Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (48 page)

Mark opened up the stable
doors and called for the entire Cavalry.

Emily looked over at him, “What are
you doing?”

“Calling in the Cavalry.
This place is disgusting and it’s going to take a while to clean
it.”

“Yes… that’s why I’m
cleaning it. I don’t need their help.”

“Yeah you do,” Chevalier
said, and took the pitchfork out of her hand. “You’re off any
physical work until the doctor releases you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because of the damage the varnish
remover did,” he told her.

Emily gasped, “What?”

“We know… you can
supervise, but you aren’t to lift a finger.”

“I don’t know who told you
that, but it’s wrong,” she told him, and tried to get the
pitchfork.

“Do we need to go over
that all again? About you listening to me?” he asked, and held the
pitchfork higher.

Emily turned when each of
the 57 members of the Cavalry began to muck out a stall.

She sighed, “I’m ok to
work.”

“No, you aren’t.”

She crossed her arms and glared at
him, “How dare you control Alexis.”

He grinned slightly, “I had to know
what we were dealing with.”

“Lady Emily?” one of the
city guards asked from behind her. She turned and saw him standing
outside of the stable doors. The heku was nervously watching
Chevalier, and Emily noticed that his hands were
shaking.

“Yes?”

“There’s a visitor for you at the
farmhouse.”

She sighed, “Ok, I’ll
go.”

Emily started for the
door, and turned when she felt someone behind her. She sighed when
she saw Kralen, Mark, and Chevalier. Knowing she couldn’t fight
them, she walked to the tunnel and was soon stepping into the
farmhouse. She hadn’t been in the new one that was built when the
V.E.S. destroyed the last one. It was bigger, and she liked how
everything was painted brighter.

The farmhouse guard opened
the door and Emily saw Tucker waiting on the porch. She ran forward
and hugged him.

“You’re hard to track
down,” Tucker said, and pulled away from her. He looked over at the
three heku, and then back to Emily.

She smiled, “I didn’t know you were
looking for me.”

“Of course I was. You
disappeared one night and I don’t like that… I wanted to make sure
those blokes didn’t get to you again.”

“I’m ok, I just… returned
to my husband is all,” she told him, and turned to look at
Chevalier.

“Some big’ole men have
been at the ranch looking for you,” Tucker told her. “I told them
you moved to Texas.”

She smiled, “Thank you.”

Tucker turned toward the
door, and then sighed and faced her again, “I can’t leave you
alone…”

“It’s ok,” Chevalier told
him. “We protect her.”

“Yeah, well where were you when all
them big guys were bothering her?” he asked, crossing his
arms.

“That’s hard to explain.”

“Where’s Pelton?” Emily
asked, and looked out the window at Tucker’s dusty
truck.

“He left the day after you
did. Last I heard he was working at a ranch up in Wyoming and
wasn’t interested in following me around the country looking for
you,” Tucker explained.

Mark smiled, “Funny thing,
though. I was coming to find you.”

Tucker’s body tensed, “For
what?”

“I just wanted to talk… to make you an
offer.”

Emily gasped, “What offer?”

“Yeah, what offer?” Tucker
asked as he crossed his arms.

Mark smiled at Kralen, and
then turned back to the mortal, “An offer to become one of
us.”

“No,” Emily gasped.

“You want me to join the
military?” Tucker asked, confused.

“No, you don’t,” Emily
said, and opened the door. “I’ll write you later,
Tucker.”

“No, I want to hear this,”
he said, and turned to Mark.

Mark glanced nervously at
Emily, and then back to the man, “We’re not military… we’re…
heku.”

“What the hell is a heku?”

“Don’t do this,” Emily
said, and stood in front of Tucker. “Mark, stop or I’ll ash
you.”

“Ash?” Tucker asked, now
completely confused.

“Em, let them at least give him the
offer,” Chevalier suggested.

“No, it’s not right.”

“I don’t understand,”
Tucker told them.

“Don’t do it, you don’t
understand,” Emily told him. “They want to kill you.”

“Em…” Chevalier whispered.
“Don’t.”

Tucker’s eyes narrowed and
his finger twitched above the gun at his side.

“No, we don’t want to kill
you,” Mark told him, and then smiled. “We want to make you
immortal.”

“They’re vampires,” Emily
told him, and moved closer to him. “They want to turn you into
one.”

Tucker grinned,
“Vampires?”

“The vampire myth came
about from our kind,” Mark explained. “However, we’re not
vampires.”

“They drink blood,” Emily
said.

“Em, stop it,” Chevalier told
her.

“Do you?” Tucker
asked.

Kralen smiled slightly,
“Well… yes…”

“It’s more though,” Mark
told him. “The three of us, the heku in this room, we’re thousands
of years old and are part of a species that is militaristic in
nature. We spend our time protecting ourselves from others like us
that we consider enemies.”

“They will send a stake through your
heart,” Emily yelled.

Tucker kept looking at
Mark, “You big fells are all… what was that?”

“Heku,” Mark told him.
“Chevalier, Emily’s husband, is an Elder. He’s one of the highest
ranking of our faction.”

“How many of these factions are
there?”

“The rest of the information will be
given when you’ve decided to join us.”

“Ya’ll are all big fellas.”

“Part of being a heku.”

“Tucker, listen to me,”
Emily said, and took his hand. He looked over at her, “Don’t do
it.”

“Why not?” he asked. “I
have nothing, no family, and no real friends. Do you know when you
quit, the owner decided to sell the ranch to some nitwit from New
York?”

