Emily turned as Kyle, Damon, and Chevalier walked toward them. Without a word, Chevalier picked Emily up and kissed her. She felt a rush of wind and the bed at her back before she even realized they’d moved.
***
“Welcome back,” Chevalier said, and kissed Emily’s shoulder.
Emily looked at him and grinned, “I guess so. What did you do while I was gone?”
“Heku stuff,” he said as Emily looked into his eyes. She noticed they were spirited and invigorated.
Emily laughed, “You were doing something you don’t want me to know about.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you had way too much fun while I was gone, and it had to have been something you can only do when I’m not here, or you’d do it more often… I’ll figure it out,” Emily told him, and rolled out of bed.
“Hey, get back here,” Chevalier said, reaching for her.
“Believe it or not, when I was kidnapped from the corral, I was doing something,” Emily said, laughing as she quickly got dressed.
“Hmm, I hadn’t noticed.”
“Yes, I would imagine not.”
Emily headed back to the corral. She was getting extremely frustrated with the cast, even though she didn’t need the crutches anymore, the cast slowed her down enough it was irritating her. When she finally got within sight of the corral, she frowned. The pen was entirely surrounded by heku.
“What’s going on?” Emily asked Kyle, and squeezed her way in between him and the Cavalry member beside him.
“Mark and Damon are trying to bridle that mustang,” Kyle said, amused.
Emily was watching them and she felt the fury rising. Mark had a bridle, and Damon was trying to walk up to the stallion with his hands out. The mustang’s ears were back flat against his head, and his tail was swishing angrily.
“Damnit,” Emily scowled.
Emily slipped quickly through the fence and Ford followed after her. A murmur ran through the watching crowd as Emily appeared in the corral with the agitated mustang. They had seen it kick and step on the heku a lot in the last hour, and now the fragile Elder’s wife was with it.
“Damon, back up slowly,” Emily told him.
“You… get out of here,” Damon said, not even looking at her.
“Mark, get back,” she said, ignoring Damon. She saw Mark back up to the fence.
“Emily, maybe we should…” Mark started, but Emily cut him off.
“Damon, don’t be an idiot, back out of here, now,” Emily said, standing beside him. The horse was hunched back, ready to rear. Ford tucked his tail and ran for the fence, glancing at Emily nervously.
“Your dog is smarter than you are. Now get out before he kicks again,” Damon told her.
“He’s fighting because you’re a moron,” Emily said. She pushed Damon hard and he stumbled out of the way just as the mustang’s powerful hoof slammed into where his head had just been. Emily crouched low under his fighting hooves and rolled out from under him.
The mustang pulled back and watched, his ears pressed against his head. Emily took a treat and inched toward him, locking his gaze. His ears twitched forward as she approached.
“That’s right, listen to me,” Emily said soothingly.
“Emily…” Damon growled.
“Ford, get the heku,” Emily said, and grinned when she heard the Border collie’s low growl. She could almost see the low crouch of the dog, just as she’d taught him.
“What’s going on?” Emily heard Chevalier ask from behind her.
“Get your demon dog off of me before I snap his neck,” Damon growled.
Emily reached out her hand flat, with the treat perched on top. The mustang snorted and took the treat out of her hand. She reached out and gently rubbed the velvet on his nose.
“Emily inherited a mean mustang,” Kyle told Chevalier.
“Mean? That sonofabitch is more than mean,” Damon said, watching the dog. Ford’s hackles were still up as he growled at the heku.
Chevalier watched as Emily laid her forehead against the muzzle of the pure black stallion, “He doesn’t look very malicious, unlike the dog.”
Mark slowly hobbled over to the others, holding his side, “That mustang needs to be put down.”
“Is he really that bad?” Chevalier asked, eyeing Emily.
“Worse than bad, Elder,” Kyle told him.
