Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (85 page)

“
Ready,” he said, and
cringed slightly when she peeled out and took off down the dark
street.

“
How did you find me?” Kyle
yelled.

“
Accident, just happened to
see you in the alley,” Emily told him.

“
Why are you out in the
middle of the night?”

“
Just out for a
ride.”

“
It’s 3:30am.”

“
I’m aware of that,” Emily
said, and merged onto the Interstate.

“
Emily!” Kyle yelled when
she burned the gate guards to get through into Council City without
stopping. She didn’t respond as she headed toward the palace
dangerously fast. She pulled up in front of the palace’s front
doors, and the guards ran out to meet them as she stopped the
engine and swung her leg over to sit sideways in the
seat.

“
Bring’em out,” Emily said,
pulling off her helmet.

Kyle stepped off the Harley Davidson and
blurred inside. The guards watched her, afraid that if she got away
they might be punished.

“
Back up,” Emily said when
they slowly moved towards her. They both froze and returned to the
door, not willing to get turned to ash.

Allen was the first out of the palace, and
he ran and hugged Emily, pulling her off the motorcycle. She hugged
him tightly before he set her down on the ground.

“
Get Alexis and bring the
Jeep around,” Emily told him. Allen nodded and disappeared inside,
so she swung her leg over the motorcycle and started to pull her
hair up so she could slip on the helmet.

She went to grab her helmet from behind her,
but her hand touched another and she looked up. Chevalier was
beside her and picked up her helmet, tucking it under his arm,
“Leaving?”

Emily glared at him, “Step away from
me.”

Chevalier nodded and stepped back by the
other Elders, Mark and Silas had also joined them. She sat back and
watched for the Jeep.

“
Em, we weren’t trying to
trick you into turning,” Chevalier said from by the palace
doors.

“
Sure as hell looked that
way,” Emily said, still angry.

“
If you will come and talk
to us, we can explain.”

“
Come back in there? I
don’t think so. I’m just here to get the kids.”

“
I know you don’t want to
turn. I’ve never even tried… there was a valid reason.”

“
I bet.”

“
You know I want nothing
more than for you to disappear, but listen to him. We had a
reason,” Zohn told her

“
This isn’t just about the
ritual,” Emily reminded them. “I told you I was leaving
anyway.”

“
I thought we were in
negotiations,” Chevalier said.

“
We were until you tried to
turn me. That pretty much ended those negotiations.”

“
Do you remember the
battle? Against Exavior and his forces?” Quinn asked
quickly.

“
No, I don’t,” Emily said,
still irritated.

“
That’s because you were
under an Ancient’s control. The only way we knew to break you out
of it, was to turn you,” Quinn explained.

“
How handy,” Emily said,
and tapped her gloved fingers on the bike’s handles.

“
Mom?” Allen said, coming
out of the palace.

“
I told you to get the
Jeep.”

“
We decided to stay
here.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You decided?”

“
Yes”

“
Now may not be the time,”
Chevalier told his son.

“
We think it’s about time
you stay with Dad, where you belong, and stop running off,” Allen
said, crossing his arms. “You know you’d be miserable away from
heku, yet you threaten to do it to get your way and it’s getting
old.”

“
Allen!” Kyle
hissed.

Emily glared at him, “You’re 11.”

“
Yet more mature than you
are,” Allen said smugly.

Emily swung her leg over the Harley, “You’re
11, and have no idea what you’re talking about… you might be under
some misguided impression that I’m afraid of you…”

“
No, you’re not afraid of
me,” Allen said. “You’re afraid of nothing, but being
alone.”

Silas hauled Allen inside when Emily
advanced on him, but she followed them in and Silas turned around
with Allen behind him.

“
I won’t let you talk to me
like that,” Emily yelled. “You’re my son and I expect a certain
level of respect.”

“
I have complete respect
for you,” Allen told her. “However, I feel it’s best for you if you
stay here.”

“
We all do,” Chevalier said
from behind her.

Emily turned to him, “You tried to turn me,
that makes you no better than Exavior.”

Chevalier’s eyes flared, “Don’t compare me
to him.”

“
You know I would rather
die than turn… so does Exavior.”

Quinn and Zohn each grabbed an arm when
Chevalier started forward, “Watch it.”

Mark stepped closer to Emily, “Both of you
need to calm down.”

“
As you see, at times, I’m
the only adult in the family,” Allen said
matter-of-factly.

“
Shut up, Allen,” both
Chevalier and Emily yelled, in unison.

“
You’re not helping,” Silas
hissed at Allen.

“
The problem here, is that
both know they were wrong, but you’ll never get either of them to
admit it,” Allen said, ignoring Silas’ glare. “Mom wants to stay,
but doing so would make her appear weak. Dad needs to buck up and
say how much he actually needs her, but that might make him appear
weak. It’s all a matter of hard-headed pride.”

“
You may be right, but I’m
warning you… one more word and I’ll haul you out of here,” Silas
growled.

“
Let’s just go into the
conference room and calmly talk about this where the servants and
guards aren’t watching,” Quinn suggested.

“
Why do you think I want to
talk? What part of I’m leaving… are you not understanding?” Emily
asked, frustrated.

“
Because turning you
shouldn’t be factored into this… we had no option that we saw,
other than to save your life by making you a heku,” Zohn said, and
then stepped back when Emily glared at him.

“
He’s right… before that
you were willing to negotiate some terms for your return,” Quinn
said.

“
Why do you want me back
here so badly?” Emily asked. “Zohn hates me. I’m a loose bull in a
perfectly aligned glass house. What could you possibly want me here
for?”

“
Because I love you,”
Chevalier said, watching her, and Emily’s heart sank.

