Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “No, I can’t trust him,” she said softly, and then shut her eyes, trying to rest some.

  “He’d be lucky to get away with anything while I’m on watch.” Kyle scowled at the familiar.

  Chevalier nodded, “He’s your responsibility.”

  Kyle nodded and grinned evilly.

  “Damon, Mark, you take the door… everyone else needs to leave,” Chevalier whispered, trying not to wake Emily.

  Emily sat up suddenly, and her scream turned into a groan as she bore down.

  “Sam,” Chevalier said quickly.

  Sam turned around, “Already?

  “What’s going on?” Damon asked.

  “She’s pushing,” Kyle said. “To get this far last time took hours.”

  “Don’t touch me,” Emily panted as she lay back on the bed.

  “Yes, Emily,” Sam said, and pulled away from her. He looked nervously at Kyle when he felt the strong hand on his shoulder.

  “Go back to jail, Sam,” Emily ordered, her last word turned into a groan as she pushed.

  Sam turned and walked toward the door.

  “No, Em, bring him back… he’s the only one that knows how to do this,” Chevalier said nervously as he supported her shoulders.

  Damon blocked Sam from leaving.

  When Emily relaxed back on the bed, Chevalier touched her cheek softly, “Emily, we need Sam. Bring him back, please.”

  “I don’t trust him,” she said, out of breath.

  “I don’t either, Kyle is watching him,” Chevalier told her. “Please, Emily, we don’t know what to do.”

  “Damn!” Chevalier heard, and looked up to see Dr. Alona come into the room. “How long has she been in labor?”

  “Almost an hour,” Kyle said, relieved.

  “Has her water broken?”

  “Yes”

  “Started pushing?”

  “Yes”

  “I don’t want him either,” Emily whispered, and began pushing again, groaning deeply.

  “Get a cold rag,” Dr. Alona said, and pulled the sheets up from the foot of the bed.

  Damon handed Dr. Alona the rag, and the doctor looked up at him strangely, “Not me… her.”

  “Oh, right,” Damon said, and laid the rag across Emily’s forehead. The heat coming from her body was surprising to him.

  “Clear out the palace, and if you are in this room, you are to have on a menthol mask,” Dr. Alona ordered. Chevalier was surprised at how quickly the doctor had taken over. He felt a mask pulled over his face, and suddenly, Emily’s enticing scent disappeared.

  Hours passed while the doctor barked out orders and Emily pushed. Chevalier felt helpless as he watched Emily endure hour after hour of intense pain. Damon pulled the heavy curtains shut when dawn broke. The entire palace was quiet, as only the few of them in the bedroom remained. The city waited to hear word from the palace on the gender of the newest Winchester.

  Kyle watched the doctor closely. He was looking worried and fatigued as time passed. He saw the excitement on the doctor’s face each time Emily pushed, and then the concern when the baby didn’t move fast enough.

  Too low for Emily to hear, Dr. Alona told Chevalier that he needed to get an I.V. going. Chevalier glanced at Kyle and Kyle shrugged.

  “She won’t leave it in,” Chevalier told him.

  “She’s going to start losing a lot of blood. I have to be able to replenish that,” Dr. Alona explained.

  “Em?” Chevalier said softly, and she opened her eyes slowly to look at him.

  “We need to get an I.V. in,” Chevalier told her. He waited for her to fight back, and almost hated it more when she nodded and shut her eyes again.

  Dr. Alona was able to insert the I.V. and get the fluid flowing before her next contraction hit. Kyle watched the I.V., concerned that she hadn’t pulled it out yet.

  Chevalier growled when Dr. Alona pulled a scalpel from his bag and turned to Emily. Kyle’s hand shot out and grabbed the doctor’s wrist.

  “Watch it,” Chevalier growled.

  “Let me do my job,” Dr. Alona hissed, and pulled his hand away from Kyle. “Do you want this baby to kill her or not?”

  “Fine,” Chevalier said warningly.

  “She can’t keep this up. The baby is too big,” Dr. Alona said, and Emily screamed as the smell of blood assaulted the heku in the room through their masks.

  “Come on, Child, push,” the doctor said as Emily leaned forward and groaned. Chevalier could tell her energy was gone, so he reached an arm around her shoulders to help.

