Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (13 page)

“So he’s free…”

Mark nodded, “Yes,
technically he did nothing wrong.”

“So he can just do
whatever he wants. Have me assaulted, take away my
horse…”

“Pretty much,” Kyle said,
and glanced around. “However, Chevalier is livid, and the other two
Elders aren’t that happy about it. They are watching him closely
and have already rewritten that law.”

Mark looked behind him and
then whispered, “It’s those heku from Powan. They know the rule
books inside and out and rarely do anything to break
them.”

“What are his thoughts
about me then?” Emily asked, and picked Dain up.

Kyle shrugged, “He doesn’t
say.”

“It seems strange to me,
that on a whim, the Elders can get rid of a council member… just
say that he’s being weak. Yet they can’t get a grip on
Fido.”

“It’s more complicated
than just deciding that someone’s weak. They have to prove
it.”

“I should put him with
Frederick.”

“Emily!” Kyle gasped.

Mark shook his head, “Keep that to
yourself, would you?”

She shrugged, “Well, not a lot of
incentive to stay here when I have a house all to myself with no
werewolves hanging around.”

“We’d prefer if you would stay here,”
Kyle reminded her.

“Come to the house, Kyle.
Turn off the phone… sit and watch a movie or something.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Think about it,” she
said, and started for the door. “Tell Chev I’m heading back, will
you.”

“No, Mommy,” Dain said,
and wrapped his arms around her, “I go too.”

“You can’t go, Baby. I’ll
be back in the morning,” she said, and kissed his cheek.

“Come on, Screech,” Mark
said, and took Dain from her.

“Stop it, Mark!”

He grinned,
“Sorry.”

Kyle walked with Emily
into the garage and raised his eyebrows when she walked past the
Jeep and put on her helmet.

“You’re taking the
motorcycle?”

“Yes, seems I’m going out
tonight with Robert,” she said, and slid onto the seat.

“Be careful, Em.”

“The Council needs you,”
Emily said, and grinned before starting up the Harley.

Kyle turned toward the door, “I didn’t
hear them call.”

“Trust me,” she said, and
drove out of the palace’s garage.

Kyle heard his name called
just after she left, and he blurred into the council
chambers.

Chevalier was grinning as he looked
through a ledger.

“You called for me?” Kyle
asked, and started for the Council stand.

“Revive Dustin, please,” Zohn
chuckled.

***

“You’re really going out with me
tonight?” Robert asked, shocked.

“Sure, you’ve invited me
enough. It could be fun,” Emily said, and came down the stairs in
her black leather pants and black leather vest. Robert’s eyes grew
wide and she heard Silas hiss softly.

“No
bodyguards?”

“No
bodyguards.”

Robert smiled, “Let’s go
then… I’ll go get the motorcycle.”

“Oh, I don’t ride bitch. I
have my own.”

“You can ride it?”

Her eyes narrowed,
“Yes.”

Robert grinned and headed
outside.

Kralen put his hand on Emily’s arm,
“Must you wear that?”

She frowned slightly,
“Leather’s the safest if I wreck.”

“I can see your pulse
through those pants,” he whispered angrily.

“It never seemed to bother you
before.”

“That’s because you
weren’t out with lover boy over there.”

“Chill,” she said, and
pulled her arm out of his grasp.

“Nice bike,” Robert said as she pulled
up alongside him in the driveway.

“Let’s go, my guards are
watching us like I’m about to die,” she said, and glanced back at
the door of the house before heading out into the night.

Robert grinned at Kralen
in the window and followed her on his Yamaha TW200. They rode
side-by-side for almost an hour before Robert motioned for Emily to
pull over. She stopped at the side of the road and killed the
engine.

“What’s up?” she asked, looking
around.

“I want to go talk to that
vampire,” he told her, and motioned across the street at a park.
Emily saw the dark figure of someone standing in the
trees.

She frowned, “How do you know that’s a
vampire?”

“I just do, stay here,” he
said, and started to walk across the street. Emily got off of her
Harley and followed him, “I said stay.”

“I don’t take orders from
you,” she reminded him. As they got closer, she recognized one of
the city guards. He was in a black trench coat and looked over when
they approached.

Emily started to get
nervous, but then noticed he wasn’t paying any attention to
her.

“You have no right to be
in this city, and if I had my gear, you’d be dead,” Robert said to
the tall heku.

Emily frowned, “He doesn’t look like a
vampire to me.”

The heku glared at Robert,
“I’m not.”

“I want to know where your cave is,”
Robert said angrily.

“Cave?” the heku asked.

“Yes… where you and your vampire
buddies live.”

Emily rolled her eyes and watched
them.

“You’re starting to annoy
me,” the heku said, and took a step towards Robert. He stood over a
foot taller than the mortal, and outweighed him by almost 75 pounds
of pure muscle.

“Let’s just go,” Emily
said, and took Robert’s arm. “There’s no reason to harass this
man.”

“I’m not going to let him
push me around,” Robert said, and stood his ground.

Emily sighed and whispered as softly
as she could, “Go.”

The heku glared once more at Robert
and then disappeared.

“Where’d he go?” Robert asked, looking
around.

“I have no idea,” Emily
told him, and sat down at a picnic table. “Come, have a
seat.”

Robert walked over and sat down, but
kept scanning the trees.

