Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (94 page)

“
No, I punched him after he
wouldn’t stop kissing me and pinned me to the couch,” Emily told
them.

“
When’s the last time you
saw him?”

“
After I hit him I left,
haven’t seen him since.”

“
Do you know anyone who
might want to hurt him?” Detective Tooney asked.

Emily glanced at Sean and he nodded, “No
names, but as CEO of the V.E.S., he’s pretty much made a lot of
enemies.”

“
Any that might
exsanguinate him after severely beating him?”

“
I don’t know what
exsanguinate means,” Emily said, again glancing at Sean.

“
We found Mr. Isaac a few
hours ago, completely drained of blood. Every major bone in his
body was shattered, and it looked like he was alive during most of
that,” Detective Tooney said, and pushed a picture over to
Emily.

Emily looked at the picture and got sick to
her stomach. The sheer brutality of what happened to him was too
vivid in the color photograph, the 8x10 proving to Emily what her
husband was capable of. She pushed the picture away and shut her
eyes.

“
No, I don’t know anyone
who could do that,” she told them.

“
Can you name anyone of the
V.E.S. who might want Mr. Isaac dead?”

“
I think that’s enough,”
Sean said. “She’s told you why she assaulted Mr. Isaac, and as she
was in jail at the time of his death, that’s all she’s going to be
saying about the matter.”

Detective Tooney handed her a business card,
“If you hear anything, please give me a call.”

Emily nodded and took the card.

“
We’ll get your things and
you can go,” Detective Crowther said, and opened the handcuffs on
her wrists.

After changing, Emily met Kyle in the
waiting room and they walked out to his car in silence. He glanced
at her before starting the Ferrari and heading back for Council
City.

“
Are you ok?” he asked,
after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

Emily nodded. Kyle glanced at her, and then
pulled the Ferrari into a warehouse district. The parking lot was
empty and he turned off the car and looked over at her.

“
Tell me what’s wrong,”
Kyle said, watching her carefully.

She looked down at her hands, “Do you know
what he did to Bruce?”

“
Not exactly,
no.”

“
They showed me a picture,”
she told him, and looked out over the empty warehouse.

“
He was pretty
mad.”

“
That’s not mad, Kyle,
that’s… more.”

“
I’ve told you hundreds of
times, he’s very protective of you, and the heku nature is violent.
It all adds up to some serious damage to whomever it is we’re mad
at.”

“
Did he drain Keith?” Emily
asked, looking over at Kyle.

“
I didn’t ask. I was with
you when Keith actually died.”

“
But that’s his MO, right?
Beat the hell out of them and then drain them?”

“
Probably,” Kyle said,
sighing. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was
going.

“
When was Chev the maddest
at me?” Emily asked, and looked out the window.

“
That’s easy, when you
spent time in New Mexico with Exavior.”

“
When you all locked me in
my room.”

“
Yes”

“
Was that because he
was…”

“
No, Em, he’s never been
that mad at you.”

“
Go to 811 Grover
Street.”

Kyle nodded and pulled the Ferrari back into
traffic and returned to the city. He pulled into the small
apartment complex at the address she’d given him, and stopped the
car when they saw hundreds of people outside of the complex. Her
apartment door was open and people were streaming in and out.

“
Whose place is that?” Kyle
asked. He was glad the windows in his Ferrari were too dark for
anyone to see in.

“
Mine,” Emily said,
frowning. “I wonder what’s going on.”

Emily got out and headed up to the group of
people. Kyle watched from the car, they were obviously V.E.S.

“
Harold, what’s going on?”
Emily asked, walking up to the closest V.E.S. member.

“
She’s here!” Harold
yelled, and all eyes turned to her. The tall man had a rolling
figure and no neck. His bad toupee and splotchy beard helped
detract from how his bulging stomach threatened to snap the buttons
on his grease stained shirt.

Emily stopped and took a step back, “What’s
going on?”