  “I need blankets and towels,” Dr. Alona said, and Kyle appeared beside him with an armful. The towels disappeared beneath the sheet, and then were dropped in a heap on the floor in a bloody mass.

  Kyle picked the towels up carefully and tossed them into the fire.

  Chevalier noticed the color draining from Emily. Her face and arms were deathly pale, “What’s going on?”

  “She’s bleeding out,” the doctor said frantically.

  Dr. Alona reached up and turned her I.V. up so it was flowing faster through her veins.

  “Give me a push, Child, come on,” Dr. Alona said as another contraction started. Emily sat up weakly, and pushed, groaning with the strain.

  “I see a head, Emily, keep going. You can do it,” Dr. Alona encouraged, and threw another set of towels to the floor.

  Emily collapsed back onto the bed, her breathing shallow and strained. Dr. Alona grabbed something from his bag and worked hurriedly under the sheet. The sound of a baby crying filled the room and the heku all looked toward the doctor.

  “It’s a girl,” Dr. Alona said, and handed the tiny, screaming baby over to Kyle. Kyle wrapped her gently in a blanket and took her over to Chevalier.

  “I need B positive, now!” Dr. Alona yelled, and Chevalier turned to him. The faction doctor appeared with bags of blood and hooked one up to Emily’s I.V. As the flow of blood started through the tube, the doctor pressed the bag between his hands to up the flow.

  Kyle disappeared into the nursery, and Damon and Mark stepped further into the room. They watched, wide eyed as the doctors fought to save Emily.

  “Get that blood in faster,” Dr. Alona ordered.

  Chevalier looked back at Emily and growled deeply. Her eyes were open and dull, and her hand relaxed in his grip.

  “I have to get her on the floor,” the faction doctor yelled as he pulled Emily roughly to the floor. Emily’s lifeless body fell limply, and her blood soaked nightgown clung to her unmoving body.

  Chevalier sat on the bed, too stunned to move as he watched the doctors at work. The faction doctor started pounding on Emily’s chest while Dr. Alona changed out the bag of blood and pressed it, sending a fast flow of blood into her.

  A fourth and fifth bag of blood was poured into Emily as the doctor continued to do CPR. The look on the doctor’s face was frantic, and the sound of grinding bones filled the room.

  “Don’t do this, Emily... stay with us,” the doctor begged, as he pressed against her heart with his hands.

  Dr. Alona stopped pressing on the bag, and looked at the doctor on the floor, “She’s gone.”

  “No, she’s not gone,” the faction doctor said as he continued CPR.

  Chevalier stood up in a crouch, his hands balled into fists as a growl erupted from him fiercely. Damon and Mark both met his crouch and watched the doctors. Chevalier ripped the mask from his face and began to hiss when Emily’s scent was missing from the room.

  Maleth and Quinn appeared in the room, and looked down at Emily’s blood soaked body.

  “She’s gone,” Dr. Alona said again, and touched the faction doctor on the shoulder.

  “No!” he yelled, and pounded a fist directly over Emily’s heart. “Get more blood into her.”

  “It’s too late,” Dr. Alona said.

  “Do it!” Chevalier growled at him. Dr. Alona sighed and reluctantly hung up another bag of blood.

  Quinn blurred to Chevalier and took
his arm, “Elder.”

  “Fix this,” he growled at the doctor.

  “Chevalier, it’s too late,” Maleth said softly.

  “Hush!” the faction doctor said, and the heku all fell silent. He leaned his ear against Emily’s chest and listened, “It started… her heart started. Get more blood!”

  Dr. Alona began to press against the bag of blood and Emily took a slow breath. The faction doctor picked her up gently, and laid her on the bed. Chevalier watched her chest slowly rise and fall, willing it to keep going.

  After the eighth bag of blood was empty, Dr. Alona put up a clear liquid and smiled reassuringly at Chevalier. Kyle stepped out with the baby, and Chevalier took her from him. He looked down into the tiny face, amazed that such a small creature could cause so many problems.

  “Is… is it a girl?” Quinn asked.

  Chevalier nodded, “It’s a girl.”

