“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.
Dain glared at Chevalier and sat down beside her, “Are you ok?”
She wrapped her arm around him and he leaned his head against her neck, “I’m good, Baby. You need to stop fighting the heku, it’s upsetting.”
He frowned slightly, “It is?”
“Yes, your Dad is just trying to help me and I promised him two months ago that I would allow it.”
“Mom…”
“It’s hard, Dain, when you fight them.”
“I don’t trust them,” he said, and looked into her eyes.
“I know.”
“They abandoned you for a year.”
“We didn’t abandon her,” Chevalier explained. “We tried to find you.”
“So you say,” Dain growled.
Emily touched his face lightly, “I trust them.”
“Mom, you trust everyone.”
Chevalier chuckled, “This though, she’s trusted for 22 years.”
Dain just glared at him until Emily moved his face to look at her, “Trust your Dad, Dain.”
She studied the conflict in his eyes and then kissed his cheek lightly.
“Elder, we’re ready,” Mark said as he stepped into the room.
Chevalier nodded, “Call for the helicopter. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“You’re leaving?” Emily asked.
“We’re going to talk to the Encala about what they did.”
“Chevalier, it’s over. Don’t cause more problems because of it.”
“It’s my right to seek revenge on this.”
She sighed, irritated that she agreed to let him do what he thought was necessary, “You’re taking the Cavalry?”
“Yes, all of them.”
She smiled slightly, “You’ll outnumber them.”
Mark chuckled, “Yes, we will.”
“Do the Valle know I’m back, yet?”
Chevalier nodded, “Yes, they were looking for you too, so we had to notify them.”
“Dear,” Dr. Cook said, and stepped forward, “I have to return to Pason Coven, and will leave you in the ever capable hands of Dr. Edwards.”
Emily frowned, “You’re leaving?”
“Yes, I’m close to retirement and would like to spend my last years with my coven.”
Emily’s eyes began to fill with tears, “You’re going to the ground?”
He smiled softly, “It’s not what you think, Child. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Is it because I give you a hard time?”
Dr. Cook began to laugh, “You have kept me on my toes, but no, I’m tired.”
She started to stand up, but Chevalier held her to the bed, “Don’t go, don’t retire.”
“It’s been a pleasure to be your doctor. It was nice to spend my last years doing what I love, which is medicine.”
“I won’t ash you again, I swear.”
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, “Listen to Dr. Edwards, he knows you better than even I, and he’s anxious to be your personal physician.”
“Don’t retire,” Emily whispered, and she felt her insides starting to tighten.
“I’m tired, and like Leonid, it’s my decision. No one is forcing me, and I’m looking forward to it,” Dr. Cook told her, and started for the door. “It’ll be interesting to see you again in 300 years.”
Chevalier nodded to Dr. Cook, and he bowed slightly and walked out. Emily again tried to stand up, but this time, Dain put a hand on her leg and kept her down. She looked over at Chevalier, “Don’t let him do this…”
Chevalier took her hand, “It’s his choice, Em. Don’t get upset… it could make the pains come back.”
Dr. Edwards smiled, “Retirement seems so foreign to me.”
Chevalier chuckled, “Wait a few thousand years and you’ll see its appeal.”
“Emily?” the doctor said, and frowned. Her heart rate was picking up and her eyes showed the terror she felt toward the heku retirement.
“Em, calm down,” Chevalier told her, and took her hand.
She put her hand on her stomach and nodded when she felt the pains starting.
He stood up and looked down at her, “I’ll be back in a few days. Quinn is going to take care of you.”
Dain growled, “He’s not needed.”
“You… don’t get in Quinn’s way,” Chevalier said, and his hands balled into fists.
“Then tell him to stay away from my Mom. I can take care of her.”
“Please, don’t fight,” Emily said, and took Dain’s hand again. “I trust Quinn, too.”
Quinn smiled from the door, “We’ll be ok, go.”
Chevalier glanced once more at Dain, and then left with Kyle and Mark.
Quinn shut the door to her room and Dain looked over Emily, “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Please though, stop fighting your Dad.”
“He’s so infuriating.”
Emily grinned, “Yes, he is.”
“Do we have to stay here?”
“Where do you want to go?”
Dain smiled, “The Island, with Allen and Miri.”
“I don’t see why not,” Emily told him, and stood up to get her keys. “I’m sure the truck will make it.”
“Where’s your Dodge?” Dain asked, and started for the door.
“I don’t know, actually, but that old truck will be ok.”
Dain sighed, “Alex said we can’t go.”
“Why’s that?” Emily asked, and turned to face him.
“She said there’s a turning.”
She sighed and set down the keys.
“Oh, it’s Tucker.”
