Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (5 page)

“
Emily, why don’t you go
take a quick nap? I can handle these three,” Darren told
her.

“
No, I’m ok,” she said, and
sat down on the straw by Patra.

“
You need to eat at least,”
Darren said, and quietly ordered a sandwich.

Emily took the sandwich from the Captain and
sat down against the stall wall. A light rain started and the
stables turned cold as a breeze swept through them. After eating,
she went in to check on the stallion in the stall beside Patra.

“
No,” she cried, and fell
to her knees. The Elders had already smelled death on the air, but
didn’t want to be the ones to tell her. Emily pulled out his I.V.
and intubation tube, and several of the Cavalry members came in and
took him to burn the body.

Emily curled up by Patra and was soon asleep
while Darren watched over the one remaining stallion. The Elders
all sat back and watched the rain turn to snow while the night
passed. The smell of death filled the air again, and the Thukil’s
Captain stepped around the stall and sighed when he saw Emily
curled up asleep against the mare.

“
It’s Patra, isn’t it?”
Chevalier asked him, and the heku nodded slowly.

Chevalier sighed, and the other Elders left
respectfully, while Darren disappeared into the stall with the one
remaining sick horse.

Chevalier knelt down by Emily and touched
her arm. She jerked awake and immediately checked on Patra.

“
Em,” Chevalier said, and
touched her shoulder. “She’s gone.”

“
No, she’s not,” Emily
said, and stood up to adjust Patra’s I.V.

Chevalier took the syringe out of Emily’s
hand and pulled her close to him, “It’s too late.”

“
No,” Emily whispered, and
collapsed into Chevalier’s waiting arms. He carried her past the
quiet members of the Cavalry and up into their bedroom, then laid
her down on the bed and covered her up after ordering the fires
lit. After slipping her jeans off of her so she could be
comfortable, he curled up next to her and pulled her against him.
She was crying in her sleep.

The last horse died early the next morning,
and Darren ordered the entire stable bleached down before any
horses were to be returned. He checked in on Emily, and then left
for Thukil once the horses were vaccinated.

“
Chevalier,” Quinn
whispered from outside of the bedroom.

Chevalier pulled slowly away from Emily and
she rolled over and fell back asleep, facing away from him.

“
Yes?” Chevalier said after
he’d shut the bedroom door.

“
This is Dr. Cook from the
Pason Coven. He was called in when we heard that the disease that
killed the horses could be transmitted to humans,” Quinn
said.

Chevalier nodded at the heku doctor.

“
Do you know if Emily has
been bitten by any mosquitoes recently?” Dr. Cook asked.

“
She didn’t say,
why?”

“
That’s how the disease is
transmitted from horse to human, by mosquito,” the doctor
explained.

Chevalier went back into the room and sat
down on the bed, “Em?”

Emily rolled over and looked at him.

“
Have you had any mosquito
bites recently?” Chevalier asked her softly.

She rolled back over onto her side.

“
Emily, I really need to
know.”

Emily nodded slightly, never opening her
eyes.

Chevalier walked back out, “She said
yes.”

Dr. Cook sighed, “We’re going to need
cerebral spinal fluid to test for it.”

“
What’s that?” Quinn asked,
concerned.

“
It’s the fluid around the
spinal cord. We’ll need to put a needle into the space between the
spinal cord and vertebrae, and withdraw some fluid.” Dr. Cook
frowned when the three Elders glanced at one another
nervously.

“
She’s never going to go
for that,” Chevalier said.

“
We can always hold her
down,” Dr. Cook suggested.

Quinn sighed, “Is there anything else?
Something not involving needles?”

“
I don’t think you
understand… 90% of those infected die within just a few days of the
first symptoms. Those that do recover, usually have neurological
problems for the rest of their lives.”

“
How long do we have before
she starts to get sick?” Quinn asked.

“
About 4 weeks. By the time
she gets sick, it will be too late.”

Chevalier glanced at the door, “If she does
have it, can it be fixed?”

“
There are antibiotics and
anti-seizure medications, but those won’t cure it, they will just
stop some of the symptoms,” Dr. Cook explained.

“
So that’s it then? If she
has it, she’s going to die?” Chevalier asked angrily.

Dr. Cook nodded, “Pretty much. The lumbar
puncture would let us know before she got sick though.”

“
And we could turn her,”
Chevalier whispered, mainly to himself.

“
Maybe we all need to go
and talk to her,” Quinn suggested.

“
If you’re going to turn
her, do it soon,” the doctor said.

“
She just lost her horse.
We can’t drop this on her now,” Chevalier said, and turned to them.
“Can’t this wait a few days?”

“
Why don’t we control her
long enough to get the lumbar puncture, then we’ll know for sure,”
Zohn suggested. “If she has it, then we bring up the turn to
immortality to save her life.”

“
I don’t know if I can lock
her long enough for it though, can’t we sedate her?” Chevalier
asked.

“
We could try,” the doctor
said, but seemed unsure.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “Again, I don’t
know. I still wonder about the control.”

“
How long can you normally
control her?” Dr. Cook asked.

“
It depends. When she’s
very ill it can be indefinitely... but when she’s not, no one can
get a lock on her,” Chevalier explained.

“
What about now? She’s
tired and depressed,” Zohn said.

“
We’d have to try it, I
don’t know,” Chevalier said.

Zohn sighed, “Let me do it. She already
hates me.”

Chevalier nodded, and Zohn disappeared into
the bedroom. He came out a short time later, rubbing his jaw as it
healed.

“
I couldn’t even get
control,” Zohn said, frustrated.

“
Damnit,” Chevalier
growled, and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door. Emily was
sitting up in bed, watching the fire.

“
Care to explain?” she
asked angrily.