  “Another Winchester,” Maleth said, smiling.

  Chevalier touched her tiny hand and she gripped his finger.

  “Let me see her,” Emily whispered, her arms were held out toward Chevalier.

  Chevalier knelt by the bed and supported Emily’s arms as she held the baby and looked at her, smiling. A tear fell from her tired eyes as she looked at her daughter. Emily touched her soft black hair and ran her finger along the baby’s fat cheek.

  Chevalier handed the baby back to Kyle, “Everyone out.”

  Emily shut her eyes as the heku slowly filed out of the room.

  “I don’t want to leave yet,” the faction doctor said, checking her I.V., and Chevalier nodded.

  “She needs to sleep,” Chevalier said, watching her.

  The doctor nodded and began to gather up the blood soaked towels and linens, and tossed them into the fire.

  “Hold her for a moment,” the doctor whispered, and Chevalier picked her up gently, wincing as she moaned softly.

  The doctor ripped the sheets off of the bed and burned them, then disappeared from the room with the blood soaked mattress from her bed. He returned a short time later with a clean one, then slipped clean sheets onto the bed and replaced the blankets.

  The doctor looked at Emily for a moment, and then up to Chevalier, “Let’s change her.”

  Chevalier nodded, and the doctor carefully ripped the nightgown off of her and threw it into the fire. He came back from her dresser with another and somehow managed to slip it on her without too much pain.

  Chevalier laid her back on the clean bed and pulled up the covers. The doctor listened to her heart and lungs and took a blood pressure, then adjusted her I.V. and left.

  He looked up when the door opened, and Allen stepped in reluctantly. Chevalier smiled and motioned him forward. Kyle brought the baby back out and handed her to the Elder.

  “Is it another boy?” Allen asked, looking at the tiny baby.

  “No, it’s a girl,” Chevalier told him.

  “Ew, I wanted a brother.”

  Chevalier laughed, “I know you did, but the entire species wanted a girl.”

  Allen reached over and touched Emily’s face softly, “Mommy?”

  “Shhh, don’t wake her,” Chevalier said.

  “Is she ok?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Chevalier said as he glanced at Emily’s pale, drawn face.

  “What’s the baby’s name?”

  Chevalier shrugged, “I don’t know that either.”

  Chapter 9 - Winchester Heir

  Chevalier came back up from the kitchen carrying a tray for Emily. He walked into her room and sat it down, then watched as Emily nursed the baby. Again he was amazed at the strength and capabilities of the so-called, weaker species.

  Emily was still pale and her lips were dry and cracked. She had the baby propped up on pillows since she still lacked the strength to hold the baby alone. Her ribs were tightly bound because the CPR had broken three of them at her sternum.

  “I got you something to eat,” Chevalier said, and pulled the top off.

  “I’m really not hungry,” she told him, and ran her fingers through the baby’s hair again.

  “Damnit, Emily,” Chevalier said when he saw her I.V. hanging on the headboard. He turned away from her, because he couldn’t hold back the smile. Just last night he hated how she agreed to the I.V. and left it in, it was uncharacteristic of her.

  “What is it?” Emily asked, eyeing the tray.

  “Pancakes, doctor’s orders,” he said, and handed her the plate. She sat it down on the pillow after she adjusted the baby to the other side to nurse.

  Chevalier watched the baby nurse, her little hand wound around Emily’s hair. Emily started to eat with one hand as she held the baby in place with the other.

  “Amazing isn’t it?” Chevalier asked, watching the nursing infant.

  “What is?” Emily asked.

  Chevalier smiled up at her, “How you can feed her.”

  Emily took a drink of the orange juice and looked at Chevalier, “I’ve been thinking about a name.”

  “Have you?”

  “Haven’t you?”

  Chevalier chuckled, “No I haven’t. I’ve left that for you.”

  “Is she heku?” Emily asked, looking down at her.

  “I don’t know, we may not know for a while.”

  “Oh”

  “Does it change her name if she is?”

  Emily smiled slightly, “No.”

  Chevalier didn’t like her color. She was still pale and her face was sunken with dark circles under her eyes. Even her lips were white and her vivid green eyes were dull.

  “So what name do you like?” he asked, trying to take his mind off the sight of the doctors working frantically to save her.

