Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (43 page)

“
Emily!” Mark
hissed.

“
Have you?” Emily asked,
and undid the button on the cuff at her wrist.

“
Yes,” the guard
said.

Emily put out her wrist to him, “Take a
whiff… come on. I give you permission.”

The guard grabbed her hand roughly, and ran
his nose along her inner wrist and hissed softly.

Emily smiled and noticed Silas was holding
Mark back.

“
Like what you smell?”
Emily asked, and buttoned her cuff.

He answered her with another hiss. His feral
eyes watched the exposed vein in her neck.

“
If you can get your teeth
into my neck, I’ll let you feed,” Emily said, and took two steps
back from him.

“
What?” the guard asked,
frowning, but still watching the throbbing vein.

“
You heard me… if you can
get your teeth in me, you get to feed.”

The guard crouched into an attack posture
and fell to ash as Emily smiled at the guard next to him. The
guards all shifted nervously and glanced at Mark.

Emily stepped to the second guard and held
her collar away from her neck, “Want to give it a try?”

The guard stepped back, wide eyed, “No,
Ma’am.”

“
Anyone? Get your teeth
into my neck and you get a freebie feeding,” Emily said. She heard
a soft hiss from behind her, and the guard turned to ash without
her even turning around. She walked over to Mark as Silas let go of
him, the look on his face was furious.

“
No one is to touch those
ashes, and I’m calling general quarters,” Emily said, and walked
out of the barracks.

“
What the hell was that?”
Mark growled as he followed her out.

“
I’m not going to have them
thinking they can push me around,” Emily said, and got onto her
horse.

“
You can’t just offer to
let them feed, or hand your wrist over for savoring,” he said
angrily.

“
Yes I can… and I did. I
think I proved my point, and I’d like to see one of them threaten
to drain me again,” Emily said, irritated.

“
You can’t expect them to
control themselves if you offer.”

“
They didn’t control
themselves at first, but they learned quickly that I can’t be
easily fed off of.”

“
Emily…”

“
Mark, I don’t want to be
here any more than they want me to be, and if they are going to act
like a bunch of 16-year-olds, then that’s what I’ll treat them
like.”

“
Do not offer your blood
again,” Mark growled.

“
I shouldn’t have to,”
Emily said, and headed for the castle when Storm called her on the
walkie-talkie.

Silas watched her go, “We need to tell the
Elder, he’s not going to want to keep her here.”

“
I’ll call him later,” Mark
said. “I have to go talk to the Officers. I think the guards are
pacified for now.”

Silas nodded and mounted his mare, kicking
her to catch up with Emily.

***

Emily rolled over and checked the clock on
the second day as Commander on the island. She turned the alarm off
a few minutes early, and stumbled into the shower, then dressed in
the bathroom and flexed her hand. She decided to return to the hand
brace and went back out into the bedroom to finish getting ready.
Hot coffee and chocolate muffins were waiting for her. She sat down
in front of the fire to enjoy her coffee and took a few moments to
relax.

Emily grabbed her cell phone from the table
when it rang, “Yes?”

“
Emily, stop offering to
feed the guards,” Chevalier said angrily.

“
Oh, that’s right. I should
save my blood for you.”

“
That’s not what I
mean.”

“
Don’t give me an
impossible task and then question my motives,” Emily said,
irritated.

“
I’m not questioning your
motives. I just don’t know if you realize how dangerous it is to
offer to feed anyone who can get their teeth into you.” He was
obviously frustrated.

“
Oh, two took me up on
it.”

“
What?” he
growled.

“
And I ashed them, so leave
me the hell alone,” Emily said, and hung up the phone.

She opened the bedroom door, slamming it
against the wall and stormed out. Silas cringed, suddenly afraid
for anyone who crossed her today.

Emily got onto her horse and grabbed her
walkie-talkie, “Where do you need me?”

Silas wondered if Mark caught the fierceness
in her voice, and he realized that part of her anger was toward
Mark.

“
Pier, someone’s waiting
for you,” Mark said hesitantly.

Emily clipped the radio onto her belt and
kicked the horse into a gallop, heading for the pier. She got off
of her horse and tied him up to a post before stepping out onto the
pier. The guards were lined up along the edge of the pier with
their dogs, and Emily walked between them and stopped at the
ferry.

“
What do you want,
Exavior?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“
Wow… you look… incredible
in that uniform,” Exavior said, grinning.

“
What do you
want?”

“
Stand down, Killer,”
Exavior chuckled. “I’m not here to invade.”

“
I’m not in the mood to
play your stupid Valle games. What do you want?”

“
I merely came to check on
your welfare.”

“
I thought Sotomar banned
you from contacting me,” Emily reminded him.

Exavior smiled, “He did.”

“
So why are you
here?”

“
As I said, a welfare check
only, and rest assured, I had Council approval to come,” he said,
and the amusement in his voice irritated her.

“
I don’t see why I need a
welfare check.”

“
There’s been… talk… of an
uprising in the V.E.S., and we are afraid they will be searching
for the elusive Madison and Cody,” Exavior explained.

“
They’ve been here and I
handled it,” Emily told him. “Chevalier wouldn’t have left me alone
here if he didn’t know it was safe.”

Exavior grinned, “Does that mean you’re
talking to him again?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Get the hell off
this island or I’ll consider it harassment.”

“
Emily…” Exavior said, but
she was already walking away.

“
If he steps foot on the
pier… kill him,” Emily said to the guards.

“
Yes, Ma’am,” the end guard
said, excited.

Emily climbed back onto her horse.

“
Em, you can’t have a Valle
council member killed,” Silas told her.

