Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (25 page)

Emily had to get out. She felt the
urge to run away, far away from Council City. She ran from the
room, ignoring the heku calling to her from the hallway. She fled
down the stairs and out into the stables, then threw a bridle on
Damnit quickly and kicked him into a gallop before she’d even left
the stables. She heard Kyle call her name as she passed the front
doors, and headed into the city. Before long, she was out on the
hills by herself.

“
Just let her go,”
Chevalier said as Kyle began to bridle his horse.

“
She has really bad luck
outside of the city,” Kyle whispered, turning to
Chevalier.

“
I know, but just leave her
alone for now,” Chevalier said, watching as her silhouette appeared
on the hills outside of the city.

“
She should be proud.
Finally did something useful for the heku,” Damon said as he
stepped out into the stables.

Chevalier glared at him, and Kyle
yelled “Shut up!”

“
What? Honestly, how
awesome is it that we can now make our own little heku army,” Damon
chuckled.

Chevalier’s fist connected with his
jaw, shattering it, before Damon could even react. The force of the
punch threw him back into the stable’s walls.

Emily looked out over the city. From
the hills, it looked peaceful and tranquil, but she was overtly
aware of the violent, sadistic creatures that dwelled within its
walls. No longer wanting to watch the city, Emily pulled Damnit
around and headed toward the solidarity of the trees.

There was a light breeze blowing, and
dark clouds were quickly rolling into the area. Emily pulled Damnit
just inside the trees as it started to rain. She watched the green
hills turn to mud as the thunder and lightning lit up the dark
sky.

Emily turned to the trees. Never
before had she felt so alone. The only family she had, other than
the heku, was far away in New Mexico or already dead. She knew
there were worse things than having Allen take on the heku traits
of his father, but the thoughts of being the only mortal was
suddenly overwhelming.

As much as she hated to cry, Emily
leaned her head forward and let the tears go. She cried for the
fears she had for her son, she cried for what might become of the
baby, and she cried for the fears that had been building
lately.

“
No sign yet?” Kyle asked,
walking up to Chevalier.

“
No,” he answered, standing
on the third-floor balcony and watching the hills where they last
saw Emily.

“
Tonight’s supposed to be
the first snow.”

“
I know.”

“
How did you return her
memory?” Kyle asked, after watching the hills silently for a few
minutes.

“
I don’t want to talk about
it.”

That answered Kyle’s question, and he
decided to just drop the subject, “The doctor’s waiting for Em to
get back. He’s worried about her blood pressure.”

Chevalier sighed, “Right now, we just
need to leave her alone.”

Kyle turned to leave, and then
stopped, “Maleth wants this kept on a need-to-know basis. He
doesn’t even want the rest of the Council to know.”

Chevalier nodded, and Kyle went back
down to the prison.

Emily sat perfectly still on top of
the young paint and watched as the rain slowly turned to snow
before her eyes. She could see the vapors from her breath, and that
from the warm stallion, but she didn’t feel cold. She felt
nothing.

She made up her mind just as the sun
was setting behind the trees. There was now almost two inches of
snow, and the large white flakes weren’t slowing down. Emily kicked
Damnit into a slow walk and started back for the city.

With Damnit back in the stall, Emily
grabbed a brush and decided to give him a good brushing. It helped
the horse, and kept her hands busy so her mind was free to work on
the finer points of her plan.

“
What did you decide?”
Chevalier asked from behind her.

“
What do you mean?” Emily
asked, setting down the brush and heading toward the food
bins.

“
You only disappear on
horseback for hours if you are trying to make up your mind about
something.” He followed her and opened the bin.

Emily hopped up on an empty bin and
looked at Chevalier, “I’m going to buy a little ranch.”

Chevalier nodded, “Ok.”

“
I need somewhere to go if
I need some time away.” Emily watched him carefully.

“
Are you moving, then?”
Chevalier’s words were tense.

“
No, I have enough left
over from the Montana sale to buy a ranch, and hire a farmhand to
watch the place for me,” Emily explained.

“
I can get someone from
here to work for free, and keep an eye on the place,” Chevalier
offered, knowing she wouldn’t take the offer.

“
You already know the
answer to that. In fact, if I ever find out that you’ve gone
snooping and try to find out where the place is, I’ll move there
permanently,” Emily threatened.

Chevalier nodded.

“
Tell your cronies too.
That goes for any heku trying to find out where it is,” she said,
sliding off of the barrel and grabbing the hose line.

“
What about Allen?”
Chevalier asked.

“
What do you mean? Will I
take him with me, or what do I feel about having a son that wants
to feed off of me?” Emily asked as she started to fill all of the
troughs with fresh water.

“
Both, I guess.”

“
I don’t know yet,” she
said, and grabbed a rake, then started mucking out one of the empty
stalls.

Chevalier gently took the rake and
pulled her close to him. She buried her face in his chest, “It’s
ok.”

“
Why didn’t Sam tell us?”
Emily said softly. Her voice held pain and betrayal, and Chevalier
suddenly wanted to dismember the familiar.

He paused while he controlled his
anger, “I don’t know, but it won’t happen again.”

“
When I get the ranch, I’m
moving Sam out there as overseer. I don’t want him around Allen,”
Emily said, pulling away from Chevalier.

“
You trust him?” Chevalier
asked.

“
No, that’s why I’ll have
another farmhand. If I catch him near Allen again, I’ll kill him,”
Emily said coldly.

Chevalier kissed her forehead, “You
aren’t a killer. If the time comes, then let me do it.”

