Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (21 page)

“
Em…” Chevalier said, just
as he, Quinn, and Zohn turned to ash.

“
Emily!” Kyle yelled as she
ran out of the room.

Emily headed straight for the garage and
jumped into the Jeep. She went to turn it on, but the keys were
gone, so she got out quickly and checked her truck. The keys were
gone from it too. A quick glance into the McLaren and Humvee and
she realized all of the keys had been stripped from the garage.

Unsure where else to go, Emily ran out of
the garage and glanced toward the stables. She hesitated before
going into them, and within minutes, was bareback on one of Keith’s
racing horses. She kicked the stallion hard and ran through the
city.

Her phone rang as soon as she passed into
the trees, and she pulled the phone from her pocket and answered
it.

“
Good morning, Emily,”
William said.

“
Help me,” Emily whispered,
looking around the trees.

“
What’s wrong?” he asked
quickly. Emily heard the static as he put her on
speakerphone.

“
I think I’m in trouble… I
just ashed the Elders,” she said, going further into the
trees.

“
You turned the Equites
Elders into ash?” a strange voice asked.

Emily frowned, “Who is this?”

“
Elder Diego,
Child.”

“
William! Get me off
speakerphone,” she whispered angrily.

“
It’s just the Elders, not
the Council,” William assured her. “What did the Elders
do?”

“
They took me into that
room,” Emily said furiously.

Emily frowned when she heard someone
chuckle.

“
Why is that so funny?” she
asked.

“
You,” William said. “You
turned the Equites Elders into ash because they took you into the
room we spoke of?”

“
Yes, I still don’t see why
that is funny,” Emily said, and turned when she thought she heard
something behind her.

“
Shall we come and get
you?” Elder Diego asked.

“
No, this horse can outrun
a heku.”

“
But where will you run
to?”

“
Someone’s coming,” Emily
whispered, and shut the phone, then grabbed tighter to the
stallion’s mane. She hadn’t had time to put a bridle on
him.

“
Emily,” Chevalier said
from behind her. She turned toward him quickly.

“
Stay back, this horse can
outrun you.”

“
I’m sure it can, but I
start faster… so it’d be a draw,” he said, and then cringed,
deciding he shouldn’t have mentioned that.

Emily turned and saw Kyle step out from
trees beside her.

“
Ok, we’re not mad… our
plan just backfired. I’m pretty sure though, that horseback riding
wasn’t on the list of approved activities by the doctor,” Chevalier
told her.

“
Sure, and your little room
was approved?” Emily asked angrily. She turned when she heard a
noise to the other side of her, and saw Quinn. They were
surrounding her.

“
What, exactly, do you
think that room is for?”

“
Calm down,” Kyle said when
he saw her starting to panic.

“
Just stay back,” Emily
warned them, out of breath. She could feel the terror setting in,
and she knew that meant her blood pressure was rising.

“
What’s the room for, Em?”
Chevalier asked again.

“
I know what it’s for,”
Emily told him. “How dare you try to get me in there.”

“
That room is not for
anything. It’s an abandoned ancient’s room. I don’t know what
Exavior and William told you, but it’s wrong,” Chevalier
said.

“
I saw it, Chev… don’t lie
to me.”

“
I’m not! I don’t know what
you saw in there, but it’s an empty room, nothing more.”

“
Damnit,” Emily whispered,
and pressed her palms into her eyes. Her head was pounding and she
was having a hard time concentrating.

“
You’re going to end up
back in the hospital if you don’t… calm… down,” Chevalier said,
frustrated. “Come back into the palace where it’s warm and talk to
us.”

“
That room…” Emily
whispered.

“
Is nothing… empty…
abandoned…” Kyle said.

Her headache calmed some as she forced
herself to relax and stop worrying. She looked up and nodded, “Talk
only?”

“
Yes,” Chevalier said,
relieved she was agreeing.

“
Not in that
room?”

“
No, in our room where it’s
warm.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

“
Let Kyle take the horse.
I’ll carry you back,” Chevalier said, and Kyle took a step
forward.

“
No!” Emily yelled, and
then lowered her voice. “I don’t want you to carry me.”

“
What? Why not?”

Emily’s eyes started to fill up, “I’ll take
the horse.”

“
Ok, fine, we’ll meet you
there,” Chevalier said. He watched as Emily kicked the thoroughbred
and took off back toward the castle.

“
Damnit, what’s in her
head?” Kyle asked, frustrated.

“
I wish I knew. She’s
acting very weird… not just the room, but other things,” Chevalier
said, and they all blurred back to the castle.

Emily was walking through the front doors
when they arrived. They stayed back from her as she made her way up
the stairs and into the bedroom. She sat down on the rug in front
of one of the fires and tried to warm up.

Chevalier sat in a chair by the fire after
handing Emily a cup of hot cocoa.

She sipped the drink and looked at him.

“
Ok, now that we’re both
warm… what’s the room for?” Chevalier asked her.

Emily blushed and took another sip. She
looked over when Mark and Kyle came in, and she pulled her robe
tighter around her.

She glared at them, “Don’t start gathering
in here or I’ll call Diego to come and get me.”

“
Who is Diego?” Chevalier
asked.

Emily turned to him, “Elder Diego, from the
Encala… they called me while I was out on horseback.”

“
Em, there is no Diego on
the Encala council,” he told her.

“
Yes there is. You’re just
misinformed,” Emily said, and turned back toward the
cocoa.

“
They called you?” Kyle
asked.

Emily nodded.

Kyle held his hand out, “Can I see your cell
phone?”

“
Why?” Emily asked
skeptically.

“
It’s for the good of the
Equites that we get the phone number they are using,” Kyle said,
and Chevalier watched them closely.

