Mark sighed, “Can’t we just let her call him for a few minutes?”
Damon shook his head, “We can’t risk it. You better go. Kyle’s waiting for you outside.”
Mark hesitated and then left and crawled into the limousine with Kyle.
“I hope they’re both alive when we get back,” Mark said as the limousine drove off.
“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said, outwardly nervous.
Chapter 10 - Paris
A noise in the living room woke Emily. She sat up and looked at the time, it was almost 5am. The noises were familiar, and she immediately felt the fury rising. Pulling on a robe, she stepped out into the hallway and followed the noises into the living room where she saw Damon, again on the couch with a prostitute.
“Damon!” she screamed.
“Just ignore her,” Damon said to the black haired woman, and began to kiss her again.
“Damon, I’m warning you,” Emily scowled, and quickly went to the kitchen, then came out carrying a large knife.
“Oh my God!” the woman screamed, and stood up quickly, pulling her skirt down.
“Get out,” Emily told her, and then watched as she ran out the front door.
Emily tossed the knife back into the kitchen, and turned to face Damon when he stood up.
“I said no prostitutes in this house as long as my son is around,” Emily said angrily.
“It’s my house, and I can do what I want,” Damon said, crossing his arms.
“Not as long as there’s a 4-year-old in it. You will watch yourself.”
“That’s the second time you’ve ruined my fun, and I won’t stand for it,” Damon growled.
“Fun? You call that fun? I just lost so much respect for the Council,” Emily yelled.
Damon was at her in an instant, and she didn’t have time to duck when he backhanded her and sent her to the floor, “You will not speak badly about the Council!”
Emily got quickly to her feet and looked at Damon as he doubled over screaming, his hands frantically clutching at his chest. The veins and muscles in his neck stood out as the pain increased, and he could feel himself slowly burning from the inside. The pain stopped suddenly and he stood up slowly, trying to catch his breath.
“Touch me again, and I’ll ash you so fast you won’t know what hit you,” Emily said, scowling at him.
“You can’t ash me, Sweetheart. I’m the only one that can revive your precious Elder if he’s incinerated when we get back,” Damon said, grinning. He realized that with the bruise forming on Emily’s cheek, he would have more to deal with when they got back than having to revive a few heku.
“Maybe if you decide to screw anything with a skirt, the Council won’t need you when we go back,” Emily growled, her hands balled into tight fists.
“They don’t care what I do in my personal life, they all do it too. So don’t get your pretty head worked up over me,” Damon said, amused. He stepped closer to Emily, and grinned when she took a step back and found only wall.
“I seriously doubt the Council would stoop to hiring prostitutes,” Emily said, glaring.
Damon grinned and pinned her to the wall with his body and kissed her before responding, “Not everyone can find a delicious little mortal to marry so we can fuck any time we want.”
Emily leaned her head back and smashed her forehead into his nose, a crunching sound echoed through the empty hallway. Damon yelled and took a step backwards, unable to see while his nose healed, “Damnit.”
“If you ever kiss me again, I’ll remove those lips,” she said, and took a step around him.
Emily felt hands on her shoulders and was soon falling forward as Damon pushed her to the ground. He flipped her over and pinned her to the floor with his hand around her neck.
“I won’t stand here and be threatened by a nothing mortal like you,” he said to her.
“Get your hands off of me,” Emily said scathingly. His hand tightened and suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.
“Until you learn a little respect, your life here in France just got a lot harder,” Damon said, and released his grip a bit to let her breathe.
Emily clawed at his hand, “I could never respect you, and if the Council doesn’t let you go for this, then I’ve lost all respect for them, too.”
Damon hissed and tightened his hand around her throat. He got a rush at the way she struggled to breathe beneath his fingers, and how her small body fought against him uselessly. Again, he relaxed his grip enough to let her breathe some.
“Respect, Emily… and obedience, it’ll make your life much easier. We could be here a while you know. No Elder to protect you, and I outrank Kyle and Mark,” Damon said, grinning.
“Is that obedience to you or your dick? Seems to me like it’s running your thoughts anyway,” Emily whispered angrily.
Damon couldn’t pull back the anger rising within him. He no longer saw her as anything more than noncompliant prey. With his hand around her neck, he picked her head up slightly and slammed it back onto the carpeted floor. Alexis began to cry from the bedroom, and he ignored her as he tightened his grip around Emily’s neck.
“I’d hate for Alexis to be without a mother… all because her mother was too stupid to shut up,” Damon hissed.
Emily pulled frantically at his fingers, unable to move them as she tried to breathe. Her lungs ached for air and the sound of the baby’s crying started to sound far away and muffled. She couldn’t focus enough to burn Damon. Her mind was filled with panic and the need to breathe.
Damon watched through predatory eyes as she fought to free herself from his strong grasp. Deciding to end it, he raised his fist above her head. One quick movement and he would crush her skull in an instant, stopping the insolence.
Emily felt air flow into her lungs as a flash above her eyes hit Damon from the side and knocked him into the dining room. She turned over onto her hands and knees and gasped for air. She could hear the scuffle from the dining room, and angry voices yelling at Damon. She looked up as Kyle and Damon’s fight moved into the living room, smashing walls and furniture as they blurred around each other.