“What?” Emily gasped, and took a step towards Dain.
“Tucker, he’s being turned. I guess Kralen and Silas are on the island to do it.”
She sat down hard on the bed, “They’re doing it?”
Dain sat down beside her, “It was his choice.”
“Still…”
He smiled and took her hand, “It’s ok, Mom, he’ll be fine.”
She pulled away from him and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Emily was just stepping out of the shower when she heard a loud commotion in the bedroom. She threw on a robe quickly and rushed out to see what was happening.
Dain was writhing in pain on the bed while four members of the palace gua
rds were holding him down. He suddenly arched his back and screamed, filling the entire palace with blood curdling wails.
“Dain!” Emily yelled, and ran to the bed.
“Let them handle him,” Quinn said as he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Let me go.”
“No, he’ll hurt you. Let the Guards hold him down so he doesn’t hurt himself.”
She stopped fighting and watched how much strength it took the full heku to hold Dain down. Her heart sunk as the pain continued and Dain began to fall in and out of consciousness. Dr. Edwards was called in, but no amount of medication seemed to lessen the agonizing pain.
For hours, the palace stayed silent as the screams from Dain filled the corridors. Emily refused to leave his room, but Quinn kept her away from the bed. Eight hours after it started, Dain’s body fell silent on the bed and the guards moved back.
Emily started forward, but Quinn took her arm, “Wait.”
She frowned at him and tried to pull away from his grasp, “Let me go.”
Quinn looked over at Dr. Edwards, and she could tell they were talking, but wasn’t able to tell about what. She watched Dain as he lay silent on the bed.
“Quinn, let me go,” she said again, and started to pull at his fingers.
Quinn looked over at the motionless heku and shut his eyes before looking over at Emily, “He didn’t make it.”
She frowned, “What?”
“I’m sorry, Emily,” Dr. Edwards whispered, and covered Dain’s body with a light sheet.
“Wait!” Emily screamed. “No, he’s not dead.”
“Em…” Quinn said, and all of the palace guards left the room.
“No, he’s not dead,” she said again, and roughly pulled her arm away from Quinn.
Emily walked slowly toward the bed and the room fell silent as they watched her. She pulled the sheet down to his chest and sat beside him, then took his hand in hers and gently touched his face, “Baby?”
“Mom?” Alexis asked from the doorway.
“He’s just sleeping,” Emily whispered, not looking away from Dain.
“Mom… I don’t think so,” Alexis said, and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her brother. “Something’s not right. It’s just…”
“Emily, we did everything we could,” Dr. Edwards told her respectfully.
She frowned, “No, heku don’t just die.”
“Not often, no,” Dr. Edwards told her.
“We’ll move him to…” Quinn started, but stopped talking when he felt a burning begin in his chest. He gasped and took a step back.
“Get out,” Emily whispered. The Elder looked at the other heku in the room and saw that they were equally shaken. She’d sent a small burn to each of them.
“Em…” Quinn started, but the burn began again and he moved toward the door. “Everyone out.”
“Mom?” Alexis whispered.
“Get out,” Emily said through gritted teeth. The girl nodded and followed the heku out of the room.
“Get Chevalier back here,” Quinn ordered, and sat down in a chair outside of the bedroom.
One of the guards nodded, and then headed down the stairs slowly.
Alexis sunk slowly to her knees, watching the door and she softly whispered, “Dain.”
Quinn pulled Alexis into a hug and looked over at Dustin when he came to the hallway and spoke, “What do we do?”
“Maybe I should go talk to her,” Dr. Edwards suggested.
“Try,” Quinn told him quietly.
Dr. Edwards knocked softly and then opened the door. He gasped and fell backwards, clutching his chest and the door slammed behind him. Dustin and Quinn watched him with wide eyes as he slowly got to his feet.
“Don’t go in there,” he said, still groaning slightly.
Emily gently brushed the hair away from Dain’s eye and adjusted his covers, “It’s ok, Baby. I won’t let them take you away.”
She watched him for a few hours, burning anyone who dared to touch the bedroom door. She held Dain’s hand and waited for him to wake up. As night fell, she started to get cold and began to stoke the fire.
Deciding to get some rest, she pulled a pillow and blanket over to the door, and then made a make-shift bed in front of it. It let her still watch Dain, but allowed her to immediately be alerted if anyone tried to come in.
“She’s asleep,” one of the palace Generals said as he listened at her door.
“It sounds like she’s close to the door though,” Quinn told him. “Have we found Chevalier?”
“Yes, he’s on the way back, though he doesn’t know why.”
“For now, leave her alone until he arrives.”
“Yes, Elder,” the General said, and turned to watch the hallway. Quinn looked at the door for a few minutes and then decided to return to the council chambers.