The man grabbed her arm as the crowd
surrounded her, “We know who you are… Madison, or Emily, or
whatever you want to call yourself today.”

Kyle instantly appeared by her side and
towered over the smaller mortals, “Let her go.”

The crowd backed up, shocked at the vampire
standing before them. Emily moved closer to him and watched the
V.E.S. as they glared at her.

“
That’s it then… you
infiltrated us from the vampires? You’re a vampire loving whore!”
Harold snarled.

“
Watch it, Boy,” Kyle
growled, and took Emily’s arm, gently leading her back to the
car.

“
You better stay hidden,
Bitch! We have V.E.S. everywhere, and your picture will be in
everyone’s memory,” Harold yelled. “We’ll get you and when we do,
you’ll pay for what happened to Bruce.”

“
Where’s Cody and Larry?”
another man asked, glaring at her.

“
Get in the car,” Kyle
said, and Emily obeyed. She knew she couldn’t take on over 100
V.E.S. and wasn’t sure Kyle could either.

Kyle turned to Harold, “Threaten her again…
and you’ll have to deal with me.”

Emily watched, in shock, as Kyle faced the
crowd. His features were dark and menacing, and she could tell by
his posture that he was furious. She suddenly feared for the crowd
of people. He backed up and slipped into the car. Kyle punched the
car into gear, almost hitting a sizeable portion of the gathered
V.E.S., and spun out backwards, flipped the car around, and tore
out of the parking lot at a dangerous speed.

Emily looked at him and could tell he was
too angry to speak. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly,
leaving finger impressions in the expensive leather. He was glaring
ahead, angrily taking corners and flying through red lights as he
made his way onto the Interstate. His rage permeated the car and
grew darker as they neared Council City. The gate guards barely had
time to react as he sped into the city.

Silas and Kralen were on duty at the front
door when Kyle screeched to a halt, skidding to within inches of
them. When Kyle got out of the Ferrari, they both backed up out of
his way, afraid to even get close to him. Emily finally got out of
the car after Kyle disappeared inside. Her eyes were wide and her
hands were shaking.

“
Don’t go in,” Silas said
when Emily started for the door. She turned and looked at
him.

“
Mark…” Kralen whispered,
watching the door.

Mark appeared from the direction of the
barracks after a few moments, “Welcome back, Em.”

Emily heard the faint hint of whispers as
she watched the door, afraid it would fly open and Kyle would come
out. She took a step away from the door when a loud crash sounded
from inside the palace.

Two more members of the Cavalry came and
replaced Silas and Kralen at the door.

“
Come on, let’s go,” Mark
said, taking her arm gently.

Emily nodded, still shocked at how angry
Kyle was. She’d never seen him that mad, even when he fought
Exavior. She followed the three heku down into the city and to a
building just outside of the main guard barracks.

“
Wait inside for us,” Mark
said, and Emily headed into the empty building. It was one massive
room, with numerous distinct sections, each individually decorated
and sectioned off from the others with short carpeted walls. It was
cold and dark in the building, and she turned toward the door,
wondering how long they would be outside.

Emily shivered and walked further into the
room. The building was eerily quiet, and things were left in a
hurry. A book was half-open on one of the beds, a chess game was
set out, the game never finished. She wondered if Mark cleared out
the building before their arrival. She turned when the door opened
and saw Mark, Silas, and Kralen stand in the door.

“
Just acclimating, give us
a second,” Silas said, smiling slightly.

Emily nodded and wrapped her arms around
herself, trying to keep warm, “Who lives here?”

“
This is Cavalry housing,”
Mark explained, stepping a little closer to her.

“
Where is
everyone?”

“
In the palace… they’re…
helping there for a bit.”

“
Is something wrong?” she
asked, turning back to them.

Silas shut the door behind them, blocking
out the only light in the building.

Mark sighed, “They’re helping with
Kyle.”