Emily focused on Damon and the fight ended as he screamed and fell to the floor, writhing in agony. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and she heard a panicked voice yell her name. She didn’t care who it was, she focused on Damon to control herself. She wanted a slow, torturous burn.
Mark took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.
“Stop it,” he said sternly.
Mark took a moment to study her. She had a bruise on her cheek with a small cut that sent a drop of blood down her face, and her eye was black and quickly swelling shut. Fierce purple bruises stood out on her neck and jaw.
“Stop it,” Mark said again, and the screams from behind him stopped. He turned quickly, unsure if he would find a pile of ash, or Damon, released from his pain.
“You Bitch!” Damon yelled, and the weight of him slammed against her as she crashed into the coffee table, sending splinters of wood around the room.
She screamed as her soft mortal flesh was ripped apart by the shattered table. She could see Kyle and Silas restraining Damon as he struggled to get to her. The smell of her blood sent his violent personality past the edge of reason.
Emily narrowed her eyes at him, ignoring the pain in her back, and Damon again screamed as the burn smell returned. Mark was suddenly blocking her view, her face again in his hands.
“Let him go,” Mark said firmly.
Emily laid her head down on the floor and released Damon from the burning pain.
“That is enough!” Kyle yelled. Emily couldn’t see past Mark, so she wasn’t sure if he was mad at Damon or both of them.
Emily pushed Mark’s hands away, “Get your hands off of me.”
Mark moved away from Emily just in time for her to see Silas push Damon out the back door and slam the door behind him. She stayed where she was on the floor, and looked up at the ceiling as she tried to ca
lm her temper and ascertain how badly she was hurt.
Kyle blurred from the room and returned with Alexis, still crying in his arms. She was furiously kicking and her tiny face was red with anger. Allen was standing behind Kyle’s legs, shaking with fear as tears streamed down his face.
Mark knelt down beside her again once he was able to control his thirst, the smell of her blood was enticing and hard to ignore. He put his hands on her shoulders, “Roll over, let me see your back.”
Emily pushed his hands again forcefully, “I said, don’t touch me.”
Allen’s entire posture changed when he caught her scent. His small body crouched low, and a hiss escaped his lips as he drew them back to expose his teeth. He lunged at Emily, but Mark was able to catch him and pull him out into the backyard.
Emily sat up slowly. She could feel the wetness on the back of her shirt from the blood as she used the couch to stand up. The world shifted beneath her feet, but she caught the wall to steady herself. Her head was pounding, and her throat burned as she walked up to Kyle and took the baby from him.
Kyle watched to make sure she made it into the bedroom, and then turned to the backyard when he heard the bedroom door lock. He blurred out to Damon and glared at him.
“What the hell was that? We leave you alone for 12 hours and you try to kill each other?” Kyle growled.
“That woman is impossible! What does he see in her?” Damon asked angrily.
“I would expect more out of a member of the Council,” Kyle said harshly, he knew he was overstepping, but didn’t care. The image of Damon poised to kill Emily was fresh in his mind.
“I won’t let her speak to me like that. She’s just a mortal,” Damon said, standing up as his anger began to turn into panic.
“She’s just a Winchester… just an Elder’s wife…” Kyle said, and watched Damon closely as Silas let go of him.
“I don’t have to take that from her. I’m an ‘old one’ and a member of the Council,” Damon said, glaring.
“Who threw the first punch?” Kyle asked.
Damon sighed, “I did… but she deserved it.”
“What started this thing anyway?” Mark asked, still holding onto Allen.
“Damnit, I thought she was asleep so… I had a friend over…” Damon said, and sighed. It all seemed like a stupid fight now that his head was clearing.
“I take it you didn’t find a nice remote bedroom,” Kyle said, irritated.
“No… she was asleep!” Damon said, trying to defend himself. “I don’t see any of you inside interrogating her, blaming her for trying to kill me.”
“Why should we? It’s easy to see that this all started because of a serious lack of judgment on your part,” Kyle hissed.
Damon stood up and crossed his arms, “I’m still a member of the Equites Council, and as such, I demand you show me the respect I deserve.”
Kyle sighed and walked back inside, followed by Silas, Mark, and Allen.
Kyle knocked on the bedroom door, “Em? Can I come in?”
When no one responded, Kyle tapped the door under the handle and broke the lock, then walked into the room and shut the door behind him. The smell of fresh blood hit him, and he winced slightly and waited until the desire to feed passed. The room was dark, but he saw Emily sitting on the bed nursing Alexis and looking at up at him.
Kyle sat down on the bed, avoiding looking at Emily. He looked around the room for a moment and then sighed, “How badly are you hurt?”
When Emily didn’t answer him, he risked a glance at her. She was still watching him through her one good eye.
“Fine, I’ll talk,” Kyle said, turning back to the wall. “Damon told me what happened, and while I admit it was stupid on his part, you have got to learn to control your temper. It’s bad enough to have Chevalier lose his temper with you, but Damon doesn’t have as much control as the Elder does.”
Kyle waited a few minutes before he spoke again, “When you’re ready to talk, we’ll be in the living room.”
