Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (32 page)

“
Maddie?” she heard Cody
call over the intercom.

Emily pushed the red button, “Yes?”

“
I know this is last
minute, and if you don’t feel comfortable then don’t... but…” Cody
hesitated.

“
Just tell me. I’m sure I
can manage it,” Emily said.

“
I think the tubing is
twisted on the vampire in the first cell,” Cody said. “She’s
completely restrained with electrified restraints, and can’t get
out. Can you… see if you can straighten the tube?”

Emily glanced quickly at the heku on the
table, and frowned at the camera, “Are you sure?”

Cody responded seriously, “Yes, you’ll be
perfectly safe. We just can’t get away from this meeting right
now.”

Emily nodded and looked at the cell. She
reached back to push the button, “How do I get in?”

“
The cameras are linked to
the locks, just choose the image and the password is TDKAM,” Cody
told her.

Emily wrote it down and nodded, “Ok.”

“
Thanks, you’re a doll,”
Cody said.

Emily took a deep breath, and clicked the
image of the heku on the table. A password prompt appeared and she
typed in the password. A quiet click sounded as the cell door
unlocked. Emily glanced around the room and moved slowly toward the
cell, acting as if she were terrified to go into it. She stretched
into the cell and looked at the tubing, immediately seeing the
kink. It was on the far side of the table on the floor.

Emily got onto her hands and knees, and
crawled slowly into the cell, glancing often at the heku on top of
the table. She could hear the electricity running through the
restraints, and caught a fleeting glimpse of the heku’s chest
moving as she breathed.

Emily hoped this worked. She leaned down to
un-kink the tubing, and was able to say, without moving her lips,
“I’m Equites.”

She un-kinked the tubing and started back
out of the room, crawling, but glanced back and saw it was kinked
again. She walked out to the desk and grabbed a piece of tape,
stuck it to her cheek, and crawled back into the room nervously.
She wrapped tape around the kink so it stayed open, and then stood
up and ran out of the cell. She saw the heku look at her briefly as
she ran out.

Emily leaned back and caught her breath
before hitting the button, “How do I lock it?”

“
Same code to lock it. We
owe you, Maddie,” Cody said.

Emily re-locked the cell and turned to the
computer. She went back to her program, carefully checking for
context and hidden coding errors. She didn’t have any way to test
the program once it was done. If she ran it and it didn’t work, it
could be too late to delete all of the information on the heku.

Cody met Emily in the walkway outside of the
cells and kissed her passionately. Emily pulled away from him and
leaned her head against his chest, “I think she looked at me.”

“
Who?” Cody asked, and
wrapped his arms around her.

“
That vampire with the
tubes,” Emily said.

Cody smiled, “I’m sure she did. She can’t
hurt you though.”

Emily just nodded and pulled closer to him.
She looked into the cell with the heku on the table, and she was
watching them.

“
I want to show you
something. Something the board decided we may need your help with,”
Cody said.

“
Ok,” Emily whispered. Cody
walked over to the computer and unlocked the cell to the heku in
electrified shackles. Emily pulled away from him when he headed
inside.

Cody chuckled, “Come on, he can’t get to
you.”

Emily just hoped the heku didn’t break her
cover once he caught her scent. She was able to meet his eyes as
she walked in, and saw his body tense when she got near him. An
understanding crossed his face, and he watched her as she stood by
Cody. Cody reached out and pushed against a brick high on the wall.
The wall opened into a stark white room and he walked in, holding
his hand out for Emily to follow him.

She stepped into the room and had to fight
back a gasp. The white room looked similar to a surgical room.
There were six heku in it that were all in various stages of
torture. One had his arms removed, and they were hanging in cold
storage off to the side of his cell. An older heku was screaming
silently from a soundproof room where he was hanging from the
ceiling by his wrists, while electrical impulses were sent in to
hundreds of pins stuck into his body.

