walked out of the bedroom. Chevalier debated going after her but decided to let her cool off first. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel so trapped, that she would risk slipping her guards.
She got to the roof and looked back at her six Cavalry guards. She only knew one of them by name. She briefly debated calling for Kralen or Silas but decided that they must not be back, or they would have been with her already. Emily had been with Mark, Silas, and Kralen almost non-stop since Gaius got her in the dentist’s office. It was only after a huge argument that Chevalier finally allowed them to go and feed, leaving her with six other members of the Cavalry.
She climbed the two feet up onto one of the turrets on the roof and looked out over the palace grounds. It was the perfect day. It wasn’t hot yet, but the grass was green, and there weren’t any clouds in the sky. The turret she was standing in was only about three feet wide, so the heku stood below her on the floor of the roof.
Emily watched Kralen’s mare and Mark’s stallion out in the corral together. They were picking at the new grass and sloshing around in the mud. She liked seeing them out relaxing in the sun. The horses were worked very hard by the Cavalry, and it was good to give them a break.
When the force slammed into Emily, she barely had time to scream. She was falling, down almost 100 feet to the grass below. At first, she thought she was about to die, but when she landed on the grass, she felt hands around her and realized that a heku had grabbed her and jumped off the roof.
Everything was in slow motion. She turned her head to look at the heku, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that she was in the arms of Gaius.
She could faintly hear the city alarm go off, and then voices as the Cavalry was alerted and took off after them. Emily struggled in his arms, but he held her tightly, almost too tightly. She was finding that between his arms and the extreme speed that he was moving, it was hard to breathe.
When Gaius stopped, Emily looked around a large clearing far from Council City. The clearing was surrounded on all sides by trees, but what shocked her, was that the clearing had hundreds of men in it, both heku and human. The mortals all wore green camouflage fatigues that had the American flag on the right arm.
Gaius set her down on a small platform in the center. The platform had four men, one in each corner. Each man had an M4 carbine assault rifle, and the guns were pointed directly at her.
“Turn me to ash, and they will fire immediately,” Gaius told her. Her heart pounded in her chest when she realized that Gaius had not only heku surrounding her but hundreds of the U.S. military.
***
Chevalier’s rage fueled him. He had pulled far ahead of the others that were tracking Emily’s scent through the trees. Even though a light breeze was making it hard for the heku, Chevalier’s enhanced Old One senses had honed in on Emily, so he was having no problems tracking her.
As he got closer, he caught the strong scent of mortals, along with the scent of heku. He stopped suddenly when he got into the clearing. Everyone turned to him, and the mortals all produced some type of firearm.
In the instant he appeared in the clearing, Chevalier took in every minute detail. Emily was bound and gagged up on a small landing, and she had assault rifles pointed at her. Her hands were trapped at her back with handcuffs, and duct tape had been taped over her eyes and mouth. She was breathing quickly but not struggling to get away.
Gaius was standing beside her and watching Chevalier furiously. Chevalier recognized every heku in the clearing. He fought back the panic when he realized that he had once banished each of the heku. He had wondered while running why Emily hadn’t turned Gaius and the others to ash, and now it made sense. Gaius had employed too many mortals.
“Gaius, let her go,” Chevalier growled at him. Just when he finished talking, Kyle and the entire Cavalry arrived with him. Chevalier held up a hand to keep them from walking forward. He was trying to find a way to defuse the situation without risking Emily’s life.
Gaius smiled and addressed the soldiers. “If any of those men disappear, shoot her.”
“It’s me you want. Let her go,” Chevalier ordered.
“I don’t think so, Equitis. See, I know that the best way to get you back, is to kill your precious wife,” Gaius said, and he moved to Emily and lightly touched the side of her face. “I do see why you love this young girl.”
“Gaius!”
Emily was scared. She was unable to move much, and she couldn’t see to know what was going on around her. She jerked when he lightly touched her face, and her skin crawled knowing that he was standing beside her. She could tell by Chevalier’s voice that he was livid, and she wondered if he could take on this many enemies at once.
