Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (75 page)

“
I should be there and you
know it!” Emily screamed at him, and spun when she saw the Valle
line moving toward her. They stopped when she glared at
them.

“
Where’s Mark?” Emily asked
scathingly.

“
He’s with Chevalier,”
Silas said.

“
Now what? You tie me to
the bed? Put me in a prison cell?” Emily asked, breathing rapidly
as she felt the guards inching in on her.

“
Nothing like that, we
won’t restrain you,” Silas said. “We’ll just watch you
carefully.”

“
First person that touches
me gets ashed,” Emily warned. “Now back up and let me on my
horse.”

“
Tandem only,” Quinn said,
and Emily glared at him as he repeated. “Tandem only.”

Emily growled and hoisted herself onto her
horse. She kicked hard and the stallion lurched forward into a
gallop, and then jumped the heku as they crouched to avoid getting
kicked. She pulled ahead of them on Keith’s fastest horse.

As she broke out of the trees, well ahead of
the blurring heku, she pulled her horse to a sudden stop and he
responded by rearing back angrily. She held on and then glared at
the entire Thukil Cavalry when the horse settled. They were mounted
and quickly formed a circle around her.

“
Let me through,” she
yelled.

“
Sorry, Commander, Elder’s
orders,” Darren said sternly.

Emily backed her horse up, watching Darren
closely.

“
Don’t do it,” Darren said,
and his horse shifted nervously.

Emily was beyond seeing reason. She felt
trapped and terrified. The horse leaned his ears back as it sensed
her tension and panic and his tail began to swish anxiously.

“
He’s going to buck,”
Darren said calmly. “You’re scaring him.”

Emily kicked the stallion and he took off,
quickly hitting maximum speed as she ran straight toward the center
of the Cavalry. The footed guards watched nervously as she sped
toward the others. At the last second, the two Thukil guards pulled
their horses to the side and the others took off after her.

Quinn sighed as he saw the 76 horses racing
down the hills toward the road. They formed a V with Emily at the
lead, but the others were catching up with her quickly. One of the
front guards had a lasso in his hand and was expertly twirling it
in the air, ready to catch Emily’s stallion. As the Captain neared
her, he got up on one knee and steadied himself. When his horse
caught up to her, he launched himself into the air and knocked
Emily off of her horse just as the other guard lassoed the stallion
and took control.

The Cavalry swiftly ran around the two on
the ground, and Darren pinned her as she screamed at him, “Don’t do
this!”

Darren stood up angrily and pulled her to
her feet by her arm, “Now… calm down.”

Another member of the Thukil Cavalry grabbed
her other arm, and they walked her back toward the castle as she
limped and fought against them.

They neared the palace and the other guards
were all waiting there for her with Quinn in the front, and
Encala’s Elder Aaron to his side. The Thukils let Emily go when she
was surrounded by guards, and she limped forward toward the
door.

Quinn stepped in front of her, “How badly
are you injured.”

Emily reached up and slapped him across the
face and then stepped around him and headed inside. Blood began to
soak through the back of her shirt as she headed up the stairs
slowly. Allen met her on the stairs and glared at the guards behind
her as he helped her up to her room.

“
William’s here, we’re
heading out,” Aaron said to Quinn.

“
Thanks for your help,”
Quinn told him, and turned to the guards. “Did she turn anyone to
ash?”

“
No, Sir,” Silas told
him.

“
Here’s how it’ll work. The
Thukil Cavalry will patrol the perimeter of the palace. She’s been
known to jump out of windows, so make sure you can see every inch
of the walls,” Quinn said. “Powan will patrol inside with the
Council City Guards, but only the Cavalry will be allowed to guard
inside of her room.”

“
You have your orders in
regards to anyone non-Equites around the palace,” Quinn reminded
them. “Once the Valle and Encala head out, only Equites are allowed
in the city, and only authorized guards are to be anywhere near the
palace.”