  “I think she looks like an Alexis,” Emily said.

  “Alexis it is then.” Chevalier smiled.

  “Is she safe around Allen?” Emily asked, her face suddenly serious.

  Chevalier nodded, “Yes, he doesn’t quite have the full thirst of a heku. It’s muted some, so we can keep him satiated with one feeding a week.”

  Emily frowned, “You make him sound like a starving bear.”

  Chevalier laughed, “Sorry.”

  “She’s going to be in danger her entire life, isn’t she?” Emily asked, taking Alexis’ tiny hand.

  “Yes,” he said softly. “She’ll have more of a chance than you did, though. We’ll teach her from the start how to protect herself.”

  Emily nodded.

  Emily handed the baby over to Chevalier, “I’m so tired.”

  Chevalier kissed her forehead, “Sleep all you want.”

  Before leaving the room, Chevalier glanced back at her. Emily was already asleep, and he couldn’t help but be afraid to leave her. The sight of her lifeless, blood covered body on the floor kept creeping back into his memory. He shut her door softly and headed down to the council chambers.

  Chevalier looked down at the infant asleep in his hand. She was so tiny, that her head and shoulders fit in the palm of his hand, and her body rested against his forearm with room to spare. She was fast asleep, and he hoped the noise of the council chambers wouldn’t wake her. The Council hadn’t seen her yet, and they were anxious to meet the new addition.

  When Chevalier stepped into the room, the council members all turned to him. Maleth smiled and stood up to come to them. He looked, amazed, at the sleeping infant with her wild black hair and sweet angelic face.

  Chevalier sat down in his chair and leaned the baby against his shoulder, holding her in place with one hand. He turned to the Council, “What’s on the agenda?”

  “Are you ok for the docket today?” the Court Reporter asked.

  Chevalier held up one hand, “Sure, I only need one.”

  “You’re becoming a pro at that,” Maleth smiled.

  “This’ll be the last, though. I don’t think she should have to do that again,” Chevalier said.

  Damon nodded and whispered, “I didn’t think she was going to make it.”

&nb
sp; Chevalier turned, “Let’s get on with it. The baby will be hungry soon.”

  “Why, exactly, is she in blue?” Quinn asked, confused.

  “We weren’t sure we wanted it known that there is a new Winchester in town,” Chevalier said with a slight grin.

  “Oh, yes I guess that’s a good idea.”

  “First up on the agenda is Hal. He is accused of attacking a mortal and feeding from him without consent,” the Court Reporter said.

  A guard brought in a struggling heku with wild eyes and a nervous tick. He came in and looked with wide eyes at Chevalier. Never before had any heku heard of a baby in the courts.

  “What is that?” Hal asked anxiously.

  “Did you feed without consent?” Damon asked, diverting his attention away from the baby.

  “No, no he said I could.”

  “So the witnesses who heard him screaming for help were mistaken?” Damon asked, unimpressed.

  “Witnesses?”

  “Guilty,” Damon said, and the rest of the Council was unanimous. “Banish him for 200 years.”

  The guilty heku was quickly hauled away by the guards.

  The baby started to kick under Chevalier’s hand, and soon let out a piercing wail, her cries filling the chamber. He picked her up gently and looked into her face.

  “You cannot be hungry, you just ate,” he said to her. Alexis’ bottom lip poked out and she screamed and kicked angrily.

  “I see she got Emily’s temper,” Damon said, laughing.

  “I’ll be back,” Chevalier told them, heading back up to the room.

  ***

  “Thank you for coming, Dr. Alona,” Chevalier said, shaking his hand. It was a purely human gesture that the heku had picked up only within the last century.

  Dr. Alona nodded, “I won’t be back. I can’t do that again.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Your services will not be needed again.”

  “Try, if you can, to keep her in bed for the next week. She has some color back, I know, but one week isn’t enough. She needs another,” Dr. Alona said as he stepped into the helicopter.

  “We’ll try,” the faction doctor told him, and then watched as the helicopter whisked Dr. Alona away.

  Chevalier went back to the bedroom and sighed at the door. A heku cleaning crew was stripping down the bed and quickly cleaning the room.