“What do you want?” Chevalier asked him.
Gaius stepped behind Emily, put his hand under her t-shirt, and lightly ran his hands across her abdomen. “You mean besides this?”
Kyle reached out and grabbed Chevalier when he started forward. “Don’t. We can’t risk it.”
“Touch her again, and I’ll remove that hand.”
“Oh?” Gaius asked, smiling. His hand lightly ran up her abdomen, and he roughly squeezed her breast.
Emily tried to squirm away from him, but he held her tightly against him, so she couldn’t move.
“Tell me what you want,” Chevalier hissed. Mark and Kyle were still holding the Elder back.
“It’s simple,” Gaius said, finally moving away from Emily. “I want your Chief Enforcer to turn you to ash and sentence you to 1,000 years of banishment. Once done, I want your ashes.”
Kyle’s eyes flared. “No.”
“Why are you doing this?” Mark asked, his entire body tense and ready to attack.
“Every heku in this clearing was once banished by Chevalier. He needs to feel the pain that we felt, the pain that he put us through!” Gaius roared. “I won’t be appeased until he’s been tormented for a thousand years.”
“I won’t banish him,” Kyle said angrily.
“I think you will,” Gaius said haughtily. “I think you’ll do it to save the girl, in hopes you can retrieve him and revive him. Of course, I will put your Elder in a place that no one will ever find him. When he wakes in 1,000 years, he’ll see me waiting for him, and I’ll kill him before he has a chance to even feed.”
“I won’t do it.”
Gaius smiled and walked back over to Emily. He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her face up toward his.
“Gaius, stop it!” Chevalier yelled when Gaius ran his tongue lightly up her face. With a grin, Gaius moved to her neck and sunk his teeth into the soft flesh.
Kralen immediately grabbed Chevalier when he saw that the Old One was seconds from breaking free of Mark and Kyle’s grasp.
Even with fear coursing through her body, Emily felt the warmth of relaxation, and her knees started to give out. Gaius held her tightly as he drank deeply of the intoxicating flavor of the Winchester blood. She cried out when he tore the duct tape from her mouth and kissed her roughly. When he was finished, he dropped her onto the wooden floor and turned around.
“Her scent doesn’t do her taste justice,” he said, watching her. “I may have to have more in a bit.”
“You will let her go if I am banished?” Chevalier asked him.
Gaius looked over at his old friend. “Yes, I will.”
“He won’t, and you know it,” Kyle whispered. “He’ll banish you and keep Emily.”
“I’m wounded, Chief Enforcer,” Gaius said, faking a pout. “I’m a heku of my word.”
Emily recovered from the brief relaxation that comes with feeding, and she managed to get to her knees. “I won’t let you banish him.”
Gaius turned to her. “Shut up, child.”
“No, I’m tired of this.”
“Em, don’t,” Kyle yelled. “You’re surrounded by armed military. If you ash the heku, they will kill you.”
“How many heku are there?”
“Shut up!” Gaius said. He spun suddenly and backhanded her to the ground. Before she could move, he’d replaced the duct tape over her mouth.
“Stop it!” Chevalier yelled. “Let her go first, and then I’ll come to you.”
“I’ve said my demands. Now, do as I asked while I get my fill of your wife.” Gaius reached down and started to kiss Emily’s neck lightly as his hand trailed up her shirt.
Silas joined in in holding Chevalier back. “We’ll get her. Don’t risk those men shooting her.”
Chevalier’s eyes blazed. “Kyle, do it.”
“I won’t banish an Elder,” Kyle whispered.
“I said do it!”
“No. Banishing you won’t get her back.”
Chevalier answered with a low growl.
Gaius screamed when Emily managed to get a hard knee into his groin. He knelt above her and punched her in the face, instantly knocking her unconscious. “She needs to learn her place.”
“Drop the mortals and your heku buddies, and take me on yourself,” Chevalier yelled, “or are you too afraid? Are you going to pull another stunt like you did during the Battle of Thermopylae?”
