Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (56 page)

Kyle nodded and took his place with
the Council, whispering his orders, which were promptly
obeyed.

“
Now to find her,” Quinn
said.

“
You can find her, can’t
you, Elder?” Zohn asked. “Rumors are that your bond with her allow
you to read her.”

Chevalier sighed, “I can pick up
emotions. Something she’s been without for weeks. I don’t even get
the fear from her now. It’s almost as if she’s
disappeared.”

Kyle frowned, “Do you think Damon
found her?”

“
No, he was too angry,”
Zohn said.

Quinn turned to Chevalier, “If we give
her time, she will come out, right? When she gets hungry enough
maybe?”

Chevalier shook his head, “She hasn’t
eaten in weeks, it’s the one shred of control she had over herself.
She’s been wasting away eating only enough to keep herself
alive.”

“
Damn,” Maleth said
angrily.

“
Mark said she’s spent a
lot of time on the roof lately,” Kyle suggested.

“
Yes, contemplating jumping
off,” Zohn whispered. He continued when the others looked at him,
“I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago. I asked if she was
considering suicide and she said no… but I could see it in her
eyes… and every day her gun had been moved. I think she held it,
daily, as well as stood on that roof, trying to decide if she
should do it.”

“
How do we prevent this in
the future?” Maleth asked, clearly upset by what Zohn told
them.

“
Make her a member of the
Council, an official member,” Zohn suggested and
shrugged.

Quinn nodded, “That’s not a bad
idea.”

“
I told you, I’ve been
thinking this over for weeks,” Zohn said. “If she’s a member of the
Council, then she has the right to do what it is that so irritated
Damon. Including, dislike me.”

Chevalier started to argue, but then
quieted down. He was right, Emily never had liked him.

“
In what capacity will she
be in the Council? I’m not sure she’s going to want to come sit in
here all day. The child is hyper, you have to admit that, and
sitting at a desk all day is not in her nature,” Maleth
said.

“
We could just modify the
laws… so instead of a bonded spouse being an honorary part of the
Council, they become a full member directly under their spouse,”
Quinn said. “So in her case, she would be the equivalent of the
rest of the Council, the level directly under
Chevalier.”

“
That’s assuming we find
her,” Kyle said, looking at the door.

Maleth smiled, “We will find her. Now
that no one is looking for her, she may start to feel more
comfortable about coming out.”

Kyle shook his head, “Not with Damon
around. I have no doubt that her stubborn streak will kick in, and
she would wither and die before facing him.”

Chevalier frowned slightly, “I’m
getting… feelings and emotions from, her but they are all blurred.
It’s similar to when she’s asleep, but I can’t quite put my finger
on the differences.”

“
At least she’s feeling
again,” Maleth smiled.

“
Which seems odd. What
would make her emotions start to come out now?” Kyle
asked.

“
Maybe she has finally
decided… as she’s not on the roof, I suggest we see if her gun is
missing,” Zohn suggested, and blurred from the room. He returned a
few seconds later looking pale and fearful, “It’s gone.”

“
Damnit,” Chevalier yelled,
and hit the table.

“
I can’t imagine she would
kill herself and leave Allen and Alexis without a mother,” Kyle
said, frowning.

“
Damon took the children
from her though,” Quinn whispered. “He felt that a Nanny was needed
to raise them, and Emily only got to hug them each morning for a
few moments before they were taken away.”

Chevalier growled, “Why did I not know
that?”

“
I think Damon kept it from
you, and Emily wasn’t in the position to complain,” Quinn told
him.

“
Bring Alexis to me,”
Chevalier hissed, and within a minute, the Nanny came in carrying
the red-eyed Alexis. She wore scratchy gray coveralls that had worn
a rash on her arms and legs. He quickly stripped her down to her
diaper and she settled down some.

Chevalier held tightly to her, “What
did you do to her?”

The Nanny looked at the Council, “She
cries every day, all day, for her Mother. Damon said it would make
her strong. He will want those clothes put back on her also, those
were assigned to her by him.”

“
Your services are no
longer needed,” Maleth scowled at him, and the heku blurred quickly
from the room.

A single gunshot rang out through the
palace. The council members all appeared in the foyer and looked
around anxiously. Chevalier looked up the stairs, trying to figure
out where she was. No one else in the palace would have a gun. He
held Alexis tightly and she had a strong grip on his
shirt.

“
Did she… just…” Zohn
asked, his voice trembled.

“
No,” Chevalier said. “It
may have been a warning, but she’s still alive.”

“
Well she’s obviously not
asleep,” Maleth said, looking around.

“
Which still makes me
wonder about her garbled emotions. They aren’t flowing like in a
dream, more sporadic and chaotic,” Chevalier frowned.

Kyle grinned, “You mean… like she’s
drinking?”

Chevalier turned to him and they both
blurred to the game room, followed by the Council. The room was
dark and empty, and Chevalier paused at the mirror, “She could ash
us.”

“
She’s not in here though,”
Zohn said, looking around.

“
There’s a hidden bar
behind this wall. She found it by accident a while back,” Chevalier
said, looking at the mirror. “If she’s found something to drink,
it’s in there.”

“
Emily?” Maleth yelled
toward the wall.

“
If I remember correctly,
she couldn’t hear through the wall, so I’ll wait out here in case
she does ash you,” Kyle said, and took Alexis from the Elder. He
watched as the wall spun quickly and returned to its place without
the Council.

The first thing the Council saw was a
dress hanging from the mirror behind the bar, with a bullet hole
through it.

“
Em?” Chevalier called, and
looked around the room.

“
Shhhhh, he’ll hear you,”
Emily whispered from behind the bar. Her words were slurred and
hard to understand.

