Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (59 page)

She disappeared into the bathroom and shut
the door. When she emerged, she was in jeans and a t-shirt and her
hair was brushed, but hanging down against her waist. She used the
walls to support herself as she walked toward the closet, then went
inside and came back out with a turtle neck over her t-shirt and a
sweater over that.

“
Are you cold?” Chevalier
asked curiously.

“
No,” Emily whispered, and
sat down at the table. “Can I get coffee?”

Silas appeared a few minutes later with a
pot of hot coffee and a cup. He set it down on the table and poured
Emily a cup.

“
Would you like anything
else?” Silas asked.

Emily was watching him with wide eyes.
Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe and knew that at any moment he would
backhand her. She jerked away from him and covered her face when he
reached for the creamer. He yanked his hand back and looked over at
the Elder.

Chevalier whispered for him to leave, and
Silas disappeared from the room and shut the door, frowning.

Emily sunk her face into her hands and bent
her knees, slowly pulling her legs up against her chest. She took
some deep breaths, calming the fear inside of her, and then wrapped
her arms around her legs and leaned her forehead against her knees.
She began to rock slowly in the chair.

Chevalier watched her from across the room
and after a few minutes, she slowly uncurled out of her protective
ball and reached out timidly for the coffee. She cupped it gently
in her hands and sipped it slowly, watching the fire.

“
He’s going to come after
me,” Emily whispered softly. Chevalier watched to make sure she had
really spoken. She was facing the fire and her voice was far away
and hesitant.

“
Yes, he will,” Chevalier
told her. “He can’t get in here.”

“
He’ll keep
trying.”

“
I am planning on it… and
then I’ll get him.” His voice held a certain air of revenge and
Emily turned to look at him.

“
Can I leave this
room?”

Chevalier frowned, “Of course you can. You
can go wherever you want.”

Emily stood slowly. She pulled the sleeves
of her sweater down over her hands and crossed her arms over her
chest, then walked toward the door, still not completely trusting
the strength in her legs. Chevalier ordered Silas to move to the
shadows just before she opened the door. She leaned out of the room
and peered down to the fifth-floor foyer.

Kralen smiled at Emily when she looked at
him, and he took a few steps back. She walked out of the room and
used the railings along the stairs to walk down to the second
floor. She turned suddenly when the Encala and Valle Elders stepped
out of one of the conference rooms.

“
It’s good to see you out,”
Sotomar said, and reached for her hand.

Emily gasped and moved away from his hand,
looking at it, horrified.

Sotomar drew his hand back slowly and
glanced at William.

“
Are you feeling better?”
William asked, taking a step away from her.

Emily backed away from Sotomar, closely
watching his hands, and then turned and walked quickly down the
hallway, disappearing into the game room.

“
I didn’t…” Sotomar started
to tell Chevalier.

“
I know,” Chevalier said,
and smiled slightly. “She’s just jumpy.”

“
Where did she go?” Elder
Ryan asked.

“
Game room,” Chevalier told
him. “She likes to watch movies in there. Silas?”

Silas appeared behind him, “Yes, Elder?”

“
You and Kralen watch the
game room door. If you hear her coming out, move back and let her
just see Kralen,” Chevalier ordered.

“
Yes, Sir,” Silas said, and
blurred to the game room door, followed by Kralen.

“
Mark?” Chevalier
called.

“
Yes, Elder?” Mark asked,
walking up to them.

“
See if Emily will let you
stay with her. I don’t want her out of your sight.”

Mark nodded and blurred into the game
room.

Chevalier turned to the other Elders, “It’s
time for you to go back to your factions. Let’s get a game plan
first.”

“
Yes, it is time,” Sotomar
agreed, and followed the others into the small conference room.
They all sat around the table and silently marveled at the strange
alliance the factions formed all because of one mortal.

“
We, of course, will keep
double guards anywhere Emily is. He’s going to try to get her,”
Chevalier said.

“
We are going to encourage
him to return. We will stress the tension between the factions, and
will do what we can to assure him his return will be safe,” Sotomar
said.

“
I believe he will return
to the Council,” Valle Elder Ryan said. “We feel that eventually he
will need to realign himself with us.”

“
What then?” Quinn
asked.

“
Then we will destroy him,”
Sotomar said sadly. “He’s a liability and we don’t need a loose
cannon in our midst.”

“
Be prepared for him to
come to you,” Elder Ryan said to William.

William frowned, “Why would he come to the
Encala?”

“
To find someone that will
accept him. The Equites are obviously not going to, and if he gets
word that we are less than pleased with his behavior, he may come
and offer his services to you,” Sotomar explained.

William nodded, “We will kill him if we see
him. He’s not welcome with the Encala either.”

The Encala and Valle Elders cocked their
heads to the side when they heard Mark yell, “Die, Emily!”

“
So it’s settled, he needs
to die… if I get him though, it will be slow and painful,”
Chevalier said.

Mark yelled, “You can’t kill me! I’m too
strong.”

“
He should pay for his
crimes,” Quinn said, nodding.

“
I want your blood!” Mark
roared.

“
Should we do something?”
Sotomar asked, frowning at the unmoving Equites Elders.

Chevalier chuckled, “They’re playing a
game.”

“
If Emily could talk, she
would be screaming at him too,” Zohn said, grinning
slightly.

“
Disturbing,” Ryan said,
shaking his head.

“
What are we going to do
about Emily then?” Elder Reese asked.

“
You mean about her
leaving?” Chevalier asked.

“
Yes”

“
What can we do? If I were
her, I would leave too,” Chevalier told them.

“
We can’t just let the
Winchester disappear,” Sotomar said. “It’s too dangerous for her
out there.”

