Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (11 page)

“Who buys a house with no toilets
anyway?” he asked, amused.

“I figured I’d put them in later,” she
told him.

“Come with,” Robert said.

“Where?” Chevalier whispered to
Kralen.

Kralen replied, “He’s
always trying to get her to go riding with him on his
motorcycle.”

“No thanks. Chev’s here
tonight and I think I’ll spend it in,” Emily told him.

“Do you know anyone under
six and a half feet tall?” Robert asked, laughing.

“Yes, you,” Emily said,
and walked into the kitchen. The heku heard Robert follow her
in.

“It’s odd how they don’t eat…
ever.”

“They do too. They just
don’t like my cooking I think.”

“That can’t be it. You’re
an amazing chef.”

Emily grinned, “You’re just
hungry.”

“I haven’t seen them sleep,
either.”

“Well it’s not like they camp out on
my floor.”

“Why won’t you ever come out with me
at night?”

“It’s too
cold.”

The heku heard him take a
few steps, “It’s not that cold.”

Chevalier quickly went to
the door and opened it slowly. He saw that Robert was standing very
close to Emily, but moved away when he entered.

“Smells good, Em,”
Chevalier said, and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ll start on that
bathroom tomorrow then,” Robert said, and left quickly. A few
minutes later, they heard his motorcycle moving off into the
dark.

“Smells good?” Emily asked, dishing
herself up some.

Chevalier grinned, “Well… not
really.”

She sat down at the table
and was joined by the heku, including Mark, who was waiting for
Robert to leave before coming in.

“He does like you,” Chevalier told
her.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. Watch it around
him.”

“I suspect he won’t stay
around much longer. We’re almost done with this house… except for…
it,” Emily said, and started to eat.

“It?” Mark asked.

“The ceremonial room,” Kralen told
him.

“We’re working on it. It
won’t be long,” Chevalier told her. “When it’s gone, are you going
to sell this place?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“We still haven’t cleaned out
Exavior’s room yet,” Silas reminded her.

“I know… I’ll start on
that later.”

“Why don’t you let us do it?” Kralen
asked.

“I will, it’s ok. He can’t
have much else in there more than I’ve already seen.”

Mark stood suddenly and
looked toward the back door. Emily looked up just as Silas and
Kralen stood slowly, also watching the back door.

“Go,” Chevalier whispered,
and the three heku blurred away.

The two dogs came running
from the front of the house and tore past Emily as they growled and
headed out the back door.

“No!” Emily screamed, and
stood up to follow the dogs.

Chevalier wrapped an arm around her,
“No, stay in here.”

“What’s out there?” she
whispered.

“Some heku.”

“Encala?”

“Probably, they’ve been trying to get
into this place for days.”

Emily frowned, “And no one told
me?”

“We’ve stopped them. Over
half of the Cavalry is out there in the dark.”

“I should send Robert
away. It’s too dangerous for him here.”

“Now you’re protecting
him?”

Emily moved away from
Chevalier and looked at him, “Don’t get your jealous tendencies all
riled up.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re close to it.”

He sighed, “I’m reining it
in.”

She grinned and moved
closer to him. He pulled her up to him and kissed her passionately.
Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and laced her fingers
through his hair.

***

“Damn, they are sending
more each time,” Mark said as he, Silas, and Kralen walked into the
kitchen.

“We just need to get her to stay in
the palace,” Kralen said, slightly out of breath.

“Except we’ve all tried
that.”

“We’ll keep trying. I’m ready to get
back to the palace too.”

They all turned when the front door
opened.

“Great, he’s back,” Silas
sighed.

Robert walked into the
kitchen and stopped when he saw the heku at the table talking. He
walked up and joined them, “Have a bit of a scuffle?”

Mark glanced at him, “A
bit.”

“You all must be new to
the bodyguard game, so I’m going to give you some advice,” Robert
said, and sat back in his chair after glancing around the
kitchen.

Kralen raised an eyebrow, “I wouldn’t
say we’re new to it.”

“Yes, well… you keep
making rookie mistakes.”

“We do?”

“Yes… first and foremost, you’re too
attached to your charge,” Robert told them.

Silas grinned, “Ok.”

“Never get too close to
them. It slows your response to attacks.”

Kralen looked at Mark and rolled his
eyes.

“Remember, she’s your
responsibility, not your friend. Get too close to her and it’ll
slow your reflexes and make you panic in times of
attacks.”

“Ok,” Silas said again.

“Size won’t protect her
either. Can you fight?” Robert asked.

“Yes,” Mark told him, now
irritated.

“Ever fought a vampire?”

“No”

Robert sighed, “It’s
important that you know how. I suspect the vampires are after
Emily.”

“Oh? What makes you think
that?”

“Just a feeling. There’s a
lot of dark trees around this house, perfect spots for vampires to
hide. I have a keen sense about these things and those vampires are
going to attack.”

“Ok,” Silas sighed, and
looked down at his hands.

“Just remember, 98% of the
time, nothing’s going to happen. You have to concentrate on that
other 2% and always be ready for it,” Robert told them, and leaned
forward on the table.

“Yeah with Emily it’s more
like 98% trouble,” Kralen said, too low for Robert to
hear.

Silas chuckled as Kralen hid a
grin.

“It’s not funny. I’m being
serious,” Robert said, frowning. “You would be wise to listen to
me. I’m more experienced than you are.”

“Oh, I bet,” Silas
replied.

