Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (78 page)

Alexis sighed, still not sure what to
do, and pulled on the hot, itchy black robe. It fit her perfectly
and she was just looking down at it when the Chief of Defense
returned.

He seemed overly anxious this morning,
“Shall we head down?”

“No… I’m not doing this,” she said,
and began to pull off the robe.

The Valle took her hands and held them
tightly, “You are going to turn our mortal, whether you like to or
not.”

Alexis tried to pull her hands away
from him, “No.”

“No more of this,” he
said, and started to drag her from the rom.

Alexis noticed no one was in the
building as she fought against the Valle. He managed to easily pull
her down the stairs and shoved her into a ceremonial room. She
landed hard on her knees and then looked up at the twelve heku in
blue that were standing around the edges.

One of the heku met her eyes and
within a second was ash on the floor.

“Stop it!” the Chief of Defense
yelled, and furiously hauled Alexis to her feet.

“I said I’m not going to do
this!”

“Yes, you are,” he said,
and took his place back among the others. Within seconds, another
heku in blue appeared and stood above the one she’d turned to ash,
“Do not meet her eyes.”

Alexis began to panic when a mortal
woman was brought in. She seemed happy to be there and smiled at
the heku in blue. Her simple white dress was billowy and Alexis
thought briefly how quickly it would become saturated with
blood.

“Mortal, do you know where you are?”
one of the heku in blue asked.

“I do,” she said, smiling up at
Alexis.

Alexis looked back toward
the heavy stone door. It was not only shut tightly, but there was a
large lock that she was certain she couldn’t get past.

“Do you know what is about to
happen?”

“I do,” the mortal said.

“Stop!” Alexis yelled, and the mortal
woman looked up at her. “This isn’t going to happen… I’m not doing
this!”

“Do you do so willingly
and without coercion?” the heku asked, ignoring Alexis.

“I do,” the mortal woman said again,
looking over at the heku along the wall.

“No!” Alexis screamed. “I told you I
won’t do this!”

“Proceed,” the Valle said to
Alexis.

Alexis stepped back, shaking her head,
“No.”

The mortal dropped to her knees and
looked up at Alexis, “Please… this is what I want.”

She tried frantically to
catch the eyes of one of the heku in blue, but none would look at
her as they moved closer to the mortal. The woman laid down and
shut her eyes, waiting for the pain of the bites to begin her
journey into immortality.

Alexis spun suddenly when strong arms
wrapped around her and forced her to her knees, “Don’t make me hurt
you.”

“Stop,” Alexis whispered, and pulled
against him.

“No, now I’ll open the
wound, but you must feed,” he told her.

Alexis gasped and struggled against
the heku as he bit the woman’s neck. She could smell the fresh
blood and her mouth began to salivate as a steady stream began to
drip out of the mortal’s neck and pool on the dirt
floor.

“No,” Alexis whispered again, inhaling
slightly.

“Let yourself go, Child,”
the heku whispered into her ear. “Smell it… feel how it calls you…
find the heku within you…”

Alexis’ mouth opened slowly and she
inhaled, no longer fighting the restraining arms.

“Drink,” he whispered
softly to her, and then gently bent her toward the
mortal.

Alexis could no longer fight it.
Instincts from her father swelled through her and her lips wrapped
around the wound and she felt the warm blood flow down her throat.
She forgot about the arms holding her tightly as she honed in on
the taste of fresh blood and the way it made her yearn for
more.

“Enough,” a soft voice whispered, and
the strong arms pulled Alexis away from the mortal, who was now on
the brink of death.

The teenage heku’s eyes fell to the
woman’s neck as the heku in blue began to sway and chant
softly.

“She must drink from you now,” the
heku whispered, and as he brought his teeth to her wrist, she
suddenly felt the panic return and began to fight against
him.

“No!” she screamed.

“Stop fighting me,” he
hissed, and she had just enough strength that he had a hard time
both restraining her, and getting to her wrist.

A crash sounded from the hallway
behind her and she struggled harder against the heku. She heard him
call for help just as Alexis managed to connect her knee to his
groin and he dropped to the floor.

Alexis hadn’t reached the door before
cold hands pulled her back and she screamed again, hoping someone
could hear her.