“
All we can do is try to
keep her here, but I won’t force her,” Chevalier said. “She’s been
confined, tortured, punished, and restrained too much, and I won’t
do it to her.”

Sotomar nodded, “So now we just wait… and
hope she finds it safe enough to stay here.”

“
If Exavior is dead, it may
help,” Quinn suggested.

“
True,” Sotomar said, and
stood up. “Let us know, either way.”

Chevalier nodded and watched as the enemy
Elders left, and soon, the sound of their helicopters taking off
sounded through the palace.

“
I never thought I would
see the day when the factions aligned for a common cause, nor that
that cause would be a mortal,” Quinn said.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “But will it
last?”

Emily reached for her phone when it rang and
checked the number. She didn’t recognize it, so she answered in a
whisper, “Yes?”

“
My love,” Exavior said,
pleased.

Emily couldn’t breathe. Even the sound of
his voice sent terror through her, and she froze.

“
I’m glad you are well
enough to play games with the bodyguard,” he said, amused. “Though
it’s not quite fair. He should let you win at the vampire
game.”

Emily dropped the phone on the floor and
stood up, looking fearfully around the game room.

Mark stood up and crouched, “What?”

“
He sees us,” Emily
whispered, backing up against the wall.

“
Kralen, Silas,” Mark
called, and turned when they entered the room. “Search this
room.”

The three heku searched the room as Emily
pulled herself into a protective ball in the corner and watched
them, her knees pulled tightly to her chest as she slowly began to
rock.

“
What’s going on?”
Chevalier asked, blurring into the room.

“
Emily said Exavior can see
us,” Mark growled, and began to pull pictures off of the stone
walls. The third picture he destroyed had a wire coming out of the
back of it. He hissed and pulled a tiny camera out of the frame,
“Sonofabitch! He has the palace under surveillance.”

“
Take Emily to Powan. I
want this entire palace searched,” Chevalier growled, and put his
hand out. “Em, I need your phone.”

In a blur, Emily found herself in the
helicopter with bags sitting at her side. Mark, Zohn, and Kralen
jumped in beside her and soon they were in the air.

Emily watched out the window and frowned, “I
thought Powan was west of here.”

“
It is,” Mark said. “We’re
not going to Powan.”

“
But Chev said…”

“
I know, but I also realize
he knew there was a possibility that that conversation was
overheard, so we’re going to the Hall Coven in Virginia,” Mark
explained.

“
Why Hall Coven?” Emily
whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“
It’s my home coven,” Mark
told her.

By the time they reached Virginia, Emily was
tired and her body was sore from all of the moving. She started
coughing again, and her color began to fade as the helicopter
landed in the middle of a small park.

Mark was the first out of the helicopter,
and he met up with the Coven Leader and quickly explained the
situation. Emily looked out over the quaint coven. It was small,
but homey, with a park in the center among the houses. She stood up
slowly and fell back against the chair when her legs gave out, and
she began to cough violently.

“
Let’s go,” Kralen said,
and picked her up. Zohn grabbed her bags and they jumped out of the
helicopter.

“
Welcome,” a cheery heku
said, smiling at the Council City visitors.

“
She needs to lie down,”
Kralen told him, and the Lord of Hall Coven looked at Emily,
concerned.

“
Come this way,” he told
them, and they all followed him to a large house that sat off in a
small grove of trees.

Emily leaned her head against Kralen’s
shoulder. She was too tired to keep her eyes open any longer, and
the gentle swaying of his walk was lulling her to sleep. She opened
her eyes briefly when she felt the soft bed beneath her, and then
shut them again as Kralen pulled off her shoes and covered her in a
blanket. She could hear the heku talking softly in the hallway as
she drifted off to sleep.

“
This is Lord Bradford,”
Mark said to the others. “He’s offered you each a room in the main
house, but I would prefer to stay with Emily, although I doubt
Exavior is going to track us here.”

Zohn nodded, “Thank you for taking us on
short notice.”

Lord Bradford smiled, “Anything for the
Council. It’s an honor to provide for the Winchester.”

***

“
That’s six,” Silas said,
handing Chevalier a tiny camera. “It was in the Council’s
conference room.”

“
How the hell did he get
these in here?” Chevalier growled.

“
Sam, would be my guess,”
Quinn said. “It shows how weak this Council has become to allow
this… the changes are good.”

“
Sir,” one of the Cavalry
said, coming in. “I called Powan and the helicopter didn’t
arrive.”

Chevalier grinned, “Good.”

“
Where are they?” Quinn
asked.

“
I don’t know, but that
means neither does Exavior.”

“
Dad?” Allen asked, walking
in.

Chevalier turned to his son. Although only
11, he was almost as tall as some of the heku guards and was
intellectually an adult.

“
I’ve been thinking about
the cameras. They have to have some kind of connection to Exavior
on the outside. My guess would be through the Internet,” Allen
said. “One computer would have to be inside of the palace or at
least close enough for a wireless connection. If we can find it, we
can disable the cameras and maybe find where he is viewing them
from.”

Chevalier looked at his son, shocked, “If we
find the computer, can you track him down?”

“
I think so,” Allen told
him. “If we can get the remote computer’s IP address, we should be
able to track it to a city and maybe even an address.”

“
Get with Silas, tell them
what to look for,” Chevalier said, and watched his son move quickly
from the room. He wasn’t as fast as the heku, but was much faster
than any mortal.

***

Emily sat up, coughing violently. She leaned
back against the stack of pillows when the coughing stopped and
looked over at Mark. He handed her a pill, and she took it with a
cold glass of water.

“
Do you need anything?”
Mark asked her.