This visibly angered Gaius. “You’re treading on thin ice, Chevalier.”
“And you’re a coward.”
The Cavalry felt more heku around them as the entire Council City army arrived to reinforce them. A lot of the formerly banished heku began to move back, suddenly afraid that they would be outnumbered.
“Report,” Zohn said, stepping up beside Chevalier. Kralen filled him in quickly as the army listened.
Emily was once again conscious and on her knees, this time without a shirt. Gaius had torn it off of her, leaving her in just jeans and a bra. She was shaking with fear, and Chevalier could hear her heart race.
Gaius glanced down at her and then smiled at Chevalier. “Did you enjoy the show, my dear friend? Would you prefer I take her here, right in front of all of you? Do you fantasize about seeing your wife with another Old One?”
Emily’s senses were heightened without the use of her eyes. Her skin prickled as the light breeze blew across her. She didn’t know what was going to happen, and fear seized her. She was finding it hard to breathe with her mouth covered. She struggled to breathe through her nose and was terrified that he would cover her nose too, causing her to suffocate slowly.
“Banish me,” Chevalier hissed, still looking at Gaius.
Gaius smiled. “Do it, and I’ll give the girl back to you. I want his ashes for the next 1,000 years.”
“No,” Zohn said. “We will not sacrifice an Elder for the girl.”
Gaius’s smile wavered and then broadened. “You are not as infatuated with the girl as the others.”
“No, I’m not. However, I fully plan on torturing you for what you’ve put her through. We do not allow Equites to be terrorized.”
“She’s not an Equites! She’s nothing but a mortal.”
“She is an Equites and a member of our Council.”
“But you would like her dead.”
“No, I would not.”
Gaius studied Zohn, trying to figure out his thoughts on Emily. “Tell me about her.”
“Not here,” Zohn said calmly. “However, I was Chief Interrogator, and I am calling your bluff. You don’t ever plan on letting Emily live.”
“I will for a while,” Gaius said, kicking her softly with the toe of his boots. “I see a lot of possibilities in keeping her with me for a while.”
Emily dreaded the feel of his hands on her skin again, and she started to feel like Gaius was going to win this. She knew that the only way he was allowed to get as far with her as he had, was because Chevalier wasn’t able to stop him. Her spirits sank as she imagined what Gaius had planned for her.
“Let me go,” Chevalier ordered. Those heku holding him back looked over at Zohn.
“Belay that,” Zohn whispered, studying the clearing. He knew there had to be a way to get Emily out of there safely, but the sight of the guns pointed at her looked harrowing.
Chevalier never took his eyes off of Gaius. Every sense he had was focused in on his target, and he waited for the chance to break free. Chevalier wanted Gaius to think he was solely bent on getting to his old heku friend, but his plans were different. He wanted to grab Emily before the military had the chance to shoot her. He knew that if Emily wasn’t at gunpoint, the heku army behind him would do away with the others, and Zohn would keep Gaius safe for Chevalier to deal with.
Blood surged through Chevalier, and he could feel himself become more powerful as his anger grew. He could hear Emily’s heart racing and her breathing becoming labored. He could clearly smell the scent of sweat as her fear grew. Terror emanated from her, and he could sense it steadily increasing.
Gaius was haughty and proud as he looked down at Emily and smelled her fear. His smile broadened as he anticipated finally getting revenge. “It was careless, Chevalier, and very unlike you to bond with one so fragile and frail. I was shocked when I learned you married a mortal. Of course, I’ll soon know why. Won’t I?”
Gaius reached down and pulled Emily to her feet. He gently touched her hair and ran his hands down her spine.
“Gaius,” Chevalier hissed. “Enough of this.”
“She’s so sweet,” Gaius whispered, and then sunk his teeth into her neck again. He held her close to him, and one hand forcefully squeezed her butt.