“
Because we all do,” Kyle
said. “You’ve become a part of our lives that we don’t want to give
up quite yet.”

“
You aligned the factions,”
Quinn said. “What did the Ancient say? We’ve all become smitten
with you.”

“
You offer us some
protection,” Zohn added.

“
Shut up, Zohn,” Chevalier
growled.

Emily was still looking into Chevalier’s
eyes, shocked he had uttered those three precious words in front of
heku.

“
Negotiations… we call in
all of the Elders and we talk,” Quinn said.

“
You have a habit of
keeping me against my will,” Emily said, taking a step back toward
the door. “How can I guarantee my safety?”

“
We’ve never been able to
keep you for long,” Mark said, grinning.

“
We hold negotiations in
the Valle Palace,” Emily suggested. “Neutral territory.”

“
Agreed,” Quinn said. “I’ll
make the arrangements.”

“
Let’s go to the new
Equites 1. The arrangements will be made when we get there,”
Chevalier said.

“
I’ll take the Harley,”
Emily told them, and turned to leave.

“
Wait,” Zohn sighed. “As
much as I’m sure we’d all prefer you stay in black leather… it’s
too dangerous to ride at night and you can’t take guards with
you.”

Emily spun and glared at Zohn as Chevalier
growled low.

“
Who said I was taking
guards?” Emily asked, tying her hair up.

“
Just come with us,
please?” Chevalier said softly.

“
No, I need my own way
out,” Emily said. “I have to be to work on Monday, negotiations or
not.”

“
You got a job?” Chevalier
asked, surprised.

“
Yeah, that’s what mortals
do.”

“
Where?”

“
If you are all so dead set
on me not taking the Harley, then I’ll take the Jeep, that way
Allen can ride with me,” Emily told them, and headed toward the
garage.

“
I get to go?”Allen
asked.

“
No, you don’t.” Chevalier
told him.

Emily turned to Allen, “Get in the
Jeep.”

Chevalier grinned, “Fine, but he’s my son
and I think he needs a guard.”

Silas turned away, grinning.

“
You,” Emily said, turning
to a first-floor guard.

The guard glanced nervously at Chevalier and
then back to Emily, “Yes, Ma’am?”

“
What’s your
name?”

“
Ashtin, Ma’am.”

“
Get in the Jeep,” Emily
said, and headed for the garage with Allen.

Chevalier shrugged, “At least it’s
someone.”

“
Sir?” Ashtin
asked.

“
Go… one thing happens to
her though, and it’ll be your head,” Chevalier said, and stormed up
the stairs.

Emily pulled off the top and doors of the
Jeep, setting them off to the side. She crawled in while Allen got
into the passenger seat, and the nervous guard got into the
back.

***

“
They said they are only a
few minutes out,” Sotomar said to those gathered around the
conference room. “Let’s meet them out front.”

Emily didn’t know the exact location of the
Valle, so the Elders had sent out a few cars to guide her in. The
Elders from all three factions stepped outside into the warm
afternoon and watched as the three Ferrari’s followed the dark
green Jeep. They pulled up outside of the large garage across from
the palace and the guards met Emily at the Jeep and walked her
toward the palace.

“
Damn,” Elder Ryan said.
“Does she wear leather often?”

Sotomar growled at him and turned back to
Emily. She pulled off the leather jacket and slung it over her
shoulder, leaving only a lacy white camisole that showed a hint of
bare midriff as she walked. She didn’t look happy though, and the
Equites guard was walking far behind her.

“
Welcome,” Sotomar said,
smiling.

“
Is there a problem?” Quinn
asked, glaring at his guard.

“
Yes, Genius over here
tried to pick a fight while I was getting gas,” Emily said angrily.
With her 4” heels, she was closer to the height of the heku, but
still dwarfed by them. The Elders glanced away from her nervously,
afraid if they looked too long at her in the tight leather pants,
that Chevalier would notice.

“
Over what?” Chevalier
asked, irritated.

“
There was a mortal…” the
guard started, but Emily cut him off.

“
Getting hit on by some
dumbass is no reason to threaten to tear his hand off,” Emily
yelled.

“
He… he touched… you,” the
guard said, defending himself.

“
Where?” Quinn asked,
curious.

The guard sighed, “He took her arm and then
patted her butt.”

Emily glared at him, “When you get back…
you’re fired.” She took Allen’s hand and walked into the Valle’s
palace.

“
When you get back, report
to Mark for a promotion,” Chevalier whispered, and followed them
in.

Sotomar growled at a few guards when they
turned to watch Emily walk past them. They suddenly faced forward,
and Sotomar gave Chevalier an apologetic glance.

“
Em, would you like to
change, maybe?” Chevalier asked hopefully. He admired the way her
high-heeled boots and tight leather pants accentuated her figure,
but couldn’t help but notice how many heku were watching her walk
by.

Emily shrugged, “I was just out for a ride.
I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

“
Dear, there is an entire
wardrobe for you, if you need to change… please, do so,” Elder Ryan
said.

“
Fine,” Emily said, and
bent over to unzip her boots. She stood up quickly and turned
around when she heard gasps from behind her, “What?”

Chevalier’s eyes were wide, “Did… what…
in…”

Quinn grinned, “Did you get a tattoo?”

“
You got a tattoo?” Allen
asked, surprised.

Emily grinned, “I did.”

“
I see,” Quinn said,
amused.

Emily shrugged and unbuttoned the top button
on her leather pants, and turned around, pulling them down enough
so they could see the tattoo on her lower back, where it was mostly
hidden by her low-rider pants. The Equites crest was tattooed in
black, and was surrounded by intricately drawn green vines and red
roses that formed an elongated V that stretched out toward her
hips. She re-buttoned her pants and followed a servant up the
stairs.