Another heku was in a large MRI tube,
strapped down, and he seemed to be unconscious as his body was
continuously scanned. Emily frowned when she looked into a quiet
cell. The heku was clearly dead. Her head had been removed and was
sitting a few feet from her body, and a camera was taking still
shots every 5 seconds. The gruesome click’s sounded through the
room.

The last two heku were in the same cell, a
male and female that weren’t dressed, and were sitting, humiliated,
in separate corners. They didn’t even turn around when Cody and
Emily came to them.

“
Why aren’t they dressed?”
Emily asked, frowning.

“
We’re seeing if they will
breed,” Cody said coldly.

Emily turned away from them, her anger
rising quickly. She had never known someone to treat another being
this badly. To torture them and disgrace them even after death. Her
body shook as the anger rose.

Cody pulled her closer, “It’s ok. They can’t
hurt you.”

Emily just nodded, too angry to even
talk.

“
Once in a while, we may
need you to come in here and check on one of them. Can you do
that?” Cody asked her.

“
Yes,” she whispered,
fighting to calm her temper.

“
Now come, I have a
surprise for you,” he said, and led her back out into the main
prison. Someone had taken her spot at the computer, and she forced
a smile as they left. Emily clung to Cody’s arm, as normal, until
they got back to her room.

“
Get changed, we’re going
out,” Cody said, smiling broadly.

“
We are?” Emily asked,
shocked.

“
Yes, there’s a change of
clothing for you. I’ll wait down stairs,” he said, and headed down
the hallway.

Emily quickly went into her room and locked
the door. She slipped into the little black dress and heels that
were left for her, and ran a brush through her hair. The dress was
tighter than she preferred, but she was ready to get away from the
dull food and gray walls of the compound. She walked down the
stairs, and Cody face lit up when he saw her. She walked up to him
and he pulled her into a kiss.

“
You look amazing,” Cody
said, smiling.

“
Thank you,” Emily said,
blushing. He led her out to an old Pontiac and opened the door for
her. She wrinkled her nose a bit when she sat down, the car smelled
like mold and ancient cigarettes. She buckled herself in while Cody
climbed into the driver’s seat and started out of the
compound.

Emily watched out the window into the dark
trees that surrounded the compound. She didn’t see them, but had a
feeling they were swarming with heku, all waiting for her to figure
out how to get the prisoners out and wipe the records. She smiled
when there was a break in the trees and she saw four wolves
standing in the clearing, watching the car pass. The trees gave way
and a small city appeared, full of quaint little tourist shops and
snow covered walks.

“
I’ve been going through
the vampire records,” Emily said. “I was wondering though, if we
should start backing them up, in case the computers go
down.”

“
We talked about that,
about backing them up and printing hard-copies, but it’s too
dangerous to keep a second set of them,” Cody told her, and laid
his hand on her knee.

“
Yeah, I guess that’s
true,” Emily said, and glanced back out the window.

Cody stopped the car at a rundown restaurant
called La French Cuisine and ran around to open the door for her.
She stepped out of the Pontiac and almost fell when her heels hit
ice, but Cody caught her and kissed her again. His lips made her
skin crawl, so she used the cold as an excuse to hurry inside. He
hadn’t provided her with a coat and it was freezing.

Emily’s eyes grew wide when she stepped into
the little restaurant. Exavior was sitting at one of the side
tables, and glanced at her quickly, then back down to his drink.
She hoped he wasn’t dumb enough to break her cover, and moved past
him as Cody ushered her to the table. She sat down, making sure she
could see him, and smiled as Cody sat in the booth next to her.

Emily grabbed the menu, glancing at Exavior
often as he started on his dinner.

“
So, what if there are
vampires here?” Emily asked, and saw Exavior smile
slightly.

Cody scanned the room, “There aren’t any. I
can smell them from a mile away. Not to mention, everyone here is
eating… it’s ok, you’re safe. I’ll protect you from them.”

