Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (54 page)

He didn’t take his eyes off of the
Encala Elders, “You have no right bothering her.”

“We just wanted to talk.
There’s no law against that,” Aaron told him.

“You’ve done enough damage
to Emily, and the Equites for that matter. I suggest you leave her
alone or we will have to intervene.”

Emily frowned slightly at
how the Encala recoiled from Dustin. She finally truly believed how
very terrified they were of the Equites and Chevalier.

“We meant no harm,”
William said, taking a step back. “We just wanted to talk to
her.”

“I suspect when the Elder
hears that you spoke to Emily alone, he will contact you,” Dustin
said, and nodded to one of the guards. The highest-ranking City
Guard moved back toward his car and pulled out a cell
phone.

“Let’s not tell Chevalier
just yet,” Emily said, and watched the guard that walked
away.

“He’s not notifying the
Elder… yet,” Dustin told her.

“It’s just…”

“You calling him Chevalier is proof of
the damage the Encala have done.”

“Meaning?” she asked, turning toward
him.

“Not only did the Encala
have you kicked out of the palace, but you are no longer
comfortable around us, and seem like a stranger at
times.”

She frowned slightly, but
looked at William when he spoke, “We can help. Please, let us make
it up to you.”

“You’ve done enough,”
Dustin said, and opened the passenger door of his car. “Why don’t
you let me drive you home?”

“I’ll take the motorcycle,
Ma’am,” one of the guards said from beside her. She looked over as
William handed him the keys.

“Please, stay,” Aaron
asked. “Just help us work this out.”

Emily looked from Dustin’s car to the
frightened Encala, “I just need to think about it, ok?”

“Please do, and then let
us know,” William said.

She hesitated and then
crawled into Dustin’s car. He said something to the Council City
Guards before getting into the driver seat and speeding
off.

“Are you ok?” he asked after a few
minutes of awkward silence.

“Yeah”

“Did you go off to meet
them?”

“No”

“Did they…” His hands
tightened on the steering wheel. “Touch you?”

“No, just talk.”

He nodded, “I’m sure the Council will
want to know.”

She didn’t respond, but
watched out the window as Dustin quickly sped toward Council City.
He didn’t slow as he passed into the city and then stopped in front
of the palace’s double front doors. Guards ran up and opened both
doors. Dustin stepped out and then turned at the door to wait for
Emily. She hesitated and then followed him inside.

Derrick smiled, “Good, the
Elder just returned.”

Emily sighed, knowing
which Elder he was referring to, and then watched Dustin disappear
around back. Derrick held open the door and she stepped inside. Off
to the side of the Council were the city guards she had tricked
into letting her out alone.

She moved up to the trial area and
looked up at them.

“Are you inured?” Zohn asked,
obviously irritated.

“No”

“She was in the company of
the Encala Elders, their Chief Interrogator, and some of their
guards,” Dustin told them.

She sighed, “Enough,
Snoopy.”

“Interesting,” Quinn said,
and turned to Emily. “Did you go out to meet them?”

“No”

“Where did you meet then?”

“Out on the
Interstate.”

“But it was not
prearranged?”

“No”

“What did they want?” Zohn
asked.

Emily crossed her arms, “I
don’t think what we discussed is a Council matter.”

“Oh, I do believe it is.”

“No, it’s not. I was asked
a favor by the Encala, and if I decide to take them up on their
offer, I will not be asking you first,” Emily said, and her eyes
narrowed.

Chevalier growled softly.

“Then you will understand
if we keep your guards to the higher-ranking officers of the
Cavalry,” Quinn told her.

“By all means,” she said,
and finally risked a glance at Chevalier. He was watching her, but
she wasn’t able to tell by his expression if he was
angry.

“We assume you have heard
of the serial killer known as the Heartbreaker?” the Chief of
Defense asked.

She smiled slightly, “Yes, why? Is he
heku?”

“He most certainly is not.”

“Then why do I care?”

“All of his victims have
been found within 20 miles of this city.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Then you understand the need for
guards.”

“No, I don’t. Let me show
you all something,” Emily said, and started for the
door.

“Where are you going?”
Quinn asked. When she turned to look at him, she saw that Chevalier
was no longer in his chair.

“I’m leaving for the night
without guards, and… against all odds… I’ll be back in the
morning,” she told him, and opened the door.

“Emily?” Zohn asked, and
then stood up when she froze in the doorway. They saw Derrick blur
to her and pick her up as she fell to her knees. Chevalier appeared
beside them and Derrick handed her over. He looked down at her pale
face and saw the slow trickle of blood appear from her
nose.

“Damnit,” he growled, and
then called for Dr. Edwards. He was just laying her in bed when the
doctor appeared.

“What happened?” he asked,
and immediately began listening to her heart.

Chevalier gently lifted her eyelid and
sighed at the scarlet color of her eyes, “She was just in the
council chambers when she fell to her knees.”

He watched quietly as Dr.
Edwards checked Emily over. After an hour, he turned to the Elder,
“I still have no explanation, unless we can find ash.”

“Mark,” Chevalier called
out and turned when he entered. “Put the Cavalry out again, look
for ash.”

“Right away, Elder,” he said, and
disappeared.

Dr. Edwards watched Emily
and sighed, “It just doesn’t make sense. Have we checked all of the
ceremonial rooms?”

“We did last time, no one
was turning at the time,” Chevalier said, and ordered the fires
stoked.