Emily let go of the horse and backed away slowly to the fence. He again lowered his ears, and began to feverishly flick his tail back and forth. When her back hit the fence, she turned to Ford, “That’ll do boy.”
Ford stood up, tail wagging, and ran to Emily.
“Sic your dog on me again and I’ll kill him,” Damon said angrily.
Emily spun on him, glaring, “Touch my dog and I’ll let him eat your ashes.”
Kyle’s hand quickly sprang out and grabbed Damon as he started to step forward, “Calm down.”
“Me? She’s the one that taught her dog to attack heku,” Damon said, turning to the Captain.
“Emily, did you teach Ford to attack?” Chevalier asked, frowning.
“Yes, I did,” she said, patting the Border collie’s head. “If Damon would have done as I asked, I wouldn’t have had Ford attack.”
“I should’ve let that damned horse kill you,” Damon said, gritting his teeth.
“There is nothing wrong with that mustang.”
“Nothing wrong? You better open your eyes before he kills you,” Damon said, surprised. “That mustang is pure evil.”
“Says the vampire.”
“Spoiled brat.”
“Ford, get the heku,” Emily said, and smiled sweetly when her Border collie ran at Damon, then crouched low, growling.
“Emily…” Chevalier began, but stopped when he heard the loud angry whinny from the mustang.
Emily spun and saw a strange heku approach the mustang with a bridle. The mustang reared back and Emily broke into a run toward the feral horse. Just as the stallion kicked violently at the heku, knocking him into a bloody heap on the ground, Emily felt arms wrap around her waist and stop her forward movement.
“Let me go,” Emily said, kicking.
“No,” she heard Chevalier’s angry voice and stopped fighting. “Call Ford off of Damon.”
“That’ll do, Ford,” Emily said, and sighed. The dog ran over to her proudly.
“Damon, Mark, Emily… to the stables. The rest of you find something more productive to do,” Chevalier ordered.
The heku immediately blurred away and the stallion’s ears cocked forward. Chevalier followed Damon and Mark into the stables, while Emily slowly hobbled in, followed by Ford.
“What was that?” Chevalier asked, looking from Damon to Emily.
“He wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to back off of my mustang,” Emily said, putting her hands on her waist.
“Because I didn’t want her around that devil horse,” Damon said, glaring at Emily. “Then she had her damn dog attack me.”
Chevalier turned to Mark, “What are your impressions of the mustang?”
Mark looked at Emily apologetically, “Emily got him for free because the previous owner couldn’t break him. From what I’ve seen, he’s just plain nasty, and I’d wager… untrainable.”
“That’s not true!” Emily yelled at him.
“Mark, you can go,” Chevalier said, and he looked out at the mustang in the corral.
“No horse is untrainable,” Emily said when she started to feel she was going to lose this battle.
“I’m going to watch him closely,” Chevalier said. “If I think he’s dangerous, we’ll have to put him down.”
“Over my dead body,” Emily snapped.
“Is that an offer?” Damon said, infuriated.
“I swear, you two. I’m going to have to move you both to opposite ends of the continent if you don’t stop bickering,” Chevalier said, sighing.
“Just tell him to stay away from my horse,” E
mily asked.
“You can have him, but I’m not cleaning up the blood when he kills you,” Damon told her.
“Fine, that’s settled. I’m going to watch the mustang…” Chevalier told them both.
“He’s mine,” Emily scowled.
“I’m going to watch the mustang,” Chevalier said again. “Damon will leave him alone, and Emily, just stay away from Damon.”
“My pleasure,” she said.
“Now… did you teach Ford to attack heku?” Chevalier asked.
“Ford… get the heku,” Emily said, grinning, and he turned on the two heku and growled, his teeth glaringly vicious.
Chevalier rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “Why would you do that?”
“I’m actually being nice… I could have said…” Emily turned to the Border collie. “Ford, get the Encala.”
Damon jerked away just as the sleek dog launched at his throat. Ford caught Damon’s arm and began to tear at it while he dangled above the ground.
