Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (67 page)

Emily sat down and Chevalier stood behind
her with his hands on her shoulders.

“
Enjoy your time with the
Encala?” Zohn asked angrily.

“
Yes, actually, I
did.”

“
They bought you a
car?”

“
Yes”

Chevalier grinned, “A purple SSC Ultimate
Aero.”

Quinn raised his eyebrows, “Nice.”

“
What did you have to do to
get it?” Zohn asked.

Emily looked at him, shocked, “What do you
mean?”

“
I mean… was the car
payment for something?”

“
Yes,” Emily said, watching
him. “I had to blow the entire Council... but at least I got my
car.”

Chevalier’s hands tightened on her
shoulders.

“
Did you give them any
palace secrets?” Zohn asked, ignoring her previous
comment.

“
No”

“
Then what?”

“
What makes you think I had
to do something to get the car?” Emily decided to try the trick the
Encala’s Chief Interrogator taught her. She set her face like he
told her, and watched Zohn closely, making sure not to avert her
eyes from his.

“
It just seems that they
were repaying you for something.”

“
Go ahead, ask…”

“
No, we don’t interrogate
members of the Council,” Chevalier growled.

“
Go ahead… ask,” she said
again.

“
What did you do while you
were there?” Zohn asked, moving to the front of his
desk.

“
Watched movies and read a
lot. I didn’t leave my room the entire time,” Emily said, lying and
testing her new trick.

Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “Sounds boring…
anything else?”

“
No,” Emily said, keeping
her face and eyes under full control.

“
How did you get the bruise
on your neck?”

“
None of your business.
Like the bruises on my wrists, or the hand bruise on my arm… not
even the bruise on my back is any of your concern.”

Zohn went back to his seat and sat down,
unsure exactly where to go from here.

“
Done?” Emily
asked.

“
Yes,” Zohn told her,
irritated.

Emily smiled, “I’m free to go then?”

“
No,” Chevalier said. “Now
I want to know what right you had to pull Emily out of bed at 3am
and tell her to leave immediately for a mission we hadn’t decided
yet whether to send her on?”

Zohn growled, “I was left in charge of this
faction in your absence, and I felt new developments in the
Michaels Coven dictated immediate action.”

“
Nothing was so immediate
that you had the right to demand that my wife go on a mission that
she felt uncomfortable going on, and without the say of the other
two Elders,” Chevalier said angrily.

“
I did too have that right,
and she needs to learn how to respect authority and do as she’s
told.”

Emily decided not to get involved. Chevalier
was fighting for her side, and Zohn was losing.

“
Do as she was told?” Quinn
asked. “Since when do we make her obey heku laws?”

“
We should! She lives in
the palace, trains the Cavalry, she’s a member of our guard staff
by title, and yet she gets away with anything she wants,” Zohn
snapped.

Emily couldn’t take it anymore, “Whatever
you say, Damon.”

Zohn pounded his fists onto his desk, “You
had no right to use your mind wipe on me and then flee.”

“
I did too! I’m not going
to go babysit another coven, I refuse, and you were too stubborn
headed to listen,” Emily yelled. She tried to stand, but Chevalier
held her down with strong hands on her shoulders.

“
What if it had been an
emergency? What if it would have caused the Coven Lord his life had
you not intervened that very night?” Zohn asked.

“
Then you have the entire
Council City Cavalry at your disposal. Guards that are trained to
handle those situations, and are willing to go at the drop of a
hat,” Emily reminded him.

“
We just feel that you went
behind our backs,” Quinn said calmly. “We left you here, knowing
that you would handle the situation if Exavior came back, and yet
you undermined a decision we made and tried to send her out on a
mission.”

“
One we discussed sending
her on,” Zohn said.

“
You know full well that
the second you told Emily that she had no choice in the matter,
that you had a fight on your hands,” Chevalier growled. “Why did
you antagonize her?”

“
I didn’t. I was merely
giving an order and I think we need an additional order that she’s
banned from wiping the memory of an Elder,” Zohn said to the
others.

Emily grinned, “Try it.”

“
I’m not afraid of you,”
Zohn told her. “I’m not under your spell and I will be respected or
you can leave.”

Emily stood up, “Fine, the Encala will take
me in.”

“
Sit down, Em,” Chevalier
said softly. “He can’t kick you out.”

Zohn stood up and moved to her as Quinn took
his arm, “Damon was right… he went about it the wrong way, but he
was correct. You need some discipline and you need to learn some
control.”

“
Are you going to show me?”
Emily asked, grinning suddenly.

Chevalier glanced at Quinn, not sure what
she was going to do.

“
I may… someone not under
your spell needs to,” Zohn told her.

“
What if I won’t listen?
Going to kick me out? Going to send me to my room without lunch?”
Emily asked, folding her arms.

Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “Maybe… if you are
asking if I would treat you like a child then, yes, I would.”

“
You’re not man enough to
do that,” Emily said, and Chevalier put a hand on her arm, nervous
as to what she was up to.

“
You have no idea what I’m
capable of,” Zohn told her.

“
I don’t want this to turn
into Emily vs. Zohn,” Quinn said. “This part is an Elder matter,
and I think we should let Emily go.”

“
Good idea,” Chevalier
said, glaring at Zohn.

Emily smiled, “If that’s what you two want,
then I’ll be in my room.”

Zohn glared as she walked out of his office.
Mark and Kyle met her on the stairs.

“
That car is awesome,” Kyle
said, grinning. “Pegged her at 272 mph.”

“
If it weren’t purple… I
might steal it,” Mark chuckled.

“
You’re just jealous
because my car stands out in the garage,” Emily told them and
grinned. She headed up the stairs followed by the two of
them.