The euphoric effect wasn’t as strong this time, and Emily began to panic when she felt the proof against her stomach of Gaius’s attraction to her. He pressed against her, and she suddenly felt the need to vomit. When she felt her headache increase, she realized that Gaius was overfeeding. The jittery feeling she got when a heku overfed scared her, and she wondered if he was going to simply drain her here in front of everyone.
Her face began to pale, and Chevalier knew he had to do something immediately. When Gaius dropped Emily to the ground at his feet, he looked up at Chevalier and wiped the blood away from his chin. “I’m going to enjoy her.”
Emily struggled to her knees again and realized how weak she had become. If he fed one more time, he would kill her. She also knew that she was now too weak to turn all of the heku in the clearing to ash.
“Now,” Mark yelled suddenly.
Chevalier turned to him, not sure what Mark was doing. What he saw was empty trees behind him, and he realized that hands no longer held him still. Using speed only available to Old Ones, Chevalier spun and bolted for Emily. He passed the Equites army and grabbed her just as the men realized that he had disappeared. He felt bullets whiz by him when he picked Emily up and disappeared from the platform.
Emily was screaming from behind the duct tape, and Chevalier kept heading for the palace. He wanted to get her safely within its walls. He knew the battle was already over, and that Gaius was in the grips of Mark and Silas.
“Shhh, I have you,” Chevalier whispered to her as he blurred through the trees.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears as she felt the familiar comfort of being in Chevalier’s strong arms. When he sat her down on the bed, Dr. Edwards was already waiting.
Emily tried to talk, but her words were garbled by the duct tape. Chevalier put a blanket over her shoulders and then began to gently peel the tape away from her mouth.
Dr. Edwards broke the handcuffs off of her wrists, and she immediately brought her hands around and got a death grip on Chevalier. She breathed better when the tape was off of her mouth, but she couldn’t manage to speak. Her throat had closed off out of fear and only choked sobs broke through.
“Careful with her eyes,” Dr. Edwards whispered when Chevalier started to peel the duct tape away.
Chevalier sat back and looked at her. “How do we do this without hurting her?”
“Start between her eyes and peel outward,” Dr. Edwards told him. “Just do it slowly.”
Emily managed another high-pitched squeak.
“It’s okay,” Chevalier told her, and touched her cheek softly. “We got him, so it’s over.”
He tore the duct tape in half over her nose and then very slowly started to peel it away from her eyes. He was concentrating not to hurt her when Kyle and Kralen came into the room.
“We have him in custody,” Kralen reported.
Chevalier nodded but didn’t respond. He knew his voice would give away his anger, and he didn’t think Emily could handle it at the moment.
Kyle went over to Emily’s wardrobe and picked out a t-shirt he’d seen her wear often. He laid it beside her on the bed, so she could slip it on when Chevalier was finished.
When the tape was finally off of her eyes, she opened them slowly but couldn’t see. Everyone was fuzzy, and she hadn’t realized how many heku were in her room. Chevalier pulled the t-shirt over her head, and she quickly slipped it on.
Once her eyes cleared, she looked at Chevalier and then lunged into his arms. He wrapped them around her and kissed her forehead lightly. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head and then broke out in sobs.
“Is she injured?” Quinn asked from the door.
Dr. Edwards bowed to the Elder and then looked down at Emily. “She was physically assaulted a bit, but I don’t think she’s injured.”
Emily reached around Chevalier’s neck and grabbed tight handfuls of his shirt, so he couldn’t let her go, then she buried her face into his shoulder.
Chevalier stood up and then sat on the bed, bringing Emily with him. He was still using immense restraint to keep his temper from raging out of control. He knew that he had plenty of time to pay Gaius back for what he’d done. Right now, he needed to make Emily feel secure and safe again.
“What happened to the mortals?” Chevalier asked finally.
Mark cleared his throat and then answered too low for Emily to hear, “We killed everyone in that clearing, except for Gaius.”
Dr. Edwards studied Emily. “We may need to sedate her.”
“Why?” Chevalier asked.
“Her heart is beating too rapidly. She’s still panicking, and I would imagine she couldn’t stop now if she wanted to. We can help with sedation.”