“Where is Emily?” the mortal asked,
looking toward the door.

“She’s busy.”

“With what?”

“Stuff”

Robert nodded, “Ever have to protect
her against her husband?”

“No,” Mark
growled.

“You do realize that most
abuse of women comes from the husband... especially when there’s a
large age difference, like between Emily and her
husband.”

“He doesn’t abuse her.”

“Just keep your eyes out.
Course, it gets fuzzy when it’s the husband that employs you.
That’s why it’s good I’m here.”

“Why is that, exactly?” Kralen
asked.

“If her husband gets out of hand, I’m
hired by Emily and have no loyalties to him,” Robert
explained.

“Ok,” Silas said, yet
again.

“Listen here, Runt,” Mark
hissed. “We don’t need your help in protecting Emily, especially
from her husband. We don’t need your advice, and honestly, we don’t
need you here… period.”

Robert grinned, “You’re
afraid I’m invading your territory. I can see how you are overly
cautious and maybe even threatened by me.”

Silas reached out and
stopped Mark from standing up, “We’ve been guarding Emily long
enough to know what we’re doing, and we don’t need help from the
likes of you.”

“Maybe that’s the problem
then. You’ve been guarding her for too long. It’s common to get new
bodyguards every few years to avoid this kind of attachment,”
Robert said.

“You have no idea what
you’re talking about,” Mark said, and stood up. He opened the door
and let the two dogs in. They ran through the kitchen and headed up
the stairs.

“Those are the wrong kind
of guard dogs, too. You should stick with German Shepherds and
Rottweilers. Labs are good for kids, but not protection. The
Malamute is ok though, if trained properly.”

“Is there anything you
don’t have an opinion about?” Silas asked him.

Robert smiled, “Not when
it comes to guarding… You’d be smart to listen and
learn.”

“Right, like watching her husband to
make sure he doesn’t abuse her.”

“Exactly”

“Why am I getting accused
of abusing Em?” Chevalier asked from the doorway.

“Robert here is just
correcting some of our rookie bodyguard mistakes,” Kralen told the
Elder.

“I see,” Chevalier said,
and sat down with them. “What exactly are these rookie
mistakes?”

“They’re too attached.
It’s not safe for her,” Robert told him.

Chevalier frowned,
“They’re no more attached than you are… which, Boy. We need to have
a chat about.”

Robert’s eyes narrowed,
“Meaning?”

“Meaning… stay away from my
wife.”

“I haven’t touched your
wife.”

“There’s obvious
attraction, and Em has a bad track record with guys like
you.”

“I don’t think I like what you’re
insinuating,” Robert told him.

“I don’t know why you’re
here, or what Emily sees in you that she wants to keep safe, but
keep your hands off and remember, you’re a handyman, nothing
more.”

“She hired me to protect
her from vampires, too,” Robert reminded him.

“That’s stupid. There’s no
such thing,” Mark said.

“I told you… I have a
feeling the vampires are after her,” Robert said, and stood up.
“Better watch yourselves. When they attack, I’m only protecting
Emily. You’ll be on your own.”

“Noted,” Kralen growled.

Robert smiled and then
walked out of the room. They heard him go into his room and shut
the door.

“What an idiot,” Silas
sighed.

“I don’t trust him,”
Chevalier said, and turned back to the guards.

“How dare he call us rookies and try
to teach us how to guard,” Mark sneered.

“What did you find?”

“Oh, right, twelve Encala trying to
slowly work their way to the house,” Mark told him.

“They think Frederick’s here,” Silas
said.

“Damn, I wish she’d just
tell us where he is already,” Chevalier sighed.

“That and return to the palace and get
rid of loser.”

“That too.”

“Why do you suppose the
Encala aren’t attacking en masse?” Mark asked. “These small attacks
are useless. They know we’re watching this house.”

“I’m not sure, but I fully
expect that to change, and fast,” Chevalier answered.

“Let’s put Robert on guard
duty out there,” Silas said, and grinned.

“Damn, was Em making
spaghetti again?” Chevalier asked, and looked toward the
kitchen.

“No, dumb nuts has garlic
all over the house,” Kralen explained. “Smells nasty.”

“That and he keeps trying
to shove crosses at us and sprays us with holy water on a regular
basis,” Silas added.

“He best not do that to me if he wants
to keep his head,” Chevalier told them.

“So encourage it is what you’re
saying?” Kralen chuckled.

Chevalier smiled, “So you
said he’s a vampire hunter by trade?”

“Yes”

“V.E.S.?”

“Nope,” Silas said. “He
was offended when we asked him if he was V.E.S.”

“Right now, we need to get
the mortal pain out of here and then Emily can return to the palace
where it’s safer,” Mark told them.

“We’ll try,” Kralen said.
“But you know if Emily sees us trying to get rid of Putz, she’ll
fight back.”

“That’s true,” Chevalier
said. “We could just… you know…”

“Get rid of him on his
nightly ride?” Silas asked, and grinned. “I’ve been thinking about
that.”

“Control him long enough
to get a note to Em that he’s leaving, and then make sure he
doesn’t come back,” Kralen said, and then nodded, deep in
thought.

“Let’s see first if he
leaves on his own, but I’m not putting up with this much longer,”
Chevalier said. He looked up when he heard Emily start to talk in
her sleep. “I better go before she screams and the mortal goes to
save the day.”

Kralen grinned and watched Chevalier
leave the kitchen.