Emily turned back to her menu when she saw
Exavior start laughing.

“
I’ll have the quiche and a
Sprite, please,” Emily said, and handed the menu to the
waitress.

She started to get uncomfortable when Cody
began to kiss her shoulder, and moved the strap of her dress down
to give him a clear line to her neck. She saw Exavior glance back a
few times, and she could tell he was getting mad. When Cody began
to move his hand up from her knee, Emily stood up slowly and
excused herself to the ladies room.

She stood in front of the mirror and calmed
her nerves. If Exavior did something stupid, he could ruin two
months worth of work. She spun quickly when she saw a blur behind
her and Exavior appeared and locked the door.

“
What the hell are you
doing here?” Emily whispered angrily.

“
I could ask you the same,”
Exavior whispered. “Who’s the new boyfriend?”

“
Do not break my cover,”
Emily whispered, glaring at him.

“
I don’t think your
undercover operation included sleeping with the
mortals.”

Emily slapped him, “Go away.”

Exavior nodded, “Tell me first if there are
Valle in there.”

“
I’m not going to tell you
anything and have you come storming in and break my cover,” Emily
whispered. “I’ve spent 2 months getting to where I am, and I’m not
going to let you screw things up.”

“
I swear I won’t come in,
but tell me if there are Valle,” Exavior said.

Emily scowled, “All three factions are in
there… now go away.”

As soon as Exavior blurred out of the
restaurant, Emily composed herself and went back out to Cody. She
scooted into the booth and he immediately laid a hand on her knee
as the waitress brought their food.

***

Silas interrupted the trial and handed a
printed paper to Quinn. Chevalier was off with Allen, feeding, and
Silas knew this needed dealt with immediately.

Silas,

The horse is beautiful! My Ex had a horse
named Vior just like him, but I told him to get lost. I wish I had
a stable to come and buy him from you.

Maddie

“
Damnit,” Quinn scowled.
“Get the prisoner out of here.”

Guards arrived and pulled the prisoner out
of the trial area.

Quinn handed the note to Kyle, and he read
it quickly and crumpled it up, “Get Sotomar on the phone, now.”

“
Do you have news?” Sotomar
asked from the speakerphone.

“
Yes, get Exavior the hell
away from that compound before he breaks Emily’s cover,” Quinn
yelled.

“
What? What makes you think
Exavior was by the compound?” Sotomar asked, irritated.

“
We got a cryptic note from
Emily, and it’s obvious that she saw Exavior.”

“
Did you go?” Sotomar
asked.

“
Yes,” Exavior told
him.

“
Damnit… without
permission? What are you trying to do?” Sotomar asked him
angrily.

“
I wanted to check on her.
She seems to be doing well… even has a new kissy
boyfriend.”

Kyle growled, “If Emily has a new boyfriend
then it’s part of her cover. You better not have exposed her.”

“
I didn’t… loverboy didn’t
even know I was there,” Exavior said. “She did mention all three
factions are prisoners though.”

“
We knew that, you moron,”
Sotomar hissed, and turned off the phone.

Quinn sighed, “Don’t write her back. Give
her time to settle back in. I don’t want to risk her life if he
exposed her in any way.”

***

Emily read through the technical manual on
the cameras installed throughout the prison. It helped pass the
long, boring hours that she spent watching the prison’s cameras.
She needed to find a way to loop them, so she could get the heku
out without being seen.

She was communicating somewhat with the heku
shackled to the wall, the one whose cell led to the experimentation
room. She was comfortable asking yes or no questions, and he would
nod or shake his head slightly in response. He was able to get
messages to the other heku without risking exposure. They knew she
was trying desperately to figure out how to get them out.

Emily had a plan formulated in her head. All
she needed for her plan to work was a handful of baggies, and a way
to loop the cameras. The heku were waiting for her signal to fall
entirely motionless. They wouldn’t even breathe for the two minutes
she needed to get a stable copy of video to loop.