“I don’t want to knock her out.”
“I won’t. Just a little bit to help her calm down.”
Chevalier nodded and saw Dr. Edwards produce a small pill. “Emily?”
She tightened her grip on him.
“I want you to take these.”
A small sob escaped her lips.
Chevalier pulled her away from him gently and took the pill and orange juice from the doctor. “Here, for me. Take this.”
She tried to pull close to him again, but he held her steady.
“Come on,” he encouraged, and held the pill to her mouth.
She was still shaking and breathing rapidly, but she managed to take the pill and wash it down with orange juice. Chevalier held her closely until he felt her start to relax.
***
Chevalier walked up to the cell and looked inside. Gaius stared at him and glared.
“Come have a talk,” Chevalier said as the prison guard beside him opened the cell. Chevalier’s voice was calm yet held a menacing tone.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Gaius said, standing up. “You aren’t half the heku you think you are. You hide behind your Council because you aren’t strong enough to stand alone.”
Chevalier didn’t respond, but instead, he led the way to the interrogation room. The prison guards hauled Gaius in, and then Kyle and Mark stepped in after them and shut the door.
“Put him on the rack,” Chevalier ordered.
Kyle frowned slightly. Chevalier had never really favored the rack and preferred the brutal agony of lashings and burnings. He’d once mentioned that the rack didn’t cause enough pain for his liking.
Once Gaius was restrained with thick chains, Mark grabbed a bundle of wires and moved them over to Chevalier, thinking he wanted to torture the Old One with electricity.
“That won’t be necessary,” Chevalier told him. His calm, soft tone somehow made him seem even more menacing. Mark returned the wires and then turned around curiously to see what the Elder had in mind.
“Tighten the straps,” Chevalier said, watching Gaius.
Kyle stepped forward and turned the crank, stretching Gaius on the table. Gaius didn’t scream, as most did, but groaned slightly and gritted his teeth against the pain.
Chevalier walked forward slowly and then tore Gaius’s shirt off of him while the others watched. Meeting Gaius’s eyes, Chevalier slammed his fist into the prisoner’s chest and took a firm grip on his heart.
Kyle’s eyes grew wide when he realized that Chevalier was holding Gaius’s heart in his hand, keeping it from beating. Gaius screamed finally as his body began to die, slowly. The pain was unbearable, and he thrashed uncontrollably. When he fell unconscious onto the table, Chevalier withdrew his hand, and the heku heard his heart start to beat again.
It took only minutes for Gaius to open his eyes again, and this time, the arrogance was gone, and fear had taken its place.
Once the skin healed over the chest wound, Chevalier put his fist into Gaius’s chest again and grabbed his heart tightly. Gaius’s back arched, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he screamed. Kyle and Mark instinctively took steps back away from the Elder. They hadn’t seen this form of punishment before, and the brutality of it was shocking. Chevalier withdrew his hand when Gaius fell unconscious.
He stepped back, listening to Gaius’s heart start to beat again, and the skin began to heal over the wound. Chevalier’s hand and arm were saturated with drying blood as he watched his old friend recover.
“Please,” Gaius managed to whisper. “Kill me.”
“You know me better than that,” Chevalier said.
Gaius’s guttural screams started again when Chevalier repeatedly stopped his heart and watched him die, over and over, for hours while Kyle and Mark watched.
It was two days later when Gaius died, nothing but a weakened shell. His horrific screams penetrated the palace for days as the heku nervously went about their duties. When Chevalier stepped out of the interrogation room, blood covered every surface, and he snarled slightly before walking up the stairs to shower. He knew that Dr. Edwards had stayed with Emily and kept her partially sedated. Each time she came out of the sedation, fear set in, and she started to shake.
When Chevalier went into the bedroom after a shower, he dismissed the doctor, Silas, and Kralen. They all left and shut the door behind them. He quietly crawled into bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her. In her sleep, she pulled closer to him and gripped his arm tightly.