“What’s the problem, Em?”
Mark asked. “You didn’t care when Dr. Edwards turned.”

Emily gasped and Chevalier growled,
“Mark…”

Mark’s eyes grew wide and he became
quiet.

She turned to Chevalier,
“You… you turned Dr. Edwards? When?”

“He came to us about six
months ago. He’s in his 80’s now and wanted to join Island Coven…
so he lives there.”

“You turned him!?”

“Yes, at his request.”

“If you’re offering Tucker
this just because you think I need a new guard, then you have
another thing coming,” Emily screamed.

“So Emily isn’t a heku?”
Tucker asked.

“No, she’s not… Her story
will come after you turn,” Mark told him.

“He won’t be your guard,
Emily. He’ll become a member of Island Coven,” Chevalier
explained.

“So, what?” Tucker asked.
“I join you fellas and move to this Island place and I never
die?”

“You’ll drink blood,
Tucker,” Emily said, becoming angry when she saw that he was
seriously considering their offer. “You don’t even know the half of
it.”

“If he decides to turn,”
Mark explained. “Then we will tell him the rest, and he can still
back out.”

Her eyes filled with tears, “I won’t
be a part of this!”

The heku watched as she disappeared
into the farmhouse and they heard the door to the tunnels
slam.

“If she’s not a heku, then
why does she live here?” Tucker asked.

“She’s my wife,” Chevalier told
him.

“Then where were you when she was
getting attacked?”

“I was looking for her…
she disappeared.”

“Heku… so those big blokes who kept
attacking her?”

“They are an enemy of ours,” Mark
explained.

“I’m older than all of ya’ll, and a
lot smaller.”

Mark smiled, “That’ll
change.”

“I have no family and
right now no job. I was hoping to find Emily to see if she was
going to buy a ranch like she’s always wanted… so I could work for
her,” Tucker said, deep in thought.

“You won’t grow old, or
die of old age… Island Coven will fully take care of you, no money
worries, and you could later try for their guard staff,” Mark told
him. “Kyle and I both spotted qualities in you that we can’t teach,
something innate that would benefit Chevalier’s coven.”

“Why is Emily so against
this?” Tucker asked Chevalier.

Chevalier shrugged, “She
had a traumatic experience with the heku as a child. It’s made her
have a strong aversion to turning anyone.”

“But she lives with the
heku.”

“Lives with and loves the
species, just won’t join us.”

“I would automatically
become a member of this Island?” Tucker asked.

“No, you would be turned
as a probationary member,” Chevalier said. “After 50 years, it
would be made permanent.”

“Probationary?”

“Yes, but it takes quite a
lot to get kicked out.”

“What happens if I say
yes?”

“Then Mark and Kyle will
get you started. We’ll clear you medically and then arrange a date
to turn. Once turned, we’ll give you a mentor on the Island that
will answer all of your questions and help you along,” Chevalier
explained.

Tucker sighed, “I don’t
want to upset Emily.”

“She’ll get over it,” Mark
told him. “Once she sees you’re happy.”

Mark turned toward the back of the
farmhouse and whispered, “Elder, there’s a problem with
Dain.”

Chevalier and Mark
disappeared, and Tucker gasped.

Kralen grinned, “Let’s
talk… have a seat.”

“Do something,” Chevalier yelled at
the doctor.

“There’s nothing we can
do, the damage is done,” he said, and stepped back from the furious
Elder.

Chevalier looked over at
Emily as her body shook with the stomach pains and he was reminded
that the Encala caused it. The only sound that escaped her was the
soft groan when she pulled herself into a tight fetal
position.

Dr. Cook glanced nervously
at the door, “He’s putting up quite a fight.”

Chevalier looked towards
the door also, “I know, but he’s not coming in here.”

“If he comforts her, we should let him
in.”

“We can’t. It’s been 2
months since she returned, and he still feels he’s her protector.
I’m not going to cave in to that.”

Chevalier put a cool rag
on Emily’s head when the pain caused her to start sweating. He
watched her carefully, secretly vowing to repay the Encala for her
suffering.

“He’s here,” Dr. Cook
whispered.

“Bring him in.”

Dr. Edwards walked through
the door hesitantly. Not even one year into the life as a heku, he
was nervous about approaching the Winchester scent, but was called
in by the Council to see if he could help Dr. Cook with her
pains.

“It’s good to see you,”
Dr. Cook said, and shook his hand. “Take a second and acclimate
fully, though there’s not normally blood.”

Dr. Edwards nodded, “Was
it really varnish remover?”

“Yes, we don’t know how long she kept
it down or what the Emergency Room did for her, they are pulling
confidentiality.”

“I see… what’s being done?”

“We have her on PPIs.
We’ve cut out coffee and any acidic foods, and we’ve tried to get
her to take it easy, but…”

Dr. Edwards smiled, “I
know.”

Emily looked over and
smiled weakly, “Dr. Edwards?”

He walked over and sat down on the
side of her bed, then took her hand, “My Dear, how are
you?”

“It’s going now,” she
said, and shut her eyes. The pain was slowly backing off and she
took a deep breath and looked around, “Why am I in
here?”

Chevalier looked around
his bedroom, “I think it’s time you move back in here and stop
staying in the Elder Guard’s quarters.”

She sat up slowly with
help from Dr. Edwards and then sighed, “Where’s Dain?”

“Let him in,” Chevalier
said towards the door. It burst open and the massive 7-year-old
came in furiously.

“Do not restrain me!” he growled at
his Dad.

“Dain, sit,” Emily said,
and patted the bed.