Kyle glanced again at Emily, and then left the room when she didn’t respond.
“How bad is she?” Mark asked when Kyle sat down on the couch.
“I don’t know. She’s not talking,” Kyle said, and looked at Silas. “Fill Damon in on what you told us in the limo.”
“You saw the start of it, how the Coven Heads filled the council chamber, accusing the Council of keeping the child heku and the Winchester baby a secret from them,” Silas started. “After you left, things got heated and the Council was forcibly removed from their chairs and thrown into prison.”
“One at a time, they were taken up to the council chambers, where a make-shift council interrogated them for hours on end. They were demanding to know where Emily had gone, but, as you know, none of them knew. This went on for two weeks,” Silas said quietly.
“The Cavalry mounted when it was clear and staged outside of the city with a lot of the heku from town. Most were afraid to even leave their houses, but a few risked it and stood with us as we waited for a break to free the Council.”
“We were getting updates from a guard that was stationed down in the prison. He was able to send us small notes of what was going on, at great personal risk to himself. He let us know as soon as the Coven Heads killed the first member of the Council, Saul,” Silas said quietly.
“We arranged an attack. A time when the Cavalry would invade the palace simultaneous to the release of the entire Council by the guard. When the time came, we rallied with the remaining council members and stormed the council chambers. The Coven Leaders had started to fight among themselves and weren’t prepared for our attack.”
“The fight lasted only about an hour, that’s when we saw that Nelson had been killed. He was the only loss on our side from that fight. Four Coven Leaders died, but the rest were restrained by council members and the Cavalry. As soon as word got out that the true Council had regained control, those hiding in the city flooded into the palace to show their support.”
“A warning was sent out to every coven in the Equites that no further action would be tolerated. The Coven Leaders that spearheaded the mutiny were taken to the cells to be tried as soon as Damon returns. The Cavalry was put in charge of finding you, and we’ve spent the last three weeks searching for any sign of your whereabouts,” Silas said, and smiled slightly.
“We have pulled bank reports, phone records, and have every supporting coven out trying to catch any sign of Emily’s scent. We figured that was the one thing you would have a hard time masking. I have to give you all credit, until the phone call from Kyle, we were beginning to wonder if we would ever find you.”
“Now is the hard part, do we believe you?” Kyle asked, glancing from Mark to Damon.
Damon shrugged, “There’s no reason for him to lie here. He’s not under duress.”
“He could be though, told to bring us back or the Council will die. He would be obligated to do whatever he could to make sure and keep the Council safe,” Mark said.
“I believe him,” Damon said, nodding.
“There’s one thing I am to read to you. I kept it for when you were all together,” Silas said, and pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket.
Defenders,
“That’s what we’ve been calling you three…” Silas explained.
Defenders,
We know how hard it must be to not have any word of the happenings of the Council, unsure if it’s safe to return or not and unsure who to believe. This note is to do nothing more than to tell you that in no way will you be in danger from the Council if you chose not to return with Silas. We understand completely the burden we’ve placed on you by putting the sole Winchester heirs in your care, and cannot imagine the pressure you have gone through the last six weeks.
You may keep Silas with you if it will help, if not, please send him back with word on how you are all doing. As we understand your reluctance to return to Council City, we hope you can find a way to validate what he has
told you and return posthaste.
If there is any way in which we can help with your decision, please let us know.
The Equites Elders
“That’s it,” Silas said, and handed the letter to Damon. “They just wanted you to know that they aren’t mad that you haven’t made your location known.”
“First of all, you can’t go back, Silas, not until we are ready. You know too much,” Damon said, and turned to Kyle and Mark. “What do we do now?”
“If I may speak openly for a moment…” Silas said, and looked at Damon.
“By all means,” Damon said.
“You can’t go back right now anyway. We call you the Defenders because you were appointed to defend and protect Emily… right now, it doesn’t look too good for you,” Silas said softly.
Kyle glanced at Damon, “He’s right, the Elders aren’t going to like the look of her.”
“It won’t matter what she looks like. The second Chevalier gets word of what happened, I’m dead anyway,” Damon said bluntly.
Mark nodded.
The heku all turned when Emily’s door opened. They watched as she walked into the kitchen and they could hear her preparing an ice pack. Kyle stood up to go to her, but Damon held out a hand and went instead.
Emily pressed the bag of ice against her swollen eye and turned to leave. She froze when she saw Damon standing at the entrance to the kitchen.
“Come back for round 2?” she asked icily.
“No, I came to make sure you’re ok,” Damon said.
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’m sorry, ok? I never should have let it get that out of hand, and I apologize,” Damon said truthfully. He felt guilty at the damage he had done to her, and wished he could somehow make it up to her.
“Sure you do,” Emily said, and pushed past him into the hallway.
“Will you let someone look at your back, please?” Damon asked. She had a new shirt on, but the blood was also soaking through it.
Emily turned to him, the ice bag still held over her eye, “Do I have a choice?”
Damon nodded, “Yes, you do.”
Emily answered him by returning to the bedroom and slamming the door shut. She tried to lock it, but found that the lock was broken.
Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series Page 23