“
Em, the doctor wants to
get a lumbar puncture to test you for the disease that killed the
horses,” Chevalier said. He decided to be honest with
her.

“
No,” Emily told him, and
laid back down.

“
The disease will kill you.
If we find out you have it before you get sick, we can turn
you.”

Emily frowned, “You want to turn me?”

“
That’s not what I said. If
you have the disease, you are going to die. I’d rather turn you
than lose you.”

“
No”

“
Emily, do it, please… for
me,” Chevalier said softly.

Emily slid out of bed and pulled on her
jeans.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
I don’t really
know.”

“
Just talk to me. We need
to find out.”

“
No, you need to figure out
what in the hell you want. You treat me like crap for a week, and
now decide that this way painful procedure is necessary, and then
suddenly, you’re husband of the year,” Emily said
angrily.

Chevalier followed her out of the bedroom,
“Em.”

“
Don’t, Em, me… who the
hell are you?” Emily asked the doctor.

He put a hand out and then pulled it back
when she glared at him, “I’m Dr. Cook. I was called in to see if I
can help.”

“
Go away,” Emily said, and
ran down the stairs.

“
She has a slight…” Quinn
watched her run out the door. “No… she has a severe medical
phobia.”

“
I see, then, I suggest we
hold her down,” Dr. Cook suggested.

“
Hold her down? You do know
she can turn us all to ash,” Zohn reminded him.

Dr. Cook cringed, “I forgot about that.”

“
Sedation is our only
option,” Chevalier said, and turned to the doctor.

“
Fine, it’s risky, but I
don’t see that we have a choice.”

“
We do risk her leaving
though, afterwards,” Quinn said.

“
So we have no alternatives
here?” Chevalier hissed.

“
I suggest Mark and Kyle
talk to her,” Quinn said. “They have always had good rapport with
her.”

After Mark and Kyle were filled in, they
took off in Chevalier’s Humvee to see if they could find Emily. She
left the palace in her Jeep, which normally meant she was out
off-roading somewhere. They were able to follow her trail up behind
the woods to the Durango. She was sitting in the passenger seat
with her feet propped up on the dashboard when they drove up.

Kyle slid into the driver’s seat of the dead
Durango, and leaned the chair back, “How’s it going?”

Emily glanced to the back seat when Mark
crawled in and lay down across the seats with his hands under the
back of his head. He smiled when he saw her looking.

“
No,” Emily said, watching
them.

“
What? We can’t just come
talk?” Kyle asked. “We heard about Patra.”

Emily turned to look at the trees as her
eyes filled with tears.

“
I’m so sorry,” Kyle said,
and touched her hand.

“
I had her for 16 years,”
Emily told them, her voice cracking slightly.

“
Let’s go back to the
palace where it’s warm.”

“
I’m fine here.”

“
You can’t stay out here in
the Durango, Em.”

“
I can too.”

Emily got out of the Durango and went around
to the back. She pulled a blanket out and returned to the passenger
seat. Kyle watched the rain as it started to turn the ground to
mud.

“
Why don’t we go back to
the palace and hit the Internet, see if we can find you a new
horse,” Mark suggested.

“
No,” Emily said again, and
turned onto her side, pulling the blanket up over her
shoulders.

“
You know why we’re here,
right?” Kyle asked.

“
Yes”

“
We only have a limited
time to see if you’re infected. If you are, we can turn you so you
don’t die. If you start to show symptoms, it’ll be too
late.”

“
No”

“
So you’d rather leave
Allen and Alexis without a mother, than go through this one little
test?” Kyle asked.

Mark cringed.

“
Go away,” Emily said, and
pulled her knees up under the blanket.

“
Em, please… at least come
back to the palace and talk about it.”

“
I need to be here alone. I
need to think.”

Kyle sighed, “You’ll freeze to death out
here.”

“
Yeah well, I don’t want to
go into the stables, and I’m not welcome in the palace. This seems
like a good enough spot for now,” Emily said, pulling the blanket
up higher.

“
You’re welcome in the
palace,” Mark said, frustrated.

“
Yeah right. Chevalier’s
made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with
me.”

“
That’s not true,” Kyle
said. “He was just confused, but he wants you back now.”

“
Now? Oh that’s great.
Please… leave…” Emily said, and shut her eyes.

Kyle and Mark got into the Humvee and headed
back to the palace. The Elders were waiting in Zohn’s office when
they returned.

“
How did it go?” Quinn
asked.

“
Not good. She’s not going
to agree to those tests, and now she’s living in the Durango,” Mark
said.

Chevalier frowned, “Living in the
Durango?”

“
Yes, she said she can’t
face the stables, and isn’t welcome here, so she’s going to live in
the Durango,” Kyle told him.

“
She’ll freeze out there,”
Zohn said, and leaned back in his chair.

“
She’s never going to have
those tests,” Mark told them.

Zohn nodded, “Let’s sedate her then.”

“
If we sedate her, we risk
her running off afterwards,” Quinn reminded them.

“
Damnit, let’s go talk to
her,” Chevalier said, and stood up.

“
She’s pretty sure you want
nothing to do with her,” Kyle explained, with a hint of irritation
in his voice.

Quinn stood up, “Mark, Kyle, Zohn… come with
me. Chevalier, stay here.”

“
No,” Chevalier said. “I’m
coming.”

“
I have an idea, and it
doesn’t involve you,” Quinn said, and they left Zohn’s office,
leaving Dr. Cook and Chevalier behind.

Quinn, Zohn, Mark, and Kyle piled into
Quinn’s Range Rover and drove toward the Durango.

“
Who’s that?” Mark asked.
Parked beside the Durango was a black Lexus LX.

“
Guess we’ll find out,”
Kyle said when he pulled up by the LX.