“
Where’d the bruises come
from?” Mark asked, frowning suddenly.

Emily turned with a grin, “I had so much
fun.”

“
You had fun and got
bruises?” Kyle asked, raising his eyebrow.

“
Seriously, look at me
wrong and I bruise,” Emily said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
“I’m so sore though.”

“
What did you
do?”

“
Well, got the new car, we
played football every day, I had several self-defense classes, and
then I had a way fun private one-on-one with their Chief
Interrogator,” Emily said, laughing when she remembered how she got
past Zohn’s radar.

Kyle frowned, “You were alone with their
Chief Interrogator?”

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“
Did he interrogate you?”
Mark asked seriously.

Emily rolled her eyes, “Little credit,
guys.”

“
We just worry about you.
You’re too trusting, and those Chief Interrogators have a way of
getting information without you even knowing it,” Mark
explained.

“
I didn’t give him any deep
dark secrets, but Zohn’s felt the effects of my visit and doesn’t
even know it,” Emily said, grinning. She slipped off her sweater
and turtle neck, leaving just the t-shirt beneath it.

“
Damn, you’re covered in
bruises,” Kyle said, matching the hand bruise on her upper arm to
his hand.

“
Did they restrain you?”
Mark growled, taking her bruised wrists.

“
Stop it!” Emily frowned
and pulled her arms away from the heku. “They didn’t hurt
me.”

Kyle lifted up the back of her shirt and
hissed at the bruise and abrasions, “What the hell…”

“
Stop it!” Emily yelled
again, and pulled her shirt out of his hands. “What’s with the
inspection?”

“
How did it happen?” Kyle
growled. Emily turned to look at him, and the rage in his eyes made
her stand up and take a step back.

“
Calm down,” Emily said,
moving away from him. “They didn’t hurt me. I just bruise
easily.”

“
How?” Kyle yelled, and the
tone in his voice made Emily jump.

“
Mark…” Emily whispered.
She looked at him when he didn’t respond and he was crouched
slightly, glaring at her.

“
Tell me… now,” Kyle
growled.

“
I told you, self-defense
and football.”

“
If I find out that the
Encala hurt you,” Kyle hissed.

“
Get out,” Emily said,
pointing to the door. “Both of you get out, now.”

Emily watched as they both left her room
angrily, and Mark slammed the door. She sat down and took a deep
breath. Once she was sure they were gone, she slipped off her
t-shirt and looked at her back in the mirror. She thought the
bruise obviously resembled the football she landed on and could
even see the pattern of the laces in the bruise. She stripped the
rest of the way and stepped into a hot shower.

Emily jumped when she felt hands wrap around
her, and she grinned when she felt soft lips on her shoulders. She
spun in his hands and pressed her body against his, kissing him
passionately as she moved her hand to the back of his neck.

***

Emily leaned over and put her head on
Chevalier’s chest as he trailed his fingers lightly up her
back.

“
I was supposed to come
take a look at some bruises,” Chevalier chuckled, and kissed the
top of her head.

“
Well, you were just being
thorough,” Emily said, grinning slightly.

“
I’m curious about
something though.”

Emily looked up at him, “What?”

“
You told Zohn you read and
sat in your room. Why do you have a football shaped bruise on your
back and… honestly… you would have gone stir crazy sitting in their
palace for four days.”

Emily grinned, “I played football every day.
We did self-defense training for two days. I bought the car, we
bowled, and I had some alone time with their Interrogator.”

Chevalier frowned, and his hand stopped
moving, “You were alone with their Chief Interrogator?”

“
Yes,” Emily told him. “How
do you think I was able to lie to Zohn?”

Chevalier chuckled, “Their Chief
Interrogator taught you how to lie?”

“
Yes, and apparently it
worked.”

“
You learned more
self-defense?”

“
Yes”

“
I’m actually really glad
that you enjoyed yourself,” Chevalier said, and ran his fingers up
her back.

“
I did, it was relaxing,
and I didn’t have to worry about facing Zohn’s rage,” Emily told
him, and started to kiss his chest lightly.

“
If Zohn finds out that a
Chief Interrogator taught you how to lie to him, he may actually go
off the deep end.”

“
Why does he hate me so
badly?”

“
He’s not used to being
told no, nor is he used to someone running from him or defying
him.”

“
Must be a Chief
Interrogator thing, I think Exavior said about the same
thing.”

“
Hmm,” Chevalier
sighed.

“
What?” Emily looked up at
him.

“
You haven’t talked about
him since… well… it’s just surprising to hear you even say his
name.”

“
I’m more prepared, I
think,” Emily said softly. “I still wish he would just
disappear.”

“
Has he called?”

“
Just once, to let me know
he was aware I was with the Encala.”

“
Do you realize you’re the
first being in the history of this species to ever freely interact
with all three factions?” Chevalier chuckled.

“
No one before?”

“
Never”

“
Hmm, seems
odd.”

“
Do I get to see what you
learned?” Chevalier asked, pulling the hair away from her
face.

“
My new
self-defense?”

“
Yes”

Emily shrugged, “It seemed rather painful
for the poor heku I had to practice on.”

“
I’m sure we can find
someone willing.”

“
Zohn?” Emily asked,
grinning.

“
If I were you, I would
stay clear of Zohn for a while.”

“
Deal… if he leaves me
alone, then I won’t bug him,” Emily said, and leaned her head back
on his chest.

“
Come in,” Chevalier called
out.

“
Chev!” Emily yelled, and
pulled the covers over her head. Chevalier chuckled when she
reached over and pulled the covers up to his neck.