“
Emily, Damon’s gone,”
Maleth called out toward the bar.

“
Amos, did you hear that?”
she whispered. “Damn, I’m out of Jack, time for the
vodka.”

An empty liquor bottle flew out from
behind the bar and smashed on the floor before the
Council.

The Council all peered over the bar
and as soon as they saw her, all but Chevalier blurred back to the
doorway. Emily was lying on the floor behind the bar with her feet
crossed against the top of the bar railing. She was wearing only a
bra and panties and had the 9mm perched in one hand and a bottle of
vodka in the other.

Chevalier watched her, “Who is
Amos?”

Emily grew silent and stared up at
him, then whispered, “Amos, do you think Chev saw us?”

“
Yes, I see you,” Chevalier
said, looking down at her.

Emily leaned her head up and took
another drink, spilling most of it down into her hair.

Chevalier ducked just as another shot
rang out through the palace. One of the tiny windows high on the
wall shattered. He carefully peeked back over the bar and saw Emily
staring oddly at the gun. Before she could react, he grabbed the
9mm out of her hand and tossed it back to Zohn.

“
Heeey,” Emily said,
frowning and looking around the floor. “Where’d Amos go? I’m almost
drunk enough to use him.”

“
Use him for what?”
Chevalier asked, watching down at her unsteady hands.

“
I was married to this guy
named Keith… a long time ago,” Emily tried to explain to Chevalier,
though her slurred words were making her hard to
understand.

“
I think I remember
that.”

“
If I knew he was mad, I’d
drink first, because it never hurt as bad that way,” Emily said,
and took another drink from the vodka bottle.

“
Let’s go, Em,” Chevalier
said, and rounded the bar. He stopped when he saw she had the
cattle prod.

“
Did you take Amos?” She
frowned at him.

“
Yes, I did.”

“
Give him back…
now.”

Chevalier unbuttoned his shirt and
tossed it to Emily, “Get dressed.”

“
No!” Emily yelled, and the
council members saw her bra fly over the bar. “Damon said only
dresses are baf…bei…bafen… erm... supposed to be worn by the wife
of an Elder. Wait till he gets a load of this outfit.”

“
I’m not sure what you have
on can be considered an outfit, put on the shirt,” Chevalier said,
laughing.

“
You’re right,” she
whispered. “He already kisses me… this wouldn’t help with that at
all. Hold James.”

Chevalier reached out and took the
cattle prod she offered, and then tossed it back to Maleth. After
the fourth try, she was able get her arms through the arms on his
shirt, although it was on backwards.

Emily grabbed the vodka and took
another drink, “Ok, I’m ready for Amos.”

“
He kissed you, Em?”
Chevalier asked, his voice soft.

Even drunk, the thought brought tears
to her eyes and she nodded, “Can we get a shower
curtain?”

“
Yes,” Chevalier
whispered.

“
I’m glad you aren’t here.
He said if I showed you these, he would banish you,” Emily said.
She pulled the shirt up and lifted her right leg, exposing multiple
puncture wounds on her inner thigh.

Chevalier turned around, his eyes
furious. Maleth stepped up to the bar and knelt down beside Emily.
He pulled the shirt down to cover the punctures.

“
Please, let’s go,” Maleth
said, and tried to pick her up but she pushed his hands
away.

“
No, where’s Amos?” she
asked Maleth.

“
Zohn has the gun,” Maleth
explained.

“
Nooo, not Zohn, he hates
me.”

“
I don’t think he does,”
Maleth said.

“
Then tell him to give me
the gun. I’ve almost had enough to drink now,” Emily said, and
drank more of the vodka.

“
I think the Council would
prefer if you not kill yourself,” Maleth told her, trying to lock
her eyes.

Emily turned her head quickly to the
side, “Don’t do that.”

“
I’m sorry, I won’t do it
again,” Maleth said, and stood up when Chevalier knelt down
again.

“
Please,” Emily begged, her
eyes pleading. “Give me the gun.”

“
No”

Emily covered her face with her hands
and started to cry, “I can’t live like this. He watches me, he
listens to me… and my baby… I need my baby.”

“
Damon’s gone. Kyle has
Alexis out in the game room,” Chevalier told her.

“
Damn, I wish I could
believe you and if I see you later I’ll ask you if you were lying
to me when you said that… or if you were even here when you said
that for me to believe,” Emily sighed, and took another
drink.

Chevalier gave her a half-smile, “I
have no idea what you just said.”

“
Shhh, I slipped the
guards. He’s going to kill me.”

“
Damon’s gone, Em. No one’s
going to kill you.”

“
I can’t do it anymore,”
Emily told him. She was serious, but her words were slurred
worse.

“
I know.”

“
So hand me the gun,” Emily
whispered, then her eyes slowly began to shut and her hand slipped
off of the bottle of vodka.

Chevalier picked her up and carried
her into the game room.

“
Wow, that took a while,”
Kyle said. “What happened to Em?”

“
She finally passed out,”
Maleth said.

“
After she sobers up, I
want to revive Damon and put him through a proper trial,” Chevalier
growled.

Kyle nodded, “Just let me
know.”

Chevalier took Emily up and laid her
down on the bed while Silas and Kyle spoiled Alexis with ice cream
and games. They tried to get Allen out of class, but he refused to
leave his Technical Writing class.

Chevalier pulled off the shirt Emily
put on backwards and then climbed into bed, wrapping his arms
around her.

Emily ran frantically
toward the trees. She covered her bare chest with her arm and
glanced back quickly, Damon was catching up. She pushed harder. If
she could get to the trees, someone would be there to help
her.