Emily frowned, “What is he doing?”

“
I’m good,” Silas said, and
walked the rest of the way up to her. “He’s just really angry.
They’re helping calm him down.”

“
I should go talk to
him.”

Mark moved up to her, “No, we should stay
here for now. Are you cold?”

Emily nodded, “A little.”

Two of the sectioned off areas were bigger
than the rest and set off slightly away from the others. Their beds
were bigger, and the furniture seemed a little nicer.

“
Here, crawl into my bed,”
Silas said, pulling the covers down. Emily shivered and slid into
the bed, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders.

“
Sorry, there’s no heat out
here,” Kralen explained, going to the other larger section and
sitting down in a chair.

“
Why do you two get bigger
rooms?” Emily asked, looking around at what Silas had in his
area.

“
We’re Commanders, the rest
of the Cavalry are Lieutenants,” Silas answered, and sat down in a
recliner by the bed. Mark leaned against the wall.

“
So,” Emily started. She
then hesitated and stopped talking.

“
What?” Mark
asked.

Emily sighed, “Am I out here because Kyle’s
mad at me?”

Mark frowned, “Not at all. He’s mad at the
V.E.S, but he lost control, which… in Kyle’s case, is dangerous for
anyone around him.”

“
What happened?” Kralen
asked, leaning forward a bit.

“
After Kyle bailed me out
of jail…”

“
Wait, you were in jail?”
Mark asked, shocked.

Emily nodded, “Again.”

“
What for?”

“
Assaulting Bruce Isaac,”
Emily said, grinning slightly.

“
What’d he do?”

Emily blushed and ignored Mark’s question,
“When I got out of jail, I wanted to go clean out my little
apartment, the one I was staying in while I was away for a few
weeks.”

“
Nice deflect,” Mark
chuckled. “Keep going.”

“
When we got there, there
were over a hundred V.E.S. coming in and out of my apartment. I got
out of the car to see what was going on and… well… they were mad,
very mad. They know about Madison, and Harold grabbed my
arm.”

Mark hissed slightly, “So Kyle
intervened?”

“
Yes, and they threatened
me.”

“
What did they say,
exactly?” Kralen asked. Emily knew that the Cavalry took her safety
personally, and saw that the three heku were all getting
tense.

“
They just said that all of
the V.E.S. know me now, and if they catch me, I’ll pay for what
happened to Bruce,” she said, and leaned back against the
headboard.

“
Per Elder’s orders, we’re
reinstated as your guards,” Silas told her. “I’d like to see the
V.E.S. come even close to you.”

“
What did Isaac do to make
you hit him?” Mark asked.

“
Mark… did you see her
neck?” Silas asked, raising his eyebrows.

Emily covered the round bruise and
blushed.

“
Yes, but it’s just a
bruise,” Mark said.

“
Looks like a hickey to
me,” Kralen chuckled.

“
A what?”

Emily grinned slightly, “How do heku not
know what a hickey is?”

Silas laughed, “Em, if we’re that close to
your neck, we’re not in the mood to suck.”

Emily blushed deeper and glanced away from
them when she heard Kralen chuckle.

“
Tell me,” Mark said,
irritated. She didn’t look, but suspected Silas was filling Mark in
on the round bruise. She felt her face burning when she heard Mark
growl slightly.

“
Is that where the Elder
went then? To take care of Isaac?” Mark asked after a few
minutes.

Emily sighed, “Yes, and I got to see
pictures, it was…”

“
Pictures? Yeah, I’m
banking he didn’t think you’d see what he did,” Kralen
said.

Mark looked around the room, “Come on, let’s
go.”

Emily slowly stood up, “It’s ok to go back
in the palace?”

“
No, we’re going out for
pizza,” Kralen said. “I’ll go get my truck.”

“
I’m not sure that’s a good
idea,” Emily said as Kralen disappeared. “The V.E.S. is looking for
me.”