“Stop fighting this!” the Chief of
Defense growled. “You agreed to this and you are going to do
it.”

“I’m not!” Alexis screamed. “Someone
help me!”

“You’re going to let her feed from
your wrist,” he whispered into her ear.

“No,” she said, shaking her head and
fighting against his arms.

“Enough!” he yelled, and slung Alexis
back toward the mortal. She fell to her knees before the woman, who
looked up at her with pleading eyes.

Alexis turned suddenly
when the heavy door flew off of the hinges amidst the sound of
growls and hissing from the Valle in the room. The heku in blue
backed toward the wall as the Equites Cavalry came into the room
furiously, being led by Chevalier.

“Dad!” Alexis screamed,
and ran into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, but never
took his eyes off of the Valle.

Kyle appeared at his side and looked
Alexis over briefly before turning to the Chief of Defense, “What
do you have to say for yourself?”

“She agreed to this!” he
growled.

He took a menacing step toward the
enemy, “Only after you promised her the impossible.”

“Don’t kill him,” Alexis said, looking
up at Chevalier. “He can bring Mom back.”

Chevalier’s heart sank and
he swallowed hard before looking down at her, “No they can’t, Alex.
They lied.”

Alexis buried her face into her Dad’s
chest and started to cry. All of the hopes of again seeing Emily
were fiercely ripped from her and the hole returned to her
heart.

“Kill them,” Chevalier growled, still
holding his daughter.

Kyle nodded and advanced on
them.

Mark crouched slightly, “And the
member of their Council?”

The Chief of Defense smiled, “You
can’t kill me.”

“Make it an accident,”
Chevalier said, and blurred Alexis from the room as the Cavalry
fell in to follow his orders. He gently sat her down on a couch in
the lobby of the Valle’s castle and looked her over.

“I’m ok,” she whispered, looking down
at the ground. “I’m so sorry. They said…”

“I know what they told
you,” Chevalier said, taking her hands. “If there was an Ancient
that could bring back your Mom, I would have already done
it.”

“I can’t live without her,” Alexis
said, again starting to cry.

“I’m here for you… I’m not Emily, but
I will always be here for you,” he said, pulling her against his
chest.

“I’m so afraid.”

“Of what?” he whispered.

“Everything… everything Mom went
through… everything she did and accomplished. I can’t do
that.”

“No one expects you to be your
Mom.”

She began to shake in his arms, “I’m
the last Winchester.”

He nodded, “I know.”

Alexis looked over when
she heard footsteps and saw the Cavalry appear from the stairs,
covered in blood.

“It’s done,” Kyle said, picking
something off of his shirt and flicking it onto the
wall.

***

The entire prison fell
silent when Chevalier entered. The guards saluted him as he walked
past them and then fell back into position. No one stepped out of
line when the Elder was around, and the prisoners became quiet so
as not to catch his attention.

He quietly rounded the
corner and stood before William’s cell. The enemy Elder looked up
at him and nodded slightly. He knew it was his time to go. It was
his time to pay for what Frederick had done.

Chevalier pulled keys from his pocket
and opened the door, “Get out.”

William had decided it was
his responsibility to show the strength of his dying faction, and
simply nodded and stepped out of the cell without a word or
complaint. He would face death with honor and show the Equites how
an Encala should act.

Chevalier took his arm roughly and
began to drag him from the cells. William was shocked when they
passed the interrogation room and headed up the stairs to the main
floor of the Equites palace.

“What’s going on?” he asked when he
saw Alexis standing in the foyer of the palace.

“You’re free,” Chevalier
said, letting go of his arm and moving to stand by
Alexis.

William’s eyes grew wide, “You’re
letting me go?”

“Just south of Sachigo Lake in
Ontario, is a coven that holds what’s left of the Encala,”
Chevalier explained. “Go.”

Alexis smiled when he met her
eyes.

William nodded and blurred from the
Equites palace. Once outside of the gates, he looked back at
Council City, and then turned and disappeared into the
night.

The End

Books in The Heku
Series

Book 1: Heku

Book 2: Valle

Book 3:
Encala

Book 4: Equites

Book 5:
Proditor

Book 6: Ferus

Book 7: Eternity of
Vengeance

Thanks for
following me on this adventure through the world of the heku. I
hope you've enjoyed it. ~ T.M.