Emily nodded and handed him the phone. Kyle
flipped it open and scanned through the phone calls. He shook his
head at Chevalier and handed the phone back to her.

“
Please get out,” Emily
said, still watching the fire.

The heku all left and headed down to
Chevalier’s office. Emily waited until they left and locked the
door, then went into the bathroom and started a hot bath, also
locking the bathroom door. She took two towels with her in case
Chevalier returned, then climbed into the tub and leaned back,
letting the hot water work against her frozen feet.

Emily sat up when she heard voices in the
bedroom. She quietly got out of the tub, wrapped in a towel, and
put her ear against the door.

“
She knows too much,” Quinn
said softly.

“
No she doesn’t, she just
thinks she does, but I see doubt,” Zohn said.

“
Just have patience. When
we turn her, we’ll have control. She’ll obey like the rest of the
Equites,” Chevalier whispered.

“
I don’t like it,” Kyle
said. “It doesn’t seem right.”

“
You just have a crush on
her,” Chevalier chuckled. “Once she’s turned, you can have her.
She’ll be of no more use to me.”

“
Lock up the horses, take
the keys from the cars, and have the gate guards on watch. Make
sure she doesn’t leave,” Quinn whispered.

Zohn laughed, “Are you kidding? She can’t
fight back.”

Chevalier laughed, “Yeah, she’s put on some
weight also, when she was pregnant.”

“
She’ll thin up after she
turns. She’ll get taller and tougher too, no more short, wimpy
mortal,” Zohn said.

“
I need to burn off some
energy, let’s go to the room,” Kyle said, and Emily heard them all
leave.

Emily threw on her nightgown and robe, tying
it tightly around her waist. She grabbed her laptop and started
searching. Once she knew the supplies she needed, she grabbed a bag
and headed down to the garage.

“
Sounds like Em’s out of
the tub, should we go talk to her?” Kyle asked from his chair in
the council chambers.

“
Let’s give her a bit.
Sounds like she’s doing something… besides… we still need to
replace James,” Chevalier said, thumbing through the roster
again.

“
When’s Zohn coming back?”
Quinn asked, looking through his roster.

“
He just left a few hours
ago, so I’d say tomorrow morning,” Chevalier said. “How about
Jack?”

“
Jack? How old is he?” Kyle
asked.

“
Pretty young, just over
1,000 years.”

“
Let’s try for someone
older,” Quinn said, frowning.

Chevalier looked up when he heard Emily run
back up the stairs, “She’s up to something.”

Kyle shrugged, “Who knows.”

“
Ok, my vote is for Dustin.
He’s over 1900 years old and has been an Equites the entire time.
He’s a loyal Powan though, but if the General orders him, then
there won’t be a problem,” Quinn said.

“
We’ve never had anyone
from Powan Coven on the Council. This could be interesting. I
concur, let’s get him,” Chevalier said.

Kyle nodded and shut the book, “I’ll go talk
to him tomorrow.”

“
Dad,” Allen whispered. His
voice echoed through the palace and the tense panic was heard
clearly. “Don’t touch the door.”

Kyle frowned, “Don’t touch what door?”

“
I wonder what Emily’s done
now,” Chevalier said, standing up. “Let’s go see, we’ve finished
here for the day.”

As Kyle, Quinn, and
Chevalier stepped out of the council chambers, they heard a scream
and a loud commotion coming from the 5
^th
floor. They blurred to the
foyer and saw Mark knelt down by one of the heku servants, and a
tray of food was splattered across the hallway.

“
What happened?” Quinn
asked, kneeling down.

“
He went to knock on
Emily’s door, to bring her dinner and… I think he was
electrocuted,” Mark said, watching the burns slowly disappear from
the servant’s skin.

“
Electrocuted?” Chevalier
asked, and walked closer to the door. He picked up a fork and
tossed it at the door. A bright flash lit up the hallway, and the
burned fork fell to the ground.

“
Em?” Kyle called through
the door.

“
Ha! You can’t get in,”
Emily said, sounding pleased.

Kyle frowned at Chevalier.

“
Emily, are you ok?”
Chevalier asked.

“
I am now, I’m protected,”
Emily told him.

“
Did you electrify the
door?”

“
Yes”

“
Who are you protecting
yourself from?”

“
You”

“
Are the kids with you?”
Chevalier asked, confused.

“
Of course, I’m not going
to leave them out there with you.”

Quinn sighed, “What did we do to make you
think you need protected from us?”

“
I may not have heku
hearing, but I’m not deaf,” Emily said angrily.

“
Are the kids ok?”
Chevalier asked, staying clear of the door.

“
Of course, I’m not going
to hurt them,” Emily said.

“
What did you
overhear?”

“
You, Quinn, Zohn, and
Kyle… just a few minutes ago.”

“
Em, Zohn’s been gone for
hours.”

“
Stop it!” Emily yelled.
“Stop lying to me, and if you think I’m going to let you turn me,
then you better be prepared to burn.”

“
No one’s trying to turn
you, and we weren’t in your room a few minutes ago.”

“
Let’s just cut the power
to her room,” Kyle whispered, too softly for her to
hear.

“
Then she’ll just turn us
to ash,” Chevalier replied.

“
Can one of us come in?
Just to talk?” Quinn asked through the door.

“
You’d love that wouldn’t
you?” Emily scowled.

The heku heard Emily run across the floor
when her phone rang.

“
Hello?” Emily
asked.

There was a slight pause.

“
Dr. Hayden, I’m so glad
you called. I don’t know what to do. I’m trapped. They are going to
try to kill me,” Emily said frantically.

Chevalier sighed and shrugged at Kyle,
“Where is she getting this stuff?”

“
No, I’m not, I’m serious.
You need to believe me. They are going to turn me, and then I’ll be
forced to marry Kyle, and Chev will keep the kids.”