“What’s up with that? That poor man
was just standing there,” Emily asked.

“He’s a vampire.”

“How do you know?”

“I can just tell.”

She nodded slightly, “Ok,
so… why kill him? He didn’t attack us.”

“I have to kill one to become
one.”

Emily gasped, “What?”

Robert smiled, “I’m going to be a
vampire.”

“That’s insane.”

“No, it’s not. They have
it made, they live alone… they hunt, feed, rest, and get superhuman
strength and speed. They answer to no one.”

Emily raised her eyebrows,
“Oh?”

“Completely immune to all
laws. That’s what I want.”

“And you have to kill one…”

“To become one, right,”
Robert told her. “One perfectly placed stake in the heart or a
cross to the chest and I’ll take their place among the
undead.”

“You do realize how ridiculous that
sounds.”

“Yes, I do, but I’m right.”

“You said a vampire killed
someone you were guarding, though.”

“Right, and didn’t pay for
it. That’s when it dawned on me that that’s the life I want to
lead.”

“Without laws.”

“Right”

“So you can just kill whomever you
want.”

“No, I don’t want to kill
anyone.”

“Then why do it?”

“It’s the thrill of it,”
Robert said, and smiled at her. “You could become one,
too.”

“Not my thing,” she said,
and looked into the dark trees.

“I could reconsider.”

Emily looked over at him and saw the
way he was watching her, “I’m married.”

“41% of marriages
fail.”

“Mine’s holding steady, I assure
you.”

“You don’t know that.
You’re too young to have been married for very long… plus… you
married an older man. That has to up the divorce rate.”

Emily frowned, “I don’t want to talk
about this.”

“Someone has to… The way
he watches you, puts guards on you, it’s controlling and
unnecessary.”

“He loves me and there are
reasons for guards… I may not completely agree, but there are valid
reasons.”

“Sure there are, he
doesn’t trust you. Have you cheated on him?”

“No!” Emily yelled.

Robert grinned, “Just
asking… looks to me like he treats you more like a
daughter.”

“Yeah… well… sometimes he
does, but most of the time, he treats me like a wife.”

“That’s what you get for marrying an
old man.”

“He’s not old.”

“You’re… what… in your
20’s?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I’d put him at 40, maybe 45… so he’s
twice your age.”

“Doesn’t matter when you’re in
love.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m
all for the trophy wife but…”

“Hey! I am not a trophy
wife.”

“Sure”

“Mark was right. You do
have too many opinions about things you don’t know
about.”

“So now let’s be honest with each
other,” Robert said, ignoring her comment.

“About what?”

“12 years ago, you and
your 4-year-old were captured by the V.E.S. when you were pregnant,
yet I see no kids…”

Emily watched him closely.

“I know you worked for the
V.E.S. later, and were even a person of interest in Bruce Isaac’s
murder.”

“You seem to know a lot about
me.”

“I came looking for you.
That’s why I’m here.”

Emily tensed slightly, “What is it you
want, then?”

“I want you to take me to the
vampire’s lair.”

She grinned, “There’s no such thing as
vampires.”

“You sticking by that?”

“Yes”

“So why work for the
V.E.S.?”

“I needed a job. It’s
amazing what you can fake when you’re broke.”

His eyes narrowed, “I
suspect you haven’t been broke a day in your life. You have one
huge house… nice cars… servants.”

“Not that it’s any of your business,
but Chev and I were having a rough time and I’d moved
out.”

“That’s all bullshit, and
I want you to tell me where the vampire’s lair is, now.”

Emily stood up, “This conversation is
over.”

Robert jumped to his feet
and grabbed her arm, “You’re not leaving until you tell me where
that damned lair is.”

“Let me go.”

“No! This is the first
time I’ve gotten you away from those bloody guards, and I want some
answers.”

“You know what? Yes, I
know where the vampire lair is, and I’m not going to tell
you.”

His eyes grew wide, “You’re friends
with them then?”

“You could say that.”

His hand tightened, “Take me to
it.”

“No!” she yelled, and
tried to pull away from him.

Robert spun her around and pulled her
body close to his as he wrapped his arms around her, “You’re not
getting away until you tell me.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed and
she brought her knee up hard into his groin. He groaned and dropped
to his knees, clutching his groin as he fell over. She turned
quickly and ran to her motorcycle, then sped away, just as Robert
got to his feet and headed for his.

She kept checking behind
her as she quickly made her way toward Council City. She wasn’t
even close to the turn off when her motorcycle started making a
grinding noise and slowly died at the side of a dark
street.

“No!” Emily hissed, and
tried to start the engine. Nothing happened, and she looked around
for anything to help. When she heard another motorcycle
approaching, she left the Harley and ran off on foot.

“You can’t run from me!”
she heard Robert yell from behind her. She weaved through the
abandoned business section of town and silently called for
help.

Miles away, Chevalier frowned and his
body tensed, “Emily’s in trouble.”

Kyle looked up from the
trial area, “What?”

“She just called for help.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” the Elder
said, and disappeared from the council chambers, followed by Kyle
and Dustin. Mark, Silas, and Kralen met them in the garage and took
off in separate cars to find her.

Emily stopped running long
enough to see if she recognized any of the buildings around her.
She could still hear Robert far behind her, and when she figured
out she was in a completely foreign part of town, she began to run
again.