Emily glared at him, and he stopped talking
as he followed her away from the pier.

“
He knows things again,”
Emily told Silas.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I mean he knows that Chev
and I are fighting.”

Silas frowned, “How?”

“
I don’t know, but it’s
really getting irritating,” she said, and started for the
castle.

“
We’ll find
out.”

Emily grabbed the radio, “Now what?”

“
We’re running drills on
the south lawn,” Mark told her. “Nothing’s happening.”

Silas grinned. He had heard some of the
guards talking, and they were so afraid of Emily, they weren’t even
going to think about stepping out of line.

Emily shrugged and headed the horse to the
south lawn where she stopped by Mark and watched the guards running
drills. Each saw her as they rounded the second corner, and
suddenly fought harder to do well in the rankings.

***

Emily jumped out of bed when the all too
familiar alarm sounded. She glanced at the clock and it was only
2am. She quickly threw on her uniform and was just fastening her
gun belt when Anna came into the room.

“
Get Alexis into the cave
room,” Emily said, and ran out the door, still fastening her
cape.

“
Em, get to the cave room,”
Silas said, and ran after her.

“
No, I’m supposed to help
take care of this island, not hide from attackers,” Emily said, and
untied the reins from the bush.

“
I don’t think the Elder
meant for you to go to war,” Silas told her.

She jumped bareback onto her stallion and
kicked him into a run toward the pier. Silas skipped getting his
horse and blurred after her. Emily jumped off the horse before it
even stopped all the way when she saw a standoff outside of the
main barracks. She pushed to the front and stopped, face-to-face,
with the lead heku.

“
What the hell are you
doing here?” Emily asked angrily. She saw Mark off to her side and
the guard officers beside him, they all watched her.

The heku smiled, “Well, well, look what we
found. They have a pet.”

“
You didn’t answer me. What
are you doing on my island?” she asked.

“
Your island? It’s the
Elder’s island, and we are here to claim it.”

“
Which faction are
you?”

“
They are factionless,”
Mark hissed.

“
Factionless or not, there
are over fifteen hundred of us, and by our last count, there are
only twelve hundred of you… so back off, Tiny, and let us by,” he
said, grinning.

“
You’ll have to get by me,”
Emily said, crossing her arms.

The leader leaned his head back and laughed,
“Did you hear that? The little hottie here thinks she’s tough.
Don’t kill her, she’s mine.”

Silas and Mark moved to stand beside
her.

“
Last warning… turn around
now and get off this island,” Emily told them.

“
Don’t do it, Em, we can
fight them,” Silas whispered.

“
I won’t kill them all.
This guard staff needs nothing more than to kill something,” Emily
said, and heard the excitement behind her.

“
You won’t kill us all?”
The leader laughed, “I hope you’re as feisty in the
bedroom.”

Emily smiled, “You’re not man enough to
handle me in bed.”

“
You’ll love it,
Sweetheart,” he said, and stepped toward her, running his tongue
along his sharp teeth.

“
Love this…” Emily said,
and he fell to ash before the eyes of his army.

The factionless heku shifted nervously and
glanced at one another, unsure what was going on.

“
Where is he?” Another
factionless heku stepped forward, “Where is the Chief
Enforcer?”

Emily raised her hand, “I did that.”

He scanned the island guards, “Where is the
Chief Enforcer? Tell him to stop hiding and come out.”

“
In three…” Emily said,
holding her hand up to hold back the guards.

“
Coward!” the heku
yelled.

“
Two…” Emily said, and
smiled.

“
Move aside, Baby Girl, let
me find that Enforcer,” he said, and started toward her.

“
And… one…” Emily
whispered, and suddenly, 400 of the factionless heku fell to ash
and Emily felt Mark’s hand on her back as she stumbled
slightly.

Silas caught her as she fell to her knees,
and blurred Emily back to the castle when the battle started around
her. The castle door guards let him in and immediately bolted the
castle door shut behind him. He ran into her room and laid her down
on the bed.

“
Damnit,” Emily mumbled,
wiping the blood that trickled out of her nose.

Silas sat down on the bed beside her, “Where
are you?”

“
On the island,” Emily
said, and touched the blood in her ear.

“
Who am I?” Silas
asked.

“
My head hurts,” Emily told
him, and pressed her palms into her eyes.

Silas got a washcloth from the bathroom and
ran it through the cold water. He returned to the bed and placed it
across her forehead.

“
Who am I?” he asked
again.

“
I’m ok, Silas.”

Silas watched her until she fell asleep. Her
breathing was deep and rhythmic. He knew she would be asleep for a
while, so he quickly blurred to the battle. Only a few of the
factionless attackers were left, and they were knelt in front of
the island’s Generals. Silas joined Mark beside them.

“
Put the island on lockdown
and stop the ferry,” Mark said, and a guard blurred away to make it
happen.

“
Sir, what do you want done
with them?” the General asked.

“
Take them to the prison.
We’ll see what the Elder wants to do with them,” Mark said, and
turned to the guards. They were all talking excitedly and
exhilaration filled the air as bodies of the attackers were
scattered across the streets of Island Coven.

“
Clean this mess up and
take the night off from drills,” Mark said, and turned to Silas.
“So how bad is she?”

“
Just a headache,” Silas
explained.

“
Who is with
her?”

“
She’s asleep.”

“
That was awesome… what she
did,” one of the guards said, grinning.

“
I’m honestly surprised she
left any,” Silas said, raising his eyebrows.

“
I know. I’ve never seen
her let any go for us to play with.” Mark chuckled and then turned
serious, “Let’s go call the Elder.”