“
Do you all have your
notes?” Silas asked, and everyone nodded. “Keep them in your hands.
We don’t know how many minds she can wipe at once, and don’t want
to take chances.”

“
Silas and I will be in her
room,” Kralen said. “The Elder had her phone disconnected, and
everyone needs to be ready for a fight. If you start to get lax,
just remember how many heku she just got away from out in the
trees.”

***

“
Must you be in here?”
Allen asked Silas and Kralen as they stood at the door.

“
Sorry, Elder’s orders,”
Silas told him.

“
I can watch her,” Allen
told them. “She needs some privacy.”

“
No,” Kralen said
sternly.

“
She hasn’t gotten out of
bed in three days,” Allen reminded them. “She won’t eat. She won’t
let anyone look at her ankle or the cuts from that damned guard
throwing her to the ground. She won’t even talk… get out and let me
take care of her.”

“
No,” Silas said again, and
crossed his arms.

A servant came and delivered dinner into the
bedroom. He blurred from the room, ignoring Allen’s defensive
posture by his Mom.

Emily listened to it all. She felt numb, not
knowing if Chevalier was safe, if he’d found Kyle, or if he’d
killed Exavior. She felt trapped in the palace, unable to move
freely or go anywhere without being watched. She watched out the
window while Allen took care of Alexis and tucked her into bed,
then sat down in a chair by the fire, worried about her.

Quinn blurred into the room, and Allen
looked over as they started a conversation too quietly and quickly
for Emily to hear. She glanced over at them and watched as Quinn
told something interesting to Kralen and Silas.

Allen stood up and faced them, “Are you
going to tell her?”

Quinn turned around, “It’s nothing that
concerns her.”

“
I disagree,” Allen said,
crossing his arms in a manner that Emily often used.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed, “You could hear
that?”

“
Yes”

“
Hallway… now,” Quinn
hissed.

“
After I tell Mom what’s
going on,” Allen said, and walked over to her.

Emily scrambled out of bed and ran for the
door when Silas pulled Allen from the room. She slammed into
Kralen, knocking him back a few inches. His hands shot out and
caught her before she fell to the ground. She pulled her arms out
of his grasp and tried to step around him, but he blocked her way.
She gasped when Kralen fell to ashes and spun to face Alexis. The
6-year-old was upset and watching her Mom tearfully.

Emily picked her up quickly and headed out
into the hallway, following Quinn, Silas, and Allen down the stairs
as she gripped Alexis tightly in her arms. She caught up with them
and took Allen’s arm, stopping them all from walking.

Allen took Alexis, and Emily put herself
between them and the heku, glaring at them.

“
We just wanted to talk to
him,” Quinn said softly. “We weren’t going to hurt him.”

“
Where’s Kralen?” Silas
asked, looking up the stairs.

Alexis sweet little voice sounded, timidly,
“I ashed him.”

Silas’ eyes grew wide, “Lexi, you turned him
to ash?”

Alexis nodded.

“
We just want to talk to
him,” Quinn said again. “We’ll take care of Kralen in a bit, sounds
like an accident.”

“
Mom, the fight is over,”
Allen said quickly. “Exavior got away, but they got the Chief
Enforcer’s back.”

“
Allen…” Quinn
growled.

“
Kyle’s hurt pretty badly,
as are the other two, so they’re taking them to Island Coven for
recovery… Dad’s going back there,” Allen told Emily as he kept an
eye on Quinn.

Emily’s eyes grew wide and she ran up the
stairs, followed by Allen, Quinn, and Silas.

“
You can’t go to Island
Coven,” Quinn told her as she started to pack.

Emily turned and looked at him.

“
The Chief Enforcer’s are
really badly hurt. Zohn and Chevalier feel it’d be better if you
stay here,” Silas told her.

Emily picked up a chair and flung it at
Quinn. He caught it and sat it down, “We’ll give you a little
privacy for a few moments.”

Silas shut the door behind him after
leaving.