“Is it true then?” the Chief of Defense asked when Quinn sat down.
He nodded, “Yes, the boy had another attack and didn’t make it.”
“Should we evacuate the palace?”
“No, she’s not hurt anyone but those who’ve tried to open the bedroom door.”
“What happened?”
Quinn shrugged, “I don’t really know. He was having another attack and just… suddenly… his heart stopped.”
“When will Chevalier be back?” the Court Reporter asked, leaning forward on his elbows.
“He’s returning from Encala City. It shouldn’t be long now.”
“Does he know?”
“No, he does not.”
“And the girl?”
“Alexis is in my room, resting,” Quinn explained. “We need to find Zohn and get him back. The funeral could turn into more than our guards can handle.”
“Agreed,” the Chief of Defense said. “I suggest we immediately pull in Thukil and Powan and have Banks on standby just in case.”
“Do it,” Quinn said, and ordered all city guards to head to the palace lawn for a briefing.
The Chief of Staff suddenly looked toward the ceiling, “She is up again.”
Quinn nodded, “I hear… keep an eye on her while I talk to the guards.”
“Yes, Elder,” he said, and blurred to the hallway with her room.
Quinn dreaded what he was about to do, but walked out to face the hundreds of city and palace guards that were gathered.
He took a deep breath and then spoke, “The Council regrets to inform you that the heku child, Dain, has passed. We suspect the news will travel quickly and will bring Equites from around the globe. Until further notice, everyone is to be out in the city watching for anything amiss. No one is to come to the palace. There are situations involved that we must deal with and we cannot if there are heku around.”
A murmur ran through the guard staff.
***
“Do you want to play a game?” Emily asked, and sat down beside Dain on the bed. When he didn’t answer, she just shook her head, “You’re right, get some rest.”
“Mom?” Allen called through the door.
Emily smiled, “Your brother’s here.”
“Mom, can I come in?”
“I bet he thinks you’re dead, too,” she said, and looked towards the door.
“Mom?”
“No, you may not come in,” she said, just barely loud enough for the heku in the hallway to hear.
“I just want to talk.”
“No”
Emily stood up and went to look out the window, “I don’t know how they can think you’re dead. You’ve done this how many times and haven’t died?”
She saw the gathered troops on the lawn and briefly wondered what they were doing, before turning back around to Dain, “I can see you’ve grown. When they first told me that you were dead, your feet weren’t that near to the end of the bed.”
“Mom, let me at least see him before Dad gets here,” Allen told her. “I want to see for myself.”
“No,” Emily said, and sat down beside Dain again. She pul
led another blanket over him when she felt how cold he was.
“I don’t believe he’s dead either,” Allen said through the door. “I just want to see if I can help you prove it.”
She smiled, “Encala’s Chief Interrogator, Allen…”
Allen sighed and looked over at Dustin, “I tried.”
Dustin leaned back against the wall, “Have we at all considered that he’s not dead? She said he’s grown.”
“I was in there,” the guard General said. “The smell of death was unmistakable.”
“I’m going in,” Allen told them. “I don’t think she’ll burn me.”
“Your ash,” Dustin said, and watched Allen open the door. He gasped and jerked back, falling against the floor as the door shut behind him. He stayed on the floor as he caught his breath.
“I could be wrong though,” Allen whispered, and then stood up slowly.
The sound of Equites 1 landing shook the building and the General called for troops to meet it on the roof.
“Is that Dad?” Allen asked as the troops filed out onto the roof.
“No, that’s Elder Zohn,” Dustin explained. “Your Dad didn’t take a helicopter.”
“What’s so important that I was called back here?” Zohn asked as he approached Dustin.
Allen looked down at the ground, “Dain had another attack and didn’t make it.”
Zohn gasped, “He’s dead?”
“Yes,” Dustin said respectfully. “Emily won’t let anyone in there. She says he’s alive still.”
“Where is Chevalier?” Zohn asked, and looked toward the door.
“He should be here any minute. He doesn’t know either.”
Zohn knocked on the door, “Emily?”
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” the General told him.
“Why not?” Zohn asked, just as a burning began deep within his chest. He gasped and stepped away from the door.
“That’s why.”
“How long has it been?”
“Twelve hours,” Dustin told him.
“Stay here,” Zohn ordered, and went down to help Quinn with city preparations.
Emily smiled, “Like they thought I’d let Zohn in. Wonder whose bright idea that was.”
She watched Dain and again took his hand. She couldn’t understand why they insisted that he was dead. She saw that he’d grown. His skin was still pale but held a hint of color. Though she’d rarely seen a newly dead person, she thought it looked like he was merely sleeping.
Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 34