Emily suddenly leaned over and placed
her hands on her knees. She dropped her head and breathed
deeply.

“
Em?” Chevalier said in a
panic.

“
Gimme a sec,” she said,
groaning slightly.

“
Doctor,” Chevalier
whispered, and he blurred into the stables, just as Emily stood up
and rubbed her belly.

“
Go away, I’m not in
labor,” Emily said, and walked past them.

Chevalier grabbed her arm, “Just let
him look at you.”

“
Let me make sure you
aren’t in pre-term labor, please,” the doctor asked.

“
Like anyone would know.
I’m the only who knows how far along I am,” Emily said,
smirking.

“
Then a blood pressure, at
least,” the doctor said, pulling out a cuff.

“
I can already tell you…
it’s high,” Emily told him.

“
How can you tell
though?”

“
Because when it’s high I
get headaches with little flashing lights,” Emily said
calmly.

The doctor looked at her with wide
eyes.

“
I’m not in labor, anyway,”
Emily said, and pulled her arm away from Chevalier, then headed
into the palace.

“
I’d bet my license she’s
ready to go into labor, with the size of that baby. If she’s having
those kinds of headaches, she should be on bed rest,” the doctor
told Chevalier.

“
When do we become
concerned that the baby is too big?” Chevalier asked
him.

“
Honestly, I’m already
concerned about that. It’s hard to tell with her because she’s
naturally tiny, but to me, that baby looks huge. Keep in mind
though, I was a general practitioner, not an obstetrician,” the
doctor reminded him.

“
Find one, call every coven
in the Equites if you have to,” Chevalier ordered, and the doctor
blurred away.

Chevalier met up with Emily in the
bedroom.

“
Why are you packing, Em?”
he asked, frustrated.

“
I told you, I’m buying a
ranch. I’ve had my eye on one and I’m going to go look at it in the
morning. I’ll only be gone a few days,” she said, and looked around
for her 9mm.

“
You seriously think that’s
a good idea?” Chevalier growled.

“
Where’s my gun?” Emily
asked, and turned around to look at him.

“
Why do you have to do this
right now?” he asked her, starting to sound angry.

“
Why not right
now?”

“
You look like you’re ready
to explode. The doctor thinks you could go into labor at any time,”
Chevalier said, trying to calm his voice.

“
Kyle! Where’s my gun?”
Emily yelled toward the door.

“
Emily, stop!”

She turned to him, “I’m not in labor,
Chev.”

“
I don’t care. It’s just
not the time to go out on your own.”

“
Don’t start a fight with
me,” Emily said, taking the gun from Kyle when he walked in the
door.

Kyle backed out quickly when he heard
them argue.

“
I’m not starting a fight.
I just want you to be rational for once, and stop being so damned
stubborn headed,” Chevalier said, and pounded his fist on the
table, breaking it in half.

“
Is that what I’m being,
irrational?” Emily asked, glaring.

“
Yes, yes you are. You
won’t tell anyone how far along you are, won’t let the doctors
touch you. For all I know, you could be past due and you’re headed
out alone to some unknown ranch by yourself,” Chevalier said
tensely.

“
I love your faith in me,
Chev,” she said, and grabbed her bag. “I’m leaving tonight then.
I’m not going to stand here and fight.”

“
Emily, no” Chevalier said,
taking her arm.

“
Are you going to hold me
here against my will?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Every fiber of his being was yelling
to stop her, and keep her here in the safety of the palace with
doctors closely watching her. Against his better judgment, he let
her go, and watched her disappear through the garage
doors.

“
Where’s Em going?” Kyle
asked, stepping up beside Chevalier.

“
I don’t know,” the Elder
said, and threw a chair through the wall beside him.

The doctor came up to them and glanced
at the wall briefly, “The Kork Coven outside of Denver has an
obstetrician. He’s flying in, and will be here first thing in the
morning.”

“
Get him a room. He’s
staying in the palace,” Chevalier said angrily.

The doctor nodded, “Do you think we
can talk her into a blood pressure check?”

“
Nope, she just left,”
Chevalier said, and blurred to his office.

“
What? I’m not convinced
she’s not starting labor!” the doctor said, shocked.

Kyle looked toward Chevalier’s office
nervously.

Emily poured through books as the
owner of the ranch watched her, “As I said, there are three
bunkhouses that are scattered across the property.

Emily nodded, “I see that. Let’s hit
the horses. I want to take a look.”

The Rancher frowned, “You sure you
should be on a horse?”

Emily controlled the anger that the
comment brought, “I’m fine, let’s go.”

The Rancher already had two
thoroughbreds saddled and ready to go. Emily used a bale of hay to
climb onto the mare, and she followed the rancher along the
property line. There were fences along the entire perimeter and
irrigation ditches already flowing across the farmland.

“
So what brings you to
Montana?” he asked, smiling at her.

“
Just time for a change. I
had a ranch up by Cascade once, and I think it’s time to start
again,” she said, looking closely at the layout of the
ranch.

“
Just you and your husband,
or do you have kids… well… other than the one on the way,” he
asked.

“
It’ll just be me,” she
said bluntly, hoping he would drop it.

“
This is a big piece of
land for one person.”

“
I have an overseer
already, and I’ll hire some workers,” she told him. They were quiet
the rest of the way back. When they arrived back at the barn, Emily
slid off of the horse and turned to the Rancher.

“
I’ll take it.”

The Rancher smiled, “Great! I finally
get to retire.”