“
Can you find the battery
and put it back in my car without getting caught?” Emily wrote in a
notebook and showed it to Allen.

“
Into the Aero? Yes. I saw
where they put it,” Allen replied.

“
I can’t, they’ll catch me
and you have free reign of the building.”

“
Won’t take but about 5
minutes, and then I want to go with you.”

Emily nodded and checked to see if the key
was still in her jeans. She took them into the bathroom to get
dressed as Allen left the room.

“
Where are you going?”
Quinn asked.

“
She’s mad at me now too,
happy?” Allen growled, and headed down the stairs. He replaced the
battery in the Aero and came back up the stairs, then stormed into
the room and slammed the door behind him.

Emily looked up at him as she slipped the
.45 into the back of her jeans, “So?”

“
Done, how are you going to
get out of here?”

“
Is anyone in the
garage?”

“
No, they thought taking
the batteries was enough,” Allen said.

“
I can knock Quinn and
Silas out. Anyone else in the way?”

“
Yes, Powans down
there.”

Emily sighed, “Damn, it takes too long to
knock them unconscious.”

“
Wipe their minds? It’ll
take them a few seconds to see the notes in their hands that remind
them to keep an eye on you.”

Emily nodded, “It’s worth a try. Once we’re
in the car, Thukil can’t catch up to us.”

“
What about
Alexis?”

“
When we leave, you run to
your teacher, understood?” Emily asked her.

Alexis nodded.

“
Ready?” Allen
asked.

Emily nodded and concentrated on the door.
As soon as Quinn and Silas fell to their knees, groaning in pain,
Allen opened the door so she could release them at the right time.
When they went unconscious, she and Allen headed quickly down the
stairs.

“
Where are you going?” a
Powan guard asked, and then turned around. “Why am I in the
palace?”

Emily and Allen kept
running. She erased the memory of each guard she came too, and they
emerged into the garage as she heard someone yell to catch them.
They slid into the sleek Aero and locked the doors. Allen didn’t
fit in the seat, and his knees hit painfully against the dashboard
when Emily floored it in reverse, slammed the car into
1
^st
gear, and peeled out of the garage.

The Thukil Cavalry watched helplessly as she
sped through the city and was soon out on the highway, the car
pegged at 270mph. Once they were a safe distance from Council City,
she slowed down to the speed limit to avoid getting pulled
over.

Emily took a deep breath, “Why did they not
want to tell me?”

Allen grinned, “Can’t you guess?”

“
Oh… right…” Emily said,
smiling slightly. “We should be at the ferry by
morning.”

Allen’s cell phone rang, and he looked at
it, “It’s Dad.”

“
Don’t answer. I can’t
handle him right now,” Emily said.

“
What are you going to do
if the guards won’t let you on the island?” Allen asked.

“
Then I’ll tell them it’s
the island or Exavior,” Emily said. Allen looked at her to see if
she was serious, and noticed that she was.

“
Why don’t you stop and
eat? We’re far away from the city.”

“
Not now, when we get gas
I’ll eat.”

They drove for hours, stopping only for gas
when the Aero was almost empty. Allen filled the tank while Emily
went inside for the restroom and a cup of coffee. She came back out
after paying and ignored the people looking at her car when she
climbed inside.

“
That’s not food,” Allen
sighed.

“
We’ll be there soon. I
just need to stay awake,” Emily said, and belted herself in. She
ran her fingers slowly over the soft gray leather on the steering
wheel and remembered racing Chevalier in it. She smiled slightly
and then on turned the car.

“
Mom,” Allen said, looking
behind them.

Emily turned in her seat and saw four
identical silver Bugatti Veyrons behind her.

“
Damnit,” Emily said, and
gunned it, spinning out and quickly returning to the Interstate.
She was in sixth gear at top speed, but the Veyrons kept
pace.

“
I don’t know if you can
outrun those,” Allen said, glancing back at them. “They aren’t
ranked a lot lower in speed than this car.”

“
Did you see who’s
driving?”