“Close covens? Maybe not even Equites
then?”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “The only
nearby coven was Encala… I took care of them a few months
ago.”

“I’d like to stay,” Dr.
Edwards said. “I want to be here when she wakes up. I have some
tests to run immediately.”

“Test?”

“Yes, just to check a few things. I
suspect there may be something deeper going on that just fainting
episodes.”

“Like what?”

“Now that I’m not sure of. I just know
it can’t be healthy, whatever it is.”

Chevalier nodded, “She won’t submit to
testing though.”

“Luckily, the ones I need are
non-invasive and fairly simple to run.”

“Good luck then.”

Dr. Edwards, Chevalier,
and Dain watched over Emily for two days. She started to stir just
as the sun came up on the second day and they all watched, eager to
see if she knew what happened.

She sighed slightly and rolled over,
clutching the pillow tightly.

“Em?” Chevalier said, and sat on the
bed.

She turned and looked at him,
“Yeah?”

“You going to get up?”

She frowned and looked at
Dr. Edwards, “Why are you in here?”

“What’s the last thing you
remember?” Chevalier asked, trying to turn her attention away from
the doctor. It was obvious that he was watching her
intently.

She glanced at Dain and
then turned back to Chevalier, “I was in the council chambers… or
leaving, more like. Damn, did I pass out again?”

“Yes, you did. Did you ash
anyone?”

“No”

“You sure?”

“Well, if I did I didn’t mean
to.”

“What did the Encala want?”

“Personal stuff.”

“Did you ash any of them?”

“No, though I should have.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re idiots.”

“You didn’t want to tell the Council…
now it’s just me. What did they want?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s
not something I’m going to do.” Emily looked over and noticed Dr.
Edwards was watching her.

“Smile for me, Emily,” Dr.
Edwards said, and stepped closer to her.

“Go away.”

“Just one smile?”

“What the hell for?”

Dain stepped toward the doctor, “She
said get away.”

Dr. Edwards looked up at
the massive heku and took a step back, “I just wanted to see
something.”

Emily jumped out of bed
when Dain lunged at the doctor. When her feet hit the ground, she
stumbled slightly, and caught herself on the edge of the bed, “Stop
it!”

“Dain, get out,” Chevalier
growled. Suddenly, the four Cavalry watching the door appeared and
dragged the 7-year-old away.

“Don’t hurt him!” Emily
screamed.

“Did you fall… just now?”
Dr. Edwards asked her.

“No”

“Looks like you stumbled a
bit. Were you dizzy?”

She sighed, “Go away.”

“Were you dizzy?” Chevalier asked,
watching her carefully.

“No, ok. I’m clumsy and I
got off balance.”

“Just one thing? Please…”
Dr. Edwards begged.

“What?”

He stepped closer to her, “Push me
back… a hand on each shoulder.”

“You want me to push you?”

“Yes”

She shrugged and did as he
asked. He didn’t even budge as she pushed him as hard as she could,
“There, happy?”

“Yes, very,” he said, and
smiled.

Emily just shook her head and walked
into the bathroom to take a shower.

“What was that all about?” Chevalier
asked the doctor.

“She’s weaker on her left
side,” Dr. Edwards said, his voice cracking slightly.

“Meaning…”

“Meaning, I think she’s
had a stroke. Whatever is happening to her when she passes out is
more than just syncope… or fainting.”

“So fix it.”

“I can’t just fix it. She
heals though, so she can recover if it stops.”

“What do we do?”

“Watch her… closely. Make
sure she doesn’t lose memory or start to lose feeling on one
side.”

Chevalier nodded, “We’ll
watch her. Do we need to try to keep her down?”

Dr. Edwards shook his
head, “No, not at all. That would tick her off and make things
worse. I suggest we alert the guards to watch for any sign she’s
dizzy, losing memory, or weakening more, but to otherwise not let
on that anything’s wrong.”

“Agreed”

“I’m coming out naked,”
Emily called through the door. Dr. Edwards chuckled and disappeared
from the room.

“It’s safe,” Chevalier
said, and turned to the door. She came out of the bathroom fully
dressed. “Naked, eh?”

“Got him to leave,” she
said, and sat down to braid her hair.

“The Cavalry is calling
for you, something about a sick horse,” Chevalier told her as soon
as Dr. Edwards filled Mark in on what to tell the
Cavalry.

She turned toward him, “What’s
wrong?”

He shrugged, “Silas didn’t
say. He just asked if you were able to come down.”

“Go to the council
chambers. I’ll head down.”

“What makes you think I’m going to
trials?”

She turned to look at him,
“You’re fidgeting by the door, that means you’re supposed to be
elsewhere.”

He grinned, “I’ll see you
afterwards.”

She nodded and finished her hair, then
grabbed her riding gloves and headed down the stairs with her four
guards following.

“Four is what I heard,” Kralen said as
he leaned up against the wall in the stables.

“Yeah, wonder why the call
him the Heartbreaker,” Silas said, and then turned to Emily when
she came in. “’Bout time you woke up.”

“Oh, ha-ha… so who’s
sick?” she asked, and reached over to pet her stallion’s
nose.

“Horace’s mare, not sure
what’s wrong,” Kralen said, and walked over to the stall. He opened
the door and Emily stood back a bit and watched the horse. The mare
was shaking and unsteady on her feet.

“When’d this start?” Emily
asked, and ran her hands along the horse’s chest.