Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (81 page)

“
She’s slowly starving
herself, and from what I saw, she’s not sleeping well. She’s also
been fed off of recently,” Zohn told them.

Chevalier growled, “Who?”

“
She won’t say. I even had
control of her for a few minutes, but she broke it.”

“
You could control her?”
Maleth asked, shocked.

“
Briefly, yes,” Zohn said.
“She sent a warning that the next heku to walk through her door
better be Kyle, any other, and she would turn us to ash… she made
sure and mention that that included the Elder also.”

Chevalier sighed, “We have that house
surrounded. Find out from the guards who has been in
there.”

Zohn nodded, “Already asked, and Silas
has been the only one in the house.”

“
It may have happened while
she was out. Maybe she stopped on the way to the prison and was
attacked,” Quinn said.

“
Kent assures us that we’re
only days away from Kyle and Emily both being released as suspects.
If she can just wait two more days, everything may get back to
normal,” Maleth said, frustrated.

“
This has gone on long
enough. I agreed with the Council not to contact her, but I am
going to talk to her now,” Chevalier said, and blurred from the
room.

“
Em?” Chevalier said from
behind her. Emily jumped and splashed dishwater all over the
counter.

“
Damnit, don’t sneak up on
me,” she said, and turned around as she dried her hands on a
towel.

“
I’m sorry I haven’t been
here to talk to you. The lawyers wanted me to stay as far away as
possible to keep from messing up the trial,” Chevalier
said.

“
So you couldn’t even sneak
in here? Send a note maybe?”

“
I didn’t want to risk it.
This trial is too important, and I don’t want you to end up in
jail.”

“
So why are you here now?”
Emily snapped.

“
I needed to talk to
you.”

“
Yeah, well I needed you
too and guess what? You weren’t here.”

Emily turned around when the phone
rang and answered it, “Hello?”

Chevalier waited while she listened to
whoever was on the phone.

“
I’ll be right there,”
Emily said, and hung up.

“
What’s up?” Chevalier
asked.

Emily ignored him and went into the
bedroom to get dressed. She came out a short time later in a black
business dress suit, and she sat down to slip on some shoes, “Can
you be bothered to watch Alex, or should I find a
baby-sitter?”

“
Em, don’t be like that,”
he said, frustrated.

“
I’ll be back,” Emily said,
and kissed Alexis on the cheek.

She drove quickly to the courtroom.
Kent said there was an update in the case, and she needed to be
there. She was met outside by droves of reporters, so she lowered
her head and ran inside without saying a word.

“
Come in,” Kent said, and
took her arm. He led her into the packed courtroom, and she stood
by Kyle, who was in a suit and tie, no longer
restrained.

The Judge came in and sat down, then
looked at Kyle and Emily, “In light of recent DNA evidence found on
the body of Keith Russo, you are both being released as suspects
for the murder case. Mr. Jones, you were found guilty of Identity
Theft and will be released on time served. You may go.”

Emily gasped and turned to Kyle,
jumping into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed
her forehead, “Let’s go home.”

Emily nodded, “I have the Durango
outside.”

They walked out to the Durango as Kyle
blocked reporters from getting close to Emily. She crawled into the
driver’s seat and took off when Kyle was seated, then headed for
Council City.

“
Are you ok?” Kyle asked
after a few minutes.

Emily smiled, “I’m fine,
why?”

“
He loves you.”

“
He has a funny way of
showing it.”

Emily pulled up to the front doors of
the palace and turned off the engine.

“
Not putting it in the
garage?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“
I’m not staying that long.
I just need to get Alexis, and I’m leaving,” she said, and opened
the door.

“
Shall we pull it in for
you, Lady Emily?” a guard asked.

“
No, leave it please,”
Emily said, and went inside.

Kyle followed her, “Where will you
go?”

Emily turned and faced him. Her eyes
were filled with tears, “It’ll be easier if you don’t
know.”

Kyle took her hand, “Please, tell
me.”

Emily kissed him lightly, ignoring the
gasps and hisses from the guards and servants, “I
can’t.”

She pulled away from Kyle and walked
into the Council room as Derrick called after her.

“
Emily?” Quinn asked,
looking up from some papers.

The prisoner on trial watched her
carefully, not sure what was going on.

“
Emily, can we help you?
We’re in the middle of a trial,” Zohn asked.

Emily ignored them and walked up to
Chevalier and took Alexis. He smiled at Alexis and then looked at
Emily, “Let’s talk, meet me upstairs in an hour, ok?”

She didn’t say anything, but walked
down toward the trial room door.

“
She’s leaving,” Kyle said,
and stepped in front of the door.

“
Leaving? Where?” Maleth
asked, looking up.

“
Please move, Kyle,” Emily
asked, stepping up to the door.

“
Don’t go like this,” Kyle
begged.

“
When will you be back?”
Quinn asked.

“
Kyle, I’m begging you to
just let me go,” she said softly. She looked into his eyes
pleadingly.

“
Please don’t go, not now,”
he said, watching her.

“
Look at me, Kyle. I’m not
mad. I’m not leaving in anger. It’s just time to go away for a
while,” Emily said, and touched his cheek softly.

“
Emily, I just spent 2
months in jail for you… I’m asking you nicely to stay, for me,”
Kyle said. He knew it was hitting low, but he was desperate for her
to stay.

Emily sighed and thought before
speaking, “Ok, but only 2 months. I’ll give you back what the jail
took.”

Kyle smiled, “That’s all I can ask
for, thank you.”