“Emily!” Chevalier yelled, shocked.
“That’ll do, Ford,” Emily said, and patted the dog’s head when he came to her.
Damon crouched, his eyes were furious and his hands were curved into claws. Emily had seen that look before and took a step back from him.
Chevalier appeared in front of Emily, facing Damon, “Stop it.”
Damon took a deep breath and stood up straight.
“Damon, take the night off,” Chevalier ordered, and Damon blurred from the stables.
“One of these days, you’re going to push him too far,” Chevalier said, turning to Emily.
“If he would just stop being so irritating,” Emily said, defending herself.
“I suggest you two just avoid each other.”
“I will if he’ll stay away from my horses.”
“I’ll talk to him about it,” Chevalier said, and looked down at Ford. “Do you want to explain why you taught the dog his new tricks?”
Emily smirked, “Thought it could come in handy, and it did.”
“Does he know any other fun little things?” Chevalier said sarcastically.
Emily nodded.
Chevalier sat down on a bale of hay, “Ok… let’s see it.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What’s with the attitude?”
“No attitude, I just want to see.”
“You are acting weird. What did you do while I was gone?” She crossed her arms and watched him. Somehow, he seemed haughty and overconfident.
“I didn’t do anything you would be concerned about.”
“Ford, get my cattle prod,” Emily said, and Ford ran off.
Chevalier disappeared and reappeared with the prod in his hand, “Very funny.”
“I’m going to find out what you did while I was gone,” Emily said, and headed out of the stable.
Chevalier felt a pang of panic creep into him. He knew if Emily set her mind to it, that she’d find the interrogation chamber. He set out to talk to Kyle about locking the room down further.
“Hey, Damon!” Emily yelled when she saw him up ahead of her.
He turned and looked at her suspiciously, then waited for her to catch up.
“Sorry about the dog, ok?”
“Yeah, ok,” Damon replied, and then turned to walk away.
Emily walked with him, “So… how’s it going?”
He looked at her and narrowed his eyes, “Ok.”
“Have fun last night?”
“Yes”
“Were you with Chevalier?” she asked, struggling to keep up with him.
“Yes”
“What’d you do?” Emily asked.
Damon turned and looked at her, “Why do you care?”
“Because I want to know.”
Damon shook his head, “Interrogate someone else.”
Emily sighed and hobbled back into the palace.
The second she had the heku take off her cast, she regretted it. It was harder to walk without it. Her leg still ached and the muscles were weak. Emily dug around in the storage room where first aid supplies were kept and found the ace bandages. She wrapped one around her lower leg, and another around her ankle, and it helped some. She was now limited to just a painful limp.
“Hi, Kyle,” Emily said, walking up to him casually.
Kyle turned to her and frowned, “Where’s the cast, Em?”
“Gone. So… how’s it going?” she asked, leaning against the wall. She tried to make it look like she was just leaning casually, not that she was desperate to get pressure off of her injured leg.
“Cast…” he said.
“Got tired of it. Were you with Chev last night?” she asked him.
Kyle grinned, “Yes.”
“Doing what?”
“Heku stuff.”
“I want to know what, exactly,” Emily said.
“No, and drop it. Don’t let your scheming little mind turn this into a challenge,” Kyle said, amused.
“My scheming little mind?”
“Yes… you are going to turn this into a game… a challenge of sorts, until you suddenly find something you wish you wouldn’t have,” Kyle said, crossing his arms.
“For hell sake, just tell me.”
“Let me help you up to your room.” Kyle took her arm gently.
Emily ripped it out of his grip, “I don’t need your help.”
“So your leg doesn’t hurt at all?”
“No.” She glared at him. Now she was trapped. She knew if she took even a single step, he’d know. Her back was aching from the night in the hard bed and all of the driving. She knew she couldn’t hide that much longer either.
“Fine, then go by yourself,” Kyle said, watching her.
“I will when I feel like it.”
“That bad, huh?” he asked, leaning against the wall beside her.
“Go away.”
“Stop being stubborn and let me help you.”
“No”
She gritted her teeth and took a step away from the wall. The pain in her leg was much worse than before, and her back was seizing up. She held back the agony and walked slowly away from him. She knew he was watching, but she had to keep going. She was glad when Kyle stayed against the wall and didn’t follow her to the stairs.
Emily looked up the long flight of stairs and sighed. She put her good leg up a step and winced as her weight was on her injured leg and she pulled herself up. She tried another step, but her injured leg gave out and she cried out in pain and fell to her knees on the stairs. She hated the tears that were filling her eyes, and squeezed them, hoping to will away the pain.
“Are you ok?” Emily heard from behind her and she sighed, it was Damon.
“I’m fine,” she said, not looking toward him.
“It doesn’t look like you’re fine.”
“I am.”
“You are…” Damon said, lifting her gently, “The most stubborn being I’ve ever met, and that includes all species and races.”
“Put me down,” she demanded.
“I will in a second,” he told her, and blurred into her room. Damon sat her down softly on the bed, “See, that wasn’t that bad.”
“I didn’t need your help.”
“Oh, but you did.” Damon started going through a black bag high up on a shelf.
“What are you doing?” Emily asked, watching him carefully.
Damon put the bag back and turned with a syringe in his hand.
“No!” she screamed at him, and tried to crawl across the bed. She felt his hand against her good ankle.
“Chev! Kyle!” she screamed.
“Just hold still… damn,” Damon said, pulling the cap off of the medicine.
Emily brought the heel of her foot up hard against his jaw and heard it crack. Damon reeled back and cursed as he healed. When he turned back, Emily was limping toward the bathroom.
Damon was able to appear behind her instantly and give her the injection before she could turn.
/> “No!” she screamed, and turned angrily to him.
Emily swayed slightly and her eyes began to glaze over. She finally collapsed into Damon’s arms. He lifted her up and put her on the bed just as Kyle and Chevalier came into the room.
“Sorry about the jaw,” Chevalier said, taking the empty syringe from him.
“What’s up with her and needles?” Damon asked, flexing his jaw.
Kyle watched Emily sleep, “No one knows, thanks though. Conditions for her guards, I can’t give her any more pain meds. I don’t think she banked on us just finding someone else. She needed it though.”
“Yes, thank you. Now get the doctor, see if we need to re-cast it or what,” Chevalier said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I’ll put out an order about removing her cast… I don’t think she could get it off alone,” Damon sighed.
“I’m guessing it’s her back too,” Kyle said, frowning.
“She tried to find out about last night from me,” Damon said, leaning back against the wall.
“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said.
“Damn, it’s going to be hard to stop her now,” Chevalier sighed. “There’s no way she would understand that room.”
“We reinforced the door this morning. Even if she finds it, there’s no way she’s going to get in,” Damon told them.
“It’s Emily. She’ll find a way,” Kyle said, shrugging.
“You give the mortal too much credit,” Damon told them, glancing at her. “She’s a weak female mortal. I don’t expect she’ll get in there.”
Chevalier grinned at Kyle, “Weak female mortal… let’s keep that comment to ourselves, shall we?”
Chapter 5 - The Challenge
“Emily, I’ve been so worried about you,” Exavior said, coming to the doors of his cell.
“I’ve been busy,” Emily told him, sitting down against the wall. Her leg was in a walking boot, less painful as not having a cast, yet not quite as slow as having one. It had taken a few days for her back to feel better though, and this was the first chance she had to get around.
“How are you?”
“I’m ok,” she said, watching as a heku down from them screamed about her scent and fought to get through the bars.
Exavior smiled, “That baby is growing.”
Emily nodded.
“Are they being nice to you?” he asked skeptically.
Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series Page 9