“
I hate this place,” Emily
said to Chevalier.

“
I know,” he answered
softly.

“
You two,” Emily said,
looking at Quinn and Zohn. “Stay away from me.”

Emily headed for the trial
doors.

“
Eat too, will you?” Kyle
asked.

“
Don’t push it,” Emily
said, and left the room. Kyle went and took his chair to finish out
the current trial.

“
I have to, I’m sorry,”
Chevalier said from the chair.

“
Why can’t Zohn go?” Emily
asked, confused.

“
When it’s a high ranking
Coven Leader, it falls to the Elders.”

“
So send Quinn.”

Chevalier smiled, “I’ll be back in a
couple of weeks. Kyle’s here, he’ll watch the Council around
you.”

Emily sighed, “Great, 4 weeks to
go.”

Chevalier nodded, “I know, I’m
counting.”

Chevalier studied her as she looked
into the empty fireplace. She was still losing weight, and the
bones in her wrist and neck stood out against her pale skin. The
puncture wounds she wouldn’t explain were gone, but the dark
circles under her eyes were deeper.

“
Em, you would tell me if
you were sick, right?” Chevalier asked.

“
I’m not sick.”

“
But if you were, would you
tell me?”

Emily shrugged, “Probably”

“
It’d make me feel better
if the doctor came to look at you before I leave.”

“
No”

“
When’s the last time you
ate?”

“
I had coffee for lunch,”
Emily said.

“
I mean food.”

“
I’m just not
hungry.”

“
Which is why I want the
doctor to come up. It’s not healthy.”

“
There’s nothing wrong with
me,” Emily said. Chevalier looked at her again, and she looked
fragile enough to break if a small breeze came up.

“
If you aren’t feeling
better when I get back, I’ll have him come up,” Chevalier told
her.

“
Quinn is still planning
something against me,” Emily said, and turned her head to
Chevalier.

Chevalier sighed, “I really don’t
think he is.”

“
I saw him, Chev. He was
talking to someone in the shadows about me.”

“
I asked him about that. He
wasn’t even in the palace during that time,” Chevalier
said.

“
Sure, believe him.” Emily
turned back to the fireplace.

Chevalier kissed her softly and
frowned at how hot and dry her skin felt, “I’ll be back in a week.
Please, tell Kyle if you start to feel sick.”

Emily nodded and went back to staring
at the darkened stones in the fireplace.

Chevalier stepped out of her room
where Kyle was waiting, “Did she agree to see the
doctor?”

“
No, but I’m sure she’s
lost even more weight, her skin is hot too. She has to be sick,”
Chevalier said, glancing back at the door. “She still thinks Quinn
is after her.”

“
I’ll watch her, if she
gets any worse then I’ll control her and she’ll see the doctor,”
Kyle sighed.

Chevalier grimaced, “Not unless it’s
an emergency though. I hate to take her free will away.”

“
I won’t, I promise,” Kyle
said, and watched as the Elder walked down the stairs.

Kyle went into the bedroom and sat
down by Emily, “Want to go riding?”

“
No,” Emily said, watching
the empty fireplace.

“
You’re making us all
nervous, you know that?”

“
How’s that?”

“
You just sit in here all
day. You don’t sleep, you don’t eat, you don’t want to do anything
you used to do,” Kyle said bluntly.

“
I’m just tired is
all.”

“
What can I get you for
dinner?”

“
Coffee”

“
I mean food,” Kyle said,
frowning.

“
I don’t feel like
eating.”

“
Fine then, a nice calming
tea at least, no more caffeine. It’s no wonder you aren’t
sleeping.”

Emily shrugged, “Sure.”

Kyle poured her a cup of tea from the
pot a servant brought up. She stirred in a tiny bit of sugar and
sipped it slowly.

“
Can I ask you a question?”
Emily asked.

Kyle smiled, “Sure, ask
away.”

“
Why are heku so big? I
mean… I don’t think I’ve seen a short heku, other than maybe Lord
Thukil.”

Kyle laughed, “Em, you’ve been with us
for 10 years and you don’t know?”

“
I guess I never thought to
ask.”

“
It’s part of the process.
Once the mortal become immortal, they tend to grow taller and more
muscular. It happens all within a few hours,” Kyle
explained.

Emily frowned, “You’re
joking.”

“
Nope”

“
So what happened to Lord
Thukil?” She hoped she wasn’t being too nosey.

“
There are rare occasions
where no growth occurs, no one really knows why.”

“
Hmm,” Emily said, and
sipped more tea.

“
Anything else?” Kyle
asked. She seemed like she was hesitating.

“
Yeah I guess. Why is there
like… 100 times more men heku than women?”

“
Some of that is the
militaristic lifestyle, it appeals more to men generally. Then
there’s the growing process for them too, and it turns a lot of
women off of the idea,” Kyle explained, and watched Emily
closely.

Emily frowned, “The women grow
too?”

“
Not as much, but yes, and
most women don’t want to have that happen.”

“
Why did the Council choose
you for Chief Enforcer?” Emily asked.

Kyle frowned, “What do you
mean?”

“
Chevalier and Damon, and
even Vaughn, they were hot tempered, mean, and tough as nails. I
assume all Chief Enforcers are,” Emily explained.

Kyle gave her a half-grin, “I’m not
sure I like what you’re implying.”

“
You’re even tempered and
sweet. It just seems to me like the opposite of what a Chief
Enforcer would be.”

“
So you don’t think I can
be good at my job?”

“
I didn’t say that,” Emily
told him.